soul song

DELPHiA

Training was not something Delphia was accustomed to. Usually she let her gifts flow as freely as the waters before her, hindered by small rocks here and there but nothing she could not wear down in time. But there was a war brewing - one she was woefully unprepared for. She needed to grow stronger if she was to be helpful at all, even in calling to spirits of the dead to send them from battlefield to rest. She had never moved souls in such numbers before...so there was no time like the present.

Standing along the bank of the Stonesong, Delphia carefully chose her targets - fish, swimming by. She could keep some to eat and others trade in the market for other goods, so her training would not cause waste. First she placed nets strategically to allow fish in but not out, amassing a small pool of the creatures for her to practice on. Then she set to the task, hand outstretched, calling the souls of the fish to leave their bodies one by one, before sending them away to her father's realm.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

"That is one way of doing it." Remi comments from upstream. Prowling through the Greatwood was something the alchemist did quite frequently now that it was his to rule and watch over.  It annoyed him how often people seemed to come and go, as if the Woods were some tourist attraction for which they could visit whenever they liked. Though Ronin had reminded him that unless he chose to close the borders, visitors were simply something he was going to have to get used to.

That didn't mean he liked it, though.

Chuckling slightly, the Lullaby raises his hand in greeting to his divine counterpart. "Hallo Delphia. It has been a while." This is said without judgement. Just because Remi hadn't seen Delphia didn't mean she hadn't been around. Though he could leave his body for short intervals, the alchemist was fairly certain that Mort's daughter could do so almost indefinitely if and when she chose.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

The demigoddess looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. It had been many seasons since she heard it, but she recognized it all the same. But first, she needed to finish killing small fish number three. Carefully she reached out with tendrils of magic and gifted sight, grasping and drawing the soul to her. The fish resisted briefly, slapping against the surface of the water, before relenting to its fate, a small soul light appearing in her hand...

Which she then tossed to Tishy for safe keeping until she was ready to send the fish souls in one batch to her father.

"Hello, Remi. What a pleasant surprise." she said softly, turning her gaze over to him. No smile, just the slight crinkling at the corner of her eyes. "The spirits have whispered to me about our new king. Did you wish to join me in training?" she asked.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Watching the small ball of light, Remi tilts his head to the side and briefly wonders if everyone can see souls as small whirling points of white, or if it's because he too can venture to the spirit realm, like Delphia. 'Is it?' He asks, not-rhetorically, of it being pleasant. Gods knew these days the very last thing Remi found pleasant was being bothered while he was alone.

"Our new...do you mean me?" More than a touch incredulous, Remi frowns and yet somehow looks amused. Taking a few steps closer and having to navigate the uneven stones, he raises an eyebrow and considers. "Sure. I warn you though, you will not be able to pull my soul out of my body so easily as you did those fish." He offers, both as a warning and a simple statement of fact, though Delphia likely knew it well enough.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to work on?"

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

"You are a brother in spirit. It is always a pleasure." she said warmly. Though she was no where near as perfect in her undying love as her father, she had learned to have a big, accepting heart from him over the years. That Remi was not always peppy or happy didn't mean she enjoyed him any less.

"Why yes of course! Who else?" she said with a light laugh. He was arguably the most powerful person alive in the Greatwood. Even without the pomp and circumstance of cities like Stormbreak, the wood still acknowledged such might. But as he drew closer, the corners of her eyes crinkled and she shook her head - no indeed, he would not be so easy to kill as the fish caught in her net. "I must grow stronger in order to be of use in this war. I am too weak as I am." she said simply. "Pulling souls from their living bodies is my one offensive ability, so it is what I have been working on thus far." she said, looking at him. "Do you think that wise?" He was, after all, more powerful than any. If he had any guidance, she would take it greedily.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

'Well, I...' Tugging in a breath, Remi gives his head a slight shake. "I suppose I do not think myself much of a King. A guardian, yes, but I am not so sure the Woods would ever allow themselves to be truly ruled." He adds bashfully.

The mention of the upcoming war has any traces of amusement and levity slipping from the alchemist's expression as his shoulders grow stiff. "I am not much of a soldier...A pity Ronin wasn't the one who stumbled upon you." He mumbles uncertainly. "As for souls..." Given that she can't use her Spiritual Guide ability in KQs, Remi pulls in a breath before shaking his head. "I went to see Ludo a few months ago about nearly the same thing. I could do damage, yes, but only from close up. Ranged attacks were not something I had ever managed." Shrugging his shoulders, Remi ruffles a hand through his curls. "Do you think Mort might help you with something like that? Or Ludo, even?"

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

"Guardian of the Greatwood. Yes, that fits much better." she said with a light laugh. It was the title the Fae had always used. Why not follow suit of those so in tune with the wood?

"Neither am I, but you are much closer to one than I am. Though I would have welcomed Ronin's input as well." she said with a slight shrug. Both would be good teachers for different reasons, and both were much more powerful than she. Again she found herself nodding with his words. She had found her ability to pull souls from their bodies a difficult task in battle, much more so than she was having with the fish. "And what do you think of Ludo? Have they been a good mentor to you?" she asked, curious how much stock Remi put into the raggedy god's words, tricksy as it was.

"Mort has given me a quest - a way to raise bodies of the dead as a shield in battle." she said, kneeling by the river where her net was. "I am to retrieve the remains of a human and an animal." she said, grabbing one of the dead fish. Was a fish an animal? Or was it more like an aquatic bug? Were bugs animals? Perhaps these questions were better fielded by Frey or Rae.

