A/N: This is one of my favorite chapters to write honestly. Dainslief has been charged with the care and protection of Lumine. However he can't understand why he sees Ishtar in the young woman that was summoned. That is until the time goddess returns home.
Title Translation: It's Old Norse words, meaning "Mother" and "Father" respectively.
Lullaby Duet IstaDain Sing: "My Mother Told Me" from Vikings. Lumine will in time also sing this song herself when she's a mother. Aether knows this song too because of Tyr/Pierro but doesn't hold the same affection for it as his sister. Lumine has great affection for the song as she only has good memories attached to it.
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The days waned into nights.
While Aether visited his sister constantly with Tyr or even Rhinedottir the young princess did not wake. The fever she had developed prior was also gone and yet to the bewilderment of the many healers the king sent to his manor the comatose princess still did not wake. A lot had transpired with Aether during the past months as Lumine remained under Dainslief's watchful eye and care. The Twilight Sword, the Serpent of Yggdrasil never left her unattended. Every morning he found evidence Ishtar had been in the room. A vase full of the snow white inteyvets set at the bedside, two more placed with care into the young woman's sun kissed hair. By evening Dainslief always spent time in Lumine's room, content just to talk or sing the old lullaby he grew up with.
Tonight was one such night, Dainslief unable to get the young twins out of his mind. He had just sent Aether on his way for the night after the worried boy had come to visit. The poor boy had wanted to see if there had been any changes but there had been none. Dainslief's gaze looked up as he looked in the mirror after drying his face. The blue vein-like scars covering the one side of his face. "They really do look like me. Aether acts a lot like I did as a youth, but he wears his heart on his sleeve. Lumine looks so much like Ishtar but why?"he wondered softly. It had confused him, the way the time goddess was speaking in riddles in regards to these twins that were summoned.
He couldn't get any of his work done with how distracted and unfocused his mind had been. So with a sigh he decided to act again, maybe some would call it selfish but he acted on his whims as he put his mask back on and walked across the hall, quietly entering the room. There she was just as he had left her sound asleep, the old flowers having been removed earlier by Aether. Quietly he closed the door behind him and walked over humming that familiar tune from his youth, with a tender smile he sat down on the edge of the bed to hold her hand.
"Hello Lumine, I'm home. I hope you enjoyed your brother's visit earlier. I hope it wasn't too lonely for you."he greeted. No reply came but her fingers gave a soft twitch at his voice.
For Lumine she was more aware then they realized. Her strength was returning now that she connected to Yggdrasil was being established ever so slowly. She knew her mother had been visiting, she knew her brother had as well. This man, however, always watched over her, visited her daily and spoke to her with such kindness. It was strange...she felt a sense of security and safety despite his intense umbra energy. He wasn't as good a singer as mother was but he wasn't terrible either. The sharp tang of steel, horses, and the forest always greeted her nose when he stayed long hours in her room. She had grown accustomed to his humming and the sound of a carving knife crafting something from some kind of soft wood or stone.
Content...warm familiarity.
That's what this man gave her every single time as she sensed him move away after pulling the quilt over her shoulders. Khaenrian winters tended to get a bit nippy and chilly so she was thankful as she mumbled snuggling into the plush warmth and nuzzled Dainslief's hand. Dainslief went over to sit by the fireplace in one of the chairs as he began to bring out what looked like a carving of a snake wrapped around some kind of egg or pearl. There was a shocking amount of detail to it as he brought out his carving knife and began to sing the soft lullaby.
Þat mælti mín móðir,
At mér skyldi kaupa
Fley ok fagrar árar,
Fara á brott með víkingum,
Standa upp í stafni,
...A bright giggle on the breeze surprised him as the lone goddess appeared on a golden wisp of wind. She was sitting on the open window strumming along on her lyre as she too joined in as she hopped into the room to go sit at the edge of Lumine's bed. Dainslief with affection smiled as she sang with him...
Þél höggr stórt fyr stáli
Stafnkvígs á veg jafnan
út með éla meitli
Andærr jötunn vandar,
En svalbúinn selju
Sverfr eirar vanr þeiri
Gestils ölpt með gustum
Gandr of stál fyr brandi.
...Ishtar and Dainslief both smiled at each other in greeting as the primordial goddess placed the two lone inteyvets into the sleeping blonde's hair. There was a soft and peaceful smile of affection that had appeared from the little melody. "...Móðir...Faðir..."came her soft sleepy mumble as she affectionately pressed into her mother's tender caress. Dainslief was taken aback by what he had heard Lumine say, unsure what to say as he approached.
"Shh...wake when you are ready to do so my little wolf, and not a moment sooner."whispered Ishtar with motherly affection. "I still can't believe it was you and your brother that the king of fools summoned. To think they would gather up all the halberds from the war we scattered."
"Ishtar, why did she say what she did?"he wondered as he walked over to join her still carving the little snake egg in his hand. Once he put the finishing touches he set it on his charge's bedside. With them were four deer, a squirrel, a snake biting its tail, and an eagle. But beside the snake was a chibi little lion with a dove on its head. All of them are expertly carved from wood or even soapstone. The snake wrapped around the egg had the emblem for the Celestians on it.
"You still haven't figured it out even though I've been dropping hints since they arrived? My sweet snake, how can you be so smart yet so dense at the same time my dear?"sighed Ishtar, putting her hands to her hips. She was exhausted and it showed as she looked over at her slumbering daughter. She knew why Lumen had fallen into this state was due to a lot of factors. The first was that the summoning had not accounted for what they thought was Sirius to be twins so they had not gathered the proper equivalent exchange for such a ritual. No they had not accounted for not one but two angelic stars responding. Let alone ones of House Aeon, the royal family itself.
But why would the king call down her little Norn and even the king herself? Even her ancient mind was baffled by this turn of events. Events that lead to her daughter in this state as her brother got almost all the energy needed but unintentionally left his sister with nothing. Which had resulted in her suffering upon entering this world the way they had. However she had another suspicion...the rightful king reborn had been away from here for too long. She had been born off this world, raised where either and elements ran thick as snow. Which had allowed them to nurture the abilities they had now. The other was that Lumen's connection to Yggdrasil was not established completely yet. The little crown princess needed time...but that was something they might not have.
"There you go dodging the question, Kairos. What am I not understanding?"Dainslief asked, crossing his arms.
"Ouroboros, my dear love and familiar, you must understand there are those that would desire to see these twins harmed or even dead. For this reason now that they are here, I can only help you to realize the truth."she sighed with a frustrated sea of emotions racing across her face. Carefully she got to her feet to take his hands in her own. "Dain, surely you heard them whispering? Everyone is saying how much these gods they had summoned look like you Dainslief." Dainslief calmed but didn't quite seem to understand, at least not completely.
"What are you trying to tell me about Lumine and Aether?"he softly pressed, giving her hand a squeeze.
"Dainslief they are—-!?"Ishtar never got to finish her sentence as a flash of foresight caught and alerted her. Her body trembled as he raced for the window. Dainslief had sensed too as he raced over as well. Hastily she took his hand to pull him close and her eyes began to close to summon a crystal sphere before their eyes. Revealed was an army of Celestia City. At the lead were six of the seven archons but there was something very much and terribly wrong. Their eyes soulless, entranced as they marched straight for the nation cradled by the Tree of Life & Souls. And at the lead....was Asmodaus.
Horror, fury, and desperation were all emotions that snapped through them. No words had to be said. Ishtar rushed to help get Alice far away, to which she succeeded. Then she rushed to where Aether and Tyr were with the young Khaenrian diplomat, an owl perched on his shoulder. Frantatic she skid to grab her son by the shoulder, "Aether!!"
"M-MOTHER!?"Aether was flabbergasted.
"No time for chit chat, I need you to go wake your sister and run!!"she snapped sharply.
"Lady Inanna, what's going on?"pressed the young man, the owl giving an anxious hoot.
"You need to take Tyr and get out of here!! Take as many as you can and run!!"urged Inanna in desperate fright.
"Slow down Inanna, what makes you so distressed?"Tyr tried to soothe.
"Before the night is over, Khaenri'ah...will be no more."she explained with a frigid tone.
Only horror remained.
The streams of red and black slowly came as Dainslief shouted orders to his knights to order the evacuation. What had Rhinedottir and the Dusk Dynasty done? They had ignored their pleas and warnings. Pandora's box had been opened and with it, the ire of the heavens themselves. It was chaos, a genocide utterly and completely as Aether ran straight for Dainslief's house. His mother had hastily explained how to wake his sister and so he barged in as the world burned around him. With an intense concentration of the omnipresent element he forced it into her body, causing her to gasp in a soundless scream. And what Lumine had woken up to...was a living hell.
To Be Continued...
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A/N: Some of the lyrics are in Old Norse but they are the same song, "My Mother Told Me" in fact. Here's the full translation of the full Old Norse Version in English...
This said my mother
That I shall buy for myself
A swift ship and of a pretty oar,
To journey away with freebooters,
To stand tall on the prow,
Steer a worthy merchant-ship,
Direct it thus to the harbor,
Strike one man and the other,
Strike one man and the other.
With the file he strikes out, hard against the steel
Of the prow-steed on the flat path,
With the chisel of the snowstorms,
The opposite-oared giant of the twig,
But the cold-made one of that willow,
The merciless one files
Gestill's swan with gusts,
This wand of steel against the ship's beak.