Thank Taranis for trying his best in helping you through what you're going through. You may not show it, but you appreciate his concerns.

>>1062012
Rae, don't forget, you're doing this to have closure. Get in a big fight with your mother if you have to. Air all your grievances, call her a bitch, do whatever you have to. You won't ever have to see her again after this, and she won't ever have to see you again, or even think about you again, because she'll pass on. Be ready to burn that bridge, because it's going to be torn down anyway.

Also... please tell her about what your brother is doing, in whatever vague language or even foreign language will prevent Priscilla from catching on. Your mother may be the only person who knows how to stop him.

>>1062012
Rae what your looking for is closure. Your mother may not love you and that's a sad truth. She may even resent you, but its not your fault. She wanted you to be something other than who you are and cared more about the image in her head the person who was her daughter. You need to find peace with that, and for once you have to tell yourself and her out loud that it was never your fault.

Whether she's willing to accept it or not you need to put it out there that this was unfair and that all the suffering you've endured was never something you deserved. She may never say sorry, she may never forgive you, but you have to put your foot down stare at her with the eye that was all they ever cared about and make it clear you are more than a scar.

Rae, your eye never saw the truth about your family until it died.
The reason you're here is because of the paranoia holding you back; the fact that your family deceived themselves when you had the ability to accurately predict what they would choose, and started showing their true natures when you lost the ability to detect the signs of their true malice. They were able to manipulate you on a whole different level, to the point that they deluded themselves just to keep you from suspecting a thing with your detection superpowers. They pulled the rug from under your confidence, and you won't be able to stand without an anchor. Closure will be that anchor.

1/2 Raelynn 2023/05/06(Sat)18:19 No. 1062838 ID: a5df7d
File 168342239016.png - (5.07KB , 400x314 , LF6c_41.png )

Priscilla takes me to a small room in the nave with a heavy wooden door. Inside is a raised stoup and two wooden benches.

“I’ll pour the water into the stoup,” the priestess says. “Just so you know, um, I’m not very good at keeping spirits away when I do this. Some of them may be able to overhear the conversation between you and your mother if she answers my spell. I can leave the room if you want, but the best I can do is keep the malicious spirits away, even if I’m in the room. If that’s not okay, you can look for someone more powerful than me for more privacy.”

“I don’t care,” I say. “I assumed you’d be staying to keep the spell going. You said my mother will know you’re summoning her, so she’ll know there might be eavesdroppers. Do what you want.”

Taranis nestles against my neck. I give him a rub under the beak. I don’t know how to thank him for staying with me through all this… but I appreciate it.

Priscilla pours the water, says the prayer and asks me to put my hand into the bowl and think of my mother. I slide my hand under the surface of the water. It’s warmer than I expected. I close my eyes and let myself drift back to a time when I had hope. Warmth. Family.

When I open them again, I see my mother looking back at me.

The water is suddenly very cold.

“You can take your hand out,” Priscilla whispers.

I do.

“Ráichéalín,” says the image. It echoes in the room. “Ah, and a Priestess of Eirene. I have no doubt you have kept my daughter safe.”

Is it really her? I don’t know. I can’t know. What do I say back?

“I say this,” the image continues, “Because if she were in hiding, surely she would not dye her hair that color, and neither would she present her scar so prominently.”

A long-familiar shrinking sensation fills me. There’s no doubt in my mind: this is my mother.

“M-mother,” I reply. “I was worried you had chosen to pass on after your funeral. I know how dangerous it is for spirits to linger, but you decided to stay, and… I… t-thank you.”

“There is always danger,” says my mother, matter-of-factly, and I feel a sudden pang of pity for whatever spirits may have threatened her on the other side. “As much as I would have preferred to pass on, I had unfinished business. Your brother saw to that at my funeral.”

“He didn’t invite me,” I say, and I don’t know why I feel ashamed admitting it. “No one did. Mom, I’m… I… felt like I didn’t exist. They don’t see me.”

“Good. There is nothing for you there, not anymore. You know this.”

