This Arlathan was not what she remembered. That was not meant to diminish it - from her understanding it was something of a miracle that it even existed now. The efforts to rebuild were substantial, and each day they were ever so slightly closer to reclaiming what had been lost and using it to make a better now.
Still, this world that she had awakened to was so very different from the one she'd known that sometimes she couldn't help but long for what had been lost. Magic flowed freely again, but the people of this time did not have the years and wisdom to make of that what the people of her time had. While there were wonders here, they paled in comparison to what she had experienced in her centuries of travel, what she had learned in eons of immersing herself in the unknown in an attempt to come out the other side with understanding.
And so her position in the Repository cut both ways - a chance to recover some of the beauty and wisdom that had been lost to the ages, but also a reminder of just how far they had fallen. It was a duality that not many could understand. There were a handful like herself who were waking from uthenera, but so many more had passed beyond reach. Generations of friends, of family, that she knew better than to expect to see again. The Evanuris had robbed her of that, Elgar'nan and the Dread Wolf both.
She had taken a tome from the repository and had taken it Vhenadahl. While she did not necessarily expect to be alone, at this moment she was. There was space here to work and the air was tinged with a magic more familiar to her than most. If she wished to revive the tome, it seemed the most appropriate place to do so.
Settling in comfortably on the ground, she laid the tome in front of her and started to let the rest of world fall away as she focused on weaving the threads of magic together, meticulously crafting something she hoped would bring back yet one more small piece of what had been lost.
Curiosity had brought him both wonder and sorrow across his lifetime within a body, and a place so familiar yet so foreign was no exception to this rule. As much as he had explored this new Arlathan, rebuild by many and brought into this new age, he had not seen all there was of it. He did not know it as he once had the grand city of the same name, now the buildings were study in construction. Build not by magic but other races that sought to help, there were few gleaming towers to be found here, the fact that nature still surrounded the entire place was a comfort, but not enough to truly put the elvhen at ease. The magic he felt in this city was new, unlike those of his kin and many of them slept evermore. He had visited a few upon awakening, a picture of naught but stillness and he could only hope they would one day wake and find a world better than what their lands had become.
While sleep had not come easily to him, Revas had not wasted the day trying to find more peace and quiet within the inn he had paid for. Instead he had sought out one of the few spirits that lingered here, it used to be packed with such individuals back then, but despite their lacking number now - they still answered him kindly. One of hope, a stirring of a memory as he looked upon their faintly shaped form, his words soft and melodically flowing as he asked what it was a needed. A quiet space, one that felt like home, an odd question for certain but it was one he knew such a being could provide him an acceptable answer. And so they did, to seek out magic that he knew far better, far older and so Revas moved deeper into the city then he had within these past two days.
The further he stepped into the city and then beyond, into the forest that surrounded it, the more at home the elvhen felt. Magic closer to what he knew, spirits here and there between the tree-line that often darted out of his sight whenever he dared to glance their way. He would leave them be for today, should they wish to approach, they would find he would not harm any of them. A body he may possess, but his soul would always be that of a spirit and there would always be a connection there. He supposed with the veil being gone, he should be thankful to not have experienced it, that disconnect fro magic and from all he knew as he had when it was first raised. Barely could he imagine living like that, his time had been short in seeing it's effects, perhaps that was why so many rushed to and fro, urgently grasping onto their short lifespans. That much, was something he would never understand.
What he could, was the awe anyone could experience when witnessing something unique and ancient that still remained standing. Sturdy and unmoving, the power in such nature alone was a wonder to look at and the magic that flowed here had some of the tension in his shoulders easing up just a little bit. What surprised him however, was not the scenery before him as beautiful as it was, but the sight of another sitting beneath it. One who was very familiar, waves of guilt crashing over him as memories rose to the surface, he had failed her and so many other friends when he had all but vanished from society right before the veil was raised. The world was tearing itself apart from the whims of the maddened Evanuris and yet he had been nowhere to be found. It had been for a good cause, a good reason, yet he knew they suffered all the same. Yet here one was, awake, alive and well. For once, June was mercifully quiet at the mention of the others like him.
Solana? A gentle question as he approached, steps quiet, he did not wish to disturb her if this was not the woman he thought her to be. But he could not know without asking.
