"I would agree with that," she says with a nod, "which is why I intend to make sure it fits properly before I let you run off with it. As for the other..."
Walking behind the table, Irhya closes her eyes for a moment and takes a breath. It's not intended to be suspenseful, not on purpose, but she didn't want to spoil things so soon, either. She moves the cloth off, and it is immediately apparent that, while not finished, it's definitely themed. Sharp-angled patterns like those that were once found on the floors of various buildings; helix-shaped spires like those that once rose high above the ground, under a clear sky unobscured by ocean water...
The edges are unfinished, still raw and not yet burnished, and it's missing several layers and fixatures, all because she's been taking her time on the tooling and inking. But it's still unmistakable in this state.
It was certainly easier to lure Elidibus in further than the workshop door. Had he seen this before, the tone would likely have been different. He might have gauged it better to stay Ardbert and 'ignorant' of the 'over-fancy showpiece'. But Irhya is watching him carefully as the cloth is pulled away. She'll have seen the brief tension in Ardbert's expression. The narrowed eyes and the way his form stills in a manner that would not have been characteristic in any way of the long-dead warrior.
Elidibus steps forward, his expression unreadable in the glance cast toward Irhya. Though he would call her Warrior of Light or Warrior of Darkness in his thoughts or others' company, his timeline had someone different cast in the role of Death Incarnate. For the first time, he could truly glimpse the creature she represented and toward that beast, the coldest of regard is given. And thus her answer is given certainty before he even speaks.
Elidibus isn't approaching her except by circumstance. He looks to draw closer to the revealed, half-finished saddle and she may just so happen to stand beside that same table still. A showpiece indeed. Inwardly he reluctantly admits this. This particular Warrior of Darkness certainly has the talent to capture a view.
A glove was removed. Elidibus raises bare fingers to touch a finished portion of the skyline's tooling. The sharp angles he saw in Emet-Selch's creation. Color against the desk catches his eye and so the fingers drop to the sheets which had been hidden under the same cloth as the saddle.
Design sketches. References. Something that hinted at what the finished showpiece would be. A colored sketch of a piece of Amaurot skyline under blue skies. As it might once have been and he can't remember.
For a moment, he considers whether he might have just felt hatred. No. Maybe. But still, how dare she.
Much of what was 'Ardbert' had left Elidibus' outward appearance as soon as he began to approach. Now it is all gone. Even the voice, though this time there is no bleed of two voices as if he didn't wait for the vocal cords to fully shift or if Irhya's Echo did not allow her to perceive the corporeal and the spirit speaking in tandem. Before had been Ardbert's familiar timbre. After, Elidibus, just as recognized.
"Your invitation is accepted, Warrior of Light." He won't call her of Darkness. It's best not to muster up his feelings toward that one right now. "Of what would you have me speak?"
Finally, the Emissary turns his back fully to the Amaurotine themed saddle, focusing his gaze solely on Irhya.
Her stomach does a twist. "I actually had been hoping you'd like it anyway," she admits wryly, shaking her head. "I guess not, huh."
Perhaps he's like Lahabrea at the end of the day, unwilling to consider her any more than an enemy who stands for everything he doesn't. Unfortunate, given how much of him has been stripped away to this point. She lets out a deep sigh, gripping the edge of the table.
"I think you misunderstand my intent. I'm not looking for a confrontation, or an explanation. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions for certain. If I've offended you in the process, I apologize."
Elidibus tilts his head to one side, studying Irhya for a moment. Disliked it? Not exactly. There is a sigh, which might surprise the miqo'te given her assumption. "I recognize you are capable enough at your craft to elegantly capture a scene while maintaining the object's functional use." He half turns so he can glance at the saddle and its design sketches. A short wave of his hand is cast in its direction. "But you would be better served speaking to Emet-Selch on matters of enjoyment."
It has a double meaning. Elidibus does not have a wide arrange of emotions and he doesn't remember the intended beauty of the scene. Look closely, as the Ascian looks again at the saddle and the images. One might see something like a failure to recognize that which should, by rights, be known. Blue skies? He could envision it if he bothered. But all he remembers is the reflection of Emet-Selch's creation, washed by the ever-shifting murk of a raging ocean.
He returns his gaze to Irhya. Once more devoid of any particular emotion, so alien to the features he had stolen and used as a powerful tool on the First. "Surely the Elidibus you knew was not so different from me? Did he seem like a man who could take joy such creations?" He leaves out the obvious addition. 'Much less from the Warrior of Darkness'. "I am not against using it if that were your concern. I will keep my end of the bargain."
