Multifaceted II [Closed]

[Rickter]

Lykos had to admit that any other day the sourness of the labneh would normally cause another grimace, however, today was the day that stuff tasted far better than any other gruel that might've been fed to him. It helped that the pita bread did balance the flavor profile just a little, but even then, the wolf was barely even able to consider that when his gut just ached so damn much. Lia had taken note of the face he'd made earlier, when he'd tried not to let the bitterness stir a pucker out of his lips, after he had taken a sip of the tea provided for him.

He slowed only for that moment to try and, politely, imply that the tea was good but before he could even mutter a word; Lana was already on the round to bring something white and grainy. If that was what he thought it was, then hopefully, the liquid might've been more bearable for him to drink after all. Though a bit reluctant she did seem to put quite a bit in there, thus when he tried another sip of the substance, he found that the bitterness of the tea greatly replaced with a sweeter flavor. Now that earned a credible nod out of the Demigod, as he resumed chowing down on the bread before him, already scarfing down his next piece of flatbread once he dipped it in more of that sauce.

Goat's milk. He never suspected that he'd enjoy eating something made from that, but when you were practically starved, one could never be picky about the type of foods you ate. While Lykos gorged himself though, only taking a drink of tea to help wash the bread down every other bite, he watched as Hilana continued to work within the kitchen. She talked with Aeros while she chopped meat, which immediately caused the wolf's head to perk slightly, and in the process, Lykos noted not just what Hilana did... but where she would go when she needed to reach for something. Be it a tool, a dish, or even more ingredients for the food she prepped, he did everything he could to note it all mentally, while still stuffing his mouth with what little of the bread remained.

Yet while she worked and the two talked, Lykos noticed the language in which the ghost and their mutual friend spoke in. If he had to guess at all, it had to be that Vastian that Lia had mentioned before. Honestly, the wolf wanted to know what the conversation had been about, because from the tone in Aeros' ethereal voice he wasn't happy in the slightest. A hard swallow of his current bite led the wolf to debate on saying anything, when instead, he lowered his gaze back down to the amount of bread and sauce that had been left. Well shit... He was so busy trying to satisfy the hunger, that he failed to realize just how little Athalia was getting in turn.

Though his gut still ached for more there was at least some sustenance in there now, enough to where he slowed down a little, to say the least. He didn't wish to be rude and leave little to none for her, particularly when they were all being so kind to him in turn. Luckily, the next dish that Lana had prepped for him had been brought over, and from the smell of the aroma it was something sweet the wolf had never tried before. Lykos was beginning to drool as he reached for one of the dates, inspecting the fruit closely before he popped it inside his mouth.

Sweeter than his hibiscus tea just now. When his eyes briefly popped wide, it took everything in him to keep from shoveling the rest of the fruit into his maw, as Lykos eagerly chomped on the first scoop of dates he grabbed. Truthfully he didn't know what was worse, the fact he was being such an absolute glutton in front of these people (and ghost), or the fact the taste of food made him so happy he was nearly about to cry. The fact that both his heart and his tummy ached at different varying levels did not help either. And then there was meat too! MEAT! The wolf could no longer contain himself when he reached for a slab of that next, the next chomp he made following with a hearty moan when he tore into it greedily.

I'm sorry... He wanted to say aloud but obviously couldn't with food in his mouth. I'll repay you for all this in some way... Thank you... Now the tears were finally rolling down his cheeks, and whether he was happy or sad was hard to decide, for he could only continue to consume food while eyeing Lia and Lana both appreciatively. Thank you so much...

[Aeros]

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By the time he’d finished speaking, Æros’ voice wouldn’t actually sound as if it were coming from a centralized location; it was as if it echoed from all around anyone within the kitchen. That entire time, he’d continued to dissipate his essence, almost suffusing the room with it in the process. Anyone who set foot in the kitchen would feel a noticeable chill compared to anywhere else in the manse, too. He was wholly unaware that anyone except himself would feel death’s cold touch, rather, the point of doing that was to make it harder for him to be visually detected by anyone save for those with Semblance. And for them, he hadn’t the foggiest of ideas what his Aura would look like when spread across an entire room like this, nor how clear it’d even be in general– in life, he’d never had the chance to have Sembled a ghost himself and the nuances thereof were not something he was familiar with academically, either.

