AChapter 10
The Ledge of Hope, High up the Dragon Mount, as High as it is possible to go before you reach the final Cliff Assent that leads to the Twelve Pillars. Within the sacred Cemetary of Memory, upon the Ledge of Hope of fabled legend far above the world an event that has been nearly two hundred years in the waiting is occuring. The dragon Lee or to give him the name spoken by Valigarmanda - Oidhchecloca Coimheadair and the Handmaiden of Hade, the Lady Eper Silmeria are stood, drenched in spray and ever shifting rainbows above the world. Present is the Dragon of Rainbows, Hope himself Valigarmanda but in this place and in this time the dragon's stature is less, little more then 10 feet taller then Silmeria who he is standing behind on the landward edge of the Ledge. Perched atop the edge over which the world is arrayed, standing in the Aleph Point is the King himself. Dark purple/black body a mottling of power and brilliance, Bahamut himself has come to speak unto his wayward son.
Lee is on one knee before Bahamut, head bowed deeply, unable to speak, so overcome as he is with Bahamut's presence before and above him. His shoulders slumped under the weight of self-born shame, and eyes closed lest they spill hot tears, he waits, nearly trembling, for the words, and perhaps the judgement, of that which might be considered his God.
Silmeria likewise kneels before the Lord of Dragons, though simply as a servant of another master would bow before a King. Hers is merely to accompany, after all, to interpret when needed and not before. Thus, she remains at her place on the Ledge of Hope, behind Lee, to his left, and with half an ear turned toward the feathered serpent Valigarmanda, who calls this ledge his Weyr.
Silence... no thought is given voice for several more moments as the water-fall continues to fall, the King of Dragons, Master of the Sphere of Power just regards Lee with solemn red eyes before he speaks. His voice is power, power that is hard for mortal forms to bear. It knocks Lee onto his back and it all but picks up Silmeria and casts backwards, if not for the enfolding rainbow wing of Hope that catches the girl she would be rushing over the edge of the waterfall on her way to the Abyss. "We must talk my son... but if you are to air your shame, to speak your mind unto me then all who share your life should be here... name her. I know her face and the darkness that plagues her soul, name her and she shall be witness and aid in the conversation that must be."
Lee waits as the silence stretches, doing his nerves no good at all, until Bahamut's words impact him, near-literally, and push him from his knee, leaving him to stumble and fall to his back. Even so, force of habit is strong, and his hand snags his hat, pushed from his head, before it can escape beyond reach. All said and done, he is left staring up at Bahamut with wide eyes, the experience of being spoken to by the King of Dragons leaving him shaken, though his mind works, gears turning to process Bahamut's words. And, once understood, he gives a hesitant nod, licking his lips before finding his voice, "A-... Ainsley... Sir."
Silmeria impacts on Valigarmanda's wing with a brief, startled squeak, glancing up at the SPirit and nodding her thanks. Brushing down her robes, she sees little reason to comment on the near-accident. If Bahamut was unaware, it serves nothing to inform him, and if he is, then her impertinence would serve her less. Thus, she clasps her hands before her, standing next to the feathered dragon in respectful, attentive silence.
He turns... the dragons mighty wings spread and as he lifts his head Valigarmana speaks, "Majesty.... this is my eyrie it has not the buffers of the pillars... might not your voice... damage the world beneath?" Bahamut looks back at the rainbow dragon and nods his head,. There is no need for words between them and Hope sets Silmeria down gently and spreads his wings and glides up and turns and dives down toward the world. To those on the ledge the Rainbow Dragon becomes an elongated arch.. a beam of light dazzlingly pure that shatters into all the colours that are and before those on the rock ledge a room in the old royal palace of Rabanastre takes form. Ainsley is sleeping, exactly where Lee left the scholar lizard but into that chamber now pours light... light that dances with warmth and harmonious song, a voiceless calling as the smaller shape of the rainbow dragon slowly spills into being and hovers above Ainsley. To those on the ledge it is as if they are there also, watching and listening beyond the sight of Ainsley. For the lizard girl it's a miraculous awakening, the gentle caress of a feathered wing on her cheek and a voice whispering her name, drawing attention to the Rainbow feathered dragon in an ancient bronze helm hovering above her bed. "Awake Scholar Ainsley..."
Ainsley opens her eyes, and stares up at the sight above her. At first, her little nap while she waits for Lee and Silmeria addles her so she needs a moment or two to understand what she's seeing. And then she slowly gathers herself up to a stand, her widened eyes staring at the colors before her, a look of sparkling wonder on her face. She has the very distinct sensation that it is not a dream, so she clasps her hands and keeps them held close to her tummy. She murmurs the Rainbow Dragon's name in quiet confusion, at least recognizing that much.
