Cera smiles shakily as Jigano stops, settling on a branch and waving away his apologies with a gesture of his blackened wings. The gratitude he feels for the allowed moment to come to grips with his emotions is indescribable. He had spent so many years concealing them for the sake of others, it was habitual to try to repress them and apologize for inconveniencing others now. Cera turns to continue walking, not wanting to impede their progress with his own recoiling shock.
"I traveled through many realms before I came here, but the memories are as clear as they could hope to be. An entire lifetime gone, countless lost...it is a grief that I will carry forever, but knowing even a handful made it here safely as well, I can't help but feel relief and gratitude." At least they had not lost their lives, which was all Cera could hope for some days. There had been so much death in that last battle, so much senseless loss...it still haunts his dreams, recalling the terror as he saw them swept away into the portal like helpless sheep, watched his Gods crumble as they sacrificed themselves for the uncaring masses of Helovia. He knows his daughter is not here, confirms it as names come to him from Jigano's mind, but he prays that she is somewhere safe, that she does not doubt that Cera loved her wholeheartedly and would until the Gods finally deigned to claim his soul and return him to her.
"Melita and Deimos, those names I know. Melita was but a babe when I last saw her," he muses, remembering her fawnlike legs and how she'd clung to Najya, one of Cera's friends from that sun-washed age. It summons a nostalgic smile, wondering how she was faring now, though she'd likely not know him with how young she had been. With a deep, purposeful inhale that he holds in his chest, he turns his eyes to the horizon and lets it slip slowly from his lips. "I can't thank you enough Jigano, for giving me this. It brings me a comfort I can't put to words, to know some made it here, that others may have landed safely elsewhere," he murmurs, casting his gaze to the raven with sincerity creased in the lines of his face.
Lighter conversational fare is a nice turn, with so much on Cera's mind. A less burdened smile comes to brighten his face at the idea of a new friend, a kindly face, perhaps some warm food. "I'm afraid I have a sweet tooth as long as my leg, she'll have to fend me off with a broom before long," he admits with a bubbling laugh.
"I traveled through many realms before I came here, but the memories are as clear as they could hope to be. An entire lifetime gone, countless lost...it is a grief that I will carry forever, but knowing even a handful made it here safely as well, I can't help but feel relief and gratitude." At least they had not lost their lives, which was all Cera could hope for some days. There had been so much death in that last battle, so much senseless loss...it still haunts his dreams, recalling the terror as he saw them swept away into the portal like helpless sheep, watched his Gods crumble as they sacrificed themselves for the uncaring masses of Helovia. He knows his daughter is not here, confirms it as names come to him from Jigano's mind, but he prays that she is somewhere safe, that she does not doubt that Cera loved her wholeheartedly and would until the Gods finally deigned to claim his soul and return him to her.
"Melita and Deimos, those names I know. Melita was but a babe when I last saw her," he muses, remembering her fawnlike legs and how she'd clung to Najya, one of Cera's friends from that sun-washed age. It summons a nostalgic smile, wondering how she was faring now, though she'd likely not know him with how young she had been. With a deep, purposeful inhale that he holds in his chest, he turns his eyes to the horizon and lets it slip slowly from his lips. "I can't thank you enough Jigano, for giving me this. It brings me a comfort I can't put to words, to know some made it here, that others may have landed safely elsewhere," he murmurs, casting his gaze to the raven with sincerity creased in the lines of his face.
Lighter conversational fare is a nice turn, with so much on Cera's mind. A less burdened smile comes to brighten his face at the idea of a new friend, a kindly face, perhaps some warm food. "I'm afraid I have a sweet tooth as long as my leg, she'll have to fend me off with a broom before long," he admits with a bubbling laugh.
