Violets on Horizons I
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 12:32 pm
TIMESTAMP: 14 Frost, 122
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NOTES: -
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Ash’s chance encounter with an eldritch entity that led to the loss of Hector’s memory was an odd scenario to pick up the pieces thereafter…for both Hector and Vergil. Oblivious almost by nature, it wasn’t that difficult for Hector himself to adjust to simply existing in this new state of mind, because, well, effectively, he simply did not know any better. How could he? Any context he would require to really react in any meaningful way was locked away via the Outsider’s magic. But the thing is, Hector does not exist in a vacuum and he does not get to make these choices fully without consequence.
For one thing, the person with which he spent nearly all of his time was deeply affected. On the surface, this wouldn’t twist a professional relationship between the two of them to any severe degree. After all, Hector did maintain what memories he’d made since beginning his life in the Gelerian Imperium, wherein they still lived and worked. All of his Inquisitorial training was kept, and so to that end, their ability to effectively do their jobs wouldn’t be hindered. Well, all on the surface.
The problem there was that the two of them met far before arriving in the Imperium, far before they held these jobs together, and while Hector’s choice didn’t affect his ability to do his job, it did create a massive schism in the interpersonal rapport he had with his partner. The immediate aftermath was devastating; Vergil struggled to adjust to the fact that he was now essentially guiding an amnesiac; Hector could recall academic information, he could recall his abilities to cast magic and quite a few other skills…but the finer points of his life? Nothing. It was hard for Vergil to remember that he couldn’t reference back to any point prior to Zaichaer’s fall without the other giving him a clueless look. It was painful to adjust to the fact that roughly a decade of their relationship had been stricken from the boy’s mind, and lacking Mesmer or anything of the sort, he lived in paranoia that the bond between the two of them would crumble without the breadth of the foundation upon which it was founded.
Further fueling this paranoia was Hector’s odd initial reactions to his touch in the final month of Ash. The two had very recently intertwined themselves more intimately, and while, of course, Hector did remember this, he didn’t quite remember exactly why it was that he had become so very infatuated with the older man. That wasn’t to say that there was no reason for him to have felt that way; Vergil had a great many things that one could easily find themselves enamored with, from his skills to his demeanor to his appearance, there was certainly a lot– but it’s jarring when a pseudo-stranger is trying to treat you as if you’re their familiar lover, especially given the weight of Vergil’s emotions by this point. Hector found it incredibly overwhelming; he struggled to express this, but at least Vergil was really rather perceptive, on top of knowing the way young elf tended to emote well; he figured this out quickly and, in turn, backed off.
And to all of this, the aidolon bound to Hector’s soul really found himself reveling in everything involved. He’d learned quite a bit about his own origins through it all, having been told that he was a direct descendant of the Outsider that they’d come across. On top of that, he found observing the social fallout between Hector and Vergil to be fairly fascinating– but he was not without his own form of empathy. Though his own goals were ultimately still hidden, he’d grown attached to Hector, and as such, he did care about the boy’s wellbeing– as was mirrored by Hector toward the spirit, too. In that regard, where he could, the spirit would try and smooth things over as much as he could manage.
They’d stayed in Kalzasi for a few weeks total, returning to the Imperium within the first week of Frost; they’d actually made heavy use of Hector’s homing capabilities he’d gained at the onset of his Animism to make this process quicker. Upon their arrival, it was Vergil who drafted the report on the information they’d gathered, notating that Hector had his memories suppressed, but neglecting to expand much upon how exactly that happened. In writing, he did his best to downplay the severity of this decision; he could, in a way, get away with this by focusing on the fact that Hector legitimately did remember everything since his arrival from Zaichaer forward, therefore, he was still perfectly able to do his job. He even added the pointed caveat that, as before, the boy was manageable in his care, and that to a degree, this was a good thing– Hector’s loyalties to his previous factions were arguably erased by this choice. He did have half a mind not to have said anything at all, but it would’ve become obvious should anyone within the Inquisition try and ask Hector anything about his time in Zaichaer; Hector wouldn’t have been able to answer whatsoever, and though he could lie, trusting the boy to be consistent with his lies would’ve been…a suspect decision at absolute best.