In the midst of her casting she heard a voice call her name. Gentle, perhaps slightly uncertain, and incredibly familiar. It was rare that she heard a voice she could not match to someone she had met since awakening, and her heart started to beat in anticipation of something significant, yet currently unknown. Good or ill it did not yet know, and so the emotion fell somewhere in between waiting be placed in its rightful spot. Could it possibly be...?
Her eyes opened and she paused her casting at a natural break point, allowing the magic to dissipate back to where she had called it from. The tome before her lost the luster she had been starting to weave into it for the spell had only been a fraction complete. She turned her head, and the moment recognition flooded her joy quickly followed. [color=#17b529]"Revas? Is that truly you?"[/color]
She stood, turning more fully toward him, and quickly closed the distance between them to wrap him in her arms. The composure she kept to so steadfastly since she awoke cracked, and she refused to let go until she knew he was real, and perhaps a bit longer than that. It had been so long since she'd seen someone she knew from before, a friend of old. [color=#17b529]"[/color][color=#17b529]I thought you had been lost long ago."[/color]
In truth, he felt a little guilty about disturbing someone, especially when they were working on what seemed like some rather complex and time-consuming spell-work. The elvhen even as he spoke, held a touch of power beneath his palm in case this familiar stranger was startled. To stabilize the magic if need be, to stop it from sparking out of control and potentially harming not just the one working on it, but the environment around them both as well. It would be such a shame to ruin a place that felt so comfortable, so close to being just like the home he had once new. The world was the same, he knew that critically, but it did not feel like his homeland. Not truly.
Yet it was as that spell faded, and he heard her voice for the first time in centuries, that Revas knew he'd made the right choice. This was his friend without a doubt and he could not help the smile that formed upon his features, while he waited for her to understand and realize that her mind was not playing tricks upon her. [color=#008e02]"It is me falon,"[/color] Such were the only words he could get out before her steps quickened towards him, and he did not bother fighting it. Warmth enveloped him, as did she, he would not begrudge wanting such a reassurance and soon she would find it returned in kind. Arms settled about her shoulders to hold her still, to keep them both rooted to such a spot until such a time she decided to release him, though if she did within the next few hours he couldn't be certain.
[color=#008e02]"I survived, somehow. I hadn't dared to hope if you or anyone else we knew survived... ir abelas."[/color]
An apology drenched in guilt, in self-loathing and hatred that he had done nothing even as he clung to her still, yet in doing nothing to aid his friends the veil had been created. Look at where that had gotten the People now. They still suffered and knowing battle as he did, it likely wasn't all that far off from starting once again, how easily the scales could be tipped back into the days of bloodshed and chaos chilled him to the bone. Yet at the very least, within it all others had survived, a dear friend he had hoped had survived before him. If nothing else, he could be content that he hadn't totally ruined everything nor every one of his relationships. Even if now, as he spoke, he found it rather difficult to look at her. Not out of disgust, but of shame.
She was content to remain in his arms, to indulge in the comfort that came with the touch of someone long known and trusted, someone she thought lost for eternity. There were so few of them, and to find a dear friend from the past alive and awakened was a balm for the soul.
[color=#9a00b2]"Dar ati'shan, falon. There is no need to apologize. I am simply happy to have found you again. You are the first friend in the years since I awakened that I have seen."[/color] She wished fervently that she could give him better news, that family or friends from their centuries before the war had survived and awoken from uthenera to join them in this strange world, but she could not.
[color=#9a00b2]"How long have you been awake?" [/color] She did not expect it could have been long or they would have found each other before this. While the world was vast, this was Arlathan. Old or new it still belonged to the Elvhen in a way that it would never quite belong to the others. In places, the magic was still old, still theirs, and while others would always be welcome, in these woods still beat the heart of what once was and what could be again.
The physical presence of another so trusted, so cared for, brought with it a balm of relief and weariness Revas had not even been aware he had been shouldering. Like a physical weight lifted from him that had his shoulders sagging slightly, it would be different with Feredir, such a bond was unique and he knew that. But friends of any kind? He had so few of those left and no real family to speak of, any real friends he had made had rather rapidly become his new family after he had witnessed the cruelty of Elgar'nan first-hand. And with no others about to disturb or interrupt such a moment of joy, he did not let go, and he most certainly ignored the slight stinging sensation at the edge of his vision.
