This is long. Read this while having a sandwich or something @__@
So, I tend to go overboard with these things. The profile is around 2.7k words. The 'story' is beyond 5k words. I'm not going to burden the people loading this page, so I'm going to make them --
wait, attaching files is wonky today. Oh noes. I apologize for the tremendous loading horror and obnoxious wall of text that will ensue ;__; These are rather...rushed...so there could be grammar and spelling mistakes everywhere, but I'll try to correct and slay them all before the deadline ToT
IGN: Mikagi
Character Name: Hisaka
Profile
[Appearance shot
PENDING]
“I’m a simple student of history and magic.”
Name: Hisaka, aka “Storm Prince”, “Hisaka of the Storms”
Age: n/a (reincarnated)
Occupation: Wizard; former member of the Duran Assembly and right-hand man of Lord Archane; a ‘wandering student of history and magic’
Personality: Polite and affable, with a thirst of knowledge. Hisaka is driven to know and understand the world in order to find its meaning. Secretive and distrusting, he isn’t prone to displaying his emotions, always masking what he truly feels with wit and a disarming smile. Hisaka is one that is easy to talk with, but difficult to know.
His loyalty and respect, once earned, are almost unbreakable. Given this, he sometimes displays possessiveness to these people, though he can be brought to reason if pointed out calmly enough. He also dislikes betrayal done to him or to anyone he cares about. Hisaka has a pragmatic streak and is somewhat detached from his emotions, capable of stating harsh truths with an eerie calm. Even the vile actions of his past are of little importance to him, for he believes they could never be undone. He focuses on the present and the future, or what little he has of them.
Unlike everyone else in Terminus, Hisaka doesn’t hold the gypsies in high regard. He considers them to be ‘playing god’, summoning resting souls to fight their war. He is wise enough to keep his discontent in veiled comments, but the gypsies, especially Tobias the Grand, regard him warily.
Despite his hatred of betrayal, he did manage to betray the one person he trusted the most. The fact that he managed to do so distresses him, even to this day.
Moral Code: Hisaka finds it easier to trust in ‘people’ rather than ‘concepts’ or ‘causes’. He can easily turn a blind eye to everything else once he sets out to perform something in the name of this person. Betrayal is at the top of things he despises the most, and while he isn’t exempt from employing treachery, if he knows that it will cause harm to someone he cares about, he will be extremely reluctant.
Flaws: Hisaka has little empathy for strangers -- indeed, he has little love for the world in general -- and thus he has little qualms in causing detriment to them. He judges people according to their relationship with him. To Hisaka, there is little value in the world as it is. Despite his self-centered viewpoint, those that do occupy the few spaces of value are people he will do anything for, even if they are horrible deeds.
Secrets: His unusual origins and the dark truth of his past life as the Storm Prince. He also knows that incarnated ones like him will not last long after the Monarch of Darkness perishes.
Possessions: A necklace with a metal pendant fashioned into a stylized sun, which he bought on a whim in Terminus. It reminded him of his name, which in an eastern language meant “eternal summer”.
Home: Presently Terminus
Origin and Childhood:
The Experiment
Hisaka was the result of Lord Archane’s experiment on amplifying the magic potential of humans, an idea born from his own budding greed to increase his already phenomenal magical ability. Out of the hundreds of attempts, he is the only result who possessed human intelligence. He himself wasn’t sure if he was a modified human, a human soul gathered from the afterlife and transferred to a more fitting body, or Lord Archane managed to create a soul using the Tree of Archelon with his own power. He never knew the truth, but he recognized Lord Archane as his creator and thus devoted his whole existence to his service.
Contact with the World
Named ‘Hisaka’, he underwent a rigorous training in magic. His progress and results didn’t disappoint, for he knew early on that the Lord Archane wasn’t someone to displease. In time he became part of the prestigious Duran Assembly through Lord Archane’s patronage, as a reward for his ‘unmatched magical prowess’ and was tasked with improving the Duran School, which produced the kingdom’s mages. His presence became the constant topic of speculation among the aristocrats. Who was this talented wizard, and where did he come from? What did he do to deserve the patronage of the King himself? Moreover, he was surely not a noble, which was the foremost qualification for being included in the Assembly.
Hisaka, whose contact with live people had been extremely limited for he had lived most of his life within the privacy of the King’s secret laboratories, found this alienation as proof that he could not trust others. While he had been schooled in the ways of ice and lightning, he was never taught how to deal with normal living beings, much less saw their capability for greed and fear. His awkward attempts at socializing tended to backfire spectacularly. People smiled at him when he talked to them; when he turned his back they began to spread lies. Eventually there were threats and attempts on his life from those who viewed him as a political rival. As time wore on he became knowledgeable of the aristocrats’ ways, mimicking their veiled way and manner. He came to believe he was on his own, and the only person who would understand him and give him purpose was Lord Archane.
Unknown to him, this was deliberate in the King of Arcana’s part, as he wanted to forge an unbreakable loyalty from Hisaka.
