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Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 7:18 pm
by Florian
40 Glade 122
Writing clearly was as much a hurdle as everything else this new job entailed. He needed to write with a clear hand, a steady hand, and with a hand he had not used to write before. Even with weights and clips to keep the paper from moving, he still had to grow quickly accustomed to writing with his left hand. No one really expects for a creature in the woods to amputate your writing arm and take it as a trophy, but he had to adapt. It was endlessly frustrating that he required the assistance of a secretary to write most anything that needed to be legible to others, and Florian found himself stealing bits of time to practice.
He was never much of a writer before. He knew how to write, and his handwriting hadn't been atrocious, but now he had a reason for it to look nice. He found himself writing and rewriting passages from children's fiction. Thing that were easy to copy. It was a slow process, and made all the more difficult when it came to avoiding smudging the ink with his hand. Neither pencil nor pen were impervious to smudges, and keeping an elevated hand as he wrote was a tiring accommodation.
He was alone in the office. It was not as large as Brenner's, but it was his, and that was something that bewildered the Lysanrin. A pitcher of water — with ice! — sat on a side table near the window, and Florian stood up to pour himself a glass. He looked out of the window, at the view of the city the Presidium offered. It was not the scenery he had grown up with. When he looked carefully with silver eyes instead of blue, he could see the wards layered over the building, over the windows, covering ever inch of surface and regularly bolstered and fed by the strongest shield mages the Order of Reconciliation had to offer. Especially now, magical threats were at the forefront of the minds of the people here. Coven witches could see the regime change as a chance to strike — though Florian knew little of the Covens, just that they posed a danger — and Kalzasi was a veritable home of mages ready to go to war for their home. The wards did not just layer over the outside of the Presidium, but inside the rooms, too. Florian had briefly considered practicing his siphoning on them, but it was too soon to be so open about his inherent magic. His place in this world was precarious.
The scent of flowers covered the scent of smog that pervaded the air. He still watched out the window, as if he could see details clearly past the fractal-patterned, shimmering wards that were layered thickly over the windows. Sometimes he could get lost in thought watching the patterns of aether. It was the closest he could manage to relax.
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 12:12 pm
by Paragon
“Times change…” The mark that rest upon Florian’s palm grew warmer. A tall figure stepped up beside him on his left, nearest the mark. Opposite of him, a large dark furred tiger seated itself, its tail flicking slightly as it joined Florian in staring out the window.
“But people seldom do.” Killian stared out the window but he did not seem to be taking in the scenery. Like the Lysanrin, he appeared to be studying the fractal patterns of the immense network of wards that were blanketed over the Presidium.
“At least, that is what I have found across the ages. Was this where you expected your road to take you, Florian?” To look at Killian, there was not much different about him than when he first appeared to the Lysanrin. His hair was a little longer. He was dressed as humbly as he had been when they first met. A grey shirt that hugged his strong frame. A pair of black leather trousers tucked into travel worn boots. His hands were once again in his pockets. After a moment, he looked at Florian and there was the most noticeable change about him. His sclera were a solid black and the fire in his eyes had turned a dark, mystifying violet.
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 1:18 pm
by Florian
Florian recognized the voice, the tiger, and the man whom both belonged to. He continued to stare out the window, but eventually, a few minutes after Killian asked the question, he turned his gaze towards him. He didn't appear quite despondant, but he was not happy, either. A bit tired, or sad, or somewhere in between.
"No. Not at all." He replied to the question. "I cannot fathom how this has become my life, even if I had a hand in creating it. The decisions and considerations of the people around me are a grand mystery I don't think I want to uncover."
Florian folded his hand into a loose fist, not clenched but closed. "I thought that I could help, but it does not seem that anyone wishes to take me seriously. Except the Dornkirks, maybe. I signed up to be a propaganda piece. I knew this, and yet I agreed." He sighed. "Maybe I thought stability would make me happy. But I'm still angry."
He took a few steps to cross the distance between him and the pitcher of water, pouring himself a glass and taking a sip. "Are you thirsty?" He asked Killian, though he wasn't sure if he needed to drink water. If one could appear past the efforts to keep him safe in the form of guards and wards, perhaps he was beyond the need to drink. If Killian wanted the water, he would pour him a glass and offer it.
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 1:48 pm
by Paragon
"Thank you." Killian accepted the drink that was offered to him. He took a sip of the water before taking up a post leaning against the desk. The tiger padded up to him, prompting Killian to thread his fingers through the great beasts fur. He contended himself with petting her quietly before continuing the conversation.
"You are unhappy." It was not a question. He looked from the purring tiger, studying Florian openly.
"Why are you here? What do you want to accomplish?" There was no judgement in Killian's tone, only idle curiosity. He leaned back, taking another sip of his water as he listened.
