Rean and another man stand on a hill overlooking a little town below. It's got a peaceful feeling, nestled amid trees and at the end of a railway line. Smoke curls from chimneys in the early morning, and the whole place has an atmosphere similar to Trista or Leeves. Modern, but small town.
The man next to Rean is tall, and quite frankly, quite beautiful. He has jet black hair tied in a neat ponytail and deep blue eyes. He could be in his twenties or thirties, he's got that ageless sort of elegance. He turns from the peaceful scenery to face Rean, white teeth flashing in a soft but brilliant smile.
"The Knights are unaccounted for. Now is the time. Destroy it."
Rean seems less than happy. Actually he seems incredibly upset.
"No."
"What did you say?"
"I'm not wiping out a town full of innocents, Graham!" Understandably, Rean is distressed.
"Going in to confront them would simply give them time to summon their Knights. Right now, we have the advantage, and you have the strength to crush this opposition before more lives are lost."
"And what about the lives down there!?"
"They are a regrettable sacrifice, but housing enemies of the state comes with consequences."
"I won't do it."
Rean's firm on that, but Graham speaks, softly.
"You will."
Since you have the joy of experiencing this from Rean's point of view, it's a staring contest, but more than that. There's a battle going on, Rean's will versus Graham's, and Graham's... Is bearing down. It's in the contract, it's part of the pact. There is the feeling of something being crushed, a part of Rean that makes him human being stripped away and sealed. His protests, his visceral horror at the whole concept, they don't matter.
The struggle seems to last eternally, inside, but it's merely a drawn out few minutes before Graham's desire wins. Rean is his Knight, he cannot oppose the direct order, the direct intention for it to be an order.
With a distressed sound he turns his face away, an internal numbness spreading from the feeling of his own will being overridden. It's like losing part of his personality for a moment, he sees what happens but no longer feels anything about it, like a machine recording it without passion.
His hand lifts, and the world stops. Birds stop singing, the light goes grey, even the breeze stills--but not stills. Freezes. Time halts, and a dark spot grows above the village below. As that black hole in time widens, becomes a yawning void, there's a chilling feeling from it, it is not evil but it is... It simply is. It is power and it is without ego or consciousness and for that it is terrifying in its own right.
The blackness grows and grows until the whole town has disappeared, and then in an instant it collapses on itself, without sound. And the world returns to color and movement, once again in the flow of time. There's no crater or damage, smoke still rises from chimneys...
But there's no feel of presence from the town, no sense of life to Rean's senses. Everyone there is gone. Both vanished and also quite dead. He knows that for sure because he killed them.
He drops to a knee, mana mostly spent, and Graham pats his head.
Aurora AU memory
The man next to Rean is tall, and quite frankly, quite beautiful. He has jet black hair tied in a neat ponytail and deep blue eyes. He could be in his twenties or thirties, he's got that ageless sort of elegance. He turns from the peaceful scenery to face Rean, white teeth flashing in a soft but brilliant smile.
"The Knights are unaccounted for. Now is the time. Destroy it."
Rean seems less than happy. Actually he seems incredibly upset.
"No."
"What did you say?"
"I'm not wiping out a town full of innocents, Graham!" Understandably, Rean is distressed.
"Going in to confront them would simply give them time to summon their Knights. Right now, we have the advantage, and you have the strength to crush this opposition before more lives are lost."
"And what about the lives down there!?"
"They are a regrettable sacrifice, but housing enemies of the state comes with consequences."
"I won't do it."
Rean's firm on that, but Graham speaks, softly.
"You will."
Since you have the joy of experiencing this from Rean's point of view, it's a staring contest, but more than that. There's a battle going on, Rean's will versus Graham's, and Graham's... Is bearing down. It's in the contract, it's part of the pact. There is the feeling of something being crushed, a part of Rean that makes him human being stripped away and sealed. His protests, his visceral horror at the whole concept, they don't matter.
The struggle seems to last eternally, inside, but it's merely a drawn out few minutes before Graham's desire wins. Rean is his Knight, he cannot oppose the direct order, the direct intention for it to be an order.
With a distressed sound he turns his face away, an internal numbness spreading from the feeling of his own will being overridden. It's like losing part of his personality for a moment, he sees what happens but no longer feels anything about it, like a machine recording it without passion.
His hand lifts, and the world stops. Birds stop singing, the light goes grey, even the breeze stills--but not stills. Freezes. Time halts, and a dark spot grows above the village below. As that black hole in time widens, becomes a yawning void, there's a chilling feeling from it, it is not evil but it is... It simply is. It is power and it is without ego or consciousness and for that it is terrifying in its own right.
The blackness grows and grows until the whole town has disappeared, and then in an instant it collapses on itself, without sound. And the world returns to color and movement, once again in the flow of time. There's no crater or damage, smoke still rises from chimneys...
But there's no feel of presence from the town, no sense of life to Rean's senses. Everyone there is gone. Both vanished and also quite dead. He knows that for sure because he killed them.
He drops to a knee, mana mostly spent, and Graham pats his head.
"Well done."