In the wake of his loss, Hilana was a shining beacon of optimism– something the apparition himself was incapable of possessing, for the moment. He would, in time, come to realize the necessity thereof. But for now, his perspective was both narrow and shrouded in darkness.

Though the sentiment behind her words was comforting, Æros’ ego, his entire self worth, really, had, first and foremost. been founded upon his skill with magic, especially when juxtaposed to his age. Secondarily, Solunarium was a society that put a lot of stock in blood, and this particular aspect was only heightened the further up the caste system one went; he’d lost all value relative to this facet of his culture. And further, his exotic appearance was something of a novelty; one he’d very much came to enjoy. So while Hilana might be correct in the end, it certainly didn’t feel that way, nor would he presently perceive it as such.

“I suppose if we’re being literal, no, not ‘everything’ was taken– but certainly everything of any value; what I’ve left is tantamount to nothing; just above worthless at best.” He’d sigh, if he’d the lungs to do that with.

“...I’d love nothing more than for you to be correct, but I struggle to see any real path forward in this state; my ability to interact with the world is sorely limited.”

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

“It is alright,” Lia noticed his tears. “Do not worry about it. Hilana is just helping him work through some things,” she explained in Common. “We will teach you Vastian, do not worry,” she patted his arm as he ate. “Eat what you like, as much as you like. We have plenty. Our father is wealthy, there’s usually the chefs and slaves here, so they must be on a break. More food can be made. Eat your fill,” she took one of the chewy dates to enjoy it and watched his progress, getting a piece of goat for her own plate. “These are called dates. They are a native fruit in Solunarium, they have a lovely taste, don’t they? The meat is roasted goat,” she added when he was sampling that too. Sometimes people thought goat was a bit gamey, but when you grew up with it on the menu...

With Æros spreading around the room, Lia noticed it and so did Hilana, activating her Semblance in order to have a look at him that way, trying to see if there was a centralized point or if he had just completely spread himself out. Either way, the attunement to fire was not harming her, and she ate a date while going back to the refrigerator to see what else was in there that could be heated up for Lykos to eat. The beans and chickpeas on the stove were for the morning meal, and they would cook low and slow overnight, but in the meantime Hilana pulled out chicken and yogurt, and brought that to the counter where she had been working. A quick marinade was put together from spices in the cupboards and yogurt, and she began to skin and debone the chicken to get the meat, working quickly with the knife while she listened to Æros’ words.

The chicken skins were laid out on a plate, and the strips of chicken meat, from breast to thigh to wings to drums, went into the marinade. From a cupboard, she grabbed a pair of pans, one more like a regular frying pan, and one a grill pan with raised ridges within it to get marks on it. A bit of oil went into the flat pan, and soon the scent of cooking chicken was accompanied by the sizzle of the skins hitting the pan and hot oil. It wasn’t long before the seasoned chicken went into the grill pan. “Did your Runes come to be on their own? Did your education and training come to be on its own? Did you start to learn and study politics, or did the information just materialize in your brain?” Hilana asked the spectral entity that had spread around the kitchen. Her eyes, normally deep brown, were unblinking and kaleidoscopic, indicating her Semblance being active as she studied the ghost. “They did not. That was your willpower. Your willpower to learn, which pushed back against your mother. You had the drive to do it then. Are you telling me that your ambition and hunger are lost?” she asked him, reaching to turn the chicken skins with a fork as they were turning crispy and golden.

