Holy Dev 6: A Torch and Beacon of Hope

[10:56] Svengalf Sandsker says, "Oh hey Hina."
[11:07] Hina Lam says, "Hi, dad! I uh.."
[11:07] Hina Lam says, "I can give you the explanations of what all I witnessed at the raid for the fortress."
[11:07] Hina Lam says, "And.."
[11:18] "Well," the Kitsune's demeanor shifts. She did not present to Svengalf anything cheerful. Rather, for once in a long time?

Azure eyes close shut tight in the midst of welling tears, and her former gaze averts from him. Seconds pass into minutes during silence, recollecting memories of her initiate friend: Arista.

"If it's true of what Ybiet said-" Her words are small, spoken with a hesitance and struggle to push them out, and it's very apparent of her sympathetic and immensely downcast disposition.

"-when he fought Acero.. I don't know if it's true," she repeats, reiterating that, perhaps what the Cambion said was not actually the truth.

Still, in those moments, those tears trickling out from between the cracks of her eyes make way down her cheeks.

But she supposedly had a home there, from the inspections briefly made. Could she be with them, still, somehow? It was not known, given the lack of the Siren's appearance.

Yet, even with the prompt by Ybiet, it doesn't stop the notion of her passage unto another life to give distraught to the Illuminated Kitsune.

"..maybe it was just to ignite his feelings, but.." And with greater struggle do the final words she'll speak now come, cracks of her voice that could possibly drown out the narrative if Sven wasn't listening enough -

"...Arista is dead."

Nothing but silence now from Hina, save for audible cries.
(Hina Lam)
[11:21] There's a thump, from the front door. Heavy, boot-clad steps in the antechamber.

A click, as a hand settles on the door between them and the conversation...

...And the sound of those same boots withdrawing. They heard the weeping, one must assume.
(Kolbeck)
[11:37] The lapine was waiting, sitting on a pillow. Enjoying a cup of tea. A smile was given towards Hina, but quickly it faded into querries when he notices her stance.

He ceases to stir his tea, awaiting for the silence to cease. What could have happened then ? He tilts his head. And then when the name of Ybiet and Acero are heard, the lapine clenches his heart.

He observes her tears, as his breath quickens, anguish taking him from such silence. He stands up to reach for Hina, laying one hand on her shoulder.

And then the revelation is shared. The lapine freezes. His paler than usual skin goes even worse as the flow of mana was like inert.

"Arista?... How... ? Why?... Sh-she told me she swam away from Meranthe's coasts...".

The lapine instinctively wraps his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder if needed. His gaze is static, observing emptyness in front of him fom his jade eyes.

He should be feeling sadness, grief, sorrow.
And yet? The most overwhelming emotion that comes at first was rage. Frustration. Anger. He grits his teeth, shaking his head to fly the growing tears away.

"No... this can't be... She told me would be safe from everything until her return !... How...".

The net that was holding his sobs struggled. And eventually, his rage was quenched by the sobs, sadness drowning him.

"She told me she would be back... She told me she will return... I trusted her... ".

He bites his lips, before leaving a shaked sigh. There were plenty of thoughts... plenty of questions...

"Acero... told me she also wanted to swim away... but Acero had suspcisions something was off. I know, Loki treated her injury too. Arista told me it would be fine... I do not want to believe it... not yet until I see her body."
(Svengalf Sandsker)
[11:46] "I don't know how, or why, but.."

The hug is accepted, and every passing narrative made by Hina is forced out with immense struggle amidst the teary eyes, the tinge of panic in her tone formed by rushed words at the tragedy, and audible cries that reverberate throughout the Shrine of the Illuminated.

"She did have a house in the fortress," It was spoken softly, hastily, but perhaps it could dawn an explanation that may bring forth a sensation of hope for her livelihood somehow?

"-but he said.. the Cambion's hand went through her heart," No longer soft were the words, rather than filled with despair and aggression towards Ybiet in particular.

"-that she was confused in the end.. because we didn't save her." And she falls silent against, nestling her head against her adoptive father's shoulder to cry out the tears that'd soak into his apparel.

"..and none of us knew about it."
(Hina Lam)
[12:04] The lapine listens to her back. Holding her tightly. The sobs calm slowly, as the reserve of tears dry.

A frown when she mentions about the cambion.
"Ybiet… that bastard that tried to mindwash Alucard's child… He had one last chance to redempt himself… no longer he has such then… ".

