Romani Montclaire - Resolve (4/12)

[22:54] Marie wandered with Siegfried to the church, aiming to meet a specific devil inside. Past the gates, she'd bow to priests and those alike; garnering squints at her new attire, one that stood out among the Osronan's - purple and black certainly weren't the color scheme of proud Knights, and in fact was quite the opposite. Antagonistically clashing with their theme's, a black sheep through and through as the Princess had always been; even among her own.

The smile of Marie's though was still terribly present, and escorting Siegfried up into the second floor, she'd spot her target: Romani sitting in front of the gigantic statue of a star, as if a plan came together so terribly perfect.

"Ready for that lesson, Romani?" Walking her way over to the priest, the Princess smirked - stopping beside his resting place of the floor pillow to turn and look at the massive stone carving, her armored hand reaching to place firmly on its surface.

Staring at it, while gesturing for Siegfried to sit down if he wanted to watch. "A trade off - I teach you the ways of the stars, and you teach me one side of the divine coin. Sound fair to you?"
(Marie ras Petrakis)
[23:00] It is prayer before Marie and Siegfried even enter the room. The noble sits, kneeling in front of the large star in front of him, fingers tented together. A prayer, a connection, something shared just between him and his star as a light red color fills the air around him. Small breaths, before slowly opening his eyes, and hearing the sound of footsteps.

"Marie. Siegfried. Hey." The Noble greets, partially quiet and partially informal as he's smirked at. He nods to Marie as she walks over to him, scooting just a bit so that the pillow would be open for her to take.

"I am. I'll show you holy magic, you show me how to better connect with my star. I like how it sounds." He nodded, taking a breath. "I also want to talk about that thing we whispered about too. See.. Just how much it has been thought about."

A small breathe is taken. "I have connected with my star once before. Ios, house of banners, the large planet, of the paws of the lion. But I want to connect to it better."

"It is the star that grants Morale. So if I can connect to it more.. I think that I will be able to grant morale to others too, in times of need." He explained, giving a small nod.
(Romani cos Montclaire)
[23:13] The light red color noted, Marie eye'd the man - he was a bit further along than she had intended, and that would alter the lesson plan ever so slightly, yet she didn't seem to mind. Placing herself down on the pillow beside Romani, her sword was unsheathed and placed onto her lap before her; resting across there as both of her hands placed over it. "Alright - bear with me. I'm a Princess not a scholar, and these things tend to be a bit more... Intimate between yourself and a star, rather than with a third party.

You said you had already made a connection yes? Clearly you had, by the color in the air. The first thing I'm going to ask is for you to close your eyes, and try to meditate; keep your ears open to me, but leave your heart and mind open for elsewhere okay?" As she spoke, her hand raised and reached towards Romani's own; pulling it to rest on her leg as a rush of warmth filled the room.

The borrowedpower of a star - the connection she had between; where he said his was Ios, in the head of the Lion? It seemed she was from the Branch of the Body, but wouldn't open up to which she was connected onto.

Then she'd take his hand, twisting it around to look at it as the golden waves of magic continued to flood along the room. Both hands raised, separated, and then his guided firmly to the sculpture before them. Marie's guidance brought Romani's palm to its smooth stone surface, and hers laced over his, pressing tightly against the back of it.

Soon after it seemed like a transference of power had happened. Where Marie was once covered in the golden warmth of her cosmic energies? The sculpture had instead been stained by it, burning brightly with the golden might, igniting the room with its rays; as if an actual star had come to life before their very eyes.

"I want you to close your eyes, and picture your color - let itflood your heart. Allow yourself to be open to nothing but my voice, and then project that color out onto this statue.

Focus on Ios, if you can even so faintly hear its voice. Then slowly push it out, okay? Maintain it. Feed this burning sculpture with those feelings in your heart."
(Marie ras Petrakis)
[23:20] Romani does as asked. Eyes close as he takes a breath and listen to the words of Marie, that tinging of red, the lion's paws, ever remaining in the air around him as he listened.

"Intimate between myself and the star. Ok. Close my eyes, meditate. Leave my heart open. Leave my mind open."

Open for somewhere else. Difficult to imagine, but he tried his best to do what was told. Her hand gently took his, pulling it to rest on her leg as there was a warmth around them. It's easier to connect, just a bit with the help of another cosmic mage. His other hand is taken, and twisting waves of golden magic continued to flow through the room as he felt the sculpture ahead of them.

To what was ahead.. Magic moved to that star, focused through marie, and the sculpture, and allowing him to barely begin to feel the heavens.

"Close my eyes, picture my color.." It was difficult to do to say a little. Not so much the color. It wasn't likehe could escape the red of battlefields now. But letting that color into his heart.. But it did.

The world faded out around him as he felt that red and let the mana of the star come down. Ios reaching to him. There is slight fear, remembering when the stars had burned another, but it simply calmed then.

