rebel with a cause

[Talon]

D A E M O N

He could have approached the question in a number of ways. Talon, the bulk of the part of him that comprised the Avialae Prince, did not know. It was to him who the question was addressed but the spirit of its intent was not lost on him. Besides, there was little to be gained in blatant dishonesty. Even he had a threshold he was unwilling to cross, no matter how desperate he was.

“Avaerys and Varvara.” He met Florian’s gaze steadily. “Reborn Mistlords that, in ancient times, forged an empire that was sent crashing onto the rocks when they crossed paths with me. They sought to conquer all of the continent of Ecith and then move to conquer Ailizane. It happened to be at the same time I was fighting against the armies of darkness helmed by Shaeoth. We fought and I defeated them with the help of Raxen. They committed suicide and I sealed their spirits away in Mount Kaladon.”

He could almost recall the hard won battle that had been fought that day. He could taste the sweat on his upper lip. He could feel the fatigue of his muscles. He could hear the roar of dragons and the ring of swords meeting in combat.

“Their empire fell to ruin. What has taken its place is…a version of what it once was. Needless to say, the two of them are not altogether pleased with its current direction.” He brought up a hand and clenched it into a fist. Dawnfire wrapped around his fist, enhancing the already powerful glow of the aura that surrounded his form.

“Were I not bound as I am, I would be able to release them myself. As it stands, I cannot free them on my own and it is long past time they were released from their confinement. I never intended for it to last thousands of years. Being dead, however, got in the way of that.” He shrugged his shoulders. There it was. Where they went from there would depend on Florian. He only hoped the other demigod would agree.

[Florian]

Florian absorbed what he was told. The names rang no bells, spawned no feelings in him. What they were was unknown to him, and from the way that the subject of their domains was carefully avoided was not lost on him. If he knew, perhaps he would not agree. Florian stood for a moment in contemplation, and then walked over to Mathias, holding his hand out for the moonstones. When given, he looked to face Daemon.

"First, I have to return these moonstones to Kalzasi."

Conquerors were not in his purview. But imprisoned conquerors, seeking release from where they were held...it was a grey area, in his mind. Perhaps he would agree just to speak to them himself. But his mind drifted to his life in Kalzasi, and Jae-Seong. His desire to assist Kalzasi in rising above the eclipse. But with Talon returned to Kalzasi, they would have someone to rally behind, even as some of the nobles sought to vote his family out of power.

"Then, I give you three days of my time. What little — or much — we accomplish in that time does not matter to me. I have attempted to start a life here, and I'm hesitant to smother that flame so soon." Florian knew that distance was no barrier to Talon. The man had spirited away a whole group of them to Kalzasi from Gel'Grandal, and Florian had seen that distance on a map. A master traverser, he had learned, did not need to fear distance, and a god of his power feared it even less. Florian was not one to prepare much, but his considerations in return for this encounter appeared without much thought. If he were to release conquerors, it would be on his terms.

"And," He continued, solidifying his demands with spoken word, "We will bring three people. Adrian Haas, Marcel Enns — the Kathar that were brought here with me are my responsibility, and they will continue to be my responsibility, and—" Florian took a deep breath, and then looked Daemon firmly in the eyes. "Aoren."

"If you don't agree to this, you may find another demigod. Or, perhaps, you may steal me away by force. But if you'd like me to cooperate..." Florian shrugged. "I am not in the business of conquerors that were so vile they had to be shoved into a mountain prison. But I am in the business of upsetting the status quo, and I would like nothing more than to release you. I am a bit too stubborn for compromise. If what you say is true, then I will help. But if you have lied to me, I will remember it." There was no threat that followed, and his tone of voice held no hostility. If the empire of Solunarium needed to be shaken up, he would gladly provide the ingredients. But it was not his desire to unleash conquerors for them to continue their conquering. Their position, to him, was precarious. Some deserved to stay imprisoned.

[Talon]

D A E M O N

“They are gods, Florian. Forces of nature, like you and I. What they oversee is what they are and perhaps these thousands of years in a stone prison may have changed them. I will undoubtedly come into conflict with them again in the future but that could be centuries from now.” He picked up one of the moonstones that was on the ground near his feet. Rubbing his thumb over the stone he allowed some of his aura to flow into the stone. He joined his aether with the dragonshard, funneling a miniscule portion of his power into the gem. It was more than enough to expand the power and potency of the dragonshard far beyond its current state. The silvery stone gained a golden cast. As Florian took back his gems from Mathias, Daemon extended the one in his hand.

