Here are all threads from before the Fall of Emea in 719 and all threads pertaining to the Fall. As of Ymiden 719 (1st June 2019), this forum is locked for new threads and is a repository for old content.
"I don't think this is the right one you know. I told Katie that I wanted to make my own," Faith said, holding out her dress to either side. Looking down at it, she sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to get married in black, even if you tell me it's charcoal grey. It isn't the right colour for a wedding."
Faith was standing on a low box and the seamstress was fussing around her. She wore a charcoal-coloured dress, with large pockets. There had been a mouse in the pocket originally, but when she lifted it out it had grown and grown, then grabbed a passing cat and run off, hand in hand and entirely bipedal.
How strange, Faith had thought. "Does that happen often?" But the seamstress had only shrugged and looked around as if unsure what Faith was talking about. Surely, she'd seen the cat and mouse run off together, Faith thought but then, maybe she hadn't. Maybe the mouse was a cat in disguise, in which case it would all make sense and all be fine.
That was probably it.
"This isn't it. The dress, I mean." Faith smiled at the seamstress, whose face dropped in sadness. Faith watched with a frown as the woman bent down, picked it back up and put it back on. "How do you see when your face has dropped off?" Faith wondered, and the seamstress smiled and held out her hands. On the palms, there were eyes which blinked at Faith as she looked.
"Ew."
But no, this wasn't the dress. This wasn't the shop. She was going to have to make it herself, Faith knew that. She wanted to, anyhow. This was her wedding, and she was going to do it her way. "I'll buy the dress though and make things out of it. Thank you."
She was leaving the shop then, walking out hand in hand with the chalk outline of a bunny rabbit. It was like someone had drawn a simplistic chalk bunny on a chalkboard, it had jumped down and walked now alongside her. Or, rather, hopped.
Which was exactly what had happened and what was happening now.
As they left the shop, her in the charcoal gray dress, hair loose and a smile on her face, holding the hand of a short chalk bunny, Faith looked up at the person who was there, right there
"Tristan?" Faith's face lit in a smile of delight as she recognised him. "Oh, I didn't expect to see you! It's good to see you! How are you?" Glancing around she asked, because she couldn't quite help it. "What are you doing running into a dress shop?"
word count: 467
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
“Faith!“ Tristan exclaimed and smiled all over his face as his former slave spoke to him. His heart was beating so quickly that it was almost painful. In the waking world he had spent the past couple of trials in a bit of a daze. He had alternated between crying, praying even though it was probably in vain, taking care of his baby and keeping himself so busy that he didn’t have any time to cry anymore. This dream-Tristan wasn’t depressed at all though. He was happy and hopelessly optimistic, and he had never doubted that Faith would return to him one trial. In fact it seemed natural to him that she was standing in front of him now, alive and well.
He wrapped his arms around her, embraced her and held her close for a moment to make sure that she was indeed real before be released her, took a step back and asked, “Did Vri, Moseke and Zanik finally resurrect you? What was being dead like? It must have been terribly exciting! Did you become a ghost and haunt Rynmere? Were people very afraid of you?”
“I’ve always wanted to be a ghost! If I were a ghost, would fly around Idalos and go through walls!” he informed her matter-of-factedly. She could see that he was dressed in very interesting clothes. He had a suit made of fine wool on. There were pictures on it that constantly seemed to be moving, landscapes, people and even terrible monsters. He also had a hat with a big red feather on because red was in fashion this season, and even in his dreams Tristan Venora, Duke of Oakleigh, aimed to be fashionable. His shoes were red as well and made of dragon leather because he was the master of dragons!
“Oh”, he replied. “Being a duke didn’t satisfy me completely. I mean, it’s fun most of the time, especially when there are assassins, but I needed an additional challenge. I’ve never sewn anything before, so opening a dress shop seemed like a good idea. I make clothes with alchemy and run a duchy now! Who’s your friend by the way?” He pointed at the chalk bunny before he extended a hand for it to shake. Good manners were important, especially when dealing with chalk bunnies. Chalk bunnies were probably secretly controlling half of Idalos! “I have a friend as well. Mistral is the cat king of Rynmere now!”
He pointed behind him where a very familiar cat with black fur and sulfur-yellow eyes had suddenly materialized. Mistral was still the same size as before, but he was wearing a golden crown on his head and looked most regal now. He opened his mouth and said in a very deep voice, “Hello Faith. It’s been a while.” And then he began to scratch himself behind his ears with one of his hind paws because his fur was very itchy, and he probably had fleas.
