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Post by Faustus on May 26, 2014 18:29:11 GMT
 ~Tears of White Tailed earth streak through the midnight sky
Pale and alone, on a whimsical night~
A man, or all that was left of one, sat alone on the edge of the Shores of Obscurity, dressed in black, with eyes as golden as the sun peering out thoughtfully into the vast expanse of the sea. In his hand, A violin, the other, a beautiful bow, and with a deep inhale and exhale, he brought them together in destined matrimony. The notes rang out with soprano depression, and the power in the bars rippled the waves for miles. His eyes closed, and he fell into the deep recesses of his mind. Into that endless black abyss, and surfaced things that he thought he had long since forgotten. The smell of her hair. The softness of her hands. The gentle, silky feel of her touch.
As he unwillfully ruminated on ages long since past, from days when he was a better man, a good man, the ferocity and flame of his emotion burst from his fingertips and the ebb and flow of his bow hand. He did not do it consciously, perhaps by some vain of muscle memory, but nonetheless, the volume of the violin roared upward, and out, and it seemed as though the stars themselves had revealed themselves from the cosmos to listen to the mans story. A purple-white, cosmic glow began to spring out from the moon, that sat just on the surface of the horizon, and shine down soft silvery light across the land.
And then, the music stopped.
Faustus pulled himself from his sojourn into ephemeral memories. Those were dangerous waters, and it bothered him that those thoughts still pervaded his every movement and thought. It made him so very aware that no matter how much more power he had acquired since then, that at the moment he was still just a man. He was almost there. But not quite. He was making progress slowly but surely. He could feel his power returning, and with every life he claimed in the Chosen tournament, only reassured him of that fact.
He pulled up his sleeve, and checked the time on his spellwatch. He caught the sound of water splish splashing a few yards off in the distance. He never looked to it to acknowledge or dismiss the sound. He only brought the violin back to his chin, and the bow in position to meet string.
"You're late."
The violins playing resumed.
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Poet
Nu Guardian
Posts: 19 
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Post by Poet on May 27, 2014 21:13:24 GMT
"You'll have to forgive me. Summoning you here was no simple task, Karas."
The sound of splashing water echoed throughout the dimly lit shoreline with every footfall the colossal man made. He came to be standing just beside Faustus, towering over him in his seated position, his hands lost somewhere in the depths of the pockets of his ebony cloak. Silver locks framed black sash covered eyes. Arthur chose not to see. Even with his eyes covered, he seemed to be able to see perfectly fine. He walked with no trepidation, and a strange sense of assuredness.
Arthur took a seat beside Faustus, and from the confines of his cloak, he revealed pallid hands. They were empty one moment, and then the next, they weren't. In place of vast emptiness, a sizeable harpsichord took its place. It was framed in gold, and the chords gleamed silver against the pale moonlight. He strummed the strings with the grace that could only be imitated by the angels in the heavens themselves. This was not planned, or rehearsed, but the hearts of both men's notes matched each other synergeticaly, creating a beautiful miniature concert for no one but themselves.
"Music is a strange magic, isn't it? It speaks for us when words cannot." He paused for a brief moment. Perhaps to plan his next words. More likely for dramatic flare. "Do you know what my music is saying, defunct Karas? We are two different men, so you probably cannot speak my language, so to speak. I am saying something is coming. Something that calls for both of our immediate attention, Karas. If it was any less important, I would not have gone to the trouble of summoning you here."
He plucked the strings, ascending the notes higher, while the man dressed in black accompanied his solo. The stars blazed brighter in response. A round of applause from the cosmos.
"The last time we met, we were on completely different sides of a field of battle. Strange, seeing you like this again, brother. Almost..... peaceful. Are you still searching for her?"
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Post by Faustus on May 27, 2014 22:37:01 GMT
"That is no longer who I am. Karas is just a ghost. A memory of something that once was as real as you and I are now, but is now just a figment of our imagination. I left that part of me behind more years ago than I can care to count."
Faustus was almost surprised when he heard the harp join into his one man concert. He was not expecting it, as he had not ever broken his focus to look at him, but the accompaniment was welcomed nonetheless. It was beautiful after all. And even men like Faustus could appreciate beauty for what it was.
"Music is the language of the world, Arthur. It is the only way men like us can speak without drawing blades on one another." Faustus' violin dropped in scale and tone as Arthur's harp solo'd the words of his soul.
