vatheon | 007 - Exile, Vilify

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007 - Exile, Vilify

Who: Dhaos and anyone crazy enough to try and stop him
Where: anywhere between the Ordo neighborhood and the Plaza
When: backdated to about 11pm on 11/4
Style: brackets
Status: open

[Dhaos had been avoiding people ever since he woke from his little coma a few days ago. The nightmares saw to that. Four nights of being confronted with nothing but a death and decay, all while having his every failure described in great detail by the corpse of his beloved... The thoughts of this plague him even during the day. It is thus that he is composing a letter for his housemates.

Zelda,

By the time you find this letter, I will have already gone. I have realized that I had come to forget myself, and my purpose for being. I am a prince of Derris-Kharlan, and it is my duty to see to the safety of my people, no matter the cost. Of all whom I have come to know, I believe you will best be able to understand what I am about to attempt; the Lamufao must be destroyed. I know not whether it will yield to my demands, if its destruction will erase this plane of existence, if I will be erased in the attempt, or even a combination of events. I urge you to make no attempt to stop me, for I cannot allow anyone to impede what may be the final chance I have to prevent the ruin of my home.

In the event that it is you who read this letter first, Zelos, consider this my resignation from Golden Victory. Even should I survive a failed attempt to complete my task, I doubt any would desire to continue to work with one who is willing to stake the whole of Vatheon on a hypothesis.

Farewell,
Dhaos

And with that letter carefully placed upon the living room, he quietly slips out of the house. As soon as he puts enough distance between himself and the place he had inhabited for more than half a year, he gathers his power about him and makes his way toward the Plaza...]

((ooc: Naturally, his plan is foiled, so he'll be hiding himself for a time.))

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[Zelda does find the letter, and while she understands Dhaos's sentiment, she can't allow him to destroy the coral. That destroys her chance to save her world from flooding, and it will almost certainly kill Link. He isn't the only one a little unstable right now. When she catches up to him, there are no sweet words of consolation to be had.]

Don't do this, Dhaos.

[It's not a plea. It sounds more like a warning.]

[He recognizes the warning for what it is, but he feels no need to heed it. He had given her fair warning as to his course of action, and he will not stop, even for her.]

...Do not stand in my way Zelda.

[Dhaos knows even before he says the words that she will not listen. Her conviction is as strong as his own, and he is resigned to this coming to blows.]

You know I cannot do that. What are you thinking? I want to hear your logic.

[It's possible he hasn't thought this through. How would destroying the coral save his world, after all? From what she can tell, he'd be returning to his death.]

Very well. The Lamufao is a sentient being, is it not? And if it is powerful enough so as to drag us from our proper times and places, even so as to overcome death, should it not be able to put items back where they originally were not? If given enough persuasion, any being intent on survival will do whatever it can to get rid of a threat, will it not?

[He certainly thought this through, though his logic is more than likely warped by the madness that holds him firmly in its grasp.]

The coral being sentient is only one possible theory. You could be attacking the wrong target! For all we know it is a power source and nothing more, one that you could break. We would all be erased or sent back to our homes without our memories.

[Zelda takes a breath, then clenches her fists.]

I cannot allow that.

And if my hypothesis is correct? We will never be certain until an attempt is made to destroy it, and I know not how much time I have left if I attempt nothing.

[Though he remains immobile for the moment, signs of the man are rapidly disappearing, leaving behind only traces of sorrow in the cold gaze of the Demon King.]

...If I must risk erasure for myself or the whole of Vatheon to save my people, so be it.

I see.

[Zelda lowers her head. She doesn't want to fight Dhaos. She can't help but think of the first time they met, how he wept like a child... Dhaos, singing songs he'd learned from her, or curling up on the couch contentedly...

But she can't forget the time he attacked Kratos either, nor can she forget the sheer amount of raw power he possesses. It's a risk she can't take. Giving him one last smile, she calls up a massive barrier around the coral. It can't be penetrated without wearing her down first.]

[The smile almost makes him hesitate for a split second before he shakes it off. No, he cannot lose his resolve. His people need him, and he cannot allow himself to fail them a third time. Dhaos begins charging an attack. There is only so long a mage can continuously hold a spell, and he has had far, far longer to build his own reserves.]