She hugged him back, holding on to him and leaning her head against his shoulder. Just like she'd done that morning, she thought, after he'd told her he loved her and she'd slept late. Except, of course, that was Padraig not Tristan. She was hugging Tristan, she realised and then looked up at him in some surprise. "I haven't been dead, what are you saying?" That didn't make sense to her dreaming mind so she more or less ignored it, putting it down to the unique and strange nature of Tristan Venora.
The chalk bunny with her looked him up and down and spoke. When he did, his voice was broad and accented. "So, this is 'im? Trisan Venora? You, mate, are a plonker." Faith looked down at PB and shook her head.
"PB! Stop being so rude." Faith looked horrified and then turned to Tristan, "I'm so sorry, he's awful. This is PB, my friend. PB this is Tristan Venora and his cat, Mistral." She looked at Mistral and smiled. "Hello Mistral, it's nice to see you. You look well."
"Cat king of Rynmere? This furry ponce? Do me a favour," PB didn't seem keen and Faith cringed inwardly. He'd always been prone to being rude, as long as she'd known him but he really disliked Tristan. Faith wondered how it was that the two of them had never met but her dreaming mind made sense of it. "Although. King of Rynmere is a scraggly, scrawny half baked excuse for an malodorous lech. That you, hair ball?"
"PB! Don't speak to Mistral like that!"
As though he'd known she'd say it, PB grinned and replied immediately and with no small amount of glee. "I wasn't, love. I was talking to the Duke of Portly over 'ere."
Faith put her hand out to Tristan, placing it into the hand he offered to PB who had refused to acknowledge its existence. Slipping her hand into his she smiled. "I'm sorry. I really am. I could show you my new restaurant, if you like. Would you like to?" Whether he did or not, she'd start to walk with him, hand in hand and she turned to him and asked, entirely seriously. "Who told you I was dead?"
word count: 395
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
“Oh”, Tristan made as Faith insisted that she hadn’t been dead – and immediately came up with an explanation for her confusion. Resurrecting somebody was probably very hard, even for the Immortals, so maybe Vri and Moseke had been unable to restore her memory completely. For a moment the young noble actually considered not telling Faith what had happened to her because it had been traumatic, and she seemed to be so happy now, but then he decided that she needed to know, even though it would hurt. She needed to be prepared. It was possible that Aelig would come back and try to hurt them again.
“You left Scalvoris and Padraig to look for our daughter”, he said gently and took her hand in his, hoping that she would derive some sort of comfort from the gesture. “You searched all of Idalos for her. When you finally found her, you decided to take her to me. By the time you reached my house, you were so weak that you could barely hold yourself upright. I wanted to get a doctor, but it was already too late. I could only promise you that I would take care of Ayla – that’s the name of our daughter – and protect her from Aelig. You died in my arms. I prayed then. I prayed to all the Immortal I knew and begged them to give you back to me.”
“And now you are back!” he said and smiled all over his face. He was nearly bursting with joy! “I always knew that you would come back to me one trial! There’s so much I want to tell you!” He paused briefly to catch a breath. Just as he wanted to continue the chalk bunny started to speak. Any other man would probably have been offended, but Tristan was in such a good mood that he only laughed out loud. He also wasn’t mad that Faith’s new friend refused to shake his hand. Not at all. “PB, you are awesome”, he informed the bunny. “You must visit me sometimes. I want you to be in my new play. All the characters in it are animals!”
While Tristan found PB incredibly amusing, Mistral definitely didn’t. The cat king of Rynmere never found anybody amusing. He glared at PB as if he were contemplating murder, his tail swished back and forth, and then he hissed loudly and maliciously. For a moment it seemed as if that was all that he was going to do, but then he came closer – so close that his many fleas effortlessly jumped over to PB – where they instantly turned into chalk fleas!
“That will teach you”, Mistral muttered.
“I would love to see your new restaurant!” Tristan told Faith. “What’s it called? Maybe we could eat something there. I’m hungry! I have a cook in Oakleigh, but nobody cooks as well as you do. You are probably the best cook in Rynmere. No, you are probably the best cook in all of Idalos!”
As Faith and Tristan started to walk, Mistral sat there for a moment and wondered whether he should follow them or not, and then he slowly and reluctantly started to move. Maybe, he thought, he would hunt bunnies that trial!