The dragon dips his head in recognition of his name, "Indeed... you are summoned, the King spoke and commands your presence." he extends his talons, "Please come..." and then he seems to glance past her and his light intensifies, "You are not invited however betrayer." For a moment Ainsley would hear a howl of frustration that is slowly cut off as the light engulfs all the room, flickering rainbow colours surrounding the lizard, "Take hold and we shall fly."
Lee gathers himself to his feet, or at least to being upright again, as he watches Valigarmana descend to retrieve Ainsley, hat replaced atop his head, again by habit, though he remains crouched on one knee. As the Rainbow Dragon rebuffs Shemhazai, though, he can't help but smirk slightly, muttering something under his breath to the effect of her being served right by the denial. A small bit of satisfaction amidst his inner turmoil, but he seems to favor just about anything that would cause The Whisperer even the slightest inconvenience.
Silmeria turns to watch the rainbow serpent descend, a small smile touching her face even as she shades her eyes from the brilliant rainbow that Valigarmanda becomes. As Shemhazai howls her frustration, the Esper clenches one hand into a fist, bouyed even by this small, temporary victory, and turns back, hands clasped before her, head bowed, waiting for the little court to reconvene.
Ainsley smiles brightly as Shemhazai is banished away from their presence. The lizard scholar reaches out to grip at the Dragon of Hope. Her favorite spirit, these days, in fact, though she leaves it unsaid... She figures he already knows. She pauses a beat. "K-King...?" Her mental gears turn, still sleep-worn. Her eyes widen again. "O-oh." She grasps with her other hand, and desperately, too, because this is the dragon of Hope, and he's bringing her to a situation where she might need a little of that concept.
A flash.. a flare of rainbow light, a prismatic sparkle that dazzles the mortals and Ainsley is stood upon the ledge of Hope and the whole world is spread out before her! Or it would be if it wasn't blocked by Bahamut being in the way. The king regards the little gathering and then speaks. Lee and Ainsley are thrown over and again the dragon of hope has to catch the Handmaiden. "We are..." Bahamut stops and regards the mortals scattered around the place in heaps or bouncing off the Rainbow Dragon and sighs. It's a sigh that makes the ledge vibrate so he switches and his voice echoes in the minds of all present. <We are here, to speak of my Son, Oidhchecloca Coimheadair, and the sins he carries in his heart. The sins imposed not be me or any here. But only by his own heart... speak child of your burdens.>
Lee smiles, genuinely, as Ainsley is materialized upon the ledge by the Rainbow Dragon, her arrival actually doing a great deal to bolster him, though his nerves still fray almost visibly, and his tension and awareness of his self-perceived situation return, as Bahamut starts to speak again, the force bowling Lee over once more. The reprieve as Bahamut switches to the mental frequency allows him to return to his kneeling position, though, turned once more to face Bahamut, still extremely nervous, almost fearful, but doing better than before. Bidden to speak, Lee raises his head, nodding slightly as he takes a breath, then another, speaking carefully in order to curb the thickness of his usual accent, though the lilt of it remains, "F-Father... Um... I feel that I've allowed myself to become unworthy of... Well, of you, of our people. That I've become something abominable, a stain on your honored bloodline. I... I know that I was not given a choice in what was done to me, but I keep thinking that I should have somehow prevented it. That I should have noticed what she wanted, what she'd planned to do... It's the past, I know, and I should let it go, even as I've come to live with and... and accept, in some measure, what I've become. But, more than that..." He pauses, a tear tracking down a pale cheek from one crimson eye, "In the beginning, I let the darkness of what she turned me into consume me, for a time. It led me to shameful, even evil, deeds... The new hungers I'd not yet learned to control consumed me, and I k-killed..." He pauses, taking a breath, "Killed many. I hunted and murdered brethren of the one who changed me, people innocent and unknowing of what she did to me, out of unreasoning anger and misplaced vengeance, and many more innocents for nothing more than to slake my thirst..." He gestures to himself, to the glowing tattoos that record his deeds, at least in the eyes of Bahamut and Valigarmana, "It is written here, my deeds, every one, and it is my lack of conscience, out of my mind though I was, that shames me most of all, next to the shame I've brought on your name, Father... And for that," he bows his head again, "for that, I am deeply sorry."
