but it's time to leave
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
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#1
the lullaby

There were things as a demigod that Remi could do, and things which he could not do.

He could hold his breath for hours at a time for instance; could go without sleep or food, and could endure all but very specific sorts of injuries.

He couldn't, however, be made to ask for help a single second before he was ready.

Looking at the shrine that had taken him nearly three days to reach, he suddenly wasn't so sure he was ready now. Without wings, the trek to the summit had been arduous. It wasn't the physical toll that was weighing Remi down, but the memories of what had occurred when last he'd been here. The dark box he'd been placed in, forced to watch his husband and daughter live out happy lives without him. His strength and screams for naught as they went on without him. The lonely knowledge that they were better off leaving him behind.

Pressing a fingertip between his eyes, Remi does his best to tell himself that this is for Ronin. For the Huntsman, he's capable of anything, after all. And so, with the blue of Ronin's eyes painting the walls of the blackened prison, the Lullaby sinks to his knees before the shrine.

"Knock knock.." Whether it's the start of a riddle or just a terrible beginning of a prayer is anyone's guess.
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


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#2
ludo
It has been a long, long time.

And they've walked quite a path together, have Ludo and Remi. From a lady with a lantern beckoning him at the edge of the woods to a unicorn's blood spilling across white sands, it's been a journey to remember.

Make no mistake, either: Ludo remembers.

The shrine around the Lullaby plunges into a darkness so absolute that it might well be the inside of Ludo's mask. Who is to tell, truly? And from the darkness the herald calls, and whether its response means it is in a good mood or a bad one remains to be seen.

"Come in."

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#3
the lullaby

All goes black and Remi can feel his hands tightening into fists -- both of them, though the phantom pain in his right burns and sparks against his mind -- as he closes his eyes.

"The last time I did that I came face to face with Caido, and I am in no great hurry to do that again." The Lullaby murmurs of coming in. Vaguely he wonders if Ludo has ever come face to face with the god of gods, and was the nothingness around him so resolute, he might have raised an eyebrow and inquired. Instead, Remi stills himself and tries to move his mind around the way he might in a dream, freeing it from the tenseness of his muscles.

"I was hoping to speak with you about..." Though Remi rolls his left wrist in a gesture meant to convey everything, the movement was shadows by the Dark.
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#4
ludo
"Is that why you have not wanted to come face to face with me, sweetling?" Ludo wonders, and although the soupy darkness never becomes less so, Mort's herald does appear. Cross-legged, the youth sits a few feet away from Remi, as much a part of the shadows as distinct from them.

Tilting its head, Ludo regards Remi with black and hollow eyes, before nodding to indicate that the Lullaby ought to sit down as well. "Then speak," it says. "It has been long enough. Say what it is you have to say."

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#5
the lullaby

"No, I have not wanted to come face to face with you because I do not like feeling like a puppet." Remi snarls before he has the sense to moderate his tongue. Even so he can feel a snarl on his lips that won't seem to soften. "I know the deal we made and my part in it." Remi adds as if trying to diffuse the sense of blame it might seem he's put on Ludo. For all of the herald's curses and demands of the Lullaby, it was Remi who got the ball rolling all those long years ago. Remi who traded his soul to save the life of a woman he no longer even remembered.

'What do you want from me now? Now that there are no more ascended to keep watch on, now that the Mathair has been returned to the Greatwood, now that the Core has been plucked from Caido?"
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#6
ludo
There is a sensation not unlike that of raised eyebrows, though from where it comes is anybody's guess. Ludo certainly does not move, and its expression does not change. It doesn't rise to the bait either, because like Remi, it knows there is none. Not really. Were it not for Remi, they would not be here. The Lullaby walked into his destiny with his eyes wide open, and no one can say that he did not stitch on his puppet strings willingly.

As for his purpose, though? "You have been an instrument of mercy since you took your first steps as one of my chosen, though you often refuse to see it," it says. "Even for Caido, you were merciful. You freed them at great personal cost." Ludo nods at Remi's bound arm. "My plans for you have never changed in that regard, though I understand your difficulty in performing the role these days."

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#7
the lullaby

Remi considers. Truthfully what made his role difficult in performing was his complete inability to move about the way he once did before. "I thought perhaps to ask you to heal my wings, but Ronin has pointed out that we still have a compass." Not so helpful when those marked by Ludo were in the Wilds, but he supposed no one said being a demigod was convenient.

Rolling his right should as much as he could, Remi imagined the coils of indigo that sparked every now and then in his veins. "Even if I cannot have the use of it back, the pain.." Pressing his teeth together, the Lullaby laughs hollowly as he watches himself add another stitch into his puppet-strings.

Sighing, Remi raises his eyes, staring through the ink-wet darkness. "Please, I just do not want to be in pain any longer."
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
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#8
ludo
"A compass, and dreams," Ludo adds; though it is true that this will not get Remi exactly where he needs to be, the Lullaby has been a prolific dreamer since he gained such an ability, and that in itself might be of use. Still, if it is wings that Remi wants...