If such words were to ignite the emotions, then the lapine was also caught ablaze to such. This name was familiar already. Yet… he knew deep down that anger and wrath will wrong his judgement and sanity. But the instincts of the soul are sometimes uncontrollable…

"I don't understand... she didn't lie to me I hope... did she ? She told me she was happy with us, with the church. She told me that the Church made her happy, gave her a purpose, made her happy... That she promised to meet us... She knew a place far from the Fel... She wouldn't lie to me... I understood she needed time for herself... I don't want to believe she would lie to me... It doesn't make sense if she had a house there!"

The father cradles her daughter's head cautiously in the embrace, as the lapine felt a lethargy wrapping him.
"I tell people to be cautious... I ask to share their worries... to open their hearts if they need. To offer a shoulder. Why the people I love endanger themselves ! I can't... I can't be there for everyone...".

A silence is held, as the lapine recolects his thoughts through minutes. A soft, shaking voice then follows.

"Hina... Arista... when she left the coast, she gave me the book I gave her the idea to write, to explain her journey into the church... There is still one page, that I will have to complete. And this book will be in the library of the church. If she is truly gone... we have her memories written... She is still with us... don't forget..."

(Svengalf Sandsker)
[12:27] They had her memories in that book.

Arista's written journey.

But for Hina?

It wasn't enough.

Her hands raise to grip at his attires - the gesture is rather aggressive in nature, but it is not directed at Svengalf by any means; just a motion made to express her belligerence towards Ybiet, and that of their enemies.

Despite her conversation with Ryker Marino regarding his own ambitions?

Hina was starting to feel a lack of empathy towards the enemies. It was difficult to, in these trying times. To have emotions towards ones that sold their souls, such as Lora'ene, Ybiet that she had transferred essence to, and the other names Lora'ene addressed in those final moments of her life.

"That piece of shit was never going to be redeemed." Tone laced with utter despair and anger speaks, and sniffles are made as a hand loosens on his cloth to wipe away her tears when theKitsune reels her head back.

"Filth like him don't deserve to live - taking the lives of an innocent who just wanted to make others around her happy."

While Svengalf's words had been heard, they were not truly acknowledged. She understood her father's helpful nature and how sentimental he was. That was who Sven was: A father figure to those of his initiates. To those of the church, and of Final Frontier. Someone to look up to. A mentor that aims for the good of others, and it was truly admirable.

And for Hina to want to fall into alignment with those natures?

She just simply couldn't; not by the tenets of her faith at times.

To understand another - Why did they harm, other than for the fun of it? "We're not some game to kill for entertainment."

To display kindness towards another - What prompted these twisted ideals held by the opposing foes? "We can't be kind when all we get in return are labels of an enemy, and attacked without remorse."

What could those statements mean in their pursuit of speech?

..and finally -

To grant respect. "They don't deserve it. None of what they do is admirable. Their people have no integrity. No true honor..

Just savages tainted by the need for power and some depraved essence of freedom."

Her heart was pounding on her chest, but finally she'll fully reel back away from the fastened embrace of Sven and turn away. The anger was almost palpable in the way intangible flames compress and exude, intensifying the heat around her person, or how the shimmer of gold-tinged ether takes form, fading in and out like stars in the night sky around her. And in that protective nature extending to those of the alliance?

With those two separate sets of abilities accompanying her, a flourishment of zealous warmth emits, flickering alongside the pyres and empyreal alike, displaying a hint of softer gold of a pious nature.

"Why do we preach about saving life, when they don't show us the same form of love we give to each other?" A rhetorical question made.

"When they have no regrets for what they do? -- Don't answer those, please. I'm just.. mumbling to myself. I'm-- I'm going to do everything in my power to save my friends, and take down every last enemy of ours."
(Hina Lam)
[13:00] Of course, the book was not enough for Svengalf too. Those promises that will never been achieved.

The agression of her gesture hurts to see, but it was understandable, as he shared such too.

He has been repressing this anger in him. An anger, that related to the ghost of the Enclave, the Wandering Hate. Anger is a natural emotion of humankind... but it was a challenge to not turn it into a senseless wrath: To enjoy the idea of snapping one's neck under his very hands, to bite into their jugular, to claw her guts, to scrap them into shreds from his crystals, to open a carnivorous maw from his blososms to digest them alive. Intrusive thoughts invading him, of pure malice and destruction to annilhiate those who have wronged those he hold dear.