In the days thereafter, Vergil did indicate their joint willingness to return to Zaichaer or Kalzasi for whatever purposes the Imperium wanted. He did, however, inquire about facilitating their doing so by marking him, specifically, with Traversion; doing so would enable the two of them to quickly travel back and forth, and that, due to Hector’s chaotic nature, he would be the best suited of the two to receive it. The processing of paperwork was somewhat tedious anywhere, and given all of the Imperium’s regulations, it could easily be a massive pain here, but their fluid use of magic did serve to expedite things, at least. Vergil heard back within a few days and the answer he was given was that his request had been granted; he’d be contacted by a more senior Inquisitor with the rune within a few days to undergo the initiation, and that it would be performed within the Grand Cathedral; he’d be monitored for stability and then returned to his home to recover from the resultant threshold sickness.
It happened exactly as it was described. He was contacted with a date and time, the fourteenth of Final Soulstice, year one-twenty-two at roughly ten in the morning. And of course, Vergil had informed Hector he was doing this. By now, the mercurial elf had warmed back up to him, and his decision resulted in Hector’s mood oscillating between excitement and concern. Hector himself was still stabilizing and adjusting to weaving his own æther on top of adapting to the curse he’d invited upon himself– it wasn’t exactly a convenient time to give him another rune, but waiting to give it to either of them was far from convenient for anyone involved. The two of them being able to move freely through the slipspace posed to benefit them as individuals and the Imperium itself.
So when the day came, Hector struggled to want to let Vergil walk out the door, suddenly paranoid he’d never see the older mage again. It was less that he wanted to stop it and more that he wanted to come with, but such a thing was not exactly sanctioned.
Standing within their living room as Vergil gathered his things to leave, Hector spoke. “Must you go alone?” And much as he tried to quell it, Hector’s worry was audible in his voice.
“It’s not a choice…and if it matters, I did ask.” Vergil sighed. “...but your presence was deemed superfluous; I can’t exactly argue with protocol, either.” The man sounded a combination of sympathetic and exasperated; he wanted to assuage the boy’s concern, but he really did not have the time, given the importance of punctuality.
Though he wouldn’t voice it, it did matter to Hector that Vergil had at least accounted for the fact that he’d wanted to be there without him having had to ask. And yet again, it was the notion of ‘protocol’ that served to bar him from something he wanted. This was a frequent, and intensely vexing, occurrence in the Imperium.
For one thing, the person with which he spent nearly all of his time was deeply affected. On the surface, this wouldn’t twist a professional relationship between the two of them to any severe degree. After all, Hector did maintain what memories he’d made since beginning his life in the Gelerian Imperium, wherein they still lived and worked. All of his Inquisitorial training was kept, and so to that end, their ability to effectively do their jobs wouldn’t be hindered. Well, all on the surface.
The problem there was that the two of them met far before arriving in the Imperium, far before they held these jobs together, and while Hector’s choice didn’t affect his ability to do his job, it did create a massive schism in the interpersonal rapport he had with his partner. The immediate aftermath was devastating; Vergil struggled to adjust to the fact that he was now essentially guiding an amnesiac; Hector could recall academic information, he could recall his abilities to cast magic and quite a few other skills…but the finer points of his life? Nothing. It was hard for Vergil to remember that he couldn’t reference back to any point prior to Zaichaer’s fall without the other giving him a clueless look. It was painful to adjust to the fact that roughly a decade of their relationship had been stricken from the boy’s mind, and lacking Mesmer or anything of the sort, he lived in paranoia that the bond between the two of them would crumble without the breadth of the foundation upon which it was founded.
Further fueling this paranoia was Hector’s odd initial reactions to his touch in the final month of Ash. The two had very recently intertwined themselves more intimately, and while, of course, Hector did remember this, he didn’t quite remember exactly why it was that he had become so very infatuated with the older man. That wasn’t to say that there was no reason for him to have felt that way; Vergil had a great many things that one could easily find themselves enamored with, from his skills to his demeanor to his appearance, there was certainly a lot– but it’s jarring when a pseudo-stranger is trying to treat you as if you’re their familiar lover, especially given the weight of Vergil’s emotions by this point. Hector found it incredibly overwhelming; he struggled to express this, but at least Vergil was really rather perceptive, on top of knowing the way young elf tended to emote well; he figured this out quickly and, in turn, backed off.
