through the eyes of man

Seren

In a high and cloudless sky, a dragon sailed the gentle breeze. Dipping and diving, it spun with careless ease before expanding the oversized wings. With a jerk, the fall was interrupted and a hoarse cry of sheer joy reverberated against the cliffs as Umbra leveled out.

The sound, full of sheer joy, made Seren look up from her slow descent down the stairs. As her companion's shadow passed over her head, she waved at him with a light smile but soon let her attention wander back to the tombstones. The names fascinated her almost as much as the short eulogies carved beneath, and she tried to picture what they might have been like in life. A notebook carried in one hand held some names of noted Dragoons and sailors that had been of particular interest; she might look them up in the archives later.

Upon reaching a plateau in the winding stairs, she could see gates rising up to block the path on the level below. Curious, Seren skipped down to have a closer look at it. More importantly, she craned her neck in an attempt to see what lay beyond the gate. Curious.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Gideon came down the steps once a week to make sure the graves were well kept, the stairs were not in need of repair and honestly, to sit and look out over the water for a while. This had been for many years a solitary, quiet activity; he carried a bowl of burning incense and a bag containing various offerings, brushes to clean anything that would need it and prayer sheets.

He stopped dead in his tracks, halfway down the stairs, when he saw a figure stood at the gates, obviously trying to see over them. Usually, Gideon would have rushed down and given the intruder quite the lecture; what stopped him was the sudden overwhelming rush of love he felt for this child from Safrin. It seemed recently he had been meeting many of the Goddesses chosen. Hurrying, but not as much as he would be otherwise, he went to stand a few feet behind her.

"This isn't for the public." He said, loudly but softly. "Please don't lean on the gate; it's very old. Are you lost?"

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

Ah, busted. A leisurely thought from the dragon above told Seren that she had been discovered, and she turned calmly rather than spin about on her heels, as she might have done without the warning. The flushed cheeks beneath the smattering of freckles, and eyes glittering with mischief suggested that she was at least marginally aware that she wasn't supposed to do what she just did. Locked gates usually meant to keep people out. But where was the fun in that?

"No, just curious," she admitted cheerfully, and leveled a smile at the man. "What is beyond the gate? Why is it locked?" If she couldn't see it, then perhaps he might regail her with a story, at least? One could always hope. Intrigued, Umbra came circling down as well, to draw lazy circles of blue shadow over their heads. His eyes were bright as silver or starlight as he watched the priest, but there was nothing threatening in the dragon's demeanor.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

As she turned, the young woman didn't look very guilty; she practically seemed delighted to be caught just for the chance to ask her question; Gideon fixed her with a flat look. The only reason he didn't tell her to leave was his still-there respect for her connections to Safrin, but that would not take her endlessly far.

"It is a graveyard. We keep it locked to keep it peaceful - the people buried there were promised they would not be disturbed, and I take that promise seriously." Basically: she wasn't going to get in. Gideon walked up to the gate, placed his things down by it and fiddled with a ring of keys in his hands. "If you need something, you can wait up in the temple until I'm done. I shouldn't be more than twenty minutes."

He found the right key, then paused and leaned against the wall, looking her over. "Not that you need my help. It seems you know Safrin very well."

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

The young woman cocked her head aside as she listened to the not-quite-reprimand. If there was reproach in the priest's tone, it ran off her like water from a goose and only dimmed her smile by a small margin. His answer made sense, even if it was not as delicious a secret as she might have hoped for.

"I meant no disrespect," she replied sincerely. Holding her notebook up, she waved it about slightly as if its presence might go unnoticed otherwise. "I was looking at the names of those who rest here. If any could teach me more about Stormbreak, who better than those who lived here before me, right. Perhaps you might be able to add a few names and deeds to my list?"

With some regret she threw a final look at the gate, but then stepped aside to let the man through. Compliant as a child, supple and warm as she smiled warmly at the man. "Ah... you know who I am? What gave me away?" It was one thing for strangers to figure it out after hearing her name, or the name of her father, but this was unexpected.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Gideon raised an eyebrow to hear she was hoping to learn from the dead; did she think they were up for lengthy conversations? Either it was a poor excuse or she was crazy, but either way he couldn't summon that much anger; with a short sigh he shrugged. "What kind of deeds are you looking for? I can tell you anything you want to know about Stormbreak." He'd made it a personal mission in his life to be well versed in it's history; after all, it was the city of the Gods.

He couldn't enter and leave her outside, so Gideon placed his things by the gate and stood back, thinking to come back later; so few people came back here that he didn't worry about anything being taken. "I don't know who you are. All I know is that Safrin cares for you." Immensely, but he'd met a lot of Demi-Gods lately, whose love from the Gods was often monumental. "Are you one of her chosen Demi-Gods?"

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

Blinking, the girl looked puzzled. How could he know that, without knowing who she was? Did that come with being a priest? "I am, yes. My name is Seren Taliesin... Safrin is my mother." More than benefactor, more than guide or task-master; her bond with her goddess went beyond religion. Yet even so, it made her blush with delight to hear it said with such confidence that her mother cared for her. Delighted, and... a little uneasy, truth be told. What did this person know of any of it? "How did you know?"

But she was nothing if not easily distracted, and the offer of a history lesson immediately took presedence. "Really? Thank you!" Seren beamed anew at the man, seemingly oblivious to how she had disrupted his work. She held out her notebook to show him what she had collected thus far. "I was reading on the headstones, see? So this name, Captain Wilkinson James, was commended for bravery in action, and judging by the date it was seventy years ago. But I don't know what the event was about. Same with these others; if I look up what happened to them, then I have a thread to start with as I learn more history. Does that make sense?"

It was quite possible that the demi-god was crazy, but in this case it was mostly a sense of convoluted and highly individualistic logic. Personally, Seren thought herself quite brilliant in the moment.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Now it was Gideon's turn to look puzzled, as the girl claimed that Safrin was not only her Goddess, but her mother. As he looked her over though, the love he felt from Safrin did match that of a maternal affection...the very concept seemed bizarre, but he sensed she was being genuine. Unable to stop his curiosity, he asked: "And who is your father?"

Did Safrin even need a man to choose to have a child? He had no idea.

While it was nice to see her interested in history, that she'd apparently been leaning over the gate to read headstones was an offense he'd yell at anyone else for. With a daughter of Safrin, though...Gideon took a breath to calm himself and nodded, though he did gesture for her to follow him away from the wall as he spoke.

"Well..." He began to walk up the path, back upwards on the stairs towards the Temple. "Seventy years ago...that would have been an altercation on our shores with another region. I'd have to look up exactly which - Stormbreak has had many enemies over the years, those that would toss loyalty to the Gods away for temptations. Our history is long and complex, but the general thread is this: We defend the will of the Gods, others oppose it."

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

Ask, and ye shall be answered. "Ronin Taliesin," the young woman chirped, not quite bragging but in the tone of someone who showed off a prized possession. "He is training the Dragoons, but maybe you already knew that. I am going to become one too! As soon as I am done with the recruit training."

With all the boundless energy of a child, Seren followed after the priest as he beckoned her to follow back up the stairs. She skipped rather than walked, taking two steps at a time, and was soon so far ahead that she had to stop and wait so she could hear what he was saying. "And do the Gods tell you what they want?" she asked, with some interest. "Have you met all of them?"

Umbras interest in the conversation faded when no tales of battle were forthcoming. He flapped his oversized wings and gained new height, soon soaring high above their heads during the ascent. Spying on birds was far more interesting than listening to human talk.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

The name that she gave made Gideon stop in his tracks for a moment, certain...memories of Ronin immediately rising to the surface, none of them he could tell the man's daughter about. "Ah, Ronin. I know him. I didn't know that he...had a daughter with Safrin." Honestly, it might well have been mentioned; he'd met so many Demi Gods, so many of them linked to Safrin, in the last months; it seemed the Goddess of the Stars had been very busy indeed.

"A Dragoon?" He watched the skipping girl lightly prance before him and raised an eyebrow, unsure if she was suited to the work. "Have you...started that training? How's it going?"