The herald is suddenly on its feet as the demigod's tune changes, and although Ludo doesn't smile, its expression certainly reads as pleased. "Your wings were injured by Miss Meadows," it says, almost fondly. "She was many things, but she was not the Core. Time, effort and more traditional means may do your wings some amount of good. Your arm, though, is beyond mortal repair."

Padding on bare, black feet to Remi's side, Ludo holds out its hands expectantly. Pain or no pain, it nonetheless requires him to lift his arm for it to take. "Safrin healed the wounds of her heroes," it says with a verbal roll of its eyes. "She did it to gain their favour. We are not healers, you and I, so I cannot do that. But I can help, if that is what you would like."

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#9
the lullaby

Remi doesn't even register the name; someone more scholarly might have, but given how keen to forget the trials of the last year he is, he lets the name dissolve into the darkness.

Pain or no pain. Of course. Looking up at Ludo, the herald looking no older than ten or so, it is hard for Remi to hold his grudge in the face of such wasted and frost-battered youth. With an effort, the Lullaby forces his arm to rise. It trembles and shakes as his nerves fight through the purple haze to keep control. "I know." The Lullaby mutters under his breath, as disapproving of Safrin and her manipulations as ever.

Trying to keep his arm from collapsing back down to his side despite the incredible weight it suddenly seems to have, Remi hisses in a breath and nods quickly. "I would." And then, with an effort adds, "Please."
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#10
ludo
"We are beyond please and thank you, sweetling," Ludo murmurs, sounding all the older for the youthful visage it presents to its chosen. "But next time, I would like an offering, not a bad joke." And now it is a smile that crosses Ludo's face, and with blackened fingers, it reaches out to accept the weight of a mostly-dead limb.

Mostly-dead, though, makes it an absolutely wonderful candidate for a bit of assistance from the spirit world, and what Remi will at first feel as a tingling around his right shoulder blade will soon become a burning warmth down the length of his arm and fingers, unimistakeable but not unpleasant. As for Ludo, it looks almost thoughtful, as if in conversation with someone (or something) as it works.

And when it's finished, although the Lullaby's arm will look the same, it will feel... well. As good as healed and then some. Indeed, one of the only true changes appears in the form of two ethereal fingers, softly translucent in the place of where the missing digits once were.

"There you have it," Ludo says. "I left the spirit with a little free will. I thought it would enjoy that." Sorry not sorry.



Ludo has allowed a spirit to take possession of Remi's arm, allowing him full and painless use of it once more (including use of the missing digits). The spirit is mostly under control, but Remi's arm may occasionally act... out of turn.

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#11
the lullaby

Like any dad might, Remi tilts his head to the side and clucks skeptically under his tongue. "You did not even let me tell it. How do you know it was going to be bad?" It would have been, intentionally so, but that was the point.

Wrinkling his nose and wondering vaguely if this is what it felt like when he slipped beneath the skin of others and displaced their spirits, Remi does his best not to wriggle in Ludo's grip. Frowning at the sudden ghostly reappearance of his missing fingers, chomped off so long ago by the dinosaur beneath the ice as to have happened to another man, the Lullaby raises a brow. "I was not expecting that." He murmurs, though..he hadn't been expecting any of this, actually.

'Wait, you-' But before he can say anything, his fingers are curling towards his mouth, his index finger suddenly against his cheek and then plucking, creating a loud and hollow POPing sound. That should answer Remi's question.
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#12
ludo
"Of course you weren't," Ludo says with a youthful and lopsided smile. "You have become a very jaded and bitter man, despite all that I have done to try and keep you grounded. If you had come to me a year ago, I would have done this for you then. You didn't have to stubbornly live in agony."

Still, with a soft shrug, it is done - and Remi's arm is acting exactly as Ludo had hoped. Better, if anything, judging by the grin on the herald's face. "It will mostly behave," it says in the spirit's defence. "And it is not malicious - I would not select something that would try to choke your loved ones."

Around them, the inky darkness slowly melts back to the Summit shrine, and Ludo pulls a raggedy hood up over its head. "I will let you know when you are needed."

Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
MP: 3059
#13
the lullaby

Ludo wasn't wrong of course; Remi had brought so much of this on himself it was laughable. Yet he wasn't the only one who punished himself in ways that made little sense from the outside, and so he made no attempt to explain it.

Perplexed, Remi stares down at his hand as his fingers flexed and waggled as if showing off a new diamond ring. The alchemist has to bite back on the sly grin spreading across his lips; Some like being choked he might have said had Ludo not looked like a child and had his sex life been the sort of thing he felt like discussing. Instead, he merely accepted the explanation with a stiff nod.

Blinking slowly as the world melts, the air grows thing once again, and Ludo steps apart from him, Remi straightens. Running his left hand up his right shoulder and expecting it to hurt, when it doesn't, the Lullaby breathes a sigh of relief.

"Next time then, with a game instead of a joke." The Lullaby vows as his right-hand makes a finger-gun gesture toward Ludo instead of waving goodbye.

~FIN
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.


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