“I know,” I repeat. I thought I would be angry at my mom. I was so, so angry when I left, and ashamed, and now I want to curl up and hide. I wasn’t ready for this. Why did I do this?

Taranis puts his wing around my neck, and I remember that I’m not alone.

“No!” I say, correcting myself. “No, I don’t know that. Mom, the least Ciarán could have done was invite me to your funeral. I didn’t even know you’d died! That was heartless and… and… cruel!”

“Ráichéalín, as always, you fail to understand. He was doing you a kindness. With your fall, he has risen to the forefront, and he used my funeral to give voice to his madness. It would have been incredibly unwise for you to attend, for both you and he.”

2/2 Raelynn 2023/05/06(Sat)18:20 No. 1062839 ID: a5df7d
File 168342242073.png - (18.01KB , 797x757 , LF6c_42.png )

“I… what happened, mom? What did Ciarán do?”

“He and his followers declared their intention to summon and enthrall the devourers of souls: the Airceacháin. There were objections. They were silenced.”

My stomach churns. I had suspected it, and Ailín had all but confirmed it, but…

“Mom, what’s happening? Why is he doing this?”

“When I trained him,” my mother says, “He was unlike you in every way. He was ungraceful. Uncoordinated. But passionate, with ambition and bloodthirst. His mind is forged for war. He seeks to pay back the Circle’s blood debts, and reclaim our place of strength. Perhaps he will even wage war against the humans, if he can defeat enough other Circles and force them into servitude. He is at home on the battlefield. Not all are.”

“I know,” I say. Mom is making me relive my three terrible battles. I was terrified. Overwhelmed. Unprepared. I was trained and skilled, but I just wasn’t ready to be thrown into it.

“Your brother had the fire, and you had the gift,” my mother sighs. “When your father died, my hope was that I could kindle your passion and temper his edge by choosing to give you Samhain and him Imbolc. Apart, they are merely deadly. Together, they are ten times the sum of their parts. And yet, you and he never fought to seize one from the other.”

“I don’t understand,” I say.

“What I am trying to say, my daughter,” my mother says, “Is that if you and your brother had done as I hoped and fought each other for the right to wield both swords,” my mother says, “None of this would have happened. You would not have been beaten and sent away, and he would not have gone down this path of madness. I have lingered beyond death to tell you how to set things right.

“Right now, he can only summon two or three Airceacháin, but in the coming years he may enthrall more. Ráichéalín, you must do what should have been done years ago. You must challenge your brother for Imbolc. Take it and his life. He must be stopped.”

I…

I don’t want to. I don’t want to! I can’t!

But... my mother is right. I do have the right to challenge him to combat for his sword, even if I’ve been exiled. I’ve kept up with my training, and… with what he’s planning, it would bring back the soul-eaters.

I’m scared. Ashamed. And I feel very, very small.

You may now speak directly to Priscilla.

Sure is crowded in here. I don't succrowze you might know what I'm cawing about. I crowwnot tell a lie, that we have crow idea who's responsible for your little crowdrobe malfunction. Crow idea at cawll.

Priscilla! It’s me, Raelynn’s mother! That’s an impostor in the fountain, you must warn her! I love her dearly but was too aloof to admit it in life! Don’t listen to the order to kill your brother, it’s nonsense! He’s introducing tax reforms and funding reforestation initiatives!

>>1062840

Or in plain English: Rae's bird Taranis was the one who stripped you the other day. We tell you this not because we feel it is right, but because it seems funnier for you to know this. Really it'd be wrong to claim moral superiority when we were rooting for him and giving suggestions previously.

In more relevant and important news, please try to comfort Rae. She's feeling fear and shame at the thought of having to take her brother's life, and it's affecting her deeply. Telling her to just not do it won't help, so just try to comfort her in some other way.

Let's see, anything else... Oh, do you know the fox spirit Dotti? Stays at the Adventurer's Guild, works at Kayk the dragon's bakery, part of Serah Kensington's party? She's probably going to get some news about somebody VERY important to her soon, someone she hasn't seen in a long while and can't confirm whether she's even alive. If you could check in with her in a couple of days, you might be able to help her through some shit.

