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Zahara ::Lucent, if you could please join me in the dungeon, I would appreciate it.:: The call comes to his mind, her voice not threatening, but rather tinged with an odd mix of thoughtfulness, curiosity and a slight hint of admiration.
Lucent gets to the dungeon as fast as he can! "Hmmm, what is it, Zahara?"
Zahara is standing in the main room, though none of the usual paraphernalia is out, and all the storage cabinets are closed. She walks over to one of the cells and palms it open, gesturing for him to enter. "It occurred to me to ask what you know about how these work." Inside is the Monstrance.
Lucent walks in, looking at it again... remembering the shivers from the first time. Now he is just kind of... thoughtful. "Oh, so... the Sun is not fixed yet?"
Zahara smiles a little, "No, not quite. Though I imagine that it will be soon." She shows him the three pieces.
Lucent gives a little pout and a shrug, almost an 'awww', then looks back at the Monstrance... "All I know is that it is useful for corrupting Solars. It can be used as their cage... and it holds a Shard within it."
Lucent "No idea wether the shard becomes pliable when there, or if it requires some other magic..."
Zahara "Is this one tied to a Shard still?" She lets the door slide closed behind them and walks slowly around the cage, inspecting it from all angles.
Lucent "I forgot to ask Quen that before I summoned Amika within his Manse and stole that, sorry."
Lucent "Looking at it is what made me communne with the Malfean, however."
Lucent "So it is probably... tied to them as well."
Zahara "Just looking at it?"
Lucent "Just looking at it. They asked me to... and then it was, like... everything went dark, and I was on his Court. I walked within him... and saw his death through his own eyes. But it all begun with looking into the Monstrance."
Zahara hrmms thoughtfully. "This is made of metal from Malfaes, is it not?"
Lucent "No, it is Soulsteel. Malfean Metal is not very used on Netheos, I think... and does not resonate with our dark mirrors."
Zahara "Ah, yes," she says with a finger to her lips, "perhaps I was talking about this." She pulls out the core of the Sun again. "Which resonates with you or, possibly, only used to. But you do know of it, and the game continues to intrigue me."
Lucent "And now you know, too. You should."
Lucent points at the Monstrance "What do you intend to do with that?"
Zahara "I am considering finding out what happens when I coat it with Orichalcum," she smiles a little, "Though I think it will take more than that to excise the darkness from your companions, as I assume you do not wish to use dark methods to bring light."
Lucent "No, I do not. I... think I am getting somewhere with Crow, and I will try it with Ember of Glory next. I think all we need is to convince them of the light... and um. When they want to come to the light, I will probably need your help..."
Lucent "And I'd prefer you kept away from doing those things. Good as you might be with it."
Zahara "How can you convince them to turn to the Sun, when the Sun has turned from us all?"
Lucent "I did not try to convince Crow to turn to the sun. I tried to convince her to turn to life."
Lucent "Life and light. Even if the sun has turned from us, Zahara... Creation. Life. Love. Caring."
Lucent "The world around us. That is all too important."
Zahara "What caused her to turn away in the first place?
Lucent "She did not say. All she said is that she was a farmer... and it seemed too painful for me to delve deeper in." He shrugs, "I did not need to know everything about your life to have an effect on you, so I suppose she will tell me when she is ready... but feel free to ask. I am curious."
Zahara "A single event can change one's path in ways that will echo throughout the rest of their life. Perhaps finding out what this event was for her will provide the key to changing her future."
Lucent "Like it did for you?"
Zahara does not respond for a long moment, looking back at the Monstrance. When she faces Lucent again, she simply takes his hand, pressing the Sun orb into it, whole. "Yes."
Lucent smiles "Want to go ask her, then?"
Lucent "But... um, I have something to ask you, too. I almost forgot."
Zahara "Oh?"
Lucent "I... um. I am not working anymore. I got too close to you all... I... I got too confused. Too emotional. Too much into the persona I put on when we first met. And that nearly... I nearly struck down Phoenix. I nearly failed in everything. I broke a promise..."