The Corruption
Lord Archane began to delve deeper into the mysteries of magic, terrifying the people around him as well as the leaders of other world factions. He came into possession of the mysterious Infinitas Rune and from the knowledge he gained crafted the Sword of Shadows, laying to waste the armies of the Pylon Alliance. Eventually even his own Assembly became too horrified of his lust for power as he tore dimensional rifts everywhere, causing wanton destruction. Yet as the world united against the King of Arcana -- now the Monarch of Darkness to his enemies -- Hisaka faithfully continued to serve him. To the wizard, the world meant nothing. He saw nothing of value to people or the world they lived in. His loyalty to the King was his sole meaning.
The Storm Prince
Now known as the ‘Storm Prince’, the right-hand man of the Sahar King, he was highly feared in the battlefield. He had a particular fondness for summoning storms, clouding the skies with raging tempests to electrify his master’s enemies. Part of what made him so terrifying to other people was the fact that unlike the Sahar, who were mostly mindless beasts that instinctively obeyed a higher power, or the scant few intelligent creatures who followed the Monarch out of fear, the Storm Prince’s loyalty was lucid and freely-given. There was no point of bargaining with him or attempting to make him see the evil of Lord Archane’s rampage -- to the Alliance, Hisaka of the Storms had no heart. He wasn’t human. Not that Hisaka ever considered himself one anyway, given his origins.
Downfall
However, the day did come when the dreaded wizard turned his back on his destructive king. For the Monarch of Darkness was obsessed with perfection and power, and it came to pass that the Storm Prince finally met his match in battle. His perfect record of victory tarnished, the Monarch decided that Hisaka was a failure, a ‘mere mortal’ like everyone else. Lord Archane had no reason to keep a weak human as his most trusted pawn.
Hisaka, whose life had revolved around being of service, whose identity was forged on the belief that his specialness qualified him to be a servant of the King, found himself without a purpose. No one would accept him -- his King had abandoned him, and the Alliance would forever remember his cold and serene cruelty. His sense of self shattered, thoroughly confused, lonely and -- for the first time in his life -- angry without knowing where exactly to direct his rage, he performed his first and last betrayal of the being he vowed his whole existence to.
Betrayal
Death came swiftly to the clever and sneaky traitor who opened the Palace of Archelon to the grim but determined deluge of Alliance warriors, on that fateful day when the Great War finally ended. The Storm Prince didn’t live long enough to see the downfall of his former liege, bound by the great magic and sacrifice of the twenty-one Sages, but for someone like him who could never belong to the world that will rise after this catastrophe, death was a mercy.
Awakening in the New World
Until he was roused from the afterlife, forcibly retrieved from the oblivion to be housed in a vessel resembling the human body. One thousand years after his death in Old Archelon, Hisaka once again stood in the same ancient city, the first successful result of the Tarot reincarnation ritual. The gypsies, mages and scientists around him rejoiced at the results, thoroughly unmindful that they had summoned a living, conscious being -- until he revealed who he was. In their horrified gasps and wide-eyed horror he knew that the reputation of the cold-hearted Storm Prince lived on a thousand years after his death.
Despite the degradation of his magic and existing in the physical realm due to the influence of the Tarot, the people of the present world were incredibly wary of Hisaka. They couldn’t quite decide if they wanted to talk to him, experiment on him, or banish him back to the afterlife if they could discover how. Hisaka cared little -- this world wasn’t his anymore, and even if he disliked the gypsies for harnessing the power of the cards for their ‘whims’, he felt no drive to go beyond complaining.
Still, his new surroundings caught his interest. Rather than waste away waiting for his second death, Hisaka sought to learn about the world as much as he can. Confined to a room with only a few visitors who checked on his condition, he slowly and meticulously tried to extract information from them. Curiosity was his anchor that kept him from drifting into mindless despair. His mind was always occupied, digesting the snippets of conversation and reaching for old memories. He was pleased to discover that despite the passage of time and the circumstances of his incarnation, his memory was mostly intact.
The Escape from Archelon
His chance for freedom came suddenly and in a rather morbid fashion -- his old master, the Monarch of Darkness, had managed to resurrect himself and his Sahar horde. Arcana, used to peace, was caught by surprise. The city of Archelon fell once more, this time to the invading Sahar. Dimensional rifts tore through time and space, swallowing whole areas and spewing forth monsters. Hisaka was barely able to escape with his life, his command of magic rusty from disuse but his instinct to survive making up for the deficiencies. In the chaos of the invasion, nobody noticed that the thousand-year old former right-hand man of their hated enemy had escaped.
With the smoking ruins of Archelon behind him, Hisaka was finally free -- and alone, with no discernible goal or dream, ensconced in a body made from mana that would inevitably dissipate.
To Terminus
Despite -- or perhaps even because -- of these issues, Hisaka resolved to be on the move. It’s simply not in his nature to stand still and let despair overtake him. Once, in his belief that he was superior and different from the rest of Arcana, he never thought of pain, never considered that life is short and in danger of slipping away. It made for a good motivation, he discovered with a measure of morbid amusement. He wondered if this was one of the secrets to the mortals’ near-inexhaustible drive to push forward despite the odds.
