concoctive | SCAWWY 😱 rondo

Rondo! Hey, Rondo!

[ alfyn is fucking.

trucking it, from the garden area, to follow rondo away from the four horsemen. his expression is serious, his body tense, but one can't really blame him for the reaction considering the information that they were just given.

but it's not just that.

he's not the kind of person to not skip straight to the punch: ] Did I hear you say Lyblac?

[ rondo is... also tense, but that's probably not surprising? he's taking all this information in the way he always does, letting himself react to it and then sucking it in, allowing himself the time to come to the correct conclusion - that if this is lyblac and galdera all over again, then at least he's prepared. even without the flame, he can still fight.

speaking of, however! when alfyn addresses him, he turns - his usually bright smile is uncharacteristically more serious at the mention of the name, because that bodes poorly. ]

...Yes, I did. You... were you familiar?

[ somehow??? ]

I - yeah, unfortunately. My friends and I, we had to fight her, after she was running around pretending to be the Royal Academy head's assistant. Kinda a huge mess, and just one in a long line of people trying to resurrect a dark god, but that's -

Okay, all that is a long story, and I'm rambling 'cause what the hell.

[ he's got a tight grip on his axe's handle, and it's at such an angle that it's sticking out somewhat in the back as he simply holds onto it. like he's ready for a cult leader to show up out of nowhere. ]

The - wait, the assistant to Headmaster Yvon?

[ HELLO HE KNOWS HER ALSO

that's... troubling. but based on the way she seemed to coexist with ceraphina, that's...not surprising? maybe she found a new host...? so she was barely gone at all. that's so -

(frustrating, to think about, with how that may have just been the catalyst that set off sazantos, that it didn't even stop her.)

he takes a deep breath. okay. ]

I... talking to the others today, I must wonder if the god they seek to resurrect is Galdera of the Accursed Flame.

Yeah, she was manipulatin' him. He, uh, blew up? After mutatin' and fightin' us. Took on a bunch of dark magic, I dunno, the Professor would be able to explain it a lot better'n I would. But she was hoardin' a buncha arcane and dark books, whole buncha immortality stuff... that whole spiel, y'know?

[ said in the more disdainful "whaddya gonna do" tone, because what you do is kick their asses. but he pinches the bridge of his nose, rubs his eyes with thumb and forefinger, trying to... put it all together. ]

She wasn't the only one tryin' to bring Galdera back, though, so maybe this cult is part of that? We had to fight a cult leader and his goons, after he brainwashed my friend's sister into his cause. Kicked his ass, but we hadn't gotten ahold of Lyblac yet after the initial mess with the headmaster.

That was what I was doin', last. With my friends. We were at the Gate of Finis... I dunno if you know where that is, in the ruins of Hornburg, but...

[ i don't even have an icon for this. or a proper reaction to all of this information besides just: ]

Th. The Gate of Finis? You were... at the Gate of Finis.

[ me, jazzhanding maniacally at you while alfyn scrubs his face. ]

... yeah. At least, headin' to. [ all of the cheer that he's kept up since they arrived has faded into something pretty world weary. ]

I... I was in The Gate of Finis!

[ you know that comic where it's crick and rondo pointing at each other like idiots its that ]

Lyblac was not there - if she is there, then, I certainly would have seen her?! There is a far more immediate and pressing threat, at the moment!

[ HIS SAZANTOS-SAN IS TRYING TO DESTROY THE WORLD he wonders if maybe she's there and sazantos like brutally killed her or something .4 seconds before they started fighting. it wouldn't surprise him. deserved. but also. ]

[ BLINKS

AT HIM?

POINTS!!!! ]

But she hadn't gotten the Gate open! That was the whole thing - nobody was there, just her goin', and - not you! It was a whole mess of getting the Dragonstones back so she couldn't use those, as it turns out, not just 'cause folks needed 'em back, and then she had to go hunt down this guy that we kept runnin' into and helpin' by chance, Kit, and...

[ HELP ME NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

YELLING? ]

-- You got the Dragonstones back?!?!

Edited 2024-06-09 21:10 (UTC)

You know about the Dragonstones!?

My - I used -

[ FLOUNDERING ] - do you know Cordelia?! Heathcote?!

Edited 2024-06-09 21:22 (UTC)

[ blinks rapidly ]

Yeah! The whole - it's a lot of stuff? I dunno the whole story, but my friend, Therion, he wound up promisin' to get the Dragonstones back for Miss Cordelia after Heathcote kinda kicked his ass a little... somethin' about needin' a thief to get 'em back... glad we did, considerin' the guy that...

[ his expression gets stormy and vicious for a brief moment, before he shakes it off ]

Nevermind, he doesn't matter. We helped Therion get 'em back, so they're at Ravus Manor, at least last I knew when we talked to Miss Cordelia.

[ this is - this is a lot to take in, actually. rondo was already really listening, but he just is hanging on every word, now. they needed a thief to get them back, they found one, they...

...

this doesn't even sound real? he's so stunned as he tries to wrack his brain. he saw heathcote when he came looking for the sapphire stone not all that long ago, and they already have back all five? how is that even possible? unless... ]

... Alfyn - [ he's rubbing his braincells together (and also not explaining his reaction at all but that's fine) ] - you... how long ago was the war with G'roha?

[ he looks up at rondo again when he says his name, putting his hands together and rubbing them, thinking. ]

G'roha..? Gods, what, handful of years now? We had a lot of brigands around Clearbrook tryin' to take advantage of it, considering that the shit with Edoras, Riven, and Altinia wasn't that long before that, too.

[ rondo processes that.

a handful of years, now?

g'roha was just barely weeks ago. and now...

... rondo... can't help it? he just sits.like his knees gave out, he drops down right on his ass on the ground. ]

... Oh. [ and then - laughs. rondo laughs, this tiny little relieved noise, and scrubs his hand over his face, running it up through his fluffy bangs after - a smile breaking onto his face like the sun parting through the clouds. ] That's... that's amazing, that's ... It's been years?

[ alfyn's from the future, which will freak him out more maybe later, but right now, it just feels like a blessing, because --

-- because that means there's a future at all. ]

Sorry - sorry, I, I'm sorry. Heh. [ a wet, watery laugh. ] Sorry. Oh... thank the Flame.

Oh. [ is all alfyn can manage at first, his jittering nerves alleviating quickly and turning into concern as rondo drops like a sack of potatoes. his instinct is to take a knee, reaching out for his shoulder once he's done running his hands through his hair. the concern is immediate, genuine, and gentle, gaze assessing to make sure that he's alright.

that it's a powerful emotion, certainly, but a good one that can be allowed to happen unfettered. ]

Feelin' an awful lot like a fella missed somethin', Rondo, despite bein' the cause of it.

[ still, a small laugh leaves him. the relief is a little infectious. ]

Yeah. Nearly four years, now, I think.

[ uweh... rondo reaches up and rubs at his eyes when he realizes they're wet, and just laughs. he can't really explain everything - well, he can, maybe, but some part of him doesn't want to. there are so many more implications to this that he'll think about later, but for a moment, he can live in the feeling that everything is going to be alright. that the precious dragonstones will finally be returned, after too many years away in bad hands, and that the world of orsterra will continue on. that sazantos' plan to destroy it all must fail, if cordelia is still there.

everything is going to be okay. he puts his hand to his chest afterwards, sniffling a little but smiling like the sun. ]

I... I no longer associate with - I gave it up, because I'm with the Knights Ardante, but... [ the smile goes a little helpless. ] My full name is Rondo Ravus.

[ if alfyn looks enough, he can probably see the similarities. same round faces, same blonde hair, same nose, same smile. ] Cordelia is my younger sister.

[ alfyn will be turning this conversation over his head like a roast on a spit, cranking and turning it over and over, until it hits him that rondo asked him how long it'd been. had asked him about time, and things are a little amiss there.

for now, though, he is struck with this reveal and can't help but blink rapidly at him as he kneels down in front of him. ]

You - [ and his eyes scan across his face, brown and wide and thoughtful.

before he reaches and pokes him in the single dimple. ] She's got this on the other side. Didn't smile a whole lot when we first met her, at least not big enough to see it, but she brightened up the more we spent time with her and the more stones Therion brought back.

[ oh... the poke to his face surprises him - and then he laughs, a little wetly, reaching up to put his hand on his cheek. he can't help it, really, heart swelling up in his chest so hard it might burst. it's a rush of wild emotions, a rollercoaster of relief and - of sorrow, at first, too.

his poor sister. sad, didn't smile a lot? he can only imagine what she's been through, and his heart breaks, visibly and obviously, but... at the same time, it means that she's doing better, now. that alfyn's friend was able to retrieve the stones, that... things might get better.

he drops his face down, finally rubbing at his eyes. ]

... Cordelia's - she's really strong. Amazingly so... she's a better head of the household than I ever would have been. [ that he knows for sure. ] I write her all the time, but... she never told me that things were going badly. She must not have wanted me to worry... I...

[ there's a beat. he looks up at alfyn, blue eyes shining, and reaches out to give his hand a squeeze between his own. ]

Alfyn... thank you. For what you and your friend must have done - for us, for my sister's house - thank you.

SCAWWY 😱 rondo

wknd 0; sunday

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