A new World

Blackeye

Not the strongest win the battle —

Darkeye looked closely at every detail noded a few times. Then he went to the next picture and nodded again. "This should be possible with the right stone... Give me more details about her and make me a few sketches from behind too. I will make you a stone sculpture of her if this is okay with you? I could do only her face or the whole body too. If you like." It was a gift that he could offer him, for all that Bastien showed him.

Darkeye stroked his beard and thought for a while. "No problem Bastien, I understand. You can only tell me if I decide to fight for the Ascended. It is okay. But I will never forget your kindness." Darkeye was happy to see that Bastien was a man of his word.

Only a few moments passed before Darkeye grabbed the tools and started to work. A few sketches there and careful work there. Darkeye did his work with a good eye and a good feeling for the stone. He started engraving runes into a tablet.

"It's their job as children to worry you. And it's your job to think about them. If I see him one day I will tell him that he should visit you. The gods help you to get that child, that sounds interesting." Darkeye saw a man with the mindset of a boy. Everything needed his time. But if a god worked on that maybe it was different.

— the smartest do

B a s t i e n

I can fit two people under my skin
Yea I can fit two people under my skin

Bastien had been content to simply show Darkeye Rexanna just for the joy of it, but the offer of a stone bust made in her honour was certainly not unwelcome. He blinked a couple of times in surprise, looking down at the painting as if expecting his painted wife to give an opinion, then nodded. "Just the face would suffice. I doubt I could describe her body to a degree that would do it justice." Also, while Bastien had never been the possessive type, he hardly wanted someone carefully studying Rexanna's curves after her death when she wasn't able to say yes.

It was nice to see someone so willing to get on with life and work. Often people had emotional crises or breakdowns after arriving that could take weeks, but here Darkeye was chiselling away with an hour. Bastien leaned against a wall and watched, wondering if this was a delayed reaction waiting to happen - but hey, he could hardly judge. "Those runes you carve - what do they say? Do they cast a magic?"

As for Az...Bastien laughed out a patient sigh, used to saying this: "Ah, not him - them. The Voice did not see a reason to give Azrael a gender and they are quite happy in that state, so we do not foist one upon them." It was something he'd never considered during his time on Earth, but he thought it quite wonderfully freeing. "We went to the Voice for their conception out of necessity. One of the...least desirable...elements of Ascension is it's removal of the libido and anything related."

And I will prove it if you will listen
You crawl up in there and join me within

Blackeye

Not the strongest win the battle —

Darkeye looked at all the paintings to form a picture in his head. Darkeye decided to make a sketch later, before starting on the bust. It was important to do this art piece as good as possible. "Your art shows her face many times, that is good. But can you tell me how the back of her head was, how the hair felt? I can improvise it but I think that is not what you want."

Darkeye was happy to work and any other artist could see it. He was so happy that he was still able to talk to the stone and feel it. The runes were written from top to bottom and looked like nordic runes, but different in a way."These runes are going to say Sanctuary. And if someone from my world is coming here, then they know that you are a man that they can talk to. I'm not able to do magic. Magic is a thing that corrupts many people in my world. Only a few are able to do magic and use it in a good way." Darkeye never looked away from the stone while he worked.

At this moment Darkeye stopped working. He couldn't hold his hand still. The anger and rage about the last sentence were too much. He took a deep breath. Then he spoke through clenched teeth. "So you are saying that if you become an Ascended The Voice takes your libido so that you will never have the fun of touching a man or woman. That price is too high.“ Darkeye took another moment to calm down. “Where can I find Azrael? I could keep an eye out for them.“

— the smartest do

Blackeye

Not the strongest win the battle —

Darkeye looked at his surroundings. "Let me finish my work here Bastien and then I go in the mountains to find the right stone for the sculpture. And then we can talk more about art." Darkeye would work on the rune tables that would take a few hours. After that, he would grab himself some water and food. He would say is goodbye to Bastien and Mr. Pittore. With a smile on his lips and new inspiration, Darkeye started to walk in the direction of the bone bridge. Darkeye didn't know that this was the last meeting with Bastien and if he knew what was going to happen we would have stayed.

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Fin.

— the smartest do