Visit to the Farplane [Closed]

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

Characters: Delita & Garnet
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Coming face to face with people from the past
Location: Farplane
Date: November (before the Heads of State Meeting)
Warnings: N/A

Delita was still awake. Still not trusting the inhabitants nearby, he had not felt comfortable letting his guard down. While he trusted the Queen as much as he would trust any noble, he did not wish for her to watch over him, and allowing this self-proclaimed emperor to stand watch was not an event he wished for.

Sitting up alone in the middle of the night allowed him time to meditate on the events of the day and he allowed his thoughts to dwell on this Farplane he had heard spoken of. It was unbelievable to think of the dead coming to visit in this place, yet his curiousity was aroused. He was wrestling with sneaking off to see this place or staying put and guarding Garnet.

His love for his sister won over his intrique over the ruler of Alexandria and he quietly opened the door and snuck out into the street. In no way was he going to allow anyone to see him grieve for his sister, but he would risk everything to see her once more.

Comments

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Was. So the image before them really was of someone dead. Someone who had been very important to Delita. But what is her spirit doing here? Was it merely an illusion?

Illusion or not, the effect was the same. Garnet's thoughts turned to her own family... her face fell.

"I'm sorry. I understand how you feel. My parents..." she paused. The father whose face she did not even remember, and the father who had read her bed-time stories. The mother who gave birth to her, and the mother who had raised her, taken her in as her own flesh and blood. "They are also gone. I never had any brothers or sisters... But we are not so different, really."

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

"'Tis my apologies, M'Lady for allowing mine own grief to cause your own. I had so hoped not to disturb anyone by my departure, yet it seems in my haste I ended your slumber."

With that, Delita turned slightly so that the Queen would not need to stand firm as his strength and perhaps he could return the gesture.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Garnet shook her head, eyes closed and gaze downward; her hand did not leave his shoulder just yet. "You don't have to apologize. It's something I think about often. Especially lately. I wonder, what would they think of me, if they could see me now."

She was trying not to let her thoughts wander too far. She didn't need to make this about herself. She was here to see after Delita's well-being. It was the least she could do, after his many gestures of kindness towards her. But even so... thoughts of his mother ran through her mind. It was nearly constant now, especially at the smallest suggestion. What would mother think of her, unmarried at twenty? In love with the very same boy who'd 'kidnapped' her so many years ago.

Garnet was so distracted, that at first, she didn't notice the image that was manifesting itself; a heavy set woman, nearly as much girth as height, draped in tacky fabrics and elaborate head-dress. How something so large could ever possible hope to float would have been astounding, if not for the fact that this new image, like the one of Delita's sister, were more transparent than not.

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

Delita was feeling extremely conflicted at the moment. He had sworn to hate all nobility, but Garnet acted more a kind-hearted woman than a ruthless ruler at times. He could tell that her mind was beginning to wander, yet she was still attempting to comfort him.

He watched as an image appeared next to Tietra. He could only assume the woman appearing was the Queen's Mother. For reasons unknown to himself, he felt compelled to say something genuinely nice.

"'Tis obvious to me now, your beauty and strength was a gift from your Mother."

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Garnet paused. She'd not yet seen the vision of Alexandria's last queen, and took the compliment with a faint smile. Before she could thank him properly though, her eyes caught on the familiarly eccentric garb, and her gaze was drawn away.

She stared in silent shock, her body frozen. Portraits of the late queen still hung in the corridors of the palace Alexandria, and Garnet looked upon them daily. Still, a posed portrait could not compare to the distinct, three-dimensional form of her mother, 'standing' just out of her reach.

"...It... can't be..."

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

Delita subtly took Garnet's free hand between his own in benevolence.

"It cannot be, yet there they both stand."

What a pair they were, queen and rebel drawing comfort from the other. He resumed his focus on Tietra. While he still hated the nobility for ending her life, he could no longer channel that hate to the woman beside him for their shared grief had revealed her purity of spirit.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

At first, she seemed not to notice his grip, her attention so fixed on the silent image of her mother. Portraits and memories could not compare to the manifestation before her eyes.

"...why do they not speak..." she wondered aloud, her grip tightening around his.

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

It is painfully obvious to him why they don't speak. He knows that even in this land that Tietra is dead. Not wishing to further upset the Queen, he does not share his idea.

"Perhaps they stay quiet so as to not disturb our admiration."

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"I... want to hear her voice again," Garnet whispered, daring to take another step closer. Beyond the image of her late mother, a vision of beauty. Was this heaven they had stumbled in to? Flowers, and waterfalls, and glowing swirls, like fireflies whose lights never flickered.

"Mother..." she addressed the image, pleading in that one word for her to speak, react, same anything, even if only her name...

But she did nothing more than look at Garnet. Did this ghost even see her? Or did she simply not want to speak to her? Was she ashamed? Have I disappointed you somehow?

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

It seems that Delita's wallow into self pity had come to an end. Garnet needed a support that only someone present could give and it would have to be him.

If the Queen was not careful, she was going to walk straight off the edge of the Farplane. He held tightly to her hand as he placed himself between her and the edge, his free hand raising to her shoulder. He had no thoughts of hindering the view of her mother.

He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Garnet...It's not...It's only...It's ok. I'm here for you."

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

She turned sharply toward him, as if startled by his voice, or some new revelation. Pain filled her eyes, threatening to spill out in the form of tears.

"What about your sister? Doesn't it bother you that all they do is... is..."

The sudden surge of emotion seemed to die away just as quickly as it had risen. The young queen pursed her lips together, and averted her gaze.

[lionwarhero.livejournal.com]

Delita stood there unmoving as visions of he and Tietra playing in the grass flashed before his eyes. His throat dry, he swallowed before even attempting to speak. As his body toughened up to withstand the emotional onslaught, he rose his gaze to Garnet.

"I do not need yet another reminder of how I failed her. I already know that my sister ... that Tietra .. is dead. I have already accepted that long ago."

Of course it bothered her that she was dead, murdered solely to prove a noble's power.

"As much as I would try to believe it, there is nothing I may do to bring her back. Instead, I prefer to spend this time supporting the Queen, the lady before me."

His eyes finish telling the story that he is thankful that at least one noble valued her life.