Completed Set in Stone [Tydus Tempest]

[Ragdoll]

31 Spring 514 AV
Riverfall Docks

Aedre Tempest considered herself to be a patient woman, all things considered. When dealing with the shenanigans of several young men and women in a large Svefra pod, one had to be patient, and that particular lesson had carried over very well from her time at sea. But this newest customer was very close to pushing the blonde woman over her limits-there was not a single detail on the boat that had been up to his standards the first time, even though there was nothing wrong with some of the supposed 'flaws'! The sails were not slightly lopsided on the small catamaran she was working on, they were perfectly sized, and she'd measured the cloth three times before she'd cut it.

The last shreds of her fraying patience for the man commissioning the boat from her began to wear even thinner when Aedre attached the same sails back to the boat and her customer said they looked much better. It took her several deep breaths back in her workshed to calm down.

At that point, the blonde Svefra decided she'd had enough of the catamaran for the day. He was paying her well for the project, and it wouldn't kill her to take a short break from the painstaking placing and re-adjusting of the tiniest details on the vessel before resuming work on it. Aedre's deadline wasn't until the 50th of Spring, anyway. She most certainly had time for a brief walk around the docks and several lungfuls of salty sea air.

Her walk was quiet and resigned, that of a woman trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. This was a gait that Aedre had only adopted with the devastation of her Pod and her vows. She had nothing left without the ocean, her work as a shipwright the last tie to her previous life that she still had. Sooner or later, she knew she would need to figure out a way to cope...but until then, this quiet existence suited her well enough.

Light footsteps stopped a good many yards away from her workshop, ending at a desolate area of the dock that looked out over the water. Aedre missed the life of a Svefra, but the loss of the expansive mark of Oceanus that once adorned her upper back proved that she was not good enough to live a sailor's life. Laviku gave, and when he did, he gave wonderful things. But Laviku could also take away these marvelous gifts, and the loss of her mark was a sign.

The Tempest woman sat down on the edge of the dock, bare feet used to the splinters of working constantly on wooden platforms dangling mere inches from the surface of the water.

[Tydus Tempest]

Bells were growing longer, ever looming and slow in their ascent as the date of Tydus and Kel's expedition into the realm of the sea, into the tapestry of Laviku's glory approached. The two had resolved to leave whether the Pod decided to go with them or not. The Lia, Callipsia Tempest, was already a headache as is. Tydus made the mistake of thinking that she would be ready for the commitment that her biological mother took, that she was ready for it when they found her and named her Lia.

He was wrong.

What made it worse was the unfortunate addition that Tydus and her petched the night of the grand opening of the Alements. Drunken pleasures were not the things to indulge in with a member of the Pod after the wake of a disaster, and the mistake, while gratifying in its own regard, was by and wide the biggest one he had made to date. He regretted it at a surface level, though subconsciously, there was satisfaction. In his mind, he had resolved his emotional distress regarding the Lia, and Callipsia, by sharing her appearance, had helped him in that regard. Though, of course, the Svefra would never admit such a thing.

It mattered for not, and the Svefra decided to ignore the pestering thoughts of the woman he was going to, as he did with all of the other ones, leave behind with naught but shattered hopes and a dirtied mind. It was sad, but Tydus staying around boded worse than him leaving. It was the beginning of emotions that he did not want to deal with, and surely Callipsia didn't, either. He was, really, doing them both a favour.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Tydus found himself on the deck of his ship, gaze cast about in search of a distraction from festering thoughts. He reached towards the wheel, turning it, and with it, the ship's boom, the Svefra moving to ensure that the ropes were taut against the wheel and inspecting the wooden beam that steered the ship before he ran forward.

Three strides were taken before he reached the other side of the ship, running in a diagonal line before he jumped upwards, hit feet landing onto the surface of the gunwale, his legs bent before he pushed upwards with his legs, intent on using the residual momentum of the action in order to leap forward, intent on reaching the nearest ship to the starboard side with his jump.

Of course, he failed.