[color=#008e02]"You have no idea how much I-,"[/color] A pause, unsteady as he sucked in a breath quickly before exhaling. [color=#008e02]"How much you were missed, falon."[/color] There is a brightness to him, lighter now that he knows she is here and it is not just his mind playing tricks upon him. A smile too, that does not seem to wish to leave his expression now, ah who cared? He had long since grown out of trying to hide all that much from those closest to him and he shall not resume such a terrible habit now either.
Blinking away such a sting, as tempted as he is to swing her around in his hold, a physical act of care and wonder at finding his friend again, he does manage to resist doing so - though only barely. Instead though he does not really part from here, he does move so she can at least see his face and expressions properly without having to look too far. [color=#008e02]"Only six months now, I have not seen any others that I once knew, only rumors of their roaming Thedas. I have spent them travelling, to see what has changed, a lot it seems."[/color] Despite the conversation tone that he takes, he still glances about the space. A non-verbal question asked, if they were going to sit and speak, he supposed this was about as private as they were likely to get within the center of the city.
Never quite loosing contact with him, she shifted to take his hand and led him further under the shade of the Vhenadhl. It was as safe a place as they were likely to find to speak, and also the most familiar. Echoes of the old magic still wove their way through this place and as such it felt more familiar than the rest of this world they'd awoken to.
She sat, and when he did the same beside her they remained close, bodies touching as they laid there, her hand intertwined with his and her head resting on his shoulder. She was not usually one stay so entangled with another, instead keeping herself at a protective distance, but she had been starved of familiar touch for so long that now she was luxuriating in it.
[color=#9a00b2]"Much has changed indeed, falon. I hardly recognize this world, in truth. I traveled for some time before finding my way here. It's not the Arlathan I want it to be, but it's closer to any home I might remember than anywhere else I've seen."[/color] She had been nomadic for so long that calling any one particular spot home felt odd, except perhaps for Vir Dirthara and, well, she was not yet ready to see if the remnants of that cursed place still lingered.
[color=#9a00b2]"I have been trying to help them restore a fraction of what we lost. Bringing what they would call artifacts back to life and such,"[/color] she said, a gesture to the book she'd stopped working on. There was a solemness to her tone, a sorrow over just how much had been lost. She knew much had been gone even before the Veil tore the world asunder, but now there was even less left. Hardly anything of their great societies remained.
Even as he moved to grant her some space, perhaps much needed given how they had clung to one another, it seemed she would silently insist otherwise. Revas would not go against her wishes, such physical contact with a friend after so long was soothing in a way he could not explain, so he let her drag him about. Surrounded by old magic like this, he could almost believe they were back in Elvhenan and that he had come to visit her during a day in which he'd found freedom from his duties to Mythal. But such was not the case, no matter how much some part of him might want it to be so, there were things that could not be returned to them. The stability of the past and so many lost friends among them.
[color=#008e02]"I do not either if I am being honest, so much has changed after the things I witnessed at the end... I wonder if it was worth it."[/color] Had they truly done the right thing. Had he done the right thing by not only not protesting, but helping Feredir in creating that grand spell? Was some of the chaos that befell the elven People his fault as well? Sometimes it most certainly felt as if it was. A squeeze of her hand within his own while the rest of his body remained still, allowed her to relax against him as she liked, time had changed him and he wondered how similar he was to the man he had been when he had first met Solana so long ago. Would she think him a changed man? One scarred by battle and war, or perhaps did some small part of the one he had been before still linger?
[color=#008e02]"Arlathan is... the sentiment is a nice one, but it is not the gleaming city I remember. Though I suppose the Evanuris not being here has helped with that somewhat. But it is not home, not to me. I do not think anywhere truly is anymore, but perhaps I am just being pessimistic."[/color] A quiet, contemplative tone, the brief thought of wondering what could have been. No matter how wonderful the empire had been at the peak of such influence, no matter the good a small handful of the Evanuris had done at the start, it did not outweigh the suffering and scheming made behind closed doors. Behind masks, glittering with light, magic and raw power that had nearly ripped the very fabric of the world apart.
