Scenes from the Vault: Kray's Vision and Final Interchange with Rutcranna in the Throne Room
Standing directly opposite Rutcranna now, Kray observed for a few moments then spoke, almost calling to the witch on the throne.
"Rutcranna..." At that he stopped, silent, his gaze fixed directly on Rutcranna's eyes.
NOTE UNLOCKED
Kray had surmised at this point that the Witch on the Throne might be able to hear his thoughts, as it had seemed on Old Island when she 'heard' him saying the name Ithaqua repeatedly. As such, he strove to have a more private 'conversation' with her.
"Rutcranna... I know you can hear me. If the time is right... I'll assume you are able... open the door. Together we've gotten this far..."
He stopped for a moment. Lost in thought. Then some sort of instinct seemed to take hold.
"We have a deal. One where we spoke plainly. I said my men and I would help you get here. We also spoke of your daughter's safety, and the crossroads in time that is the present... where we would decide together to continue as ally or foe... whether I would deliver Sorcha to Nemes, or not."
One last moment of reflection and forethought before he continued.
"Rutcranna. Open the door and you have my word, on the souls of every living and dead Mercon, that Sorcha Rhone will not be delivered to Nemes Zaituc."
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The image fills Kray's mind. It is real. He can see it. Mayenel. His wife.
And behind her - Ithaqua.
She has been running. The Ancient One, The Windwalker is close to claiming her now though. She has evaded for years. Hiding. Moving. Running.
She is exhausted though.
She cannot last much longer.
But she dodges again. Barely this time. Narrowly escapes his claws. She runs through the forest, back to the hiding place. Come daughter, we must flee again now.
The girl is exhausted too. Even more so. She has almost nothing left. She has run for 10 years. There is nothing left.
Without a second thought, Mayenel picks up her daughter in her arms. The girl is only a shell now, so emaciated. But to Mayenel, she is heavy.
But that cannot matter. She runs all the same. Through the forest. Now through the rock lands.
The Beast is behind her. She can smell it.
She cannot move fast enough. Her legs are like stone blocks. This is the end, she thinks.
If she can only endure long enough. Lucreides may be able to escape. The Beast wants to devour him, but if Mayenel can evade, then Lucreides can keep fighting and not be harvested in the wind. Someday maybe he will be able to find them and save them.
She makes a turn around a rock, into a cave. She is in a hallway now. She has not seen this place before. Maybe they can hide here.
The hall opens into a circular room.
There is a bright light in the middle. Shining like stars. As they dim, she sees a Throne.
There is a woman sitting there in the great chair. A dark-haired woman.
"Go on," the woman says.
"You must keep going, but not for much longer. You can rest soon."
Mayenel looks back. She finds it hard to believe, but she is so tired now. Could there be rest?
"Who are you?" she asks the woman on the Throne.
With no answer forthcoming from the woman, Mayenel takes a deep breath, and looks back over her shoulder again.
"There is a Beast. An Ancient One..."
"I know your husband. I will help you and your family."
Mayenel smiles. She cannot help it. She starts to cry.
"You have seen him?!" She cannot hide her elation. Cautiously, meekly she asks,
"Does he remember us?"
The woman does not answer.
"I will only speak with him once more. What would you ask him?"
Mayenel smiles. She does not have to think long before answering.
"I have called her Cera in these times," She looks down to the girl in her arms.
"But what name would he give his daughter?"
OOC:
OOC: In Gaeirmundi, cera means "candle."
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Kray can't believe what he is seeing. It can't be real. They died years ago. Anger welled up from deep within... more like a decade old chained fury that had been waiting to be unleashed. And then he saw his daughter's face. And heard Mayenel's voice. The most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Even before he could speak a single word of Gaerimundi her voice was like a song to him. Soothing. It put him at ease, enough to put a stop to the incessant calculations in his mind.
When he heard Mayenel, now, in what he could only assume is a vision of some kind, he also heard his daughter's name. Like the most beautiful song. He felt an unfamiliar feeling filling his chest... one he hadn't felt in what seemed like a lifetime. Was it pride? Joy?
He answered Mayenel.
"Cera is a perfect name, my love."
His daughter... a candle of hope flickering in the haunting and tireless winds of Ithaqua all these years? It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. They had died... Mayenel in labor and Cera two days later, sick. Despite the unreal nature of the vision, Kray somehow had hope they were alive.
The pride and joy was gone. In it's place rose welcome friends Kray had known all his life. Fury. Hatred. Vengeance.
And then it was over. The joy, pride, fury, hatred, and vengeance were gone. The sick, black, hollow void had returned where moments earlier had been feeling. It was, without a doubt, the Dark Abyss that Kray had become since his time in Mozamyah.
The methodical machine like calculating resumed. He spoke wordlessly, his pace deliberate and measured.
"You. Showing me the vision. I would know more. If there is any hope my family is alive..."
The machine mind seethed with variables and possible outcomes, almost grinding. Kray knew better than to say what came next. Uncle Rison had schooled him to never say what came next. His own mind screamed warnings at him.
Mayenel and Cera.....
He didn't care.
"Name your price."
NOTE UNLOCKED.
Tears began streaming from Kray's eyes. Then he spoke, in a voice none had ever heard, not even Thorn who he had known for two years. It was a voice full of compassion, warm and generous. Loving. Tender.
"Cera is a perfect name, my love."
Then Kray's hands curled into fists as his arms began to shake, visibly trembling and pushing against some unseen force, as if he was trying to break free. And then it stops. Kray, eyes open and locked with the witch on the throne, is suddenly at ease. Calm. Gazing directly into Rutcranna's eyes.
