A Light in the Darkness

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IamLEAM1983
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Delmar looked ahead, to where Meris and Nereus' house could be seen, and to the point where Hope's dreamlike shores meshed with Orcadian cliffs.

"Will you forgive me this one small indiscretion?" he then asked. "I've been made aware of yours and Nereus' love for each other ever since awakening here. It's permeating everything that makes up this reality, and I'll admit I never thought love could act as such a strong mortar. I feel his command over Matter, but also your respect towards it. Everything fits together, except for where you've allowed for obvious breaks in reality, and I detected no signs of strain. This little palace of yours isn't particularly painful to maintain, it seems..."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, where was I? Oh, yes - I was wanting to ask you if you weren't feeling too overwhelmed by this Consort business. There's the associated pomp and circumstance, obviously - but there has to be a point where you're less an extension of his power and more akin to his wife."

Again, he cast a look around. "He's given you the bricks and the mortar and you've assembled it all together. There's so much love in here, you'd scarcely believe one of you is a Void Weaver."

Then again, Delmar already knew half the answer. This very place existed largely thanks to how devoted Nereus had turned out to be. Meris could have asked for the Augur to turn this place's projection of the moon into a jewel for her to wear that he would have, tides and gravitational forces be damned.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris smiled, even though it was slightly bittersweet. "The title of Consort is really just an official title, but I really do consider myself as his wife. I still care for Urthar and Kai greatly, but I've tried to make the best of the situation. Nereus is my intellectual match in many ways. Our partnership allowed for tenderness and affection to grow out of it. While Dalarath sees its Augur in him, I know who Nereus truly wants to be. There's immense chemistry between us, which mixes well with our eventual goals."

She shrugged and chuckled. "I'm his wife, and he's my husband. I figure the love will continue to grow, despite the issues we'll have to deal with. And hopefully, one day we can make this place into an actual reality," she said.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Delmar stopped a ways away from her residence, at the favor of the last few trees to block the sidewalk from unobstructed eyes.

"Is he aware that someone is waiting for you on the surface?" he then asked, his tone expressing concern. "I'm fairly certain Nereus would be wracked with guilt if you told him you've a husband of your own waiting for you - but I think love implies honesty. That, and acceptance."

He sighed thoughtfully. "He loves you enough to cover you in his scent, all the while gracing you with our gifts and sparing you the fate of his appointed concubines. He loves you so much that these very same women haven't been called to lay in bed with him at all, since he's met you. These things come naturally to honest and passionate lovers, but I wonder if he loves you enough to accept that you once had a life of your own..."

The look he gave her carried its own bittersweet tang. "He really should love you enough to let you go, Meris - to spirit you out of the city by any and all means - but I'm afraid he also needs you. Personally, I mean. This city's obviously hurt him in the past, and you're the one impossible woman who would've arisen to heal the gashes in his soul.

I don't envy you, my dear. You've a man who's worked his hands and pelt off to support you, and who's given you a son. You've also another man, who clings to you like a man dying of thirst hangs onto his waterskin, in the desert. One can wait for you but is obviously heartbroken, as is your son, and the other..."

He sighed. "Nereus would go mad without you, now. He doesn't have it in him to devote himself to the Others, so They would flay his mind utterly and completely, in retaliation. You're saving his life, Meris, a little more with each passing day."
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris sighed, bowing her head. "A while back, when we first bonded and created this place, we both went through various trials as we learned of each other's doubts. One of the trials was where I was changed back into my younger self. I was confronted by my doubts in that I feared he might be using me, and I found he wasn't. I saw plenty of people I knew as a child, but I never saw my family. I spared him by not mentioning my mate or son. I feel guilty over not telling him about them, but I feel that I need to be here. The longer I'm here with him, the more progress we make, the more hope I have that other children and spouses won't be bereft of their parents and partners."

The cantor shrugged uncertainly. "Once someone is captured and taken by the Void Weavers, that person is considered dead. My family will mourn me, but they'll eventually move on. Kai has the care of his father, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles to raise him to adulthood. He's only a young boy, so his memories of me will be minimal. I'm staying because I love them all, but I'm also staying because I have someone who is dependent on me and who is the key to ending everyone's suffering, eventually. My sacrifice will benefit many people in the future," she explained.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Delmar gave the fortunate cover of the trees one last look, and then rested a hand on Meris' shoulder. "Then I'll consider Urthar and Kai blessed to have known a woman of your strength and conviction, Nereus to be blessed to have someone like you at his side - and you, yourself, thrice blessed for sacrificing so much."

