Patience did not go unrewarded, and Jigano raised his head from prayer, eyes shining as the familiar voice curled and coiled around him. Isuma chirruped joyfully, pouncing after a wayward flutter of ragged cloth as her companion swallowed past the relieved lump in his throat and smiled at the masked god who had finally returned been allowed to return? to the Hollowed Grounds.
"Ludo," he said quietly, gladness in his voice as he spoke the name. "It is good to see you again." He looked to the lantern, and there was both pride and sadness in the curve of his shoulders and the tension in his hands as he folded them into his lap. "I sang for them," he continued softly. "The ones who died in front of me, like Caiside and Roana, and those who had been lost in the dark between buildings and years. As many as I could reach with my voice and the lantern's light... all except one."
Fingers tightened in his lap, twisting into the fabric of his tunic as he recalled the leather-winged demon that had held on to one soul in particular. "The soul of Kiada's lover, Ru'in, was held like a... a bauble. A puppet, by one of the monsters. We... we weren't strong enough to defeat it on our own and free him," he admitted, ashamed of their failure - of his in particular, and the black tar that had coated his wings and sent him tumbling to the ground again before he could even strike a single blow against the dark beast.
"Ludo," he said quietly, gladness in his voice as he spoke the name. "It is good to see you again." He looked to the lantern, and there was both pride and sadness in the curve of his shoulders and the tension in his hands as he folded them into his lap. "I sang for them," he continued softly. "The ones who died in front of me, like Caiside and Roana, and those who had been lost in the dark between buildings and years. As many as I could reach with my voice and the lantern's light... all except one."
Fingers tightened in his lap, twisting into the fabric of his tunic as he recalled the leather-winged demon that had held on to one soul in particular. "The soul of Kiada's lover, Ru'in, was held like a... a bauble. A puppet, by one of the monsters. We... we weren't strong enough to defeat it on our own and free him," he admitted, ashamed of their failure - of his in particular, and the black tar that had coated his wings and sent him tumbling to the ground again before he could even strike a single blow against the dark beast.
