@keiisho: ❛ if i can still breathe , i’m fine . ❜
“No, you are not. You might be used to that bumbling fool of a man and his blatant disregard for normalcy, but he had the capacity to endure it. Are you a conqueror? A warmonger? A man with dreams set as far as the horizon with an army of men and steeds to chase it with? No, you are not. You would be no less than a fool to think of yourself so highly.”
Has he always thought himself invulnerable in such a way? No... the puny and insignificant mage from her memories writhed and cried at every opportunity if it so much as stunk of danger. Always preferring the safer methods, always preferring to stay out of things that he needn’t be involved in... this was the same, cowardly boy that stood by the King of Conquerors back then? Aureate irises glean over his bones, thin and weary from numerous battles against sleep. Decades of dedication have cost him his own sense of self-preservation. What would the King of Conquerors think if he saw him in this state? Chewed down to nothing but a pile of ashes and good sentiments? Speaking of that man, though...
...If her eyes sharpen their perception on him just by a hair, the shadow of the crimson cape that once fluttered brilliantly in the wind can be seen draped behind his back.
“Yet, you do not need those things to be accomplished. As you are right now, it is more than sufficient. ...Is it not? Compared to back then?” Arturia cracks her usual, crooked smile -- but there is more behind it today.
“Don’t waste what he fought for. Don’t strain your eyes to the point it can no longer see the vision he saw. Rest. Another day will await you in the morning.”
