28 Aug 2022, 05:02
No Less Than Both Earth and Sea
Aug 14th, 8pm
London Quidditch Stadium
Valentin led Romeo towards the center of the grand London quidditch stadium where a week ago they led their team to victory, the two captains of the Yilbegän. Stopping at the perfect center of the pitch, Valentin shouldered his lightning-scarred Silver Arrow as his red Durmstrang summer coat hung over the opposite shoulder, held in place by a cross-chest belt. His outfit was otherwise seasonable for London’s muggy summer evening: a simple crimson tank top paired with elegant black pants and high leather boots. Valya couldn’t get cold enough to warrant the summer coat even at higher elevations in the chilling winds of flight, but he hadn’t brought it for himself.
Above, the clear night sky began to blossom a star at a time. Even had it been past curfew at the night’s darkest hour, London’s washed-out firmament would have made for meager stargazing compared to the remote Schnell Wildlands. Still, with all the ambient light, Valentin’s pale hair and skin seemed to glow all the brighter as it lanced with the occasional silver angle.
“Thanks for making time tonight,” chimed Valya’s English. The boy’s foreign accent skimmed only lightly now, the product of concerted study intensifying over the last two years. For Valentin to be using English now signified that something was different about tonight, but that was already visible in the slowness of his walking pace. With the rim of the pitch’s stands equidistant in every direction, Valentin squinted thoughtfully before putting his broom down on the grass. No one was in earshot, nor could anyone approach without either boy noticing in the empty stadium. “I meant to ask you for a long time… There was no chance when I returned your cloak. It bothered me, not asking you.” Valentin’s eyebrows shifted in waves of concern as he spoke before breaking into a soundless smile.
The seeker’s eyes lifted to meet Romeo’s as they glistened, particularly silver-sheened tonight. “The night you saved me, when I crashed by the lake… I’ve never told you… After you brought me back from the other side…” Valentin’s eyes closed as he recalled the tingling on his lips when he surged back to life.
“Death came for me again when the lightning struck us both, on your Moontrimmer… I saw the Reaper, then, all black with armor.” A brilliant glint broke through Valentin’s eyelashes, back into Romeo’s blue haven.
“I… back then, it just came to me, like it was natural. I was in the perfect dark with Death when I drew a shining sword and, right as the scythe came to cut me down, I stabbed back and returned to life, to hold you as we crashed… Later, in the hospital and nights that followed, the dream of that battle came back to me again and again. I saw it so many times until I finally understood where the sword came from. I took this sword from you. I…” Valentin blinked down at his empty hands as he squinted. “I pulled this sword from you, you are its source, and yet I never asked you if it’s okay. I…” The corner of Valya’s lips pulled up in a pleased half-snarl. “I made you the reason I came back to life. That’s why I lived. I didn’t want to let go of you. I promised I wouldn't, so I took this sword out of you and used it without asking, but now… It’s not okay to hold onto it without asking. So…” Argent, slow, and constant like a comet coming into view, the seeker’s gaze rose up to meet Romeo’s one more time.
“Please, understand. I’m not dying, but still, I never want to let you go.” Valentin’s palms bolted, fast and precise, to grasp the backs of Romeo’s hands. Though sudden, Valya's grabs landed gently enough to cradle even the most fragile of snidgets. If Romeo did not protest, Val's long white fingers would curl around the broad geometries of his darker hands, taking all of Valya’s grip to span them. “Thank you for saving me. Truly. I am changed forever, but I can let go now if you want me to.” Valentin released his Lichtenberg-figured right hand and bent down onto one knee. Still holding Romeo’s gloved right palm in his left, Valentin tucked his head to lay a kiss upon the boy’s glove.
“I have a whole beautiful world to live for, and I am blessed with wonderful friends– my life will blaze on no matter what. The sword belongs to you. Yet, I want you to know the truth when you decide. You were always special to me, ever since I first became a seeker. I let you go once, and yet here you are. I don’t regret it, either. Say the word and I won’t approach again. I always want you to be free. Free, and knowing the truth… and the truth is, Romeo Marchonné, I love you. You complete me. No matter how long our lives may be, I want mine to be with you.”
Valentin looked up at Romeo with the candor of a perfect musical tonic. The peace in Valentin's eyes seemed to whisper that no matter what the other said, everything would be alright.
Reducio
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 13 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
20 Sep 2022, 19:45
No Less Than Both Earth and Sea
¤ | Ω | ¤
"Italiano. Italian."
"Russian."
