Amaranth: A Dream

[idolpro]

Once, there was a maiden...

...whose battles called her far from home.
She slew the thing she feared most, and conquered the land that feared her.
As she fought, far away, she knew her children needed guidance.
She knew they faced tyrants.
She knew they faced fear.
In her homeland, things were broken.
So, she held up her hand before the sun, and cast a shadow on the world, and drowned the troubles of her home in darkness.

"Survival's a long reach," she said.

Comments

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

[that aches. loneliness and loss and the fact it cannot be bridged, cannot be understood.

and just going to kneel down next to the him-that-was and wrap cool arms around him and sing, soft and soothing and comforting.]

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

[ More petals flake off of you as you hold yourself, each pale and translucent in pink or white. ]

^{Am I}_{Are you} happy?

[ The next petals that fall are made from ash. ]

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

...I am content. [he finally says, and holds...his other self? close. being content is enough. (isn't it?)] That is, ah, more than enough for me.

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

........Ah. ^I_you truly did know, all along.
The answer is no.

[ Around you, the trees begin to blacken, as if slowly charred with some cold and unseen flame. ]

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

...maybe it is, ah, different for you, but it doesn't matter for me.

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

Are we not one and the same? As it is, and was, and shall be, however many times or ways ^I_you exist.

She cannot change it. Not even here.

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

There, ah, might be another me out there, somewhere, for who it matters for.

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

Do you imagine she could be happy with that? To save one child and abandon the others?

Something happened to ^me_you, didn't it?
I do not know what it is yet, but I can feel it waiting for me, if ever I should leave.

[ You smile at yourself—that same mild, serene, and empty smile which you have so mastered. ]

That means that t̹̫h̦i̢̞̯̞̯̼s̨̝͚̪͙̝̣̳ ̭̲i̠͖̞͔͡s͍͓͎͎͚̲͖ ̯̟̥͖͉͕͢t̷̜̰̪̯͍̘h҉͎̭e̝͇̕ ̯b̙̹̙̺͕͕̪e͔͚̺̱͈͙̜s͚͖t̝͞ ̟̀o̲̗͔̭̬̥̟f̺͉͓̙̻̭͞ͅ ̬a͈̙͚̖͞ļ̬͉̟͖l̥̬̺͇ ̺͚̥̫̻w̴̙͎̩̥͕͕̙o͏̼̤ͅṛ̶͎ld̖̦͔s̪͉̻̬̹͖̝.

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

She could, ah, not be, no.

...I don't, ah, know what it is, either. [he has guesses, but...]

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

Stay, then.

None of us need face it, so long as ^I_you s̷̭̎ͬtả̢͍̬̰̘͇̖͓y̬̼͍̋̎̏̓̄.

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

...the world is still out there. And everything which...made what happened to us necessary. Or did this to us.

And as much as she would like it to be, I don't think there's any way to save us. Even if we stay here.

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

[ You echo yourself— ]

It was necessary...

[ The darkness spreads, smelling of ash. It coats the moss and the stones and the statue of the River God—but not the shrine. That is still preserved, sacred and lonely and safe.

The mist clears from the ground, and you realize: This is the true form of the island. ]

It is...
... i͕̻n͙e̪͖̗̘̩̱v̯͙i̖̣̜t̯̪a͇̺̗̬̥ͅble.


[ You look at yourself again, and he is made of petals, all delicately overlapping one another. ]

Re: The Shrine

[forgottenmercy]

[oh. well, then. literally a flower maiden. going to...take a look around really quickly, then.]

Re: The Shrine

[fallingflowers]

[ Enter the Crowned Sun. ]