"But I must also speak to someone who clings to the remains of a loved one too tightly and try to understand them." she said, looking up at him. "Know anyone like that?"

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Remi's head tilts from side to side, conceding the point before pulling in a deep breath that seemed to reach the dust at the bottom of his lungs. "I .... do not know how to answer that, really." He admits after a moment. "I am sure I have learned a few things from it over the years, though nothing is coming to mind just now. I am probably far more willful than it would like me to be." Indeed, Remi had all but demanded answers of both Mort and Vi when the demigods were called before them, all those seasons ago. He had his own mind about things, but then, so did Ludo.

"Oh. That sounds..." Horrifying? Disgusting? "..ingenious, actually." He decides, impressed. "Ronin kills things all the time and likely has any number of bones around." As for human remains? Well. Graveyards weren't hard to find.

Delphia's next question paralyzes the alchemist's lips for a moment, as his eyes fall toward the rushing river. 'What counts as too tightly?"

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

Delphia smiled a little. "It is a hard question to answer, being so closely linked as you are." she said. "But I am sure your willfulness has benefitted them as well." She suspected it might have chosen Remi for that very trait in fact.

Her smile brightened at Remi's approval. "Thank you. My father helped me find an answer that fit the purpose he made me for." she said, glad it seemed man and god alike approved of the solution she had come to. "I will be sure to pay Ronin a visit. Thank you for the recommendation." she said. That would make that part easy enough then.

But Remi's sudden stiffness caught her attention, and she gazed up at him. For a long moment she was silent, considering. "It would seem you might already know." she said gently, the corners of her eyes crinkling as if with a smile. "But like...keeping ashes or locks of hair or even coveting their place of rest, as though the person themselves still remained there." she said by way of explanation.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

For this the alchemist has no reply, choosing instead to let his expression grow lopsided as he shrugs. Willfulness might be the reason Ludo had chosen him, but it might also be the reason the herald inevitably tried to rid itself of him as well.

'Or the child.' Remi supplies in a low voice. Aoife had never grown into personhood. She'd died as hardly more than a toddler, something that to this day always struck Remi as devastatingly unfair. Raking his fingers through his curls he forces his gaze to life to Delphia's. 'If her bones were raised for any reason at all...I would kill whoever disturbed them.' He said in an even voice, this threat likely precisely the sort of thing Mort had intended Delphia to come across when he'd set her on her quest.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

Aoife. Remi's words made clear exactly who he meant. Though Delphia had never known the young girl, she had heard of her. "Or the child." she said in agreement, watching the Lullaby turn inward, his own melancholy near tangible in the air. It was something she struggled to understand, this deep sort of mourning that often came with the death of a person, particularly the young. To be with Mort was to experience pure joy and bliss for eternity, unburdened by mortal coils and strife. But that wasn't near so surprising as the threat that followed.

Delphia did not flinch or react, not at first. But slowly her brows furrowed - expression twisting with confusion. "But...why?" she asked gently. "You know she isn't there anymore. Why covet that which she no longer needs?" Aoife was most certainly held in Mort's embrace, a beloved child who was loved all the more for how brief their time was in Vi's realm. It was like clinging to shed hair or tears - the purpose had been served and they were no longer needed for existence.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

For a long moment, Remi says nothing. His gaze is fixed somewhere upstream, watching where the Stonesong became white and unruly as it bent around the bank. Clearly he can remember what it was like to wake up on Torchline's shore, confused and cold, with Aoife's body wrapped in a blanket behind he and Ronin. He can remember so clearly what it felt like to hate Ronin with every fibre of his being, but only because of how much he hated himself. He can remember refusing to come to terms with what had happened. Refusing to believe that anything could ever matter now that she was gone.

Clearing his throat slightly as if to shake his mind back to the moment, Remi's lips part slightly as he inhales. "It isn't for her." He answers in a low voice. "She isn't the one who needs it." After all these years (gods, when had it become years), still Remi was the one who couldn't forgive himself of his own guilt, who couldn't let Aoife go.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

DELPHiA

Delphia remained quiet and patient as Remi took his time answering, clearly lost in reveries. Instead she focused on his demeanor - the way the corners of his lips tugged down, the slight wrinkle between his brows, and the distance in his eyes. It struck her that perhaps he too could see the dead as clearly as she, in his own grief ridden way. It was a haunting of sorts, and self-inflicted as it was, not so straight forward to fix. There was no soul to take away, no soothing words to calm a restless spirit. His memories, it seemed, were the worst spirits of all.

Was this the true root of mourning and not selfishness as she had always thought?

His answer, given at length, is both illuminating and vague. She understood what he meant literally, but not philosophically. "Why do you need it?" she asked, willing to pull the information from him at whatever speed he happened to give it.

she has witchcraft in her lips

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Clenching his teeth together hard enough to make the muscles of his jaw feather, Remi breathes in deeply as if he might some find patience in the sweet but chilly air. "Because otherwise...I have nothing left." He says softly. "She died so suddenly...in my arms, and then Safrin...she plucked Ronin and I up and placed us in Torchline. Everything of hers was gone."

Letting his eyes drift, Remi regards the treetops for a moment, imagining Aoife's hands gripping the bark as she swung from bough to bough. "But having a place for it...it let me leave me grief. If I hadn't...I would have carried her around with me." Which he had done, for seasons and seasons in Torchline. He'd started barfights, had drunk too much, had gotten into fights with Ronin and made horrible errors of judgement. He'd pushed people away, some of whom never came back.

"My grief is buried with her. That is why I need it."

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing