invest your love
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#1
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
After hearing about what had happened at the Spire (sort of) combined with Ronin's suggestion that Remi expand all of his magical powers for the season so that he could not further be used as a pawn of Zariah's, the alchemist could think of only one place he wanted to go.

"Amalia?" Remi called, poking his head inside of the bakery and inhaling deeply. Though he'd just eaten, already his stomach rumbled happily at the various scents invading his scenes. His more predatory shifts were drawn to the savoury offerings, while the raccoon was more interested in things sugary and with glittered-adornments.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#2
Amalia
Amalia has been... Well. Distracted might be an appropriate term: distracted by stars, by purpose, by change. So much has happened in such a short time, and the girl has had little room to process, each new emotion replaced by another faster than she can possibly track. A tidal wave of experience and turmoil, it threatens to crash down on her like a wave, drown her beneath and drag her under and crash her back upon the shore.

So she distracts herself further. Perhaps if she keeps busy the roaring tide will at last subside; perhaps if she keeps the appearance of calm, so to will her mind become. Today her distraction is a simpler kind, an old Leafchange favorite dusted off for the season. Apple cake with cinnamon is her grandmother's recipe; Amalia likes to add ginger to hers, enjoying the extra kick.

She has just set the apples to boil when Jyoti trills a greeting song, projecting an image of their visitor into Amalia's mind. With a genuine (though somewhat dim) smile she rounds the bakery counter, her trio of stars blinking behind. "Remi!" she greets her friend happily, grateful he cannot see the bags beneath her eyes, the drawn lines in her face. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#3
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
Only...he can see now. Sort of, anyways. The bakery is an array of blacks and greys; the contours lacking any sort of clarity or contrast. It's a world without depth, but in the center of it there is Amalia; black eyes like smudges of coal that put the shadows around her to shame, and hair the looks sun-lit, despite the fact they are inside.

Without his usual blind-awkwardness or lack of confidence, Remi moves forward, hands outstretched to meet her. Tilting his head playfully to the side and hoping to find her fingers in his to tug her close with a bemused smile, Remi laughs softly. "I love you Amalia, but you look terrible." He says with concern-laced-adoration, reaching to pinch a bit of shaved ginger from her hair and rubbing it between his fingers.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#4
Amalia
She can't say which is more surprising: his quick and steady approach, or the statement that accompanies it. "Look?" the girl echoes back, raising an eyebrow in confusion, her own dark eyes tracing the purposeful way he regards her. Pulling away enough to fully take him in, the girl's mouth falls open, a slow and bemused understanding blooming in her face. "You can see?!" she exclaims, delight for her friend momentarily overtaking her heavy heart, softening the weary lines and leaving a smile upon her lips. Her hands in his, she lets out a barrage: "How? Since when?! Remi, this is incredible!"

His delicate extract of ginger from her hair dims her smile slightly; with a wry expression she draws further back, not sure how to react to his comment. A humorless chuckle escapes her as she raises her hands uncomfortably to her chest, pulling anxiously at her hair. "A lot has happened," she replies simply, trying and failing to keep the strain from her tone. "But I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Understatement of the year.
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#5
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
Instead of answering, Remi merely laughs with sunny joy, shrugging his shoulders. "It...started with Ronin actually. One moment everything was dark, and then I could see him." Just the recollection of the moment made the alchemist's heart flutter in his chest and nervous-excitement to clog his throat. "Then other things, too. People are easiest to see, ones that I know well. Here—" Looking around the bakery where everything was still swathed in a cloak of black, he turned back to Amalia with a grin. "It looks like it is all in shadow. But at least I can move around for the most part without knocking into things constantly."

With a soft look of concern, the alchemist notes the way Amalia's body language closes to him and he can feel his heart crumbling at the picture before him. "And the Spire?" The alchemist prompts, his brows raising softly as his too-pale eyes widen ever so slightly. "Ronin told me what he saw at the beginning, and then Vai later..."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#6
Amalia
She cannot help the slightly mischievous grin as he mentions seeing Ronin first, an eyebrow raising in response. Truthfully Amalia has never been able to keep track of Remi's relationships - she remembers a rumor that he was with Sam, of all people - but the idea that the alchemist has settled on Ronin makes a certain sense. Through the attuned bond the lion would be able to feel her bounding happiness for his good fortune, the relief of knowing that somewhere, for someone she loves, things are going right. "That's incredible," she breathes, awe in her voice, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "A gift from Vi."