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 2:03 pm
by Florian
"I wanted to see if I could make a difference. An official one. I wanted to make people upset about where I am and who I am and why I'm even here." He took another sip of water, and then set the glass down. "But it's not enough. Official channels do nothing. It's all these human bastards who are still so fragile about themselves that the very idea of anyone unlike them infiltrating their supremacist club is nigh the end of the world."
Florian tread towards the tiger and kneeled next to it, petting the big, soft cat. "I thought the best revenge would be to disrupt the status quo, but the status quo seems to rush right past without a regard for me beyond gossip. The hardest thing most anyone here has had to do was to avoid rumors targeting them. Who has feared for their life? Who has felt the strand of fate drag them through hell? People are suffering and I am propped up as a token for the difference being made. I am being used to pluck more bodies for a war that is simply the result of the ruling classes of two cities throwing their weight around.
"My mother died and it only barely warranted an investigation. This king dies and it starts a war. Who had ever decided his death was more important than hers? I am arrested and taken from a train and everyone is told I am a deserter. This prince is taken from his wedding and it starts a war. It's tiring, and I'm tired of it." He stopped, realizing he had gone on a tangent.
"What I mean to say is — I am here to make a change, but I do not feel as if I am accomplishing anything of note, even with my best efforts in this position. I want to force these people I am surrounded by every day that they are nothing without the people they attempt to crush underfoot, like they tried to do to me for so long."
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:20 pm
by Paragon
The tiger eyed Florian as he neared. When he raised his hand to pet her, the great cat leaned into the touch, emitting a rumbling pur. Her eyes closed in enjoyment as she raised her head to allow him to get beneath her chin. Killian listened quietly as Florian went on his tangent. He let the Lysanrin man vent, getting all of it off of his chest.
“You cannot disrupt society’s rules by playing by them, Florian.” He shrugged one shoulder as if he were stating something simple, as though commenting on the weather instead of suggesting mass upheaval. He looked out the window, lost in thought for a moment before he spoke softly.
“A long time ago, I knew another soul. Much like you, she was angry with the world she lived in.” He took a gulp of his water, returning his gaze to Florian. “In the end, she burned that world to the ground. Though not without great cost.”
Setting his glass down, Killian closed his eyes as though remembering something. He let out a breath and opened his eyes again, staring at Florian intently.
“If you want to change the world the way you want to change it, you won’t accomplish that from behind these walls.” Killian gestured to their surroundings. The shadows in the room flickered before one of the walls was suddenly overtaken by them. It became a solid black surface that adopted a reflective sheen. Before long, Florian was presented with a solid black mirror within which both he and the tiger were reflected. With a key difference. Shadows clung to Florian like a cloak. At the core of his form glowed a soft grey light tinged with blue that was wrapped in shadows. The tiger was just as formidable as she appeared in the real world. Her stripes emit a soft blue light and where the shadows that framed Florian seemed wild and untamed, those that wrapped around her were smooth and sleek. Strangely, Killian’s reflection looked nothing like him. He was positioned just as he was in the real world, leaning leisurely against the desk. His form was that of a writhing mass of shadows and black fire, at the heart of which glowed a soft violet light. It possessed a vaguely humanoid shape with two violet glowing eyes that stared at Florian from within the depths of the black mirror.
“If I told you that through this mirror, I could take you anywhere, show you anything, would you want it?”
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 8:04 pm
by Florian
"I've gathered that much." Florian murmured. The cat was soft, and he scratched under her chin as Killian spoke. He was right. There wasn't anything Florian could do as a politician, not a single man under the roof of the many who did not care. There were many who cared, who cared so much and so deeply wanted to tear apart the foundations of the State they lived in piece by piece by piece. It could be easier to unravel the city at the seams, to wear away the fabric until it began to split and tear. But it would take too long.
Florian stood up as the light and shadows flickered and watched the wall transform. He had never seen himself in such a form, even if he looked mostly the same. Aside from the roiling of the shadows around him, and the glowing, grey core, mixed with the soft blue of his eyes, he looked the same. The tiger looked similar, too, but not as unhinged — while Killian looked like a spirit or a creature more than a man. "Spirit or creature" seemed closer to what he was than a man, and he surprised Florian with each change he made to the world around them.
"Anything...?" Florian said, quietly considering. Immediately he knew he did want to see, but he was still quiet. And then, "Yes, I would. Is there something you want to show me?"
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:16 pm
by Paragon
“Only what you wish to see.” He pushed himself up off the desk and stepped forward. The shadows in the room pressed upon him, practically reaching for him as though they wanted to enfold him into their embrace. Outside, the skies grew darker as clouds began to roll in, ushering in the makings of a thunderstorm. Killian did not seem to notice any of this. His hands were tucked into his pockets. He stared into the black surface of the mirror. What he saw was anyone's guess. Of note however, was the fact that his reflection had not moved from its place leaning against the desk.
