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What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:51 pm
by Rune
What had once been a lush and beautiful estate, replete with fountains and manicured gardens now looked as if it had been torn apart by the hands of an angry god. The earth, even the stone walkways were rent apart, the fountains shattered and bloated corpses floated in pools that had once reflected the stately house that all of the splendor had once led up to.
The outbuildings, what could be seen of them from the road that led onto the land belonging to the family Monteliyet, had fallen, ripped down by the wings of the highest Mist Storm the content had seen in a thousand years. The manor itself mostly still stood, though a part of the shingled roof had fallen in and most of the window glass was gone, giving the once graceful building a lopsided appearance, as though it were cocked to one side, examining anyone who approached with hollow eyes.
A pack of stray animals, perhaps dogs, slinked across the yard in front of the building, from left side to right, from doing ill on their way to no good, without a doubt, but they did not pause to notice that another being was approaching.
Dusk was coming in more quickly than it should have, as it was only early afternoon, the sky growing overcast with storm clouds blowing in fast and low. It felt fitting, though, that the sky should be torn and dark just as the land and home below it were. Thunder rumbled in the far distance, no danger in it, only a sort of angry mourning. This too, was fitting, for the man who made his way towards the broken remains of his childhood was the man to whom all that lay before him belonged.
Yes, his name had changed, his face had changed, even his race was different now that it had been when Beomir Manor had been his home, but it was his still. At least, so he believed, and intended to prove, should the Gods the land did not believe in grant it so.
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:22 pm
by Dreyfus
⚔ 54th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ⚔
⚔ Nostalgia. Looking upon the road leading to his family home, so many memories began to flood his mind. Beomir Manor still stood strong, even after the cataclysm. Crossing the gates into the estate grounds Dreyfus drew his blades as he wasn't sure what lurked in the halls of his home. The closer he moved to the main door of the building the more he knew that whatever was behind those doors would die by his hands.
As he approached the overwhelming nostalgia devoured him entirely, causing flashbacks to play in his mind. He stopped for a moment to get himself together before reaching the main courtyard and manor doors. The wind blew through his hair as he stood there looking at the imposing towering doors. With a yank on the doorknob's aether flux, the metal clanged against the steps as it tumbled down them. Pushing through the doors he took a deep breath as stale air blasted past him as he crossed the threshold of the building.
It was quiet, and only the echo from his footsteps trailed off the walls as he approached the grand staircase that led to the upper levels from the foyer. There directly in front of him was a portrait of his mother. It was somewhat still intact even after everything. He took the moment of silence to look at the once marvelous painting of the late matriarch of the Monteliyet household. "I have returned home mother." he whispered, as he blew a kiss to the portrait. Now he had to scour the house, to ensure nothing lurked the halls, as he was the only monster that would be stalking these halls, and the West End if he had his way. ⚔
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 9:39 pm
by Rune
The doors creaked loudly as they were opened after so long unused, within there was darkness. While the majority of the home remained intact, the broken windows meant that detritus of every kind had blown in over the year since it had been abandoned. Leaves, shattered glass, nests from a variety of animals large and small, as well as what was obviously once human occupants filled corners and doorways.
As the once and future owner entered the wind rose, pouring through the house, heralding the storm brewing on the horizon. It brought a myriad of scents, most unpleasant, with just hints of what had once been familiar. As it blew through a whisper seemed to rise with it, recalling voices that had once called and spoken within.
When a real voice spoke, the wind seemed to calm, and when the living being, if he could still be called that, move onward to investigate the beyond the entrance hall, the eyes of the portraits seemed to follow him into the gloom. As he made his way from one place to another the sensation also seemed to follow him, while much of the finery that had been was either broken or stolen, each and every painting remained on the walls and seemingly intact.
Again the wind rose up to flush through the mansion, zipping from window to window, throwing the debris across the floor in little swirls. For a moment it sounded as though something had fallen in the entrance hall but, by the time the wind calmed again, no trace of whatever had happened remained. Except...
Dante...
An old name from a dead life left behind, in a voice that was unfamiliar, and yet, somehow hauntingly familiar. It was not loud, speaking barely above a conversational tone, but several rooms away, back towards the front of the house. The words were longing, almost kind, no threat implied in the tone.
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 9:07 pm
by Dreyfus
⚔ 54th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ⚔
⚔ His facial expression soured as he walked the halls, seeing so many family heirlooms gone or broken. Even though he was alert his mind couldn't help but wonder what the final moments of his family were like. The state of his father and if he welcomed death after losing so much. As much as he didn't agree with the paternal parent's ideology he couldn't help but miss the man, wondering if he would be proud of what Dreyfus had become.
His train of thought broke when he heard the name, the alias he assumed when he first arrived in Kalzasi. His head on a swivel, and the sound of something breaking, his attention turned in the direction of the voice. With Rose Thorn and Blood Edge in hand, he approached the room where the voice seemed to originate from. As he stalked the halls he could see the portraits, various family figures both familiar and unknown, their eyes watching his every move as if they were alive, trapped with the canvas.
He found the room, his heart skipping a beat as it was his father's room, the one place in the house he never really ventured into. For some reason he was unsure if going in there was the right decision, but what did he have to fear? He was master of Vitalis, an exceptional Kineticist, and rather good with a blade. Whatever lay behind that door should be very afraid of him. Forcing the door open he walked in. "I suggest you take your leave, or else I will force you out." he snarled, readying himself for what may await him. ⚔
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 12:15 am
by Rune
The figure that awaited as the vampyre entered the room was facing away from him, but even so, it was familiar. It wasn't anyone he had ever stood beside, yet still, the cut of her dress, the fall of her hair, the arch of her neck, all hauntingly known. The voice was one he had not heard in all the years of his counted life, and yet, he knew it, his instincts reached out to it, wanting it.
When the figure turned, and the face was revealed the shock was cold water and fire; it was the face from the portrait he had greeted upon first entering the manor. It was his mother.
She looked barely older than he was now himself, a young woman still and yet, the look in her eyes, the way he arms rose at her sides as though she longed to hold him but was not sure if this grown man who stood before her could actually be the baby that had been ripped from her body.
"Dante?"" She said again, but it was a question this time, unsure, trying to see the life she had nurtured with such hope in the eyes of the cold and jaded creature she now beheld. "Is it you?""
Her clothing, her hair, her make up were all the same as they had been in the portrait that had hung in the hall, and in his heart, all his life, but how could they be? Yet, the expression on her face was so hopeful, almost frightened, so yearning.
"Where... Where is your father? I've been looking, but I can't find him.""
Confusion clouded her face now as she turned again to look around the bedroom before facing Dreyfus again.
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 1:28 am
by Dreyfus
⚔ 54th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ⚔
⚔ Crimson eyes widened as the vampyre beheld his mother, the visage of the woman that he longed to know so well before him. He was unsure if this was a trick of the mist or not, but he knew what stood before him wasn't real, he forced himself to believe it. His mother would have called to him as Dreyfus, not Dante, not as the alias he assumed when he found himself in Kalzasi. "He's dead" he said plainly, as his grip on his swords tightened.
If that was really his mother, she would have known him by name. As much as he wanted to embrace her, he knew that this wasn't her true spirit, it couldn't be. He approached slowly, blades still drawn and ready to strike if need be. He did however drink in her form, as she looked just as young as she did in the portrait that hung in the main foyer of her. Whatever this spirit was, it copied her form down to the smallest detail. "You dont belong here, you must leave now." he encouraged, point Blood Thorne at the visage of his mother.
There was many things he wouldn't stand for, one of them being the mockery of a parent he never got to know. Though he wanted to ask it questions, he knew that it would only be a detriment to his endeavor and he would have to be rid of it. The question that lingered on his mind now though was what was it going to do since he wasn't falling for the ruse. Until proven otherwise, he refused to accept that it was his mother. ⚔
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 5:28 pm
by Rune
The face of the woman was frozen in shock for a moment, then crumpled in loss. Her body too crumpled, falling into a sitting position on the bed she turned away from the man who might be her son and wept. Her shoulders shook but her sobs were quiet; a well-trained lady knew not to make a spectacle of herself even in the most dire of situations. After a moment she turned back, tear stains down her lovely face,
"No, that cannot be...." She searched Dreyfus as though looking for some hint that he might be mistaken,
"I saw him only yesterday. Was it yesterday I..." Her hand moved to cup her belly, as though wondering why she was no longer pregnant.