But the glow of joy is quick to fade, the crashing weight of the rest of the world falling once again upon the girl. Sighing, Amalia looks away from Remi, her fingers coiling through her hair. "The Spire..." Despite Vi's reassurances, the baker cannot help but feel some lingering guilt, the tight grip of failure. The Spire, the blight, the barrier, Wessex, the Queen... so many things she has tried not to feel, so many stones dragging her further down. And taking Ronin, who Remi loves? The girl's heart tightens, and fur rises from her neck as she digs her nails into her arms. "I shouldn't have led them down there. I'm... I'm sorry, Remi, for putting them in danger."
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#7
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
Love gushes without restraint from the alchemist as he nods, his fingers sweetly tangling against Amalia. "I hope it is indeed a gift, and not something I will end up owing Ludo for later...but it is nice to see again." He agreed with a laugh.

"Hey—" Remi says, his well-calloused hands immediately covering Amalia's as her nails bite against her skin. It is a sensation that the lion knows well, and he knows the sort of emotional turmoil needed to cause it. Leaning forward slightly so that he might peer into her eyes given their height differences, the alchemist shakes his head gently. "From what I heard you went after a tulmhainar, because Safrin asked it of you. And no one was hurt. Danger is..." Glancing around with a shrug, Remi puffed out a breath. "I do not think it is something we can avoid here."

Biting his lip slightly and straightening, Remi offered the baker a smile. "But that is partially why I came today...I...Zariah has been using me far more than I like. Ronin is helping me say no and resist her but...until I can do that confidently, I would like to limit her access to my magic. I thought I could strengthen your staff, as a way to use up whatever is in me, for this season?"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#8
Amalia
A hollow laugh at no one was hurt. "Everyone was hurt. Ronin was hurt walking down the stairs. Delah almost died. Vai was attacked. Deimos was burnt. Safrin-" But here she chokes, unable to go on, drawing her eyebrows into a frown, refusing to meet his gaze. Shaking her head, Amalia takes a moment to gather herself again, shuddering breaths filling her lungs. Be strong, be strong, be strong. "I shouldn't have led them down there," she repeats, but it is more to herself now than to him. "Maybe we can't avoid danger, but that doesn't mean I should subject others into it."

But Remi is changing the subject, redirecting it to something which, for a glorious moment, she thinks will be light. It isn't - there are no light moments, no happy topics - but at least now guilt can be replaced with anger, a steely fire burning at Zariah's name. Remi's solution feels like a band-aid, and the girl exhales a low, slow breath, defensive fury at the plight of her friend briefly burning away her own pain. "Remi... We need to break her hold on you." The offer to strengthen her staff is a kind one, and one she would love, but she shakes her head. "If you need to use your ability, it should be to protect yourself, and Aoife, and Ronin. But Remi... what does she have on you?" How do we stop her?
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#9
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
Remi frowned. Vai and Ronin hadn't mentioned those aspects to him. Trying to draw her closer to him, his fingertips gently coaxing her with feather-light pressure, the alchemist softly shook his head. "We both know they would all have accompanied you anyways. And...I have been called naive for thinking so in the past, but I am not so sure that danger is a reason to avoid doing what is right. Neither is pain, and sometimes, neither is death." So saying, the alchemist bit the inside of his cheek, letting his eyes fall lower as he sighed. Since coming to the Hollowed Grounds, Remi had found that life was inexorably harder to navigate than he had ever thought possible. It was a little relieving to know that it wasn't only outlanders who struggled with the world they were thrust into, but those born into it as well.

"I know." Remi agrees softly, something in him already broken and defeated on this very subject, and it is revealed immediately in his tone and his crumpled expression. "I have other magic to protect them.." He says, though it isn't much of a defence.

As for what she has on him? Aside from decades worth of being a lowly commoner, used to being subservient and always following the rules? Other than the fact that absurdly, her title means something to the alchemist if only because of how he was raised? Other than his kindly heart and willing nature?

