Inokentei's blog

My mind was a tempest as I crossed over the shattered yards and through broken buildings to my most familiar place. For years it had been a place of sorrow and comfort. Now, with every passing moon, I grew to dread my trips there more and more.

I paused at the door, touching the small markings in the stone to activate wards, which would block my home from the sight and thoughts of those who would look upon it. I hesitated another moment, wondering where the Lord Convocate was.

I reached out for his familiar presence, and almost immediately withdrew; having seen through his eyes, I found that I was looking in upon a moment that I had no business seeing.

How long has it been since you looked upon the benefits of matrimony or felt, Inokentei? I shook the unbidden thought away, knowing that such thoughts were only detrimental to my work.

I screamed as I felt the flesh peel from my face, turning to blood that poured down into the water-filled basin before me. I could feel tears dripping down, the salt on those on my left side stinging the scored flesh.

"Did you forget? All done unto others is done unto you." Came that ever so calm voice, embodied only by the one that I grew to hate more and more. "Did you forget, Felshadow?"

"No! I... I just lost control..." More blood ran down my face into the basin, though the flow slackened after a few more seconds, leaving the hairs on my face and my remaining skin streaked with crimson.

"You would do well to remember your part in the bargain, lest you undo yourself too quickly." The voice purred, seeming almost amused at my pain.

I sighed as I walked back to my home, the conversation with Silverleaf having gone less than perfect. I paused on my way through the broken streets of the ruins that made up the western half of the city, eyes peering into the darkest shadows, which seemed to shirk from my gaze.

I slowly made my way up the steps to my home, stepping between the seemingly innocent pillars that covered the entryway to my home. As I did so, the shadows grew darker upon the place until only those who would know where to find it, could find it.

Taking great care, I undressed down to the simplest of garments, folding my robes and setting them gently upon one of the pedestals that held my clothing. Stepping then to the center of the room, I set down a bouquet I had carefully picked along the way, making sure to pick the most accenting flowers for it.

"You can't get people to listen; in this day and age, if you want people to hear you, you have to hit them with a hammer." -Tobinius Bellsaura; The Pieces of the Puzzle

"Nothing has changed." I murmur, kneeling before the small slab of marble I took from a ruin long ago. "They don't listen. Despite what I do every day, they continue in their own ways. There are changes in the players, but not in the game."

I run my fingertips over the marble, tracing the words I carved once, so torn with grief.

"I'm breaking my promise. I'm so sorry for that." I whisper. "I promised I'd change them, change them so that it could never happen to anyone again. So no one could suffer like you did. So no one would lose anyone like I did. But they're not listening."