[Augustin Residence] Here we stand, here we fall

[Faith Augustin]

10th Cylus 719
Immediately after this

The blood on her hands wouldn't wash off.

Faith had scrubbed and scrubbed at it, but it would not. Of course, it had long since done so but the young woman did not see it with her physical sight. Pure, unashamed and unabashed fury coarsed through her veins and the young woman felt emotions she had not experienced since she saw Noth ~ the father of the now-orphaned Caza ~ push Aeon into a burning building. Qit'ria had been murdered, brutally slain on their property, protecting them. Protecting them. Faith was, almost always, calm and placid. She was a forgiving and even tempered woman; she and Padraig rarely disagreed and had not, thus far, had an actual argument. She did not like conflict, it frightened her.

But in this moment, she wanted to kill.

"They came, into our home." Her eyes were glowing a deep, almost fiery red and she had managed to explain what had happened to Padraig only through clenched teeth. She was not in any way angry at him, but this fury was in two parts. First, for herself and second for whoever had perpetrated this act. "It was too late. She'd.. I couldn't bring her back. I couldn't." She wasn't hurt, but Faith was coiled like a spring and the emotions she felt washed over her again. Turning to look at Padraig, her facade of anger cracked momentarily. "I couldn't do anything to help her. They killed her protecting us, Padraig." The glowing of her eyes did not abate as she spoke, although it was different emotions which fuelled her. "We have to find out... everything we can. Then, protect the house, the children." There was no doubt, as far as Faith was concerned, that was the first priority. "I believe, rightly or wrongly, they were targeting me because of.. " Stopping she shook her head and turned away, not looking at him.

"This is because of me," she sighed and ran her hand through her hair, which was loose and rather wild at this point. "I need to find them, Padraig. Find them, and make them stop." She needed to make the babies safe. But she was aware that she knew what had happened and he'd come running out. So, she sighed and sat down; she was trembling from head to foot, but her voice was ~relatively~ calm. Pressing her hands together till the pads of her fingers turned white, she spoke. ]"Qit'ria defended us. From an attack, obviously. We need to find out details, ascertain exactly what happened, but I want to make sure that the children.. they need to be safe. We'll need to get the Lightning Knights in here and investigate." Cyrus had already gone to get them, but Faith had either not noticed, forgotten or simply was not thinking.

"I don't think it's Alexander again. I don't. But it was undead Padraig. Necromancy," she more or less spat the word. But then, she realised something and she looked at him. The redness in her eyes was still very much there and, as someone who could feel her emotions through their shared bonds, he knew that absolute fury nestled just beneath the surface. "Qit is a ghost. She isn't moving over." Looking at him she couldn't help the briefest of smiles which crossed her face. He'd be as able to see and talk to Qit'ria as she was, now. "And Famula granted me a new ability." She held out her hands, half expecting to see blood on them. "I can remove the spark of a necromancer. I'm going to. Of whoever did this. And right now?" Her eyes lifted to meet his and she was entirely, genuinely serious.

"After I've done that, I'd like to remove their windpipe with my bare hands. But I'll probably calm down. Where should we start?"

[Padraig]

Faith didn't often show her emotions, or rather, she tended to suppress those of anger, sadness and the like, at least. Padraig sometimes wished she wouldn't. Though in truth, her efforts were completely lost on him due to the connections they shared. He always knew what she was feeling, just as she could easily sense what he was feeling. In this case however, if she was attempting to conceal her anger in the wake of Qit'ria's death, she was doing a very poor job of it.

But why should she try? Perhaps in front of strangers or the children, who were too young to understand the source. But certainly not from him. It was a shared outrage, made all the worse by the fact that Qit'ria had been trying to protect them. He wished he could go back and insist that she realize that she didn't need to. Whatever it was, he and Faith could handle themselves and if there was a foe to defend themselves, and her, against, then they'd do it together. Side by side. But it was too late for that now.