"She threatened Ronin..." A pause. His heart hammering. "And Aoife." With a wilted and defeated sigh, Remi released Amalia's arms to ruffle a hand through his curls. "Exactly what I said she would not do." He added, as if that was not clear already.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#10
Amalia
There is sense to what the alchemist says, but Amalia is not ready to hear it, to let go of her heavy shroud of guilt. "Vi charged me with protecting life," Amalia whispers, dropping her head beneath Remi's reassurances. "What good am I, if I can't even protect the the lives of those I love?" It is a bigger question for another time, something the girl will have to determine for herself, as hard as it may be.

For now there is Remi: another life to save, another hero to defend. Amalia's heart aches for her friend, empathy and fury roaring equally in the area beneath her bones. The expression of defeat upon his usually buoyant face is enough to make her body ache, her heart expanding and contracting in time, a flurry of emotions surging through her mind. She knows he has magic - she knows he is strong - but there is a weakness in everyone, a place where they bend. For both Remi and Amalia it is the people they love.

Except that Amalia loves him, and will not see him hurt.

And then - and then - the hammer falls, a whispered confession, a fist around her heart. It is her time now to reach for Remi, wrapping her arms around her friend, ferocity in her face and voice. "We won't let her," the baker declares, a fierce whisper against his shoulder, an ardent promise in her tone. Pulling back to stare up at his face, the girl's expression is as fierce as it has ever been, her eyes frozen fires, glinting embers in the night. "Whatever it takes - whatever you need - she will not lay a hand on Aoife, or Ronin. I swear."
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#11
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
"Wait, Vi, did? Vi-Vi?" Remi repeated, dumfounded and appearing properly confused at the words he was hearing. Still, something in him settles slightly, her words seeming almost comforting given how close to his own thoughts they suddenly are. "I know what you mean. I was told I was quite out of line, all but trading my sight to try and help a friend.." Remi shook his head softly. "But I would do it again in a heartbeat." He added with a sigh.

Now with Amalia's arms around him, Remi wilts easily against her, letting his forehead loll softly on her shoulder for as long as the embrace lasts. "Last year Jigano told me that my recklessness would get those I loved hurt or killed. And he was not wrong... He said I was only looking to be the hero, that I was naive and thoughtless." The corners of Remi's mouth twitch slightly. "I do not know how to...how to do any of this. Ronin tells me I could easily stop Zariah, but I am not sure how. I do not want to be a hero, I just want those I love to be safe. All my life though I have followed rules, it was just the way of things. I..."

Giving Amalia an apologetic wince for the sudden barrage of admissions, the alchemist sighed softly and run a hand through his curls. "...I do not really understand how to break rules. When I can...when I should not. I could go to Zariah now and imprison her easily in her own jail but that does not seem right, even after what she has said about Aoife."

Pleadingly, Remi's too-pale stare searched Amalia's, hoping therein to find a moral compass he could understand.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#12
Amalia
"Yeah, Vi." There is a wistful reverence in her voice, the girl still awed by the encounter, a spot of vibrancy in her otherwise dim life. "I... I went to the Temple, after the Spire. To pray for Safrin's wellness. He came and told me she was alive, and that I should make a shrine for her with these stars." She gestures to the infant celestials that seem to quiver with pleasure at being noted, though perhaps that is her own projection upon the trio. "But I... I don't know where to put it. Nowhere feels right, somehow." Safe is the word she doesn't use - safe from Zariah, safe from the blight. Their world isn't safe anymore.

With Remi safely in her arms, the girl listens to the boy's sorrows while rubbing gentle circles on his back. Her lip twitches in quiet amusement at the mention of Jigano - it sounds like something the bard would say, while acting with recklessness himself. "I understand," she whispers ardently against his curls, and it's true - Amalia understands on an intimate level what it is to not know how to help, to want to save the ones she loves without a light to lead the way.

