brave_kreyu | OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part 12

"If he can heal himself from his own wounds of such great magnitude, then while your injuries may have been massively painful to you...they likely were not quite as painful to him," Skellig offers, trying to be helpful.

But he also knows intimately how Ajax feels, because he has felt the exact same way about Kreyu working to heal him by taking on his wounds into herself.

"I hope so," Ajax says, voice quiet. He kneels, places his hand on the floor.

The stars turn back what must be years, to a particular alignment of the celestial bodies. "The sky I was born under," he explains. "When I was five years old, those who studied the stars told my parents it meant ill for me. That it would be a miracle if I reached adulthood."

"My mother cried at the news, my father was stone faced for a minute or so. Then he said it mattered not, as he had seven older sons."

"And yet, it seems as you are the one who has had the most sense about you the entire time, and you have survived this far - well into adulthood, with no miracle yet."

Yes, encountering Koschei might have been a bit of 'divine' intervention, but Skellig makes no mention of that, as he turns his face skyward.

"Those who speak of prophecy are often most interested in saying only what they think people want to hear," he adds. "Or whatever might bring them the most coin. It is rare to find one who can truly See."

"That is comforting to hear," Ajax says, looking at Skellig and smiling faintly.

"And even those who CAN see, if they are honest, will admit the future shifts easily and often," Kreyu adds.

Ajax looks back up at the crystal stars. "Only five sons now, I think. I can't imagine in that temper that Gorgon left my oldest brother alive." He sighs. "The four of them had best work something out soon with regard to the throne, I don't want the damn thing."

"Could offer to rule by a court," Skellig suggests. "Rather than one of them assume the entire responsibility outright. Spread balance across the four of them?"

Even with the oldest brother likely dead (and while there is technically probably some reason for there to be a hint of sadness there, he can sense that the relationship with all his older brothers is...quite unhealthy, the elder ones especially) and a new struggle to emerge, perhaps with Gorgon out of the picture and the Procession no longer such a magnet for power and Karma...

"It might bring great prosperity to your region if this was carefully reintroduced to society," he adds. "Offerings from visitors..."

"I might be able to convince them of that, will take some doing." He strokes his beard, thinking.

"Yes, the world should see this wonder again," Kreyu agrees.

Ajax nods. "If nothing else, I think I can accomplish that."

Koschei emerges from the stone of the Procession quite naked, but clean. He cuts quite the fine figure, does Koschei. One can see why many maidens, and some men, have rather swooned over him.

Ajax runs over, throws his arms around Koschei. "You're safe!" he says, pressed against Koschei's chest. Koschei wraps his arms around him.

"Safe, Gorgon never trouble you again," Koschei murmurs.

Turning slightly as to give them a moment of privacy (once he is satisfied that Koschei is not in need of healing - though if he can heal himself from losing his head, there is probably little that Skellig would be called upon for) he brings a hand up to Kreyu's cheek, cupping it gently.

"We will have reason to celebrate tonight," he says softly. "Neither of us wounded, Gorgon disposed of, and to find this treasure, see it with our own eyes..."

He glances up at the stars. "I am most grateful."

"So am I," she whispers, leaning into his touch.

She smiles, slightly impish. "Would you kiss me under these stars?" The sky above has gone back to the configuration of when Skellig arrived in this world.

The blazing tail of the comet has caught his eye, and he wraps one arm around her body and pulls her in closer, with the intention of a true kiss lingering on the horizon. But first he smirks gently against her mouth.

"I believe I did more than kiss you under these stars," he mutters playfully. "Though it is nice to see at last what they looked like that night, beyond the roof of our home."

"You did," she whispers against his lips, voice slightly rough. The memories of THAT night are quite clear and quite pleasant to recall!

"I DID see one star that night," she admits. "You, the star who wandered into my world. The star I found, invited into my heart and my bed."

It is Skellig's turn to flush, touched by her words and praise.

"I was quite lucky to be spotted by one with such a keen eye as yours," he says honestly. "And one so brave as to see the star wandering without course and not run in the other direction out of fear. Instead, you helped me find my place here among this world, among these heavens."

"We were both lucky," she says, smiling. "I ached with wanting for things I couldn't name, but my star saw what I needed, was brave enough not to fear the truth of my nature."

Skellig can probably hear Koschei and Ajax kissing quite...enthusiastically somewhere behind them.

Skellig can hear Things Happening behind them, but he chooses to direct his attention to gentle (and increasingly lingering) kisses with Kreyu instead, rather than listen to Ajax and Koschei exchange...gratitude.

After a moment, he chuckles under his breath.

"Would we be better served to move lower among the branches," he whispers. "Give them a bit of...privacy?"

"Might not be a bad idea," she whispers. "I don't think they'll get TOO frisky, but better safe than sorry."

She chuckles, takes him by the hand. As they exit the crystalline dome, Kreyu waves a hand and light flows over the door. It's suddenly MUCH harder for even Skellig to hear whatever might be going on in there! "Remembered something Elihu told me, about the Procession having the ability to create a kind of sound dampening for things inside the dome. With a lot of people inside, the echoes off of the crystal could get QUITE loud."

They head down the tree to the passageway with the owl carving. The ramp branches off into a small section they didn't notice on the way up. A place for people to rest, apparently. Quite small and close, but undoubtedly welcome.

"Even with just the four of us in there, it was...loud," Skellig admits - closing his eyes briefly and exhaling with relief once she casts whatever she does to help with the noise. "That is...better. I was filtering more than I realized..."

There is a branch that has been worn smooth with time into a 'bench' of sorts, the stone clearly has seen many people pause here along their journey into the top of the crown of leaves, or perhaps just a spot to wait if the chamber was crowded?

He sits, opens his arm to her so she can sit beside him.

Quite possibly both, considering the climb and how popular it once was.

She takes that invitation gladly, leaning into him a bit. "So very lovely," she murmurs. There are apple blossoms of stone, with bees and butterflies perched here and there either on their way to the blossoms or 'feeding' on them.

"It is as if every creature that they had knowledge of was included, all the way down to the insects," he says, still a bit amazed at the detail level.

Once she has leaned into his body, he relaxes further, tipping his head back to rest against some leaves - which they too, have been worn smooth with time, no sharp edges to poke against his scalp. "Each creature matters, to the universe, no matter how small it might be."

"I think they did," Kreyu says, wonder in her voice. "It must have taken centuries for this to be built, with all this detail." Far, far longer than any human could hope to live, even if they had the skill to replicate the work.

"Yes," she agrees. "We all matter, great and small. I think people, especially those with power, tend to forget that."

"You are right about that," he murmurs quietly - mostly grateful for the quiet that surrounds them in this space. There is still an underlying level of noise he can hear, almost as if the tree itself is a living entity, but it is mostly residual echoes as they move around the inside of the tower.

(He knows outside is likely more chaos awaiting, as there has been killing of guards and anyone else unlucky enough to get in Gorgon's way - but for now he is ignoring anything below them on the 'ground level' so to speak.)

She leans into him, enjoying the closeness and the quiet. "I hope Silur will come out of seclusion, once her greatest work can be seen again."

"Her work deserves to be appreciated in all the glory it deserves," he says honestly. "I do hope of it is able to be seen by those who would wish to view it, that perhaps she can regain her place as the creator of it. It truly is a wonder."

He glances up into the leaves.

"The amount of care and time that went into this is truly unimaginable."

She looks up where he is, spots a cheeky looking squirrel peering down at them.

"I can't either," she admits. "To remain dedicated to a project for so long..."

She laughs. "My attention tends to wander, with projects."

"It just gives you greater opportunities to create new things," he shrugs slightly. "What works for one soul does not necessarily work for another, and there is nothing wrong with that."

He strokes her hair lightly.

"What is your favorite project you have discovered so far?"

She leans into his touch. "It depends on what you want to call a project."

"Ah, I have one, though I don't know that I would be able to claim it is my favorite tomorrow." She grins.

"This was early in the history of the Ring Islands, not long after the first people had come to settle. We started having other arrivals, in small, disparate groups. They were having far more trouble getting themselves set up properly than our first arrivals did."

"Different culture, different language, less of a community to draw upon for help. My students and I had settled in a complex they had already started calling the House of the Wise. We had taken the latest set of arrivals into our walls for quarantine, as there were many plagues about in those days. I knew they needed help, food, support, at least until they could get back on their feet. My students and I built something we called the House of Welcome, where one in need could go for food, shelter, supplies. It grew from there, we started taking requests for workers from those in need of such in the city, passing news of those requests to those who were staying with us."

She snuggles into him a bit. "There are many places in the Capital that fulfill that function now, including all of the temples."

"A soft landing, so to speak. That is quite a large project to undertake, but based on what you have spoken of and the things I saw when we were in the Capital... it seems to have been quite well put into motion," he says proudly. "I am certain those who took use of it in the beginning upon their arrival were greatly appreciative."

He presses his lips to the side of her head.

"Similar to how you treated me when I arrived in a foreign land, unsure of the culture and where I could find help..."

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