This line of thought tickled Hisaka’s idle fancy. He felt no special kinship with the mortals, but the curiosity was always there, the questions flashing in his mind, keeping him engaged in some kind of goal. His time in the Assembly remained unforgotten, and the shallow, greedy people didn’t had it in them to stop the onslaught that was the King of Arcana. So how did these petty, weak creatures survived against everything Lord Archane threw at them?
As the first reincarnated soul from the era of the past war, Hisaka had no idea how much time he had in the physical realm. Nonetheless he would use it to explore and discover how, in their limited lives, varied temperaments and fragile bodies, the mortals of Arcana triumphed over the immeasurable greed and power of a demigod.
After all, as Lord Archane claimed, he belonged to the weak mortals. It would be wise to know more of his true nature.
With the rest of the refugees trying to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of sweeping changes, Hisaka of the Storms followed the road to Terminus.
Current whereabouts
While reclusive at first, Hisaka eventually opened up to the people of Terminus. In a twist of fate, he discovered that his rival during the war -- the ice wizard Kagiri -- had been incarnated as well, using the same ritual that summoned him. Both have no real animosity towards each other, and it is through Kagiri that Hisaka managed to form a social circle of sorts. He’s still averse calling them ‘friends’ and insists that he’s merely observing present society, but even he cannot deny that they are affecting him.
Hobbies and Interests: Reading on all sorts of topics and exploring ruins; tinkering with alchemy; observing how people interact; frequenting rift hotspots as research
Personal Quirks: He has an unnerving habit of staring at people, even if they’re not referring to him; his ‘fake automatic smile’, a remnant of his days back in the Duran Assembly
Fears: His real fear is to be without purpose, which is critical for his sense of meaning and identity. For the most part, he acquires a sense of purpose by being of use to people who have gained his respect -- which means that once they betray or leave him, he is utterly devastated. Conversely, the idea of him betraying the trust of another person (which he sees as violating his reason for living) is also a terrifying prospect, especially since he knows that he had done it before.
Prompt:
What is your most memorable physical attribute?
“I think it is my eyes.” The wizard’s smile deepens, almost approaching a level of genuineness. But not quite. Not yet. “Someone told me once that they are tinted with the blue of lightning. I find it especially fitting, given my profession.”
Family and Friends:
Lord Archane, King of Arcana -- Hisaka’s recognized ‘creator’. There’s nothing familial between the two of them, but since Hisaka never knew normal relationships he doesn’t really care. To him, serving the King is all the reason he needs to exist. Once Lord Archane made it clear that he has no more use of Hisaka, it causes the usually calm and collected wizard to undergo a breakdown that ultimately led to his betrayal.
Kagiri, Wizard of the Alliance -- A fellow subject of the experiments that produced Hisaka, Kagiri was among those that were labeled ‘defective’. Both desperately sought for purposes in life given their origins. While Hisaka found his through slavish devotion to a single person, Kagiri had the chance to experience the world in general, becoming acquainted with both its good and bad aspects. Because of her broader worldview, it was easier for her to find her place in the world. Despite their differences, there is a kind of wordless understanding between them, for they have shared origins and both fear a life without meaning. Kagiri is also the only person who will openly oppose Hisaka, and whom Hisaka interacts with a degree of openness (at first). She also has a strange habit of referring to him as ‘Blue Eyes’.
Silveren, Knight of the Alliance -- In the past, Hisaka met the knight’s incarnation, Winmer du Castell, and neither men particularly thought about it. The present Winmer -- now Silveren -- is still guarded around the wizard despite being in the same social circle. While of differing temperaments, they are both capable of great loyalty. Conversation isn’t their strong point, but in heated battle, they can be counted on to work in tandem.
[STORY] spring thunder
The tempest is over, the sun is shining, and it’s time to pick up the pieces. Hisaka, the past, the present and the future. (For the NS ArcIris character event)
##
“You are mortal like them.”
Just like in life, on the day he returned to the shadowed halls of Archelon Palace with defeat weighing on his shoulders, Hisaka keeps his eyes pinned on the floor. Even in his dreams, the disdain in Lord Archane’s words are crisp and biting. The dismissive silence that trails after only adds to the burden.
His shame and fear haunt him still.
##
The blond elf with the patchwork suit asks, “Who are you?” His voice is calm and soft, laced with caution. Around them, the crowd hushes in anticipation.
The smile comes easily for Hisaka, a habit not even a thousand years in oblivion could efface. It is an expression that has become his mask after all those years in the Duran Assembly, among vipers and traitors. “My name is Hisaka.”
He bares his teeth into a grin as the light of the floating Tarot cards reflect on their wide and fearful eyes.
##
The elves have little love for lightning, it was speculated, for it has no grace. Lightning doesn’t flow in the manner of wind and fire. It flickers and pulses, compressed power released in an explosion of light.
Lightning does not last.
The boy contemplates on this as he focuses on the image on his books. The tomes are too heavy for his scrawny arms, so he sets them on the floor. He memorizes every line, every glyph and detailed swirl, and imagines it splayed on the tiles.
The lights descend, one bright flash that sends him yowling and falling on his behind. His skin tingles with the effort and the electricity, ears ringing with the aftermath of thunder. He stares at the empty air, recalling the harsh jagged lines tearing through the darkness.
