idolpro | persephone heart game, run 2

Entry tags:

!heart games

persephone heart game, run 2

In the flicker of a candle-flame, in the stir of still water, in the fluttering of flower petals, there is a voice...

Once, there were...
...shadows in the window.
...footsteps at the gates of life.
...whispering at the door:
"Should I live or die? Am I living or dead?"
"To know the world is to choose it," says the Void.

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[Huh. Well then.]

....do you like stories?

[rustle. rustle. if you were hoping for the wisteria to talk to you, you are sadly mistaken.]

[Listen, I talk to things that can't talk back all the time.]

[He thinks for several long moments.]

There was once a great war between two kingdoms. A war that had spanned for centuries upon centuries, so much so if there had been any peace, no one could remember it anymore.

And in one kingdom, there was a great warrior. Strong and fast, one of the best defenders of the forces.

And in the other...there was a princess. A curious mind, though not much for battle. She was to rule, but there was doubts about her. Would she be strong enough to make the decisions she would need to make? She wanted to prove she was capable, so after every battle, she would go to the battlefield.

If she understood the consequences of her decisions, then surely she would be able to make them in the future. What better way than to see what happens to those who would fight.

The last fight, the warrior, brave and strong, had fought with ferocity, but their forces had been unprepared. Their information had led them to believe half the number would be there. They had lost, the warrior having decided to fight to his last breath so his forces could escape.

Except...he hadn't drawn his last breath. Despite all his injuries, he hadn't died.

The princess, walking the battlefield, had found him breathing. She had known he was the enemy, it was impossible to think otherwise with the crest on his armor. As the future leader, the right thing would have been to leave him, at very least. If she was brave, to finish the job herself.

But as the warrior opened his eyes, and they saw each other, she knew that she would not make the choice a leader should have made.

She brought him to a cave and she decided to tend to his wounds. He would have died otherwise, that was a certainty, but instead she came every day, tended to him, made sure he was fed and well cared for as much as could be done in secret.

The two would talk. At first innocuous things, talking around what they knew to be the conflict, too afraid to muddy the waters. She could have let him die. After a certain point, he could have killed her.

Neither were willing to do either.

And finally, they spoke of why. Why did they fight. The warrior had orders to follow. The princess had to protect her people. But in the end, it was the question of why, why did the fight start to need protection.

One day, the warrior would return home. The princess would not visit the cave. Time would pass.

The princess would awake to the warrior at her window, asking for trust one last time. As she met his eyes, she knew she would.

She followed him to that cave one day to see a young man. The prince, an old friend to the warrior. And finally, after some centuries, the two kingdoms truly talked.

The princess explained the need to protect. The prince explained a fear. His own kingdom had seen the beliefs and customs of her own as some kind of terrible sorcery, a threat, something to fear. The princess said they were no such thing, she would explain it all, so he would know not to fear it.

Such problems, they take a long time to fix. And sometimes there are those in power who want more then they say. Perhaps the kings wanted land and power, perhaps they were conquerors for power as much as fear.

But the Warrior trusted the Princess. The Princess trusted the Warrior. And the prince would listen, and he would speak, and a war that could have lasted centuries, could have last until death of one...

Instead, in a few years, there was enough understanding that fear faded. And as the Princess and the prince became Queen and king, they were finally able to make peace between their land.

At the signing of the treaty, the Warrior stood at her side of the table.

[and as he finishes telling the story, the wisteria rustles. it looks much better.]

[Yaaaay, helping tree.]

[Another light pat.]

I should keep moving, but I'm glad I could help you feel a bit better. Take care of yourself, okay?

[rustle. rustle...

the path is very scenic and leads you to a village by the river.

the village is very peaceful. The architecture is very Sengoku crossed with cottagecore. Everything is neatly kept and looks to be thriving. in the distance, outside the village and near a larger and more secluded part of the river, is a shrine: but closer yet is a house that's somewhat nicer and bigger than the other houses and somewhat set apart. Like still part of the village but it's one of those 'this clearly belongs to someone of high rank' here kinds of places.

The house is where the wisteria path is leading.]