RP:Finis Temporibus
Sins Abated
As you enter this area, you are immediately overwhelmed by the absolute silence. Even the wind does not make a sound as it gently passes through the blades of grass. A large statue of fine ivory rests at the far end of this grassy cliff. The statue stands at the edge of the cliff, depicting an almost angelic looking Avian woman. Her wings are spread outwards and her hand extended, with the most compassionate of expressions. Whatever evil you may have done, you feel as if this woman is forgiving you for them. A small, golden dish is embedded in the platform of the statue - to accept offerings or prayers.
Cerinii had sent a number of letters off this day, important documents sent off to her estranged wife and the children they had raised, a letter to her faithful student with words of strength and love and then a final letter to a close and dear friend. The Avian found herself waiting at this special area of the rather young city, staring upward at the angelic looking Avian. It was difficult not to extend her hand towards the statue and beg for more forgiveness; to beg repentance for her past crimes and darker thoughts. Cerinii sighed ever so softly, and murmured, "Forgive me."
Satoshi's boots crunch lightly as their steps frost the grass beneath them, painting a glistening trail of white that winds its steady way to the avian and statue. Stowed carefully in the front of her coat where her right arm lies ever dormant is the letter Satoshi received earlier, a piece of parchment now briefly stroked as if in reminder before satin-sheathed hand finds Cerinii's shoulder. "Dove." It isn't a question, but simply a greeting, a single word spoken with myriad meaning behind it. A meaning echoed by the metallic whistle of the clockwork owl perched upon the kit's shoulder, his fluorite eyes glittering with its mana-fueled sentience as Ceribuu peers down at one of his creators.
Cerinii truly did not feel the hand upon her shoulder. She could not feel it at all, what heralded Satoshi's presence was the sounds and then that name. She smiled ever so faintly, knowing that it would be good to have someone with her in the end. The end. It was so near and yet felt so far away. The Avian turned and looked to Satoshi, "Hello, mein friend," she offered as jovially as one can in this situation. She was not going to beat about the bush; there wasn't time for that anyway, "I... I asked you here because I am dying. Und I will die this day. I, er, do not wish to be alone. Plus I have things to give you." A small smile, as she knew how Satoshi felt about receiving gifts, "Ein gift, if you will."
Satoshi keeps her hand in place a moment longer before it's withdrawn to rest alongside its kin across the fox's chest. While vulpine ears do twist forward involuntarily at the mention of gift, it's the mention of death that has amber-flecked eyes scrutinizing the avian, seeking out any glimmer of information as to what... exactly... is killing her. No scent or sight of disease is apparent to Satoshi, nor blood to denote a fatal injury, nor--despite knowing Cerinii is of considerable age--obvious signs of nature completing its cycle. As badly as the kit wishes to ask what ails the engineer, by now she has learned enough of simple politics to not blurt out such questions. No, instead she nods, steps forward, and lowers herself to sit on the grass beside Cerinii. The bird will sing when she wishes to, no amount of coaxing will draw the tune out any sooner. Buu, however, is not as patient a creature, and loudly hoots his anxiety, offering Cerinii a flutter of metal wings and a rapid, full-circle spin of his head. Satoshi shakes her own head with a soft laugh. "You're not alone then, as you wish, Dove."
Cerinii lowered herself to kneel beside Satoshi, smiling slightly at her. "Danke, Satoshi," the words spoken with a slight chuckle given the impatient nature of the owl. The Avian was amused by it, and that helped to distract her from what was rapidly approaching. "I will not bore you with details, mein friend, but the time is here." That said, the Avian slipped a ring from her finger and held it out to Satoshi, "This... was mein father's. It is known as the Band of Persuasion. You wear it und your voice is more... persuasive. There is ein price, of course, ein small measure of blood is taken for it to function. I give it to you, in the knowledge that politics can be ein deadly game; your words will often act as the first weapon." Cerinii sighed slightly, fingertips briefly touching the feather around her neck. "I... I don't know if I'm ready to die, Satoshi," she spoke quietly, for once in her life truly fearful of what was happening to her. There seemed to be something on her cheek, a little silvery smudge...