He pulls away, but the girl keeps his hand in hers. They are anchors for one another, lodestones in a distant night. "Rules like these are... they're new, for me." A splash of wry humor eases into her low voice, the alto dancing with a spark of fire. "Zariah keeps saying we need laws and punishments to be a society, but... it seems to me she wants to turn us into Northaven, whether we like it or not." Sighing, the girl leans against the counter, a frown on her expressive face. "Vi said that it's a fine line. That it's easy to murder in the name of protecting Life. I... I think we need to do more than just take. We need to build something better than what we have." She isn't sure it makes much sense, or that it is helpful, but she hopes he understands. They need to do more than tear Zariah down; they need to put something good in her place.
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#13
if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right
Dumbfounded, Remi lets his jaw drop open entirely (which only adds to his rather boyish appearance), as he listened with rapt eagerness. “Wait, what happened to Safrin?” The look of joyful interest immediately falls away as does some of the colour from Remi’s cheeks. In his chest, his heart begins to hammer, blood rushing to his ears. Ronin...” He whispers under his breath as if just finally understanding, which only makes his heart beat all the more unsteady.

Glancing to the side where, to his surprise and delight (had he not currently been wildly speculating about Ronin’s condition), a trio of stars softly glistened. “Wha-“ He breathes, the scientist in him too curious to turn away despite the dire tone of their conversation. “Really Amalia, if my stars were not good enough all you needed to do was say so.” Remi laughs softly, but his heart isn’t really in it. Not until he better understands the link between Ronin and Safrin. “Whatever you need, however I can help, you do not even need to ask.” He adds with regards to the shrine that she will build.

Nowhere should want to be like Northaven.” Remi agrees with an equally darkly-humoured tone. “But...” He mights the inside of his lip, squeezing her hands and imparting a mental pulse of affection and understanding; a genuine humility meant to supersede what he says next, if his words end up failing to convey his meaning. “Unless you, ahh, the naturals, I suppose, are planning to kick us all out...I think we do need some laws. Some rules.” Sadness and pain coat his expression then, and with a wince of regret Remi tugs in a breath. “I almost killed someone last year, Amalia. I was absolutely ready to. Had Ronin not walked by, I am not sure what would have happened to that man. Had Ronin not thrown me into a pit for my own sanity until I got things under control, I cannot say what I might have done.” Cracked sea-glass eyes, a complexion gone quite pale, splotches of shame high in his cheeks. “Whatever ... way there was before, however you lived such that you needed no governance...I think we have broken it.” He admitted, eyes falling.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#14
Amalia
So many questions with so few answers; Amalia shakes her blonde head slowly, trying to think of where to start. Before she can, though, Remi's thoughts shifts, and the baker's follow in quick pursuit, new concern lighting her face as the color drains from his cheeks. Searching urgently into his pale eyes, Amalia tilts her head upward as though answers may swiftly appear. "What about Ronin? Is he oka- wait." Something close to understanding rises in her voice. "Safrin is sick. Is Ronin... since she..." The girl cannot say she fully understands the connection between Ronin and the goddess, but it makes some sense that any weakness incurred upon the deity may pass on to him.

Another pang of loneliness, then the girl straightens her spine. "In three days," she tells her friend, determination in her voice. "In three days I'm going to make the shrine. I just... just have to figure out where." It is a promise to him as well as a fire under her own ass: No more dawdling, no more moping. Lives depend on you.

She listens as he agrees with her, and then pushes for more, nodding her agreement with his words, as much as she does not like to hear them. He's right: they need laws and systems, structures and guidance, but it needs to be from them, for them, not a mad tyrant's imports from a foreign world. But his statement about almost killing someone sets her more on edge, makes her almost pull away, not sure what to do. She can see his shame, feel his regret; she knows he would never intentionally harm another, but still, it is a difficult thing to hear. Her own face is a little pale, her eyes a little dull, but she squeezes his hand empathetically, trying to organize her thoughts.

"Remi, I... I'm sorry." She does not have much more to say, but her mental pulses say it all: I wish there were some way to take it back, I'm glad the boy isn't dead, I know you didn't mean it but I'm also a little scared. "But I'm glad Ronin was there." Something almost like a smile ghosts across her face. "He really is a bit of a hero, huh? I'm glad you have someone to look after you so well."
she was like the moon-
part of her was always hidden away


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