[She can't fight him and win. She knows that - all she can do is protect the coral and hope to change his mind in time.]

Are you going to fight me, Dhaos?

[Her voice is soft, difficult to hear for any human but clear to both of them.]

I will not fight you. I will protect the coral, but I won't fight. Are you the sort of man that can strike down someone who will not fight back? Will you kill me over this?

[Slowly, she shakes her head.]

I do not think of you as a monster. I wouldn't have kept someone like that at my side all this time. So which is it? Are you a demon king or a man?

[The princess folds both hands in front of her, maintaining the barrier but not making an effort to do anything else.]

I believe you're a man.

[With no way to defend herself, they aren't hollow words - she's quite literally staking her life on it.]

[He is already half way through the spell, aiming at her as an answer to the question of if he will fight. Of course he will! He cannot help his people if he does not-

Her next words completely derail his thought process. Memories of a certain blond cleric - she had been about Zelda's age too, hadn't she? - creep to the front of his mind. She had tried to speak with him rather than attack as well. But the cleric ('Her name was Mint, his mind supplied) had only intended to delay what she had incorrectly thought to be her end. But Zelda...

Dhaos' hand begins to shake almost imperceptibly at the effort of holding the energy of his attack where it is.

...This was the second time she had told him he was not a monster...]

I...

[ Duke was not quite sure... why he'd even left the house. Maybe it was because Zelda had tried to work him out of the depression, maybe because he was thinking of finding another place - a place where he could be left alone to fade away properly.

But there's oddness going on about the coral - and even if his magic is very much not in his grasp, he thought something was ... possibly close to that oddness.

So when he blinks tiredly at the plaza, its a shock to find Zelda and Dhaos. Not just Zelda and Dhaos, but a spell that looks, physically, to be of Zelda's creation about the coral, and an a spell of Dhaos' creation ... pointed at Zelda.

So maybe he takes a bit to get over there, because he's tired and really hasn't been eating enough. But he'll stop between Dhaos and Zelda.

Dhaos will have to use that spell on Duke before he gets to hurt Zelda. ]

[The serenity she'd possessed moments before waiting for Dhaos to do as he would vanishes when Duke steps in front of her.]

Duke - Duke, please you might get hurt if you stand there...

[Duke shouldn't have to die because she's willing to take a gamble like this! It's just wrong!]

[Dhaos is briefly broken from his reverie by the appearance of Duke. He doesn't move, even as the other man stares him down. The scene feels almost...nostalgic to him. But where...?

It is Zelda's words that bring forth the memory again. That's right... That boy had tried to fight him to protect his cleric, hadn't he? At that time, she too had told him to leave it to her.

'...I see. So it is the same as then...'

Slowly, he lowers his hand, allowing the spell to fizzle into harmless particles of mana.]

...I yield. There will be no bloodshed tonight.

[If either of the other two are close enough, they may notice the last remnants of his nightmare accusing Dhaos of cowardice. He gives no outward reaction to this.]

[She's already got her hand on Duke to try and stop him when Dhaos speaks again.

Thank the goddesses.

Letting her shoulders sag, Zelda slowly lowers the barrier.]

Thank you...

[ Zelda, that hand would have been met with what resistance he could muster and still stand if she tried to move him.

As it is he drops out from under that fairly quickly - he's getting dizzy from being upright, taking up a seat on the ground. He wouldn't have made a good shield anyway. And honestly, Zelda, you should have known he'd try something like this. ]

[She was... thanking him? But...why?]

...I should be the one thanking you.

[He still has duties to fulfill here. Important duties that he cannot do elsewhere. Lloyd was likely to need a Rune Crest still, and... he had yet to teach these two to fly.

'Forgive me Karion... I almost allowed myself to do something you would surely have hated me for...' He doesn't voice this thought however.]

You didn't prove me wrong.

[She's not sure how she would have handled it if he had. What would she have done if he fired that blast? If he'd killed Duke? She might never have been able to forgive herself for taking that leap of faith if it had ended in someone else's death.

Zelda kneels by Duke, giving him a moment to rest before offering a hand out to him.]

Let's go home.

[It's spoken to both of them, if Dhaos will still accept it.]

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007 - Exile, Vilify

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