Elidibus shakes his head and speaks in a resigned manner, "The illusion we maintained was bound to shatter sooner or later. But I have no desire to drag our battle to this Star. You need not grip your table so tightly." Of course, he noticed that. But his comment would likely have remained the same regardless of Irhya's insistence that he misunderstood.
"And now you have your confirmation. You need not apologize. A somewhat naive effort but I have no reason to judge you for it." Something like mild curiosity and keen interest expresses itself in the Ascian's gaze. He's... surprisingly calm for the Elidibus he suggests the miqo'te should consider as an example, isn't he? Whom he's almost certain, from Lahabrea's reactions, is in much the same state as himself. "And this is where you wish to end this matter? A confirmation," The Emissary speaks with no malice, only patience. "...and nothing more? No questions? No conversation?"
It's just sad, isn't it? To look upon it and think he feels nothing.
"Well..." She glances to the side. "I didn't think you were the type to do that, not like Lahabrea. And I don't want to fight you here, either." Despite his keen eye for what her hands are doing, much to her chagrin, she doesn't let go of the table. But how can she engage a half-empty vessel in a friendship? Perhaps as long as he's willing to be civil...
"I don't care if it's foolish; I'd still help you if you needed it. I made that offer for you to stay the first time we met knowing full well you could be someone other than you appear."
When Irhya separates 'the type to do that' from 'not wanting to fight', something like a puzzled frown is drawn from Elidibus. "Exactly what are you proposing Lahabrea is doing wrong?" There were a few things there. That Lahabrea would enjoy seeing a good creation compared to Elidibus is certainly true, though there is a reason Elidibus suggested Emet-Selch over the Speaker.
"Or do you feel he is not one to keep bargains?" Though when that would have ever come up is beyond the Emissary's knowledge. There was no reason for the Scions or Lahabrea to ever trust one another enough for a bargain. There may have been something else the miqo'te refers to and he'll certainly give room for her to answer.
But one last thing he asks of her in that strange, calm state. "You seem disappointed in my brethren. Given you are the Warrior of Light Lahabrea knows, do you truly find it unfair of him to have any negative reaction? In particular, should you have approached him here in the same way you no doubt approached the 'me' of your time?" He hasn't asked about Lahabrea's interactions with his Warrior of Light in detail. But it can't have gone well if she had thrown understanding and sympathy at his feet.
When he first approached her here. Indeed she had every right to be suspicious. Even if Elidibus himself hadn't recognized her, she had every reason to know about who he could have been. Had been fooled (or chosen to be fooled), just as he had by an illusion that just as well might have been an uneasy truce.
After having given ample time for his prior words to be addressed, Elidibus concludes, "You'll... help?" For a moment, he seems bemused, as though he isn't sure what he's hearing. He's not sneering. But he does intentionally give way to his host's normal voice for a moment, "Curious. No demands I stop pretending to be Ardbert? To give back his corpse?"
The next time he speaks, he'll do so with the carefully mimicked tones of his true self. This was just a test to see whether Irhya would flinch on hearing 'Ardbert', now that she's sure.
"I... No, I suppose he does have that right. I only take issue with the murderous intent at this point. Though if you're suggesting practicality is the ticket, I'll... have to consider it."
He did, after all, refrain from lifting a finger at her during the dreamscape. Lahabrea still honors his word, no matter how degraded his conscience may have become. The problem is obtaining it. And, well... perhaps she did go about it wrong, but there's inevitably going to be a glass ceiling to how much she can win his trust without swearing herself to Zodiark.
(Ah, but here she is, caught in the middle yet again...)
Her visage flickers when he dons Ardbert's voice again, eyes narrowing as she shifts her weight. "But if you do that, it will require you to take a different vessel. And that's not even including the ways the rules here differ from back home. So as much as I don't like it... I would also not compromise anyone else here, particularly someone who's still using their body."
Besides, she would sooner lay him to rest on the First, where he belongs.
The corner of the Emissary's mouth lifts knowingly. So she flinched.
"A vessel need not be alive," Elidibus reminds Irhya. Case in point, his current host. No indication is given on what he might still be capable of. He either sees no reason to reveal his cards so easily or confirm anything Emet-Selch might have already told the Warrior of Light. "But no matter. I have cultivated my identity as 'Ardbert' here and have little interest in beginning again. Do you now understand what it means to be willing to 'help me', Warrior of Light? Can you keep yourself from flinching any time you hear me speak with his voice?"
Can Irhya accept him interacting with those she knows and loves as 'Ardbert'?
Elidibus seems to be considering the matter of suggestion and murderous intent. Whether to discuss and give pointers. It seems he decides something must be said on the matter and so, with the same calm air he offers.