That may well have been another loaded question, considering how much Avaerys valued those traits... but she needed to remind him of who he was. Who he had been. She had helped pull him from a bad state before, and she was going to have to do it again. Hilana pulled the chicken skins from the frying pan and gave them a bit of a shake to remove the excess oil before adding some salt and putting them on a plate for the table. She refreshed Lykos’ and Lia’s hibiscus tea, and Lia added more sugar to Lykos’ to bring its sweetness back to his taste preference. Hilana turned the chicken cooking in the pan, still looking at the spread out spirit that was inhabiting the kitchen.

[Rickter]

Lykos heard the comforting words of Lia when she reached out to pat him on the arm. The wolf did feel a sense of ease but that did not stop the aching in both places, and though he still had no idea whether he was in mourning or bliss, he did know that the food was absolutely phenomenal to enjoy. He tried to at least force a slight smile to a degree, if only to avoid showing teethy food at Athalia when he did so. At the very least, his gut would hopefully stop aching for food soon. He hoped. Otherwise, he felt he might be stuck at the table for a while.

A really long while... But if the sisters were really loaded as Lia stated, and the food was aplenty even with his outrageous appetite, then Lykos wouldn't be any more rude than he likely already had been. They wanted him to eat his fill, so that he would try, but he at least slowed down just a bit more once he started to smell more meat marinating in the kitchen. Lana was still cooking, and speaking to Aeros, who Lykos could barely see as an apparition anymore. But he could smell the specter in the whole room, the subtle stench of death just a mild undertone all around.

"It's delicious," He murmured through food before taking a large gulp of it down, "Thank you... So much." The wolf gave Lia a deeply affectionate stare for a moment, before his attention went back to the roasted goat he was tearing into. Something about the flavor or maybe even the protein just started pumping endorphins through his noggin, making him quietly moan further as he continued to shred and gulp every chewed piece he could. Lana's process of marinating and cooking the chicken in oil was well noted too, for the smell that filled the room was near delectable... if not for the other lingering scent.

Lykos wasn't one to bash others on how they smelled though, especially given the nature of this one as Aeros lingered throughout the room. I really do wonder what they're saying though... He pondered through observation as Hilana left the chicken to simmer, and took a moment to refill them with another round of tea; along with a bit of sugar to sweeten his cup once more. The wolf gently nodded his approval in another manner of appreciation, taking a larger sip this time to help wash the proteins down into his gut.

The pain that stemmed down there finally started to lessen now that something substantial rested in there... but the other part of him still didn't seem to feel entirely better. Lia's kindness earlier did seem to help a bit, nevertheless, the wolf's tears still gently flowed as he continued to chow down on what remained of the roasted goat.

[Aeros]

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Though Æros was not entirely unfamiliar with the concept of finding pleasure in the pain of another (or oneself, for that matter), to now find himself sustained by the purely emotional suffering of those around him was, indeed, a novel concept. It had taken him a moment to raise awareness of this phenomenon, indeed, but he found his essence more drawn to Lykos than he did either Athalia or Hilana. And at first, he’d considered it quite confusing that he found the presence of a stranger to be more comforting than that of a dear friend– but now, he’d parsed the difference, and it was all a matter of æther.

Whatever was left of Æros was in a state of active decay; he was slowly unraveling at all times; of that, he was acutely, painfully, aware. And yet, he found his miasmatic æther restored and even bolstered when in the presence of another who bore a heavy emotional burden. He could come to little other conclusion as for the source of his sustenance. It was, in a way, fitting– for if Lykos was granted the opportunity to gorge his starved body in a more traditional sense, Æros would do much the same, though it was sadness upon which he would sup. And oh, to realize that the succor he’d found in this stranger was sourced only from his immense sadness and aught else...how strange an existence, this would become. For if one is sustained by tragedy wrought by or writhing within others, one might soon come to find oneself reveling in the suffering of strangers, and perhaps, eventually, extending even to friends and kin.

