Marth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
principilucis) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bravenewworld2014-05-02 10:48 am
principilucis) wrote in bravenewworld2014-05-02 10:48 am
[ Video log, May 1st ]
[ Video ]
[ The beginning of the feed is shaky, but it quickly settles into a view of the Verdant Forest. A youth dressed in blue sits formally upon a rock, his gaze steady but a little unfocused.
There is a few moments of silence filled in by ambient forest sounds before he begins to speak. ]
Apologies for intruding upon your time.
My name is Marth. Due to recent circumstance, I have only recently been assimilated into Union. Thus, please excuse my unfamiliarity with accepted procedures.
[ A pause. ]
I would like to ask if any Trainers are willing to assist me in training. I possess fair knowledge in swordplay, but I fear that my skills may have dulled over time.
Information regarding the current state of affairs will be much welcome, as well.
[ There is a longer pause before the youth bows slightly to the viewer. ]
I will be lingering near the Forest Shrine of the Verdant Forest. Thank you for your attention.
[ The feed cuts here. ]
[ The beginning of the feed is shaky, but it quickly settles into a view of the Verdant Forest. A youth dressed in blue sits formally upon a rock, his gaze steady but a little unfocused.
There is a few moments of silence filled in by ambient forest sounds before he begins to speak. ]
Apologies for intruding upon your time.
My name is Marth. Due to recent circumstance, I have only recently been assimilated into Union. Thus, please excuse my unfamiliarity with accepted procedures.
[ A pause. ]
I would like to ask if any Trainers are willing to assist me in training. I possess fair knowledge in swordplay, but I fear that my skills may have dulled over time.
Information regarding the current state of affairs will be much welcome, as well.
[ There is a longer pause before the youth bows slightly to the viewer. ]
I will be lingering near the Forest Shrine of the Verdant Forest. Thank you for your attention.
[ The feed cuts here. ]
[action]
[She catches the feed halfway through. It is over before she has recovered from her shock, a temporary paralysis induced by the sound of his voice and the sight of his face.
It was impossible. It couldn't be true. This person... Surely it was simply a superficial similarity. Any idea beyond that was simply preposterous.
What was it he had said? The nearby Shrine?
She considers this for about five seconds before she quickly leaves the room she is renting and flies down the stairs.
She is at the Shrine within a half hour.]
[action]
Marth was still in his human form, seated upon the mossy rock from which he hadade his video call. The Falchion lay in the grass beside him, glittering faintly in the dappled sunlight.
Footsteps soon sounded in the forest - someone seemed to be running towards him. The prince remained still, seeing no reason to move. Even if the new arrival was hostile, he still had time to take it out.
But the individual wasn't hostile. A woman ran into the clearing outside the Sealed Chamber -
- he couldn't place a name nor identity to her visage, but it nevertheless stirred some deep recollection within him. Alas, he remembered only a vague sense of familiarity. The prince's expression shifted to one of surprise, but it quickly dampened into confusion.
Time had taken its toll upon him. ]
no subject
Mar-Mar...
[For a few moments, she, too, does nothing but stare. Her expression is one of the utmost shock. While she remembers almost nothing of her time before her sleep, the person before her is one of the few things she remembers with the utmost clarity. She doesn't need to glance at it to know the truth - but the sword lying beside him is indisputable proof.]
...It is you, isn't it? Prince Marth.
no subject
If only he could remember what it was... ]
Indeed I am. [ He stood up fully, taking a few steps forward. Falchion's position restricted his movement to a small circle around it - and something told him that the woman would be upset if he moved it to his side. After all, it was a dragon-slayer -
- but he did not remember having been told the knowledge of her possible draconian ties. ]
And who may you be, fair lady?
no subject
[His words catch her off-guard, and for a brief moment, her expression is pained. ...But it's brought her back to her senses. When she shakes her head and clears her throat, she is in control of herself once again.]
...My name is Tiki. I must apologize for my abruptness - you... remind me very much of someone I knew. Long ago.
no subject
Lady Tiki... I can say the same.
[ He bowed slightly. ]
Please forgive me. Memory has failed me in any further recollection... but we did know each other, in days long past. That... I can be sure...
[ There is a pause. He gestured to a camouflaged entrance of stone beside the rock which he had been sitting on. ]
I have been sealed here for five hundred years. What I can remember is confirmed by hearsay from the city folk. There had been a cataclysm five centuries prior... which I believe we both lived through. I know not of what happened after its conclusion.
no subject
[Tiki flinches at this, the pained expression returning.]
That cannot be possible. I saw... Prince Marth die. It has been countless years, and yet I believe I shall remember that moment until my own death, whenever it may come.
This... This must be some... mistake. If you do not truly... remember.