"What I suggest is that you think back upon your... confrontations with Lahabrea upon this Star." It's a blanket word, that. It would likely belittle the moments between the Warrior of Light and Lahabrea to call them less than a confrontation. "Consider whether you might have applied your..." naive he refrains from saying "...mortal comparisons to one of his stature."
Keenly, the Ascian regards Irhya. "You were not so foolish as to blithely dismiss his transformation based on your own experience and acceptance, I hope?"
"Of course not," Irhya says immediately. "Believe me, I know full well it sucks to have drawn the short straw. Hells, for an Ascian, it probably sucks either way."
She's utterly unconcerned with the crude language in his presence, as usual. Picked up from other Mirrorbound, more like than not. She'll have to try and discern later if she has anything of worth to him to perhaps try and force a truce with.
As for Ardbert, working against him does her no good in this case. He's going to do it even if she complains, and to go behind his back and tell everyone he's an Ascian using the identity of a dead man would be counterproductive, to say the least. She stares at him for a while, evaluating.
Well, it beats him picking up the ashes of Morgana's body. Somehow.
"That depends." She turns and walks to the corner of the table, closer to him. "Can I trust you not to do him a massive disservice by your actions? It isn't my preferred outcome, no, but if I must compromise, this is as close as I'll get."
Ah yes. Wouldn't that be something? If upon death, the Ascians still retained their ability to take another host, even one that was but ashes and create another body to be stuck in? Frightening really if they could; just take the ability and memories of some very accomplished Witch that suits their needs. Fortunately, the city is unlikely to allow that and even if Elidibus was aware at this time, he wouldn't share that little tidbit. Let any mortal who might understand his nature wonder.
Crude language isn't something he particularly cares about. Physical aggression would be and there's none here. Irhya's answer is given a nod in acceptance. "I won't advise you much in regards to your encounters and relations with Lahabrea. Mayhap there is nothing you or he say to one another that won't end with anger. Yet I would avoid any suggestion that understanding you now have of our history is sufficient to understand us. Or to sympathize. Instead, if you would have Lahabrea speak of the conflict of our star, perhaps you ought not to do anything but listen rather than provoke a response."
Listen? Well, it's not as though Elidibus is asking Irhya side with them on the matter. Or even swear loyalty to Zodiark. One can listen to theology and not have to convert to do so. Though whether Lahabrea will readily speak on any matter regarding their past, one can only hope for a miracle on that matter. Particularly if one is not supposed to be... provocative about it.
Ah of course, there would be a demand for compromise. Elidibus certainly desires to sigh again, but he refrains from doing so. She approaches him and he does not move. There is no malicious intent gauged. And he does acknowledge some reason exists in her words, even if they are a bit naive in structure.
"Trust, is it?" What an interesting term to use between the two of them. "What you can trust, Warrior of Light, is that it is in my interest to maintain this identity. The value of being seen as a 'good man' far outweighs any desire of being known for what I truly am. Have I not once spoke on the value of useful tools to you?" Perhaps not 'him', but the other Elidibus. He likely refers to that.
"And as unpleasant as it no doubt is for you to hear of me to speak of 'Ardbert' as a tool, I suspect you would find more comfort in this truth than you would if I made such a promise on the vague nature of avoiding a 'massive disservice'."
It is, after all, more fitting to see Elidibus this way, is it not? The Ascian looks at Irhya intently. "There is no need for 'compromise' here, Warrior of Light. Only your choice and conviction in seeing it through. I hold you no more hostage than you do me. Since the day we first met here, I made plans for this inevitable revelation."
It was, after all, always a matter of when it happened, to him. Possibly to both of them.
Hellfire. There's a small seed of desire for her to lash out, to lose her temper and ask why she has to give ground like this when he evidently doesn't. It doesn't show, but she feels it, like the barest flicker of a candle.
"Even though I know you'd sooner say that than lie through your teeth, it doesn't make me feel any better." She leans her weight forward, looking him in the eye defiantly. "But I'm not asking you for much more than you've already been doing. You originated the damn concept -- at least humor me on this."
Irhya bites her lip hard, and it shows. "Can I keep myself from flinching? Eventually, sure. Do I understand that by not cutting you down, I'll inevitably help further your goals? Well, it's the same with Emet-Selch, and we've been through even more here on top of what happened on the First. And I get that a promise like that might be hollow coming from you, but..."
She clenches her teeth and smacks her fist on the table. What isn't immediately clear is that it's not merely the idea of helping an Ascian maintain a flagrant lie that's upsetting to her. Maybe any appeal to his emotions is null and void, but damn it, she has to try. Better than having to kill him again and end a long, lonely fight.
