[closed - active]

[feymarked]

Characters: Snow Villiers feymarked & Serah Farron fatemarked

Setting/Location: Beast's Castle and Caravan

Date & Time: Backdated just before the Caravan leaves

Warnings: None...so far?

Summary: Snow and Serah have some catching up to do after the Masquerade. They'll explore the castle before getting on the Caravan.

Comments

[fatemarked]

Had she the time to spare, Serah could have easily wandered around the castle for hours, getting lost in its long, quiet corridors, exploring the empty rooms, unused and stuffed full of dust. There was so much to see, and not enough time to see it. Part of her wished she could stay for a little longer, for just one more day, if only to see what secrets she could uncover about the place. Who had made it, what it had been used for in the past, because surely it had been more than just empty once. Kurosaki had said that castle and its enigmatic owner seemed to be based on one of his world’s fairy tales, and she was glad to see the tail end of it come to pass-that the Beast (or Basile, rather), had finally found his own happy ending.

Or so she hoped. She could only guess, infer from his last address. But she felt sure that this was the case.

It made her feel better, at least, to think so. To go away knowing that the Beast was no longer doomed to stay forever trapped in a monster's body with nothing but a single rose showcasing what was left of his humanity. That he could find some joy in life, and that he wouldn't be alone.

Now if only they could find a happy ending of their own.

Serah had seen the brands. She knew what they meant, knew what the marks entailed, and she worried for the future. For Lightning's, for Snow’s, for Hope and Vanille’s, but she had enough hope in her to believe that things would turn out right in the end. For now, it was comfort enough just to be with her family again, to be able to talk to Lightning about nothing in particular, to imagine her frowning at the idea of a ball, only to see her there herself, just as it was nice to hold Snow’s hand and never let go, knowing that he was actually there with her. And no matter what happened in the days that followed, she wasn’t about to let this window of opportunity pass her by like that week on Cocoon had.

Serah finally found her way into the ballroom, smiling fondly at the memories she had here of the masquerade, of the brilliant costumes, of the things she had never expected to see. It didn’t take her long to spot Snow. The room was empty, but even if it hadn’t been, he wouldn't have been hard to spot. He's never been hard to find, and Serah has always been grateful for it.

"Hey, Snow!" It didn't take long to reach him, threading her hand into his, as if ready to drag him onto the dance floor one more time. "You ready to go?"

IT'S ME JUST UNDER ANOTHER SNOW ACCOUNT because I'm lazy and this one has more icons

[winterization]

His whole being seemed to come to life as soon as he heard Serah's voice; of course, he was already very much alive, but there was that little something that she did to him, making his heart always beat a little faster, causing a warmth to spread throughout his body, clearing his mind...

"Hey," he greeted her as their fingers intertwined, offering her a smile that showed exactly how happy he was to be with her. It was something he would always be grateful for, even though they weren't home, for the situation could have been very different... and way worse. But there she was, pulling slightly on his arm, just as real and alive as he was.

"I'm ready to go," he nodded, his gaze fixed on her as he started walking. He knew how fragile life really was, now. He knew that nothing should be taken for granted, and so he would take his time to savour every single moments he would spend with her. Because she could be gone again -- and so could he. "Did you want to stop somewhere before we leave? This castle sure is huge..."

And it really was. He had never seen anything like this, and as much as he'd been impressed by everything around them, he was also ready to take his leave. He didn't have a choice but to travel on that caravan, but the quicker they'd start moving, the sooner they could reach home.

If it was even still possible. If it was even still out there...

"I've missed you," he said suddenly, thoughts of his recent adventures still fresh to his mind; they hadn't really have time to talk or even be together since they'd been released from their cell, and it felt like he had so much to tell her. He'd never really known if he'd ever be able to talk to her again, after all. One of the reasons he treasured her presence even more.

*thumbs up*

[fatemarked]

There was a split-second pause, one long enough for Serah to briefly tighten her hold on Snow’s hand as a handful of memories during her time alone on the Vestige involuntarily bubbled to the surface. She smiled then, a small one. Thin. She had even started missing him then. Both him and Lightning, and she didn’t think she had even been trapped there for more than a day or so. Even when she had been in stasis, Serah knew she had missed them then, too. She didn’t really remember her time in the crystal-she had no sense of it whatsoever; it was the same as sleeping and waking: during that, time had no meaning that one could measure or remember-but she imagined that she dreamed. And, like every other dream that had come before, it had faded into the recesses of her mind, but still left a lingering impression. One she felt even now, that eerie tug of separation. She hated the feeling.

“And so did I.” There wasn’t much else she thought about while she had been inside the Vestige ruins alone. She had thought of him as she watched her brand change, saw the few arrows already there multiplying into many, until there were no more for the brand to make. She had thought of him when the single eye of the brand opened, deep red and sleepless and final, a penetrating gaze. She couldn’t help but glance at Snow’s wrist then, her eyes lingering on his brand. Now their necklaces weren’t the only thing that matched. Her voice went quiet. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

She forced her eyes away, looking around the elegant ballroom for something to focus on-perhaps the chandelier. Still, Serah knew that there was probably nothing she could have said or done to have stopped him from doing it. Or Lightning either. Challenging a fal’Cie. That sounded like something Snow would do. She was sure he’d take on the world single-handedly if he had to, dive in headfirst. She admired that about him, but he worried her sometimes. At least here she didn’t have to worry about any of them becoming Cie’th. Lightning had told her that their brands were frozen. They weren’t living with an hourglass seared into their skin. They could really be themselves, for a little while, anyway, without having to live in fear. And Serah had to admit she was glad that burden was gone. At least for now. Though that didn’t change what had happened, or what might happen in the future, Serah still intended to enjoy and appreciate the present while she could. They would make it through.

She shook her head, dispelling her previous thoughts, and recalled Snow’s first question. She responded quickly, her voice gaining back most of her previous enthusiasm. “It is big, isn’t it? We’d probably be stranded here for another week if we just wanted to see all of it. ...I thought maybe we could just walk through it again before we board the Caravan-like we would go through the ruins. We don’t need to go anywhere in particular, unless there’s some part you want to see?”