Seek the Flames

[LazyBacon220 314]

 

Night fell across the Balian capital. The door to the Vilac Manor within Portoregne opened as the increasingly elderly patriarch entered his home. He placed his decorated helmet on the table near the door and latched the lock behind him. With a sigh, he climbed the stairs.

A dark, cloudy sky covered any light from the heavens as Casimir Marius Vilac made his rounds through the manor. Checking in on his only daughter, Viviana. He smiled at her. “Good night mi amore.” – The door closed, and Casimir continued towards his room. Closing the door behind him for the night.

Casimir wore his Vilac armor, customary for him during his youth and now also for his waning days. He removed his gauntlets, placing them neatly against the bookshelf behind him. Then the vambraces and pauldrons fell off his arms and shoulders as he undid the secure leather straps. Resting on his dragon-crested cane, Casimir stepped out of his boots, laying them next to the increasingly large pile of plate. He removed the straps of leather that surrounded his chest and lowered the breastplate down onto the wooden floor below him. Finally, he slipped the greaves off, leaving him in the more comfortable Balianite satin tunic and trousers he wore under his armor. His pair of swords gleamed on the table in front of him with their dark, obsidian blades, gleaming in the candlelight of his room. He held a fond smile on his visage, lifting each sword delicately and placing them on display in his room, as it was customary for him to do so every night.  As his night’s rituals came to a close, Casimir Marius Vilac collapsed on his bed, falling asleep.

 

 

Casimir awoke in the mud. Grit and crimson ichor clung to his skin and clothes as he rose from his sleep on the worn field of battle. Fires billowed smoke around Casimir, and his injured leg shook with pain and weakness. He had no cane and no support for his ailment, which has left him more or less retired these past years. Still, Casimir stood.

 

Flags of past bannermen flew around him, and the shouts of anguish came from the injured on the field, now barren of flourishing life. The smoke from the fires ablaze around him began to clear, for the battle had moved elsewhere. He was alone, surrounded by dying men, wallowing in defeat.

 

Casimir walked through the carnage of defeat. He passed men, crushed by their steeds. His eyes began to water from the smoke and pain that these soldiers had suffered. He spotted a man crawling on the ground, bloodied and dying. The Vilac made his way over to the soldier, kneeling down in great pain and grasping the soldier’s hand as he let out his final breaths. Casimir continued on.

 

A clearing began to appear, the ground covered in ash and soot. Trees and grass burned away, and the dirt was stained red. In the center lay a corpse, still smoking from the great flames that had enveloped it. There was no mistaking the armor that the man had worn. With its once proud white cloak draped along the back and the once thought impenetrable plate armor. That man was a Vilac.

 

Casimir hurried, rushing to the body. His leg shook in agony. He fell down and crawled through the mud toward the body, ripping off its helmet. There was nothing left of the man. Only the burnt husk of a skeleton was entombed within the armor. Next to the body lay two swords, planted in the ground, each shone with an obsidian hue with gold flames etched onto the blade. There, Casimir wept, crying out in pain.

 

"Is THIS my fate?"

 

It is.

 

An ancient voice answered. Casimir turned around, defenseless. Weak. Useless. And faced a child.

 

The boy was short with Novellen-colored hair, cut close along the sides of his head. With gray eyes that pierced the soul of any man and swirled in an eternal struggle of rage and peace,. With a paler complexion, he wore a beige tunic and a green vest over it. His hands bore the signs of burns, fairly recent as the skin was still a tinge red. The child held a knife in his hand, its blade dirty with blood from a recent kill.

 

"This – is your doing?"

 

It is.

 

"Why?" Casimir said, shivering now, despite the heat of the air around him. He stood facing the boy.

 

You look tired.

 

The ancient voice spoke, coming from the mouth of the child. He approached Casimir.

 

"You don’t understand! You don’t know what I have seen. What I have done. The pain I carry with me every waking moment. I am dying."

 

You lost hope.

You carry the pain of your past. It weighs you down more than any injury.

 

"I remember this time. Feeling like the most powerful person in the world. A damn savior. That is what you think you are. It all falls apart sooner or later."

 

Casimir spat those words out. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Still, the ash clung to his face and body. The wind picked up, throwing embers around the man and the boy.

 

Are we not dragons?

Do we give in to the follies of ordinary men?

 

"I am nothing. I am weak and pathetic, unable to walk or stand without help. I am a man stuck in my past. I am less than the ordinary man."

 

We are not. You are not.

Drop your burdens and take flight.

 

Trepidation filled his voice. Casimir was scared. 

 

"I..can’t."

 

You are more than your past, Casimir. More than your mistakes. More than your pain.

 

The boy extended his hand with the knife in it, offering it to the man.

 

Seek the flames. Find your redemption. And live.

 

Casimir took the blade, feeling it in his hands. His mind was flooded with the cries of battle. Of brother killing brother. Of cries and shouts as buildings and manors burned. He fell to his knees and lifted the blade into the air. Then he pushed it down, burying it in the dirt in front of him.

 

There is more worth fighting for.

 

The boy brushed past Casimir and the corpse beside him and continued his way across the battlefield. Light began to fill the horizon as the ground fell away. Casimir wept on the ground, and the light continued to glow brighter. More of the vision fell away until only Casimir remained enveloped in a bright, comforting light.

 

Casimir awoke, filled with new hope and purpose.

Spoiler

This is not a PK or shelving post. Rather I felt the need to at least write one character post for Casimir as I haven't even after over a year of playing the persona. I am excited to see where the future takes this persona :)