Are you sure you aren't from Helovia?
Helovia.
Helovia.
It rings in his head in a dizzying crescendo until everything else ceases, steps faltering, eyes glazing over, hands falling limp at his side. He can see it all, no matter how old the memories become; the sun setting over the sands of the Throat, the comforting shadow of Gaucho always at his side, Midas' laugh, Ilaria's soft paws touching his face lovingly. The things, the people, he'd loved the most. It slams into him with a grief that he can't swallow past, scarcely able to breathe. A secret he'd carried in his mind, a name he'd vowed never to speak as he'd fallen through portal after portal until familiar faces stopped appearing.
Until now. Until here.
He doesn't realize he's trembling, distantly hearing Jigano's words as he finally sucks in a shaking breath. Cera has enough presence of mind to wait, to listen, to do his best to be a good friend and listener despite the blow he has just been delivered. Only then does he shakily raise his voice, scarcely daring to hope, to ask, terrified of the answer he may be given.
Hope was always a sharper knife than grief.
"You...you said Helovia?" he whispers, forcing his steps to falter forward. Clinging to some sense of propriety. "They...there are others? From there? They're here?" His voice finally cracks, because he doesn't care who. He will take anyone, welcome them with open arms and a heart full of understanding, no matter if they were enemies, friends, lovers, family, strangers. "I...I'm sorry I just...I didn't think it was possible after all this time," he whispers, trying to collect himself and not make Jigano feel uncomfortable with the force of his emotions.
He drums up a smile, a tad shaky at the edges but sincere nonetheless. "Connection to the Gods is not something that fades easily," he agrees, though he is loathe to find a new deity to worship - if he does - and is dismayed by the news that these Gods are far less agreeable. Even in their worst rages, Cera had always held fast to his faith in Helovia.
"Amalia. I will remember the name, and I'll see if I can plead some sweets out from under her thumb," he laughs, free hand patting his stomach jokingly. He's not exactly starving yet, but his stomach is making itself heard in terms of getting food in there soon. "We had flying whales in...in Helovia as well. Beautiful, though I never saw many of them. I'll keep an eye for them both," he assures, even as his tongue still trips over his homeland's name, still hesitant to use it.
Helovia.
Helovia.
It rings in his head in a dizzying crescendo until everything else ceases, steps faltering, eyes glazing over, hands falling limp at his side. He can see it all, no matter how old the memories become; the sun setting over the sands of the Throat, the comforting shadow of Gaucho always at his side, Midas' laugh, Ilaria's soft paws touching his face lovingly. The things, the people, he'd loved the most. It slams into him with a grief that he can't swallow past, scarcely able to breathe. A secret he'd carried in his mind, a name he'd vowed never to speak as he'd fallen through portal after portal until familiar faces stopped appearing.
Until now. Until here.
He doesn't realize he's trembling, distantly hearing Jigano's words as he finally sucks in a shaking breath. Cera has enough presence of mind to wait, to listen, to do his best to be a good friend and listener despite the blow he has just been delivered. Only then does he shakily raise his voice, scarcely daring to hope, to ask, terrified of the answer he may be given.
Hope was always a sharper knife than grief.
"You...you said Helovia?" he whispers, forcing his steps to falter forward. Clinging to some sense of propriety. "They...there are others? From there? They're here?" His voice finally cracks, because he doesn't care who. He will take anyone, welcome them with open arms and a heart full of understanding, no matter if they were enemies, friends, lovers, family, strangers. "I...I'm sorry I just...I didn't think it was possible after all this time," he whispers, trying to collect himself and not make Jigano feel uncomfortable with the force of his emotions.
He drums up a smile, a tad shaky at the edges but sincere nonetheless. "Connection to the Gods is not something that fades easily," he agrees, though he is loathe to find a new deity to worship - if he does - and is dismayed by the news that these Gods are far less agreeable. Even in their worst rages, Cera had always held fast to his faith in Helovia.
"Amalia. I will remember the name, and I'll see if I can plead some sweets out from under her thumb," he laughs, free hand patting his stomach jokingly. He's not exactly starving yet, but his stomach is making itself heard in terms of getting food in there soon. "We had flying whales in...in Helovia as well. Beautiful, though I never saw many of them. I'll keep an eye for them both," he assures, even as his tongue still trips over his homeland's name, still hesitant to use it.
