The Kingdom of Astaeron

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Arianna smiled towards the strange new man, fluttering her wings lightly before seating herself upon the throne. She brushed some brown hair out of her face, her long locks having grown slightly messy and ruffled while she had been out.

"There's no need to bow," she said to him kindly, a sweet smile on her pink lips. "What do you need?"
 
[ - A voice, that was so deep that it was beyond the comprehension of most surrounded the queen. The moment that he'd opened his mouth to speak it sounded as if he were behind, infront, to the left, and to the right of her simultaneously. The voice was clear, yet incredibly beautiful when he spoke it was whimsical. " I am a nomad, and I would like a home as well as a job.." - ]
 
The guard by the door in Christopher's room stepped forward. "Now, now, young one, there is no need for alarm," said the guard, sending a servant to fetch a meal for the boy. "You are in the Kingdom of Astaeron, and under the protection of Queen Arianna. She asked that I remain here with you until you awaken, and then to give you a meal and take you to her. A meal is on its way."

Arianna raised a curious eyebrow as she listened to the man speak. His voice was bizarre and fascinating. She smiled warmly towards the newcomer and nodded.

"That can certainly be arranged. Is there any particular kind of home you are looking for? One bedroom, two bedrooms, a certain area of town...?" she asked him kindly, her ocean eyes darting briefly towards the window.
 
Christopher tilts his head, both names were foreign to him. That meant he was alive, and what he remembered was no dream. But for how long, was the current question. Did it even matter? "I see. Well, I suppose a, um, meal will do." He felt awkward in this situation, back home, he was reminded of the giant meals the heroes, legends and such-wise would have. He wondered how many of them were alive, and who had would even be there. Maybe, he thought, it was too far now to get back home, was anyone even searching for him?

"Tell me more about this foreign place, since you'll be keeping me company until I see this, um, Queen lady." He had heard tales about kings and queens every day back home, he wondered if this place ever had been mentioned. Probably not, he thought to himself.
 
Dio lies on his stomach, tracing his finger in his glass of water. As he traces it an image flickers in the water, Dio smiles widely. The image is troubled, the image is in despair. Within it's frozen gaze pain that is not only emotional but physical can be seen, Dio continues to watch it like a vulture. The image has no idea he's being watched, and his an even less idea of how much he is watched. Dio can sense his fall into sorrow, the crumbling of his mind. The moment Dio has waited a long time for.


"where's is your knight in shinning armour, now? Where is he, huh?" Dio whispers. "ya have spent so long waiting, waiting for a rescue that ever came.. now that prospect nowhere in sight, you feel more alone then ever. If he loved you, he'd have being here.. but ya know what? You thought ya might have being loved if your knight came, but intead people will only pity you!" Dio's reserved these lines for a long time, but now he'll finally get the chance to say them. "but don't worry, my ice prince.. there is someone out there who loves ya!" he suddenly springs to his feet, some of the water splashes on the floor but he takes no notice. He waves his hand in a cutting motion in a horizontal line. "but who? Who could love ya? That's what your thinkin' right?!" he slowly points to himself and lowers his voice to a whisper. "the answer you seek stands before you, me!"


Dio puts the glass of water down and waves his hand, causing the image fade from the water and appear on the full length mirror instead. "I will never abandon you! I will never make you feel worthless!" he speaks quickly, waving his hands franticly. "I who ya never even so much as glanced at! I who would have given up everything for you! You have being forgotten, you have being cast to the side!" Dio jabs the glass. "but.. my beloved ice hearted prince, I will never do that.. never.." he traces his hand against the glass. "my beautiful prince, my angel.." he whispers. "soon you will come 'round to my way of thinking..'


he smirks. "once you end everything by drinking the elixir, once you do that.. then ya can truly be mine, and finally be treated how ya deserve.. ya will be mine..and only mine, I'm only taking what should have belonged to me.. it's just plain good manners."


he pulls back with a laugh. "don't worry, Sepiroth.. ya'll soon see things..my way."