Silmeria squeaks again as she's bowled back into Valigarmanda's wing, looking up at the serpent and blushing, smiling apologtically. As Bahamut's voice resounds in her head, however, she bows her head in silent thanks for the Spirit's graciousness. However, it's Lee's time to speak, and she simply stands where she is once the dust has settled, still the attentive servant.
Ainsley is knocked around, though possibly somewhat less than Silmeria and Lee, lending her the ability to step over to Lee's side and immediately grasp at his arm, after picking herself up. Because what she heard from Bahamut made her concerned for Lee's feelings on the matter. She closes her eyes and leans her cheek against him, too. Trying to be a sort of emotional anchor for the person she loves. She even hums a gentle song for Lee, to try and comfort him.
The Dragons settle, the roar of the water-fall the only sound beyond Lee's voice as he speaks and his tattoos spin and whirl. Bahamut's voice echoes in their minds however, <You are not to blame for what was done child, What is fated to be is spun into the webs of the stars and none can tell which way it will go> He pauses and lowers his head and breaths on Lee and Ainsley would find herself sat on the back of the Dragon that he truly is. <Your rampage when driven insane by the curse and mist when the Queen and the Emperor shattered the seals of the Occuria... you have killed yes... but when your sanity returned. When the depths of what you had fallen too where first restored and sensibility was yours to once more comprehend... you set out on the path of regret, the path of remorse. This speaks more for your character then any other act. You seek some means to find redemption which is a path most perilous to walk. What is not forgiven... is avoiding me for so very long.>
Lee keeps his head bowed as Bahamut speaks, drawing a fair measure of poise and calm from Ainsley's presence at his side and from her hummed song. He shudders as he feels Bahamut's breath wash over him, eyes blinking open as he finds himself in his true form, and with Ainsley astride his back, though the surprise is brief, and he remains bowed before the Dragon King. He takes a slow breath as Bahamut continues, until the end, where he cringes slightly at Bahamut's pointing out of the one fault that was, perhaps, not a product of Lee's own anxieties, and one he had evidently never given thought to until today, his voice a soft and humbled rumble as he replies, in contrition, "Yes, Father... I humbly await your judgement."
Silmeria tilts her head, glancing up at Valigarmanda in wordless inquiry, though in reality there would be no reason to answer any question she'd have; what's to come next, after all, will likely answer all regardless.
Ainsley's humming is interrupted as she ends up on Lee's back. Her tail wiggles a couple times... And she smiles, resting on her belly against Lee's back, and trying to give him the best hug she can manage. She's a dinky little mortal creature, so she doesn't have the best hugging range. She picks up the song where she left off. She /is/ listening, for what it's worth, she just apparently doesn't have anything to input into this conversation between a dragon and his god. Her only concern is comforting the dark dragon.
Bahamut considers and listens and watches as Lee speaks and he settles his wings and turns his gaze on Ainsley, <Ainsley, Scholar of Emberstrand, Conduit of Shemhazzi, beyond the... peril to your soul from having touched the Whispering one your position in my Son's life gives you insight to speak of his character. Tell me now, in words of your own seeming of my son and his actions since you met him. Would you ascribe them as honourable and caring to those of the mortal races who surround him?> Behind the duo before the King the rainbow lowers his head and looks at Silmeria, "You have a question for me Handmaiden of Hades? Your voice in this place is as welcome as all others for you speak as the Shepherd."
Lee keeps quiet as Bahamut's attention turns to the scholar astride his back, rumbling faintly beneath Ainsley in response to her gestures of comfort and support, but remaining otherwise silent and still, eyes closed as he patiently awaits Ainsley's answer to the Dragon King's query.
Silmeria clears her throat, shaking her head quickly. "No questions, My Lord," she murmurs, "just... concerns, I suppose. I rather have a good deal of respect for Lee, myself... I suppose I'm simply worried that my friend will come to harm, be it his due or no."
Ainsley sits up, and props herself up on her hands, staring up at Bahamut, eyes adjusting as if staring at a bright light. Her tail sways once or twice as she considers what Bahamut's said. "Although he has a curse of sorts," she begins, "He has remained considerate of the lives he draws blood from, leaving them alive, if needing some time to recover. The few times he does kill are out of defense of his own life, or of someone he cares about, from my experience. In the short time, comparitively, that I have known him, he has stayed out of trouble where he could manage it." She glances aside a moment, considering the weight of the next part. "I have every reason to trust him, and to love him, for as long as I can, even if that's a short time compared to the span of his life so far." She blushes heavily, embarrassed by how emotional she's gotten about this. She presses her face against Lee and closes her eyes again, just to hide the warmth in her reptile face.