“My point is this,” He placed the empowered moonstone in Florian’s hand. “There is a cycle to this world. I have lived it across five different lives now. Justice and Vengeance. Order and Chaos. Rebellion and Tyranny. Light…”

“...and Dark.” He retracted his hand, gesturing to the world around them. At the edges of their combined auras there were shapes moving in the darkness. The shadowy creatures neither lunged nor interrupted their meeting but from the sheer number that had gathered at the edges of the two demigods auras, it was clear that they had been lingering at the edges for a while. Dozens upon dozens of eyes like smoldering fireflies stared at the two of them from the darkness. Daemon was unbothered by their presence. In them, he recognized something familiar. A primordial darkness that he had spent the past ten thousand years fighting across varying ages.

“You are not a mortal anymore, Florian. You are no longer an idle participant in the waves of change that visit this beloved world of ours. You are a source of it. What you do to enact that change is up to you. Across my lives, I chose to be a servant of they who placed their faith in me. This life has taught me it is time for me to change in that regard. I have changed. I am changed.” He did not know what the consequences of that shift in his perspective would be. It was drastically different from how he had seen himself before. From his first life up until he was taken captive in this life, he had seen himself as a servant of the people he protected. It was a view of himself born from his desire to be a defender and a hero, he knew this about himself. The Inquisition had not let him entertain any illusion about his own ego while their prisoner. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be someone that inspired others. It was in his nature. His nature had changed as a result of this ordeal. He was no longer entirely certain what direction he would go from here but there were things to address before he could even examine that path.

“Conquerors come and go, Florian. Empires never last forever. The Boundless Empire of Sol’Valen found its boundaries. The mighty dragons of the Solunarian Empire were scattered and its cities crumbled to the dust of the desert. The polished gears of the Clockwork Empire ground to a halt. Only the gods are eternal and even we wax and wane in our might and glory.” He shrugged his shoulders. The words spoken were said matter of factly. They came from an old place, from the scattered memories that comprised his consciousness across thousands of years. He could not recall all of the details but he remembered many an important event about the ages that had come and gone in Ransera. As Florian made his demands regarding the entourage of people who would accompany them, a frown crossed his features.

He remembered the Kathar that Florian had freed. They did not bother him.

Aoren.

Every part of him silently wailed with longing to even see the other man. He did not know how he would react to seeing Talon’s husband, his husband, in the flesh after everything that had transpired.

“Alright.” His voice was soft but heavy with conflicting emotions.

“You will have the chance to judge them for yourself. It is better that they be unsealed on our terms before the Imperium can command me to do...something else.” That was all he said. It was all he could say at the moment.

“So…uh…what are we gonna do about them?” Mathias hopped up from where he sat, shuffling up to stand beside Daemon. Daemon looked at the shadow creatures who, upon gaining his more immediate attention, parted as if to imply they would allow them to pass.

“It seems we get a pass. This time.” He looked back to Florian. “I have gifted that dragonshard with a touch of Dawn’s Light. If the shadows press upon you, burn them with its light.”

He extended a hand to Mathias who moved closer. Daemon opened a portal behind them leading to a mountain path.

“We will await you at the Temple of Fallen Skies.” With that, he brought the portal forward until it swallowed both his and Mathias forms. It closed around them transporting them away from the forest and sending them to the temple in the Astralar Mountains.

[Florian]

"A cycle," Florian murmured. He did not fully understand the implications of imprisoned gods. Some part of him understood the necessity of a god of tyrants to match the god of rebels. He was not a mortal. He had to learn to perceive the world in the long term, but he had never thought into the long-term. Florian took the golden moonstone, and immediately swallowed it, the shard glowing through his throat as it traveled through his reinforced digestive tract.

"There is something Aoren told me, the day after we returned to Kalzasi. He found me in a garden in the Palace of the First Wind, and I think he became frustrated when he realized I knew nothing of godhood and what it entailed. I knew even less of the gods than I do now. And he told me, then, that my domain is something I have full dominion over." He looked to the shadows that gathered at the edges. Though they gathered around him, he did not fear them. Ever since his meeting with Killian, the dark was one thing he did not have to be afraid of.

"What I mean to say is that you should never allow someone to be the arbiter of yourself. They are not you, and they do not preside over you. You are the beginning and the end of your divinity, and you should never allow someone else to take your place in the decisions of such." He looked back at Daemon. "Outside influence is only going to muddy your decisions. Take my own advice with a grain of salt, but you should think for yourself. You can't serve even one when you are pulled in the direction of many."

Florian bounced the bag of moonstones in his hand as Talon stepped through the portal after agreeing to his terms. The area grew darker, and the shadows grew closer, but did not step into the realm of the aurora. He began his walk back to Kalzasi — while Talon could simply teleport wherever he'd like, this god of rebellion was stuck on his feet.

[Talon]

R E W A R D S

Name: Florian
XP: +10 XP
Requested Lore: +8 Lores

Name: Talon
XP: +10 XP
Requested Lore: +8 Lores

Note(s): Shenanigans! It's interesting to see all the differing perspectives on a given event. Poor Florian had to hoof it back to the city. XD