Dio waves his hand and the image fades away, he continues to smirk. He's loved Sepiroth for a long time, a very long time. Yet Sepiroth always set his sights on something unobtainable, Dio doesn't even know if Sepiroth got his man in the end. He's remained annoyingly unavailable, annoyingly unattractive to anyone. Or has he? One can never tell with Sepiroth, ether way he seems broken hearted and lonely. Dio can't believe that a man like Sepiroth would hold on to a fairytale in hope of finding happiness, but he can understand. Sepiroth needs something to give him a shred of hope, lest he crumble totally under the iron fist of his master. But Dio is more then happy to rub salt into the wounds, and wake Sepiroth up from his dream.. after all, it is not just a crush that motivates him.


Dio smirks and walks out his room, yawning a little and stretching. He's also motivated by his ambition, so getting Sepiroth is killing to birds with one stone! He pauses and walks back into his room and picks up a book, lugging it under his arm he strides back out.


He knows however that there will be some obstacles, there always is. But he'll tackle them as they arise, while he plays the game of truth and lies. He will turn white to black and black to white, and he will continue the game until it's use has expired. But he will not play his hand until he's sure that it has ended, there can be no room for error or faults.


But this is the game that Dio enjoys most, the biggest gamble. He is willing to bet everything in order to gain everything, he has no intention of losing. He will not lose, after all.. the game he plays is one of manipulation and deceit, and that's what he's best at. Destroying friendships, breaking lovers apart, turning father and son against each other, appealing to the power hungry.. the lustful, the insecure, the insane, the alone and the forgotten. He stokes the fires of their rage and then fans the flames, watching everything burn. And though for every fool that heeds him, there are many immune to him.. he takes careful time in picking his targets. He has time.


This is Dio's favorite game, one where all the puppets dance upon his stage when he plays his tune. The tune is mostly the same, with very minor variation. He is the pied piper of the desperate, he leads them to their doom with a smile and soothing words.


And soon.. he will add a new puppet to his stage, another player to his game.
 
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Kyo was asleep, hadn't been asleep that long either, Arius could tell by the way she didn't stir when she had called to her. So quietly she sits in a chair next to the bed and keeps an eye on the sleeping Kyo. Normally she would have woken her up...actually, better idea. It wouldn't be much but it would probably be best if the pair took off now...hopefully the ghosts in the Dark Woods wouldn't terrify Kyo too much.

Lightly Arius lifts Kyo from the bed letting the girl keep the pillow, the Queen could do without one pillow she would think and Arius didn't want to disturb Kyo's slumber too much. She carried Kyo through the halls and outside heading for the Dark Woods, if would take her a little while to get to her little hovel in them but hopefully Kyo would sleep until she got there.

When she did finally walk into the woods her eyes lit up brightly and her scythe glowed a soft green providing a rather nice light. Though her eyes were more to scare anything unwanted off and being dressed in such dark clothes with such light skin made her appear as a ghost with evil green eyes. Most of the strange creatures in the woods kept well away from Arius and Kyo though she did notice a strange wolf roaming that crossed her path a few times.
 
Herzius slowly wakes, though his eyes stay closed as he lets out a snore of sorts, letting it grow a bit loud and drag as he observes the entirety of the room. Accepting that he is alone, his eyes open slowly and he sits up, his tight muscular midsection flexing into a beautiful display of his physique before growing relaxed and looking slightly like fat as he leans forward, the muscles bulging outward as if it were indeed fat. Though his muscular arms and chest are still looking well toned. He learned long ago that no matter how hard he tried, his midsection always looked like fat when he was sitting, though if he sat up straight rather than leaned forward and attempted to flex rather than just sat relaxed, it'd return to his normal, muscled look, when he was younger he was actually embarrassed to be seen sitting down shirtless, but now, now it was fine, he had grown much more content with himself throughout his years of living.

He stays relaxed for several minutes, just sitting there, content with resting himself before he stands up, remembering what it was he was supposed to do today. He had a date with the Queen. He humored this idea, knowing it to be false and understanding that rather than a date she was just being helpful, she was not likely to bond to him.He was indeed, just a brute, a brute with a history of killings and fighting, ravaging kingdoms and rebellions in his work as the general of his Queen's royal legions. He decides after a few moments of thinking that he should probably leave his current dwelling until nightfall, so that he could explore the kingdom, or the immediate areas of the kingdom around him at least.

