& whispered in the sound of silence (open)

"Brood mmm?" The first flickers of genuine sunny-boyishness creep across Remi's face as he raises a brow at that. "When he was describing them to me, mountains that is, as I have never seen them before, I...do not think I have ever seen him so happy." Which, given Deimos, was obviously saying something. The raised brow turned from mischievous to quietly perplexed. It wasn't because Remi felt left out, moreso that it was impossible not to feel fresh pangs of anxiety and melancholy at the words spire and portal. "Oh?" He murmured unhelpfully, nodding for her to go on. His expression crumpled at the unfamiliar landmark (place? mountain?) she mentioned, creasing further as she explained the window and then the Mathair. Swallowing as understanding dawned on him, he nodded slowly. Though it seemed everyone else was okay spilling the t on the newest portal, Remi wouldn't break his vow to Sam. "Yes, I heard about that." He said vaguely, meaning the Mathair. "I think there are plans to go there after LongNight." Remi added. "And...when you looked..what was the Citadel like? Was it here? Anywhere you recognized?" REMI what have i become?my sweetest friend—everyone know goes away in the end if i could start again, a million miles away, i would keep myself. i would find a way

i wanted to be ruined —

a little more than i wanted

— to be loved

There’s a slight grin that crosses Kiada’s face as Remi speaks. “The mountains were ours. Closest thing to home I think we’ll get.” She announces easily, a certain sureness to her tone that adds to it. She knows it, she’s strived over worlds trying to find it again. At least this time she has the rest of her family there too, however long that might last.

And she thinks she takes him a bit by surprise, as his oh is any inkling. But, of course, Kiada had no qualms with sharing the information. It wasn’t a secret for her, and nobody had told her to keep her mouth shut about it. And besides, if anyone should know it, she thinks the Alchemist should. Aside from, of course, her family. But it’s his turn to take her by surprise as he mentions that he thinks there’s plans to go there after LongNight.

Passing over the information with a nod, she tucks it down deep within her, focusing on the question. “I didn’t recognize it, neither did Deimos. But there was… A fortress? Like a castle? And it zoomed in and people were milling about inside, looked like servants of a sort? Maybe?” She squints, recalling as much as she could see, her nose wrinkling with the action. “I think it was here… The book was called Portals, and it showed the Spire and the Mathair, and the Citadel.” She looks back to Remi with a raised brow.

It makes sense to her, that it would be here too.

KIADA

"Yours?" The alchemist repeats with a boyish crinkle of his nose. Property...was not owned that way in Northaven, though he supposed upon reflection he does more or less understand what she means. "The kingdom he ruled? What was it called?" Frowning, if only because the information was so strong and out of left field and...somehow dissonant with the rest of LongNight (thoughts of other places they might go, whilst trapped in the dark), Remi exhaled a breath he'd been holding, unable to hide the growing smile on his face. "Somewhere new..." He marveled, cheeks flushing ever so slightly. It was all he and Ronin had spoken of; being somewhere new, away from this chaos. And snow? Remi could live with that. "Where is this book now?" REMI what have i become?my sweetest friend—everyone know goes away in the end if i could start again, a million miles away, i would keep myself. i would find a way

i wanted to be ruined —

a little more than i wanted

— to be loved

She gives him a knowing nod. While the land might not have ever belonged to her, she was made for it. Molded from it. Built to withstand the harsh temperatures and the flame upon her back stark against the snowfalls. At his question, she tilts her head to him with a nostalgic smile. “Yes. The Aurora Basin.” She says lightly, a whimsical sort of sigh leaving her lips. “My father ruled a different kingdom, called the World’s Edge.” She announces quietly with a shrug. “But it was nothing like the Basin and its hot springs, a lake that never froze, the wolf packs that looked out for intruders.” She doesn’t know if the last part is true or made up, but it’s not like it matters much anyway.

Still, she catches the glint of a smile on Remi’s face as he mentions somewhere new, because that’s exactly what she’s thinking. And the Alchemist hasn’t really gotten to know the Deimos and Kiada that revel within the winter, fortress winds. A fact she hopes to show him, to see how bright the General can become when given the opportunity.

“The book is still in the library in the Spire, I think.” She announces with a small frown. It hadn’t come with them when they arrived – it had simply spit them all out in varying places. Amalia, Deimos, and her at the Spire. Jigano, likely the Mathair if she had to guess.

KIADA

The alchemist can only vaguely shake his head. It all sounds so surreal and impossible, like something from a storybook. That Kiada has had a real and adopted father both as kings, that her mother was a queen? It's shocking, if only because the blue-eyed warrior is still so down to earth. So hardy and humble, not at all what he'd have expected from someone who lived such a presumably lavish life. "Good to know." He says, running a hand up his arm. Glancing towards the fire as Aoife's cries begin to ring out, the alchemist offers Kiada an apologetic smile. "Sounds as though I am being summoned." So saying, he pauses to give her a final look. "If I do not see you before you go out, be safe. We will all be waiting when you return." REMI what have i become?my sweetest friend—everyone know goes away in the end if i could start again, a million miles away, i would keep myself. i would find a way