A Spiritual Conversation

[19:33] The man reached out to grip Arlei's hand for a moment. Just holding it, before leaning themselves into the Drakna's chest. Taking slow, deep breaths. It seemed they just wanted to feel connected to them for a few moments.

"Don't get hurt."
(Ascalon Zanders)
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[19:37] Arlei allowed her hand to be taken by Ascalon and squeezed it in turn, a worried expression upon her face. She knew that the mountain was a prime place for Ascalon. A place where he could be himself and do what he wanted without fear of repercussion. She knew she was being selfish by trying to keep him here, with the family, with the kids. She knew that just by being with her, he was in danger too, even if only a little. And she felt positively awful about it all.

As he leaned in, her other hand came around to softly hold onto the back of his head, holding him in place as her breathing slowed. Her eyes closed over, but a worried expression was still readable, if Ascalon looked up in time.

"I won't get hurt, hun. If it turns to a fight, I'll take him to a place that's better for me to battle in. Not the fields, but the arena. I can destroy him there. You've not seen my new tricks, I'll be fine." she whispered, pressing a kiss into his hair.
(Arlei Zanders)
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[19:45] There was a few moments of silence as the former Oscuri held onto his wife. It wasn't a bad thing, not to him to appear weak for a few moments. At-least not in front of Arlei, softly as if he wasn't sure he'd want her to hear the words. The man spoke, his voice slightly raspy.

"I've been thinking, of things differently as of late. Thinking of my place in the world, thinking of Azrael... Of Kraus, the world about us. Thinking a lot and I don't think... I don't think I'm a good person. Not like you, not like I thought I was."

As he spoke his gaze shifted upwards, they'd spot the look of worry even as those eyes closed. Yet, they'd not needed eyes to know of her emotions. He was linked to the woman and always had been. It was just now that he wasn't giving off the same edge... An edge of violence, anger, hate.

Now? He gave off, not a calming vibe but perhaps a pleasant one. As he spoke, his mind went back to his attempt to help Yasuyoshi. To his attempt to sooth them, spotting a the look of a monster, the same look he'd had so long ago.

(Ascalon Zanders)
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[19:55] The drakanite lowered them both to the floor, sitting there with Ascalon still nestled in her chest. He'd certainly been different lately, at least to her; more affectionate. Soft. Calm. Kind. The chance was evident, and she appreciated it. She loved the hardened warrior Ascalon too, but this was a welcome change. More. . family oriented.

His words struck a chord in her heart. She had her own thoughts on the Gods. Some might call her heretical. In fact, most would. She didn't like them really; both Azrael and Kraus had been the cause, or motive, for many wars and both had despicable plans and ideas.

"Sweetheart, if you weren't a good person deep down, we'd never have become what we are. We'd never have gotten this close to each other. I wouldn't have fallen for you. Not like this. The kids wouldn't be as they are now, either. You'd have killed me for disliking Azrael. Pushed me aside to take the kids and teach them yourself. Probably killed me for not noticing their blacklining whilst you were busy."

"I don't know why you don't think you're a good person. You've always done right by me, and you've always followed your morals and done what was right. You fought for the protection of the innocents in Dawn. You enforced our laws up in Aurum. You show me love that no other could, and I return it in kind. Why do you think you're a bad person, though?" she asked, canting her head.

Truly, Ascalon had always done what was right, even if it was in the name of Azrael. Just his presence on the battlefields of Dawn had distracted the opposing parties and allowed so many innocents to hide and escape. He'd saved countless, and he just didn't realise it.
(Arlei Zanders)
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[20:06] "I spent my life ignoring evil around me because I was blind to it. I helped kill hundreds in service to the rulers of Dawn and Dusk. I didn't fight harder to kill creature's like Isaac and Ilui."

As he spoke his head came to rest upon her chest once more. It reminded him of all those years ago back in the White Gold as he leaned upon them. Hoping that Arlei, who'd seemed so wise and together at the time, could give insight and wisdom that he'd lacked.

This wasn't something that he'd intended to think about. His realization that he'd failed to do what really mattered. Protect people, enforcing laws and codes could only do so much. They could only help so many people, what the world needed was someone willing to actually speak and move for them.

"I was a bad person, because I couldn't tell that my strength was being misused. Even when you tried to tell me again and again. I followed Azrael even though the Azrael that was worth following is gone... I still believe in the man..."

