Closed Believe in this City (Savio and Xeona)

[Ireth Telemnar]

Ireth had been going to say something about her going to the Nykian Employment Office that morning. About how she was going to be making music in the streets of this strange city. About how she probably needed to learn appropriate songs for Nyka. She'd been just about to launch into a whole other topic, until...

"Syliras?" Her upper lip curled in innate disgust. "Why were you there? There's nothing there but filthy Knights of Sylir and enemies of my Lord Rhysol." Ireth halted her walk and tugged at Savio's hand to turn him around. Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

All her life she'd been raised to fear that, one day, Sylirian Knights would attempt to overrun her beautiful Rhysol and kidnap all the children and feed them to vicious monsters with huge teeth. Now that she was older, she knew that the monsters were simply stories, planted by her parents and watered by her teasing older brothers. But there was truth to the hatred of the Knights. They were the mirror-opposite of her city's Ebonstryfe, without honor or chivalry or truth. They were faithful only to was the memory of the dead god Sylir, a deity all Ravokians hated with gusto. Sylir had been bad blood, a god of misfortune and fear. Rhysol's triumph over the dead god was praised and sung about in her city, his greatest achievement.

Why would her lover have gone to such a city?

x

[Savio]

Savio frowned in both confusion and hurt. Rhysol? Well then… That made perfect sense. There had always been bad blood between Syliras and Ravok. Since his mother never really cared of Syliran politics, the biasness had never been fully ingrained in Savio’s psyche. His father on the other hand, hated Ravok and Rhysol worshipers with the passion almost close to that of a Knight. To Salvatore Cazzola, Ravok was the epitome of evil. A veritable temple to Rhysol himself. And from the events of last season, Savio couldn’t help but agree with his father on that. Rhysol had almost pushed Savio into raping and maiming his best friend. If a few whispered words could do that to him… What would have happened if Rhysol had really tried?

“Syliras is my home. I was born and raised there, and I don’t appreciate you calling our protectors ‘flithy'." Savio’s tone was hard, but not too angry. He was proud of his city, but he didn’t think it was a reason to get into an all-out fight about it unless she insisted on insulting it. “I might not worship Sylir like my father, but I was still raised with those ideals. I have no desire to argue over city pride, but I would be thankful if you did not insult my home and my people.” His grey eyes were locked onto Ireth’s blue ones. He really did care for the girl, so he didn’t want to risk fighting over something as silly as that. Though… It did bother him slightly that she worshiped Rhysol, the God of Evil, lies, and betrayal.

A part of him believed that the propaganda between the two cities was going to cause a problem for them in the future. He still remembered the tails his elders had told him of blood thirsty people who scarified children to their Wicked God. Everything they did or said was a lie and could not be trusted. Chances were that the mindset was mutual.

Boxcode by Edreina

[Ireth Telemnar]

That look of anguish upon Savio's face was enough to make Ireth's heart break. Her brows knit together in pain and thought. I'm in love with... a Sylirian? Her mind was a muddle of thoughts. The risk of upsetting her Lord versus the love of this man? Which did she value more? Why did she feel she had to value one over the other? Would she have to choose between them? Did she have to?

With a sigh, she reached up and caressed Savio's cheek. "I've always been told that Sylirians were brutes and pillagers. But here you are. You haven't hurt me, lied to me. You're not like what I was raised to fear. In fact, you're not like anyone I've ever met before." Ireth took that step forward and wrapped her arms around the courier's torso, resting her head against his chest.

"I... I think that I love you." She felt silly, felt like so many were walking around the couple and watching them. She wasn't going to care though, she didn't care. Her heart twisted inside her chest at the thought of Rhysol murmuring in disgust at her actions, but she didn't want to choose. She wanted to love her Lord and love Savio.

x

[Savio]

Savio could see the confusion in his lover’s eyes and it made him worry, but he found himself relaxing when she reached up and touched his face with her soft fingers. He leaned into her touch and even turned his face so he could kiss the palm of her hand. He wanted to offer comfort. He listened to her words, her explanation made sense since he had also been raised the same way.

She then rested her head on his chest, and Savio felt warm all. Then she said that she loved him. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest with the purest joy. He lifted her face by her chin so that he could kiss her deeply, not caring in the least bit who looked upon them. He loved her too. More than words in any language could describe.

Once he released her lips, he spoke against them while looking her directly in the eyes once more. He wanted to portray his fullest emotion and feeling to the young woman. “I know that I love you, Ireth. And I never want you to doubt that.” He then pressed his forehead against her’s as he wrapped his arms around her supple body. A body he was coming to know as well as his own. He could see a forever with her. The way she looked at him was the same way his mother looked at his father, and that just… It felt right.

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[Xeona]

As Xeona looked down at the crowd below him, he noticed not one, but two faces that caught his attention, Savio and Ireth. They went out together? This could be real interesting to watch. And he was right, this was interesting. Two things interested Xeona the most: the fact that they loved each other, and the other was that Ireth was searching for her aunt. The first will probably stick with Xeona forever, but the second was a bit more important at this moment.

Xeona decided to lend a hand, but not until he made a proper entrance. And he know just how... He went to a nearby corner, and materialized with a playful smile. "My, my, aren't you two just the cutest?" One can just say that the faces of the two were just plain priceless. "No need to act all surprised. I do believe you both know I show up when you least expect it." Xeona was real pleased with the reaction he was met with. Surprise with a hint of "What's-going-on?" Those reactions were just the best.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

There were voices calling out all over the city: friends to friends, mothers to children, merchants to passerby. But when Xeona's voice caught the wind, Ireth flinched hard, pushing herself against Savio and nearly knocking the two of them to the ground. Savio steadied them though, his training coming into play. Way to ruin the moment...

