[Open] It shall be engraved upon your soul...

[nibelungvalesti]

Who: Lenneth Valkyrie, OPEN
When: October 3rd on
Where: All around the Far Shore
What: The Valkyrie is broken, and healing.



October 3 - 9

Few words exist to properly describe just what the Valkyrie was going through. Fewer still were not profane.

The seal had broken. She had never known it was there, for Freya and Odin had done their work well. Little leaked through it, and even all the machinations of the Far Shore had only convinced her that at one point she had been given another identity as 'Platina' -- never once realizing that the mortal girl had been 'her' as much, or more, than 'Lenneth', for the years her soul had dwelt in that body while it awaited Asgard's call. But in the depths of the void, far away from her heavenly home, her bindings had broken. Odin's decree that she should know nothing but duty failed.

Had it all flooded back into her at once, the knowledge might have broken her. Perhaps luck could influence a goddess of fate, though, for in the moment the barriers collapsed, she was not entirely there to receive it. The void had struck her very soul, and though the wound would heal, it had numbed her. She could not feel... not really.

The Valkyrie did not need food, or sleep. Her existence was spiritual, not biological. With untold weight on her mental shoulders and unfathomable pressure on her soul, she did the only thing she could: she walked. Plodding on without end, traipsing the length and breadth of the Far Shore with no destination in mind, no goal or purpose, no energy or vitality. Simply walking, one foot in front of the other, braid swishing at her ankles, eyes open but seeing nothing.

Walking, without pause. Wherever.

October 10

She had stopped walking. She had started hurting, but she understood pain well, even pain of the soul. And she did have pain to spare... for her entire soul was hers once more.

Those who sought out the Valkyrie would find her in an unlikely place: some fifteen feet off the ground in front of the temple of Osiris, her eyes shut, her arms spread slightly so that her hands hovered away from her body at her hip. Gently turning, as if spun about by an unfelt breeze. The scene carried with it a sense of concentration, a gentle serenity, almost as if she were in prayer... but her senses were in no way poorer for all she had been through. At the feeling of a soul drawing close, she opened her eyes as she turned to face the body that held it.

Something deeper and richer lurked in them than had been there a week ago.

Comments

10th!

[spes_phthisica]

Wandering around the different temples of the Far Shore is always interesting, and you never know what you might find. It's the realm of the gods, after all. Miracles is practically their daily trade. Even so, it was still somewhat surprising to find a woman just sort of... floating in the air. She looked so still and serene too, that Souji wasn't sure if it was wise to disturb her. Maybe she'd fall down? So instead he'd just sort of edged closer, trying to figure out what was going on.

He'd thought he was pretty quiet, but suddenly her eyes open and she turns to face him, and he freezes up where he stands, a slightly sheepish look on his face. "Ah, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you!" A beat, then, "Are you maybe... the God of this temple?"

[nibelungvalesti]

"I am."

She dropped from the air to land quite gently on the ground, her skirt flaring slightly around her boots before subsiding.

"This is the temple of Osiris, and that is the mantle I wear here."

She sounded tired, but not physically.

October 10

[saiyanhybrid]

After what happened, Gohan has been making rounds on visiting Lenneth. She isn't hard to track down, and it's not difficult to want to keep a track of her either.

However, this is a scene that's different than the usual.

When she turns to him, he stops in mid-flight.

"Lenneth?"

[nibelungvalesti]

Rather than drop to the ground, as she'd have to do with almost any other visitor, she instead had to rise slightly to be on his level. The thought amused her, causing a faint ghost of a smile to flicker across her face.

To say that was far more than she had exhibited this past week was an understatement. But then, that was far more than she generally exhibited anyway.

"Gohan. I am feeling... better, I think."

[saiyanhybrid]

"Really?"

Though there might be a hint of doubt in his tone, the smile on his face belies it. Compared to the past few days he's been visiting her, she really did seem better.

"I'm relieved to hear that."

[nibelungvalesti]

"It was not my desire to worry you, nor my intent... but I must have. I am sorry."

She lifted one hand to her chest, bowing her head slightly. How poorly she had treated him -- knowing that he considers her a friend, yet not even offering so much as a word of farewell before attempting a venture that would have taken her away.

"I was foolish."

[saiyanhybrid]

Gohan blinks a bit in surprise at the apology, but he flashes her a grin.

"Hey, no need to apologize, Lenneth." Even if he doesn't know the reason why she allowed herself to get swept up in something like that, but he's not really one to judge, is he?