Hilana, however? Though she, too, had her burdens to bear, she was an unnaturally optimistic soul, ever hopeful, and as such, she was not quite as delicious in this particular regard. And yet, her role as it pertained to the starry spirit was no less important, for she held the ability to soothe his emotions, to slow the rot of his sanity in a way that was just as meaningful. At least, to the extent that she could in the immediate aftermath of his own tragedy. How long it would take to steer Æros out of the depths of despair was, at present, not possible to ascertain.

And bitter as he was wont to be, he would respond to her words with something akin to a groan, though given his condition, it was not quite so. He lacked the flesh of a throat that would given one’s voice a familiar, more ‘living’ sort of texture; rather, the sound was quite uncanny– it was no wonder many found the cries of spirits to be ever so uncanny. He’d glare at her, too, if he could; maybe he’d even roll his eyes– he regretted the choice to have dissipated his shape prior.

“Must you invoke an image of my mother to the mind? …and to call upon those specific attributes–” Displeased, he was...

…but such displeasure was a direct result of the fact that she was right.

“–I am vexed by your taste.” There was a whine to his voice, now; puerile, almost.

For as serious as the matter was, he didn’t have a valid rebuttal to her words whatsoever– but, stubborn he would choose to be, and as if to spite her, he’d not admit she was truly correct. Rather, he would yield to a slightly different angle.

“But I suppose I have to do something about it. Can’t very well live out the rest of your days with me languishing in your shadow, no? I’ve really no choice in the matter, either– you’d never allow it.” Indeed, her spirit was indomitable. He knew she'd be torturously encouraging until he gave in, no matter how long it took...so why not resign now?

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

“You are very welcome,” Lia told him when he thanked them. “To say ‘Thank you’ in Vastian, we say ‘Gratias’,” the young woman added. It wouldn’t hurt to start teaching him more of their tongue, word by word, so that he would learn it. It might take some time, but since they had time... language lessons were on the horizon. If there was one thing Lebaoth Chenzira had expected of his daughters, it was fluency in Common as well as Vastian, if only to assist in communicating with those who came from overseas and make sure that his business associates and their family felt welcome and could communicate easily. Even though Hilana had not been raised with her sisters, her guardians had at least ensured her fluency, which was worked on when she was in the city, too. But between them, they would make sure that Lykos learned. Æros, too, could use the practice in speaking it.

With Hilana going back and forth between the table and the enormous stovetop with the different burners, navigating them and Æros, she could at least look after their divine guest. “Why are you crying?” the Void-sister asked him when she bit into a piece of the crunchy, puffed up chicken skin. “Do you feel a lot of pain inside? Are the spices too much?” He hadn’t seemed to be physically injured and he was moving and eating just fine, but Lia was wondering if there was something the healer had missed. But perhaps it was just internal, from losing his identity and memory... In which case, there was nothing for that but time and building new connections and trying to discover who Lykos was.

Hilana moved the chicken strips from the grill pan to a plate and brought the first batch of the ‘grilled’ chicken to the table, setting it down for them. “It will be alright, Lykos. It won’t be the same... but you will have a pack. I promise,” she rubbed his shoulder gently before giving it a squeeze and going back to the stove to put more chicken in the pan while she listened to Æros. She could well imagine his groans and grumbles and the rolls of his eyes if only he had had them at the moment, or had formed enough to manifest such an image, but for the time being, she was just going to have to imagine how it would have been as a way of coping. The fact that one of the more powerful people she knew had fallen in the Void, assuming that it had been the Void like she had experienced... It was sobering and frankly devastating. He had been one of her good friends, but while she seemed cheerful enough without any Mesmer to observe her Symphony, though she still wore her dragon pendant from Princess Cithaera...