Tydus fell into the water, his body instantly soaked with the ocean's depths, the Tempest glad that he never saw it fit to wear a shirt, though his linen pants and the scabbard of his cutlass were soaked with him. Shoeless and gloveless, the Tempest shrugged, deciding that it didn't matter, his failed attempt burrowing a subconscious desire to improve his ability to leap (Who knows when it'll be of use?) before he climbed into the neighbouring ship, which was Adney's on the starboard side. He knew neither where the podmate he planned to abandon with the rest of his pod, nor Kel, who's ship bordered his on port side were, but he decided that he didn't care.

Callipsia flashed into his mind again, though he quickly abandoned the thought as he realized that another Tempest lived in Riverfall, the idea of meeting with her, perhaps asking for advice or telling her to go petch herself (She betrayed the Pod...) or even him (She's a lovely shell, regardless...) before he left. It was a challenging conundrum, but Tydus, as he raised himself from the water and back onto the docks, decided that it was a worthwhile venture and made his way to the shipyard. He knew Aedre, a Shipwright by nature, well enough to know that the woman would've run off to join the blasted blue freaks and fix their ships. It was only a matter of getting there.

~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~o~~~~~

The Tempest cast his gaze about as he arrived at the shipyard, noting the sordid affairs of an Akalak-run shipyard (at least, in his own mind) before making his way to the Svefra woman, who he found lounging about as if without a care in the world, feet hanging over the edge of the docks. She was staring at the sea that she had forsaken and Tydus noted an oddity in her.

When Tydus had looked upon Aedre in the past, he welled up with the familiar sensation of Oceanus, feeling the stir of the ocean's waves in his stomach, but now he felt nothing. He took the opportunity to look at the woman's back as she was turned around, noting the lack of the Oceanus tattoo that would've ordinarily have been present.

Did... Laviku forsake her?

The thought was unsettling at the very least, Tydus questioning his desire to speak to her for a moment before he took several steps to the side and towards the dock, the Tempest catching a glimpse of her forlorn gaze. The face made him want to, all the more, give her a reason to be wearing it. Words spat from his mouth as he approached the woman,

"Thought ye'd have grown a tail b'now, with the way you ran from us with it between yer legs. Still wearing your scars?"

A sneer made its way upon Tydus' features as he stood at the woman, feeling absolutely no desire to sit down and level with her.

[Ragdoll]

The woman remained absorbed in her own thoughts for several chimes, allowing herself to dwell on the water and her recent history. Her attention was focused on the water, the cool waves colliding against the wooden posts of the dock and each other in their constant race to reach the shore. It didn't take long for Aedre to lose herself in their pattern, constant yet changing at the same time. Though one could predict easily enough how long it would take a wave to reach the shore without interruption, there was no accounting for any of several other factors, like the current, wind speed, tide...

Absently, the Svefra ran a hand through the loose strands of blonde hair that had stubbornly refused to cooperate when she'd braided her locks this morning, twisting them around her fingers.

Her thoughts occupied her to the point where she didn't immediately realize that someone approached her, but when the voice spoke up, Aedre flinched and recognized its speaker immediately.

Tydus.

He was by far the most clever out of the members of the Tempest pod that had survived the desolation that befell them, a natural skill for leading evident in his demeanor. She had hoped, when next they met, he would be calm. Easier to talk-to try to reason with him-that way. When he wanted to, he could be quite the charmer, but upset was no state in which to speak with him. And upset he definitely sounded.

Aedre still held splinters of pride within her, and it was only these gathered splinters that allowed her to refrain from turning around to face him. Instead, she remained on the edge of the dock, her back to Tydus and her eyes to the water.

"I have no choice but to wear these scars," said the blonde quietly. Aedre attempted to ignore his first remark, though it proved hard. "What do you want from me, Tydus? Have you come to gloat?"

[Tydus Tempest]

A narrowed gaze marred the Tempest's features as he realized that the woman simply wasn't going to turn around. She faced the sea resolutely, as if begging Laviku for her chance to again be bestowed with his mark. He frowned, noting that the gnosis mark upon his shoulder moved, the whale migrating and its surroundings with it, settling in a slosh of the ocean's depth on his left forearm. Eyebrows arched at the placement of the change, but he was not surprised, for his mark, while not prone to moving as much as he had seen others, did migrate on occasion. He simply shrugged, moving forward as an idea struck him.

Aedre refuses to rise to my goading. She wishes to remain calm. It's a shame... she used to have fire in her heart. A mind similar to my own, even. Lia Tatianna was a pirate to the last, but she, like the others, forsook education in favour of their lifestyle. Aedre picked knowledge.

The very thing could be used against her. Tydus shook his head, a breath taken as he sought to center himself, to bury the resentment for the woman in his heart and instead, replace it with resolve. A vision of what he could accomplish rose in his mind, the manipulation that could be set ablaze with the flow of his djed and the words from his mouth. Aedre believed him to resent her, which was true, but the accuracy of her statement did not need to linger. He could choose to 'change his loyalty.'

Tatianna is gone. You're betraying the Pod by leaving it behind... The sad reality of the fact is that the ocean's call is too strong to resist. Leave her behind... Extend your 'friendship' to this one, instead. She's still here to be swayed.

The narrowed expression faded to that of a smile as the gears worked in his mind, the thought occurring to reach out at the woman, both physically and vocally, but he would use the natural advantage that the Magic Man had given to him. To Tydus, Hypnotism wasn't a simple 'magic', for to learn magic was, based on his interpretation of it, to study. To cage one's self from the world and seep into the cesspool of the darkest of academic advancement. To Tydus, Hypnotism was an art, woven through touch and words, a weapon given to those who knew to use their tongue, and Tydus took to it as a moth took to a flame.

He felt himself tapping into the wellspring of his djed as he placed himself beside Aedre, his legs dropping to the docks along with hers as he shook his head. He cast his magic to shroud him, exuding it from his very presence, manifesting its impact upon Aedre as he shook his head, pressing his hand to her shoulder, and then her face as he replied to her,

"To gloat? There's... nothing for me to gloat about, Aedre. We've both lost everything. Fate's driven us to the brink. I jus' want to spread the olive branch before I leave this place behind. I can' stand it. Blue freaks everywhere, the ocean's close, but it can never be as it is at sea..."

The man's words were layered with suggestion, his voice carefully inflected to convey his apology for his earlier conduct. The jibe was something he could not resist doing, having seen Aedre, a woman he used to look up to, fall, betray the pod, then tarnished to such an extent. It was easy, like kicking a fallen podmate on deck. He's right. We both have lost everything...

The suggestion was carefully imprinted with his touch, Tydus reaching forth to lightly press his lips to his podmate's cheek in a carefully calculated measure of social niceties. The Svefra were a people of love and openness, at the least, with one another. They were used to this sort of treatment, and Tydus repeated the notion upon the woman's shoulder before he pulled away, allowing his gaze to drift towards the sea.

A breath filled his lungs, the saline oxygen filling him with a sense of ease, relaxation that perhaps even legitimately broke through his frustration with the woman. But, it was not enough to sway him. Aedre needed to be tampered with. She deserved the judgement placed upon it, and Tydus intended for her to pay. How this was done was ultimately left to chance.

[Ragdoll]

To Aedre's surprise, Tydus remained silent for a short time. She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that-with Tydus, with anyone, it could mean a number of things. A slight flinch shook her body as she notiticed him sit down besides her, tanned legs appearing first, then the rest of his body. He was shirtless, which didn't surprise her, and wore green breeches that seemed...damp?

Did he go for a swim, or did he just drink too much and fall in the water on the way here?

It turned out to be the former, as Aedre could smell no trace of alcohol on his breath when he spoke. Before his voice touched her ears, his hand touched her bare skin, first brushing against her shoulder, then her cheek. Again, the blonde Svefra woman flinched, though she was not sure if this was due to the physical contact or the mention of the sea and the loss of her pod.