He humored the thought as he dressed himself, having opened the trunk so that he may pull free some clothing. He pulls on a pair of black tinted breeches, of which go down to his calf before expanding slightly to take in his boots. Next are his socks, of which he wears for the simple reason of the boots were capable of cutting open his skin in blistering patterns if didn't wear them, the leather material wearing the skin away. He pulls on his boots, polished and black, stretching up to just under his knee. On the tip of his toe on the boot is a piece of silver, wrapped finely around the toe of the boot and then tapering off slightly about three inches in. Another tapering pattern extends from the back of his heel, pulling around and clinging tightly around his heel tightly. There is one final piece of silver, a set of wings on the top of hit foot, barely presented due to his breeches. In the center of the wings is a purple diamond shape, made of an amethyst stone. In his culture, the stone of amethyst was though to possess the ability of capturing souls and if one kept a stone with him during his battles, he would absorb the souls and grow stronger. Though he had gone through many different pairs of boots, he had never used different stones fro his boots, he was littered with similar stones when he entered combat, of which did various things to increase his combat abilities. He pulls on a pure white shirt, one of which clings tightly to his chest, going down his scarred arms and cuffing at his wrists, two purple sugillate stones serve as cufflinks, of which he buttons. The sugillate served as a way of understanding one better, it was said that if one used it at will, he could learn the nature of people with just a single touch, he however, had no such luck, though he did indeed learn people better, so maybe the stories were correct. The buttons of the white shirt are made of the same stones, he was absolutely covered in the things. Finally is his tunic, he pulls it onto him making sure it is placed well, letting it rest squarely on his large shoulders. The tunic, also purple is seamed with black edges, entwining with purple in intricate patterns. The collar of the tunic is shaped in a deep V pattern, showing off the white shirt and it's collar, of which is opened to proudly show his windguard, representing his race by showing off his non human qualities. He straps on two belts, one on his breeches and another on his tunic, the second one for show because the black, non intricate belt on his breeches is hidden underneath his tunic. The seen belt though is black, solidly refined until the buckle. At the ends of the belt are silver patterns, flecking intricately and tapering off like a leaves. The buckle is also silver, made finely in a standard manner, the belt however is stretched to the end, making it impossible for a stub to emerge.

He looks himself over and smiles a bit, enjoying his look of dress as he pulls on a set of purple gloves, looking them over for a few moments before setting them off to the side, deciding to reveal his bone spikes rather than cover them. He looks at his iron elbow spikes, wondering if she'd mind them. He was a walking weapon, though, he rarely realized such a thing at home, where there were so many others like him, though, not as large of course. He looks at his blade, the formal one of course and slowly attaches it to his hip, letting it be seen to all those who wish to see it and he fingers the pommel lightly, curious. He unstraps it and takes his real blade, realizing that it is much more in tune with his current garb, since his other blade has gold instead of silver. The sheathe of his blade is made of stone and iron, of which is polished brightly, likely to remove the blood that would cover it in battle. He walks to his mirror and fixes his hair, taking a special salve of sorts to decorate the tips of his hair, making them stick up slightly like before. When he is satisfied with his plumage he walks out of his room, his steps deliberate, and slow for him. His driver notices him and smiles, "Going out, my lord?" He questions and Herzius nods, "Yes, I have decided a slight stroll may be necessary." He comments, "So as to grow familiar with the kingdom's layout. I would hate to get lost in time of need." he states and the driver nods, seeming relaxed, "If you could, whilst I am gone, put my things away." He says, just as the door to the home closes. He walks around, attempting to waste away the remaining bit of light before meeting the Queen, he assumes he only has an hour or so to explore, maybe even less time, so he takes as much in as he can, making sure to observe the locals, his collarbone plating and windguard easily seen to all those who decide to look at him, of which would likely be many due to his size.
 
I begin to stir partway through the trip to the dark woods. It is hard to describe the feeling of waking up in the dark woods being carried by a reaper, but essentially you think you are dreaming at first, so you close your eyes and open them again. When you see the same errrie senary and begin to slowly remember what events lead up to this situation, you rub at your eyes, still not fully certain that what you are seeing is correct. Now, having rubbed my eyes and confirmed what I am seeing is correct, I'd be lying if I wasn't scared for that brief moment before I had my wits about me. Releasing myself from Arius's grip, I retain ahold of the pillow I've been holding onto as if it were some sort of security blanket, but then as I believe it to betray my "mature" image I hold it at my side, not making any attempts to drop it, but also trying to not seem dependant on it like I had before. "Why are we back in the Dark Woods? I thought this place was unsafe?" I'd also rather not mention that I was attacked in this location on my way to the kingdom, and that some of those things might still be after me.
 

| . Soleryu . |


"Welcome to the kingdom of Astaeron."

