DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)

[phantasmods]

The shadows are starting to grow very long as you crest his particular ridge - it's not night yet, but it will be soon. In the shadows of the afternoon, with a tall mountain already blocking the sun, lies a snow-covered valley that is different from the ones you've come across thus far in your investigation.

This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.

Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.

Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.

[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]

Comments

[kingkingcxiii]

[In this, they are too much alike. Regis knew he was going to his death; he doesn't regret that, but he has already said he regrets that Nyx also fell that night. For Astrals' sake, the Glaive was younger than Cor, and Regis had done everything in his power to see that Cor had a chance to escape the hell that was to come. Not just because of his age, but because he had so much yet to do. So much life left to live. It would be harder after the Fall, but Regis had no doubt that he would succeed as he always had.

It's true that Regis hadn't had a lot of choice--really none--when it came to who he was going to send with Lunafreya, but part of him had hoped that because Nyx was with her and she had to get out of the city, that he would make it out as well. Not many of his hopes had survived the Fall. This one was sadly, no different.

Regis is so deep in his own mind that he almost misses when Nyx finally speaks. It takes him a moment to focus enough to really hear the words and then he smiles tiredly.]

And I am glad you are here. As well-intentioned as they are, they cannot understand. They weren't there. They did not give as we did.

[It's true that both Izunia and Ardyn were present in their own ways, but they weren't there. They would never truly understand what it meant to fall into the darkness that night so that the future could see the light.]

[hardbargain]

[If he hadn't been so blind, so foolish... if he hadn't trusted Luche not to do something so cowardly. If he hadn't been so very sure that the traitors must have been the minority then maybe he wouldn't have had to go as far as he did. But it was the only way he was able to even begin to fight back against Glauca's power. His was not utterly selfless as Regis' had been. Revenge and fear had been just as strong in his heart at that moment as the desperate need to protect Lunafreya, to see her safely beyond the ruins of the city. Which was probably a large part of why Izunia had dismissed him out of hand at first.]

I'm no martyr, Re-

[He stops himself, shifting his weight back to his own two feet so he can look his King in the eye, his eyes red and swollen from tears. There's a level of familiarity he's not sure he really deserves in calling the other man simply by his name. ]

Regis? [Is that okay? Is it really?]

I wasn't going to make it through the night no matter what. It was nothing short of a miracle that I'd made it that far.

[kingkingcxiii]

You have certainly earned the right to call me by name. Do not doubt that.

[It's a tired smile that meets Nyx's teary gaze. Regis wonders for a moment if his own eyes are so red, but doesn't linger on the thought when there are more important to focus on.]

I am not certain if you are missing the point out of sheer stubbornness, my dear Glaive, or if you are truly unable to see your own value. With death so certain, do most stand up and continue to fight? Do most open themselves up to more pain or do most lay down and wait for the end to come?

[It didn't matter that Nyx wouldn't have survived the night. It didn't matter that fear and a need for vengeance were what swirled in his heart and pushed him forward. What mattered was that he had moved forward. He'd taken what was left of his life--no matter how little that might have been--and done something with it instead of just giving up.]

Do you really believe there was no fear or anger in my heart when I turned from you to face Glauca? If so, let me correct you. I was angry. Enraged even. I wanted to rip him apart for hurting so many others just to hurt me. I wanted to curse him for thinking that anything the Empire offered would ever fill the emptiness his lost left in his heart. Even beyond that, I was angry at my own weakness. For not seeing his betrayal before it came to a head. For not being strong enough to stop him when it was my actions that created him.

[Regis closes his eyes for a moment then, shaking his head.]

Let those who survived the Fall call our sacrifices what they must, but we know what they really were and the far too human emotions that drove them.

[hardbargain]

[It was a silly thing to be so pleased by, especially with the gravity of the conversation, but having express permission to call his King by his name made warmth bloom in his chest, a feeling that fought back the waves of sorrow and loss.

my dear Glaive nearly gets a smile out of him as well, a softening of his expression and something hopeful sparking in his gaze.]