"Of course you tried, Faith," he said, trying to reach her through the haze of grief and anger. "You did everything that you could. But neither you, or I, are all powerful. There are some things we simply can't fix. No matter how much we want to." But because of her? "Why? Why because of you?" he asked. Nonetheless she was right. Whoever had done this needed to be stopped. So long as they were out there on the loose, Faith wouldn't be safe. Their children wouldn't be safe. Nobody would be safe.

Cyrus had gone to see the knights, he told her when she mentioned a needed investigation. "They'll be here soon, I'm sure." But if it was an undead, well even if it wasn't Alexander and it probably wasn't, they had a leg up on that at least. "We've dealt with that before. We know what works and what doesn't. And since then, we've gotten more tricks up our sleeve." And old ones too, he guessed. As for Qit not moving over, well he had mixed feelings about those who had died not moving on. But it didn't surprise him. "Unfinished business," he said simply.

So, removing the spark of a necromancer was good, so long as it didn't require rubbing elbows with one. But where to start? "By preparing and arming ourselves," he said. He wasn't inclined to put all his faith in the knights, nor the well being of his family completely in their hands while he sat idly by. Of course arming themselves meant more than swords and bows. It meant pulling out some old tricks, like the hand tossed explosives he'd crafted so very long ago. A few potions maybe, but mostly, what they'd most need was a plan. A strategy and the wisdom and smarts needed to pull it off.

[Faith Augustin]

10th Cylus 719
Immediately after this

Why because of her? She turned to look at her husband and her face was incredulous. Why because of her? Her expression showed the mass of emotions he could feel that she was experiencing and then Faith simply stepped into Padraig's arms and held on to him. Breathing in, raggedly, she whispered. "She calls me sister, and she died because she was protecting us. Rey'na.. I couldn't protect her, either. Am I doing it wrong? Am I putting everyone I love in danger because of who I am?" That was what it came down to, in that moment. Alexander had nearly been the end of the two of them, and could have seriously harmed the babies she'd carried on his second attempt. All because of her link to Famula. Although, she supposed, now they both had that link. Leaning into him, Faith did her best to calm down and she almost managed it a little.

Almost.

Pulling herself together as well as she could, Faith looked at him and, as he spoke about what they'd have to do, how they'd have to do it, she felt a surge of love for him. "I do not have sufficient factual information to recite in an attempt to explain how much I love you, you know." It was what she had always done, probably what she always would; facts, figures and practicalities. Those were what she hid her emotions behind, but he'd always seen through it even before their feelings were open to one another, thanks to the Immortals granted marks they both bore.

"Since Alexander, yes, we've both gotten a few more tricks up our sleeves. I can break the control of a necromancer over their undead. Can you bottle that? Put it in the crossbow bolts?" There were other things, too, she said and she started thinking, rather than reacting, feeling. "Alright, so lets think about this logically," leaning forward, she kissed him softly and squeezed his hand ~ the only thank you he'd get as she focused ~ and she started to pace. "We need to investigate the bodies. Fully. They will give us clues as to what they knew about us. How much knowledge they have. We need to call for help, from Isonomia, Beacon if needs be. We need to deal with this, and while we are we need to know that our people are safe." That was vital, to them both.

"I can put my mark on one of the adults here. Cyrus? Then, if there's a problem, he can call us and we'll be there in a moment. One on the twins means we can have them in our arms in moments. Can you use alchemy to make potions which capture my ability to heal? If so, I think we should." Faith's mind was reeling, but she was doing her best to make it all make sense. Looking at him, she asked. "So, together we go and look at the bodies out there, see what's what and find out what they know about us, how much they have learned. Then, you talk to the Lightning Knights and make alchemical and weaponised defences and offensives, and I go into research mode on necromancy, look for anything we've missed?"