What he said was true. They both had lost everything dear to them, though Aedre suspected her losses had been much greater than the young man's. He had lost a friend-possibly more, if she was interpreting the way he'd looked at Tatianna correctly-and a majority of his pod, but Aedre had lost her pride, her hope, her life, her friends, and her faith. Her only way to maintain a decent quality of life was to work for mostly blue men, and even then it wasn't much. Where was the happiness, the confidence in the quality of the ships she built? Where was the passion for the work she'd once had? A small sigh escaped Aedre's lips while she considered this.

The touch of Tydus' lips upon her skin surprised her-had the hostility she'd heard in his tone earlier truly been anger, or was it just frustration? Aedre was beginning to believe that it was indeed the man's irritation with their lot in life.

"To gloat? There's... nothing for me to gloat about, Aedre. We've both lost everything. Fate's driven us to the brink. I jus' want to spread the olive branch before I leave this place behind. I can' stand it. Blue freaks everywhere, the ocean's close, but it can never be as it is at sea..."

When she felt him return to his upright position at her side, Aedre chanced a glance up at his face and was surprised at what she saw. She had expected him to be staring at her, waiting for a response, but instead he gazed out towards the sea. Tydus seemed...no, not at peace, but definitely more relaxed than his earlier tone suggested. This convinced her beyond anything else that it was simply irritation she'd picked up on in his voice.

He's right. We both have lost everything...

"As loath as I am to say this, Tydus, you're right. There is so much more on the waves than there is here. But Laviku...he has decided that I'm not fit to share in the bounty of the water, and I have to remain here in Riverfall."

Her voice died down and she glanced back up, smiling at the Svefra man slightly. There was sadness in her smile, longing in her eyes, and mourning in her expression. She had nothing left, and a part of Aedre wanted to make sure that Tydus knew it.

[Tydus Tempest]

Tydus knew not the woman's reasoning for her staying in Riverfall. Being removed from a Pod after challenging a Lia's authority was not a reason to stay on land permanently. He had heard tales of others doing the same, only to run off from the Pod and start anew. Perhaps it was her injuries, the scars that he could, despite the presence of her garment, see. They leaked from her shirt at the shoulder, the position of her body allowing the Svefra, if he looked down, to see the wedge of the scar at her waist.

Truly, it was a gruesome wound. She had lost her camaraderie, her beauty to an extent, and her pride in the process, but Tydus resented her ability to simply... give up. Even Tydus, who had lost the woman he loved above all else, was forcibly marooned on the beaches of Riverfall with only Vesh to thank for his survival. He allowed his expression to shift, a forlorn expression manifesting upon his features as he continued to look upon Laviku's waters. The Sea God breathed his life into the Svefra, his chosen people gathering their strength from the ocean, and from the God. Surely, in order to anger Laviku to the extent to remove her mark, she forsook him.

But... wouldn't she be cursed by Laviku, instead? Or... why exactly is she...?

The thought was uninterrupted by the tone of the woman's voice registering in his mind, his eyes making their way to meet her features. Her eyes, when she stared at him, were filled with a strange, unexpected want. Her face spoke of the same mourning that the Svefra himself had battled through. Kel, more than anything, had worked him through his battles with his faith. The company and influence of a Svefra who's unbridled hatred for the laws of their kind was present was working Tydus closer to the Sea God himself. He thrived on the wellspring of the ocean, he drank from the waters of Laviku's blood. Tydus no longer simply desired to live among the Svefra as an observer.

He despised his inability to help his people when they were endangered, he rejected his self-hatred. There was a resolve in him building, now that he saw himself in Aedre's demeanor. Helpless, broken, weak. And this was a woman who had the ability to fight. She could've contributed. Tydus blamed her for the deaths of the Pod, but more so, he thanked the Sea God for utilizing her betrayal in order to change Tydus. He was, all of his life, an embodiment of the Wavestrider. The embodiment of the Greytides that Kel had forsaken. Tydus was weak, but Laviku, in his harsh attack upon Tydus' mind, would make him strong.

