Style 7

[01:01] Servants were gathered, and a grave was dug upon the hill that previously...?

Anastasia had found so much solace in.

The hill where Alexander had taught her how to commune with the stars.
The hill where she had passed on that knowledge to others.
The hill where it was so much easier to reach to the heavens above.
The hill where Atlas confessed he loved her more than anything else.
The hill where she felt safe on.

… And now it was all ruined.

For memories tie people to places, but memories also push them away. The grave was dug, and the body lowered, but even then, there was a tension about the Radiant's body - as if she wanted to leave. She wanted to flee; to run somewhere. To cry.

To grieve.
To experience lose for the second time in such a short while.
Another failure stamped in her book of failures.

There's a sharp inhale.
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[01:10] A cursed place.

For Anastasia this cliff had been ruined in that moment. Yuri's own disdain of this spot had come much earlier in his life. Heartbreak and a forced realization of his own worthlessness had occured upon this sacred hill.

Perhaps it was the nature of the area. Where good memories lay right by living nightmares.

Silent, the young Knight approached his grieving elder, moving to stand at her side, to stare at the water. A reflection of them both, dirty, wounded, having fought the same opponent with anger in their heart.

She had failed Atlas.
He had failed Atlas.

If only she had been stronger.
If only he had been faster.

The boy grown into a man had learned to love silence. To cherish it. To treasure those moment of unspoken happiness. He could not ruin the sanctity of that love - of those teachings from a certain someone. No longer.

".. D-.. Do you think that a great enough time magi could reverse time to save him?"

A question that had one been asked to him. Was it Lillia who'd asked it? Was it Alexander? Was it Atlas? Maybe Jianyu.

His memory was foggy. Tears had been cried, and the bloodied headband in his grasp was clutched tightly, making everything feel so much more... blurry.
(Yuri)
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[01:18] At first, the Astor hadn't even noticed Yuri's attention to where she had trailed off to. In fact, her gaze was blurry, tears cutting across her vision and enabling her to see only the tears that clouded her eyes.

It's his words that stir her from her natural slumber of grief, her eyes flutter and with it the tears roll down her cheeks. They're quickly wiped away - there was nothing to see, nothing to question.

For she was fine.

"No." She answered promptly. For if there was a great enough time magi who could reverse time... Why couldn't they reverse everything that had made Esshar fall to ruin?

Emerald gaze shifted to the sky above - it was midday, and the sun was shining. Yet she knew past that light blue sky, with clouds overhead there were stars. That somewhere up there, Atlas had ascended onto...

And it tore at her and it ripped her apart.

Her jaw tightened, and her body nearly swiveled away. There are words, words that were not spoken to Yuri... No. They were spoken to whatever thing was listening.

"Kraus and Avalon above... Have mercy on me, most misguided of magi - Have mercy on my people, steered by folly... Have mercy on the Astyan race—save us, your people, and release us from our folly..." She began - the very words that had started the First Contract.

And she repeated them. Her own prayer. Rather it went unheard or not, Anastasia continued staring skyward, and repeating those words.

Something would hear - surely - yes?
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[01:26] It was the same answer that they concluded back then, too. If there was such a magi then surely it would have been known. But that wasn't the case, no. Instead they were met with reality; even manipulating the strands of such in a careful and meaningful manner meant not that they could overturn reality, but merely stray it from its path.

In the end they would all die.
In the end they would all suffer.

The prayers muttered by his sides were few that he recognized. Anyone who was under the First Light, the Church, or just about any association with a greater purpose would have heard of that legendary prayer, this pleading.

.. Yet nothing would come. For it was the folly of men that had caused this death. For Atlas sought out to fight. For the world did not revolve around them.

Angels? They couldn't count on angels. They couldn't trust stars. Artemis had been right; family was the only thing one can trust, but when one losesall of their family, be it sudden like Yuri, or slowly like Anastasia, what could one trust?

"When.. Atlas taught us in the desert, he said that a weapon's greatness was bound to the will that swings it, rather than the one who made it."

A thought. A memory shared for Anastasia, perhaps to help her tears dry out. Green hues laid upon the headband in his grasp, and his lips parted once more.

"Do you believe in angels, or do you believe in yourself?"

Yuri knew the answer to that question in his own case.

Neither.
(Yuri)
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[01:56] Those prayers continued - continued onwards until Yuri's question came once more - and it brought a small pause to Anastasia's near silent, unheard prayer. She continued to stare at the heavens, contemplating his question before a light sigh escaped her lips.