Hilana might have wanted to go sit down with her snakes and Risdra and her new kittens and hug them tight and try to get the image of nightmare alley, with those Void creatures that had been biting and eating everything around them as they had walked towards the light, out of her head. She might have liked to sit in the dark for a while with a cold cloth and deal with the aftereffects of the threshold sickness that she was still riding, though Lia had greatly lessened those. She might have liked to have gone to the stables and snuggled up to Sakima with a mug of tea. But the fact of the matter was, everything right now depended on her keeping it all together. Lia’s ‘identity’, Lykos’ care and appearance, the fact Æros was a ghost in the kitchen rather than the laughing, charismatic starry Fae that he had been not even a day ago... The best thing to do, the only thing she could do, was square her shoulders, and crank up her optimistic energy until she could get everything lined up to be dealt with.

Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do.

She had a lot of irons in the fire now, and she was going to have to juggle them like her life depended on it. Because in a way it did, and departing from this life earlier than anticipated ensured whatever afterlife awaited for her was going to be decidedly ugly and unpleasant. So for now, she cooked, she consoled, and she worked through the jumble of thoughts in her head. First step, get Lykos fed, and that Hilana could do without tons of thought. All that mattered was that it tasted good, it was edible, and it was filling. The second step would be to send a servus with a note to the Sentinel outpost here in Tertium, because she was going to need the assistance of the High Sentinel to juggle the amnesiac Lord of Frost. Permissions would have to be granted, or somewhere safe to put him. Hilana, by herself, attracted little attention in the Luxium. She kept to the Aurecine District, she worked in Port Vasta, and she was about as far removed from the Royals of House Sol’Avaerys as she could have been. She was just one nameless Vastiana amongst millions of them. But a God... that attracted attention, and it wouldn’t be of the sort Hilana could protect him from.

She could go to the Sands. Put them somewhere out there. Get some camels and enough gear to carry on, and then they could hunt and live off of the land. That would be safer, provided the Founders granted permission for Lykos to remain here. Everything hinged on that, she knew, because if she had to leave Solunarium with him... then she was going into a foreign world that she knew less of, and it would be that much harder for her to protect him until he could protect himself from being taken advantage of. And then there was seeing what could be done about Æros. Once she had Lykos stashed somewhere safely with Lia, then she could go to the Luxium and approach Palaemon regarding his cousin. They did deserve to know. But one iron at a time.

At the spirit’s tone, though, Hilana at least smiled and turned the chicken on the grill pan. “I am very vexing, and you already know that, Æros. Ask anyone and everyone that knows me, and they will tell you so. But I do believe you told me before that spite was a powerful motivator to do better, wasn’t it? If it helps encourage you now, then it helps encourage you. Just don’t become a poltergeist,” she blinked and let go of her Semblance, feeling the headache starting from looking at the spread-out foggy Ghost, Lia, and some of the flashes of Lykos’ aura that she had tried to avoid looking directly at. “We will make a plan, and we will figure out a way forward. I may need to consult my notes from Maryam and Malik to try to understand the present situation better, but we mostly spoke about the Way of the Flesh...”

[Rickter]

Athalia seemed to take initiative with him at the very least, and provided insight on how to say 'thank you' within their native tongue. It might've looked like Lykos eyed her curiously, but beneath his gruff and hungry exterior his mind worked much like a sponge. He repeated the word Gratias several times in his head, mulling over every annunciation he heard to be sure he would match the dialect correctly.

Though he didn't say it aloud to repeat the lesson, the wolf did nod in acknowledgment to the girl, as he steadily finished off the last few bites of roasted goat left in the process. Hilana also did her rounds to check up on them while he finished chewing, and when the question regarding his tears came up, Lykos could only slow for a moment to debate what it could truly be at the source of it all. Was it really just the pain he felt inside? He didn't think any of the food had spices he couldn't handle, as far as he could tell everything was delectably tasty on his behalf.

No. When he thought more about it, the more it became obvious where his pain stemmed from. And when he looked over to Athalia, his eyes looked past her toward the window nearby. Though sunlight continued to radiate throughout the desert, clouds had already begun to build overhead from the looks of it. In the same sense he felt the same within his mind, clouded with no real way of seeking out the answers he yearned for. It was apparent to him though where the source of his pain really stemmed, given that both his heart and his gut were the primary spots that seemed to ache the most.