And to all of this, the aidolon bound to Hector’s soul really found himself reveling in everything involved. He’d learned quite a bit about his own origins through it all, having been told that he was a direct descendant of the Outsider that they’d come across. On top of that, he found observing the social fallout between Hector and Vergil to be fairly fascinating– but he was not without his own form of empathy. Though his own goals were ultimately still hidden, he’d grown attached to Hector, and as such, he did care about the boy’s wellbeing– as was mirrored by Hector toward the spirit, too. In that regard, where he could, the spirit would try and smooth things over as much as he could manage.
They’d stayed in Kalzasi for a few weeks total, returning to the Imperium within the first week of Frost; they’d actually made heavy use of Hector’s homing capabilities he’d gained at the onset of his Animism to make this process quicker. Upon their arrival, it was Vergil who drafted the report on the information they’d gathered, notating that Hector had his memories suppressed, but neglecting to expand much upon how exactly that happened. In writing, he did his best to downplay the severity of this decision; he could, in a way, get away with this by focusing on the fact that Hector legitimately did remember everything since his arrival from Zaichaer forward, therefore, he was still perfectly able to do his job. He even added the pointed caveat that, as before, the boy was manageable in his care, and that to a degree, this was a good thing– Hector’s loyalties to his previous factions were arguably erased by this choice. He did have half a mind not to have said anything at all, but it would’ve become obvious should anyone within the Inquisition try and ask Hector anything about his time in Zaichaer; Hector wouldn’t have been able to answer whatsoever, and though he could lie, trusting the boy to be consistent with his lies would’ve been…a suspect decision at absolute best.
In the days thereafter, Vergil did indicate their joint willingness to return to Zaichaer or Kalzasi for whatever purposes the Imperium wanted. He did, however, inquire about facilitating their doing so by marking him, specifically, with Traversion; doing so would enable the two of them to quickly travel back and forth, and that, due to Hector’s chaotic nature, he would be the best suited of the two to receive it. The processing of paperwork was somewhat tedious anywhere, and given all of the Imperium’s regulations, it could easily be a massive pain here, but their fluid use of magic did serve to expedite things, at least. Vergil heard back within a few days and the answer he was given was that his request had been granted; he’d be contacted by a more senior Inquisitor with the rune within a few days to undergo the initiation, and that it would be performed within the Grand Cathedral; he’d be monitored for stability and then returned to his home to recover from the resultant threshold sickness.
It happened exactly as it was described. He was contacted with a date and time, the fourteenth of Final Soulstice, year one-twenty-two at roughly ten in the morning. And of course, Vergil had informed Hector he was doing this. By now, the mercurial elf had warmed back up to him, and his decision resulted in Hector’s mood oscillating between excitement and concern. Hector himself was still stabilizing and adjusting to weaving his own æther on top of adapting to the curse he’d invited upon himself– it wasn’t exactly a convenient time to give him another rune, but waiting to give it to either of them was far from convenient for anyone involved. The two of them being able to move freely through the slipspace posed to benefit them as individuals and the Imperium itself.
---
So when the day came, Hector struggled to want to let Vergil walk out the door, suddenly paranoid he’d never see the older mage again. It was less that he wanted to stop it and more that he wanted to come with, but such a thing was not exactly sanctioned.
Standing within their living room as Vergil gathered his things to leave, Hector spoke. “Must you go alone?” And much as he tried to quell it, Hector’s worry was audible in his voice.
“It’s not a choice…and if it matters, I did ask.” Vergil sighed. “...but your presence was deemed superfluous; I can’t exactly argue with protocol, either.” The man sounded a combination of sympathetic and exasperated; he wanted to assuage the boy’s concern, but he really did not have the time, given the importance of punctuality.
Though he wouldn’t voice it, it did matter to Hector that Vergil had at least accounted for the fact that he’d wanted to be there without him having had to ask. And yet again, it was the notion of ‘protocol’ that served to bar him from something he wanted. This was a frequent, and intensely vexing, occurrence in the Imperium.
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Aidolon Speech
'Thoughts'
"Kathalan Tongue/Speech"
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Mythrasi Tongue/Speech"