"... I don't believe in myself." She answered, truthfully and honestly. "Not anymore."

At one point within her youth, Anastasia was in peril of falling to the same sin as her Mother, Serea Astor. Of falling to pride, for the young girl of her youth had pride in spades.

Now, it was the opposite.

Despair gripped her heart, personally. She could speak big and rousing in front of those who would hear her. But when it came to truly preventing death when it mattered...?

She failed, over and over again - so why would she ever believe in herself?
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[02:05] "I don't believe in myself either." Yuri said. His eyes peered beneath his hand to the reflections in the water, to the people that looked worse for wear. Sad. Horrible. People who'd returned defeated to their home. Unpleasant thoughts may roam their mind but it wouldn't stop Yuri from telling the truth.

".. but.. som- Somehow, some people believe in me."

His grip upon the headband tightened up for a moment, then was released. His hands rose up to his head together.

"Even Atlas did. I.. don't know if he was an idiot. I don't think I can take care of you. I don't.. think you'd let me anyway."

Hands moved to wrap the headband around his forehead, hiding it beneath his hair as it was tightened up, carrying the will of the deceased. The will of a man who'd carried far more hopes than Yuri could ever carry on his own.

".. I don't think it matters whether or not I believe in myself when it comes to fighting. I just-.. We just... have to do it. To try our best."

His hands fell back to his sides, and with Atlas' legacy - his will - kept right up near his mind he spoke again.

"I don't believe any angel will come save us. But maybe that's because they believe we'll save ourselves."
(Yuri)
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[02:05] * You have been awarded 1 Roleplay Points! *
[02:22] Emily cos Salis says, "--"
[02:36] She wasn't too surprised by Yuri's declaration that he didn't believe in himself... He was a stuttering mess; someone that didn't look people in the eye. Someone that was cowardly.

She was silent as he spoke, as he explained his thoughts on the matter, and whether he thought he could take care of her. No one needed to take care of her --

"I've taken care of myself enough. I don't need others to do so." She said, dry and flat. There's a small intake of air, before she shook her head. "The moment that we give up hope entirely, that's the moment that we lose out against them all." She added. "It does not matter if we don't believe in ourselves.... We.... Just need to believe that in the end, they will lose."

She shook her head.

"I don't know if any angels will help us. I don't know if the Saints of the past will look down upon us with mercy; I don't know if the stars hear my cries, and my pleas." She said solemnly.

"... I just know I still have to try. Even if I know it won't help."
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[02:42] It was difficult to connect to Anastasia, wasn't it? Even if they both didn't believe in themselves the woman still couldn't take up his words, instead deciding to believe in the end-results. Still, they both shared the same thoughts on the matter:

Trying was the only way.

"... Miss Anastasia." He called for her. "Do.. you think I've changed someone's life yet? In-... In a good way." He asks.

Perhaps that naive dream of his was still within this broken heart, in a way.

Perhaps he just wanted to hear that he wasn't a complete disappointment when it came to what he promised Atlas he'd work on. The man who'd seen him grow from a boy to a man. From a coward, to... well, he was still a coward.
(Yuri)
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[02:48] Silence reigned after that deeply personal question. She was terribly unsure if Yuri had impacted anyone's life yet in a meaningful way, and so she gave it some thought. For Anastasia was not one to lie - ever - and she did not wish to start here and now.

Her head tilted, emerald gaze once more returning straight ahead. Not to the lake in front of which they stood, but off in the distance. Her shoulders relaxed, eyes dipping shut as she sighed.

"Probably." She answered as best she could. "It may not have been someone I saw; but I'm sure you've changed someone. Whether that's for the best or the worst remains to be seen." She answered.

With that said? She'd aim to stalk away, silent once more.
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[02:53] Whether that's for the best or the worst remains to be seen.

The worst. It was the worst. Where mourning and grievance were meant to be expressed none of it would happen on that night. Yuri carried naught but more weight on his shoulders, yet his heart remained as pained and as heavy as ever before.

There was... no change. Nothing.

Yuri was horrible, and this only seemed to gnaw further upon his mind, to remind him of his inability to bring change in time to save Atlas.

If only he'd been faster.

".. I think I need time."

Literally.

Yuri shifted, aiming to walk away and... suffer on his own.
(Yuri)