\ Fingerless Glove on Right hand /
| Lichtenberg figure on right arm and down back |Valetin Schnell
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood"Val? Wh-Why are we coming back here? Do you have a detention planned for me as well?" I nonchalantly ask the ball of energy that was Val as he tugged me into the London Quidditch Stadium. We were already halfway into our stay in London, and I still had not really been able to even muster the courage to contact my twin, not even enough to bring myself to attend his duel just yesterday out of fear that his keen eye would spot me and that I would somehow prove to be a distraction too great for him to be able to concentrate on his game.
Ah, yes, the London Quidditch stadium, all alight and bright now that the moon and the stars were out. Though light pollution caused the stars to appear weak and faded, the moon was still bright, just beginning to wane after the full moon a few days ago. The evening, though cool, was still warm enough for a comfortable t-shirt and capris, and I find myself delighted by the night wind that carried both acrid air from the encroachments of civilization and the slowly dissipating scents of popcorn and concession booth foods.
"Hm? Yes. No problem, Val. What's on your mind?" The albino seeker captures my attention once more, and I turn to him, sticking my hands in my pockets as I tip my head. The longer he takes to speak, the more my brow furrows a tad, before he opens up entirely. The more I listen, the more my shoulders relax and roll forward, listening to his words with great curiosity and interest, eyes locked onto the pale lilac and the halo of white that was the form of Valetin.
Ah yes, the early morning when Valetin had not almost greeted death once, but twice, and I had nearly went down to Hades with him because of my need to save him. My eyes soften as I recall the day, and the back of my right hand begins to itch ever so slightly at the thoughts that come with it.
I had been lucky in comparison with Valetin's rapid and urgent treatments. Unlike his multiple-day stay, I had been prescribed light healing potions for bruise removals and small charms for healing up scrapes and bruises, and the small burn-removal pastes had taken most of the edge off of the electrical burn that I had suffered on the Moontrimmer. I had been up and at them before evening that very day, result of my own stubborn constitution and my own efforts of healing despite the complaints of the nurses. I had Muggle ways, and while they were inferior to magic, they were certainly efficient and could foot the bill when combined with magic and potions. After that, I had rarely let Schnell out of my sights if I could help it, and that had also been compounded by the sparring session that we had both experienced together in which I believed that we both learned more about each other than we ever had in the years past. Over these past few months... I had grown attached to Schnell... and I think... I think he was somehow becoming attached to me.
Yet... I didn't know how to react to such knowledge. At least, I wasn't sure how to properly approach a conversation on such a basis.
Valetin's vivid descriptions of his near-death, or indeed-- perhaps brief death experience-- intrigued me in a way that I had never had the ability to be interested in... yet I also found myself mildly apprehensive and almost fearful just thinking about the thought that death could have, or had, claimed Valetin that morning and that my efforts, no matter how desperate or successful in theory, could have failed and that none of the members of the team would be where we were today. They would have had entirely different captains... a different team dynamic... a different composition... Would they even have been able to win?
I don't think I could have imagined how the past few months of my life had been if I had not had Valetin at my side, or those that he brought together and kept cohesive like a human version of glue... What would have become of me? What would have become of the team? The pieces of the old team that were slowly coming together in the form of the Horntail Horde competing this fall in the Hexwizard tournament?
Valetin takes my hands in his, and my attention flicks to them in reflex, not moving away, but remaining quiet for a while longer... Now... faced with an ultimatum.
Near death experiences were strange... they evoked underlying psychological aspirations and unconscious realities that only surfaced due to the time of need. The chemistry of the mind, too, was altered; I had read once that in the moment of dying, the body releases a cocktail of endorphins that encourage serenity and peace, to make the sensation as painless as possible (or at least less painful than if they had not been utilized). I had been the subject of these emotes, these thoughts, these underlying psychological currents to Valetin... The one who ran away
Valetin kisses my hand as he sinks to one knee, and it is like my world cracks at the edges.
I stop breathing until he finishes his words, my mouth slightly open as I try to process his words, his outpouring of raw and undiluted feelings. A mixture of admirable poetic libation and incredible heroic confession. A feeling of dread trickles through my very core and my mouth turns sour. I tug my hand gently away from Valetin and uncomfortably cross my arms, looking down and away before taking a deep breath and ashamedly pressing my chin to my shoulder.
This was... it was too soon.
I didn't want to end up with another Hanzo.
I didn't want to be Hanzo.
"Valetin..." I start softly, finally looking to him again and getting on a knee myself to get to his level. "Valetin."