That was the difference between himself and Aedre. Tydus still had his chance. He would always have his chance. The mark of Laviku, Oceanus, emblazoned upon his body made him a child of the sea. Never would he forsake it.

Resolve materialized within the Svefra's mind as he wove djed once again, feeling the surge of pleasure roll through his body in waves as he tapped into the essence of his soul. He maintained the aura he exuded, pouring the intention with his touch again as he reached for the woman's hand, pressing it to his chest so that she would feel the beat of his heart as he pressed his hand to her jaw. Fingers brushed at the skin of her neck as he replied to her,

"I understand your pain, Aedre. Laviku's judgement has not cursed you, it is the manifestation of your own resolve. You chose to refrain from returning to the sea and bear your shame. Honourable, but it's not the only honourable thing to do..."

His words were layered with an intention to weave an emotional response. He sought to layer a sense of guilt in the woman's mind. She seemed already pre-destined to feel this sensation. Her words were filled with mourning, her face with sadness. Tydus hoped to push it just one step further. He prepared Aedre for the next bit of Hypnotism he intended to implant into her.

He played other women before this, a different game with a different intention. Hypnotism was not meant to push others into the bedroom, but to influence their minds and shape it.

[Ragdoll]

As Tydus' eyes went to her scar, her own thoughts accompanied him. The battle with Lia Tatianna had been awful in outcome for her, though she did not regret the fight itself. Her regret lay in the actions that came after it-the scar that the woman left on her body, winding from her shoulder across her torso in a thick, ropy line. It had taken a long time to heal completely, and even now when she thought of it, the feeling of the hot slash through her flesh and the sting of pain came right back to her with ease. Aedre bit her lip to distract herself from the train of thought she was currently heading down. There was no need to give herself any more reason to hate herself.

A hand went to her back, rubbing the stretch of skin that had formerly been covered in the moving aquatic scene that was the gnosis of Laviku. With every passing day, Aedre ached to watch the fish travel across her skin once more, but those times were gone. Memories of wonderful journeys on the ocean and the sea with her pod would stay just that. Memories.

Her other hand was enveloped by the hand of Tydus, larger than her own but just as callused from the work they'd done on the vessels of the Tempest pod. The contact surprised her, though it was not unwelcome. She clasped his hand in return, grateful for the contact, which was reassuring and grounding to Aedre in that moment. It allowed her to return to the present.

"I understand your pain, Aedre. Laviku's judgement has not cursed you, it is the manifestation of your own resolve. You chose to refrain from returning to the sea and bear your shame. Honourable, but it's not the only honourable thing to do..."

The sympathy in his voice, the empathy in his words...both surprised the woman, who hadn't expected him to understand her pain. A moment of thought, though, and she realized he'd experienced some of the same pain she had suffered through. Maybe not to the same extent, true, but the podmates Aedre lost were the same podmates Tydus lost. But as much as he understood her, he also did not. Her reasons for leaving them permanently, abandoning the survivors of the catastrophe and remaining in Riverfall, those would remain her own for a time. And though she knew this, his words stuck in her head because they were true.

Her decision to work in Riverfall was not at all an honorable course. It was cowardly. Wretched of her. The pod needed her, and she'd just left them in their time of need because of her own personal crisis. No wonder Laviku had forsaken her in her own time of need-after all, what goes around comes around.

Again, Aedre bit her lip, though this time it was to keep herself from breaking down in tears. Tydus was right. She was a coward, and he hadn't even said it outright.

I...should have stayed with the pod. I'm horrible for abandoning them! Leaving them behind in their time of need and doing nothing to aid any of them. I am not worthy of the tattoo on my arm or the name Tempest.

"No. My decision was not even an honorable thing to do. The only thing that I should have done was remain by your sides and assist you in any way I could. But I was too absorbed in my own wants to think about the rest of the pod. I abandoned you. All of you. And I truly wish there was something I could do to make that right."