She heard, like some whisper echoing in the wind, lightly blowing to her through the thick fog. Astaeron? She'd never heard of such a kingdom. Was it just her imagination, or she'd lost and slipped into a strange world? Her hand raised up a bit in front of her chest, like a way a blind would do to look for her path. And as she continued walking, the fog cleared up slowly, and the scene catching on her eyes was truly a place she'd never seen.

"Welcome to the kingdom of Astaeron."

The whisper still continued echoing to her ears, but less creepy than before. This time in fact, it was like a ringing bell.

"Hello" - she murmured, smiling - "my name is Soleryu."

Thus she'd arrived, though without knowing how and why. Hello.
 
"Nothing in particular, as a monk I take what it is I can get. Anything will suffice. "

He'd erect rather swiftly, his eyes not once coming in contact with the queens own, and he awaited her response rather patiently.
 
Arianna nodded slowly as she listened to his words. She was surprised that he gave no specifications - what if she offered him a four-bedroom mansion? He seemed like someone who would want something humble and small, however, and he didn't seem to have any need for extra space - he made no mention of children or a family, after all, and she had never heard of a monk with children. He seemed to be entirely on his own, so maybe something small was all he needed.

"I have a one-bedroom place I could offer you," she said to him softly, smiling. "Kitchen, washroom, bedroom, and an extra room you could use as a dining room, sitting room, storage room, or spare bedroom, anything you want or need."

The guard gazed curiously towards this young boy the Queen had brought in with her. "It is called Astaeron. Our Queen is called Arianna. She is kind and loving, and she is the one who brought you here," he said. At that moment, a servant arrived with a silver tray in her hands. The platter held a small loaf of bread, a bowl of steaming hot soup, a slab of meat, and a few heated vegetables. She neared the boy, offering it wordlessly.
 
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Christopher takes the tray in his hands and sets it down. "Mmm, I see. I've never heard of either." He commented out loud, taking a bite out of the bread and enjoying it's taste to his mouth. Once he swallows, he lets out a sigh. "I guess you don't have any heroes, or have heard of legendary figures then." He takes another bite, enjoying his meal. He would wait on the soup though, as for vegetables, they were next once he was done with the bread.
 
Anivia flew across the brilliant colors of the falling sun, the pinks and oranges bouncing off the clouds, making them appear like larges pieces of candy. As she flew by a kingdom, Anivia knew that somewhere like that would be a great place to live and learn. "Then it's settled, I'll live there!" The Harpy then dived headlong towards the kingdom and landed softly outside the castle gates. "This looks like a place I could talk to someone about getting a house. I'll just stroll right in and talk to who ever is in charge!" Anivia spies a guard at the gate. "Hey, you! Who's in charge around here?"
 
"Wh-why thank you. No-one has ever done such a thing for me, and I am grateful, is their anything I Can do for you?"

He'd spoken before, his embodiment sensed the vibration of more oncoming movement, this slightly disturbed him, though he remained calm.​
 
One of the guards by the gates looked at the winged woman as she drew near, and he jerked a thumb towards the castle doors. "Queen Arianna is in her throne room," he said to her. "You'd best head inside now if you wish to meet with her. The gates will be closing for the night very soon."

The guard in Christopher's room raised one eyebrow. "We have stories and tales of legendary heroes... we tell them to our children as bedtime stories and look to them as inspiration in our darkest hours..."

Arianna let out a light, musical laugh and she shook her head slightly, brown hair fluttering around.

"The house requires only a monthly payment of one hundred gold for eleven months to be paid off, so after that, there is nothing," she said to him kindly. "I believe you also said you wanted a job? What kinds of talents do you have?"
 
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"Oh, well I better hurry and meet this Queen!" She rushes past the guard without the slightest thanks. She runs up to the throne room door and looks inside, there stands a hooded man and who she could only assume is the queen. She is about to talk when she realizes that she should probably try to not disturb the Queen when she's busy.
 