[nibelungvalesti]

"There is a need, and so I am." Whether or not he thought so was less material than the fact that she knew so.

"I should warn you.. things are different, now. I am different, now, or perhaps... more myself?" Already frustrated with her limited understanding, she shook her head. "I do not know."

[saiyanhybrid]

"More...yourself?" He repeats it, the confusion evident in his tone alone.

Gohan looks at her, eyebrows furrowed. "So then, the person you are - were - before wasn't entirely yourself?"

[nibelungvalesti]

"There was much... sealed within me." Her voice trembled along its edges; she was not so stable now that she could relate that dispassionately and calmly. "Memories... from when I slept in a human form, and before. I was made to focus solely on my duty..."

[saiyanhybrid]

....

The younger god looks worried. "So they sealed that human side of you to make sure you remain focused on what your duty is?"

Gohan may not have a mean bone in his body (aside from a few exceptions), but even he is aware of how wrong that sounds.

[nibelungvalesti]

Please don't go Super Saiyan 2.

"Yes. You understand." She nodded, and -- well, he might not even believe what he saw, but sadness and worry both showed on her face as she looks up at him. For his sake, because she knew this must hurt to hear.

[saiyanhybrid]

He'll try not to.

Gohan doesn't say anything for a moment. The raw emotions on her face is enough to cut through him, but then again, he has always been one to easily feel others' emotions as if they were his own; he sympathizes too much not to let it to. At the same time, he's angry, too - or just upset, that this happened to her. "...Is your duty still something important to do here?"

He knows it's not easy and he knows Lenneth is true to her duty, regardless. He just wonders if by having this knowledge, she can have some semblance of freedom.

[nibelungvalesti]

"I will not abandon my duty." That answer came quickly and without regret, making her sound much like the Valkyrie she had been up till now. But that old familiar hardness lasted only a moment, before the barest hint of amusement crept over her. "But perhaps I could at last make what seems to be the entire Far Shore happy by not pursuing it to the exclusion of all else."

oct 9

[artificialrose]

A lot has been going on lately, enough that Garry has felt restless in a sense. There's a lot he could do, but nothing he wants to do. It's frustrating, to say the least, but what can he do?

He goes for a walk.

If nothing else, it has to get rid of some of his excess energy, doesn't it? That's all he's thinking for it, at least, up until a familiar figure catches his eyes up ahead of him. Garry speeds up, perked into interest. "Ah- hello! What are-" It's only once he's close enough does something not seem right, and Garry begins to slow. "Are you alright...?"

[nibelungvalesti]

She registered nothing. Some part of her senses processed him, enough to recognize that she should avoid walking directly into him, but those words alone were not enough to penetrate the shell around her. She kept walking, towards and then past him.

So the answer to his question was almost certainly "no, she is not".

[artificialrose]

Definitely not.

Concern spiking, he twisted around on his heel to follow her movement, and he reached out to touch her tentatively on the arm. "Hey- why don't you pause for a moment? Please?" Suddenly, he's worried what she might get into while she's in this state.

[nibelungvalesti]

In the depths of her soul, where all lies wounded to quiescence, the Valkyrie found a word. With some effort, she dug it up, shaped it with her lips, and let it spill.

"Why?"

Needless to say, she did not stop walking.

[artificialrose]

So, he's going to have to speed-walk while having this conversation. Fortunate that he's been keeping up with his exercise. Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he keeps pace with her.

"I'm worried. What's wrong? You seem off from how you usually are."

[nibelungvalesti]

She lacked the capacity to properly laugh at the irony, so her response came as a simple, straightforward question without a trace of humor. "Is that not good?"

[artificialrose]

"No, it isn't." There's no helping it.... Gently, he tries to guide her off of her path. "Why don't you sit down, and tell me where you've been? Or at least tell me where you're going."

[nibelungvalesti]

Well... he got her to slow down at least, from a swift pace to a slow walk. Partly because of his efforts to guide her, partly because his response was nonsensical.

"Many people have made an effort to change me. If acting different than normal is bad, why do they wish me to do it?"

[artificialrose]

Ah. So they're getting right into this kind of discussion, then. At least Garry is a little more prepared for it. Not having to run and instead just stride helps, too.

"Well... It's like what you said at the banquet." And then, worried, "You do remember that, don't you?"

[nibelungvalesti]

"I have said many things to many people," the Valkyrie said. Were she not in her current state, she might even have a sense of humor about it.

[artificialrose]

...That's not making him feel better. Garry purses his lips together. "But to me, specifically?"