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"Cera", Rutcranna says to Mayenel.
"Your husband Lucreides Mercon says that the name you chose for your daughter is the perfect name for her. And you are still his love...and Cera as well."
Mayenel smiles. Tears of joy pour out from the corner of her eyes. She laughs lightly, she whispers to Cera in her arms. The little girl wakes up. Her eyes are bright. She is weak, but she stands. Her mother steadies her before the woman on the Throne.
"Can we see him? Speak with him?" Mayenel asks.
Rutcranna answers, in a soft voice.
"No. Not now. I am sorry. I do not have that power. You may see him at the end - I believe so at least."
Mayenel seems to accept the ruling. Understandingly. She is still filled with joy.
A roar. The sound of the wind. Mayenel and Cera look back. Rutcranna shifts her eyes forward, and then back down to Mayenel and Cera.
"You must go. Through the hall behind me. The journey is short now. May you both find a place to rest."
"But,... the Monster?" Mayenel asks.
"Do not worry. The monster will not reach you before you are safe. I assure you of that."
Mayenel takes Cera by the hand.
"What about you?," she asks, looking up at Rutcranna.
"Me?," Rutcranna asks in return, maybe a bit surprised. She answers slowly,
"My journey comes to an end soon too."
A roar. A cold wind blows through the chamber.
"Go. Do not delay and do not return." Rutcranna says.
"Thank you." Mayenel says. With that she moves forward with purpose, towards the back of the room and the tunnel of light.
As she passes the Throne, hand in hand with her mom, little Cera. Blue eyes. Thick dark hair. Leans towards the Throne and waves up at Rutcranna,
"Thank you, Queen of the Stars. Tell my father that I love him."
Rutcranna watches as they pass. She smiles to Cera,
"He knows this child. But he hears your voice more now than you would ever know."
Mayenel and Cera make it to the tunnel, and stop briefly. Mayenel bends down to say something to Cera. The girl listens and understands.
Both of them turn around and look all around them, and then settle on a place to focus their attention.
They both send a hand signal, a flowing series of turns and lifts with both hands. It is very graceful and beautiful - the movements. It is like a song. It has been so long since Kray has seen this.
It is a complex gesture of farewell among the Matlalihuitl tribe, given between loved ones who are leaving one another.
Kray knows that there are no Yuoric words that capture the meaning entirely, but if he were to write a translation, it would be this:
I am leaving now, but you are with me when I go. You are away from me, but I long for the Day of Reunion. I will travel, but my soul is at home with you.
Both his wife and his daughter are facing directly at him. They complete the sign, turn, and depart down the hall.
Into the light.
OOC: Also, Cera with blue eyes...that was just a guess. My goal was to make her eyes match Kray's. Nearly all Gaeirmundi's have brown eyes, so I was envisioning her with some mark of her Yuoric Mathian Jeresian Mercon heritage. Let's correct that if it is not accurate.[/ooc]
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Now Kray stands in front of the Throne. Rutcranna is there, but no one else. She is standing beside him, on the ground level. She takes his hand so that he can feel that this place is real. It is somewhere else, but it is real.
Kray's family just left, safe in the hall.
There is a wind at his back. Biting cold. He can hear Ithaqua behind him. Scraping, roaring. He can smell the stench of death.
"You could not be here to speak with them. She was too weak and it would have made her falter."
She looks back down the hall towards the monster, over Kray's shoulder.
"He killed them long ago. Killed them to hurt you. Killed them to enjoy the hunt of you more, see you wounded. He had you Marked, but you had gotten away and he could not find you before the wind changed."
She looks at him sincerely and continues,
"He wanted to devour their souls, as he did Lysander's. That would have driven you to insanity, and you would have been a great feast for him then."
"But Mayenel has great strength and guile. She took Cera and fled into The Barrens, called Emperor's End, the Realm of Isetnofret. A place of nightmares."
"And there she has lingered every day since, always running. Evading. Enduring. Hiding. I barely was able to find her. What she did for you is legend."
"They have gone to the Final Rest now. You will not see them again, not in this life."
Another roar and cold wind.
"You are still Marked, but I will break that line. His hate for you will still be great, but he will have no claim on you from that day in Mozamyah long ago. You will have freedom, as long as you keep it."
"Mum, fight!" a little voice breaks into the scene, echoing through the chamber. It is Sorcha Rhone's voice. Unmistakable. Rutcranna looks up to the air, and then back to Kray.
"I traveled a great way to save your family, Lucreides Mercon. Yet I cannot save my own. I can only ask that you will."
Rutcranna turns from Kray, takes the single step up, and walks to the Throne. She turns and takes the seat. She looks fitting there.
"She is yours now, Kray."
Rutcranna grips the handles of the Throne tightly, and then releases them. She takes a deep breath.
"And Maeriks will want to help her as well. He can help you too. If he needs reminding, let him know that The Heirophant will rarely deny requests from the Adept."
She smiles.
"Keep your head on your shoulders, Mercon."
Kray feels himself fading away. Leaving this place.
As he drifts back, he sees Rutcranna glare down the hallway, towards Ithaqua, The Windwalker.
"Come along then, Wind Fawn," says Rutcranna, brazen, contemptuous.
"Come and see that you are the next in a long line of Old Beasts who have been foiled by a Daughter of Eilmay Brogh."
Ithaqua barrels in. The wind rages through. The giant abomination crashes both bone claws onto the Throne.
But Rutcranna has already jumped away. With the grace of a cat, she lands on her feet nearby in a low crouch. She pulls a dagger out from an unseen holster in the small of her back, runs forward, and springs at the towering Monster.
With a gleam in her eye.