Hi Priscilla, I know you can't interrupt Raelyn during this ritual as there's things she needs to hear from her mother, but I wanted you to pass on some messages to Rae after she gets back if you could pass them onto her please

we're spirits who had been following Raelyn, and her friends Serah, Dotti, Kayk, and their fairy. We've been doing what we can to help guide them, make the right choices, and grow.

Can you let Rae know that we are still here guiding her and her friends all this time to keep them all safe and make choices that would benefit them... for the most part? And that we all have her back to help her fight her brother in a duel if she decides to do it?

After all, this is the devourer of soul

If she is skeptical about our skills, let her know that:
We helped their fairy find and get hired by Serah to help each other,
we helped Serah build her confidence
we helped Dotti gain a bit of morality
We helped Rae find her animal companion and made sure she would keep her party safe as they brought back a lizardman back to his dragon wife
We taught Dotti to be more honest and protected her from a dragon with Landi guiding Dotti
We helped their dragon friend Kayk manage her business when all odds are against her.
We helped Taranis become stronger, and helped him try to bring Rae back out of her depression

And now, I want her to know that we want to support Rae the rest of the way, even if she chooses to fight her brother for peace... even if the risk is high for us.

>>1062846
Traitor.

>>1062839
so like you're a priestess of the goddess of peace right? Well rae really REALLY needs to kill her brother. Like its pretty important. Both for the good of the whole world and her own self confidence. Also tell Rae her friends love her, she needs to hear it.

>>1062839
Encourage her. She just needs a little push. Remind her that she has allies. One in particular that will fight with every fiber of her being to keep the soul-eaters away.

>>1062846
Traitor! Strife-sower! Be silent!

>>1062854
>>1062857

Watch me double down on treachery.

There are some witches at the guild who can support my claim of Taranis' misdeeds. Anita, Gloria, Rebecca, and Lily are their names.

Madame Priscilla, would you please change the channel to "Vocal Audio Output"?
*Ahem*
Holy shitdicks, you abusive bitch.
We were going to stay silent and spy on you dysfunctional Thalmor in secret, but screw it. You're disgusting.
You still believe, after all this, after what your children have become, that your soul's very purpose is to give orders?! Has it ever fucking occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, your constant abusing and belittling and criticizing and douchebag superiority-inferiority complex might be the source of their decades-long issues?!
This was your last chance to express yourself as a free woman and you fucked it up. If you want to pray to your gods before we throw you out the door, I'd suggest you beg to be guided by the 'angel' Suizhan - maybe seeing someone who's a fraction of the monster you are will help you realize what you've done.
Thanks for the intel, I can't wait to use it against your people. Miss Ráichéalín, I feel we owe you a debt, somewhere, for not discovering this horrible sack of C'tan fart-pus sooner and burying her in ceramic concrete decades ago. One wish, involving her fate, within our own reasonable limits. Go right ahead.

>>1062877

I have the strangest feeling we just might maybe be the spirits Priscilla has to keep away.

Taranis is wonderful and wholesome and is the best bird and is a kindred spirit to MOST of us spirits, because he has a sense of fun, whimsy, mischief, and is a trickster, and doesn't actually really harm people, and has a flair for the dramatically lewd and MANY of us will be very, very, very upset if he comes to harm. We, after all, are quite often mostly benevolent spirits with a sense for the dramatic, a lewd streak, an enjoyment of mischief, who view teaching life lessons without causing real harm as an important task, and Taranis does the same sorts of things as us.

At least, most of us are. A very very few of us are assholes.

...Well, I would have stayed silent as moral support for Priscilla, but if I'm right it has to be said... She's perfectly fine with Rae losing. Either way she gets the ultimate elf warlord she always wanted. Quite a clever ploy because either way she wins. Her poor girl is just lucky she died before she could force the issue. Should the swords stay separate though, word will eventually get out about what her bro is doing. He may be a master of war but that does not mean he's a master of strategy so he'll likely overreach and collapse. While Rae here will still be Rae. So everything she worked for is kaput if this fight never happens.