It was clear, it was logical. It was a plan, too, and she thought it was reasonable. More than that, though, it was structure and all the Immortals knew she needed that right now. If he agreed, she'd slip her hand into his and smile; fury no longer fuelled her and her smile was shaky and uncertain. "Shall we?"

[Aegis]

Date

Faith would feel her intention to appear before she actually arrived. It was Famula's way of asking permission, not because she needed it, but because she wanted it from one of her most trusted followers. She knew Faith would give it anyways, but still, the question was there. While the couple were talking and planning, Padraig's nose began to bleed. The first drop fell to the floor, splattering upon the wood. It did not seep into the wood though, instead, it began to grow. It undulated and grew, forming a perfect circle of blood that was clearly not behaving like blood. It wasn't spreading out, not attempting to dry.

Once it grew enough, it bulged upward, and Famula appeared before them, leaving no blood upon Faith's vigilantly cleaned floors. She was there in less than auspicious fashion, in her simple, black dress, her cloak of chains hanging from her shoulders, her lantern held gently in one hand tucked behind her back. Famula was staring directly at Padraig, smiling softly. She reached out, cleaning the blood from beneath his nose with a single finger. "Hello, again."

She turned to Faith, her smile softening just enough to show that she understood the plight that her devoted was going through. Faith would be able to feel the love and compassion that Famula felt for her, for all of her devoted, washing through their connection. "Love is such a beautiful thing, is it not?" She stepped closer to Faith, she reached out and gently held the woman's cheek, "Love is the driving force for nearly all great change in the world, and in the lives of all people."

She turned back to Padraig, "More often than not, souls choose to not pass on because of love. Wars are raged for love. Love creates the most beautiful and most destructive acts." Her eyes glowed crimson, just as Faith's had done, and the bore into Padraig, "The heart beats the blood which gives life. But without love, the heart withers, and dies."

She reached out and placed a hand over Padraig's heart, "You will need your love more than the logic you desire to use. Do not forget to bring your hearts to the fight."

Stepping back from him, now facing both, "But I am not here to simply philosophize. It seems," at her next word, there was a swirl of crimson around her feet, "She has already told you of your heritage, my son."

She stepped forward again, holding out a hand to each of them, an offer for them to be held, "I wish to share with you something I suspect you know, not in your minds, but in your hearts." If her hands were taken, she squeezed them now, "It is not coincidence that the son of Famula fell in love with one of her most devoted servants. You two have been in love for far longer than the span of your lives." She let go of their hands now, folding her own in front of her, "Your souls are bound together. Not by destiny, and not by my hand. Not by the hand of any Immortal. It is a power greater than our own."

Her smile brightened, "Love has bound your souls together. Your souls will always find the other in life, in death, and in the beyond. Always. Nothing can separate you." She calmed, the crimson fading from her eyes and from around her feet, "I was there when your souls bound together. It is..." She was at a loss for words, "Only a mortal could truly describe the beauty I saw in your bonding." Her eyes flashed deep red, and Faith and Padraig were given a vision. They were seeing the bonding of their souls. Famula said only a mortal could describe it, but it would be no easy task.

Soon, the vision faded, and Famula was there, still smiling, "Faith, this is not the first time life you've served me with, though it is the first that you did so knowing who I am. Before you were born, I knew you'd find your way to me once more. And I knew that you Padraig, would find her." Her brow furrowed, "These are... tumultuous times. I..." She looked a bit disappointed, not at Faith or Padraig, but in herself, "Made a choice. I chose to bind you to me Padraig, knowing I would need you, knowing that Faith would need you. That was the logical choice I made."


Her smile softening, "But I also made a choice of love. The love I saw when your souls bound together. The love that I... felt from that moment. The love I feel for you both. And so, I did not tell you of this... assumed destiny. I let you make your own choices, hoping you would find your ways to me, to each other, once more."

Her smile softened some more, "I hope you can forgive me for... meddling in such a way. It is a cruel responsibility we Immortals bear, and many have abused. I am just as selfish as any other." She bowed her head to them. She then looked up, tears of blood running down her face, "I love you both. If you know anything, if you remember anything in this life, remember to love. It will always guide you true."