It does not last, indeed. There is little elegance to it, all force and purpose and, perhaps, desperation -- but it is undeniably beautiful, breathtaking in its short-lived glory.
He couldn’t quite place it, but there is something impressive in things doomed to a brief existence.
The boy scrambles to his hands and knees beside his books, face tense with newfound interest. He doesn’t notice the large figure observing him from behind, taking note of his progress.
##
He is the Storm Prince, the cold-hearted second-in-command of the King of Darkness. Skies churn at his call, and pour forth lightning to strike his enemies. Rain tears through the armies challenging the might of his King. The Alliance fear the presence of foul weather -- it denotes his presence and, consequently for them, sound defeat.
Yet today, as the water and electricity pound on the battlefield, Hisaka sees snow. His head swims as his control falters, the presence of another substantial spell affecting the storm he has summoned over the battered Alliance army.
Snow. White flecks ride on the cutting winds, swirling upon the Sahar under his command. Ice creeps up their limbs, hindering their movement. He almost swears under his breath. There is no time to look for higher ground in search for the spellcaster, not in this brewing chaos, but the answer is clear.
Hisaka feels the uncommon burn of competitiveness. A fellow wizard who specializes in ice. The Alliance has no shortage of magicians and wizards to throw against him, but their spells are mere drizzles compared to his gigantic storms.
But this is different. There is power behind that presence, struggling and valiant. The howling wind and snow against the roar of thunder and rain. For the first time in ages, Hisaka has found a challenge.
He lifts his head to the gray, gray skies. Lightning, in all of its brevity, has never failed him.
##
“Hisaka.” The name rolls off his tongue, foreign and exquisite. “Hi-sa-ka.”
He imagines that His Majesty had chosen the name for him and his chest swells with pride. A name chosen by a king, for a person fit to serve him. He wonders if the name means anything at all, and fantasizes about its poetic quality. Of course, he doesn’t actually ask the King about it. It’s best not to question the Lord Archane about anything. It’s one of the first lessons he learned -- if he wants to impart or reveal something, then he will do so in his own time.
But for now, it’s enough that he’s not a mere ‘boy’ anymore, or Specimen Thirty-Nine.
##
The people who visit him in this poor excuse of a room can be counted on one hand. Of that number, it’s the blond patchwork elf who comes most often. Hisaka will never say it, but the elf discomfits him the most. His calm is unnerving, a mask very much like Hisaka’s smile.
At the very least, the gypsy believes in skipping the useless small talk. He sits on the only chair in the room, beside the bed. His features are neutral. “What are your plans?”
Hisaka gives a disbelieving stare at the gypsy. “Is that a serious question?”
The elf nods. For all of the gypsies’ reputation of clouding the truth they see in their cards, this one is remarkably straightforward when he wants to.
“Very well.” Hisaka thinks of indulging him. After all, he has nothing to gain or lose -- as well as nothing to do. “Your precious Sages pulled me from the afterlife without any warning and put me into this body manufactured from pure magic. For what purpose -- well, I certainly do not know.”
He spreads his hands, gesturing to the empty room. “Now you house me in this cell and ask me what are my plans. I did not even have a choice over anything, gypsy.” He narrows his eyes, revealing the overwhelming venom he harbors for his predicament. “But I suppose this is expected. After all, I am the evil prince from the fairy tales, yes?”
Instead of a heated reply, the elf only watches him for a long time, unfazed from both words and expression. “The cards have chosen you for a reason,” he says instead, and Hisaka laughs in his face.
“Is that so?” The wizard shakes his head at the absurdity of his situation. A man displaced in time, without any allegiance, cause nor any other connection to this present world. “I wonder what a stranger in a strange land could do.”
##
There are days when life in Terminus comes to a standstill, when the battles are scant and the beasts fall into brief inactivity. The lulls of peace in-between frenzied struggles that most people take advantage of by doing anything other than fighting.
However, Hisaka’s group thrives on battle. With their differing personalities, it’s the common goal of surviving and performing a task that binds them. Boredom is dangerous. Fortunately for everyone, something vaguely interesting has happened within their little group. Unfortunately for Hisaka, it involves him.
“Alright, stop playing ‘let’s put an arm through Hisaka’s gut when he flickers’ game.” The wizard tries to bat away the prophet’s arm, but for someone who’s supposed to be rather fragile, Aleks can be fast.
The pink-haired prophet acts as though he doesn’t hear a word, drumming his fingers against the wizard's non-corporeal image.
Hisaka gives up trying to save his dignity, hoping that his mana body decides against returning into a semblance of flesh on a particularly unlucky moment. There’s a faint whooshing sound every time Aleks’ arm pushes through the bluish substance that currently comprises Hisaka’s physical body. He doesn’t feel any pain with Aleks’ antics, even if the prophet is poking a limb through what should be his internal organs, but it’s annoying in the long run.
The rest of their group only look on with vague interest, though Silveren is turning a shade pale. It’s strange that the knight is squeamish about the whole ‘game’ when he has encountered -- and received -- far more gruesome injuries.