As he spoke he'd close his eyes. Feeling the thrum of his spirit. Feeling the beat of Arlei's heart. He'd noticed that Arlei had become more violent in recent years. More angry, was it because of him? Was he a poison perhaps... If so perhaps he could serve as antidote to her rage as he'd tried for Yasuyoshi.

(Ascalon Zanders)
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[20:24] Ascalon was trapped in an impossibly difficult situation. Whilst he had protected, yes, he'd also killed. Killed so, so many people in service of Azrael and the Nightmare. He was powerful. Even now, as his lines had been drained, he was powerful. Perhaps not as much in body as he once was, but in spirit? He'd grown stronger. So much stronger.

And she was proud.

No longer was he just ignoring the faults of the past, rationalizing them in that his actions were in service of Azrael. He wasn't a pawn of the God anymore, he was finally himself, free of his shackles. Free of his control and constant indoctrination. Thirty years and he was finally realising that he was free.

"Honey, you didn't ignore the evil around you. You were serving Azrael. Doing what you did in His name, because that was all you knew. You can't be faulted for that. You did what -you- thought was right. That, however, is all in the past now. They're in a better place. Even though Dawn is gone, this world has only become more corrupt. People like Ilui and Isaac get to roam free and terrorise with nobody to stop them. Dawn was that bulwark, and whilst the place was rotten to the core, it was necessary. It was the chance to take all of them down. And then, Akasha came and everything crumbled, which I still believe was a plot by Huangzhous resident fallen angel to rally people to action."

Her heartbeat slowed, her face falling. Not from worry, but of longing. If Dawn did not have riftmancy nor necromancy, she would have been fine with its antagonistic force and evil. It was necessary, after all. It grounded the world. Gave the warriors something to do. Dawn saw the corruption of the aforementioned people and they were the best chance to deal with it.

"Sweetheart, you were indoctrinated through visions every time you closed your eyes to sleep. Twenty eight years of seeing that and its understandable that you'd be so, so deep into it that you couldn't see out. Perhaps then you may have been a bad person to some. Not to me. I understood. And now? Nobody can call you a bad person now. The past is the past, we can't change it."

"We can only grow from it."

It was true, Arlei had become more violent in recent years. Whether that be due to Lucilius' infection of her mana, or that things had become far more personal for her, was unknown; all she knew is that she had to do what she could to defend her family. She'd picked up her weapons again when they came to Levengard, because she knew it wouldn't be smooth sailing for them. She had to learn to defend them. And sometimes, that required being proactive rather than reactive. A good example was that red Kaor. Prodotis could tell her where it lurked, and she could shred its limbs one by one, leaving it as more fleshy pulp than sentient creature. It would die, just like the Chaos Mountain inhabitants would in the end.
(Arlei Zanders)
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[20:54] For a few moments the Oscuri listened to what Arlei was saying. He'd been a bad person but it wasn't his fault but the worlds. Wasn't that what Azrael had said to so many when the angel tried to save Humanity.

It was what the Angel said at the start... It was what he'd said as something more than an Angel. As a man, the words of Eiphraem had burrowed into the Zanders' skull. They bounced around and found root where they could. It'd not been an angel that'd attempted to save Humanity. No it'd been Humanity, at that moment.

"I'm intending to grow, I'll not accepting the current fate I've been dealt. Not the one given to me by a maddened fragment of a tortured soul nor the one forced upon me by a city of hypocrites."

As he spoke he could feel his mana tapping into something more. His mind was so focused upon the truths he'd come to understand, upon the truths he could find solace in. That he didn't feel the soothing presence of the spiritual realm.

Couldn't see the ethereal figure that looked down upon the duo. Watching and guarding them from what may exist beyond. It stood, arms crossed. Radiating an air of courage and hope. Yet, there was something else in the room.

Though it was only briefly those filthy black-lines that criss-crossed the Oscuri'sbody. Seemed to lighten, seemed to not seem so fallow. So... Dead. A single thought crossed through the Oscuri's mind.

"I'll not accept fading away."

A smile was turned as the man looked up to Arlei. They'd watched the woman struggle with her own faith and revelations perhaps he could help them sometime?

For a few moments the Oscuri listened to what Arlei was saying. He'd been a bad person but it wasn't hisfault but the worlds. Wasn't that what Azrael had said to so many when the angel tried to save Humanity.

It was what the Angel said at the start... It was what he'd said as something more than an Angel. As a man, the words of Eiphraem had burrowed into the Zanders' skull. They bounced around and found root where they could. It'd not been an angel that'd attempted to save Humanity. No it'd been Humanity, at that moment.

"I'm intending to grow, I'll not accepting the current fate I've been dealt. Not the one given to me by a maddened fragment of a tortured soul nor the one forced upon me by a city of hypocrites."

As he spoke he could feel his mana tapping into something more. His mind was so focused upon the truths he'd come to understand, upon the truths he could find solace in. That he didn't feel the soothing presence of the spiritual realm.

Couldn't see the ethereal figure that looked down upon the duo. Watching and guarding them from what may exist beyond. It stood, arms crossed. Radiating an air of courage and hope. Yet, there was something else in the room.

Though it was only briefly those filthy black-lines that criss-crossed the Oscuri'sbody. Seemed to lighten, seemed to not seem so fallow. So... Dead. A single thought crossed through the Oscuri's mind.

"I'll not accept fading away."

A smile was turned as the man looked up to Arlei. They'd seen the woman struggle with her own revelations. With her own demons and tortures. If they where going to make their life about helping others. Why not start with here?

"Would you like to learn how to connect with our ancestors? I'd like for you to learn how to call upontheir strength. In case I ever join them, so that in life you'll always be able to call upon me."

(Ascalon Zanders)
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[21:29] As Ascalon smiled up at her, she pulled herself from her thoughts and opened her viridian, slitted eyes, boring into his soul. She knew the kind of person Ascalon really was deep down, maybe even more than Ascalon himself did. He was a proud, powerful person who fought tooth and nail for what he saw as right. Sometimes it wasn't right, no, but it was that principle, that conviction, that determination that made him who he was. He didn't do things just for the sake of doing them. He did them because he truly believed in them, and he'd kill for a cause he believed in.

Yes, Azrael was wrong. His original plans of freeing humanity from the 'curse' of death were well intentioned, but eventually he fell from grace, his wings being eternally stained with darkness and corruption, and with them his morals and methods. But it was still what Ascalon believed in, and he'd fought for him because of that.

As his words flowed through her ears like holywater, something began to happen in those dormant lines of his. Black or green, they were still beautiful to the Drakanite, but this was. . different. Ethereal, immaterial, almost radiant compared to what they had been for the past few years. A thrum of spiritual power, one that Arlei could feel due to her own connection to the spiritual realm. One that Arlei had been forging for over twenty years.

And there it was again. That conviction. That drive. 'I'll not accept fading away.' Five words that filled Arleis mind with the happiest of thoughts. He wasn't going to give up any more. He wasn't going to wallow in misery, as he had been for years. He was going to pull up his pants again and strive onwards through life, rieka or not.

And that meant the world to the woman.

When he looked back up at her, he could see the positively radiant smile upon her face, the tears in her eyes and the quivering lip. She'd been waiting years to hear something like that from him. Decades, even, after Lirien. Her husband was finding himself once more, dragging himself out of the depths and soldiering on through the murky swamps of life. And she was proud.

In response to his words, wisps of mana began to roll from her body. Not flames this time; no. The spectral flames of Ryujin only rolled from her during moments of intense negative emotion. This time, it was calming. Serene.

From those faint trails of energy came whispers. Whispers of those long departed. Those who had been before, those who had suffered through the trials and tribulations that life offered. Broken through the walls and leapt through the hurdles. And whilst the whispers were incomprehensible to the duo, purely due to the amount of them that were coming through, the feeling was perfectly clear.

It was as if hundreds of the dead were pushing Ascalon onwards. Pushing Arlei onwards. Nursing their minds and motivating them to be the best people they could. Not only for the people of Agartha. Not only for their children, but for themselves, too. Like one hundred smiles looking down upon them, in the back room of their home.

And, perhaps it was due to the proximity of Ohtlis forest and the weakened barrier between the materium and the immaterium there, but something else could be felt. Not the ferocious roar of the beast that hid behind the spirits, but. . a nursing nudge. A huff that silenced the voices. Breathing. Peace. A guardian. A creature that cared. With a soft shimmer, it manifested behind the woman, placing a soft clawed paw upon her shoulder, resting its weight softly upon her.

