The Hearts of Men (1x1 with Eternal Chronicler)

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa nodded after realizing what had caught Adeska's view and gave a slight giggle as she twisted it about her finger a short ways.
"Yes, yes I am.... Tessa Cortez, if you'd like to know. I'm sorry to have missed you coming on. What brings you here?"

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[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Adeska------------------------------------------
-------------------Nessin

I was a child of sin.
I carry my mother's power.
I was possessed.

Adeska's darkened gaze was concealed by her sudden stare down to the water. She thought for many moments, her emotions tumbling. She looked back to her mother, knowing she couldn't lie, but the truth was painful.

"I...I was brought here..." Adeska said. "I was brought here, carrying someone else inside me," She said softly. "But she's gone now, Ilyia killed her," She said, her voice barely audible as she drew her knees up to her chest, still balancing effortlessly on the railing.

This is no more.
I am my own master.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa thought for several seconds and nodded slowly as she pieced together Jack's words to Adeska's own, and she moved a hand to the girl's shoulder calmingly.
"Relax. It wasn't your fault, alright? What's done is done, and besides - you're here and well, right?"

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[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Adeska------------------------------------------
-------------------Nessin

I was a child of sin.
I carry my mother's power.
I was possessed.

Adeska jerked away from Tessa's hand involuntarily and nearly fell of the railing, her hands just catching her in time. "Do you know what it is like, to watch yourself slaughter thousands, and to have over five hundred years stolen from you?" She asked angrily, looking up to the horizon. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." She trailed off, glancing at Tessa before hopping off of the railing and walking away from Tessa slowly, eyes shifting constantly in color and in where they were looking.

This is no more.
I am my own master.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa froze. For a moment she pondered what her life had boiled down to at that point, and even looking down to her ring she could see the blue wisp flickering within it. Several minutes passed where she could have been best described as paralyzed in fear.
"No..." she whispered, "I can't let it go now..."
Still what was she to do? She had brutally injured Jack in facing the depths in search of her friends, had wounded his half-sister in trying to console the poor child, and now she stared at the sacrifice her own heart had given for the man she knew as her husband. She cast a glance back to the cabin, to where Jack and Ilyia were, as she suspected at least. Without a word she made her way to the head of the ship and sat hidden from view, silently weeping.

Meanwhile Ilyia eventually recovered completely and sat up, rubbing the back of her head slightly where she had fallen. In looking over to Jack she noticed his ring had begun to flicker.
"Where's Tessa?" She asked quietly, "Is she alright...?"



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[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack looked back from the balcony and gestured to the other door of the cabin. "Out there, I daresay. If she is still in her own body," He muttered the last statement under his breath. "Other than where she is, I have no idea," Jack closed the book Tessa had left out after he read it and smoothed the edge of the cover thoughtfully, collapsing into his chair with a weary sigh, hiding his face with a hand, his head resting on his hand. Emotions tumbled inside of him and he felt too tired to fight them, so he merely shut his eyes, his brow knit thoroughly.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_Ilyia Nerian_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_

I may be the hand of Mystriel...

I may be her instrument of justice.

I realize I am forever her servant.

I will still stand for what I believe.

If there are those who will oppose her,

They must stand against me.

I will not give in.

Ilyia's hands clenched at her own sides for a moment as she herself fought the irritation welling inside her. She lowered and shook her head for a moment and gripped Jack roughly by the shoulder.
"My pains, my sorrows, my joys and freedoms, Jack. You swore your life to this woman, and she to you. You can't just dismiss her to rot in her misery, can you? Look at your ring, Jack. She's lost, nearly to the point of leaving her soul behind as her oath would strip it from her and leave her to die. Is this what my mother presided between you? Was this what the wedding we were all so looking forward to meant to you? She needs you, Jack!"

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"She needs me, and yet she does not voice it!" Jack said angrily, his volume elevated slightly as he raised his head, glaring at Ilyia. "I cannot play a guessing game constantly Ilyia," He said, his hand falling flat on the desk, resulting in a slapping sound. "And has she ever stopped to consider that perhaps I needed her? That perhaps while she was out of her own body, that I may crave her presence, her comfort?" He then asked, still in an angry tone, but obviously hurt.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_Ilyia Nerian_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_

I may be the hand of Mystriel...

I may be her instrument of justice.

I realize I am forever her servant.

I will still stand for what I believe.

If there are those who will oppose her,

They must stand against me.

I will not give in.

Ilyia stepped back and turned away to the bed Tessa had been on for the duration of her otherworldly travel and sighed.
"Her life has been little more than one pain into the next, Jack," she said more calmly, "if it were you, having lost everything dear to you and then left only to a small group of danger-oriented friends for twenty years, only to see them die, would you have the strength to voice your worries in the face of all your regret?"
She turned back to Jack, realizing his life and Tessa's could not be compared so easily.
"If your ship had been disintegrated without means to return, and your tenure as a pirate ruined for eternity, would you have it in you to voice an unrelated worry above your life's work? She's going to die, Jack - and I'd guess the only one that can retain her soul from damnation is you. You have half an hour, judging by the flickering in your ring. Try not to think it over too hard or she really will be lost to you."

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack's eyes narrowed at Ilyia and he brushed past her wordlessly and onto the deck. He remained silent and found Tessa easily, her very scent being so very familiar to him. He took her into his arm wordlessly and buried his face in her hair. "Don't leave," He whispered, his voice cracking, oblivious to the tear that trailed down his face. He sobbed silently, chest heaving, as he clutched Tessa to him, determined to not let her leave the safety of them.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa still remained motionless for several seconds before she felt Jack's tear on her shoulder, and she blinked - thus forcing several of her own tears away from her eye - as she brought an arm up to Jack's own and held it weakly for a moment before lowering her head.
"I can't, Jack..." she whispered, "I was always afraid something would happen, that everything I loved would come to an end and it had..."
Her arm dropped to her side as she endeavored to find a means to explain even to the smallest extent what had tipped her over the edge.
"I'm sorry, Jack... I should have known."

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[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"I will always love you," Jack said softly but firmly. "The anger of a once mortal man shouldn't be enough to question where his heart lies." He said. "It should be enough only to tell you of his foolishness," He held Tessa to him tightly and sighed in his own thoughts, wearily. He thought about her apology for a moment, unsure of exactly what she meant, and felt compelled to ask, "For what? I've already forgiven you,"

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

"It isn't your fault, Jack..."
Tessa raised a hand and slipped it between Jack's arms such to allow herself free, and stepped away a single step to stand against the edge of the ship as downcast as ever.
"You were always there, Jack. From our first confrontation with Isobel, to Illumine, to Fienna... every time you were there for me, and yet here I am, having nothing to my name but a cold shoulder of a thousand miles' abandonment to what could have been my own demise. Even Scarlett, in my absence, and yet all I've managed to do was hurl it all away and mill around aimlessly. You can't blame yourself for this; you've done nothing wrong at all."

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"So that's it then?" Jack asked softly, looking at his empty arms. "You are going to die without ever voicing what you had from the beginning, and still have now?" He asked, looking up at Tessa, pain apparent in her eyes. "You have me Tessa, and you can't even say it, can you? I thought I had made it clear that you could always come to me," He stepped to her and kissed her cheek softly. "Why didn't you?" He asked.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

"W-what...?"
Tessa's word only escaped as a breath, and for a moment longer she held her face low but in looking up to Jack she realized how clearly wrong she was, again.
"Jack..." she folded back into his arms and cried against his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I was afraid you'd be upset. I was always afraid, Jack. It's just..." She lifted her head slightly, "it's always there. Always it feels like something - or someone - is going to defect, and I can't escape the feeling that it won't stop. I... I'm sorry Jack. I do love you, I didn't mean to hurt you..."
A small vibrating sound could be heard resonating from one ring to the next, and within each of them the blue wisp within solidified into a sapphire-blue mist that soon overtook the entire band on each hand.

In the distance, standing where she had several times past, Ilyia's lips sported the smallest yet most sincere smile she had had since she had boarded the vessel, and a gratitude she herself would have seen unparallelled shone in her eyes as she looked over to Jack again and nodded approvingly.
"United in whole," she said under her breath, "for the love of eternity, so shall it be."



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