It took some time before the novelty of ‘flickering’ finally wore off, only to be replaced by a kind of morbid, even playful, curiosity. Only Kagiri has the decency not to bother him about it, since she shares the same condition on rare occasions. Hisaka thinks it’s unfair, but it was also his idea not to tell anyone the real implications of someone randomly turning semi-transparent, or even flickering out of sight altogether. “What if I rematerialize for good when your arm’s still through me?”
Aleks considers the situation for a moment, eyebrows knit together, and he replies brightly, “Then it’s going to be very messy!”
Behind the prophet, Kagiri sighs.
##
Hisaka stumbles out of the ballroom and into the balcony, his face easing from its stiff facade of formality. The solitude is a welcome, needed change. The party exhausts him faster than the strongest spells he has learned. It is by the order of the King that he has to mingle with the members of the Duran Assembly and despite his misgivings, he has no choice but to obey.
Beneath the grandeur, the finery and music, Hisaka cannot miss the air of hostility. His instincts shout danger at every smile and word, at the insinuations and veiled meanings. Their subtleties confuse him. It’s a mistake to consider himself learned of human ways, when the reality is more nuanced and difficult than the stories he has read.
Hisaka breathes in the night air, willing himself to relax. His irritation and confusion will lead to nowhere. Endurance is the key. Yet he longs to go back to his books. Magic -- magic is understandable. Magic doesn’t change its nature and meaning on its own whim, unlike these people who tell you one thing and mean another. These creatures who are utterly fake, their petty ambitions and squabbles a liability to Lord Archane. Disgust stirs deep within the wizard.
I’m different from them, Hisaka firmly tells himself. He might share their features, their appearance, but that’s where it ends. They are weak, mutable beings, without constancy and loyalty. He will make sure that he is different.
A king only deserves the best, and he is the finest, most loyal servant he will ever have.
##
They watch as Tiffany, ever the soft-hearted one, applies her healing arts upon the strangers. The magic glows bright and warm in the perpetual evening darkness of Night’s Forest.
Hisaka’s knowledge of healing ends at the basics, his interest only due to its utility. Healers often tell him that it takes ‘heart’ to soothe the ailments and injuries of others -- a requirement he undoubtedly lacks. He supposes it’s the reason why he never felt the inclination for healing.
He continues to observe as the blood stops flowing and the bruises fade under the gentle light of Tiffany’s rod. The gladiator’s labored breathing evens out, and his companions sigh in relief. So fragile, Hisaka thinks. Beneath the armor and the steel and the magic, human flesh is so weak.
“Humans live such short lives,” he muses aloud, catching the attention of the mage beside him. “Like -- ah.” He laughs, and Tiffany gives a start, as if she couldn’t believe what she’s hearing.
“What are you talking about?” Kagiri’s deadpan expression doesn’t change, but her tone indicates interest. Gauging the female wizard’s moods takes time and practice -- something that Hisaka has dedicated himself to, out of curiosity. “Speak up, Blue Eyes.”
“Nothing spectacularly eye-opening, Kagiri. I’m simply wondering why it has taken me so long to realize.” Hisaka remembers the books on the floor, the glyph on the tiles. He flexes a hand, fingers unfurling like petals, and a spark shoots out of his palm. All force and purpose and desperation. Of things doomed to die in the blink of an eye, forgotten by time. “Humans and their affinity for lightning.”
Kagiri huffs. “You are strange.” But there is no bite in her words, only understanding.
##
Hisaka rarely does anything out of a whim, but when he spots the incarnate outside the gypsies’ tents, he couldn’t stem the surge of contempt.
Another soul denied of rest.
Avoiding the gypsies is quite a chore in the fortress town, but he managed. No matter how much he dislikes them, he owes his current existence to their -- ‘meddling’. It’s a leverage he doesn’t want to acknowledge, a debt he would rather forget.
Yet the fact remains that they are disturbing reposing souls and imposing upon them a perilous task. Worse, incarnates like them cannot last indefinitely -- once their purpose ends, they are to disappear, unable to experience the outcome of their hard work.
Playing god. They didn’t stop with him. They just have to include Kagiri in it, as well as dozens of other warriors. Hisaka finds this practice very infuriating.
He strides into the largest tent, pushing aside the flap with unnecessary force. The occupant -- a blond elf wearing a painfully colorful suit and top hat -- looks up from the cards laid on the table.
“There you are!” Hisaka’s smile broadens. “It’s been a while, Tobias the Grand.”
“Hisaka of the Storms.” Tobias’ calm tells him that he has expected this somehow. Hisaka is inwardly disappointed -- the cards can be so anticlimactic at times. “You survived Archelon after all.”
“Indeed.” His anger is barely contained, but he’s not the only one with ruffled feathers. He could see the tension in the gypsy’s mild frown and squared shoulders. “My flight wasn’t an easy one, I assure you that. But ah, my time on the road has been fruitful. This world has much to teach an old soul like me.” He helps himself on the seat opposite Tobias’, elbows upon the table and lacing his fingers together. “And I take it that I am not the only old soul you have ripped from eternal sleep.”