"I do not doubt for a second that whatever you have summoned me for is of dire importance. Had it been anyone else, I would have ignored the voices in my head. That itch I could never quite scratch. That shadow you catch out of the corner of your eye. But I felt it was you. I felt your desperation. I know that scent well."
Faustus' eyes gleamed against the starlight.
"So. It is him, then? I felt his presence. People like us are rejected by this world. It shudders around us in detest. It does not want us here. Though nor does it have the strength to force us to leave. I heard the cries of the world the moment he stepped foot in it. Absconditus ' presence has not gone unnoticed. Not by me, you, or the ever watchful eye of Syirith."
A moment of silence erupted like a volcano between the two men. The only sound was that of the waves crashing against the shore.
Faustus ruminated on his ex-comrades word. Brother. Yes, that is something they once called eachother. It was like seeing the house you grew up in, or a ty you used to play with when you were just a child. They brought fond memories, and waves of joy and nostalgia, but you knew deep down that that time was over, and a new chapter of your life had long since begun.
"A part of me is always thinking of her. A part of me always yearns to reach out and grab her. To kill them all and vanish. But that is all in the past. It is who I was. She is from a time when I was a broken man. I have to stay focused. My eyes are now set on a new world to make my own. My eyes are set on Nu Guardia. This place has a strange cauldron of power within it. I know you felt it." Faustus' eyes were filled with a light and vigor Arthur would not has seen since they were both children, aspiring to join the OPF together, peering out into the vast expanse. A time that felt completely separated from this one. As though they were not real memories.
"Soon, this will all be mine. But first, I need to deal with those who would see it taken from me before I could even claim it."
Faustus placed his violin down, ending the duet with a soft plop of wood against sand and stone.
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Poet
Nu Guardian
Posts: 19
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Post by Poet on May 30, 2014 14:44:23 GMT
The music had stopped, and so Arthur would make no movement to continue it. It was beautiful for all its brevity, and he would appreciate the small gesture that the other had given him. His harp vanished into a sea of shadows and hazy verdure.
He stood, bringing himself to full stock, and where there was once an abysmal black sash covering his eyes, there was now none. The sash had moved to his hand, trapped in a clenched, snow-white fist, whipping wildly in the wind. His pale, unnatural steely eyes opened for the first time in a life-age, and looked over the sea. The lights and shapes blinded him. He had been sleeping, dreaming from the world for ages, and now he was just waking up. It was like looking into a prismatic keleidescope, and even though it brought waves of aches to his eyes and head, he had, not in a lifetime, seen such beauty. Silvers and purples fractally folding into and out of one another, and it brought the strangest thing to him. A smile.
A warm smile formed from his lips, and he directed it back at Faustus. It was unedging, not in a sense that it was disconcerting, or hid maliciousness, but because it was something unnatural to the man. Someone so enthralled and bequeathed in shadow, whom had not smiled in ages, now stood in the silver light of the moon, with the warmest, most sincere smile a man could make was what made it unedging. Faustus would surely note it.
Faustus finished his speech, and Arthur found himself feeling hollowed from his words. Almost sad, and empty. It was disheartening, because he knew how a man like Faustus worked. Everything, down to the most minute detail was tediously plotted and schemed. If Faustus said something, it was because he meant it.
"You know, Faustus, you don't have to do this. Any of this. We could kill Absconditus when he shows himself, and we could get away from here. You, I, and all of the other Vulcan remnants who still draw breath, and start new. It could be like it was before. We could stop this game of cat and mouse once and for all. We could be.... at peace. Would the power of a god quench your thirst?"
His smile faded, and he now looked into Faustus. Not at him, but within him. Silver iris' ensnared his golden hues, and for a brief moment, it was as though they were locked together, and indeterminable from the other. Arthur had become Faustus, and Faustus had become Arthur. And then, just as quickly as they had become one another, and knew everything within the other, they were separate entities again.
And there they were. Black and white. Light and dark. They loved each other, more than any two beings could fathom. But it was fate that they seek to blight out the other. One always fought for dominance. And in the end, one would have to live, and one would die.
Even so, for this infinitely brief moment, they were one in the same. Light and dark had come together. Arthur extended his hand out to Faustus., his eyes were closed once more.
"Come and walk with me."
Author's Note: I know the chronology of this post is a little skewed if you are trying to link it perfectly with Faustus' post. This is semi-intentional. I just like the way it flows like this better than the alternative. Just in case anyone was wondering.
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