<The fact that you care for him and name him friend Handmaiden of Hades speaks well of my sons character since he recovered his mind. Your judgement in all things bar one incident is respected and I see it with great favour.> The great king then turns to listent to Ainsley and rumbles, <Your words speak well Scholar... but I fear.... your time with him as you are will be shorter then even you could hope for. Keep true to your quest, I cannot remove from you the tain of the whisperer but know this what I may tell you... keep him cloe and keep the Handmaiden near.> He then settles back and regards Lee quietly for a time, the roar of the waterfall again the only sound before he huffs deeply and leans forward, <You seek redemption, you seek to make amends for what you did when the madness consumed you so thus... am I ready to pronounce my doom my son.>
Lee remains quiet as Ainsley and Silmeria speak their piece, rumbling slightly under Ainsley again as she hides her face against his back. Through Bahamut's silence, he remains still, and when the Dragon King speaks again, it actually startles him ever so slightly, indicated by a brief hitch of his breathing. He raises his head higher, though still respectfully bowed, and opens his eyes, taking a deep breath, "I am... ready, Father."
Silmeria colors, faintly, as her sole true lapse in judgment is mentioned, but the Esper simply bows her head in understanding and thanks, looking to Ainsley briefly as the King of Dragons speaks of the scholar's plight. When Lee pronounces himself ready, she straightens. While Lee may not, technically, be counted among the ranks of the dead, Silmeria knows when witness must be borne.
Ainsley grips at Lee somewhat harder, tail swaying. She doesn't like the idea of her love getting punished, obviously, and makes a discontented noise as Lee speaks. She didn't like the ominous tone that Bahamut had, either, about her and Lee. Almost sounds like she's about to cry, honestly.
The great king of dragons speaks, and this time his voice does not boom, it does not throw the mortals about like rag-dolls for it is the voice of judgement. "Of the crimes commited whilst under madness... you are absolved, your attempts at redemption since and the path you have chosen absolve you of these crimes. This judgment shall be reflected in the signs you bare." He pauses and continues to peak, "Three things however I shall hold you too for the crime of avoiding me. One is that I shall not lift from you the curse you live beneath. It is part of you and it should not be my place to lift it... this I say for your leaving it so long to see me. Secondly you must live with the consequences of those you have wronged and deal with their anger as best you may." He pauses and looks at Silmeria then, those bright red eyes sparkling with intense light that illuminate her body. "In this light do I absolve Silmeria, Handmaiden of Hades of her crime, though dark in seeming when first it did occurr it has led to the slow restoration of the Court of Stars... my power and my majesty waxes once more as the last shackle of the Occuria is thrown free." He sweeps his head to Ainsley, "Your sin I cannot absolve... the darkness on your soul is yours to free but known this... my brother waits for you in the Mystery Place. He will receive you but your time with Lee as you are will end within that place." He returns his gaze to Lee, one final doom and judgement, the third and most potent concerning Lee still to be announced, the Great King draws up, his wings tucked to the side and his gaze as bright and searing as a nova capturing the smaller dragons.
Lee listens to the judgement handed down upon him, dipping his head humbly at each of the first two pronouncements. Then, he blinks, having expected the third right away, listening as Bahamut casts his judgement over Silmeria as well, and gives Ainsley ominous tidings. Attention turned to him once more by the Dragon King, Bahamut's change in stance draws the much smaller dragon's gaze, which is then captured, leaving Lee unable to look away.
Silmeria bows her head deeply, as Bahamut renders kindness to the crime that had weighed heavily upon her. "My Lord, King of Dragons, is kind," she murmurs, chewing on her lower lip for a moment. As the great dragon rears to prclaim his final judgment, she hastily drops her eyes to Lee's feet, shading her eyes away from the searing gaze of the titanic Spirit.
Ainsley looks up to Bahamut as he speaks those words about his brother. The scholar's eyes gaze up at Bahamut, confused by the significance there. The lizard scholar's head tilts. She closes her eyes again and meditates on it, trying to piece together what that could mean. He didn't say she would die, though. She waits for the third judgment, a hand petting at Lee slowly, able to feel him tensing, since she's sitting on his back.