"I'm... Not sure." He then finally admitted to the Lia. "My stomach aches only because I'm hungry... But..." His eyes fell to the table where all the eaten food resided, as he rested a greasy hand over the surface of his sternum. "The food is amazing. I can't tell you how appreciative I am of it. And... it does bother me a little, not knowing where I come from..." As he admitted this the sky grew overcast outside, and within the next few minutes, the gentle tap of rain started to fall against the windows themselves.

"There's just this... ache in my heart. It feels like a lump of lead in my chest, and beneath it, a hole that just... hurts to be filled." He reasoned as he noticed the sound of rain finally, now that a good deluge started to gently drum against the roof overhead. Lana then brought over the chicken she had been grilling in the pans, leaving a few large breasts out for him before encouraging him with her positive words. The tact of a promise brought him to gently, if not somberly, grin to her in return because of such kindness. And in a roundabout way, even if she wanted to help, Lykos felt as though being around her might already make things difficult.

Not just because of his lack of memory, but because of no real understanding who he was. Lord of Winter sounded like something serious he needed to consider, and while he hadn't the faintest idea where to begin, Lykos wanted to understand the stipulations involved with being such a thing. That said, he couldn't help but feel the rain shared in his sentiment, in that the gloomy overcast felt mournful of something that was lost. "...It will be alright..." He gently repeated to himself hoping to find confidence in those words, before he started in on the first of his chicken platter with another hearty chomp.

Whether the tears themselves would cease, he did not care anymore, he would process the grief as well as the joy of a full belly in time. For now though, he just needed to get his gut to ache a little less than before.

[Pharaoh]

Blinking at the blaze of the Sceptre above, the silver-white glow in Phocion's eyes dimmed as he returned to himself. He could feel Her energy and influence receding, as he glanced over to find Vrædyn looking similarly disoriented. Scanning his surroundings, he found himself on the platform atop Mount Sorokyn, which was unusually unpopulated for this time of day. There would usually be a long queue of Varværyn faithful carrying, pushing, dragging or ætherically urging their sacrifices toward a fiery fate.

A lingering gaze was sustained between the Sol'Aværys cousins, though no words crossed the chasm between them. Their mutual understanding required none. They were of common mind: They had served their purpose and they knew what they were intended to know. Their bodies were there own now, and they could return to their days.

Phocion began to turn toward the path down, when he found himself face-to-face with a portal. On the other side of it sat his mother behind her desk. Another wordless exchange of absolute clarity: Debrief, the scenario urged. He stepped through, to find Valæra at his side and both moonborn siblings stepped forward to take their seats across from Cithæra.

"Here is what we have ascertained so far," The Vigilia Magna began, "After which I hope you might be able to fill in a few of the gaps in our assessment..."

* * *

► Show Spoiler

It was hours later and he was back in his office, gazing out at the dim, perpetual glow of his city... his Umbrium. There was much upon which to meditate. The High Sentinel had gone to report to the Consilium Draconum, whose members doubtless had more insight to add to the strange phenomenon that had transpired at the edge of the largest ingress to their undisputed realm.

His mind had only begun to turn to idle things, when a whisper wended him away from whimsy. His eyes widened, when he registered that the voice intruding upon his thoughts was not that of his mother, but of his Patroness. She had seen beyond the Veil of the mask she had gifted the high-sighted Vastiana who had travelled North in search of another misadventure on the heels of that calamitous exploit in Ecith. She had returned, and she was not alone.

"Futuendi gratia..." He muttered as he turned from his view of the cityscape and Her silky, subtle voice retreated from his thoughts.

High Sentinel... he projected into the mind of his mother... We have a situation at Tertium. Mobilise the Custodes Deorum. I shall rendezvous with them in the main plaza of the Mercatura Regio, whilst our Tertian agents create a perimeter around the Prædium Chenzirialis.

