[center][color=778899]"Of course, Councilor, I would be honored,"[/color] Crosos Granz's voice was a grating echo, but somehow a smoky utterance. While he spoke to Councilor Serpera, the Golem's lone eye was directed out a window. [color=778899]"The Enlistment is thriving this year,"[/color] he said, casting a lingering gaze in the Ewori's direction, [color=778899]"and I'm sure the Lunar Festival will be just as vibrant."[/color] Serpera shifted and turned her head only slightly, uncertain as to exactly where the Golem was staring.

 [color=D87093]"We thought it would be appropriate for you to handle the ceremony, given that..."[/color] flat, and without the seemingly regular "we of the Vaunted Council", cogs began turning somewhere in the Golem's surprisingly sturdy head. He lifted a hand to silence her, his heart had already sank with the news. She did not oblige him, but gave him a look of understanding that the Golem could only interpret as genuinely sympathetic before beginning. [color=D87093]"We...thought that she might resist less if it were to be you."[/color] [i]She[/i], a different she.

 [color=778899]"What of the others,"[/color] there was a slight amusement in him, despite the avoidance of the real question behind his twisted lips, [color=778899]"who I am to execute? Should not a kinder face send them to Stieg's embrace?"[/color] His laugh was always hollow-sounding, but today the [i]feeling[/i] of it lingered with the low chuckle. Serpera tapped her fingers on the table, once each, trying her best to remain composed. Granz knew her better than most, and was prepared for what would follow.

 [color=D87093]"By all the Gods and their damned faces, Crosos! 'This is an honor' you say in one moment, then try to spit on in the next,"[/color] where her voice had been flat, now a rising anger tinted her words...though they were not so fiery as what Granz had hoped for; nor had the Councilor begun to redden about the face. He sighed, audibly, and nodded. The room seemed to still a bit more, the Golem's resignation setting in.

 [color=778899]"You know I can't spit, Serpera,"[/color] he said with feigned consternation, and offered a lopsided grin, [color=778899]"She's finally chosen to give it up, eh?"[/color] They still had not come to speak her name. Not out loud, anyway. She was [i]Elise, The Silver Glint[/i]; and, as Crosos had come to know...one of the heroes who sundered Kanys. 

 [color=D87093]"...Yes. We are still debating what to do with it-"[/color] The Ewori Councilor considered something behind almost-closed eyes.

 [color=778899]"That wasn't what I meant. I meant [i]her[/i], I meant [i]Elise[/i]. She's finally giving up..."[/color] It took him a moment to rise, the chair groaning as he stood, perhaps thankful to be free of his weight, but for Crosos Granz it was one of the most mercurial motions made in his existence. [color=778899]"By the damned faces, indeed..."[/color] He looked down on her, with pity. Somehow, it had fallen to the Vaunted Council. That could not be a safe thing. The Golem battled biting his metaphorical tongue for a moment and turned, again, towards the window of the Councilor's chambers...or, more accurately, toward the streets of Vaald; toward the sun. [color=778899]"This can not come to pass."[/color]

 Despite what he expected, Serpera gave him a smile that was both begrudging and approving. [color=D87093]"Exactly, Crosos,"[/color] she livened with talk of conspiracy, and Granz approved to see more of the girl he knew in the Councilor she wore, [color=D87093]"I want you to make sure that it gets out of Vaald, one way or another, whether you walk it out or put it in someone else's hands...I don't care."[/color]

 [color=778899]"Must it be me?"[/color] Another hollow sigh and more resignation creeping in, along with acceptance. He knew well that it would be best delivered in his hands.

 [color=D87093]"Is there anyone else who could?"[/color] As did she, apparently.

 [color=778899]"Hundreds who-"[/color]  Serpera shook her head, lightly, somehow silencing the Golem.

[color=D87093]"Perhaps, but I have not come to trust them as I have Crosos Granz. You're less easily swayed than others when it comes to matters of great importance."[/color]

 He let silence and his cyclopean gaze linger over her for a long time. It was not that he had to contemplate whether or not he would comply with her request; that had been decided before Serpera had asked him here, it was that he had no idea how to get a piece of Kanys' mask out of the city. He already had an idea on how he was going to acquire it...but...the part that would come thereafter was quite hazy.

 [color=778899]"I am also a fair deal harder to kill."[/color]


[color=7CFC00]- - - -[/color]


 Far from the bustle of things that she wouldn't-quite-understand, Isyph Al-Delad lingered...soaking in her low-spirits. She had produced her lute, a moment before; a song boiling in her heart. Yet, when she hoisted it and began to strum, all of the enthusiasm had been drained from her. Despondency wrapped its self around her throat and drove her to silence. Instead of a song, she produced a harrumph and slid away from the crowds; still cradling her lute. 

 It was in this surprisingly deep melancholy, and a relatively underpopulated Vaaldian side-alley off the main nexus of the Enlistment Square, that she now marinated, as she often had before albeit not in such an unfamiliar place. Faces, etched into her mind, and the names of several Guilds begin to flutter by; various grunts of disapproval and some barking laughter. Apparently, not everyone could get into a Guild. 

 [color=FFDAB9]"Not everyone is 'worth the trouble', and some people look 'like they'd be slain by an errant breeze',"[/color] she grumbled into herself, lifting her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around them...lightly picking at the strings of the lute, despite herself, giving an unwitting canter to her bitter mumbling, [color=FFDAB9]"Some people 'couldn't swing a sword without losing their arms', and others, well, others 'couldn't cause a bit o' harm'."[/color] Isyph was starting to grin, allowing her fingers to flow without restriction and her words to gain the volume she suddenly felt they deserved. [color=FFDAB9]"There are people who 'look a little sick', or, perhaps, 'built like a stick'. There are people who 'can't sing in tune', and ones who are 'probably cursed by the Moon...'"[/color]

 She trailed off and looked down the alley, which was a narrow stretch of gray; punctuated by the forms of a few others, some of which had turned to glance at her...after she had momentarily stopped. Being unable to resist she stood, gave a wave and tipped her cowl; bending slightly at the waist to offer the slightest bow, still strumming the simple melody she'd come naturally to. 

 [color=FFDAB9]"'Scratch',"[/color] she let the notes trail off and silence settle in for just a moment, before beginning again, [color=FFDAB9]"and there are those who have to 'force a rhyme' or 'couldn't rob a blind old woman blind'! There are some people who 'might be able to serve mead to get their fill' and some people that 'won't be able to find a Guild in Aedrasil'!~"[/color] The lute felt alive in her hands and her hands seemed to have a mind of their own, wrestling the animate instrument with surprising elegance. Isyph Al-Delad felt that she had just produced one of the better performances in her life, and had found a refrain. The faces, the thought of being dismissed at every turn...while still fresh, were now less painful. Now, they were inspiration. [color=FFDAB9]"Those who 'would be dead in a week', those who 'ought to leave, [i]before this turns bleak[/i]',"[/color] the Uquii stumbled for a line, momentary embarrassment settling in. Then it came to her.

[color=FFDAB9]"There are some of us who,"[/color] she resumed with a particular bravado, [color=FFDAB9]"are just wasting time, that'll probably never find a Guild in Aedrasil!"[/color]

 She exhaled and let her fingers slow, the song trailing into nothingness; a light smile on her face. It was nice, despite all the hardship...and all of her failure, to have a way to release some of the negativity. Even if she were still without a place within Vaald, the night had not yet fallen...and there was always the Lunar Festival to look forward to.[/center]