Yet... these thoughts made him scared of himself. Why would he even think about it ? It was not himself. He needs to remain sane for him. His family. His friends. And the people of the Frontier.

"When the hedge overgrows, you trim it. And when the weeds overtake your garden, you pull them by the roots...". Omnious wordings.

To her words, there is a pinch on his heart. Guilt was taking over him.

''You are too soft for Meranthe, Svengalf. We don't deserve you.''
Words spoken by Regalus, or Alucard, Acero even. Svengalf only has seen what the Fel causes. But unlike them, never he has faced them. His years have been among people. To care for them. To help them grow. To keep and entertain their flames of hope. He has concluded those were his strengths.

Azalea words during the last small reunion remind him how Alacritas was meek in the battle, and stood as a shield for Pylae in his battles.
Redemption... he wanted to believe it. Yet. There were too many sinners. People collaborating with the Fel for mercantile values. Too selfish to not welcome the refugees or mentor people, only to die for their own ambitions. And much more.

Many claim it was a time for Change. But was there anything Svengalf has to change anyway?. Perhaps new things to learn. Life, is after all, an eternal lesson.

"They simply reject everything but Despair, the only cruel mistress left. They are not human anymore at this point.", he muttered.

The flickers of Hina were worrysome. But how to explain such...

"Hina... my dear daughter. I understand. I am sorry if I have been utopist. Or blind. I hope, you are not angry at me.
He tries to catch her back, trying to lay one hand on her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her.

... Just, don't say ''I'' in these situations... please. You are not alone in the same boat. It's a ''we'' that we need.
I have seen... so many people telling ''I'' want to revenge. ''I'' want to protect. And jump in the fray. Alone. Leaving everything behind. I was told... that Renee jumped in a battle, alone, too. And was captured again. Please... I hope you understand how individualism is killing us too. There are children, orphans, who are abandonned, because no one mentors them. And they are then taken under the false care of the Fel to be returned against us.

This war is not only in one side... And I wish, I could be fighting with you, Hina. But I know, you are with Eivor. And yet, with Eivor's victory... this is a proof at how united humanity can achieve greatness.
But if you are both holding the spear's tip of Pylae, I hope then, you understand I want to be the Shield of Alacritas to help and protect the people behind.

I do not want to stay inactive... I know perhaps I am repeating myself. But we must never forget our words and our purposes. What is dear to us. You mean a lot for me, and I want to help you too.

They do not deserve our kindness. No more... But at very least, those who still respect our tenets... we must not forsake them..."
(Svengalf Sandsker)
[13:17] It was true, to a degree, that she had displayed the usage of 'I' in this very situation, but -

Even when his hand finds herself resting on her shoulder, he could feel the tenseness of her person. A stiffness of the body in those fleeting moment's in attempt to fully attune to the nature of a magic that Eivor possessed, born of will, of piety, to protect and save, the desire to exorcise any filtered by occultic natures, or those who possessed it.

Either way.. Hina's head cants towards the hand, but averts away almost as immediate as the glance is given.

His narrative is heard. The mention of Renee's capture is responded with widened eyes. "Again? ...seriously?"

Pursed lips made, but the anger within doesn't dissipate in the slightest, no. It only furthers, extending outward in the impulse of emotional casting, drowning her in tinges of glistening gold, both sparkly and soft, along with the tangerine hue of pyres that flicker, missing Sven's person precisely.

His sentimental note about the story of Pylae's spear and Alacritas' shield was one filled with hope and life. Protection and the dance of weaponry to uphold their tenets of faith.

Hina was of neither, but a devotee for Jiuweihu, and under the Sun Goddess' own tenets? They were gifted to those who could be redeemed, perhaps like Ryker Marino and Ynni Marino.

Otherwise? Those extensions would reach to them no more.

"I didn't mean it like that, anyways.. we have our people to fight them, but my stance is known here. With our friends, I will do whatever it takes to protect us all. No matter how small, no matter how big the projects. Anything."

Even if, under the guidance of the Sun, she was meant to smite her enemies.

For she would be one of the Sun's harbingers, casting away the darkness - like a bleeding light through the canopies of a tree amidst darkened forests.

(Hina Lam)
[13:38] Perhaps the overprotective parental insticts of Svengalf aren't helping in this situation. He knows deep within him, that his daughter wouldn't turn down on him. Yet, could one blame him to be worried?