You'll find few Galahdians know when to give up, Majesty.

[So the latter then. He truly doesn't think he did anything that one of his comrades wouldn't have done. Pelna certainly, Libertus undoubtedly, even Crowe who thought herself so clever, backed into that corner? They would all have done the same. He's certain of it.

Then he'd have said the same of Luche and Drautos, Axis... probably not Tredd, but he'd always been a cowardly rat.]

It wasn't your fault. He was mad with grief and so lost in the past he didn't know which way was up. You can't blame yourself for that. None of us saw it either and we worked with him day in and day out it's as much our fault [My fault] as it is yours.

[kingkingcxiii]

I cannot argue that. It's one of the reasons I've always admired them as a people, but at the same time, there are still those who stand above the rest.

[There's something in his tone that makes it clear Regis means to include Nyx in that second group. Nyx and all of his friends. Including the one he had inadvertently sent to her death.

Crowe Altius.

Hers was the last name of the fallen he'd memorized before the treaty signing and the Fall. Once he'd met with Lunafreya and learned that the Glaive they'd sent never arrived, he'd sent Clarus to find out what he could. All his Shield had been able to find before time had run out was confirmation of her death, her name, and her next of kin.

Libertus Ostium. Nyx Ulric.

Should he say something? Apologize for sending her on the mission despite the fact it was Drautos who had chosen her and the very same man who had compromised her mission? Would it do any good? It's not as though it would bring her back anymore than the half-finished condolence letter that had been left upon his desk before the treaty signing would have.

He gives Nyx a strained, knowing smile.]

Were it as easy to place all the blame on the person responsible for this pain as it is to blame ourselves, we would not need to be having this conversation.

[hardbargain]

There are. And we honor them once they've fallen.

[His fingers move to skim over one of his braids, one that was meant to be for Crowe. He teases the end of the braid, briefly, considers unraveling it now... but he doesn't have the time to reconfigure everything just now. So it will just have to wait.]

It's why they called me Hero, y'know... like telling me I was an arrogant prick for thinking myself above the others, on par with the ancestors even. That title belongs to the dead and no other.

[ He sighs softly, shaking his head. It wasn't a title he had asked for. Some stupid Lucian paper had taken his role in the Galahdian resistance and ran with it. Trying to endear the Insomnian people to the refugees. Heroes of Galahd they'd called them. Made it sound like the resistance was more than a few dozen stubborn teenagers who had to be rescued by the king. ]

But I guess we just need to keep reminding each other it's not our fault, then.

[kingkingcxiii]

[Regis' gaze follows Nyx's fingers as they move to the braid. Ah, so that is what it is for. Or, at least partly. Like so many other Galadhian traditions, he is certain it is more complex than that, but he's never had the chance to find out the exact details. There was never time. Perhaps that is something he can change here if it isn't too painful for Nyx to speak of it.

It's obvious it's painful to for Nyx to speak of his nickname, though and it brings a frown to Regis' face. He'd had his suspicions from the tone he'd heard people speak it in, but part of him had hoped he was merely imagining the disrespect.]

Then let us leave the title to those who it belongs to for we are both quite alive here. If we must, we will find you a new title to take the old's place.

[He smiles then, determination in his eyes.]

Yes. It helps when there is someone else to point out when you are being a fool. Like now, for instance. I believe it foolish for you to remain standing any longer. Where did you leave the glider this time?

[hardbargain]

I don't need a title.

[He doesn't need one and he doesn't want one. Being Regis' Glaive is enough. He's never asked for more than that.

The next bit makes him roll his eyes, though. And as much as he wants to argue he bites his tongue because Regis has phrased it in just such a way that if he protests now it gives the King leverage to do the same later when Nyx wants to fuss.

Godsdammit.]

Alright alright... I didn't go far. Come on...

[He's definitely making Regis escort him back though, at least that way he can keep an eye n his King as well.]