Cerinii gave 1 Band of Persuasion to Satoshi.
Satoshi accepts the ring with the quiet remark, "My power comes from my words, I am familiar with the dangers, and values, of wielding such." Carefully the ring is clenched in her palm, to be mulled over when other matters aren't so pressing. Looking up toward the statue then, the kit listens to the rest of Cerinii's words and remains silent a long moment before, in a barely audible voice made distant by a mixture of her own anxieties and uncertainties, she murmurs, "Is any soul ever ready to die? I don't believe any that claim as much. So long as there is a shred of doubt, you can never be prepared in full." Without taking her eyes off the statue, Satoshi tips her head to one side and brings her voice back to the present, "The only thing you don't seem to doubt is that it will happen. And happen today. That you've no escape, or... desire no escape? Which is it?"
Cerinii smiled slightly at her words, shaking her head. "Nein. None are truly prepared for death, even if they claim such." She paused and listened to what Satoshi had to say, before sighing softly. "There is nein escape. As the time draws nearer, I do yearn for the escape; I do desire it. But it is not there, und will never be there." That said, the Avian gave a low snort; the silvery smudge creeping across her cheek further and headed down a portion of her jawline. "It is not... painful, though. Simply odd." She offered Satoshi a near warm smile before chuckling in a wry manner, "Frau Rikailin was correct when she said I would eventually be more metal than flesh."
Satoshi pulls her gaze away from the statue, redirecting it to Cerinii. Without thinking and without knowing what exactly it is, she reaches up to brush away the silver smudge. Combined with the heightened scent of metal the avian gives off, and her semi-cryptic words, Satoshi can hazard a guess at what's afflicting the woman. "What... did you do, Dove? And what is it -doing-?" The watching owl clatters nervously and shuffles upon Satoshi's shoulder. Neither bird nor fox knows quite what to make of this.
Cerinii shook her head, "All mein metal parts, Satoshi. Think, mein friend, how much metal I have in me. It is nein wonder that it is... corrupting mein system, so to speak." She was ready to go on and discuss it, but she felt a squirming in her breast-pocket. Scorpious, the poor soul, began to chirrup and whirr and the Avian lifted him from her pocket. She handed him to Satoshi, "Look after him for me. He is precious to me." That said and out of the way, she offered Scorpious a small and affectionate pat before continuing, "Ja... It is devouring me, Satoshi. Becoming everything I am in order to protect me. That is its purpose, to protect me. Und often, the creation kills the creator to protect it." The silvery smudge continued to spread, crossing her jawline and heading across her neck. "It will thicken, und it will then become internal. Und then, I will die."
Satoshi nods in, of all things, understanding. Hadn't she done similar with ice when she'd lost a portion of her shoulder? And had it not devoured the flesh and bone until her entire right arm had been reborn glacial? For the kit, it is still a mystery why the element had not spread through the rest of her body, but if it would lead to a fate similar to Cerinii's, she's silently grateful it had not. Scorpious, having been numbly accepted, sits atop the ring also made gift, where he is offered a light stroke of a claw along the curve of his tail in unspoken greeting. She does not need to say she'll look after the tiny metal creature. Cerinii is more than familiar with the kit's peculiar menagerie. Leaving the scorpion to scuttle up her arm and join Ceribuu, Satoshi looks once more to the statue while asking the avian, "So, then do you intend to wait for the process to complete itself? Or do you seek an end time of -your- choosing, not the metal's?" Satoshi may not have a reputation for being a gentle and merciful soul, but to those few she carries a fondness for, she is willing to speed along their ends so as to defy Death's machinations, and grant them their life's final wish.
Satoshi can't help but wonder if that was part of why she was called here today.