The smile he gave her wasn't sad, now. She'd see something that would remind her of her own father's pride in it, in a sense. "As for myself, I am blessed to have met someone like you, and to have you to counsel. I couldn't ask for a better kingmaker. You're all the wisdom and compassion Dalarath has ever needed."

He nodded a little more deeply than usual, skirting the boundaries for a courtly bow. "I'll still call you Meris, of course, and I might occasionally slip and let loose a girl or a lass, here and there, but let me be the first to greet you as you so obviously deserve... Archmage Meris, Queen of the Orcades. You might not have the powers expected of one yet, but you have the wisdom and patience of someone far beyond your years, little seal."

Deference lingered on his bowed features for a moment, until an impish light returned to his eyes. "Well, then. I'll leave you to your husband, and see about making this old lighthouse's beacon shine again... You'll find a guest key in your mailbox. Don't worry if you don't see me for a few nights - I've only ever experienced shoreline breezes in our people's farthest memories. I have a few dunes to crest and, well... A few sand castles to build, perhaps."

After a smirk and a brief squeeze of her shoulder, he simply crossed his hands behind his back and walked away, tapping his folded newspaper against his backside to some sort of beat he must have collected from one of the roane's or the Augur's memories.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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"Of course! See you soon!" Meris called, encouraged by his words. She turned and headed past the trees to her dream home. The selkie was satisfied with the events that had taken place in Respite Point. Inside, she wondered how long the secret of her family would keep. After all, she had the widened hips, stretch marks and other indicators of a woman who had been through childbirth. Nereus was not that naive; he would have to notice that fact at some point, right? If he directly approached her on the subject, she would tell him. Until that time, that knowledge would be hers to keep.

Recalling his interest in the photo, she knew that Delmar would still want to see and examine it at some point. Having a third party to unlock the keys to the future would be most helpful. She unlocked the door and entered their abode.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris hadn't so much as opened the door that Cailean rushed forward to happily bark at her, followed by the thumps of Nereus going down the stairs to the main floor. "Ah, Meris!" he lightly exclaimed, approaching her while his hands finished fastening his necktie. "Gone out for a bit of a morning stroll, have we?"

The kiss he gave her was deep but short, a more productive if still quite passionate cousin to the long and fairly exploratory liplocks he was usually fond of. For an instant, he gave her one of his old looks of silent and loving worship, a more lively glint then slipping in. He still had his moments where he dispensed declarations of love with all the seriousness he could muster, but he was also growing acquainted with the complexities of subtext, or how to make looks and hand squeezes mean so much more. Things were becoming more routine, but also much more comfortable. He didn't need to cling to her as much as he'd used to, his subconscious having more or less caught on to the fact that nobody was about to spirit Meris away from him.

If anything, if anyone so much as tried, he could sit back in reasonable confidence that Meris would deal with the interloper on her own. Considering, friendship and love were both being joined by pride, something that made him smirk at her with the look of someone who had a few congratulations to dish out. It was useful in terms of how it allowed the Weavers to assume he was happy to parade her around, while the truth of the matter was that he would've wanted to more or less step back and ask onlookers if they didn't agree with him that Meris actually was the most stunning woman in existence. There'd always be a little core of happy disbelief in him, something that felt as though he were always about to question how someone like him had landed in the same general proximity as someone like her.

"Well," he said, his tone cheerfully conversational, "coffee's ready, if you're still needing a cup. I left you some fruits, too."

One hand had lingered against her waist. "By the way," he added, his tone briefly dipping into a more intimate registry, "you were amazing, yesterday night."

That actually had a couple meanings... In the waking world, they'd worked on smoothing the training process for certain selected concubines, who were maybe one or two months away from becoming professional healers. There were exams to prepare, and that had meant going over the specifics of healing spells of various persuasions. Things had started as intended, but they'd both more or less veered away into how certain Void Weaver inflections could create highly specific molecular bonds... Anti-inflammatories, painkillers, various antibiotics... They'd both spent a few hours charting out the literal and figurative songs of various tumbling bits of energy and arcane power, discovering harmonies that healed in the same way Meris could explore actual melodies that carried hidden healing potential. Without her inspiration, he never would've thought of certain formulas. Nereus wasn't much of a Cantor, but his work might culminate in medical additives that could be used to spike local food reserves for the better.