[Tydus Tempest]

The Svefra shipwright was clearly falling into Tydus' game. He wove the guilt into her, which seemed to elicit her inner turmoil, festering it and allowing her to play straight into the game plan that Tydus had constructed on the fly. He had come in with nary a plan or idea, but through the course of conversation, when a man like him, a man of words that bred into action, flourished. He thrived on the attention the woman was giving him, his face barely able to conceal the grin that his pride swelled with. He struggled to maintain his facade of sympathy, the pleasure that Hypnotism rolled through his senses beginning to interfere, but rather than allow himself to fall into it, he moved straight into the next step that the magic was clearly laying out for him to accomplish.

The Svefra leaned forward, towards the woman, a hand raising to meet her jaw. The Svefra had no intention of allowing her the mercy that would likely lead her to discover that something was amiss. There would be no reprieve from the barrage of emotion that Tydus intended to set upon her. The Tempest leaned towards the woman, pressing his lips to the exiled Svefra's own, communicating the suggestion by means of touch as he mustered his djed and implemented it, carefully laying out the magic. He spoke the words into her mind in her own perspective, waves of pleasure rolling down his spine as he held her jaw slightly closer to his own.

There is something I can do. Tydus set out to find the remaining Svefra. He was the saviour I neglected to be... A saviour must be justly rewarded.

When the thought was finished in its communication, Tydus parted his lips from hers, the culmination of his efforts bringing small tears to his eyes as his body began to shake with the combined effort of the Hypnotism. The shakes were by no means debilitating at this level, for he was merely layering upon the emotions he already suspected the woman to feel, but nonetheless, he felt the sensation, the inner desire to continue toying with the woman's mind present in his thoughts, but he silenced it.

If there is a need to do so, then I will, but if I can rest, then I will. Only Aedre can decide this.

The Tempest felt genuine emotion washing over him, relief crashing to the surface, a mixture of want and greed beneath it, though above all there was hope. Hope that his influence worked on the woman and in her last encounter with the Svefra who had once respected her, she would prove herself to be useful for something other than blame.

When Tydus pulled away, Aedre would see the tears on his face, his heaving shoulders, directed by pleasure, instead turned to sobs in the attempt to impersonate someone feeling empathy, though a small smile remained on his face, which he attempted to hide by speaking,

"Perhaps it was fate, Aedre. While Laviku may have forsaken you, perhaps Lhex, in his wisdom, deigned it right for you to remain. Perhaps, there was purpose in your staying behind."

Perhaps my encounter with Tydus is destined...

The Tempest leaked djed into the last words he spoke as his trembling fingers moved towards his scabbard, placing it on the docks next to both himself and Aedre. He removed the scabbard just enough to bring light to the engraving set upon the blade. 'Tempest Winds blow into Laviku's embrace.' The words were set upon the base of the blade going higher and higher, embossed in an elegant font. He placed it next to her so that she would see, curiosity marking his features, wonder abound as to whether or not she would recognize the blade that scarred her body.

[Ragdoll]

Tydus was solid next to Aedre, an unchanging rock that stayed constant even as she experienced turmoil. Oh, how things had changed since he'd first made his presence known to her. First, she was irritated. Annoyed with her job, her life, and his tone. Then there was happiness at seeing him, at him sitting next to her on the docks, at his being comfortable enough around her to touch her. Now, though, there was sadness. Regret.

It was then an idea came to her. Popped into her head unbidden but absolutely not unwanted.

There is something I can do. Tydus set out to find the remaining Svefra. He was the saviour I neglected to be... A saviour must be justly rewarded.

The thought was a logical extension of her train of thought, and it only made sense to act on it. Tydus pressed his lips to her own, and Aedre reciprocated the kiss, leaning into him slightly. She withdrew just as slightly when he leaned back, an eyebrow quirked above the ocean that was her eye in protest, though it returned to a normal position when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Perhaps it was fate, Aedre. While Laviku may have forsaken you, perhaps Lhex, in his wisdom, deigned it right for you to remain. Perhaps, there was purpose in your staying behind."