With one last smile and a nod, she fell back to the floor as a puddle of blood, seeping through the floor, disappearing, leaving not one speck on Faith's immaculately cleaned floor.

[Padraig]

As a scientist, for Padraig logic was paramount. Certainly there were things over the course of discovery that at first seemed illogical, but in the end, once the kinks were sorted out, the logic of those previously illogical things, was plain to see. Faith felt things more deeply from the heart than anyone he'd ever known. She was at least as much heart as head, where he typically erred on the side of provable concepts.

This self-imposed blame and the sense of guilt that she hefted up on her own shoulders, to him, seemed illogical and counterproductive. But then there was a very real argument to be made that those who viewed her as a threat and wished to harm her, might think they'd do it quite handily by striking at those closest to her. There was logic in that.

"No one is all powerful Faith," he said gently. "We're not all knowing. We're only human, and we do the best that we can." And of course, they tried to do more than that, again. If he could bottle any of their newfound tricks through alchemy, then certainly they could equip arrows and bolts to carry the newly created concoctions. The problem of course was in the testing. Rats wouldn't do in this case, he told her, and it was unlikely that they could put out a call for their local necromancer to drop in and act as a test subject...in the name of science and progress, that was.

"If we need to examine bodies and call for help from the outside, then that's what we'll do," he said, smiling and returning her kiss. Of course he'd rather not go poking around at corpses. But it went without saying. He'd do what was necessary to protect her and their children. Cyrus would be more than agreeable to bearing whatever mark was necessary, and her point regarding the children was sound. "I suppose it's not that different from bottling traditional medicine. Just in this case, it's more a case of bottling an essence than a particular compound."

As they talked and planned, Padraig's focus was challenged due to a tickling sensation in his nose. As if he would sneeze if it kept up and he reached up to rub it more than once, but didn't bother looking. It was only when it dripped blood that he reached up again, swiping two fingers across his upper lip and had a look. He frowned, curiously, peering at the traces of blood on his fingertips, and on the floor. In all of his arcs, he couldn't recall having experienced a nosebleed. "Strange," he muttered, and reached into his pocket to retrieve a handkerchief. Not even the blood on the floor was behaving as blood should. That was when she appeared. What a way to make an entrance.

Turned out he didn't need the kerchief. She wiped his nose like a mother would her child's. Except this was a mother he'd never known or imagined before. Not until recently anyway. "Hello," he said. Suffice to say his tone implied a bit of uncertainty regarding his feelings about coming face to face with Famula now. Truth was he didn't know how he felt about it. Speaking to Faith, the Immortal spoke of love as if it was a science as vital to mortality's existence as gravity was. As if it was an equal or even greater force by far. He was a scholar. A man of science, but in this case he wasn't inclined to argue. Maybe she was right, after all.

"Maybe love isn't quite as illogical as I've been inclined to think," he admitted, before glancing at Faith and smiling. He wasn't exactly ready to call it a science. Let the philosophers, who were not scientists make that claim. But in a world that was full of Immortals and Originals, and whatnot, science wasn't quite as straightforward as he'd sometimes like it to be. "Yes." Yvithia had told him and maybe he hadn't taken the news as gracefully as he could have. As for him and Faith, he couldn't exactly argue. There'd never been any explanation. From the moment she'd turned up at his door, he strangely felt as if he'd already known her. And later, that he'd already loved her. There was no known science for that and he didn't question Famula's assertions.

Except for one thing. "Faith found me. As sure as she did, I didn't realize until then that I'd been lost." Of course he still had mixed feelings about how this connection had come to be, and having lived all this time without knowing. It was strange that his own grandfather seemed to have taken it all in stride, without missing a beat. Padraig admittedly, was coming around more slowly. But at the least, he wasn't angry any more. "I can, and I do. Truly," he said when Famula wondered about forgiveness. "If I'd known, my life might have gone differently. And I'll be the last to complain about how it's turned out." Him and Faith, that was. And he could hardly hold fast to any sort of resentment when he could feel, like static in the air all around them, the affection the Immortal had for them both.

