#gimmickstrings

♪ - King Arthur OST - Song of Exile, cover by Karliene ;King Arthur/The Mists of Avalon AU (Thomas as Morgaine le Fay, Kaito as King Arthur)

They say the Old Gods disappear in the mists of time, just like the nature deities and the charms of the islands. They say, those in the depth of the forests and beyond the mists of the island and witches, and none-believers.Kaito remembers the legends told at his bed, of his destiny to become the King to reunite old faith with the new ways…

I don’t believe that. Not anymore.

He remembers running in the forest. He is a child with a wooden sword, and everything seems so miraculously alive..so wonderous green and tall, with the lake clear as ice…it remains as a soft sigh on his lips when he lies here in Thomas’s lap. Reminds him of Thomas’s lips. In this, another time…'Gywdion…?' he murmurs, blinking in the fresh light of dawn.'Kaito. My name is Kaito.'His vision blurs and he can barely see the blue snakes tattooed around his wrists decades ago…he is tired. Kaito knows he won’t survive his wounds inficted to him by his daughter…

His…their daughter."To think about it…I know nearly nothing about you, which is sad." Kaito smiles up to Thomas’s face, and he brushes a strand of red hair out of his face. He sees the faded blue crescent between his brows, touches it…"The isle will sink, and so shall we…one sooner, one later, brother…."In his wildest fever dreams, he would never have thought it would be his older brother, sent away to serve as a priest to the old faith before Kaito had been born. Who…became the Hunger in the reunification of the faiths, of earthen matters and of the isle…How we could, I always wondered…

Thomas seems……so in motion above him. He brushes his hair back with his fingers gently, and Kaito smiles up to him."Are you…afraid of dying?” Thomas asks, his fingers soft and gentle.

"No…" Kaito sighs and lets his hand drop again. He lowers his eyes and smiles. "I’m tired of journeys. When it was my time, I’d free Excalibur, and I got to know the brother that went of to the island before I had been born…I…we Thomas, you have to understand, shaped the forms of this land, right here in our hands, and whatever sinks in mist…""…it has to sink, which is the course of history. I’m tired of journeys now, but…this isn’t a journey anymore, don’t look so sad."

Thomas seems anxious."What…is this then?"

I brush his cheek with my fingers and let my hand drop. I smile, and I can finally cry…let a tear escape the corners of m blind eyes."Thomas…this is homecoming."

"We’re pretty fucked, don’t you think?" he snarls.

Kaito’s breath is laboured when he fastens his hold on the other with a smirk. He slams IV against the wall. Their faces are so close they nearly touch, menacing. “It seems like the train for ‘redemption’ just halted for an indefinite period of time and then…it just passed by your pretty face. What a pity, huh?” He knows it’s crude. But what’s what they are. Beneath all the frustrated violence and grinding and fights alone outside at 3am, it’s this. It’s this when they realise that after everyone moved on, they are still the same.

We can’t move on from our sins. Shame. Guilt. Redemption. The problem is that they all lie in the past.

Kaito lets go and lifts his with a desperate laugh. That’s the worst."I would have done the same all over again. And so do you."

They use carriages. The people of Satisfaction Town used carriages to cross the distance between the town and the train station next to the old mines.

It rains hard tonight. Kiryu looks out and curses under his breath. He wonders if they'll be fine, the last group who was to come back. Admittedly, limiting oneself to such an old-fashioned manner of transport is a strange habit. But considered Satisfaction Town itself was walking distance, and the only important cause to the outside had been dyne mining, he shouldn't wonder ...people who lived here...no, people either never came or never left. Or never come back.

The loud blasting thunder scares West, so Kiryu tells Nico to take him for the night, he...he had to see if the travellers were fine. He had vowed to protect the town. Truly protect this time. He remembers two men trading and a pregnant woman visiting family...in these moments he cursed the old carriage. By the time a group of men with flashlights had arrived at the entrace, the horses lean up and the carriage is full of mud on the outside as they rush forward to help the woman out. Kiryu notices...in the back of the cart, there is a forth person. A rather slim figure. He sits very still. An odd stranger with a long cloak and hood deep into his face. Kiryu doubts he is up to any good. It is only when the horses reel again and the hood falls back that Kiryu notices...that's he is still young.