As expected, spending an evening in close proximity to a mind he truly cherished had stoked the Augur's fire. She'd woken up to the Darkhallow once before, and far earlier than usual, to find Nereus gently stroking her neckline with a finger. Their minds had joined once again.

Nereus wandered off to the kitchen, stopping long enough to fasten his cufflinks and finish his own cup. "You know," he added, on a tone that could have passed for conversational but that still carried tons of playful lust, "we really should give it a try while awake, one of those days... I'll miss the mattress here - it's much more comfortable than our bed in the palace - but knowing you haven't actually worn me out even once doesn't feel quite right... The mind says you have, but the body's still waiting for something..."

He then shook his head and chuckled. "I'm sorry, it's just that with my health improving and our projects working as planned, I've been getting a bit restless, lately. In a good way, though. I wish Dalarath's outskirts had a few ridges to climb up to, or cliff faces that could support my weight. I've thought about creating a stretch of forest outside of town, down here, or maybe spawning a squash court or two - but working out while you're actually grabbing a snooze feels counter-productive."

Nereus took a sip. "Tennis does sound fun, though. We both have telekinetic abilities; I wonder how fun it would be to grief one another with a few mental fastballs..."
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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A light blush crossing her cheeks, Meris smiled and nibbled on an orange slice. She gave him a throaty chuckle that carried a lustfully teasing edge and pecked him on the mouth, letting him taste the sweet and tangy juice from the fruit. Licking her lips, the roane nodded. "As you said, with your recent vitality and the progress we've made, you want to find some way to expend that excess energy, whether it be on the tennis court or in the bedroom. Either way sounds like a lot of fun," she commented.

The previous sadness had drifted to the back of her subconsciousness and let her be for now, thankfully. There would be a time and place for that. Focusing on the positive aspects of their relationship was currently much more constructive. Even while she missed her family back on the surface, she wanted to savor every moment she had here as well.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Nereus smiled fondly, but he quickly seemed to remember something. He checked his watch and then looked back to her in slight alarm. "We're late!" he exclaimed. "Today's one of the big days I've been dreaming about lately - or at least a practice round for it! I just need to get my plans and some of our notes, and then we can leave..."

He hurried back up the stairs and could be heard manipulating the kind of metallic cylinders you used to stash printed plans in. As he came back down, he looked back to her and seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right - we have about a dozen so-called big days like this one nestled here and there in this place - but today is the day we have our island project approved. This city - this future world - has deciders of its own, and we need to show them that we can create a home for our allied Void Weavers without upsetting the world's ecosystems or impacting the surface-world fishermen working in the area. I've been dreaming a lot, lately, and some names and faces have been popping up. Forsythe Holden and Matthias d'Aubignier, among some of them. These are the people we need to show our work to!"

True to himself, while Meris had been hard at work in the present, Nereus was toiling away on their future, peeling back bits and pieces of prophetic insight. The sudden kips that had once been brought about by exhaustion were now scheduled affairs, napping being a bit akin to someone checking their calendar or agenda, in Dalarath. Being the Augur, he'd always reasoned, it was only natural for him to put his gift to good use, right? He'd come across a bright day located somewhere far across the end of their tribulations, in which his last defiance against the Others and Meris' asserted power created a bright future for the vindicated rebels.

The catch was that like any project filled with potential, there was still a lot of fog attached to it all. The only way to get a clearer picture, he'd found, was to live through these potential future events whilst in the Darkhallow.

"I found a tower," he explained, his voice carrying an amusing level of enthusiasm. "It's run by a Wyrm of some kind, and he's to play the host for our meeting. All I've been able to ascertain is that he'll be one of the purse-holders along with myself. All the technological means that should grant self-sufficience to this new Dalarath need to be approved, and something tells me we've been working in close conjunction with some of the surface world's brightest minds. We have a lot to live up to!"

He smile then seemed to settle into a more idle posture, as if he were waiting for Meris to do something. Oh, but of course he was, Meris was still wearing what she'd put on for her walk!

"Well?!" he then asked, somehow managing to look cheerful and impatient at the same time, like the friendly version of an overbearing professor. "Get up there and get dressed, miss Archmage!"
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris disappeared upstairs and searched for the appropriate attire for the meeting. She put on a white, button-down, long-sleeved blouse. A charcoal blazer and navy blue skirt followed. Styling her hair into a twisted bun, the bard finished off her ensemble with black pumps.

Racing downstairs, she joined him by the front door. "That better? " she asked, grinning eagerly.
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