Lucent "So I... would like to change. Just a little. I need to restrain my emotions. To freeze my fire, if just a little. There are things, too... I had been a king once, and used my magic when I first got to the Sunlands... but that is not me anymore. There is you, Imrama... I need to change. You have a leader, a general, a majordomo. You need something else."
Zahara "What is it that you would be?"
Lucent "I am still an orator. A diplomat. I have trained excellence into the armies of the Sunlands... that is something I can do, you need me to do. But... you have organizers. You have rulers. And my mind... I have been unable to become that again. I have lost touch with it." He opens his palm, and words and documents and cyphers flow out of it in golden light...
Lucent "I was a killer once. I have learned how to be untouchable in the south... maybe I will call upon some of my old knowledge back. Be a Warriors of Words. A Leader in the Field, a Presence of Burning Glory. Without Kai... someone has to be in front of the army."
Lucent "I have told Thirteen I would try to control my emotions already... but I had to ask you. Mind... it is not like Birds. I am still Lucent Copper Haze. I just wish to change who he is. To be someone you need. Someone who can help you."
Zahara looks at Lucent thoughtfully, "I do hope that Kai returns to us, but if she does she will not be prepared to lead our armies in the way that you could." Another pause. "I think that I have not told you that I already need you, regardless of your abilities. Thank you, Lucent, for asking me."
Lucent "Also... I had promised Birds-of-Trinity to go away, to travel the worlds. I realise I should not, now. Every time I have turned my face from my world, it has broken down. I am not going away. And that is why... I want my Empress, my big sister, my best friend, my savior to know that I am not going something like this... without asking."
Lucent looks at the words. Cyphers. Organization. They become a pillar. They become weapons. They become sharp. "I am Lucent Copper Haze. The first light of the Sunlands, untouchable Aegis to its people, blinding light of destruction to all who wish to harm its people."
Lucent looks at the words. Cyphers. Organization. They become a pillar. They become weapons. They become sharp. "I am Lucent Copper Haze. The first light of the Sunlands, untouchable Aegis to its people, blinding light of destruction to all who wish to harm its people."
stryck watches her friend's transformation, marveling a little at how it all shifts and changes and fits together, and musing on the irony of the three witnesses; the cell, the monstrance, and her.
Zahara watches her friend's transformation, marveling a little at how it all shifts and changes and fits together, and musing on the irony of the three witnesses; the cell, the monstrance, and her.
Lucent The symbols come back to his hand as weapons. The coronal seems to melt upon his skin... as if he had the light of all gods for a moment, appearing greater... stronger. Shining so bright as to blind, appearing to touch everything about him... and then he is himself again, the Coronal is itself again, and all is over. And he places the Sun orb back where it belongs.
Lucent "There."
Lucent "How are you, Zahara?"
Lucent "Phoenix was there when I went to talk to you..."
Zahara "I'm not sure." she admits, "but I feel better after talking to her alone."
Lucent "Does she even remember us? That was... I never quite understood wether she does or not. I understood what she did... it is just like me... but it works in a completely different way. And I am not sure asking her directly would help..."
Zahara "I think that she does, though not as the same person."
Lucent "Hmmm... and how do you feel now? Do you think she can be as Birds was to you, again?"
Zahara shakes her head, "No, but I will see who this new woman is, and I think that perhaps I will find a place for her."
Lucent "Good. It... it will never be the same. But as long as you keep the good memories of those times... we can move on. This is a different Circle from even the one I walked in. Different friends, different faces... it will never be the same as it was for you, I know it. But it can be something else. Just as good."
Lucent looks at the Monstrance again... "Can we leave? That thing makes me nervous."
Zahara opens the door and gestures for Luc to precede her. "You are right. It has taken me too long to accept the changes."
Lucent "Not really. It took me months. You have dealt with them very well."
Lucent "I am just saying that I know what that is like... and that, well. Not all is lost."
Zahara "No, not all." she muses, "And some, we will get back."
Lucent nods. "We will."
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