He was not a witch. He was not an occultist.

The mana flows through him, pushed gently out to the sculpture. It is maintained, like a soft gentle rope as it takes a gentle red glow. His eyes remained close as he breathes slowly. And in his heart he hopes for the same thing he did when he first came to the church.

To simply become a hope for the people.

"Am I doing it right?"
(Romani cos Montclaire)
[23:30] "Hold it."

Marie spoke softly. The Princess wouldn't make any movements, any sudden jarring actions, that would break him out from his trance; she wouldn't open himself up to failure, on her actions alone. If he was to fail? It'd be through his own self; doubts and fears, or worries and sorrows - Ios was the star of Morale, and it showed in every one of Romani's actions. His exuberance, the way he spoke and moved through the motions, the way he kept them all connected; for games, or just talking, he was clearly one that could inspire a group.

The star slowly died it the gentle red, but she'd ask now; wanting to help him push it farther, and dispel those fears from his heart. The connection needed to be solid, and Marie fortunately already knew how to waver his confidence - and hopefully use that waver to push him past, for his connection to strengthen with Ios. "You're doing it right, Romani - now continue to try and hold it while I speak. Answer me correctly, but never let this feeling slip through your fingers.

When you were on the battlefield, what did you say?" Hitting hard, right where it would hurt, almost immediately. "Inante lead those men, didn't he? It was a massacre. You know it, I know it - those men, on both sides, fell into battle on a lie; we have enough information to know that Asta was making up the Occultist threat.

Yet you didn't speak up, did you? Why not, Romani?" The hand pressed against his more firmly as she took her words right to what she assumed was the core conflict of his being; Ios granted Morale to those who fell under its light, yet she knew the connection would never be firm if Romani was full of doubts; lacking self-confidence, or spirit, or belief in his own power - that his words couldn't change a single thing.

"Tell me why, and continue to hold it Romani; you can't have these doubts, you can't lead them cloud you. Your connection will only shatter if you do so."
(Marie ras Petrakis)
[23:38] Hold it?

For but a moment, Romani thought Marie meant freeze instead of anything. Understanding it as he made an incorrect move to be corrected, or maybe his hand had moved up her leg? He wasn't sure with his eyes closed, and that moment of panic flashes through his mind. However that moment passed as she told him he was doing it right.

"Doing it right. Got it." Don't let it slip through his fingers. Don't doubt himself, don't worry, don't let sorrow take him. His star was that or Morale, and he tried to keep true to what it was. He wanted to be the one the star choose. Ahead the sculpture remained red.

"What did I say?" He questioned. "I could not speak. Inante's words took me by surprise. Before I could say a moment he ordered 'lay siege to the sand castle'. Before I could retort, the blood already began. The most I could do was what I did."

"I ran after. Notwith blade. Not with fist. I ran after with holy magic to heal the wounded. I tried to carry people out to safety on a desert of red. I can not save everyone. I am not a person who thinks that they can."

He felt her hand press more firmly into his as the star grew more red. There were some doubts in mind, but the faces of war appeared in his memories.

"But I saved that one. And I saved that one too. I could not save everyone, but I tried to save as many people in front of me as I could. That was what I could do."

"If all I can do is save the life of one star fish on a beach shore, then I will reduce the amount of deaths by that one, and hold hope that others can learn by example. Because on a battle field, speaking up might not save anyone."

"But if I can save just one more person, it is worth it?"

"Right?"

The star grows more red with his question, not to himself, but instead to the star he connected. To the morale he believed in.
(Romani cos Montclaire)
[23:51] "Is that enough?"

A light smile danced across her lips, the firmness of his words catching her attention as the star only grew more and more red under each of his words; each passing phrase that carried the weight of convictions, that were his personal truth. Every step of the way, Marie intended to challenge those words; to bring them to greater meaning, so that color in his heart could flourish and expand - to grasp itself onto him, and become an entity that he could depend upon. A connection to Ios, that he would likely carry for the rest of his life; Marie attempting to lay down the strongest foundation possible for it.

"You can save just one more person, but your inaction may cause a hundred more to die - your convictions don't stand with the man you follow, or the people who blindly believe his words. Do you believe that's really right, Romani? Do you aspire only to mitigate even the tiniest fraction of unjust destruction, or do you want your words to be heard; words that might challenge the very men you were sworn under.

But words that would prevent this disaster - words that would save not one person, but those hundreds you had to turn your back onto. You might not save everyone, sure - that's a fools goal. But do you not want the power to save more? To be better than the last man before you.

Better than your Father, your Grandfather; better than the Stellus, the Light Bringer, or the King? So that you word matters, that you can be the change you want to be." Her words had more power, but they were open to interpretation - giving him many paths to take, many answers that he may want to give, many interpretations to what he may choose; because it wasn't her he was connecting too.