[A trick, a jest, the caprice of the gods.]
no subject
The Falchion begins to glow with a radiant blue light, the red jewel studded into its pommel turning silver. Marth remains still for a moment, eyes closed, while the blade rises from where it had been lying in the grass and flies towards him in a vertical position.
Another few moments pass before he speaks again. ]
What you speak of... is indeed true. My mortal body is... no more... The Shadow Dragon slayed me with his malice, but the Falchion's divine pact still held. I was bound to it... to the duty bestowed upon my ancestor when he first received the blessing of the Divine Dragon Kings.
[ The Falchion's light grows brighter, and a similar aura flares into existence around him. ]
To protect those who cannot do so themselves... the Falchion hosts my soul so that this oath may continue to be fulfilled.
no subject
[She speaks in commingled disbelief and wonderment.]
But if you are Prince Marth... the Prince Marth who valued his friends and companions above anything else in the world, who could not stand to lose even a single life... have you truly forgotten those who were once proud to call you lord?
no subject
Tiki's question stung. It cut deep, even past the veil which concealed his recollections with a zeal even unmatched by the blade that bore his soul. Why couldnt't he remember? Despite all his efforts, the details remained stubbornly out of reach. A curse to bear, a punishment meted out most probably for a failure which he could no longer remember.
The prince cringed, one hand flying to where his heart would have been. His very form flickered, the aura around him dimming in synchrony with the fading light of Falchin's inset gem.
He spoke only after a good minute had passed, his faint words cracked and lacquered with barely suppressed pain. ]
... I - I do not know. My memory - is fogged beyond recollection. There are faces, and words, but their names - their names, their bonds, their hopes and dreams -
- all gone. I cannot - remember - anything. A curse, worse than time itself -!
1/2
[A sharp intake of breath as she sees his response to her words. And though it is selfish, in the midst of her emotions... there comes relief. Yes. This was the Marth she had served 500 years ago. This was the Marth she knew and loved.]
I am sorry. I should not have spoken such words. There is... much I do not remember as well. You are the only one I recall with such clarity, but... perhaps we may remind one another.
no subject
Shall we... begin anew, then?
My name is Tiki. Once, long ago, I was little more than a girl who lived in a cave, never leaving for fear that my kin would wish me to wage war alongside them. Until the day a human came to me.
His name was Marth.
And on that day, I chose to follow him.
no subject
Your presence is clear in my memories, too. I... I am sorry that I can't remember more than this.
[ He listens patiently to Tiki's words. When she finished, he takes a while to start speaking. His voice starts hesitant at first, but his tone grows stronger as the narration unfolds. ]
I am Marth. Prince of Altea, and heir to Falchion's pact. ... The Shadow Dragon brought waste to the lands, and many heroes from all walks of life united to cast him back into the earth. You were with me, during those arduous days... that much... I can be certain...
[ There is a long pause. ]
The Gods' wrath gave no mercy... We paid for the mistakes of others...
Then, the haven... and countless defense battles... and peace at long last...
[ He shook his head. ]
Please forgive me, Tiki... my thoughts ramble on too long.
no subject
On the day that you were lost before the might of the fell dragon... I thought that I should never hear your voice again. I lived many long years believing that the greatest friendship I had ever known was nothing more than a distant recollection. And now... to see that I was wrong...
There is naught I have wanted more than to hear that voice again.
no subject
It is a while before he speaks, though. ]
... I... can say the same... All those individuals who were with us... so long ago, upon the plains where we struggled to survive - every one of them, irreplaceable friends... All gone. Time has no mercy for us...
But at least, we will still have each other. I suppose that is consolation enough...
[ He closes his eyes briefly. ]
Ah... again, I dwell too much on what has slipped through our hands. Please forgive me...
no subject
[Tiki holds out her hand.]
Do you intend to stay out here alone, Prince Marth? Come back to the human city - it, too, is a part of your legacy.
no subject
... I... I think so.
[ There is a pause. ]
The city... is a human city. It feels a little disorienting... 'tis most unfortunate that my place of slumber is more homely. Too many things have changed...
[ He indicated the stone steps beside him leading into the ground. ]
I have little need for worldly comforts, given my current situation. I should be fine...
no subject
Moreover... if you are to protect this world, you must understand what it is that you seek to protect, do you not? To know the passions and the trials of these people, their joys and their sorrows... I, too, have much to learn still.
no subject
... If you insist...
[ He turns away briefly, eyes closed. ]
The Sealed Chamber is a place of great magic. I... I am not sure if I am ready to leave its aura just yet...
... and I am no longer human, Tiki. A ghost. A spirit... long forgotten. Will they still accept me, after so many years?
no subject
And yet, there was still one who wanted me.
[She smiles in encouragement.]
The people of this city are... accepting. Understanding. To an unexpected degree. Perhaps that, too, is part of your legaacy.