The hues strengthens, as her mana intensifies. He was worried for her to flail him away. But it was a relief she missed him. And yet... it was painfull for him to be unable to bring her a sentiment of rest, it seemed like. The sorrowfull anger was perhaps too much he could take.

There is a nod given to her. A resolve that was brightly burning. A fire that unfortunately, it seemed like he couldn't penetrate.

"Why can't you be like them, Sven. People are crying for revenge, not reassurements.", his inner self nailing his mind.

"I know you don't mean ill feelings, deep within you. It's your fire's passion...
I won't forsake you, my daughter, my family... I love you."

He lowers his head. He opens his lips, but no words had the courage left to leave.

How long since you have been enjoying simple things, Brother?.

A single sob, is cried as Reeds' prayer returns.
(Svengalf Sandsker)
[13:53] "I love you, too, dad."

There would never be any moment to fall to corruption; not while Hina was still breathing.

Every sentiment she held on to, every person she's ever met that brought her something hopeful in life...

Even the enemies that attempted to snuff out the flame within -

Recollected in those few seconds, as if playing like a film over the eyes.

The injury instilled by Togoshi remained, presently displaying horrendous mirages of fallen allies. Hina couldn't help but to think about what visions Eranath had forced her to see.

His head rolling, and body falling still.

It only prompts more tangible flame to burst out, driven by a pure, passionate torch deep within her heart, and more tears to spill over.

Accumulated emotions held so dearly were being expressed through resentment of their enemies, anger for the harm brought to those she loved, the beautiful happiness of her child's giggling, Eivor's smile, Sven's fatherly embraces, the grins of her friends she deemed familial, and the despair of those lost.

Their faces were before her in those facades, cast away into darkness.

A fist balls, and all she could feel now were these emotions tying into one particular sentiment; not one made by impulses, but a sworn, silent promise to those in her life well met or unknown who were innocent or allied to the good natured side of the alliance.

Gradually, her head lifts, glancing towards the coming of her husband, but she turns back towards Sven, wiping away more tears from her reddened face.

"My fire's passion burns for one reason, and one reason only."

One specific aspiration.

"Hope."

And with that, she'll take so few steps towards Eivor's direction to stand with him, her other half, the one who completed her whole world. The other half of that beacon that Meranthe needed.
(Hina Lam)
[14:05] These simple words… it was recomforting to hear.
Likely… it was hard for him to imagine what she endured. It was hard to imagine wearing her boots.
But whatever her road will lead, his parental resolve will never change.

Even if Hina was a dedicated to Jiuweihu, hearing her reason put a little smile back to Svengalf.

Hope. It is, after all, a Constant. An unseen law in the Universe in which every living being can attune with. And represent it with different aspects and shapes. While his hope was more silver colored, the golden glow of Hina close to the Sun was closer to Pylae ideas.

"And I grant you all my blessing needed in such."

He smile then back to Eivor, approaching the duo.
Visibly, he has still some wet tears drying on the cheeks.

"Eivor... I am glad also you are safe. May you be blessed too."

He leaves a little sigh, as he returns back to Hina.

"My daughter... thank you for telling me the truth. It hurts. But, we have to face the reality sometimes..."

A wipe of his cheeks to dry the tears, as he follows.

"And soon, we will have to hunt whatever is hunting near our grounds. Something that stench the false Death again... Are you both ready for such ?"
(Svengalf Sandsker)
[14:10] He seemed a bit... disheveled, to say the least; dust lacing his cloak, including some cobwebs here and there to the side, have traversed through the underground rail system... a recent discovery by their new settlement, really.

But an incredibly convenient one nonetheless.

He wasn't much aware of the context; but the flushed features of her wife are more than evident, having cried before; and her words do give him a gist of what it was about. But, still, when the Kitsune walked over, she'd only find how his arm idly wraps around her back, his hand gingerly coming to a rest upon the curve of her waist all the while, holding his other half just a bit closer.

The golden ether of his own does flicker every now and then; a soothing and comfortable touch all the while.

A nod is returned to Svengalf, coupled with ghost of a smile.
(Eivor)
[14:11] Hina Lam says, "You're welcome, dad. I'm sorry to have been the deliverer of the news.."
[14:11] Svengalf Sandsker says, "Better you than anyone else..."