Elidibus would absolutely lie through his teeth if it was perceived to be the better decision to make at that moment. If Irhya wants to believe otherwise, he won't dissuade her.
Briefly, the Ascian narrows his eyes. "Oh yes. He did learn that." Elidibus sighs while closing his eyes. "I suppose I should consider the same of you." It's a hint that the Emissary does still see Irhya as somewhat... separate to the one Warrior of Darkness he's connected to in his time. Which is probably for the best.
But there is some frustration that least into his words. Once again his eyes snap open. "Think! I know you are capable of it," Elidibus collects himself, though his words are given no less strength. "You wanted to bear the burden of truth." The Emissary turns enough to sweep his hand toward the ornate saddle and its finished design. This whole meeting was designed to expose him, clumsy though it might have been by an Ascian's standards. "Only to beg me to pull the veil of illusion once more across your eyes by making a hollow promise?" By her own words at that.
"I think not. What do you really want, Warrior of Light? Irhya?" Elidibus stresses her name. Not maliciously or condescendingly. As if he were talking to the person. "You are aware I can acceptably fulfill the role." He is the first Warrior of Light. He has been others, stood with them, taught them. "The battle waiting for us is not here in this prison. The only matter for us to consider here is survival and escape. It is not I who am unwilling to compromise, here."
He will maintain the guise of 'Ardbert'. Or at least what's sufficient for this world. There really shouldn't be any worry about it. Elidibus can't be the real Ardbert, but he certainly can play the role of a Warrior of Light.
He is willing to not play out their battle to save the world here, though the Warrior of Light before him seems to grasp at straws as if it were some sacrifice that she likewise hold back. One might argue that he's leaving out the notion that it would be 'useful' for either side if the Unsundered or the Warrior of Light remains imprisoned. But that's hardly a thing to bring up and not sound even more threatening.
Not to mention, with these twisting possibilities of Time, utterly fruitless for one's own world. Somewhere, the Warrior of Light is saved from the brink and succeeds in preventing the Eighth Umbral Calamity. Elsewhere they fall.
So yes, Elidibus is aware Irhya is holding something back, that this anger of hers is about something she's not saying. It is a sign he has some small hope for the Source's Warrior of Light, that he was frustrated by her foolish, mortal efforts to try and hide it by pretending she wished to hide her head in the dirt. Here! In front of him.
Her shoulders tighten. Damn it, this is why they don't let her try to negotiate anything. To argue it further just makes her sound like she's angry that everything isn't organized in a way she approves of.
Bloody hell, sometimes she hates her own temper. Her nails scrape the wood of the table as she curls them inward.
"Fine. Not like I want to go to the trouble of spreading ill rumors about you, anyway."
Curt and definitely not making eye contact. It'd be useless to ask him if he understands how she feels, though, not when he feels so little anymore. She turns her back to him and saunters back around the other side of the table.
"I'll keep working on this, at any rate. Maybe someday, it will remind you of something more pleasant."
Elidibus closes his eyes and sighs. It's audible even though Irhya retreats. Is that disappointment? Perhaps. But it is also resignation.
"It seems for now I too must ask no more about the matter," the Ascian answers when Irhya pointedly does not answer his question. "For now."
It seems it will only be a short reprieve. He has no way of knowing why the miqo'te Warrior of Light is refusing to explain what's really on her mind. She may well be right, that Elidibus would not comprehend such an explanation. And there's every right to expect that it may anger him to suggest she 'knows' him.
Perhaps if he ever grasps hold of some emotions he is willing to keep, then one day...
But for now, Elidibus watches Irhya move around the room. "Memories are fleeting. I know not why there is such insistence that I may somehow find 'joy' in the reminder." His voice has taken on a cadence which suggests he's speaking in half-rhetoric. And although he does not clarify, it is not just Irhya's insistence he speaks of.
With a little more focus and this time to the miqo'te, Elidibus then suggests, "If you wish to remain here, I will see to the saddle's fitting." Oh yes, there is still that, isn't there. "I will inform you if there is aught which does not fit Filia." He turns and walks toward the finished saddle, meaning to pick it up. Well, the opportunity is given, should Irhya wish to be alone.
"I do still suggest you show Emet-Selch your work. He may well appreciate the homage to his creation." Or maybe not. Sometimes it's hard to tell with the prickly Architect.
A few harsh words touch the tip of her tongue, but she manages not to unleash them. For now, as he says. She leans forward, dipping her head down, and waves a hand at him in a suspiciously Emet-like gesture.