Such a task was time consuming, and perhaps she would find much of their home in-tact. Much of what had been made might still remain whole, if they were lucky. Even now the Veil and time alike had taken so much from them. [color=#008e02]"That is, a noble task to have undertaken Solana. Had I the time I would offer to help you personally, but I cannot stay in Arlathan long, I am still looking for someone. There is- it feels as though when we last met, I was a different man then. I do not know where to begin to explain it all."[/color] Softer, proud of her accomplishments but there still lingered doubt. Weary of her judgement upon him, of actions he'd taken. How few lives had he ruined the last time they had met, compared to the blood on his hands now?
Her head rose from his shoulder so she could look at him. She knew what he meant, the Dread Wolf's Veil tearing the world asunder. Destroying the elvhen, murdering her family, causing her to lose herself. But had it been the only way to end the bloodshed so future generations had a chance to live? [color=#9a00b2]"The Veil? I don't know. It ended the war, but we lost everything. And now we risk losing it again unless we take a different path."[/color] To say she had complicated feelings about it would be an understatement, and it might take years more before she had them all untangled and understood how she felt and where she stood.
She couldn't help but nod at his assessment of Arlathan. [color=#9a00b2]"No, I understand. You and I are not of this place, and home isn't a sentiment so easily defined when one is somewhere that ought be familiar and yet is not."[/color] She did not know where else to go but here, and yet that did not mean that she felt she truly belonged.
[color=#9a00b2]"You do not need to. We have both changed, it would be impossible not to after all this time. And then to wake up in such a strange place? You need time to find who you will be here."[/color] She was still figuring out who she was, and he had woken even more recently.
[color=#9a00b2]"You will not rest easy until you find who you seek, that much is written all over your face. Do you at least have time to partake of a meal with me before you leave? I would welcome the company for a little while longer before you return to your own quest."[/color] She knew he needed to be off, to seek his answers, but even just a couple more hours with him would be a balm to her soul.
Even mentioning the Veil and the collapse that had followed while he still slept, was a dangerous topic to bring to the forefront. It had affected each Elvhen so differently, the truth of the matter and any anger someone might hold for such an act was understandable. Yet if asked, Revas knew he would stand by it being a needed measure, it had been that or utter oblivion and frankly he'd had no desire to venture into the beyond for all eternity just yet. Not then and certainly not now, when things were just as troublesome and potentially world-ruining. Doubts remained of course, on both fronts and he wondered if she would think of him in a new light, if Solana knew just how much he had contributed to their people having to sleep for so long. Would she think him a monster like others had? Today at least, he did not want to find out. [color=#008e02]"Mm, that and many other things."[/color] Subjects he would not broach, mouth drawn into a thin line until she asked about the present.
Of the Arlathan of today.
[color=#008e02]"There are some spots, small places, like here I suppose? That feel close to the home I recall, but nothing matches perfectly and I doubt it ever shall again. It is just something we will have to adjust to."[/color] Nowhere would be the same, not here or any other location he knew. They were not the dominant species anymore, nor did they have an empire, no matter how much he still pondered the true need for such oversight. He could not be one to judge, not with how his own had fallen to a single powerful mage who thought himself above all - and still did. The same one that threatened the People and those of this land in the modern day as well. Yet it was hard to understate the feeling of being here, of knowing another so like him and her words of assurance that he did not need to recall it all now. Only in due time, when he was ready. Another gentle squeeze of her hand, of thanks and gratitude even if he did not respond verbally, before he knew it was about time.
[color=#008e02]"For anyone else, I would spare such time Solana but- I can't. I need to be sure, before I can even begin to figure out what I do with myself, I need to know that he's alright."[/color] Apologetic. It showed easily enough on his features drawn inward, teeth catching the inside of his cheek to bite down. And in his tone, a touch of guilt but the intent to move on remains. Soon enough he shifted to stand and gently pull her up alongside him. Once he was sure, his mind could rest and he might be able to begin to plan. To wonder of his part in this new Thedas. To get to that? Right now it meant leaving Arlathan and her. [color=#008e02]"I'll be back as soon as I can, you have my word."[/color] There is naught but warmth in his expression, he would keep his word, before he released her and vanished into the tree line.
