Argenti's Palace

[beautifulknight]

The stage is set they say;
They don their masks and shields,
Shadows creep and cover their minds;
Now, what beautiful role shall they play?

𝓜𝓮𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓷 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮


♫

Comments

[ledbythewind]

[Oh. A field of flowers under the stars... it's nostalgic, painfully so, and for a moment Richard's own heart twists at a memory of a night bleeding over into a vivid dawn and a vow made under those fading stars.

(He wonders if Argenti feels the same way at the sight.)

But that voice addressing them tears raw, gaping holes in the beauty of the moment, and Richard's eyes narrow to flinty slits.]

... because you have something here that doesn't belong to you.

[Something, or rather, someone.]

[beautifulknight]

[ ...Well then.

Someone sure is not having it (so are not the others here, but even this fellow is ready to throw hands.) What the Knight thinks of it is unknown, though even so there is amusement in his tone as he addresses the blond: ]

Do I now? And what exactly is this something?

[ledbythewind]

You know who I mean.

[Perhaps it's that Richard saw something uncomfortably familiar in the way Argenti had reached out for this shadowy figure, almost as though the being were some sort of lifeline. Perhaps there's a hint of jealousy, a feeling of betrayal, because Asbel had had that same joy in his eyes upon seeing Richard again, only to turn around and question his actions--

Perhaps it's simply just that he feels he understands all of this more than he likes.]

[beautifulknight]

Do you think you can even reach him, as you are?

[ The Knight seems to ask derisively, even as Richard says the words that he does. ]

And if so, why do you think someone who has fallen so far is even worth your assistance? Do you not think of him as a weakling, if he has been unable to save himself?

Those who stumble from their Path as a Knight only have proven themselves to be lacking. It matters not the depth of their accomplishments, it matters not if they rose from once humble means into something much grander.

It only means that they amounted to nothing in the end.

Why would you wish to bother with someone like that?

[ Christ, okay. ]

[ledbythewind]

So needing help makes someone a failure?

[That stings. If it hadn't been for Asbel, he would be dead and he knows it.]

And here I always believed that the duty of a knight was to help others. Or does that no longer apply when the "other" is one of your own? Are your knights expected to save themselves without ever relying on the aid of their companions?

[beautifulknight]

...No.

You would be right that a Knight would be most certainly ready to assist others. Even their fellow Knights.

[ But he doesn't say why he said all of that. Instead, he moves right along. ]

But are you ready to risk your life for someone you barely know?

[ledbythewind]

[That gives Richard pause for a moment. He doesn't want to die-- of course he doesn't. Maybe that makes him a coward in the end.

But...]

I've already watched one person die in front of me without being able to do anything. I have no desire to watch that happen again.

[beautifulknight]

...If that is the case, then you may have your work cut out for you.

The world is full of disappointments, and the hand of fate is never so kind. Even to those who cherish Beauty.

Follow the paths the others have taken, Elegant One.

[ The Knight gestures towards the way forward.

The paths that have opened up are North, East, West, and South. But, red petals scatter towards the east in particular.

In the next moment, The Knight has vanished. ]