"Do as you will." Maybe it is a worthy idea to show him the saddle, if only to pester him for more information she can actually do something with. His memories of Elidibus won't help when the man himself does not actually remember any of it, and has probably lost a great deal of his personality in the process of forgetting.
As he takes the finished saddle, she picks her head up and says one more thing in parting as he reaches the door. "Someday, I might be able to speak more about it. But today is not that day."
That was certainly familiar. But Elidibus knows Bonded share emotions and dreams, in a manner of speaking. Is it really a stretch to think mannerisms might leak across? Well, it's something to ponder over. Imagine if Lahabrea started to pick up Elidibus's habitual... ticks.
Come to think of it, would anything really change? A calm, still, and somewhat stoic Lahabrea? Elidibus can't imagine the comparison. He shakes his head free of such strange imaginings.
For now, he is content to depart, though pauses at the door when Irhya calls after him. The Ascian looks over his shoulder with a hint of interest. "I will be waiting to hear what you have to say, then," he answers in acceptance. He has plenty of time to wait, or so he is in habit of believing. What are a few centuries... ah, but does Irhya have time? He'll have to remember to look into the 'lifespan' of the vampires.
He leaves. And proves competent enough to fit saddle and bridle to not need help with that. The measurements done in a previous meeting have proved sound and while Irhya may be called out to see the final fit for the sake of satisfaction, it is probably a short and businesslike exchange.
What price remains to be paid is exchanged and Elidibus takes advantage of the newly saddled Filia to ride quickly out of sight. If no one else might be satisfied, at least the amaro looks happy. An excellent fit saddle and finally being able to trot along at a pace that isn't to match a hyur's walking speed. What more can be wanted out of life at that moment?
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Walking behind the table, Irhya closes her eyes for a moment and takes a breath. It's not intended to be suspenseful, not on purpose, but she didn't want to spoil things so soon, either. She moves the cloth off, and it is immediately apparent that, while not finished, it's definitely themed. Sharp-angled patterns like those that were once found on the floors of various buildings; helix-shaped spires like those that once rose high above the ground, under a clear sky unobscured by ocean water...
The edges are unfinished, still raw and not yet burnished, and it's missing several layers and fixatures, all because she's been taking her time on the tooling and inking. But it's still unmistakable in this state.
She glances up at him, expectant. "So...?"
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Elidibus steps forward, his expression unreadable in the glance cast toward Irhya. Though he would call her Warrior of Light or Warrior of Darkness in his thoughts or others' company, his timeline had someone different cast in the role of Death Incarnate. For the first time, he could truly glimpse the creature she represented and toward that beast, the coldest of regard is given. And thus her answer is given certainty before he even speaks.
Elidibus isn't approaching her except by circumstance. He looks to draw closer to the revealed, half-finished saddle and she may just so happen to stand beside that same table still. A showpiece indeed. Inwardly he reluctantly admits this. This particular Warrior of Darkness certainly has the talent to capture a view.
A glove was removed. Elidibus raises bare fingers to touch a finished portion of the skyline's tooling. The sharp angles he saw in Emet-Selch's creation. Color against the desk catches his eye and so the fingers drop to the sheets which had been hidden under the same cloth as the saddle.
Design sketches. References. Something that hinted at what the finished showpiece would be. A colored sketch of a piece of Amaurot skyline under blue skies. As it might once have been and he can't remember.
For a moment, he considers whether he might have just felt hatred. No. Maybe. But still, how dare she.
Much of what was 'Ardbert' had left Elidibus' outward appearance as soon as he began to approach. Now it is all gone. Even the voice, though this time there is no bleed of two voices as if he didn't wait for the vocal cords to fully shift or if Irhya's Echo did not allow her to perceive the corporeal and the spirit speaking in tandem. Before had been Ardbert's familiar timbre. After, Elidibus, just as recognized.
"Your invitation is accepted, Warrior of Light." He won't call her of Darkness. It's best not to muster up his feelings toward that one right now. "Of what would you have me speak?"
Finally, the Emissary turns his back fully to the Amaurotine themed saddle, focusing his gaze solely on Irhya.
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Perhaps he's like Lahabrea at the end of the day, unwilling to consider her any more than an enemy who stands for everything he doesn't. Unfortunate, given how much of him has been stripped away to this point. She lets out a deep sigh, gripping the edge of the table.
"I think you misunderstand my intent. I'm not looking for a confrontation, or an explanation. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions for certain. If I've offended you in the process, I apologize."
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It has a double meaning. Elidibus does not have a wide arrange of emotions and he doesn't remember the intended beauty of the scene. Look closely, as the Ascian looks again at the saddle and the images. One might see something like a failure to recognize that which should, by rights, be known. Blue skies? He could envision it if he bothered. But all he remembers is the reflection of Emet-Selch's creation, washed by the ever-shifting murk of a raging ocean.