This was too similar to when I had almost fully confessed to Hanzo. I had hesitated... and perhaps that had been for the better. The knowledge of this only twisted the last remaining splinter of the knife sharply; a cruel and unprecedented addendum to this already gut-wrenching situation. I had almost let go. Almost.
I...
"I need more time." I take both of his hands this time, gently rubbing his knuckles as I encompass both of his hand entirely in my own. "I came for you because you were my friend from the start. I may have never known you well in my younger years... but these past few months have been magic for me. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't..." To put it in his own words; "If I hadn't given you the means to kill the Reaper himself."
The sword had been mine to give. I only gave to those who deserved my life. My love.
Freedom...? Yes, I had known freedom before. That had been before school, before my twin and I had gone our separate ways. When I had been allowed to live and play and be the aegis. I had been at my most free when I was able to protect the one that I cared for the most.
But over the span of this year... one by one... they had been torn from me; either through sudden farewells or by explicit severance. I had ended up alone. I had ended up a sword and shield left to rust in the armory, now that my wielders had finally put me aside. Outgrown me at last. And on one hand, I was happy for them. On the other... I had nothing left.
"I think I'm slowly discovering that I've been an aegis for so long," I close my eyes. "It's... what I wanted to be. For Piérre... for Hanzo... I was never fearless... but damn..." I chuckle. "I sure faked it until I made it... and I think... I think they outgrew me." I especially reminisce in Piérre's capering, the effervescent way that he seamlessly fluttered from one place to another; adapting and blending into each new thing, new place, new people, with all the grace of a chameleon. People took advantage of his kindness far too often. He got hurt because of it. It was because he was too young to be taken seriously. Perhaps he would never be taken seriously... perhaps not even by me, ha...! "And I don't know if I'm hurting or if I'm proud of them... and if I'm done being the aegis... What am I actually good for, then? Where do I go... from... here?"
So much time ahead of me... and not enough to fill it with. Where did I go from here, now that my purpose was... perhaps... fulfilled in entirity?ReducioStats:
Ω Stamina 9 | Evasion 7 | Strength 15 Ω
Ω Accuracy 15 | Wisdom 9 | ArcPower 0 ΩAbilities:
Ω Obnoxiously Strong | Perfectionist I | Martial Artist | Healing Sage I Ω
20 Sep 2022, 21:07
No Less Than Both Earth and Sea
Valentin listened closely as Romeo explained his past aspirations to be an aegis for his brother and for Hanzo-- and how he felt they outgrew him. The giant boy was, in fact, questioning his very purpose. Was he done with the role of protector? If so, where would he go instead?
“You’re smart, Romeva. Before you stretches a broad field of possibility. You don’t have to follow convention, and you don’t have to be an aegis. The very lifeforce inside you has the power to forge any future that calls to you. I know you will find your path. You are a good listener, and you will not fail to hear the call of fate if you just open yourself to it. I want you to seek it out, your true destiny. I want you to live out your fullest potential even if no human alive can tell you what that is.” Valentin stood up and took a step back.
“Thank you for saving me that day. I hope that one day I can pay you back, ten thousand fold. In your journey, I want you to know you don’t have to make yourself alone. Many of us would give of ourselves to see you ascend. If I can be of service to you, I hope you will not hesitate to call on me. I return the sword to you with my sincerest gratitude. Please understand, I only want the best possible future for you.”
Folding a hand over one shoulder, Valentin bowed.
“One day, I will repay this debt,” promised the white seeker as he turned, took up his broom, and began walking away.
Leaving the thread unless stopped.
24 Sep 2022, 03:54
No Less Than Both Earth and Sea
¤ | Ω | ¤
"Italiano. Italian."
"Russian."
\ Fingerless Glove on Right hand /
| Lichtenberg figure on right arm and down back |Valetin Schnell
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama EllwoodI didn't have to be an aegis, this was true. On the other hand... it was all that I had known, something that I had made my job, my place, my life, my purpose. Besides being a student, besides learning how to be an adult from the time I was seven years old, besides being a terrible brother and a bad teammate, I was the shield. You could beat me down, knock me out, bruise and scuff me up, and I would still keep swinging, keep blocking, keep refusing to go down.
'... You're heroically suicidal.'
Piérre did have that one thing right. If it was a knife, I would throw my hand on it. If it was a grenade, I'd snatch it away or throw myself on it. A curse, a blow, a bullet; didn't matter. I could take it. I could take it and prevent anyone else from being hurt. If nobody but I was hurt, then I had done my job well. I was willing to bet that I would never be destined for a life of peace, that my final breath would not be taken or released quietly. I would just have to await the day I put myself up against a force that would be too great for me to match; something that someone else had gotten themselves into that I couldn't protect them from without laying down my life for them.
