Goodbye to Love

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Althaia
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Goodbye to Love

Post by Althaia »

(OOC: I wrote this in December to explain my school-induced absence from September to December; if you're interested here's the full outline. If not, just read the continuity note or just skip down to the story. :arrow:)

(Continuity Note: Dekker had found Althaia's pirate captain Kirrund and the crew with the help of Norg's leader, Gilgamesh, but Avertan, Althaia's husband, wasn't among their number; Kirrund had lost track of Avertan in the battle where Althaia was knocked overboard and separated from the rest of the crew. Kirrund told Althaia that Avertan, laden with a demonic curse since birth, had been acting strangely during the battle, especially after she was knocked overboard. Althaia took the gil and supplies she'd assembled for her own rescue efforts and convinced Captain Kirrund to return to the Far East at once to search for Avertan; Kirrund kept his doubts to himself most of the time. Althaia managed to find Avertan on a small Far Eastern island, but he wasn't the same man she had fallen in love with...)

The boat undulated with the waves, the sounds of sea muted in the small, cramped quarters of Alth Aaiaa the adventuring white mage and pirate. She hadn't gotten a window in her crew quarters for this journey, but then she didn't really need one anyway. To look out at the sea would be only to invite memories of happier times and Althaia had come to believe that happiness was a fleeting state of being -- or else, something that could only be achieved alone. She sat at a small desk, placing quill to parchment in writing a letter.

"Thank you for your letter, it really brightened my day," Althaia said as she wrote, her tone more indifferent than the one in which the words were normally said. "Yes, I have, in fact, found Avertan. He was on a small island in the Far East battling foes the likes of which we should be glad we don't have here. Sorry if this letter sounds a little strange, I haven't written one in a while so I'm not really sure how it's supposed to go. You won't be seeing Avertan with me when I return, though. Everything is well, everything's just wonderful. Livin' a dream, even. Avertan--"

The teenage Mithra paused, unable to write anything further. "Avertan is--" she said, adding the word is before pausing once more. She thought about Avertan; the more she did so, the more watery her hazel-green eyes became and the shakier her writing hand became. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to say and write, "Avertan is well. He's--"

Althaia stopped writing, putting down the quill and placing a hand on her forehead. For a moment, tears threatened to burst as her body convulsed with suppressed sobs. She moved her hand to her mouth instead, trying to keep the truthful words from being said and her true emotions from being shown. Then she let out one short sob, before shouting in a distraught tone, "He isn't the same man! He's the same man...He's not the same...He's...He's...Oh, Altana, he's not the same man I married!" The words flooded out of her mouth, unable to be contained once she'd begun. It was all at once so filled with sorrow and with relief; now, after all, she finally wasn't lying to herself anymore. Hysteria faded from her as realization set in, and, as she cried quietly to herself, she whispered, "He's not the man I love anymore. He just isn't."

The Mithra girl stopped crying and stared down at the piece of parchment on which she was writing her letter. She wiped her face dry then sighed once more, picking up the quill. Before she could write anything further, she started to cry again, in spite of herself. "Oh, Altana, why do these things keep HAPPENING TO ME!?" she shouted, squeezing her fist so tightly she almost broke the quill. But the rage passed and, eager to finish the chore before her, she lightly dipped the quill in the ink vial and pressed it to parchment, writing, "going to be very busy. I think we both realize that we can't be together anymore and, once we reach Norg, we may never see each other again. It's for the best. I'll always love him, but--"

But what? She looked down at her wedding band, a brass ring of plain design. They hadn't been rich enough to afford better; they'd been saving their gil for the big wedding, the one all of Althaia's friends would have been invited to... Althaia sighed, staring down at the plain ring for a long time. "I'll always love him," she said to herself. In resuming her writing, she wrote, "he's going to have some demons to battle, I mean: deal with, and he doesn't want me tagging along. Our paths will separate. Have I mentioned I still love him? I will see you soon, take care of yourself, and may Altana always brighten your way. ~Alth Aaia."

Althaia then heard her door open slightly, but she didn't turn around to face it. She could already tell by his scent who it was -- the scent so familiar, the scent of someone she'd laid in the same bed with many a time. A male voice, carrying absolutely no feeling to it, asked, "Alth, are you there?"

Althaia was silent a moment as she composed herself, then answered, "Yes, Avertan, I'm in here." She turned around to face the door, unable to hide the sorrowful resignation in her eyes. "But we need to talk, sweetie."
~[url=http://adventuresalthaia.blogspot.com/]Alth Aaiaa: Bio and Music[/url]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/Astragem14/CharGallery/MithraPrideSig.jpg[/img]
[url=http://www.bismarckcommunity.com/]Member of the Bismarck Server Community[/url]
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Pheonixhawk
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Post by Pheonixhawk »

Sound really interesting. Post some more :)
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xaresity
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Re: Goodbye to Love

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