The gypsy flinches. Hisaka’s mouth twists into a cruel smirk. “It is needed,” the elf tells him, but his gaze is wavering. “For the sake of Arcana.”
“This is your world now,” Hisaka whispers, leaning forward ever so slightly, palms flat on the table as if to lunge at the gypsy. “This is your war. We are not disposable tools, gypsy, fighting your battles at your beck and call, obediently and happily dissipating when we have earned you victory. Stop playing god.”
“This isn’t a decision we came by lightly. We are backed into a corner, forced by circumstances.” Tobias glares at Hisaka, making clear of his own torment and anger. “It is strange to hear those words from you. Your King played god as well.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Hisaka answers venomously, barely aware of the sparks flashing around him. His magic runs wild with his temper, and right now it’s near breaking point. “But I don’t care about the past. I thought that it should be clear to you, but I am the evil prince in the stories. The world may burn for all I care as long as my interests remain intact. And it is in my interest that you stop with your summoning. What do you think will happen if they realize you are only using them?”
Tobias meets his eye squarely, his resolution clear. “Your interests have changed,” he notes with a hint of mockery. “But you are still an incredibly selfish and presumptuous man, Storm Prince.” The blond elf blinks, the tension leaving him as he appears to have realized something. “But -- perhaps --” His gaze drops to the the cards spread before him.
The cards. The sages. The manipulative powers that plotted the course of Arcana through the centuries. Them and their wandering, fortune-telling, soul-stealing stewards. “Did your cards offer you a flash of insight on this tainted soul, gypsy?”
“No.” Tobias shakes his head. A measure of ease seem to have take root upon him, throwing Hisaka off-balance. “I didn’t need the cards for something so obvious. You have changed as well, wizard.”
Hisaka pauses at the unexpected answer.
“Indeed,” Tobias the Grand continues, slender hand passing over the cards of fate. “You’re finally seeing the value of living.”
##
“You lose, Storm Prince.” The words are choked out, thick with blood and potion fluid. She doesn’t cut an impressive figure on this moment that would have been immortalized in songs and legends. Her hair is a mess, one pigtail undone, and she is covered in cuts and bruises as she stands over her opponent.
Hisaka has tasted defeat.
His state is far from dignified either. Lying on his back, his staff lost in the rage of the battle around them, ice shards piercing a shoulder and a leg. The injuries are far from fatal, but the damage goes far beyond any physical manifestation.
She looks as if she will topple over with the mildest push, with her exhausted stance and ragged breathing. But Hisaka could see it in her red eyes -- the vicious look of a hard-earned victory, the culmination of several battles’ worth of storms and tempests.
“Kill me now then,” he offers, strangely serene and expectant. Despite the promise of an existence beyond that of mortals, he did not fear death. It is to be expected when one is the service of the Lord Archane. A nameless fear is bubbling within him. There is something more terrible than death.
The girl gives him with a toothy, mirthless smile as she levels her staff before her, energy swirling to form more ice. A chill seeps deep into his skin and bones, lethargy rushing through weary limbs.
I die for the King, he thinks, fever-like. He is content. To die for one’s purpose and meaning is unfortunate, but he could not return to His Majesty as a disgrace.
I must die --
The female wizard screams in pain as a broodling of Sraclone’s strikes her on the back, throwing her to the ground.
##
The strangers smile at him. They look uncertain, and more than a little scared, but they are determined. He reckons it deserves a measure of good manners.
“Are you sure it’s okay to go by yourself?” The elf girl’s sharp purple eyes are softened by concern. “I mean, we won’t mind if you come along.” She gestures to the gaggle behind her, and they nod vigorously, as if on cue. “There is strength in numbers after all.”
Hisaka shakes his head. The graciousness in his smile feels less forced, in the face of a genuine sentiment. “Thank you truly, but I prefer to travel alone.”
The road to Terminus is long and dangerous, but there are certain things that Hisaka cannot abide for long. Traveling with strangers is one of them -- he has never been the sociable sort, even if he could put up a good facade of politeness. He is too wary of mortals, too suspicious of their motives. While no longer the prince who rules the thunderclouds, has regained a measure of the power he once has. It’s nothing compared to what he was once capable of, but he’s sure it’s enough to sustain someone who can’t truly die.
He watches the group go on their way. The elf girl -- a healer, he guesses, judging from her weapon -- throws a worried look over her shoulder for one last time.
Hisaka waves at her, a pleasantness that is not wholly faked plastered on his face.
If this group had come upon him any second earlier, they would have seen him rematerialize from thin air. He props his staff upon a nearby rock as he stares at his hands, flexing his fingers and shaking his wrists. A sense of numbness still lingers, but it’s negligible.
“Ah, whoever designed the reincarnation ritual,” he murmurs. “Truly knows what they are doing.” To summon souls of the dead into non-decaying, self-repairing bodies that would materialize simply through the natural supply of mana - he couldn’t even begin to fathom its complexity. Even clothes and other possessions are included in the process. Very convenient.
Nevertheless, this magic must have its boundaries, conditions to be fulfilled. Immortality is never cheap.
Interesting.
He makes a thoughtful sound deep in his throat. Something to think about on the way to the last fortress.