Christopher lets out a laugh at this, having finished the bread and moved on to the vegetables. "Oh really? From where I'm from, heroes and legends were born every day. In our town of Wanborne, we celebrated and had large feasts whenever someone was made a hero, or a legendary icon." He said in between bites. "Zeno of Might, Corban the Bold, Melanthus the Titan Wall... Just to name a few." This made the boy a little sad inside, he had no idea if these people had even heard of Wanborne, and yet, ranting about it seemed to make him more wondering where in the world had he ended up and why? "Oh Falous, Siclous and Aztune, give me comfort as I enjoy this meal from another host." He said to comfort himself mostly. Falous to Wanborne was the God of War, Siclous, the God of Knowledge, and Aztune, Goddess of Compassion. He hoped they were watching him, having some sort of plan for why he ended up here and not near Wanborne, if it even stood anymore.
 
Arius smiled a little but didn't dim the glow she kept emitting, "I am so sorry Lady Kyo but...the Queen moved forward without noticing me earlier, we have...no real home. The only place that I can roam and not be worried about terrifying people is here in the Dark Woods...I know it's a frightening place but if you're with me none shall harm you, remember...Ghosts are the exception to my Scythe's rule, I can harm them easily." Arius kept her gaze cooly on the girl in front of her, she seemed scared of this place but she herself had lived here for years, she had scars, she had been attacked before in this place but Arius had learned to fight on her own and live. "First thing's first...I would like to know you a little better so take my hand and walk with me or you'll be lost. With that out of the way, I can help you with your power, but tell me about it a little, you said it's a terrifying magic. But is that all you yourself know about your magic?"
 
I listen to Arius, trying to allow myself to be filled in about how things got to this situation. From what I can tell, Arius was waiting for the queen, but since she didn't make an appointment, she was continually delayed, and eventually got sick of waiting. Honestly, it probably wasn't the smartest course of action considering the queen had given me that room without any real time limit attached, and we could have made an appointment for the next day and simply waited out the crowd. Even still, it isn't like I could impose that on Arius. For all I knew, she actually prefered places like this to the comforts of a house. Regardless, I would have need to prepare myself for my journey home in a week, and I couldn't well do that in the dark woods. But, preparations could wait for tomorrow, right now, I need to be thinking about getting familiar with Arius. Though, it seemed like that was a mutual goal, since she was already curious about my magic.

"I've been told much about my magic. It is a magic specific to my families' bloodline. It is an elemental class magic which was formed as a hybrid between life magic and wind magic. Because of this, I also have control over the elements of life and wind, but that also misleads people to think that hybrids work with properties similar to the parts that make it up. Ghost magic functions entirely differently. It works by controlling the forces which connect your presence to other presences in the world. So for example, using ghost magic, I could make you believe that I was your mother. It isn't an illusion either, it causes very real changes and it doesn't target people, it targets the celestial connection between me and that person. Unless you know of my magic in advance, and have a mage who can both detect and ward that connection from my magic, it is more or less impossible to guard. My magic is terrifying though, because it prefers to sever connections entirely rather than change them. When you encounter something which you don't have a celestial connection with, your body naturally tries to search for other connections in an attempt to understand the relationship between me and the world I exist in. But if all my connections are cut, the result is I appear to be not from this plane of existence. At this point, external forces stop applying to me and I can only move under my own power until I reestablish my connections . The resulting image can cause terror in things that don't even have the capacity to feel fear. This trait is where the namesake, "ghost magic", became termed."
 
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Arianna shifted her gaze towards the first of the two women in the room, the one who had already been there when she arrived rather than the one who had just come in. She smiled kindly, waving her forward. Her deep azure eyes sparkled with kindness.

"Hello," she said in a soft voice. "My name is Arianna. Welcome to Astaeron. What may I help you with? Are you needing a home?"


The guard raised an eyebrow curiously at the boy's words. "If they are born every day...how is it that you manage to remember the stories of every last one of them? How are they legends if there are so many of them? You do not remember every individual's story when they are dead and gone because there are so many individuals - but heroes of legend, those are few and far between, so you can remember them by their individuality..."

The guards by the gates swung them shut and locked them. Anyone still inside the castle would be free to leave when they finished, but no more newcomers could enter for the night.
 
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