Cerinii saw no purpose in ending it sooner than deemed. "Nein, I will allow the process to carry out. Besides, should you end me, I would be most unhappy." The Avian had been holding onto a satchel and had not touched it or the contents within until now, holding out the satchel to Satoshi. "Given that I am due to die... I am entrusting this to you. I deem you worthy of it, Satoshi. This is not an item to be trifled with lightly, mein friend. Heed mein warning. Do not put it on. /Ever/." Cerinii's face and neck was gradually becoming covered in a light layer of that silvery substance, looking much like an android or some poor face-painter! Cerinii rubbed her eyes, feeling an itchy sensation beginning in the corner of her eye. "I, er, worry about the children und Araina," she did not wish to confess so much to Satoshi, but she didn't want to die with it on her mind, "I love her so much, it physically pains me."
Satoshi, fortunately, takes hold of the satchel rather than the item stowed within. Even with the layers of leather and distance of inches between her and the object, her fur still rises at the sensation of its presence--both for its potent magical abilities as well as the warped, foul essence of the Time Lord that emanates from it. "The Leech..." A hiss cannot be halted, the sound one of immeasurable hatred and painfully at odds when uttered in the same moment as Cerinii's confession of worry and love for her family. It takes all of the magus' strength to compose herself long enough to set the bag aside and force her attention back onto the avian--with a parting, wary glance for the lurking item, as if to say 'I'll deal with you later.' While the progressing metal is taken note of, Satoshi sees in sense in pointing it out or commenting. No doubt the avian can feel it, and likely doesn't want needless reminders. Instead, the cryomancer tries to focus on the conversation. However unpleasant it is to speak about feelings, especially selfless feelings or irrevocable devotion. Such concepts are still a new thing for Satoshi due to the Coterie, a concept as sensitive as the raw, pink skin of a newly healed wound. As such, for once the kit has to struggle for words to form a reply. "Ah. Well. She, and they, know you cared to the end, no? You can't do much more than that, right? I'm sure they feel the same. And will... keep you in their hearts forever?" Words of Comfort, an ally to Satoshi you are not.
Cerinii gave a small nod of her head in confirmation, as if to say that it was indeed a creation of his. She could, of course, feel the metal on her skin. The weight it was beginning to gain. Satoshi would probably notice that it was thickening, and becoming much more prominent. Fingertips rubbed at her eyes again, frowning at the irritation. Her sight was twindling, she could feel it and - obviously - see it. "Ja, I suppose," she smirked, knowing Satoshi was not the best in terms of comfort. "I am glad we became friends, Satoshi. Truly, I am." More rubbing of her eyes ensued before she hissed with, presumably, pain. "Mein sight is fading."
Satoshi watches the metal progress. She can't -not- watch this unique phenomenon, despite the dark meaning it bears. However, she can still nod to Cerinii's words. "I'm glad as well, Dove. My Herald paved a vital path to my future, after all." This is Satoshi's way of thanking Cerinii for the aid she had provided in obtaining Frostmaw's crown, among so many other things. At least, it's her gratitude in verbal form, for the kit has her own gift to give. Reaching into the front of her coat to the crook of her frozen arm then, Satoshi draws out a simple looking lyre, marked with a single long scour on one side. "Close your eyes, Dove. You do not need to see now." As her words fade, the magus begins to play, the notes drawn from the instrument tentative at first but slowly building in confidence as fingers remember their patterns. Little by little the melody for Cerinii is woven upon a lyre aptly named Requiem, a dark and elegant musical piece of the kit's creation: a delicate weaving of a lullaby's soothing notes intermingled with the lilting, haunting marks of an elegy. Whispers of Death and promises of rest, the cold unknown embraced with warm assurance, each blended together into Satoshi's Phantom Song.
Cerinii 's eyes continued that burning sensation as the silvery substance seemed to spread onto her eyeball, covering the iris and turning her eyes into these little steel items. She couldn't see. The Avian had been rendered blind, and would no longer see the grace of life or the wonder it had to offer. The metal moved off, slinking towards her overly pointed ears. It was kind enough to begin with the tip of ears, already heralding that it was going to deafen her. Cerinii did, however, appreciate the music. She enjoyed it, even if it did mean that the end was ever closer. But with that knowledge, she couldn't bear it. She simply whispered, "I don't want to go."