A dragon. A representative of Ryujin himself, shaped in His image. The beast that had been roaring through her aura for decades when the time came for it. Why it had taken fifteen years to make an appearance after the first time she had heard it, she did not know, but she also didn't care. What mattered was that it was here now. It was here when she needed it, and when Ascalon needed it. It felt like her God had smiled upon her, nodding her and encouraging her in her ambitions. Her goals.

And, perhaps, to help her fight off the oncoming storm of Chaos that rolled down the mountains like an avalanche, threatening her life, her families life and perhaps soon, the life of every innocent upon Agartha.

With the dragons paw rested firmly on her shoulder, she smiled up at it for a moment and turned her attention to Ascalon.

"Grow with me, Ascalon. We're both getting old, but there is so much more to learn. To experience. I'm not fading away, either. I have a reason to protect. To defend. To grow stronger. I would love to learn how to connect with our ancestors, if only so I could have you with me for the rest of my life." Arlei smiled, her eyes radiating a faint, silvery glow; a connection to the spirits that came with the beasts appearance.
(Arlei Zanders)
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[22:00] The whispers where something he was used to. The connection to the realm of the dead had always been one the Oscuri was intimate with. It'd been with him first as a child of Azrael and then as a child of Chroma. As he'd reached into the realm of lost souls as a boy, seeing the hope in it and the threats within.

Though, what he'd never seen was a manifestation of the divine dragon Ryujin. He'd seen the other dragon, the coatl once but that'd been a weakened avatar. A shard of what the true creature was. They'd noticed the veil between the realms was weaker in Levengard.

Though, they couldn't quite figure out why. Was it the lighthouse? Thera's lingering influence? Ohtli's tower? Perhaps a combination of all three even. Whatever it was it'd allowed hem a glimpse at something grand.

No wonder the Drakanites worshipped such a distant monarch. The man's gaze shifted from it to those silvery hues. That was something new, perhaps Arlei had been getting closer to the realm of spirits herself?

Regardless that smile was more than enough for the man. It was so pure, so true. That was something Ascalon had came to appreciate upon Eternia. The truth, it was so rare to actually be seen. To be spoken that whenever you could see it or hear it. It needed to be treasured.

"Then we'll start training tomorrow! You and Prodotis seem to be able to gain the most but the other children could become stronger from knowing our history. We Zanders can become what we where meant to be."

As he spoke he stood with Arlei. They'd needed this reconnect. This grounding of their goals. Now? They could train together and grow faster, become what the world needed most.

(Ascalon Zanders)
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[22:28] Arlei reached up and placed a hand upon the paw of the spiritual dragon. A manifestation of Ryujin himself, it was not; it was moreso a manifestation of a beast that had long since fallen, much like the other whispers that had flown through the room. A beast that had met its end, whether natural or unnatural. It had decided to grant its power to another. Someone it deemed worthy. Someone it had been watching over for the last twenty years, guiding her when she needed it most.

With a firm, but longing smile, Arlei nodded towards the draconic beast. The hand clasping her shoulder shimmered and faded into mist, but the dragon itself simply backed off through the wall, vanishing. Perhaps. .

Her hand came up to her shoulder, one of the unmarked places of her body, and shimmied her shirt down slightly, exposing the raw skin. A soft, glowing mark had been left there, the spiritual beasts essence having merged with her, marking her rather than vanishing with the dragon. Ithad left its imprint upon her, allowing her direct contact with the beast, though she would have to learn to tap into it and learn to use it.

Looking down upon her lover, however, a bright smile rang out. A smile that radiated pure warmth, happiness and trust. A smile that radiated love. Just as she was coming into her own, so was he, after all of these years. He was learning, growing as a person and regaining the confidence that Ilui, Thalia and Calael had stripped away from him. And she couldn't be happier for him.

"Tomorrow sounds amazing. Yeah, we'll get all the kids involved in it! A family bonding exercise, and a preservation effort of sorts. We'll all grow, together, just like family should. Live up to your fathers legacy." she smiled, brushing his hair aside. A moment of weakness for the Oscuri had turned into one of indulgent elation for the both of them.

One thing radiated from her in this current moment.

Pride.


(Arlei Zanders)
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[22:45] Ascalon's smile never faltered as they stood up with Arlei. Tommorow would be a day that would help strengthen the Zanders house-hold. Something that would improve the lives of all of them. Yet for now? Man was he wearing down.

"I've got to rest love, I look forward to tomorrow."
(Ascalon Zanders)