1/2 Raelynn 2023/05/07(Sun)18:02 No. 1062990 ID: 76bac2
File 168350777526.png - (28.09KB , 500x468 , LF6c_43.png )

This isn’t how I thought my last conversation with my mother would go. Nothing about this is right. She’s telling me to… to go and kill my own brother.

Priscilla is growing more and more upset as my mother talks. She’s not doing a good job of holding her fury back. Is she going to tell my mother off?

“Your priestess is displeased,” my mother says. “As I expected from such a naïve goddess. Hear this, my daughter. You know why Eirene is weak and feeble; you are everything this goddess is not. End your brother’s madness. The Circle needs your blade.”

I never thought I would hear those words again.

“They… they do?”

“Yes,” my mother says. “You are the only one who can set things right.”

“By killing Ciarán? Mom, he’s-”

“If he is not stopped, he will become a terrible danger,” she says. “Not now, but soon. The next war with him as a leader would bring disaster. The devourers were the only threat great enough to unite the Circles before. It will do so again. Ráichéalín, I have lingered long to tell you this. You must stop him.”

Why is she putting all this on me? Why now? Why is this about her, now? After she left me? After everyone cast me out?

“Mom!” I burst out. “Mom, he’s my brother! You’re asking me to go back after everyone left me! Exiled me! You, Ciarán, Ailín, everyone! I’m better off alone!”

“We did it to protect you,” my mother says. “Rae, your eye, the battle, your injury. It was too much to expect of you. Your heart was not sharpened. And like steel forged too cold, you shattered with your first clash. All of us saw it. We tried to make a clean break, and make it as clear as possible. We wanted what was best for you.”

“And I wanted a family!” I shout. Hot tears are streaming down my face, and I don’t know when they started. “Why didn’t you care? Why didn’t anyone care?! I’m… I’m so alone. It hurts. It hurts even more than my wound.”

2/2 Raelynn 2023/05/07(Sun)18:03 No. 1062991 ID: 76bac2
File 168350780255.png - (8.54KB , 200x200 , LF6c_44.png )

Silence.

“Ráichéalín,” my mother says softly. “Everything I’ve done has been to prepare you for this moment. Tell me I may pass on knowing you will do the right thing.”

“Mom… you’re not… not staying?”

“It is my time,” she says. “There is nothing more I can do for you. I will go to join your father on the other side.”

This is it? These are the last moments I’ll have with my mother? I start to panic. What can I say? What should I do? I choke on my words.

“M-mom, I… I… I love you,” I say. “I… I… I’ll do it. I’ll stop him. I promise.”

“Thank you,” my mother says with a deep sigh. “At last. Goodbye, my daughter. Make me proud.”

The image in the pool fades to cool midnight. The air in the room chills.

“Mom?” I whisper.

Silence.

The tears flow harder. I cry. I’ve been crying. I can’t tell how long I have been. There’s no point. I don’t know how many handkerchiefs Priscilla has given me, and I don’t know how long Taranis has been cradling my head in his wings.

She’s gone.

The connection is gone and the spell fades. You may now only influence Rae. If you shout, however, Priscilla might still be able to hear you for a bit longer.

THE CARPET MATCHED THE DRAPES

>>1062991
Its okay to cry. Take your time. Swift action will be needed in the near future but the next couple of days will not be the difference, take the time to mourn.

>>1062991
Good. That was right. You found closure, and now you have purpose again.

>>1062996
shoosh! if Pricillia hears that, she might get so angry with us, she might ward us off, and then we might not be able to help Rae anymore, probably ending the thread! We already gave Rae and her mother the wrong impression of her when she got angry with us, we don't need to make things worse

ERRR, YEAH, THE CURTAINS AT THE MARQUESS' INTERIOR DURING THE PARTY WAS PRETTY CLEAN AND COLORFUL, AND I LOVED HOW IT MATCHED THE FLOORING.

PRICILLIA, PLEASE LET RAE KNOW YOU WEREN'T UPSET WITH HER, JUST UPSET WITH HER BIRD AND AT US. SHE AND HER MOTHER GOT THE WRONG IDEA AFTER THEY SAW YOUR REACTIONS TO WHAT WE SAID.

...Still seeing no downside to not fighting. Doubt Rae will listen though. Her mom just pulled at her heartstrings hard. Very manipulative.

>No risk to Rae's life
>She confirmed her bro is about to screw up
>She said the elvish circles unite to stop his foolishness
>Perhaps they get their cultural shit together afterwards (seeing where pure war focus goes)
>Should Rae fight and lose he gets both swords which may swing the balance to his side

Plus she completely ignored the whole "Why didn’t anyone care?" question Rae had. Pivoted to "Tell me I may pass on knowing you will do the right thing." Which may as well be "knowing you will do exactly what I want you to do." Worse, she has the gall to say "There is nothing more I can do for you." Which is garbage. She could have answered the question or attempted to comfort Rae before she passed. Every word was calculated to appear as if the only way for Rae to get emotional closure is to fulfill her last wish. Just no words for how awful a mom she is.

>>1063002

it's okay at least we'll have each other

Her brother needs to be stopped, certainly. He's going to get civilians killed on a near-suicidal rampage. Worst-case scenario, what happened to Petra and Dotti happens to multiple other innocent (n' tasty) souls.

But not by playing her mother's twisted game. And not by restoring an oppressive empire.
Rally the armies of man, but have them on long-range artillery. Bring a combination of aerial units and soulless automatons. Refuse to give your brother the battle of a lifetime. Minimize casualties, because sacrificing any of your soldiers for advantage on this particular campaign is unacceptable.

Raelynn, prove that you're a better commander, and he will be nothing.

You don't have to kill him.

I agree that your brother has to be stopped, but that's all. He needs to be stopped in some way. His death isn't required though, just the cessation of his recent activities.

You could try to reason with him. You could get him arrested. You could make use of your powerful allies to intimidate him, keeping him in check. Hell, just take his sword WITHOUT KILLING HIM! Will the rest of the circle accept it? Maybe not, maybe it'll be considered dishonorable not to finish him off, but who gives a shit? They exiled you, so they don't get to boss you around with their traditions.

Most importantly: Whatever you do, you don't have to do it alone. You have friends. Companions who will help you through this no matter what you decide.

Don't feel like that last promise means you have no other choice. You said what you had to to let the dead move on in peace. That's all.

Oh, and one more thing...

HEY PRISCILLA! SINCE WE'RE ABOUT TO GO QUIET AGAIN, JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS FOR HELPING RAE OUT WITH THIS, AND SORRY AGAIN ABOUT ALL THOSE BIRD SHENANIGANS! YOU'RE COOL, SO WE WON'T HASSLE YOU AGAIN!

You have to kill him. Half-measures are how it got to this point. Let the summoning of soul reavers go to the grave with him. At least he and your mom will have each other.

Yes, definitely kill him.

>>1063049
He crossed a line.
Murdering someone still means you can make amends in the afterlife.
Devouring their soul is like rejecting their very existence. No amount of apology will make amends to one you tried to erase the testimony of.

Don't let his sickness devour the souls of anyone, even if you have to raze the forest to the ground.
Make amends later. And you will make amends, Rae. Because that's what you want to do.
That alone makes you a better person than your mother.

Raelynn 2023/05/09(Tue)18:51 No. 1063227 ID: b7e398
File 168368346958.png - (20.80KB , 400x400 , LF6c_45.png )

I have to kill my own brother, or he’ll kill so, so many people. If he leads our Circle to victory, many will die, or far worse. If he doesn’t, then everyone I’ve ever known will perish. I have to stop him. I’m the only one who can.

Is this what I was born for? Is it really? Just this?

It tastes bitter, acrid, like bile.

But it’s something.

At some point I can see again through the tears. Priscilla is red-faced and gripping a handkerchief in obvious fury.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ll leave. I’ll go. You must hate me, now. I’m sorry for using you to-“

“What?” Priscilla gasps. “Oh! Oh, no, no! No, I’m not angry with you! I promise. You have so, so much that just happened, and you have so many friends to help you through it. I’m not angry at all, and I trust you’ll do the right thing in the end. I’m happy to talk with you about it, even if you don’t want to tell anyone else what just happened.”