“Nobody told me that you are dead, Faith”, Tristan informed Faith. “I told you, I watched you die. But it doesn’t matter anymore because you are alive again!”
His description of what happened wasn't what Faith remembered, not at all. Yet, this was Master.. no, Tristan. This was Tristan and he didn't lie to her. Sometimes, he ordered her to feel things for him that she couldn't feel, but he didn't lie. He was a very truthful man and Faith had always respected him for that. So they had a daughter? In her dreaming state, Faith was much the same as she was when awake. She didn't like to argue and she tried to always see thing from the other person's point of view.
"But she... what are you saying? Is Rose alive?" In the waking world, tears slipped from Faith's dreaming eyes, but in the dream those same eyes shone with hope. "I don't... Tristan, is Rose alive?" She clutched on to his arm and as she did, PB looked at her and let out a slight yet deep sigh.
"Faith. Love, listen, you know what Vri said."
"But she's alive? What if it was a test? What if it wasn't Vri or somehow.."
"If it wasn't Vri, love, it was a manicurist with a death fetish. Yer nails. Look at your nails.
"No," Faith said in a small voice. Looking at Tristan and ignoring PB, who was just starting to scratch behind the ear, Faith's silver eyes shone. "My daughter? Is she.... Rose. Her name is Rose, Tristan. I miss her. So much, it hurts so much. I smile and I pretend and sometimes there are three or even four trill when I don't miss her but.. where is she? I want to see her. Please, may I see her?"
"Look, Faith, love, this isn't a good idea. You bloody idiot, look what you're doing to her. You an' your stupid cat." It seemed that the chalk bunny was not in the mood to mess around. "An' fleas? By all the Immortals, I'm more scared of Famula's bouncy knockers than I am of fleas you stupid pussy." The last, of course, he said to the cat. "So I tell you what. 'ow about PB gives you a nice bath, you raggedy pile of..."
There followed an outburst the like of which Tristan may never have heard before. Faith ignored it and stepped forward, putting her hand on Tristan's arm. "Please? I need to see her, Tristan. Where is she?"
word count: 411
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
“Yes, Faith, she’s alive!“ Tristan replied and smiled at her. “But her name is Ayla, not Rose! She’s Ayla Venora, and she will be the duchess of Oakleigh one trial!” In the waking world Tristan doubted that Ayla would ever rule anywhere due to her illegitimate birth – the other nobles would probably never accept her – but in Emea he was full of hope and optimism. Ayla was his firstborn, and she was the daughter of the woman he loved, so of course she would be duchess one trial. Everything else didn’t make any sense!
“As for Vri”, he continued and turned to PB. He wasn’t mad at him at all. In fact, he thought, it was a good idea that he had mentioned the Immortal of Love and Death. “Maybe it was a manicurist with a death fetish! I’ve seen stranger things. Or maybe Vri just wanted to test you and then changed his mind about letting you die. I’ve been tested by the Immortals before, more times than I can count. I had to fight a couple of thugs before Ilaren finally shared my bed for example!”
In the waking world Tristan cringed at that. It was never a good idea to tell the mother of your child that you had slept with another woman, especially if that woman was a beautiful and powerful Immortal! In Emea though Tristan didn’t care. His liking Ilaren didn’t change what he felt or had felt for Faith. Besides, Faith had been so happy for him when he had told her about his liking Ilaren, back before she had gone to Scalvoris with Padraig. Maybe they could all be happy together!
“People tried to bathe me before and regretted it”, Mistral informed PB in a threatening tone and glanced at Faith. Without a doubt she would remember that particular trial. “As for the fleas …” He turned back to PB and opened his mouth in a grin so that the chalk bunny could see his sharp teeth. It was just then that PB’s fur started to itch terribly. He had been infected with the most powerful fleas in all of Idalos!
“Bouncy knockers?” Tristan abruptly interrupted the two animals who, in his opinion, were fast becoming friends. A moment later Faith put her hand on his arm though, and he stopped thinking about Famula’s assets and turned to face her again. “Ayla is at my Estate in Oakleigh. If you hold onto me, I’ll teleport us there! I have magic shoes as well now!” he informed her proudly. He had been so jealous of her when she had first told him about her own shoes. Tristan Venora absolutely loved magic items, in whatever form.