##
There couldn’t be any mistake.
“Who are you?” The male sage is trying to pry his hands from her shoulders. “Oi, do we know you? Answer me!” The rest of her companions are standing dumbstruck a few steps away, torn between interfering and watching the scene unfold.
She raises a hand as a wordless sign, sharing a meaningful glance with the sage. He nods hesitantly and stops in his prodding, though he still glares through his red fringes. Hisaka barely notices any of this. He is too caught up with the moment, confused with exactly what to feel.
“You.” Those red eyes, the severe expression, an aura of aloofness. Black hair pulled back into twin-tails. “The ice wizard.”
He imagines the rest -- the dancing ice, the manic exchange of spells, the dark clouds hanging overhead. The grim weight of victory upon her shoulders as she prepared to finish him off. Her tormented scream as the Sahar thwarted her chance and he was carried away to face the wrath of his liege.
“Blue Eyes.” She speaks the words as if it’s a name. Her voice is toneless, almost bored -- a far cry from the intense magic-user he used to encounter, doggedly fighting despite the odds. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
##
He opens his eyes and meets the moon.
Hisaka bolts upright and immediately regrets it. His body feels raw, drained. A dull pain is drumming beneath his skin. It’s as if he had crawled into this spot in his sleep and fought on the way. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was the case.
At a distance, over several hills, he could make out smoke and fire. A burning city. Archelon. He looks around at the unfamiliar territory, taking in the towering trees and thick bushes. He faintly remembers that the Archelon of old had been surrounded by lush forests -- perhaps they had regrown in the thousand years that followed the war. Despite the Sahar assault, the atmosphere of this place remains calm and pristine. The mana flow is steady and untainted. He guesses this is why he materialized here.
The mage slowly clambers to his feet, trying to sort out his thoughts. He remembers the agitation in the air, an aura of danger so thick that he could sense it from within his prison. Hisaka tried to distract himself by recalling the magical formations of old, testing the extent of his remaining mastery of magic. Then he heard the explosions several floors above him, and the screams. The sounds of battle were unmistakable --
-- as well as the foul stench of the Sahar.
Hisaka had been stunned for a long while after that. The gypsies, the humans that had been visiting him -- they were all sure that Lord Archane was gone. A stuff of legends and fairy tales to scare children. Yet his horde has come crashing through their walls.
His initial reaction was fear.
Surely -- the King hadn’t forgotten of his little treachery, the unwanted helping hand he secretly extended towards the Alliance. For a moment he had the idea that the Sahar were sent after him.
He had little time for contemplation though, as the walls of the hated room crumbled and fell, revealing frenzied beasts. The Sahar had found him.
Hisaka didn’t even think. Memory, once sluggish and fragmented, fluidly ran through its motions. He didn’t even stop to name the spells he hurled towards the monsters. Only a single thought stood clear amidst the chaos -- he must escape.
He will not die here.
##
They are sitting at the edge of the Terminus Fountain, surrounded by merchants and their wares. Under the noontime sun, the water has a cooling effect. Senel had asked for a meeting, and they are the earliest to arrive at the designated place. Kagiri had greeted him with a curt incline of her head and sat down. No words exchanged. Then again, it’s to be expected of her. It’s simply who she is.
Around them, the bustling fortress carries on with its business. Crystalisk has returned to the Crystal Caverns, and calls for brave warriors are spreading to all corners of the settlement. An impatient line has formed in front of Braden Carters as he hands out the wanted papers. Kristin Owens is arranging the row of potions adorning the front of her stall.
All in all, a normal day.
“Why do you call me ‘Blue Eyes’?” Hisaka suddenly blurts out, breaking the companionable silence.
“Your eyes are blue,” Kagiri replies with a shrug. “We didn’t have names back in the laboratories, so I called you with the only thing I can identify you with -- the color of your eyes.”
It’s strange that he could enjoy a degree of comfort in the company of someone whose former goal had been to kill him. Then again, while the feeling was mutual, they both know that it wasn’t for personal reasons. Moreover, he discovered that they shared more history than the encounters in the war: she was also a product of Lord Archane’s pursuit of power. The only difference is that Hisaka has been the favored one, while Kagiri was labeled a failure.
‘Specimen Thirty-Two,’ she had told him in a monotone, without sorrow nor bitterness. ‘The Alliance gave me a better name.’
Defeated by a defective product. No wonder the King had been so furious and disappointed. More curiously still, it occurs to Hisaka that, throughout their battles and even after, he never felt an ounce of hate for her.
“That’s it?” He almost laughs. Her reason is so childish and simple, yet also like her.
“That’s it.” She tilts her head up to the clear sky. “Blue like the edge of lightning.”
And your eyes are red, he absently muses. Brighter than rubies, bolder than blood, so unlike anything he has ever seen.
He never tells her this, of course.
##
This is not revenge.
The storm falling over Archelon isn’t of his doing, though no doubt the Alliance believes otherwise. He doubts he has enough willpower for that; his nerves are frayed to the point of uselessness. Yet, as he stands before the great gates of Archelon Palace, a semblance of lucidity returns to him.
