Evening Tea

October 23, 2018:

After extracting an injured Darkedge from battle, Amaterasu and the elf share conversation and tea on the other side of the world.

//Kyoto //

A small home in rural Japan

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

It was the smell someone might notice first, so very different from New York even at the best of times. There was a sea breeze intermingled with floral scents of a garden outside that almost seemed as if it had never known the smog of industry in its eternity. It was also almost entirely silent, as if noone else were nearby. When eyes finally open, the room is dark save for the light of a small candle in the corner that casts the silhouette of a figure sitting nearby.

The wooden floors, paper-screened walls…it was like waking up in some historical samurai drama…and the sight of Amaterasu didn't help matters. Gone was her armor, she wasn't even wearing the 'normal' clothing of a mortal. Instead the pale woman was wrapped in an exquisite deep red and gold kimono, a small cup in her hand where she sips at some sweet-smelling tea. "You are safe," the goddess speaks, seeming to sense the waking. "You will find no demons here."

*

The battle with demons, having been fighting almost non-stop for hours, resting only when the sun was out, and then gettin gblinded and burnt by both sun and flame had clearly taken too much from the elf. He had stood to go, meant to step into the shadows and vanish, only to find that the darkness that embraced him was not the darkness he had planned on. Finding himself awake and the gleam just on this side fo not comfortable in an unknown place was immediately jarring.

Metallic silver eyes flicked open in the exact moment the elf was rolling up into a low crouch. The gleam of teh candlelight caught along the delicate looking crystal blades that seemed to grow from his sleeves and into his hands.

The goddess speaks, and Darkedge relaxes by degrees. His eyes seek and find the woman, making out every detail in the low light of the room.

*

"….My thanks…." Soft, a murmur, it sounds much more like how he's used to speaking than what was heard on the street. The blades withdraw, hiding once more, and the elf sags down to his rump on the floor.

"…Where?"

*

He recognized her? Good. Otherwise, the two blades may well have ruined her time drinking tea. With her hair down and the overly volumous robes neatly resting around her. She lowers the small cup, gesturing to the tray beside her and then the cushion across from where she rested on her knees. "Sit, drink. There was only so much of my power I was willing to use to heal you after how you reacted the first time. Were it not for your actions, I would have thought you a demon yourself." She was speaking English, but there was still a noticable accent to her words.

Pausing a moment, she exhales a breath with a soft smile. "You are somewhere safe, far from New York. There are many hours till sunrise on this side of the world." She reaches now, intending to pour the tea into the other cup. "You are in Kyoto. Although I will return with you back to America soon enough."

*

The voice was distinctive enough.

Offered a drink, the elf presses up and drops himself on the cushion. His eyes glide over the tea, looking for what is made of metal and what is not.

"It would not be the first time I am mistaken for a thing I am not," he replies. Again the words are soft, as if he had been shouting before on the street. The grime of the fight is gone from his leathers, and what rends and tears there were are gone. Only the faint pink and slight start of peeling hint that he had been burnt before.

"My thanks to you for using some of your magics on me. I am not your vassal or concern," he says, flicking his gaze up when she mentions where they are.

"Kyoto," he repeats, working to form the word exactly as she has and failing. The lilt of his words is faintly clumsy. Perhaps he has a speech impediment, or else just doesn't speak often that forming some sounds is a challenge.

*

The tea set itself was ceramic rather than metal thankfully, so it was less likely that Ami was going to accidently trip him up with another weakness that he might find fatal while trying to offer a drink. His words bring a slight smirk to her lips, perhaps something of a little sympathy for mistaken identity. Still, the Amatasu-Kami nods her head. "Kyoto. Japan."

Another sip of her drink, she closes her eyes for a moment before speaking again. "You seem to be recovering, but you have me curious as to why sunlight would harm you so. It was not my intention to wound you as I did."

*

Japan. Another new to him word. Darkedge is unconcerned about how far it migh tbe from the stomping grounds he's come to know. Instead, when the tea is poured, he reaches forward to accept the liquid. it is brought to his lips for a light sip, savoring the warmth and delicate flavor.

"I am from a type of elf that lives beneath the ground. There is no sun where I am from. I had not even seen stars until I came top side to work for my Queen. My first night on teh surface, the moon was full and bright, and after being stunned and drawn by it, staying out until the sun began to rise, I was brunt far more badly than what you had done. I am not angered by the injury. You could not have known, and you have done more than I can ask in way of recompense. My Quuen will know of your kindness, and your name, if you would give me something to call you by?"

*

Elf? Now it was Amaterasu that was hearing words she had no equivlent for, but she nods none the less. The Goddess was certain she would learn its meaning eventually. "My name is Amaterasu," she offers in introduction, lowering her cup once more and bowing her head ever so slightly in greeting before she reaches into her sleeves, retrieving a small paper fan. "The humans of this land refer to me as Amaterasu-Omikami, the goddess of the Sun." A pause, she chuckles lightly as the fan flutters before her face to obscure her expression. "I am the embodiment of the very thing that burns you so."

*

Goddess of the Sun. Well, that makes her powers make sense. Tea cup set down, Darkedge returns the bow, though his is a different type than her. He places a closed fist over his heart and dips his head down without breaking eye contact.

"In darkness I see you Amaterasu-Omikami," he replies, taking the unfamiliar sounds of her name slowly in order to get them correct.

"I am the Queen's Blade, known as Darkedge, of Avalon, Realm of the Fae. I apologize for not having any other names to give you in exchange," he replies formally, carefully, with the grace of a prince, for all that he sits on the floor and sullies himself with death like any common soldier.

*

"You may call me 'Ami'," she offers with another smile, albeit one carried in her voice as she retains that fan in place for a few moments more before lowering it back to her side. It was likely strange custom and certainly one outdated, but she had been away from Earth for a very very long time. "I had intended to move among mankind for a time and blend in with them as 'Ami Omikami', simply another girl from this land in America. But the demon invasion has done little for any plans of being discreit."

A tilt of her head, she looks the fae over. "You are like the warriors from these islands in days past, a servant sent for your lord…or lady in this case. Why has your queen sent you to this world?"

*

Given a less formal, less complete name, Darkedge bows again. His mind presses out a wordless, telepathic, sensation of thanks for the gift of the name. His hands return to teh tea cup and another fortifying sip is taken. The fae is pale, so very pale. The pink on his nose and cheeks do little to relieve the eye of his palour. His hair and eyes are metallic silver, glinting slightly as he moves. Other than his face, his ears, and a tiny bit of his neck, no other bit of flesh is exposed by the form fitted black leather armor, highly enchanted and covered in elvish script, that covers him.

"I am to search for any wayward kinfolfk, remind them of the safety of the Fae Realm, and assist them in returning, if they wish. Refusal and I am to no longer fret over them and what the humans may do to them. I am to search for fae-magic artifacts that were left behind and return them to My Queen. And now, with the demons inviding, I am to help as I am able and ensure the creatures to not unlock a path through the Veil int the Fae Lands. Until she calls me back to her side, I am here."

*

"I will return you to the city and its troubles when you are ready, your strength seems to have returned quite well already. But do not feel rushed to return to danger. It is still daylight in the city after all." A pause, she tilts her head to the side and then sips her own cup once more. "I am grateful that you have found the desire to save the humans caught in the midst of the chaos. There are many who would leave them to their fate to complete their own goals."

*

"After teh sun has set there would be prefereable, yes," Darkedge replies wih teh tiniest of grin curling the corner of his lips. As for saving humans.. the elf rolls a shoulder. He's saving the children and their parents if they are near at hand. Beyond that… he's leaving hte humans to their own devices while he kills as many demons as he can manage.

"Fewer demons here means fewere that threaten the Fae," is the honest truth rationalization of his actions.

*

"Motives matter little, no fish cares why the river runs. Only that it does." A pause, the woman gives a little shake of her head and gently folds her hands in her lap. "The Amatsu-Kami, we 'gods' left this world for our own reasons. Lack of care, anger, even a desire to see what humanity could manage on its own. Yet all of us left all the same, now I am here trying to right wrongs that have grown in our absence."

*

These gods left, as did the Fae. It was anger, hurt, fear, that drove teh Fae, its Seelie Court, from the Human Realm and into Otherworld. Darkedge sips his tea, knowing that it happened but not having lived it. His type of elf never lived on the Human Realm. It's a fact that many of the fae hold up as a reason to further distrust him, above and beyond the simple fact that he is an assassin and seeing him usually means that the Fairy Queen has sent himto kill you.

A soft noncommittal hum is all that's given and the elf sips more tea.

*

"You are free to wander the grounds if you like, this place is as close to what the world once was, but there are more human houses not to far from here." Another sip of her drink, the cup is finally empty and set aside. "Or you may rest, but I will return us to the city in several hours after the sun has moved on from the city. If you seek food, I'm sure some can be found. It is the least I can do after the wounds I inflicted on you."

*

"My thanks. Your hospitality will be spoken of," promises the elf, siping more of his tea.

"For now, rest and food is likely best, though if I may impose one request: have no metal touch any food brought to me." After he's slept some and eaten, if there's time, he'll explore. if there's not, well… something for another day. When demons are no longer a threat.

A lifetime of never knowing the sun, to suddenly meet Her, have a conversation with Her, is intriguing!

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