Satoshi, despite or perhaps because of, the metal's progress to Cerinii's ears, does not relent upon her music. As the avian turned down the offer of a swift death, the least the fox can do is send her off with a melody to herald her soul's departure. The whispered words are expected, although that does nothing to halt an almost pained smiled Satoshi wears. "No one ever does, Dove..." Not even she, the little mage who sought to evade death by embracing vampirism.
Cerinii could not take such... placidity any longer. She began to openly weep, obviously afraid of the fate that did await her. "Please, I... I have things to finish, I have uses. I can be useful." A whispered chant of 'mend me', 'fix me', 'repair me', 'save me', 'please, please, please' went underway. The Avian now absolutely set in her way of not wishing to die. She was suddenly unable to bear the thought of it! The music was gradually drowned out, the metal invading her ear and ear-canal, destroying her ability to hear. The Avian's hand reached up for the statue's, as if that would provide comfort in those last moments. It seemed with more distress, the metal became speedy in its work - finally spreading across her lips and covering them. Essentially, encasing her permanently within the metal. The chanting and distressed cries could still be heard within the casing, she still had air left.
Satoshi's ears press flat against the pleas echoing from within the metal shell. In a way, they remind her of the last fleeting moments of her own life, where she had been sure in mind about being Sired yet her body still fought against the required death. Because of this, Satoshi falls eagerly into her music, coaxing notes louder and longer from the lyre, driven to overpower the sounds of the avian's futile deal-makings with Death. While Satoshi, for the most part, can endure for as long as is needed, her metallic companions cannot. Ceribuu is the first to react, hooting miserably before taking wing, circling the sealed avian once, and soaring away from the floating city. The little scorpion doesn't flee, however, but instead scuttles down the foxkin, across the grass, and into Cerinii's metal lap. Querying chirrups come from Scorpious as he curls up, gently rapping a tiny pincer against the silver encasing his creator, creating a tempo that matches the melody of Satoshi's song.
Solace Attained
Even with Satoshi to comfort her, Cerinii did not find solace in her comfort. She was scared. She was so very afraid. The Avian had joked of death, but now that it was absolutely and definitively here - was frightening. The synthetic metal had made its way into her ears, eyes and nose, muffling and eventually destroying her senses. The body shook and shivered, sobbing loudly and wailing, 'I don't want to', 'I'm scared', 'please', 'nein', 'fix me', 'mend me', 'rescue me'. The Avian had been reduced to a sobbing wreck. Afraid and at the mercy of her own creation. It was in moments like these, that she wished she had not messed so many things up. The Avian was so afraid. So afraid that she couldn't help but claw at her face; trying desperately to tear the metal off her. She cursed Filpien, she cursed her father, she cursed herself not that the latter was necessary. She was so very afraid.
There had been a shadow in the druid’s mind since before they’d gone to Miritonia on a wild-goose chase. That trip had ended up better than she’d anticipated, but far from what she’d expected. The cumulative losses, however, both on and after the trip had gotten to the empath. Her mind was like the broken shards of a mirror, distorting the reflection until one didn’t truly know what or who they were looking at. Even so, the druid somehow knew that the losses were not over. That sense of foreboding had not yet left, and she wasn’t certain she could handle any more heartache. There was a single shining light in her anguish, but for now she was alone, and the sudden flash of pain in her heart stole the breath from her lungs. It took a moment for her attention to center on the unknown dagger rending metaphorical flesh, the feeling of disbelief hitting her just before she followed that once-familiar mental path to her ex-wife.
Cerinii wailed loudly that she didn't want to go, that she wasn't prepared to leave just yet. Knowledge of illness and death was there, but acceptance was out the window. The tears would stream down her face if they could; the snot would bubble at her nostrils like a child if it could. But alas, the metal that saved her now condemned her. In its own mind, it was saving the creator. Perpetually preserving the creator. The metal wrapped around her trouser legs - she was still dressed smartly, as always - pressing down over her feet and onto the earth. Winding into the earth itself to fasten her in place; to stop her struggling. She was so afraid. It felt distinctly like she was drowning in water; endless water. If only it could whisper. If only it could tell her to be still, master, for I am salvation. Not that she would believe it.
Araina heard the wailing as an echo between the cracks of her mind, and her first instinct was to cringe away from it. She knew, somehow what she would see when she took form in the thoughts of her former lover, and the loss was not one she was certain she could take. But it was the need of Cerinii that called her to her side. Or rather, called Ruva to the stilted frosted jungle that would be the end of the former senator. It would appear in her mind, however, as the clearing in which the two had gotten married. Their names lay in broken stone, cracked, but forever tied together in that blameless element. The half-anthro that bore fire itself in her gaze stood tall and regal in the doe-skin leathers and corset, bearing the marks of battles past and present. Canines protruded over full lips that bore a welcoming smile for the avian, albeit sad. She was not here to make this passing more difficult for the woman, but to aid in any way she could a peaceful death. The low growl of her voice was soft, and gentle, the coal mane of curls drifting in the light breeze as she crouched beside the frantic avian, “ Nala.”
The Avian resisted with all her might; for love of her children; Araina; her craft; her friends. Everything that life could possibly offer her. She tried to bargain in her mind, try to convince it to all go away for a couple of years and give her the time needed to fulfill what she wanted to. Cerinii was so afraid, though, so very afraid. She didn't feel like she could cope just with having Satoshi there. In her mind; her mind's eye, she was transported to the clearing she wed in. And there stood the wolf she knew and loved. Or was it still loved? There she stood, bound by this metal; sobbing profusely. "Make it stop!" She pleaded, as if thiking that this manifestation was the solution the metal made to make her end her resistance; to make her allow it to come over her more quickly. "P-please! I am not ready! I'm not!"
Ruva approached in silence, ever the pillar of strength she’d always been for the avian. Araina could not bear to watch this ending, and in her heart she knew that having the alpha comfort the avian was right. She’d never seen Cerinii feel safer than she had in the anthro’s arms on those full-moon nights. She was not her mate, but she’d been tied to her none-the-less, and they would always be so, even after death. The beautiful features of their children flashed in her thoughts. How broken the family would be. But for now Ruva could do nothing for them. Not for Araina, who had submerged herself so completely in darkness; the coward in the shadows who could not bring herself to come to the avian. Not for the elfess who would have to fight the demons she’d not created to get her back. Not the children who wouldn’t understand the loss of a parent they’d only had such a short time. But, she could ease this woman into the afterlife. She’d hold out her hand for the avian to take, and she’d find that in this vision, there was no metal weighing her down. She would be as Araina had both known and loved her, before her creation had begun the true process of death. “ There is no stopping the inevitable, Nala. We both knew this was coming.” The fire flickered in her gaze dangerously as she lowered them, “ It matters not the ties to the living, when the time has come.”
Cerinii felt the weight lift from her, at least mentally. And it was good. This apparition, as it were, seemed to distract ger and give the body the release it needed. The metal speedy in its work, beginning to take over her form. Physically, it was horrible looking. Her fingertips twitched and rose to take a hand that was not there. Mentally, she was freed from that prison. "I don't want to, Araina, I don't want to," pleading was something she was trying to do so desperately. Her voice wavered and broke, unable to continue. "I... I am afraid." She did not enjoy admitting such. But she could not hold back any longer. She whimpered loudly, "Let me live! I don't want to go. I... I have things to do..! I... I have things..." What things? She had done everything she could have done in her life. "Make it go away. I cannot... I cannot die."
Ruva could see the metal bound avian, but it was the one in her mind that held her focus. The form she’d once worshipped, the woman she would always love. There had been too much between them, and no matter how it the marriage had ended, Araina would ever love the avian who had held her heart. She didn’t bother to correct the use of the name, it was a small thing, and would in no way change the outcome. A clawed hand tunneled into ebon tresses as she drew the avian against her, “Even in a barren wilderness, stars still shine. Beauty even in tragedy.” With a gentle urging, she would lower them both to the ground just before that alter they’d stood before, and leaned against it as she settled the avian against her chest, “ She is not ready for your time either, Nala. None of them are, but you will never be lost in their hearts and memories.” She knew the woman was afraid, as the druid within was, and she gently urged her nails against the woman’s scalp in a motion of comfort, “ You can’t fight this, and neither can they.” Her gravely voice was sorrowful when she whispered, " I can't fix this."
The Avian did not fight being pulled into the embrace, she neeeded it; craved it yet feared it. She feared it because it truly meant this was the end. That nothing else could be done for her. The metal continued to spread across the physical form, binding the wings that fought against it - fidgeting and jerking in defiance before being pulled into a settled and folded position; the metal fastening tightly to hold them in place. Physically, the metal began to reach the other sections of her face; aiming for the lips - indicating that death was quickly approaching. That soon, it would become internal. But yet, she croaked at the final word, "Nein..!" She did not wish to accept her fate. But every thing the wolf did was there to calm her; the heartbeat in her ear that she could not technically hear. And so, she had to ask; "Why?" But why what? She did not specify. Perhaps she was asking why it was her time; why Araina came to her now; why they did not succeed in their marriage; why the grass was green (or white in Frostmaw's case) or why the sky was blue.
The only physical cringe came when those wings were bound. She’d made it no secret, that she’d adored the appendages. They’d been the tell all when Cerinii wished not to speak about what was bothering her, what had given her freedom; joy. She couldn’t bear to see them as such, settled into one place evermore, and briefly her eyes closed against that same knowledge. Araina and Ruva both knew the end was near. That question was one with far too many answers, and she took them in the order they were whispered in silence, “ There is no earned time for death. No debt to be collected. You’ve lived, Cerinii. You’ve known love, and loss; heartbreak and joy. You will leave behind a family who will cherish the memory of you.” The phantom heartbeat grew stronger the weaker the avian became, “ I promised you that you would never be alone. You wanted me here, so I came.” She might not have even been aware of the plea for the lycaness, but it had come through quite easily to Ruva. The last actual question was one for both woman and wolf to answer, and for a brief moment, that voice she knew so well would temper the alpha’s low pitch, “ Our marriage did succeed. We loved, Ceri.” And to her, that was what was important. Not that they were not technically together. The greatest feeling one could endure was that deep, abiding love that lasted a lifetime. Romantically, they were not meant to be. But oh how they’d loved.
Cerinii's time drew near, the metal passing her lips and surging down the throat to fill the lungs and seep into any other organs it could. It would end with the heart; it would fill the atriums and the veins and arteries. Anything that could be filled, would be filled. The lungs were first to be gradually lined and filled; her voice quiet as the process went on. Physically, she was choking and spluttering away as it went. It wasn't a pleasant sensation; this was not a gentle passing in one's sleep. This was a suffocation filled with awareness. A suffocation of everything. "I am sorry. For everything. Not them. But everything wrong. Everything wrong. I..." She didn't know what to say. What could she say? It would be a lie to say she had not left a decent legacy behind or good memories. She had, just not too many of them. "I am sorry," was all she had to offer. It was all she could offer. The body tensed, even with the apparation; the breath shortened as the suffocation ensued. The metal kept the body still; kept the creator from fighting. In death, the Avian was all flesh to the apparition, fingers gripping desperately as she felt her breath refuse to come; felt herself being choked. "I am sorry!"
Ruva couldn’t bear to see the avian suffer, and even as weak as she was, absorbed that feeling of suffocation. Though Cerinii’s true form was writhing with that uncomfortable panic and anguish, she would feel none of it. The empath took the majority of the pain upon her own shoulders, and the true form settled by the lake gasped for breath. She could give this, to the father of her children. By all accounts, a peaceful death. She’d feel herself drifting, held securely as that heart beat vitally beneath her ear. “ I’m not.” She spoke in a whisper, that lilting, musical timbre as Araina took the place of the alpha for those final moments, an echo of pain so acute that Satoshi might even feel a glimpse of it, “I wouldn’t have traded a moment spent in your arms.” Death left a heartache none could heal, but in love, left a memory that could not be stolen. Their marriage might have not always been a happy one, but Araina wouldn’t have wished it to be any different. Love was a gift not so often given, and even more often tainted by that which could not be changed. Fate had offered them a token chance, and for a time they’d been exactly what the other had needed. But one couldn’t fight the ever changing winds of destiny. Perhaps they’d known, that this was the way things were meant to be. Cerinii had come to life again in Araina’s arms, and there would she take her final breath. “ I’ll never forget.”
The physical form had stilled, inside the avian fighting the confinement, breathing hard with what air was available.But the air was running out, there was nothing left. And then the pain struck her in her chest. Her heart was being forced to stop. Slower and slower still, the metal piece forever encased and forever left like it was as the heart gradually 'ran out of steam'. The avian in the mind, however, was left with these last emotional moments. Weeping silently, yet oh so tiredly. That distinct sleepiness she always gained around Araina; her only tell of true relaxation. Funny now, that she was going to the true and perpetual sleep. Not just a nap. But the true sleep. "I don't want to go, mein Frau," was her last words. All the Avian managed to choke out, before simply going limp.
Cerinii had endured so much in her long life. Nightmares of life that would have crumpled a lesser being. From birth, she’d fought to be loved. Scarred, beaten; but never claiming defeat. She’d found Cerinii battered by love. But still, in the shadows of life she’d given into the need for another. They’d made a home together where laughter and frivolity had overcome the trials of the world beyond them. And here, that is what Araina remembered. Not the reception that had been trashed by Ilska, nor the consummate night they’d never gotten to have. But the wedding where they’d pledged love before their friends and family; the son they’d adopted as their own. Not the dark, rainy night she’d birthed their girls but rather the proud, adoring smile Cerinii’d had when she’d been able to hold them for the first time. Their memories flashed in front of her eyes and she laid her lips to a cool forehead as she whispered in return, “ I will always love you.” Cerinii Morridian had come into this world as a prisoner of life. She left it with that which she coveted; love, acceptance. Freedom. The vision faded as the form of the senator went limp, and the mental connection was broken; as was the recipient. With nothing and no one to witness the weakness, the druid crumbled against the earth; truly shattered.
Time Ended
Cerinii 's hand rose and reached out for the hand of Schezerade, as if to seek comfort from the statue. Blindly searching for the hand. She was only a fingertip away from touching the hand before she simply froze in place. The sounds ceased, but life was still there. Something was working behind the scenes to numb her mind; to dull out the pain. A very familiar presence to the woman. It was, indeed, the spirit of her estranged wife soothing her. Physically, she was beginning to choke and splutter - the metal pushing down her throat and beginning to take effect internally. It went for her lungs, squashing the oxygen out of her. Then went to the heart, squeezing into the atriums; the veins; the arteries and forcing it to stop. And that was it. The Avian left the living world in a less than happy way, only a fingertip away from the grace of her first love. So close and yet so far. Perpetually entombed in her own creation, with a small metallic tear forever framed upon her face.
Satoshi remains for a long while afterwards, letting the music go mere moments after Cerinii has departed. With song and cries long since faded, Schezerade's unnatural silence overtakes the area once more, save for the continued and determined tapping of Scorpious' pincer. On and on the tiny sound goes until Satoshi can endure it no longer. Gritting her teeth, the kit rises to her feet and scoops up scorpion, satchel, and all, turning to leave before she halts abruptly at the edge of the glass bridge. Without looking back, she murmurs, "Farewell, Cerinii." And thus the magus continues onward, leaving behind the pair of reaching statues with a tiny, nearly transparent snowflake nestled between the tips of their fingers to join them in their own minuscule glass bridge.