It was something far greater, something that would stand by him; and her next words seemed to be the most important. "This time, don't answer me; do not use words, take that feeling - your belief, and your answer to my questions, whatever they may be; and follow that feeling. Like a thread, let it take your mind to Ios, and give it your answer... Forge that bond with it, through understanding - believe in yourself, and believe in it equally as much...

When you find it, make it physical - show me, show Siegfried, show your fellow church; stain this room in that red brilliance that only you two can in an alliance. Let Ios be your strength, and be a vessel for it to give strength unto." Her hand released, separated from his - yet he could feel the crackling of the sculpture before him, the flow of cosmic energies that maintained by his grasp and his grasp alone - ones that he could take hold of, and make his own, to fully let his colors show.

If the connection could be made in full.
(Marie ras Petrakis)
[00:01] Is that enough?

To him, in that moment, it was. His resolve was firm. His words were firm. If he could save just one more life, if he could save one more person in that moment, that was enough for him. That he went on that battlefield, that he saved the lives he could? It was enough for him. And yet she offered more words.

That his inaction may cause hundreds more to die? And yet.. that does not shake his resolve. It doesn't shake his convictions in his past. Those people followed the Stellus. As long as there was not another path to take, they would continue to follow that path that the Stellus took and fall to his whims. As it was on that battlefield, there was no other way.

Unless he made it. "Do I want my words to be heard, words to challenge the men that I was sworn under.. Words to prevent disaster.." His words are almost whispered as he considers it. But he considers it perhaps in a different matter then intended. The light ofred continues to fill in the star, ever connected.

He was of the paws. He was of strong morale. And that meant he could both build it, and bring it down, didn't it? thoughts well up within him, what paths to take to burn bright as himself and not in the shadows of others. But as Marie said, he didn't answer her, and not with words.

He could only forge it through his pact with the stars. He could only forge his individual beliefs through his connections that were his own, even if that differed from the beliefs of others. Only his connection with Ios, not the Stellus' with his own star, or blinding light.

Romani was different. That brilliant red continued to shine around him, for a few moments longer. Her hand released him and his remained on the stars, flowing the mana into it. And it remains maintained as he breathes.

Find it. His own strength in ios. Becoming it's vessel to stain the world in the way he felt it needed to. The red spreads for a few more moments, in his grasp, his own.

"I think I can do that."

And softly it begins to relent. The bond is forged, yet he doesn't overstress it, not now. What it would mean.. he would have to see in the future as his eyes opened and he caught the last glimmers of that red.
(Romani cos Montclaire)
[00:10] Marie could do no more. It was a far more personal moment than even her own practice; she had been given a trigger, but no gun; she had to forge that on her own, in private, and then fire the bullets of her own accord. Through relentless effort, practice, meditation and perseverance she had made her own connection to her star, and that was something nobody could have helped her with - the seeds that were planted only ever growing through her own nurture and care. If she hadn't been a Petrakis? Maybe it would have taken much longer, and she always assumed that's why her star answered so openly to her.

That was her assumption at least.

When Romani would go quite, to forge the connection himself? Marie's presence all but seemed to vanish, as her breathing stopped. No shuffling to be heard, nothing in the room but the crackling of the red star before them both; as she let him have her moment. Marie's soft smile maintained, ever present as she watched Romani's features - eyeing them, and wondering what his answer would be.

How he would forge his own road, and what road he would follow - yet she knew it might run against her own, should he continue to stand by the war. The eyes of the Princess watered as that thought came to mind; yet by the time his eyes opened, they would have been wiped dry - emotions tucked away as Ilsa had told her.

The Petrakis being strong for herself, but also others as well. "You did well, Romani." The hand reached out to press the now silent statue, the cosmic billows of mana having faded away in favor of it being a the steel silver - yet the warmth that lingered radiated off. Silent, but the perfect imagery for their lesson. "Now you'll need to start turning that connection, into might - physically using it. Project it when sparring, use it in your every day life, let it take over your mana in its entirety.

And never waver from your convictions. Trust in Ios, as it will trust in you." She seemed pale - likely the Princess had expended a lot of mana to create the display that once covered the star, and sweat beaded down her forehead.

"What do you think? Think you can do that?.."
(Marie ras Petrakis)
[00:16] "Thank you."

The words found his words before anything else as he watched the Petrakis reach out and press her hand into the statue, the warm red light still radiating from it as he slowly smiled. The light of Ios was not external anymore in that moment. It was all internal. It was all with him.

"Right. I need to find a way to turn that connection with my star into something I can use. Project it when I need it. Use it more." He nodded in agreement.

"And never waver from what I see is right. I can do that. But what I think?"

Romani would reach into his coat. The same as he did the first time they met, he would draw out a hankerchief from within and gently use it to dab at the Princess' forehead.

"I think you might need a bath. You are sweating, armored princess."

"Also, nice new clothes. I did not get a chance to say it when you came in."
(Romani cos Montclaire)