I probably should have died the day that I crashed after being struck by lightning. This scar that I bear now was a warning; a reminder of the consequences of folly. Do not challenge that which you cannot be victorious against. Do not test the gods themselves, for a lowly mortal is destined to always lose.
But it was still comforting to know that I had friends still; friends that would be willing to fight gods with me. Friends that I could defend, who were at least a little willing to defend me in return.
The sword, my choice, is returned to me, and Valetin gives me a small bow of salutation.
As he starts past, I speak up, taking his wrist gently like he had taken my hand. I look at the ground before me without turning, the wheels still trying to turn in my head. "You've already been paying me back, Val. I don't think you owe me anything anymore." A squeeze. "I'm just pleased that I could give."
Do it, you idiot.
A small lean over, and my lips brush his neck, nose tickled by his duckfluff hair as I give him a small kiss there just below the ear and then let him go, turning back again and clasping my hands in front of me.
Idiota Idiot.
Idiota...
Idiota!
You idiot...
I needed a moment. I would leave only when I could control my heart, and when Valetin would not be around to see me mentally beating myself up over the innocent action.
Now... I couldn't figure out who owed whom a debt.Romeo ExitsReducioStats:
Ω Stamina 9 | Evasion 7 | Strength 15 Ω
Ω Accuracy 15 | Wisdom 9 | ArcPower 0 ΩAbilities:
Ω Obnoxiously Strong | Perfectionist I | Martial Artist | Healing Sage I Ω
24 Sep 2022, 22:34
No Less Than Both Earth and Sea
As Valentin passed, Romeo took the wrist of the seeker’s scarred right hand, freezing the moonstone boy in place. Rome talked of Valya having paid him back already, but the words blew past him like a southbound wind. Nothing less than everything of mine could ever equate to what you deserve, and now I fear I’ll never… The grasp at his wrist, a squeeze… Daggers of ice lanced Val’s chest as he tried to keep himself from loving it, to keep from believing he might one day love Romeo the only way he could: as no less than all his earth and sea. Unable to fragment his love into something smaller, Valentin simply could not live halfway. Shunting his feelings down, down, down, the boy’s throat ached. At this moment, he knew he could never love another the way he loved Romeo. Yet, to protect the other boy’s freedoms, he decided to lock this away inside with the colddrake. It was all a nightmare come true. Sinking like a fog across the land, Valya’s greatest fear enshrouded everything in white. Valentin stared off into some unknown dimension, wondering at the meaning of the augury.
Romeo leaned in, then, and brushed his lips against Valya’s pearl-glow neck to land a kiss below his ear. Valentin froze in place but, calving like an iceberg from within, he shook as the intensity of the moment obliterated all thought. The other boy let him go and turned to clasp his hands in front of him, while Valentin swayed on his feet. Struck as if by his third bolt of lightning, electricity crawled across Valya’s skin and his lips parted without his asking. Like a sudden wind overtaking him, clarity crystallized into the boy’s hyacinth eyes.
“I will always love you,” spilled the words without permission. For as much as he would risk his life for Mikael and Yefim, it was Romeo that Valya would sacrifice his own soul to save. Every ache in the seeker’s neck and shoulders dug into Valentin, and clutching a gasp of air, he turned his head to look at Rome. Too fast. Wouldn’t be the first time I crashed this way, but what damage have I done to him? I just want to… I just want him to… Are we broken forever?
“You don’t have to be an aegis for me. All I ever wanted was for you to find your true calling. If I can do anything to help you on your way…” trailed off the inadequate words with a shiver of pain. “I would do anything to get you there.” It wouldn’t stop. Valya’s love just wouldn’t stop. Like a song flitting freely through cold dungeon air, it simply would not be barred.
“Just… call upon me,” Valya whispered. “If there’s anything you want… please, call my name.”
Running his fingers through the burned out channels of scarred broomwood, Valentin nodded. I should give him some space. The side of his neck still tingled from the lingering touch that passed through his downy hair. May this knowledge make him stronger in the end, prayed Valentin.
Squeezing his broom, Valentin bowed again and walked back to the entrance of the stadium. Turning his head back to Romeo to make sure he seemed alright, Valentin closed his eyes to gather his strength before finally turning to force himself to leave.
Valentin Exits