He returns his gaze to Irhya. Once more devoid of any particular emotion, so alien to the features he had stolen and used as a powerful tool on the First. "Surely the Elidibus you knew was not so different from me? Did he seem like a man who could take joy such creations?" He leaves out the obvious addition. 'Much less from the Warrior of Darkness'. "I am not against using it if that were your concern. I will keep my end of the bargain."
Elidibus shakes his head and speaks in a resigned manner, "The illusion we maintained was bound to shatter sooner or later. But I have no desire to drag our battle to this Star. You need not grip your table so tightly." Of course, he noticed that. But his comment would likely have remained the same regardless of Irhya's insistence that he misunderstood.
"And now you have your confirmation. You need not apologize. A somewhat naive effort but I have no reason to judge you for it." Something like mild curiosity and keen interest expresses itself in the Ascian's gaze. He's... surprisingly calm for the Elidibus he suggests the miqo'te should consider as an example, isn't he? Whom he's almost certain, from Lahabrea's reactions, is in much the same state as himself. "And this is where you wish to end this matter? A confirmation," The Emissary speaks with no malice, only patience. "...and nothing more? No questions? No conversation?"
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"Well..." She glances to the side. "I didn't think you were the type to do that, not like Lahabrea. And I don't want to fight you here, either." Despite his keen eye for what her hands are doing, much to her chagrin, she doesn't let go of the table. But how can she engage a half-empty vessel in a friendship? Perhaps as long as he's willing to be civil...
"I don't care if it's foolish; I'd still help you if you needed it. I made that offer for you to stay the first time we met knowing full well you could be someone other than you appear."
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"Or do you feel he is not one to keep bargains?" Though when that would have ever come up is beyond the Emissary's knowledge. There was no reason for the Scions or Lahabrea to ever trust one another enough for a bargain. There may have been something else the miqo'te refers to and he'll certainly give room for her to answer.
But one last thing he asks of her in that strange, calm state. "You seem disappointed in my brethren. Given you are the Warrior of Light Lahabrea knows, do you truly find it unfair of him to have any negative reaction? In particular, should you have approached him here in the same way you no doubt approached the 'me' of your time?" He hasn't asked about Lahabrea's interactions with his Warrior of Light in detail. But it can't have gone well if she had thrown understanding and sympathy at his feet.
When he first approached her here. Indeed she had every right to be suspicious. Even if Elidibus himself hadn't recognized her, she had every reason to know about who he could have been. Had been fooled (or chosen to be fooled), just as he had by an illusion that just as well might have been an uneasy truce.
After having given ample time for his prior words to be addressed, Elidibus concludes, "You'll... help?" For a moment, he seems bemused, as though he isn't sure what he's hearing. He's not sneering. But he does intentionally give way to his host's normal voice for a moment, "Curious. No demands I stop pretending to be Ardbert? To give back his corpse?"
The next time he speaks, he'll do so with the carefully mimicked tones of his true self. This was just a test to see whether Irhya would flinch on hearing 'Ardbert', now that she's sure.
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He did, after all, refrain from lifting a finger at her during the dreamscape. Lahabrea still honors his word, no matter how degraded his conscience may have become. The problem is obtaining it. And, well... perhaps she did go about it wrong, but there's inevitably going to be a glass ceiling to how much she can win his trust without swearing herself to Zodiark.
(Ah, but here she is, caught in the middle yet again...)
Her visage flickers when he dons Ardbert's voice again, eyes narrowing as she shifts her weight. "But if you do that, it will require you to take a different vessel. And that's not even including the ways the rules here differ from back home. So as much as I don't like it... I would also not compromise anyone else here, particularly someone who's still using their body."
Besides, she would sooner lay him to rest on the First, where he belongs.
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"A vessel need not be alive," Elidibus reminds Irhya. Case in point, his current host. No indication is given on what he might still be capable of. He either sees no reason to reveal his cards so easily or confirm anything Emet-Selch might have already told the Warrior of Light. "But no matter. I have cultivated my identity as 'Ardbert' here and have little interest in beginning again. Do you now understand what it means to be willing to 'help me', Warrior of Light? Can you keep yourself from flinching any time you hear me speak with his voice?"
Can Irhya accept him interacting with those she knows and loves as 'Ardbert'?
Elidibus seems to be considering the matter of suggestion and murderous intent. Whether to discuss and give pointers. It seems he decides something must be said on the matter and so, with the same calm air he offers.
