[The Welcome Home] It all Burns Down (Dusk)

[Stitch]

The bright light flared, and Stitch threw up an arm, though it did little to actually shield his blind eyes. He saw something much more than normal people, and that was exactly what allowed him to see this particular Light... and it is what allowed him to see it so clearly. So brightly. So painfully. His arm and eyes flared to life in pain, stimulated by two completely different things. First, his skull exploded in agony, unable to handle what his Auristics was reading. But soon, even the agony that the Light brought began to fade, began to be replaced by his arm. Was was happening? He fell to his knees, his hand grabbing at his wounded arm, as if holding it would help ease the pain. Was it Overgiving? He had seen Kamalia do it with Reimancy... had he done it with the Flux? Was it only now kicking in? Was he going to lose his arm? Lava was flooding through his veins, and that pain was all he knew. The rest of the word faded away, and it was simply him, the Light, and the pain. His arm shivered and throbbed, veins popping out all over. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his mouth opened in a wordless scream... but nothing came out. The pain would not go away. The shout of agony would not come out. There was nothing else, and for a split second, he believed there would never be anything else. Then the voice. It was nirvana to his mind, slashing through the pain and the Light, delighting his senses wiht a soothing love. He absorbed all the words, took them all in, held onto them and clung to them, using them as a ship amongst the storm. Even as his body bowed, trembled, and shook, the blind man held onto the voice, afraid to lose focus. If he did, he felt he would drown in the pain, and that would be the end of him. One word stuck into his brain, triggering some distant memory. Konti. Why did he feel like he knew exactly who she was talking about? Why did the word bring up such a sense of... intimacy? And then suddenly, everything was gone. The Light was gone, the Pain was reduced to a simple throb, and Priskil was gone. Not completely, though. In wonder, Stitch stared upon the bright light that was on his hand, It was a very piece of Priskil herself, almost. It was shining with her light, with her purity, with her hope. With a trembling body, he rose the hand to his heart, remembering where Jilitse had touched him so many weeks ago. The minute his palm made contact with his skin, a knife cut through the dark hopelessness that shook his soul to the core, slashing away at layers of self-loathing and guilt to reveal something else deep inside. Hope. Stitch's head flickered up as Grace made the announcement, which only brought another wave of hope crashing upon him. All was not lost, as he had first imagined. There was still hope. In his hand, he would always hold Hope. He smiled at her, the first actual smile of the afternoon, a wide and loving smile. Turning as Aensya fell to her knees, he caught her, and pushed his right hand to her cheek, holding it, invoking the Mark on her as well. He sought to give her Hope, to push upon her the very Hope that he now held. It would only be a little bit, he knew... but it would be something. He didn't know how he knew to use the Mark... but he did. And for some reason, at this very moment, he wanted to go prancing around the court, placing his hand on everyone he could. Everyone needed true hope in this dark times. He could easily see several key figures within this very room that needed it right now.

[Dusk]

Aenysa looked up as he took her face in his hand, tears still streaming down her cheeks. But something changed in her eyes as he stared down at her - hope blossoming fuller, perhaps, than even she'd anticipated. She pushed herself off the floor and threw her arms around Stitch's neck, hugging him tightly. Then she pulled back and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Come back home," she whispered. A wave of Grace's hand had the knights who were escorting Stitch taking him back into custody, each one wrapping a gauntleted hand around his elbow and pulling him back to face the court. "Silence!" Grace called out, her voice cracking across the shrieking voices like a whip, and nodded with satisfaction as they fell away to mere whispers. "Now," she said, turning her attention back to Stitch. "You will also pay a fine of 100 gold pieces to the Kalanue family to cover the cost of healing as well as paying a fine of 300 gold pieces to the Knights as retribution for your crimes. Sers Callinough and Timis will escort you to the orphanage to gather your personal belongings and to pay the fine as ordered. You will have until sunset to settle your affairs, then they will bring you to the gates." Pale eyes turned down to the fuming Stewart Knight and her family, and something hardened in her face. "You," she said, pointing a finger, "will remain in the city for a fortnight. If any of you lay a hand on this man, you'll be stripped of your rank and brought before this council on charges, and we will not be merciful. If I hear that anyone has been sent after him by you, or that any harm has come to him by your words or deeds, the family entire will be charged with treason and conspiracy. The Council's word is final, and you would do well to remember that." There was a silent battle of wills as the two women stared at each other, the Knight's face twisted with rage, but after a few long moments Sonderalitha finally gave a grunt of acknowledgement and turned to storm out of the chambers, her children following behind her. Grace turned her attention back to Stitch and his guards, and nodded once more. "The gods watch your steps, and bring you back to the light," she murmured, and waved her dismissal even as the two knights began pulling Stitch away.

[Stitch]

His hand flared in a dim glow, and the girl responded, the hope flaring in her eyes. Stitch laughed out loud, delighted at the sight, pulling the glowing hand to his own heart once again. The second blessing of Hope was enough to shake his body, the blind man trembling on the spot. So enraptured was he by this new blessing, that he didn't even have time to react as Aenysa kissed him. He paused, the light flickering from his palm, his muscles tensing up, the blind man drawing back just a tad when he had managed to gather his mind enough to respond. A kiss pressed to his lips, the love in the simple gesture as plain as day. He eagerly kissed her back, pressing his lips closer to her own, wishing he could pour all the emotions he felt into that single show of affection. Sadrina laughed, pulling back, gasping for air, cupping Stitch's face with her hand. "There. That is how you kiss, Stitch." Darker emotions swirled to life within Stitch's hope, and desperately, he lit his Mark again, keeping it held close to his heart. Aenysa got no response, merely a slightly shocked expression, and the drawback. Before Stitch could get over the sudden shock of ancient memories, he was being tugged to his feet once again, turned to face the Council. He stood there, before them, but he was a slightly different man. He faced them full on, his head held high, his body standing tall and straight. He seemed more alive than he had been just moments before. He listened to her orders, and then waited until she had finished her business with the Steward Knight, making it a point not to even look in that direction. He could feel the Knight glaring at him, and her particular look could definitely kill. Only after she was completely done speaking, did he give a nod, and a quiet "Yes Ma'am." Then, he was led away. He would pay the fine as ordered, once he was led back to the Welcome Home, which held most of his funds. That same day, he would get a horse, and hire Jaeden to guide him to Taldera. It was a new chapter of his life.

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Stitch +3 Bodybuilding +2 Hand-to-Hand Combat: Martial Arts +2 Flux +2 Stealth +1 Running Lores: Losing Control, Conflict in the Knighthood, Religion (Priskil), The power of hope Other: First Gnosis mark: Luminance, -400 Gold Mizas Care to see more? : Pretty self explanatory, you got what you used here. Notes: A great thread, I loved reading through this. I was practically in tears for poor Stitch.