Could there truly be a reason for her to stay in Riverfall? Had Lhex seen fit for her to remain grounded in the city, stranded amongst Akalak men and hurt every day by the constant presence of water in the city?

Of course.

There had to be a reason. There was always a reason. Though Aedre had not devoted herself to the study of fate ever, preferring to keep her thoughts planted firmly in what was tangible-the ocean, the wind, the pod-that didn't mean Lhex had no influence over her. She recognized that, even in his distance from her, he knew what was best for her.

The realization relaxed her, though the observation that Tydus was quivering did not. Was he...crying?

This thought had no more room to grow, as he reached away from her and drew a blade from his sash. Tydus placed the sword on the deck between them, and Aedre looked on it, curious as to-oh.

Oh.

"You have...Tatianna's cutlass?" Aedre asked, her voice faint. This was the same blade that maimed her after her challenge. If she looked closely, she thought that she could see again the Lia's deft movements and her blood staining the blade. A faint twinge went through the scar that crossed her chest.

There had to be a good reason for Tydus to bring this here, and Aedre could only guess at what his intentions were.

[Tydus Tempest]

Tatianna was gone. The cutlass being in his possession told him that much, but there was more. There was so, so much more. For Tydus, it was a curse, the ultimate inability to save the woman or even die with her plaguing him like the consequences of the shakes. He felt none of it this time around, so engrossed in his Hypnotism, using it to his advantage and to steer an existing note rather than change someone entirely. He realized that it was that bit that had torn him, it had plagued and blinded him. Weakened him.

Hypnotism is meant to be as the wind in someone's sails. Use it to guide forward. Wind blowing against the sails damages them. And by them, I mean me.

This case was different. He felt the effects of Hypnotism work in his favour. The kiss reciprocated, the woman affirming his words by action. Tydus was clearly in dominion of the situation, and though the tide turned with the woman's questioning of his having the cutlass, naught was lost. She was free to question, free to ask and wonder about his intentions. For she was not being controlled. Tydus allowed her thoughts to bridle about freely, with only slight suggestions and pushes in the right direction. He had a clear intention now, and the cutlass in his possession would not be there for long. If he had his way, at least.

He looked to the cutlass before returning his gaze to the woman, his eyes blinking away the tears as a hand reached to flicker the liquid from his face. His features were filled with a newly found resolve as he brazenly leaped forward into the midst of further manipulation of the woman in his presence. He offered her a smile before he replied,

"I do. Her cutlass was the only part of her that I could save from the wreckage. Tatianna was everything to me. She was the reason I continued on. The Lia's memory was the only thing that got in the way of me coming to you when it was made clear that we were stuck in Riverfall."

The lie escaped his lips in a clear, unwavering tone, the Tempest intent on persuading her of his sincerity, flickering djed into the last sentence in order to further convey his point with a suggestion. He is telling the truth... He allowed sadness to seep into his tone as he said,

"It was wrong of me, Aedre. I resented you for leaving us. For contesting Tatianna's leadership despite the fact that I agreed with you. You were right about... everything. Tatianna's clinging to the ways of the Svefra was something that I argued with her about repeatedly, as well. Perhaps I was wrong to choose her..."

There was no intention of layering Hypnotism in these words, allowing himself a moment's reprieve from Hypnotism. His mind told him that there was no need to continue using it at every juncture. He had set up the building blocks of manipulation. Tydus could handle this portion of manipulating her without having to rely on djed.

Hypnotism is not necessary to finish every bit of a conversation. Only the foundations of a point need Hypnotism to be valid. Certain parts of sentences. Using it at every juncture is unnecessary and a waste of djed.

He pressed his fingers to the woman's jaw before he said to her,

"I can give you your closure, Aedre. You deserve it. You need it. And I can give it to you... But I need something in return."

He could not surrender his cutlass for nothing. He needed some form of compensation. And hopefully he could 'sway' her into paying far more than she needed to for peace of mind.