"What I suggest is that you think back upon your... confrontations with Lahabrea upon this Star." It's a blanket word, that. It would likely belittle the moments between the Warrior of Light and Lahabrea to call them less than a confrontation. "Consider whether you might have applied your..." naive he refrains from saying "...mortal comparisons to one of his stature."
Keenly, the Ascian regards Irhya. "You were not so foolish as to blithely dismiss his transformation based on your own experience and acceptance, I hope?"
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She's utterly unconcerned with the crude language in his presence, as usual. Picked up from other Mirrorbound, more like than not. She'll have to try and discern later if she has anything of worth to him to perhaps try and force a truce with.
As for Ardbert, working against him does her no good in this case. He's going to do it even if she complains, and to go behind his back and tell everyone he's an Ascian using the identity of a dead man would be counterproductive, to say the least. She stares at him for a while, evaluating.
Well, it beats him picking up the ashes of Morgana's body. Somehow.
"That depends." She turns and walks to the corner of the table, closer to him. "Can I trust you not to do him a massive disservice by your actions? It isn't my preferred outcome, no, but if I must compromise, this is as close as I'll get."
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Crude language isn't something he particularly cares about. Physical aggression would be and there's none here. Irhya's answer is given a nod in acceptance. "I won't advise you much in regards to your encounters and relations with Lahabrea. Mayhap there is nothing you or he say to one another that won't end with anger. Yet I would avoid any suggestion that understanding you now have of our history is sufficient to understand us. Or to sympathize. Instead, if you would have Lahabrea speak of the conflict of our star, perhaps you ought not to do anything but listen rather than provoke a response."
Listen? Well, it's not as though Elidibus is asking Irhya side with them on the matter. Or even swear loyalty to Zodiark. One can listen to theology and not have to convert to do so. Though whether Lahabrea will readily speak on any matter regarding their past, one can only hope for a miracle on that matter. Particularly if one is not supposed to be... provocative about it.
Ah of course, there would be a demand for compromise. Elidibus certainly desires to sigh again, but he refrains from doing so. She approaches him and he does not move. There is no malicious intent gauged. And he does acknowledge some reason exists in her words, even if they are a bit naive in structure.
"Trust, is it?" What an interesting term to use between the two of them. "What you can trust, Warrior of Light, is that it is in my interest to maintain this identity. The value of being seen as a 'good man' far outweighs any desire of being known for what I truly am. Have I not once spoke on the value of useful tools to you?" Perhaps not 'him', but the other Elidibus. He likely refers to that.
"And as unpleasant as it no doubt is for you to hear of me to speak of 'Ardbert' as a tool, I suspect you would find more comfort in this truth than you would if I made such a promise on the vague nature of avoiding a 'massive disservice'."
It is, after all, more fitting to see Elidibus this way, is it not? The Ascian looks at Irhya intently. "There is no need for 'compromise' here, Warrior of Light. Only your choice and conviction in seeing it through. I hold you no more hostage than you do me. Since the day we first met here, I made plans for this inevitable revelation."
It was, after all, always a matter of when it happened, to him. Possibly to both of them.
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"Even though I know you'd sooner say that than lie through your teeth, it doesn't make me feel any better." She leans her weight forward, looking him in the eye defiantly. "But I'm not asking you for much more than you've already been doing. You originated the damn concept -- at least humor me on this."
Irhya bites her lip hard, and it shows. "Can I keep myself from flinching? Eventually, sure. Do I understand that by not cutting you down, I'll inevitably help further your goals? Well, it's the same with Emet-Selch, and we've been through even more here on top of what happened on the First. And I get that a promise like that might be hollow coming from you, but..."
She clenches her teeth and smacks her fist on the table. What isn't immediately clear is that it's not merely the idea of helping an Ascian maintain a flagrant lie that's upsetting to her. Maybe any appeal to his emotions is null and void, but damn it, she has to try. Better than having to kill him again and end a long, lonely fight.
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Briefly, the Ascian narrows his eyes. "Oh yes. He did learn that." Elidibus sighs while closing his eyes. "I suppose I should consider the same of you." It's a hint that the Emissary does still see Irhya as somewhat... separate to the one Warrior of Darkness he's connected to in his time. Which is probably for the best.
But there is some frustration that least into his words. Once again his eyes snap open. "Think! I know you are capable of it," Elidibus collects himself, though his words are given no less strength. "You wanted to bear the burden of truth." The Emissary turns enough to sweep his hand toward the ornate saddle and its finished design. This whole meeting was designed to expose him, clumsy though it might have been by an Ascian's standards. "Only to beg me to pull the veil of illusion once more across your eyes by making a hollow promise?" By her own words at that.