Provided that Faith held onto him tightly, Tristan would click his heels together, and a moment later they found themselves in a vast park. It was full of beautiful trees in dozens of different and mostly unnatural colors, and at the end of the park she could see a castle. It was made of white stone and glass, and it was ten times bigger than King Cassander’s castle in Rynmere. It even had its own emerald green dragon that was sleeping on the roof, occasionally breathing fire as it did so. And, as it turned out, it was only a short distance away from Faith’s restaurant. In fact all the cool places were located near each other!
PB looked at Mistral and, somehow, the two chalk dots which were his eyes managed to look at the cat-king like he was the stupidest creature on Idalos. "I'm made of chalk you steamin' plonker. Watch an' learn, pussy-face" With that, PB disappeared in a cloud of dust, all of the fleas dropping to the floor as he did. With that, he reappeared behind Mistral. Like... right behind him.
"Not the sharpest tool in the box are ya, puss-puss?" PB sounded sweet and charming as he said that, "do all the other pussies feel sorry for you? I bet they do. Poor, thick as a brick, pussy-face."
Meanwhile, Faith stepped to stand as close to Tristan as it was possible for her to get. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on, desperation to see Rose stopping her from thinking clearly or straight. Holding on to him, she hid her eyes just in case it was horrible and bright or something, but then he just clicked his heels and they were there.
Looking around, Faith saw the place, saw how beautiful (and strangely convenient!) it was, but her gaze didn't stay there. It was beautiful, it was gorgeous in fact, but it held no interest for her in that moment. In that moment Faith's heart was in her throat, her heart racing in her chest. More than anything she wanted to see her daughter, and somehow as she looked back at Tristan he was holding a baby in his arms. Faith couldn't see her, and of course, Faith had never seen Rose.
She felt so far away from him, suddenly, although she knew she was standing right next to him there was a cavernous gulf which seemed to separate them, but that was in her mind, she knew. "Oh," she whispered, her voice shaking as much as her body was. "Oh... please may I.. may I see her?" The emotions was almost more than Faith could deal with and as she held out her hands asking to hold the infant she grieved for, tears fell down her cheeks in a constant stream.
word count: 362
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
Unlike PB Mistral wasn’t very good at sounding sweet and charming at all. As the bunny got rid of the fleas and made them disappear right behind him somehow, the cat looked as if he was ready to kill somebody. “At least I’m the cat king of Rynmere”, he growled and began to scratch his fur furiously. There were so many fleas on him now that he would have looked black if he weren’t already black. “You on the other hand are a nobody!”
~~~
“Yes, of course”, Tristan replied as Faith asked if she could see Ayla who she still called Rose for some reason (Maybe it was her second name and she had forgotten to tell him?). The look on her face touched something deep inside of him and nearly broke his heart. At the same time he was nearly bursting with joy.
She was back! His Faith had finally come back to him! Maybe they could be a family now! He had offered to marry her and make her his duchess before she had died in his arms.
“One of my servants is currently watching her. I had some business to take care of.” He took her hand again and led her into the house. It was a beautiful house, and there was a distinct lack of old carpets and old fashioned paintings. Instead the walls were decorated with Tristan’s own very modern art.
Tristan took Faith to his private quarters. Every servant that they passed by bowed to them as if they instantly recognized Faith as the mother of the duke’s child. Ayla’s room was next to his own. She usually slept in her cradle next to his bed at night, but during the trial she was sometimes in her own room.
It was a beautiful room. It was full of dolls and stuffed animals. In the middle of a fluffy white carpet stood a cradle with a canopy. A young woman with red hair and lots of freckles was sitting next to it. Tristan greeted her with a smile before he walked over to the bed and gently took his daughter into his arms.
“This”, he said as he turned around. The little girl looked just like Faith with her pale skin and dark hair, but she had his eyes, and she looked at the unfamiliar woman with interest. “Is your mother, Faith. She finally returned to us. Faith, meet Ayla Venora, the future duchess of Oakleigh – and your daughter. Do you want to hold her?”
She saw it all, the carpets and the servants, the artwork and the luxury and she paid attention to none of it. As they walk, Faith held on to Tristan's hand almost desperately; if she let go now, he might fly away or click his heels and she had to make him stay because she needed to see her daughter. Rose. Or was it Ayla? Faith thought that maybe Ayla was a second name, one that she and Tristan had agreed on. Her sleeping mind made sense of things and that made sense. This was Tristan's baby and it was hers? They'd been so afraid of that, her and Padraig and as she thought of him she frowned.