"Sorry, sorry!" She whispered to him before turning around to look for the owner of the voice. Her eyes were wide with fright, and she knew all the blood had run from her face. And...

Xeona.

After taking in the fact that it was the ghost who had startled them so, Ireth laughed. It was just like Xeona to show up at a moment like this!

Still laughing at herself, Ireth made to smack the ghost. She didn't actually, she hated the feeling of going through their bodies. "Xeona! You scoundrel! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What on earth are you up to today?"

Even though they had only just met a couple of days before, Xeona was quickly becoming a good friend of Ireth's. And she knew that him and Savio were quite the compadres. Ireth could just imagine the trouble that those two could get into together. Boys will be boys, even after they've passed on to the other side.

x

[Savio]

It caught Savio by surprised when he felt the sensation that a ghost was nearby but since meeting his deceased friend, Xeona, Savio had gotten used to the random comings and goings of the spirit. Ireth, on the other had not. When Xeo spoke, the girl had nearly jumped out of her skin and cling to Savio tightly. The young acrobat had to bite his lower lip to hold back the laughter the threatened to erupt from him. The startled expression on his lover’s face was priceless.

Savio then looked up from his beloved to search the crowd for Xeo, only to find the cocky ghost not too far away. “Good afternoon, Xeo. At least I know that you are staying out of trouble if you are here to pester us.” Savio replied with a wide grin. Since they first met last season, the two have become good friends. It also helped that they trained together quite often. Xeona would help Savio learn and understand Spritism and Savio would assist in what he could with the ghost’s training.

The two of them still had a long way to go before they could even remotely consider themselves good at what they did. But something the ghost had said finally clicked in Savio’s mind.

“Ah, the two of you have met before? Wonderful! It saves me having to give introductions!” He said with a chuckle.

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[Xeona]

Xeona chuckled to Savio before turning to Ireth with a somewhat serious look on his face. "Well, I was thinking about just sticking to one of my hobbies today, but after some... research, I heard there was a certain someone having a missing aunt around here." Xeona still talked in his little "trickster" voice, even with his attempt at looking serious.

Xeona flashed them both a quick smile and continued: "Oh yeah, and I'll try to not tell anyone." After exchanging some quick looks, he added: "You know what I'm talking about, don't try to hide it." If things would've looked differently, Xeona would have a hard time keeping it for himself. But he knew that Savio already knew something about him, so he kept his trap shut.

Boxcode by Savio

[Ireth Telemnar]

An'seri... There in the street with her ghost friend and Savio, Ireth spaced out in memory of her aunt. An'seri had been the younger sister and only sibling of Ireth's father, Zhidynach Telemnar. Ireth had met the woman twice before, when she had made the trip from Ravok to Nyka with her father and brothers. The last time she'd been here though had to have been nearly seven years ago, long before Zhidynach had died.

If she tried really hard, Ireth could picture her aunt in the deep reaches of her mind. An'seri had been bright and lively, fun to be around, and some sort of a craftsman by trade. Although she'd never married, she'd had a son. Ireth couldn't remember the first name of this cousin, but his surname had been Telemnar, just like Ireth and her brothers. Her cousin was older than Ireth by a couple of years, and fit in perfectly with her brothers and her when they came to call.

Zhidynach had doted on his sister. She was the one thing that might have prevented him from moving to Ravok all those years ago to marry Birine, Ireth's mother. But An'seri had insisted that Zhidynach get out of Nyka, to go see someplace new, even though the man had been a Nykian sailor and had seen more of the world than An'seri had ever dreamed of. He would laugh about An'seri often, telling Ireth stories about her being the only girl as well. And every time the Telemnars made the return trip to Ravok, they would carry a special present for Birine from An'seri, mementos from sister-in-law to sister-in-law even though they'd only met once.

Savio touched Ireth, bringing her back to the present. "Sorry. Xeona, you really think you can help me find my aunt? I have no clues to where she might be other than her name, An'seri Telemnar. She had a son, out of wedlock, that went by the name Telemnar as well, but I cannot recall his first name. My aunt... was some sort of a craftsman..." Ireth's brows furrowed as she struggled unsuccessfully to recall her cousin's name.

She looked up at Savio's face and smiled. "We'll find her. It'll be like an adventure." Taking his hand, she laughed. With these two troublemakers, there was no telling where they'd end up.

x

[Savio]

Savio’s face turned a deep shade of red as he rolled his eyes at the ghost. “I don’t know what you are trying to get at, Xeo. We were trying to hide something?” He said, doing his best to be dismissive as he nuzzled his face into Ireth’s soft hair. Savio’s attention was then caught once again by Ireth.

“Craftsman… Hm… Well, if I remember correctly, most of the Craftmen in this city are in in the eastern and western quarters. We can start there. It will help you get familiar with the city, right Ire?” He asked her, loosening his hold from around her middle so she could walk on her own. He couldn’t remember delivering to anyone by the last name of Telemnar, and he had been all over both of those quarters since working as a courier. Perhaps she got married to someone else and took on their last name? It was a possible scenario but he didn’t voice his option out loud just yet. It was going to be a long day indeed and he truly hoped that they would find this mysterious relative of Ireth’s before nightfall.

Boxcode by Edreina