"I think not. What do you really want, Warrior of Light? Irhya?" Elidibus stresses her name. Not maliciously or condescendingly. As if he were talking to the person. "You are aware I can acceptably fulfill the role." He is the first Warrior of Light. He has been others, stood with them, taught them. "The battle waiting for us is not here in this prison. The only matter for us to consider here is survival and escape. It is not I who am unwilling to compromise, here."
He will maintain the guise of 'Ardbert'. Or at least what's sufficient for this world. There really shouldn't be any worry about it. Elidibus can't be the real Ardbert, but he certainly can play the role of a Warrior of Light.
He is willing to not play out their battle to save the world here, though the Warrior of Light before him seems to grasp at straws as if it were some sacrifice that she likewise hold back. One might argue that he's leaving out the notion that it would be 'useful' for either side if the Unsundered or the Warrior of Light remains imprisoned. But that's hardly a thing to bring up and not sound even more threatening.
Not to mention, with these twisting possibilities of Time, utterly fruitless for one's own world. Somewhere, the Warrior of Light is saved from the brink and succeeds in preventing the Eighth Umbral Calamity. Elsewhere they fall.
So yes, Elidibus is aware Irhya is holding something back, that this anger of hers is about something she's not saying. It is a sign he has some small hope for the Source's Warrior of Light, that he was frustrated by her foolish, mortal efforts to try and hide it by pretending she wished to hide her head in the dirt. Here! In front of him.
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Bloody hell, sometimes she hates her own temper. Her nails scrape the wood of the table as she curls them inward.
"Fine. Not like I want to go to the trouble of spreading ill rumors about you, anyway."
Curt and definitely not making eye contact. It'd be useless to ask him if he understands how she feels, though, not when he feels so little anymore. She turns her back to him and saunters back around the other side of the table.
"I'll keep working on this, at any rate. Maybe someday, it will remind you of something more pleasant."
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"It seems for now I too must ask no more about the matter," the Ascian answers when Irhya pointedly does not answer his question. "For now."
It seems it will only be a short reprieve. He has no way of knowing why the miqo'te Warrior of Light is refusing to explain what's really on her mind. She may well be right, that Elidibus would not comprehend such an explanation. And there's every right to expect that it may anger him to suggest she 'knows' him.
Perhaps if he ever grasps hold of some emotions he is willing to keep, then one day...
But for now, Elidibus watches Irhya move around the room. "Memories are fleeting. I know not why there is such insistence that I may somehow find 'joy' in the reminder." His voice has taken on a cadence which suggests he's speaking in half-rhetoric. And although he does not clarify, it is not just Irhya's insistence he speaks of.
With a little more focus and this time to the miqo'te, Elidibus then suggests, "If you wish to remain here, I will see to the saddle's fitting." Oh yes, there is still that, isn't there. "I will inform you if there is aught which does not fit Filia." He turns and walks toward the finished saddle, meaning to pick it up. Well, the opportunity is given, should Irhya wish to be alone.
"I do still suggest you show Emet-Selch your work. He may well appreciate the homage to his creation." Or maybe not. Sometimes it's hard to tell with the prickly Architect.
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"Do as you will." Maybe it is a worthy idea to show him the saddle, if only to pester him for more information she can actually do something with. His memories of Elidibus won't help when the man himself does not actually remember any of it, and has probably lost a great deal of his personality in the process of forgetting.
As he takes the finished saddle, she picks her head up and says one more thing in parting as he reaches the door. "Someday, I might be able to speak more about it. But today is not that day."
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Come to think of it, would anything really change? A calm, still, and somewhat stoic Lahabrea? Elidibus can't imagine the comparison. He shakes his head free of such strange imaginings.
For now, he is content to depart, though pauses at the door when Irhya calls after him. The Ascian looks over his shoulder with a hint of interest. "I will be waiting to hear what you have to say, then," he answers in acceptance. He has plenty of time to wait, or so he is in habit of believing. What are a few centuries... ah, but does Irhya have time? He'll have to remember to look into the 'lifespan' of the vampires.
He leaves. And proves competent enough to fit saddle and bridle to not need help with that. The measurements done in a previous meeting have proved sound and while Irhya may be called out to see the final fit for the sake of satisfaction, it is probably a short and businesslike exchange.
What price remains to be paid is exchanged and Elidibus takes advantage of the newly saddled Filia to ride quickly out of sight. If no one else might be satisfied, at least the amaro looks happy. An excellent fit saddle and finally being able to trot along at a pace that isn't to match a hyur's walking speed. What more can be wanted out of life at that moment?