This wasn't right, she knew. Some part of her was clear that this was not how it had happened and that this was not right. Padraig and she were the ones who had been having a baby, and how did this baby get here? She had disappeared, Faith remembered that, after she'd given birth to her. But was this her child?
"Tristan, I'm afraid," Faith whispered and she looked at him. Stopping before he got to the crib, she held on to his hand tightly, standing still. "I'm afraid that I'll never be able to be a mother. I want to be, I do. But..."
"Look at wot yer doin' to 'er, you pillock." PB, it seemed, had accompanied them. "This whole pregnancy an' baby thing nearly broke 'er when eighteen arcs of slavery didn't manage it. It's a'right, love, jus' breathe, alright?" This last bit was directed to Faith as she looked at Tristan with tears in her eyes.
"Is she really mine? Tristan, what about Padra...oh!" The last gasp came from her as Tristan showed her the baby. "Oh, look. Oh, she's beautiful." Faith looked up at Tristan with tears pouring unchecked down her cheeks as he introduced them. "Ayla Venora? Oh, that must be the rose. The Venora is Rose. Of course." She'd never made the connection between the name of her daughter and the Venora rose before. Nor, she suspected, had Padraig since it was his idea. Her eyes widened in amazement as Tristan asked if she'd like to hold her and Faith nodded. She couldn't speak, it was too overwhelming.
With great care, as though she held the most precious thing in the world, Faith took the baby. She'd learned about needing to cradle the head and so on and at the feeling of something which she had wanted desperately but never felt, the sensation of holding her daughter in her arms, Faith sobbed. Both in the dream and in the bed where she slept, she sobbed. Kneeling on the floor in the room in her dream, her hand moved to stroke the baby's hair and she tried to form words but simply could not.
After a few moments, Faith looked up at Tristan and smiled. "She's perfect. Just perfect. We'll have to... Padraig and I...I need to tell him, Tristan. Do you know where he is?" She looked around as though expecting him to walk in.
"Ah nuts," PB said with a sigh, "that's blown it."
word count: 552
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
“You don’t have to be afraid“, Tristan replied gently. “Everything will be alright.” He wasn’t just saying that to comfort Faith. He really believed it, and he also believed that Faith would be the best mother ever. She was his Faith, and she was good at everything that she did. She wouldn’t be like Aunt Willow and Uncle Kaleb. She would love Ayla and help her and teach her everything that she needed to know, and she would help him protect their daughter from Aelig and all those other evil Immortals that were after her!
“She’s yours”, he assured her. “I would never lie to you.” He understood what PB was saying, and he agreed with him. He knew that he was causing her pain, but she needed to know the truth. Besides, the pain would eventually fade, and then she would be happy again. He knew it. He had experienced a lot of bad things himself in the past arc, and he had survived and was still enjoying life as much as ever, and Faith was even stronger than he was. In fact she was the strongest person he knew. She wouldn’t be alone either. They would be together and help each other. “She is just as beautiful as her mother.”
As Faith let him know that she wanted to hold Ayla, he carefully handed the baby to her. The little girl just stared at her for a moment, and then she smiled at her as if she recognized her. Tristan didn’t do anything at first. He just stood there and watched Faith and their daughter with a look that alternated between happiness and disbelief, and then, as she knelt on the floor and started to sob, he approached her and simply put an arm around her. He often talked – too much – but this time he didn’t say anything at all. Even Mistral was quiet now and watched the scene in front of him. He found it incredibly touching. For all his flaws the cat king of Rynmere loved his owner and the little girl unconditionally.
Tristan just held Faith. He held her and their daughter and only opened his mouth as she mentioned Padraig. At first he wanted to ask her why she wanted to tell Padraig when they had broken up because she had realized that she loved him, but then he realized that saying that might not be a good idea right now, so he simply replied, “You left him on Scalvoris. Maybe he’s still there? If you want to … if you really want to, we’ll go looking for him.”
Padraig had taken care of Faith after he had freed her, and he had taught her a lot of things. Maybe she didn’t love him anymore, but still cared about him in some way. Maybe she needed closure. He understood that. In the waking world Tristan partly blamed Padraig for Faith’s death – but Dream-Tristan wasn’t bitter and angry at the alchemist. He was just glad that he had gotten his Faith back, and he was willing to do anything for her.
