From Twilight to Darkness

From Twilight to Darkness
Date of Scene:	09 April 2013
Location:	Traverse Town, Palamecia
Synopsis:	After extending a hand of friendship, Matthew the street performer prepares to lead Rena to his home. But will the Shivan follow...?
Cast of Characters:	Emperor Mateus, Rena Laradyne

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Emperor Mateus has posed:
In a small inn within Traverse Town, away from the hustle and bustle of the main road connecting all the Districts together, the street performer Matthew is making sure that he has not forgotten anything in his room. He has been here, entertaining the masses and receiving spare change he technically doesn’t really need, but fun and games must end sometime.

It is time for him to return home, or what is left of it at least.

And he won’t be alone this time around, or so he hopes. He has opened his temporary home-away-from-home to Rena Laradyne, to whom he had extended a helping hand a few days prior after one of his performances. He has let her come and go as she’d pleased, but he has at least given her forewarning that he intends to return to the World of Ruin on this day and would like her to come with him.

So, as he finishes dispelling the last of his personal effects and putting the rest into a suitcase, he is already thinking. Thinking, considering, and perhaps waiting. A crystal orb floats around him at about shoulder-level as he moves, though it does not seem that he is conscious of it.

Rena Laradyne has posed:
Rena has had a few days of quiet to recenter herself and so the shivan last seen tottering back and forth on the shaky edges of a glacial chasm as retreated to firmer ground again. She turns out to be quiet by nature, often sitting in a single spot and watching the activities play out around her with a bemused aura of stillness.

Her eyes, light and flashing with quick humor nevertheless keeps that light hidden, shuttered behind a glassy stare and a smoky silence. She allows people to draw their own conclusions from such things. She brings her attention rarely to the crystalline sphere in her pocket, bending her focus on it as she moves it from hand to hand and rolls it between her fingers.

When the stillness abates she moves suddenly and forcefully, rising from to move into another room and another activity. She rarely asks questions but always listens. The last day or two she has spent in quietly repairing her armor and attending to her gear, collapsing the compound bow and cleaning it.

Her fingers play over the cloth covered surface of the deep scars and the mottled and withered skin along her left knee and leg, spilling up one hip to just underneath the breastbone. She does not dwell long and sets to tinkering with a small computer from the pocket of her uniform jacket, tinkering with the settings for awhile. Looking at the familiar markings and playing a game for a few minutes. By accident she brings up the call list on the way to turning it off. She stares at her brother's phone number at the top of the short listing.

Rena turns off the little computer, tucking it away again as she rises from the bed. She reassembles the bow and returns to her chores with fastidious concentration. She then goes looking for 'Matthew' once she is convinced her voice will function properly when used. "Almost finished?"

Emperor Mateus has posed:
Matthew hears Rena’s approach and turns his head in that direction as he picks up his suitcase. A wide grin is on his face as the Shivan speaks, the orb falling onto his free hand like it was dropped from a ledge. “Actually, I am completely finished. All that remains to be done is to hand in the keys and head for home.”

He slings the smallish suitcase over one shoulder and idly juggles the orb in his free hand, rolling it from the back of the hand to the palm and back again in a figure-eight motion. “And you, Rena? Do you have anything left to do here?”

Rena Laradyne has posed:
Rena approaches him with a faint curiosity, looking at suitcase and orb and then back at the performer (in more than one sense). "Just this." She smiles at the last moment reaching out a hand that stills the juggling orb, reaching down to loosely grip his fingers, sweeping the orb away in her other hand so that she might bring up his fingers to lightly brush them with her lips.

An oddly inversed moment of chivalric manners as she twists her hand and offers the orb back to Matthew after she drops his other hand. Her eyes spark with mischief as she brushes a strand of her carefully done up hair back behind her shoulder. "Shall we go then? I am.. actually looking forwards to this. And I have you to thank for that."

Emperor Mateus has posed:
Matthew looks mildly surprised as reverse chivalry plays its part in the conversation, but a quiet chuckle relays his amusement. “You honor me indeed, my lady.” He accepts his orb back with a deft twist of the wrist and deeply bows to her at the waist with a regal flourish. “I can only hope what is left of my home can meet your expectations.”

He motions for her to follow as he turns and leaves the room, heading out to the service desk to drop off the keys and pay the boarding cost. Fortunately, the Munny he has received throughout his time as a street performer proves to be more than enough, and he pockets the remainder. As they depart the inn and make their way through Traverse Town, he looks thoughtful for a moment as he surveys the stores that pass by.

“My home is within what is now the Northern Continent of the World of Ruin,” he explains, having not exactly given specifics of where they are going before now. “We could take the long route, through established portals and airships. But perhaps...” He smiles impishly, like a mischievous boy about to jump a fence he isn’t allowed to cross, “...we could take a shortcut instead. What say you, Rena?”

Rena Laradyne has posed:
"Well." Rena says with a bemused smile. "I think you have a running start on me in that regard. After all, every Shamanate along with every petty soul-trader and hollow chieftain of Shiva didn't manage to outrun their own doom."

Rena stretches in place and shakes herself, working out a twinge in her arm as she follows him back to the common room. she clicks her tongue, chuckling deep in her throat as she leans conspiratorily towards Matthew. "I've counciled too often to take the safe road. I.. believe.. I don't feel like giving that counsel anymore."

She looks around, teasing. "You might want to be mindful though. Whatever is out there, you ought to be warned that I gain momentum quite quickly when I apply myself."

Emperor Mateus has posed:
Matthew chuckles as he pauses at the entry into an alleyway, though the sound is more akin to a soft ‘fufufufu’. “The warning is noted, but such does not sound like an undesirable trait to have. Besides, ‘tis not danger from monsters or Darkness that concern me. I am quite familiar with both.” He walks down the alleyway a decent way, far enough in that the darkness obscures them from the bright street and any passing by. “I simply do not wish to create a fuss by doing...”

His hand casually extends off to the side, the orb lifting out of his hand and glowing red before becoming the cat-eye-like gem at the top of a relatively ornate bladed staff. Rena would recognize the design as being identical to the cane he used on the second performance she witnessed.

“...this.”

He grasps the staff in one hand and taps the claw-like point at the bottom to the ground. There is a small flash of purple at the point of impact, then a black shadowy portal opens in front of them, obscuring the end of the alleyway. He continues walking casually as if nothing had happened, his stride unbroken and unhurried, and he casts a glance up to Rena as if to silently ask, ‘are you still with me?’

Rena Laradyne has posed:
Rena twists her mouth to the side, raising her eyebrows as she looks at the shadowy portal. Half a dozen stories come back to mind of shamans who used the power of the long dark season to steal the souls of the unwary. Stories of nightmen with reaching fingers of shadow told in the hush and secrecy of seclusion as if frightened that their voices may carry on the wind.

Rena broke out in a bright and brilliant smile.

Those stories sort of reminded her of the dire whisperings people threw in her direction when they though they were out of earshot. When she lay paralyzed on the furs, clutching her brother's hand as they told themselves how brave and strong and wise they were, and how cursed she was, and how it would be a mercy to cut their throats in the night.

Somehow, in that light, the stories didn't seem all that frightening anymore.

In fact. She drew a little comfort from them. Any dreary ghast or soul destroying monster of the wandering wastes always had things their own way. They MADE stories interesting, The others just passively listened and shuddered in their slandering, curse spouting boots.

And this?

This was going to be an interesting story.

Rena strides forwards towards the dark portal. She hesitates for a moment, letting the darkness brush her outstretched fingers before stepping through it without further comment.

Emperor Mateus has posed:
Matthew needed no further response than Rena’s brilliant smile, continuing to grin like a cat that ate a proverbial canary even as he walks straight through the portal without a single misstep.

It is done.

The sight that greets them both on the other side of the portal is a welcome relief for Matthew, at the very least. A huge, expansive mountain range stretches out in front of them, a few peaks even showing signs of snow, and there appears to be a tunnel at the base of the closest mountain that is guarded by two dark-armored soldiers. A vast plain with strange crystalline structures scattered throughout are in the distance behind them. Nestled deep within the mountain range and standing taller than any of the peaks is a dark-stoned castle, almost seeming to have dark clouds ringing around its tallest towers.

“I wished for you to see my true home from the outside, on the ground, before we made our way to it,” he says to his companion, sweeping one arm towards the distant castle. “Welcome to Palamecia, Rena.”