Sequester omnes minas, the High Sentinel replied with a sharp edge that he could feel in his soul, even when he couldn't actually hear her voice.

* * *

The Sentinels were quick to respond. Within moments, a small army of Tertium's regular complement of Sentinels were converging around the Chenzira Estate, engaging the active effects of wards that diverted attention and interest from their activity as they surrounded the property. Passersby continued along their merry way without marking the unusual, and perhaps alarming, gathering of uniformed Sentinels.

By the time Phocion and the Custodes Deorum arrived at a nearby plaza, the storm clouds had begun to gather. The veiled prince glanced skyward with a grimace. Tertium, being a coastal city, was prone to more mercurial weather than the capital, but this was no coincidence. Particularly since the rain began to fall on their particular destination.

"I want Mesmers deterring attention from this area and I want Semblers and Elementalists assessing the nature of this weather. Sentinel Vindrys and Sentinel Herodyn will accompany me as I make contact. All others will prepare to engage. If the Golden Guard attempts to assert themselves, dissuade them. Failing that, alert me at once. To me." He gestured to Vindrys and Herodyn, before marching toward the front door of the estate. Upon reaching it, he would disengage the ward of dissuasion and gesture for his two companions to do the same. With that, he rapped the base of his glaive against the door, sighing. What calamity had the Chenzira girl visited upon the Populus Solunarianus this time?

[Aeros]

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Spite may yet prove to be an adequate motivator. However, it was, for the moment, yet too early to pick which one of many rather potent emotions to use in such a way.

"...maybe we will, maybe we won't. I just…I don't think my desire to recover, and the motivation to see that desire through, can be decided upon until the dust settles." There was a pause.

"I have no idea what this…this unlife might even look like. What role can a ghost have, here? …and if I've nothing socially to reclaim, then…" the sound of the apparition's voice trailed off.

Then…what?

The cost of flesh in isolation was a monumental weight on its own, but along with a payment of that price, he could at least foresee a cascade of further consequences. But what exactly would those additional consequences come to be? He didn't know, and he further knew not where to find a starting point from which he could even begin to posit any potential profferent. He could do nothing but wait and see, much to his own vexation; such waiting suffused him wholly with a sickly sort of anxiety. It took quite a bit of effort to shield his mind from intrusive thoughts about potential worst case scenarios.

"...any hope for a future is hard to even entertain when I've likely lost far more than just my body." The waver in Æros' voice betrayed genuine, aching worry, much as he did try to hide it.

And though it would be fair to assume the ghost had been doing naught but languishing in and about the peculiarities of his newfound unlife, his dispersion was done for several reasons. For one thing, he didn't want anyone to recognize him or the fact that there was a ghost present from naked sight alone; he didn't want to be perceived much at all, for the nonce, if he could avoid it. But for another, he wanted to explore what had become of his senses. Now, he did not need eyes to see nor ears to hear; even if he willed his miasma to form the shape of these things, they were little other than façades, no matter how sincere the structure. But though he knew this, he knew not, beyond that, how any of such things now functioned.

As Æros' pervasive presence continued to permeate the room, so too did his perceptions. He could hear sounds from each opposing wall just as well as the next; his field of view now encompassed nearly the entirety of the room, and with far fewer blindspots than before. It was an odd expansion to his experience given what he was used to, but the abundance of additional things he could catch and pay attention to like this came across as an invaluable tool he'd come to learn to make use of as time passed.

However, while his visual and aural senses were notably better than before, his tactile sensations were borderline nonexistent now aside from the ever present chill of death. Further, his olfactory and gustatory senses were absent entirely. One might argue, though, that the vast enhancement of the former two might be worth the price of the latter three. Epicurean by nature, Æros would never agree.

The sound of the rain was a bit uncanny; it never rained much here– thought it was relaxing. It would not be unreasonable, then, to assume a seasonal lord might, indeed, have some subtle, perhaps unintentional, influences upon the weather.