From outside the palace, he could hear the familiar sounds of the battlefield. The Alliance has breached the walls of the dying city, bringing the war right into Lord Archane’s doorstep. Victory is still far from their grasp -- this is their strongest, most desperate offensive, and if they fall here, then Arcana is lost forever.
He feels little worry nor remorse. The world means nothing. The world --
-- the world had been his service to the King. But once discarded, abandoned, what is left for him? What is left of the being known as Hisaka, made to serve the ruler of the land?
Who is Hisaka, after all?
His breath hitches as he lays his hands on the gates. The strongest structures in this city belonged not to the city walls, but to the palace. The Alliance couldn’t hope to enter and face Lord Archane himself without the gate opening to admit them. Their tired forces aren’t enough to destroy it.
This is not revenge, he tells himself as the metal glows and the hinges slowly creak. He doesn’t believe it, but he doesn’t know what to believe now. The Lord Archane he knows wouldn’t be this careless, he thinks savagely as he applies the intricate glyphs that make up the gate’s lock. The Palace’s locks and secrets have remained unchanged -- things that are known to one who was once the king’s most trusted pawn. The one who was recently banished, thoughtlessly cast aside. Not even worth killing by the great king himself.
This is not revenge.
Footsteps patter behind him, accompanied by the clanging of metal. The Alliance has come.
“Storm Prince.” He whips around at the voice. A battered crowd of quiet, stupefied strangers stares at him. He blankly looks back until he recognizes a familiar face among them.
The red-eyed wizard.
He has never asked for her name.
As he opens his mouth to speak, something flares from the corner of his eye. He turns his head out of reflex, his instincts screaming escape, and pain engulfs him for a split-second, an unimaginable hell that sears the flesh off his bones.
And then nothing.
##
“Did you ever regret your past?”
It takes Hisaka several seconds to realize that Silveren is referring to him. No one in their camp is awake, and the two of them are assigned on guard duty. It’s unusual for the knight to ever address him -- while he has worked admirably with Hisaka in situations that require it, it’s also obvious that he doesn’t completely trust the stranger whom Kagiri introduced into their guild.
“No,” the magician answers after a while. He finds nothing advantageous in dodging the question. “I consider it a waste of time to dwell on things I cannot change.”
Silveren nods slowly. “You don’t feel hounded by them? Your sins and failures?”
Why is he asking these -- oh. The incident at the lake. The previous life known as Winmer du Castell resurfacing within the knight’s mind. A quirk of incarnation? That is a kind of magic he’s yet to fully understand.
Hisaka exhales loudly. He doesn’t appreciate these personal questions. Brushing it off is a choice, but it’s likely that a cold shoulder will distract the knight even more. Their party doesn’t need a burden right now, especially a troubled defender standing between them and the monsters.
“If they chase after you, then all the more must you continue forward,” he tells the knight. Those words appeared to have an effect, judging from the rise of Silveren’s eyebrows. The man’s constant visage of mild irritation makes it hard to decipher him. In a way, he could understand his fears. They both failed a liege, lost the meaning of their lives in that war of old. “I could never erase the fact that I’ve served the Dark King, but denying it will lead to nothing. It’s part of who I am.”
Most people would have been horrified with his statement, but it was the truth. Hisaka couldn’t feel guilt and loss for things that weren’t valuable to him, even if it included death of innocents or valiant warriors.
Well then, a voice inside his head whispers. It vaguely sounds, annoyingly enough, like the patchwork gypsy. What is important to you now?
Who are you in this new world?
“Winmer du Castell’s failure belongs to him alone,” Hisaka continues, suppressing the shiver that passes through his spine. He hates it when there are questions he couldn’t answer. Silveren seems to have noticed nothing amiss, which is fortunate. He doesn't need the knight to get all introspective on him. “As far as I know, you are Silveren. You might share du Castell’s fears, but not his tragedies. You are entitled to a different existence.”
Hisaka could see that the knight is still unconvinced, but his mood has visibly lightened. There are less creases between his eyebrows. “Is this how you view this life, then?” Silveren asks, his gaze fixed on the campfire. “A ‘different existence’?”
The magician closes his eyes. The fire warms his body, but inside his chest nurses a chill. “Maybe.”
##
“You are mortal like them.”
He lies bleeding on the tiles, breath coming in ragged gasps. In the silence of the throne room, Lord Archane’s voice booms louder than thunder.
“I have no use for a weakling like you.” His word is law. His word is his meaning. His word is truth. “Get out of my sight.”
Hisaka, ever-obedient, pushes himself from the floor and limps out of the chamber. Blood drips after his foosteps. The doors swings to a close behind him, but the King’s displeasure is an omnipresent, choking weight. A cruel mercy, to let him live. To experience this humiliation is more horrible than death.
To lose everything he stands for is even more damning.
As he stands there in the darkness, waiting for acceptance that will never come, he doesn’t notice the tears streaming down his face.
##
Special Thanks to: Mehn, who let me mention the pink-haired fiend -- erm, prophet
Would you believe that there's going to be another entry? Let's see if we can make it o.o)/
PS: Can we have the attachment function back? Or at least the spoiler tag? D: