Into The Future

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

The trek from Hargeon to the castle owned by Sabertooth had been a long one - primarily a trip by train, the inseparable duo of Uriel and Morgana had made plenty of time across land and sea to ensure that they could find somewhere for them to go. In this case, Uriel was expecting his mother guild to extend to her the hospitality that she deserved, and with that being the case he intended on taking her in for at least a short while until she found her footing and decided on her own path through her new life here in Fiore. It was, truthfully, a jarring thought to consider that both of them had up-ended an incredibly lavish lifestyle in order to start afresh in a foreign land, away from the eyes, the prying, the gossip and the court drama; neither of them had ever really had time for any of that to begin with, but when the whispers went from idle speculation to actual constant ‘when will the two of you get married, we’re all waiting’ requests, it was likely time for both of them to leave. So… they did. They up and left Ca-Elum in its entirety, for two reasons: one, to escape all of that absolute crap, but two, to go and help people in need in ways that their noble duties back in the motherland could have never allowed them to do. They both had the heart of someone who needed to be out and present. Here, where the military did not solve every problem and instead volunteer guilds did, they knew they could be of better use to the populace.

Finally, they’d come to the place they intended to: Ace of Spaces, the abandoned castle turned guild town owned by Sabertooth, where Uriel could easily set up quarters– and did, in fact, have them available, owing to the fact he was a guild member– and could spend a few days here as needed. Or weeks. Or months. Or however long Morgana needed in order to get herself settled in and ready to face whatever challenges her new life decided to throw at her. Whatever the answer, he was going to be there to help her as much as she wanted him to help.

By the time the train had taken them to where they wanted to go, it was well past nightfall; after a brief meal and the chance to take their belongings to their new temporary lodgings, Uriel found himself already wishing to just go to bed and let the events of the day wash over him. From dusk til dawn it had felt like it was a constant battle with adrenaline; first the anticipation of seeing Morgana again for the first time in months, then ensuring they could get to their destination and getting them all squared away; something so simple had kept him uncharacteristically on edge all day, and that was even before he spoke a single word. Sure, he’d presented fine. There was plenty for them to talk about. Everything had been discussed with no hesitation on subject matter, as always, with an open and honest heart. Now that she was here, though, he really did need to relax something fierce.

The room they were given had two beds, of course, reasonably spacious - it was more like a small apartment than just a space to stay. Fully furnished, with a working bathroom and kitchen, they really could have stayed here for as long as they needed to without any issue. It was actually a rather nice place to be, if truth be told; they could have lived here for quite some time if they had to. That said, Uriel took a moment to flop himself down on the bed that he’d claimed, already dressed in nightclothes rather than the resplendent coats and capes and everything that his sense of noble style demanded. Sometimes just shedding one’s clothes was such an indicative freeing of both actual and metaphorical burdens that he was glad to be free of such.

”Hey Mor,” he said finally, looking over at her with inquisitive eyes. ”I’m sorry today’s been so long. You spent all that time cooped up on that ship, and yet here I am bundling you onto a train and sequestering you away in a room until we can get our things sorted. It’s not an ideal first day.”

Sprawled out on his bed as he was, the phoenix knight cast his eyes roof-ward. A long sigh left his lips, where he felt stress just wash over his body. Why was he so worked up? She was here, safe, and that was what mattered. Nothing else. Absolutely not another thing. ”And I expect you have a million and one questions for me, too, which I shall have the grace to answer at your convenience, of course.”

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

”I always worry, you know this,” Uriel replied quietly, letting a smile cross his lips. ”Despite repeated warnings from a certain someone not to.”

He felt the bed sink underneath him, both their weights pressing down on it as he cast a gaze over towards her. There she was, sitting barely next to his chest, as if they were suddenly transported six months back in time to when they had far too many moments such as this. How odd was it that they, a pair almost so entirely unlikely, could find their solace in nothing but sitting quietly? They’d always been able to do it, mind, after a few weeks. They both came from the same royal court, experienced the same problems and witnessed the same spectacles. Eventually, it became being part of those spectacles together, too, especially when courtly eyes all turned to them and decided that prying into private business was the order of the day. Then again, what noble didn’t dabble in a little– more like a lot– gossip? It was the intrigue that kept the wheels of Her Majesty’s court turning, after all, for influence and power was shown through the application of a keen phrase or a sentence that could make or break an entire career. Idly, he wondered what course their families were now taking with their children so distantly departed. Well, worst case, there was going to be a lot of talk– but that was it. Talk. Both of them preferred action.

Uriel rolled over slightly so that his torso faced her, staring up towards those sapphire eyes. One hand came up to support his head, where he could comfortably get a look at her. ”Judging by your response, it seems you’ve enjoyed today more than I as host could have afforded you. I’m glad. You have no idea how full well I am glad to have you here with me.”

Actually, of anyone on Earthland, it was Morgana who had the best idea how glad he actually was. He was, as she was to him, an open book to her keen intuition. She could see it all, laid bare as words upon the page, and understood everything as if she’d picked up the volume and drank deeply of every sentence. It had come in handy time and time again when they had needed to express emotions– and he, while now far more in touch with himself as he had been previously, had needed her to be able to read him when he was incapable of understanding himself.

Just another reason for the list.

Idly he reached out to place a hand on her thigh, more to be simply present with her than anything else, the reassuring feeling of her body and her physical self in the moment with him a comfort in a time when the tumult of his mind threatened to rage forever lest the storm never quell itself. It was nothing more than a simple gesture, but for them, the simple gestures were absolutely everything and formed such an integral part of the way they communicated that Uriel did not know where he’d be without the little things in their lives.

He went to speak, but found that there was no need. Everything that needed to be said, as far as he knew at that moment, had been said. The rest could be communicated with silence and understanding.

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

”I can’t think of a time we’ve been apart both further and longer,” Uriel remarked, casting his thoughts back. Further, yes. Longer, also yes. Never both at the same time. It was as if the distance between them began to transcend time and space and felt like an eternity of separation. It was simply good that the drawn-out nature of their time apart had now come to a close, and the world felt as if all was in equilibrium once again.

His eyes lingered on hers as she took his hand and pressed those wonderfully soft lips to the warmth of his flesh. A shiver ran down his spine, his breath hitching as he savoured the sensation that consumed his entire soul like a flame that sparked so brightly that infinity threatened to overtake him. These were the moments they shared, the quiet intimacy, that proved who they were - more importantly it spoke to what they were, without using a single word to prove a futile point to some onlooker who could never understand the true depth of their bond. Courtly proceedings and decorum be damned behind these closed doors. They would never be able to grasp it, let alone give them the space they needed to be themselves.

”Goddess, Mor, I–” Uriel began, trying to find the words in his heart to tell her what he felt in that instance. However, there was not another word to be found. He knew that they were futile to begin with regardless. These things were par for the course for the two, when everything they said and did felt like it was tailor made for the way they interacted. However, as she sat there beside him, Uriel did the one thing he knew to do - with his hand in hers, it was such a simple matter for him to pull her backwards, to end up either on top of him or beside him as her body decided to fall with Morgana landing the way she wished. One gentle tug was all it took for their bodies to intertwine.

Now, more than ever, words from the phoenix knight were absolutely meaningless. He had said every word that he needed to. His eyes, full of light and love and resolve and gratefulness, would do the talking for him now. Those eyes carried the fervent wish of someone who wished nothing less for the companionship of the one human being who had been there for him through literally everything in the last ten years. He knew, deep down, how they were both feeling. It was something unavoidable, especially when the two of them finally got the chance to be alone away from prying eyes. Uriel understood this. He knew what would inevitably happen. However, all he could desire was her. Not just her body, but her spiritual and emotional presence. She was the entire package now, one that he could understand and relate to.

One look, a simple query for her beautiful eyes, and he would hopefully receive an answer to the question that, once asked, was irreversible for tonight, and would allow them to make up for the time they had lost.

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

We lift the black curtain. I think you all understand where that moment went.

Finally, as his senses and his motor control came back to him, Uriel could finally behold the woman underneath him. They had spent far too long apart, and now that they had properly re-acquainted themselves, Uriel was all too happy to spend his time with her and give her the attention that she craved. More importantly now, they could give each other the attention in the way that they had wanted to for so many years but could never truly do it. Now? There were no such fetters.

“Almost as magnificent as you, my sweet,” he told her, pressing his forehead to hers so that he could stare directly into her eyes. Yes, he was still tangled inside her, but so what? It was the natural place to be. Cleaning up the mess, dealing with all of that– that was a future problem. Here, now, it was only their entwined bodies embracing perfection.

“I’ve missed you. So much. I’ve missed being with you, I’ve missed… everything, Mor. It’s been tough.”

A wry smile crossed his lips. “But I’m going to say it again. And I want you to look at me.”

A pause. Enough time for her to obey.

“I love you. I know we haven’t been able to really say it, but it’s time. We aren’t bound by the court. Nothing of our old lives matters here.”

He smiled, kissed her again briefly, and cupped her cheek, fingers trailing against the curve of her ear.

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

“Isn’t it wonderful that we are finally free?” he asked tenderly, fingers of his other hand brushing through her hair gently. This was a feeling that they had never truly considered. Ten years. Ten long, agonizingly difficult years. They had kept everything hidden inside for so long, and now that they had the opportunity, they could finally undertake the changes in their lives that they had wished for so long.

Imagine a life where you were unable to tell the love of your life that you did in fact love them, that the whirlwind of intrigue would swallow you up so completely that even risking such a statement could have destroyed their lives because of such impropriety. Free of every shackle that had ever held them back, they could finally go about their lives in a way that they could not have dreamed of in Ca-Elum. Back home, there had been challenges to their ability to do so; she had her own suitors, as did he, and Uriel’s eventual refusal of service in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy had put serious strain on his ability to just live his life the way he wished to do so. No such stigma existed in Fiore. Nobody knew either of them, or their names, or their families. There was no way for them to be held back.

Only to hold each other, perhaps. That was a nice change.

“Perhaps it’s time we sleep,” he murmured, before he rolled over onto his side and pulled her over with him. It was going to be a long night– and a sleepless night, as there were plenty of things they needed to say, and do, before they could finally go on and live their lives.

~~~

The following morning, they awoke well after the sun; there was plenty of time for them to go through their daily routines in a rather lax fashion. Breakfast, bathing, dressing, all the usual observations of daily living. This morning had been a little bleary-eyed and tired, for they had barely slept at all. However, it did not matter to either of them. What mattered was that they could finally carry out that day the way they wished it.

After breakfast, he had invited her to take a walk through the nearest garden so that they could relax and continue on their days and build habits the way they had wished.

”Perhaps we should give thought to finding you a place in one of the guilds of this country,” he mused. ”I know you. You will wish to find something that will allow you to do the most good for the people of the world. Perhaps Sabertooth, or even Meliora Vitae - both of them would be good options. I feel like the latter, perhaps. They apparently have a very cool airship.”

Yes. That was a judgement call about how to live your life - living on a flying ship.

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

“I have no intention of pulling us apart, either,” Uriel said by way of response. His words rang true: he was entirely willing to put a guild second and her first. This was the way of things, and if someone took umbrage with that decision, then it was not going to be a discussion that person enjoyed at all. Their walk through the garden was meant to be a simple, enjoyable time for them to see about catching up and taking their time to do… well, whatever this was. They had a future to think about, and boy, was it going to be glorious.

He smiled for a moment, considering a flower before him; a hydrangea, resplendent in its blooming pink, as he remembered words spoken long ago.

“Perhaps it’s time that we re-visited your plan from four years ago. Remember that house by the lake you had considered begging your parents to buy? Maybe it’s time we did something like that. Somehow. With money we currently do not have access to.” He laughed, turning his attention back to her. It was an honest laugh, because the sheer fact was, it was such a dream that they could have attained.

The future was so uncertain, he realised. Every moment they spent now was precious - with life being so chaotic and unpredictable they had to channel everything they had into savouring and living in the moments they had together. They never knew when those moments could be snatched away from them once again, because they simply had to continue on with what they had.

“I think we’ll have a much better life here. I want to have a better life here. We can work in separate guilds, and come home together, and–” He stopped, paused, and took her hand. “I’m thinking too far ahead. I’m sorry.”

Uriel Tyrae

Into The Future

Her kiss, sudden and blessed, was welcome. She knew how to shut him up, even here in this beautiful place. They could finally be together and, as they knew, there was so much at stake here that they could have ill afforded a mistake. However, it was now a point of order that even if they made a mistake, then they had their entire lives to deal with the repercussions of such. They had so much to live for. More importantly, each other.

"Yes. It does, my love. It's time to move the plan forward, I believe."

He took both of her hands in his and offered her a smile from a place of joy and love so deeply profound that he did not know that he had it in him. Yet, with her, there were no other real options. This was the place they wished to be. This was the place they would forever be. Whether that physical place was elsewhere was another story, and with the option to work with guilds and make the money they would need to build their lives together for the future they would be finally able to shape their own destinies and take charge of everything that they needed to.

A pause. "Shall we?"

And then, from there, they could walk into eternity.