There wouldn't have been much of an initial commotion at the ingress of the Vigilia given the careful cautions taken to avoid such things. And aside from, perhaps, an intuitive sense of unease, Æros had no awareness of their arrival even when they would knock. And even if the kitchen were close enough for him to have heard the thump of the glaive against the door, he'd likely not have paid it much mind; it would not be hard to assume that any company to the manse aught to be for those that actually lived there full time.

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

The women listened to Lykos as he spoke, and Hilana continued to work on the chicken on the stovetop. “It will get better,” Lia told him kindly. “It hurts now, and that hurt won’t go away, not entirely... but it will get a bit less and less over time. Maybe somehow we will find out where you are from, and where your people are. Hilana may be a bit of a disaster,” she smiled at her when Hilana looked at her over her shoulder from the stovetop, raising her eyebrows at her and tilting her head. “But she’s good at finding things. It may take a while longer, since your people surely are not in the Sands... but they may be found. But until then, we will be your people,” she patted his arm and put a piece of the chicken in one of the flatbreads before taking a bite. She paused mid-bite as the rain began to fall, and Hilana turned away from the stove to look out the windows before leaving the chicken in the pan to go and look.

There had not been a single cloud in the sky earlier, and now there was rain coming in, the sky overcast and droplets beginning to come down. Sure, the weather in Tertium was quite different compared to almost anywhere else once you left the port city, or even got half a day’s ride off of the coasts of the Crystal Sea... but that was fast. The young Vastiana was enamoured of storms and weather; it sang to her wildness, and as tired as she was, she wanted to do no more than to go outside into the rain, spread her arms wide, and let the drops soak her skin. Even if it turned her ebon hair into an uncontrollable mess of curls, and soaked the skirts and blouse she wore to cling to every curve of her body... Maybe once she got everyone situated, if it was still raining, then she could go out and sit in it. She didn’t want the rain to stop.

“It may take some time,” Hilana admitted to the ghost that had spread himself around the kitchen. “But yes, the dust will have to settle first. I need to get things organized and figure out our next steps. Food first, and then I can notify the Vigilia Magna... She will want to know,” she returned to the stove with quick steps and reached to turn the chicken over, even as the rain all but called her name. She could get in the hammock and lay down in the rain and let it fall on her as the winds rocked her to sleep... It was tempting. But there was much to do, and so resting was not an option. “We will have to see what there is to see. Once the dust settles... we can take stock of what options there are and come up with some sort of plan. I’d like to know what happened to you, and we will get to that when you are ready to talk about it.” She didn’t miss the waver in his voice, and she had to wonder what had befallen him while she was in the Void. There were some things worse than death, and she wondered...

Approaching the big door meant that they were out of the rain, at least, considering the robust portico that shielded the entryway. The knock on the large door was answered by a servus, who looked utterly surprised to see the trio of hooded, veiled Sentinels there. “Salve, Vigilia. How may I help you?” the neatly-dressed slave in her collar and long, fitted tunic inquired. “Do you require Dominus Lebaoth?” The visits the Chenzira estate had ever received from the Vigilia Argenti could be counted on one hand, so clearly, this was something best brought to the attention of the patriarch. The servus reached out to the Master of the house’s symphony, and informed him of the guests.

One did not keep the Vigilia Argenti waiting, and it didn’t take long for Hilana’s father to appear in the hallway. “Come in,” the tall Vastian inclined his head and shoulders respectfully to them, well-dressed and groomed as one might have expected of an Equestrian, straightening up. Karam Chenzira Lebaoth normally had a strong presence, but he was smart enough to know that it was less wise to present any sort of attitude to those that served House Sol’Zalkyrion. He knew, further, from his good friend Mattias Argenti that his troublesome youngest child seemed to be involved somehow with the Umbrian Court, much to their consternation and confusion. “How may I be of service?”