“Then why are you angry?”

“I’m angry at some spirits… and your little companion there.”

“Taranis? Why?”

“He knows why.”

Taranis squawks and shrinks back from the tiny priestess.

“If he’s going to assist you in fighting otherworldly threats,” Priscilla grits her teeth, “Then he will need to demonstrate he can resist the influence of evil spirits. And he won’t have their help in doing so.”

Priscilla claps her hands together in prayer, whispering under her breath and

Priscilla has blocked the spirits’ influence.

BLOCKED BLOCKED 2023/05/09(Tue)18:52 No. 1063228 ID: b7e398
File 168368354657.png - (112.47KB , 1000x1000 , LF6c Title.png )

END OF THREAD 6(c): FULL CIRCLE

The next thread will begin soon! LAZY FAIRY POV 7: PETRA will feature Lady Serah Kensington.

What penance does Priscilla demand of Taranis? Suggest if you dare.
1. Something acceptable
2. Something unacceptable

2!

>>1063228
1

>>1063228
2. Taranis must find shiny things... AND THEN DONATE THEM TO CHARITY!

>>1063228

Acceptable to whom? In what context?!?! To her? To Taranis? To us??

>>1063228
His firstborn!

>>1063228

Penance? He should demand tribute! Taranis is our only hope now, that he can reveal himself to be the mighty panty warrior he is and impress all the lady crows without our influence.

seriously that underwear thing was probably Odin's fault. All we did was help Taranis not get caught. And then he got caught. Priscilla presumes him to be possessed by evil spirits, so the matter is now said and done with. I believe the matter is not now said and done with.

Make him stop stealing panties forever with a curse that turns him into a very ugly human if he does!

2.
After Taranis helps Rae defeat the otherworldly threat, he must afterwards find a way rid this world from the evil spirits that influenced him and his companions from this world so that they may never influence anyone from this world again for a long long time

>>1063252

Noooooo I dont want to end the quests. :( :(

How about this.

Taranis must figure out a way to obtain sufficient unenchanted frilly underwear AND also enough magical materials to enchant them, sufficient to replace what he took with equivalent versions. And he must figure out a way to anonymously use these to replace what he too. AND he must do so following strict ethical and moral guidelines.

FURTHER, if he wants to do future panty or bra stealing or whatever, he must find a way to do it consensually as part of a pre-negotiated prank contest with a willing participant, AND his opponent MUST have a means of pranking him back equivalently, and for equal stakes (like if the underwear is enchanted, he must ante up an equivalent).

...Evil? I stayed out of that whole thing! Gotta be careful, your godess won't look kindly upon punishing innocents, will she?

1, let's keep the penance reasonable. Rae could shut it down otherwise.

As for what it should be, how about a simple apology? Taranis has to apologize to everybody he stole from or whom he exposed as he did Priscilla. He doesn't even need to return anything, although Priscilla does think he should (she would particularly like her own garments back). It's basically a slap on the wrist, especially with Rae around to protect him from retaliation.

...Of course, if one of his victims was unaware of his involvement in their misfortune, someone who might consider him a friend, then Taranis may find this harder than expected. Looking at Apricot here.

>>1063334

I like this.

Suggestion 2023/05/10(Wed)21:04 No. 1063417 ID: 8f9bc4
File Crowsezwat.webm - (1.21MB )

>>1063334

How is he supposed to apologize? Crows can't talk. wait

2) Priscilla needs to find a sacred relic stolen by a 'noble' family centuries ago, and this mangy crow is going to find and steal it for her!
And she finds a furry girlfriend instead~

>>1063417

With help from Rae or Apricot most likely. Rae may not understand him perfectly, but they have an understanding, and she's in the room to hear the task assigned. Apricot would work too if we could get her out of the way early, and she still wants to be pals.

>>1063417
Taranis can talk, he simply chooses not to for some reason.