"Did he name you Dante? It was what I wanted but we didn't always agree. I thought of you that way." Her smile was faint, watery and weak but it still tried to be loving. The words were growing steadier, wavering and echoing less through the strange aether that seemed to permeate the residence.
"You'll help me look, won't you? The house is so empty, it won't take us long."
Wiping her face with the backs of her hands first, and then taking a handkerchief from somewhere about her dress she tidied up her face until she looked fresh and lovely again. Holding out a hand towards her son she waited for him to join her.
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 12:29 am
by Dreyfus
⚔ 54th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ⚔
⚔ He admitted to himself that the battle he had been fighting to abstain from embracing this phantom was a lost cause. The more he stood in her presence the more he wanted to throw his swords to the ground and hug the woman that gave him life, the mother he never got to know. It didnt help that her words were pulling at the heartstrings of a child who wanted to know her.
Against better judgment, however, even if it was a ghost he couldn't allow her to go on like this. Sheathing his blades he fixed his hair and approached. Extending a hand to Mother's spirit, he took her hand. "Come, we shall look for him together then." he obliged, guiding his mother from the room and out to the hall. "Dante was a name I had taken after some time, I am not the same son you would have come to know now when I was first born."
His crimson orbs regarded the woman as they walked the halls of the family home. Many memories and childhood echoes danced along the walls as he walked with her, each a jarring experience to relive, especially now realizing that she had missed all of it. A part of him couldnt help the slight tinge of anger in his heart. For now of all times for her to appear, but he would savor this as he didnt know if he would get another chance to see her, as incorporeal and translucent as she was now.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he never encountered a full-on ghost before, so this was truly uncharted territory for him. He figured he would begin light, and gauge how she handled it from there to advance in his inquiries. "What was it like as a reconciliator? I know among the order when you were at your peak, you were regarded as one of the best." he asked, escorting his mother to his father's study. ⚔
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 4:17 pm
by Rune
The change in her son's demeanor seemed to encourage the woman further and her expression became more assured when he chose to put away his weapons and take her offered hand. She listened intently as he explained that he was not the man she would have raised, a fact that was quite obvious, but still, she wanted to hear what he had to say of himself.
Her hand felt solid, even a little warm as it wrapped into Dreyfus' larger one and, after a few moments she paused in the hallway. Turning to face her son she reached up to take his face in her both her hands, he was so tall. His coloring was her own but his stature far exceeded her own height, or even that of her husband. She herself seemed less translucent now, almost no light passing through her form.
"What did he call you? What is your name?" It was an odd thing for a mother to ask her child, but it mattered and so much that governed the living held little sway over those who had left the material plane behind.
As they continued to slowly walk, searching the rooms one by one, the sound of other voices, and sounds that were not voices but which gave away the existence of others in a house began to come to them. Footsteps, neither in haste nor in any sort of a slow shamble, but rather those of people going about their work with intention, echoed from deeper in the house, the chiming of a small bell clock, the rustle of servants cleaning. As they ventured further from the entrance the dilapidation of the place seemed less. Fewer things were broken or stolen, not as many doors had been been forced into, there were even rugs still on some of the floors.
Re: What Was Lost and What Can Be Found [Dreyfus]
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2023 4:23 am
by Dreyfus
⚔ 54th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ⚔
⚔ Eyes of red and burning oranged watched the spirit, taking note of how life like she appeared now. He was uncertain if that was a good thing or not but seeing how she wasn't trying to siphon his vitality he would not address it. He noticed she was concerned with what his father had named him. "He named me Dreyfus mother." he answered politely, holding her hands a moment, before returning to their stroll.
As they continued on, he began to hear the noises that seemed to be recalled within the halls. He assumed that any more questioning would have to wait till they found his father. That note set in finally, as he wasn't sure what to expect. if his father's ghost resided here, he wouldn't know how to face the man, the last thing he said to his father was not the best thing, and he buried Dreyfus, he died believing his son was long gone and food for the worms. To think how a ghost would react to that kind of trauma and realization could not go well.
He hoped that his father was of a seemingly sound mind like his mother, but one could only hope. "I wonder where father could be mother? Are you certain he is here?" He looked at her, his vampyric eyes watching her, but also keeping his surroundings about him as if anything could happen. He would not be caught off guard in his own damn house. The echoes of business filled his ears as they walked, the sound of an once lively home forcing him to relax a bit, but not by much. ⚔