Glancing up at the flying dragon above them then back down as he began to ascend the stairs carefully (he was getting to the age where his knees would punish him for a while for a trip), Gideon nodded. "Yes, the Gods usually inform someone. I personally have only met Ludo." People kept asking that; he had to admit it stung a little that as a Priest he'd only been blessed with the attention of one God. Still, it was their will, and he could not argue. "They speak to who they need to speak to and no more."

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

Smiling down at Gideon, the girl shrugged slightly. "I have not been around very long. Here, or in general. I think it's more wide-spread news in Torchline... it's where I grew up, after all." Sometimes the rumor mill did not work very quickly, and not everyone paid attention to gossip. Seren was content to be a relative unknown; it gave her time to find her feet away from the limelight.

When the conversation turned towards the dragoons, she brightened and pushed locks of dark hair behind an ear. "I have! It's fun. I love to learn, and the things they teach are interesting. Can't say I much like the part where people get hurt, though." Cuts, scrapes, bruises; it always hurt her as much as the other whenever she inflicted such things. That was not to say she did not enjoy the fluid motions of the sword, or the satisfaction of seeing a thrown dagger land on target. "I have been thinking lately that I would like to learn more about healing, too. Perhaps there is a way to combine the two?" Seren cocked her head aside, curious to hear the man's opinion.

"I too have only met mother - er, Safrin," she tacked on, and fell in to climb the stairs beside the priest when he reached her. "Wouldn't worry too much about it - I'm sure they like you even if they don't say it." Blue eyes lingered on him for a moment too long to be coincidence; the girl was more perceptive than her air-headed demeanor would have suggested.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

"I've heard that Demi Gods, if children, will grow quickly..." Gideon said, mostly to himself, as he looked her over in a new light; was she even younger than she appeared, a toddler in adult's clothing? He didn't ask, only because there was already a lot to take in here.

A wry smile appeared on his face as she confessed to not liking the 'hurting people' part of the job - in the years to come, she'd have to learn that was an uncomfortable truth of most things worth doing. "You could heal as a medic. We have some wonderful doctors here in the city that could train you, I'm sure - though we need all the soldiers we can get, if you can deal with...ha...hurting people." Not that the Ascended necessarily fit that definition, but unfortunately they had allies.

Gideon smiled more genuinely as he heard her thoughts; his ring did not allow him to look within himself. Whether or not she was telling the truth he had no idea, but the thought was nice. "Well. I serve because it is the right thing to do. Them liking me would be a pleasant side effect."

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames

Seren

Unsure whether it was a question or not, Seren opted for answering anyway. "Don't know if it's true for everyone, but I did, at least. Do you know many demigods?" It would be interesting to meet others like herself. While she had Remi and her father nearby, and had encountered both Wessex and Delphia, she held close relations with none but the first two. Theirs was a family both small and exclusive - set apart from normal humans, regardless of their divine allegiance.

The suggestion was met with a hum and a thoughtful nod. "Of course I will do whatever my mother requires of me," she mused, "and if that means fighting, then I will fight. But if I can help and support those who are better at it than me, I do think I would prefer that."

Seren turned her gaze upon the priest as they climbed up the winding steps, more curious about him than her own situation. "Have you always been a priest?" she asked, straightforward as always. "Ah, sorry... I don't think I know your name."

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

"I seem to have met a lot of them recently. Before I thought them rare, but.." It seemed he'd mostly spoken to nothing but Demi Gods lately, most of them related in some way to Safrin. "I suppose with our troubles starting, the Gods want to gain some force. I hope they will all do their duties." He doubted some of them had the commitment to the cause they needed to make it through a war, but he couldn't question the Gods' plan.

That she would rather support was good news, something she seemed more suited to; with one particularly uneven step Gideon leaned to take hold of the railing and paused, turning to look over the sea, waves pushed by the wind lazily travelling over the water's surface. "We will need that. Your father will need support, I am sure." Not that he wouldn't get it from elsewhere; Gideon would be happy to provide his own services again, but maybe it was best for those in Safrin's family to stay together.

"Gideon Clemments. And no. Not always. When I was young I was a labourer. Did a little of everything." He'd always been interested in the Priesthood, but one didn't just roll into such a career from childhood. "I think it's good to have experience of life outside the Temple; to know what people deal with outside the scripture. Real life is different to what you can read, sometimes."

GIDEON

You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames