[PK] A Final Dream

[crazedpudding 2124]

A FINAL DREAM

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Klara Elizaveta, Duchess of Baranya, Princess of Hanseti-Ruska

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Fields were often rife with golden wheat and wildflowers here, something she had taken for granted once upon a time. Pushed aside for the rush of life in the capital. Ignored for all the more important things that took up her time. But now, settled in bed as she was, Klara stared out the window with something akin to wonder and blessed peace.

 

The joyous melody that was life had become a funeral dirge that she heard as clear as the toll of a bell. She could no longer play it, her harp sitting untouched in the corner, old calluses softening as her hands grew shakier and shakier. But there was a gentleness to the music that lived in her head these last few months that hadn’t been there before, it was almost comforting. She was short on time. Klara knew that.

 

Perhaps she hadn’t in the beginning, when life remained untouched by death, when all was good and just and right. When innocence reigned in the kingdom of her childhood, before she knew that lovers did not always stay in love, that family did not always stay with you until the end. Before she knew that the final steps of life were always taken alone. 

 

Life was beautiful, and in a way, so was death. Returned to all that you were before birth, committed back to the earth from which you were brought. Two sides of a coin, Klara had realized so many years ago, when war and uncertainty raged. Then too, life had been beautiful, and it would continue to be even after she had gone.

 

Somewhere along the way, she had noticed that regrets piled up like gemstones in a jewel box. Locked away, perhaps, but there all the same. Klara regretted, the same as the lowliest criminal and the mightiest king did. So much was left unsaid, there were things she would never be able to express. There was so much she wanted to say. Apologies she wanted to give, love she would have professed better. Questions she wanted to ask and answers she needed. It was too late now, much too late.

 

She had missed so many things as she walked along the path set out for her. The surety of her father’s embrace, the sweet nature of her mother, the wonder of watching her siblings grow. She missed her cousins and uncles and aunts. Klara missed her children as they set out on adventure and her husband as he forged a path of his own. How grateful she was, that they had all found their own ways. But it didn’t mean she missed them any less.

 

What was she living for now? When all she had missed and loved and yearned for had turned to ash and death before her eyes? What did she live for? After all, only Jakob had made these years bearable. Beloved, sweet Jakob, whose smile was the sun and whose laughter was the thing she treasured most in this world. Her husband, the one person she would be able to live through anything for. If he was gone, what more did she need to exist for? 

 

With a hoarse breath, her eyes fluttered open once again from where they’d fallen shut in her pondering. The papers were all shuffled in neat order, what little she had to say would be delivered after she was gone. 

 

Breath came in pained rasps now, and there was only so much she was able to do to hide the red stained fabric of her handkerchiefs. But… she didn’t have anyone to hide them from, did she? She hadn’t wanted him to see her this way, to know that her time was almost up, but he wasn’t here anymore. He would never hold her again, nor would they speak softly into the small hours of the morning.

 

She had loved him, ever so dearly. She still did. And wherever God would send her, be it fire or salvation, Klara knew she always would. And that alone would grant her strength enough to accept anything, and to do so with a smile and gratitude in her heart. Knowing for certain he had loved her without reservation just as she had him would see her through all that could ever besiege her.

 

Klara would not last a month in this world without him.

 

With sluggish hands, she pulled the kokoshnik from her head, careening slightly as she set it down on the bedside table. She could finally cast off that weight. Something that had been so unbearable as she mourned her family. For some, it was the last connection she had. The last tangible thing that proved she was a sister, a niece, a daughter. No matter how badly she wanted to leave it behind, something always held her back. 

 

But finally, she could be whole and unbroken as she had been in her youth. She would be just Klara once more. Without anything encasing and binding her. Without turmoil and regret. 

 

No confessor would sit by her bedside, for the only one she wanted was already dead. No family would weep over her fading visage. No friends would pray for her soul. Her husband was not there to smile as she slipped away, as she knew he would’ve if he’d been able. Klara Elizaveta would die alone.

 

And she was grateful for that small mercy, for she knew not how she would offer comfort. She only hoped that judgment would be kind, and she would be allowed to meet those precious to her again, even if only for a fleeting moment.

 

With such comfort in an ending thought, Klara drifted into a dream full of joy and laughter and fond embraces. It felt like warmth, and in this final sleep, a smile tugged gently at wrinkled skin. It was a long time before breath left her, before she went still once and for all. 

 

But with the stillness came everything she was missing. 

 

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Spoiler

Thank you to everyone who made Klara so enjoyable to play!

@Xarkly@NLThomas@GMRO@Coolcod77@zuziee@gusano@PerfectlyPeachy@ReveredOwl@CanadaMatt@sarahbarah@Phersades@1_Language_1@CupOTea__@kaylacita@MissToni@tcs_tonsils_@CopOwl
And so many more that I cannot remember right now, please don't hunt me down.

 

[Phersades 1165]

When Mariya Karenina eventually found out, she'd offer a soft prayer out into the realm for her great aunt.  The air felt heavy in the palace that day, and in her room did the princess cry. 

Though the news would never reach it, somewhere beyond the realm and void of all good things, would a particular soul feel the impact of the princess he once considered a sister. 
 

 

[tcs_tonsils_ 2829]

Borris sits alone watching as the people come back from hunting- a victory for the Kingdom. They did not know that the Prinzenas had perished. She had been Sebastien's cousin, but more importantly, his lifelong friend. She had spent time with him in his mourning, and his joys, and he had done the same for her. He had always tried to do right by her- and she had now fallen. Like many others, he could not join her in this new quest. He weeped, his tears falling to the pavement below. 

[sarahbarah 5021]

“Oh, niece of mine … You are at peace now. Please, rest.” 

 

The gentle, unassuming voice of Princess Petra Emma tenderly addressed Klara as she entered the Seven Skies.

[NLThomas 1065]

"Never had ea thought ea would see vy so soon, my love." Jakob, that man who had grown old and weary in life yet loved her much all the same, welcomed her into the Seven Skies. Taking her into a gentle embrace, for now they were together for eternity. "Ea did pray it would take some longer..." He spoke in a soft tone, a soft laugh escaping him. Echoing far into the after life. 

[1_Language_1 1671]

     Sadeeq, who had been travelling between his normal sanctuary and Ghaestenwald within Klara's skunk plushie, wiggled his way inside the keep as soon as he'd heard of Jakob's demise. "Klara?" He glanced around, his plush shell slumming to the floor as the specter unpossessed it; leaving it sat by the door with the other pair of boots. He'd never seen the keep so quiet before, so still. Sadeeq hovered through the halls, poking his head into every room.

      "Klara?" No luck there, the specter headed on up to the rooms; much to his despair.

      Specters weren't supposed to cry, but the blue ectoplasm started to drip and trickle down the old ghost's face as soon as he saw her still form; reabsorbing back into his form before it could hit the ground. He hovered closer, the old ghost taking his place down near her. At least, Klara got what she wanted; eternal peace, having died with a silent joy on her face. Sadeeq, formerly known as Antanios, took a heavy sigh. "You did well, it was an honor to be by your side all these years. The Seven Skies are yours for the taking.."

      Antanios looked around for a final time before he glanced back down at the peaceful widow. He served his purpose, and began to fade away. Anyone who visited the library now, would find that the 'magic' stopped. The books no longer sorted themselves, and the flowers became still.

 

Spoiler

Woman you're making me cry WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-

 

[CopOwl 1668]

Adele Emma is among the clamouring party there to greet Klara as she ascends. The once-tired form of an aged woman approaches her lifelong friend and embraces her with a bright smile. She whispers to Klara, echoing the sentiment being mirrored in each individual present to ease the pain of her passing; "Vy were always there for us all, dearest Klara." She smiles, "Spasiba. From us all to vy, we all love vy in our own ways. Some of us may have been bad at showing it, yam szam. Welcome."

 

Adele thought back to the many times that Klara had supported her or others in her life, regarding her as truly selfless to the end - even having committed her to dying all alone so as to spare others the pain. When Klara had accepted Adele, even as barely the youngest child of but a baron - before becoming the Heir to House Ludovar -  when Klara had comforted Adele in her insecurities, when Klara had dropped everything to take her and their friends away from Karosgrad for a reprieve after Adele's wedding was cancelled. Such generosity, even in the smallest things, made such a difference in their youth.

 

As the group of passed spirits exchange remarks, pleasantries, and alcohol, Adele Emma smiles warmly and whispers to herself: "This is a the power of a kind heart; it brings people together."

[CanadaMatt 689]

John Aurelian would awkwardly just be in the seven skies " what a strange time" hed state after just seeing Jakob arrive " long time no see"

[zuziee 3222]

The gentle, round, face of Blessed Maya Ceciliya greeted her older sister in the skies. Tears fell from her cheeks, expressing briefly her regrets on the overwhelming mess she had made of sisterhood. 

There were few things Maya would have done differently in her god given lifetime, but one of those would have been to love her sister wholeheartedly. To not find shame in shadow. To learn from an eager teacher. All of which had been impossible because of herself.  

 

[GMRO 5251]

Karl Sigmar welcomed the last of his siblings home. They hadn't always gotten on, but she'd been caring to a fault. The family was now reunited once more, all together again. "It is good to see you, Klara."

[Gandhi 2708]

Ser August welcomed his old friend to the skies - having died FAR before Klara.

[MissToni 3487]

Katerina watched as Klara was embraced and welcomed into the seven skies by friends and family. A smile on the lips of the woman as she too went to give her great niece a hug. 

 

"Welcome my dear, we have all missed you so."

[Parasolii 115]

Sibylla, having long since been alone in her elder years, shutting off from the outside world, would hear the news of her closest friend's death much too late. The tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall. Why was she the last of them to still live? What was the fairness in that? Her children had long since grown up and left for their own lives, her husband gone. When will her turn come? 

 

"Ich promised to stay by dein side nien matter what. Ich will make up the promise soon, Klara."