And then, just as suddenly as she'd appeared, Famula was gone again. As was any trace of her having been there at all. But of course she had, and he smiled and squeezed Faith's hand.

[Faith Augustin]

Faith Augustin was not a logical woman; she would be the first to admit it. Her devotion, her faith, her utter determination to give everything she had to their relationship made her a fanatical follower of the Immortals she worshipped and, equally, applied to her marriage, her role as a mother, daughter in law, friend and sister. She threw herself into everything she did and gave all she had to it, always had. He grounded her, their relationship was the foundation to everything she did and, when he said that they were fundamentally just doing their best, she nodded. "I know. I just .... she's dead, Padraig, and she's my friend." Tears fell again and her eyes, which were now fading back to her normal colour, showed the pain in Faith at that fact. Her friend, her sister in every way that mattered, had died and as he held her, Faith allowed herself to just feel that grief.

And he, of course, was there to support, to comfort and then, to do what needed doing. Looking at him, Faith smiled softly. "That's what we'll do, yes." She nodded and squeezed his hand, more than grateful for him. They got to work and Faith glanced at him a couple of times, wondering what had got up his nose ~ literally ~ as he itched at it. But, there was a strange itching sensation in the back of her mind and, as the drop of blood fell to the floor, Faith frowned. "Padraig?"

Because in that moment, Famula was there. Faith felt her arrival, knew what was going to happen trill before it did, but she got the chance to say his name and nothing more. Then, Famula was there. Faith knew, without a doubt, that she was there to see Padraig ~ her son ~ and so she had no intention of getting in the way there. But when Famula started to speak and put her hand on Faith's cheek, the devout young woman smiled, delighted. There was no hesitation in Faith when Famula held out her hands. Faith already had hold of Padraig's hand but she placed her other into Famula's. Because, unlike her husband, she was not a logical person and she simply believed.

When Famula spoke of them, entwining their souls together, one to the other, in lifetimes before this, Faith did not doubt it. That they were bonded, soul to soul, lifted a fear from her which she had held since he told her about being Famula's son. If she died, when she did, and he kept going, her soul would return and find his. And then she saw. Them, though not their faces, but she knew that it was him and her, standing together and uniting themselves, one to the other, for all the lifetimes to come. There was crystal water and birds sang ~ it was just the two of them she saw, and all she could focus on was his eyes as he looked at her and made a promise which echoed down all their lifetimes; one which she returned wholeheartedly.

Of course, though, he had to go and argue with Famula about who found who. Faith glanced at her husband somewhat despairingly. "We found each other, that's all that matters." He couldn't help himself, she considered. It was like a compulsion. She'd change not a thing about him, though, so she simply smiled. As for forgiveness? Faith shook her head. "Unto my final breath, and beyond." It had always been her promise to Famula, and always would be. Her service, devotion and love of the Immortal was incredibly simple.

And, like that, Famula was gone. Faith looked at Padraig and smiled softly, her hand reaching up to his cheek. It was a lot to take in, Faith knew, and so she did what she believed they both needed. "Right. So, you get going on the crafting, and I'll go into research. Yes?" Kissing him softly, Faith's eyes suddenly widened as she realised something.

"Padraig!? This means that Famula is my mother-in-law?" She looked at him with shock in her expression. "Oh my."

[Aegis]

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Thread Review

It was my pleasure to modbomb this thread. Good luck on the rest of your plot, and good job Faith, marrying the boss' son. Suck up. Pad, stop bleeding all over Faith's clean floors.

Word Count: 4453
Review Request Link: None, is a modgrade.

Faith

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Padraig

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Final Notes

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