He doesn't acknowledge Silmeria though Valigarmanda does place a feathered wing on her back, bracing her lightly as he cocks his head and watches, clearly expecting something. Ainsley is similarily ignored as Bahamut lowers his head and stares into Lee's eyes. "Go and visit our mother. She worries so and has long since forgiven you of all you may have done. She will not however forgive you if you do not take her future daughter in law to visit so she can teach her the family Bundt Cake recipe." He pauses and Valigarmanda just stares at the King in surprise, "The Seer knows where she lives, take her something nice oh and one more thing...." his eyes flash and the rainbow dragon grabs Silmeria and Ainsley and dives into the river with them both bundled up in his feathered wings as Bahamut shouts, a shout that even protected by the Dragon of Hope makes their bones jar. It is muffled to both of them, the visiting mortals denied the chance to hear Bahamut's final words with his son. Lee gets them right in the face however but thankfully he's currently a dragon and just gets flattened to his stomach and not bowled over. "CALL ME! DON'T YOU DARE GO AND HIDE UNDER A ROCK FOR ANOTHER TWO CENTURIES OR I'LL SEND YOU TO LIVE IN ALEXANDER WHERE THERE IS SUNSHINE ALL THE TIME!" He draws a deep breath, the echoes of his voice crashing off the mountain side behind as Valigarmanda bobs back to the surface and helps the ladies onto one of the bridges connecting the Ledge to the Cemetary. "Now then I do believe we are quite done, you have a life to live in the world below and I have a Universe to Rule... make sure to drop by with the grandchildren soon."
Lee awaits Bahamut's words with dread... Until those dread words arrive, and he is left flabbergasted at the first half of the Dragon King's edict, caught completely flat-footed as he struggles with wrapping his head around the idea of visiting his mother, "B-but... But... Mother's dead?" Still, the gears in his head try to keep pace, and he starts muttering something, the words "Silmeria" and "Realm" about all that can be deciphered, as his mutterings seem to float in and out of the common tongue and some language that none but Bahamut and Valigarmanda, of those present, understand. The quick snatch of Ainsley from his back by the Rainbow Dragon is the only warning he gets that more is coming, and the full-throated roar of Bahamut's second half of the final edict sends Lee scrambling for purchase on the rocky ledge, claws scraping and skittering, until he's clinging to the ledge's edge, and if he had hair to blow back in his current form, it likely would be, though his eyes, cat-slitted in reaction, are as wide as saucers. Well, relatively speaking, anyway; those would be some damned huge saucers. The only response he can muster is a shaky and fervent nod-nod-nod of his head, and a rather squeaky, for something Lee's size, "...y-yes father..."
Though I could imagine Silm trying to explain that one to Hades. "Well daddy you seeeeee your boss kinda shouted my head off! Can we call this one a "Whoops!" and just send us both back?" Hades... *face palm*"
Silmeria sputters as she's brought back up onto the bridge, raking her hair away from her eyes and shaking her head. "A-ah... thank you, my Lord Valigarmanda... um... thanks very much." Clearing her throat, she looks first to Ainsley, then the epically chewed-out dragon that is Lee, and raises her eyebrows. "So... I do believe the Great Lord is done with us, yes...?"
Ainsley finds herself snatched off Lee's back with a loud SQUEAK, giving a stare at Bahamut like he had just started speaking gibberish at her when she heard the words 'bundt cake.' But then she's shielded from what is obviously shouting, and her whole body shivers. And then she's dragged upward to stand... wobbling, despite the protection given, and she staggers over to lean on Lee. "A-ah..." She stares off with a vacant horror in her eyes. "How would I ever arrange a family holiday...?" she murmurs aloud.
The Great Lord regards the party, inclines his head to Valigarmanda, gives Lee a stern "Do as your told look", reaches out with his wing to touch Silmeria's fore-head ever so gently in benediction then bows almost formally to Ainsley, "I wish you luck... seek my brother... I've always quite liked Southern Rozzaria." And then with a CRACK of those amazing wings he launches himself into the air and vanishes. Vailgarmanda lifts out of the water then, rainbows swirling around his body as he flies up and grows larger. "I shall send you back to Emberstrand... I'd make you walk back down the mountain but I think after today...." There is a flare of light, a rainbow engulfs them all and they wind up in the Tower of Summoners in Emberstrand stood before a large wall panel carved with a base-relief of the rainbow dragon. Lee is back to being human albeit his hat is very, very missing. Ainsley and Silmeria are dry and wearing shimmering garlands of flowers made from seven different coloured gems about their brows and poor, poor Marduke. The summoner has missed an audience with his idol and is in for a three day trip home from Rabanastre with no one but Kal'Tano for company...
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