[color=fff79a][center][h2]Edmund Silvaine[/h2][hr][/center][/color]

[color=gray][i]Small waves lap up against leather boots, and Edmund's soaked clothes hang on him like weights. His collar feels more constricting than usual, less a snug comfort and more a firm grip. The water is frigid, chilling into his very bones. The river is opaque and impenetrable, and as Edmund takes his first step into it, it feels more resistant to his advance than water normally does. Edmund doesn't feel wet, but his brain is not able to comprehend it. He sees, on the other side of the river, a boat slightly run aground the shallow shore. He sees men in armor approaching the boat, rifles in hand. Edmund takes another step, and he feels something grabbing his leg. The water is too opaque to see anything. Edmund resists, and tries to take another step. Another hand grips his other leg, and begins to pull him down. Then his wrists and hands. Edmund watches in horror as the armored men board the boat. He sees others behind him on the shore, all faceless and wearing the standard Templar armor. He looks back to the ship. He hears a gunshot.[/i][/color]

Edmund jolted awake, disoriented. His left hand had instinctively reached for the loaded revolver sitting on the small nightstand next to his bed, the sun's earliest rays just barely peeking in through the cracks in the blinds of his small room. Edmund sighed deeply, catching his shortened breath as he began to parse nightmare from reality. It wasn't a particularly novel nightmare, rather it was one he had suffered somewhat frequently in the past few months. He eyed the guitar resting on a stand an arm's reach away, just past the nightstand. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, grabbing the revolver and safely disengaging the hammer before setting it back down. He then grabbed his guitar, resting it on his knee, as he began to [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wvOLxheqrU]strum a few chords[/url] while sleep still clung to the corners of his eyes. He hummed along to the tune for a time, before murmuring, [color=fff79a]"Why can't I cross this river?"[/color] Edmund's hands stopped strumming, and he sat in quiet contemplation for a moment. He wordlessly placed the guitar back on its stand. It was best not to question things too deeply, and just take it as a reminder to not break his vow. He wouldn't let Maya end up like Theodore.

A morning jog along the same route as always helped to clear the mind. He got the same confused glance at the large revolver on his hip from one or two early morning joggers, but most of the regulars made a passing polite wave. Edmund would only nod in acknowledgement, as per usual. He stopped by a small coffee shop near the apartment complex, and the barista just gave a pleasant nod in acknowledgement as Edmund set down a note with Maya's coffee order on it. After a few minutes, the barista called his name, and he picked up the small coffee carrier with four drinks. Three were just black coffees, and one was whatever strange concoction Maya had dreamt up the day before. He knew he might be back in a half-hour or so when Maya awoke and decided it was either made wrong or not what she wanted.

When the elevator doors opened on the top floor, Edmund gave a nod to the two security guards who greeted him. They went to grab the drink carrier, and Edmund took his coffee and Maya's out of it. He set hers on the island in the apartment proper's spacious kitchen, while he went to his own mini-apartment. After a quick shower, he emerged from his own apartment dressed in his full uniform and sipped on his coffee. An itinerary was already printed out and waiting for him in the dining room. He internally groaned as he saw the attached limousine contract. It was going to be one of those kinds of days after all.

Maya, as per usual, was already on her phone the moment Edmund saw her that morning. He hated hearing take after take of the same tired upbeat rambling, and watching Maya tilt and turn her head to check the view of every single angle of her face through her camera killed another infinitesimal fraction of his soul. She always claimed that this was part of the job, and to an extent she was right. But as Edmund sipped his coffee while overlooking the holy city from this penthouse, that small feeling in the pit of his stomach turned over. He wasn't made for this kind of lavish lifestyle. And it was still a couple months until his next camping trip with the Scion of Fire, where he could finally feel that inner peace he was currently missing.

The rest of the day was a blur. Edmund was so wrapped up in listening to security reports, reading over the background checks on the driver and company of the limousine, and taking meaningless pictures for Maya's social media feed that he had forgotten to eat again. Not that he had the appetite to stomach anything as is: he knew already what kind of ceremony he would have to watch today. He had learnt from a young age that the Church was wise and guided by the spirit of the Goddess Incepta, and rarely ever questioned a decision made by them. These days, Edmund hardly even questioned his placement as the Templar of Gravity. But today... today was testing the bounds of Edmund's fealty.

So it was, that when Edmund and Maya stood side by side and watched Tyler Morris the oath-breaker receive his second blessing, Edmund's nails dug into his palms hard enough to leave red marks. His ever-present scowl had a harsher, colder stare to it than usual. When the ceremony ended, and Maya turned to him to make a remark, Edmund's eyes still followed and lingered on Tyler for a moment. [color=7041A5]“Aw, isn’t it inspiring? I remember when that was you and me up there, don’t you?”[/color]

[color=fff79a]"I pray I will never be so bold as to be blessed twice."[/color] His whispering voice was somewhat  hoarse, as he realized they were the first set of words he had spoken in hours. He didn't need to look at Maya to tell she was goading him, nor that she had the same fake smile plastered on her face she always did. Regardless, his scowl softened as he turned his gaze towards the others gathered around. He recognized all of them, either having seen their faces in person at the very latest at the last blessing, if not plastered on tv screens during the more church-affiliated news broadcasts. His face softened to a more modest scowl, and only Maya would have been able to recognize the faintest of a twitch of the corner of his lips (the closest he could get to smiling or smirking in his two years of service as her Templar). [color=fff79a]"One blessing was plenty, your holiness."[/color] His fumbling attempt at a sarcastic joke was undercut by the absolute sincerity with which he used the formal term of address towards her.

As Maya stared and watched all the others in attendance, Edmund eyed the Templar of Metal and her box of cookies. His stomach elicited a small growl, and he gave a small sight of defeat. Weber's appearance in the small throng of individuals waylaid any fears that Ionna was only speaking to the Scions. So, Edmund stalked over after a moment of hesitation, giving the young princess a little space as she swiped a cookie. He approached cautiously, the price of an interesting fact weighing on his mind as he tried to clutch at a fact not too graphic to potentially upset the young princess next to him or too mundane to not be worthy of the interaction. His mind drifted to his activities the night before, and he settled on his answer. [color=fff79a]"I've been re-reading Redcrosse's collection of Sonnets. I find his observations on nature insightful."[/color] Believing his elaborative answer to be satisfactory, he took the same type of cookie the young princess Rosemary had taken and returned to his post next to Maya. He broke the sugar cookie in half, biting into the left half to give it a taste. Finding it to be sufficiently sweet, he offered the right half in the direction of his Scion as an offering.
[hr][right][@Obscene Symphony][@Mcmolly][/right]