“What you see in the Mirror is a dark reflection of the world as it really is. Things there are harsher. They are more raw. It is the world with the veneer of Light stripped clean. At least…most of it.” He turned slightly so that he could stare at Florian from over his shoulder.
“Through the Mirror you can see the past, visit the present, and sometimes find a path toward the future. But be warned, always will the things you see be touched by the shadows. Sometimes what you see is the truth. Sometimes it is only the truth as it could be when gilded by Fear and Vengeance.” Killian turned to face Florian more fully. He peered at the Lysanrin. Behind him, the shape of his reflection stalked forward becoming ever larger as the darkness in the room grew more oppressive. The thunderstorm outside began to roil as rain began to pelt the windows.
“Now, what is it you wish to see? Where is it that you wish to go?”
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 10:57 pm
by Florian
Anything.
Florian could see anything. Past, present, and even future. His mind drifted to his mother, her murder, and a vindictive rage swelled up in his heart. It took everything to not ask for it immediately, for the vindication and for the revenge he could enact upon this. She deserved revenge for what had happened to her, and he wanted to bring it to her. The next season would mark a year since her death, a year since a mishandled case, a year since he last saw her. So much had happened in that year, and Florian was not sure if he had grown.
He thought of the monster that took his arm, of the good Doctor — whom he figured was still in his lab, promises unfulfilled — but even Florian knew that none of these things would do more than stir up the hate in his heart. Was he always to dwell in the past, when he could do so much with the future?
His own thoughts surprised him. Perhaps he had grown, even since Frost. He had his anger to fuel his desire for change, but seeing the people who had caused so much pain in his life would not bring him peace. It would not bring him vengeance.
Something else tugged at his heart, that was neither vindictive nor hateful — perhaps it had stemmed in hatred, but now it changed. He was angry at Talon, and frustrated at the privilege the man had. For some time he had hoped the man suffered. Florian's own thoughts about the Doctor Constantine, the monster sent after him for his escape; something akin to empathy welled up. He had been experimented on in horrific manners after being kidnapped by the Order, and whatever and wherever Talon was could be worse, especially if he were in the hands of Zaichaer. He did not know what had happened at the wedding, not exactly, but he had seen enough to draw his own conclusions, and he knew that whatever Brenner had done had led to his kidnapping.
The idea that anyone could be suffering at the hands of torture or experimentation even close to what he had suffered brought more anger than the prince himself ever had. And Florian could not escape blame for it.
"Show me the Prince Talon. As he is in the present. I want to know the consequences of what put me in this office."
Re: Worn to a Shadow
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 12:24 am
by Paragon
There was a moment. A still and eternal moment where Killian simply stared at Florian. The darkness in the room grew. The violet fire of his eyes popped and snapped as the shadow creature in the reflection of the mirror and Killian himself became indistinguishable.
“Of course.” Killian’s voice echoed, whether it was with divine power or something else was not discernable. But after a moment, he raised a hand and touched the surface of the black mirror. It gave off a single pulse that was matched by a single ripple that flowed across its surface. The surface went pitch black for a moment. The tiger beside Florian was on her feet and emit a low growl in her throat. The blue stripes across her fur began to glow a soft blue. And then the surface of the mirror was suddenly rushing toward them. It crashed over them, resounding with an ear splitting shatter that was a combination of breaking glass and the crash of waves in a thunderstorm. All around them the world became a writhing planescape of ghostly shadows that wreathed everything, with only the barest hint of light shining out from within. Building and structures stood as dark black monoliths with the silhouettes of people walking in them, around them, through streets and boarding vessels that traversed the land, sea and skies.
Every person was wreathed in those flickering shadows that were almost like living flames of darkness. Some were mere walking shadows, so covered in them that their features were completely lost to the darkness, with barely a light shining from within them. Many were not so covered in darkness. Many only had a few shadows clinging to them, their forms a mix of light and shadow. Some more. Some less.
An impossible amount of land was traversed in but the blink of an eye as the continent rushed past them. Until they came to the edge of a city that was illuminated by a stark silver-white light that made every shadow stand out that much more. They brushed through the city and toward the source of the silver-white light until it became almost blinding. For a moment, the shadows that surrounded Killian warred with the light they were approaching until finally it became far too bright to look at. So much so, that Florian would be forced to close his eyes.
It was accompanied with the sound of screams. Pained. Agonized. Filled with a deep suffering. Of desperate cries and a plea that had no words. The world around them shook as though being assaulted by a fury so terrible it would break the very foundations of the earth. And then…
Silence.
An uncertain amount of time passed.
“Open your eyes, Florian.” Killian’s voice cut through the silence. When Florian opened his eyes, the world was a plane of stark white structures that were edged with shadow. Before them rose two immense doors that were completely etched with runic markings. Killian gestured to the doors.
“He is through there. But…” Killian looked to the doors. His face was devoid of expression. “I cannot go with you. If you wish to see him, step through the doors and see the consequence of what you helped set in motion.”