BLUE

Aurora Thee Elezen

@kylenne.bsky.social

Aurora, 40s Black, bi nb femme (she/her). Elder goth and nerd. Multifandom, ffxiv/bg3/forgotten Realms mainly. Home of The Elfpile(tm). NSFW, no minors please.

271 followers180 following104 posts

ATkylenne.bsky.socialOct 20, 2024 10:08pm

Gisèle actually hates being called “Warrior” of Light, and is referred to in universe as the Sorceress of Light instead. FFVIII was fictionalized in her universe as the Leonhart Romances, which she loves. But it’s about more than just aesthetics to her.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and reached for her wine. "I mislike the word 'warrior', Estinien. Mayhap it suits others, but for myself? I detest it. It feels rather like an ugly coat foisted upon me by a well meaning aunt at Starlight," Gisele said, after a long sip. "I know well what it means to Eorzea, the gratitude with which they have bestowed it, and thus I do not gainsay it. But it grates upon me all the same."
"You are an extraordinary healer, no doubt. But neither can any doubt the strength of your fury," Estinien mused. "I should know, having been on the end of it once. And you must admit, tis a passing strange sentiment to hear from the lips of the woman who but recently bested Zenos yae Galvus in single combat, even after he had subsumed himself within a Primal birthed from the Eyes of Nidhogg, no less. I served as a Temple Knight for fully half my life, and never have I met another soul who so commanded such disparate arts upon the field, much less with such skill and grace as you. Betimes I think you might even have made the finest dragoon Ishgard has ever known, if the Eye had but turned its gaze upon you."
Gisele shook her head, sighing, and fumbling in vain for words that she might make her intent clearer. "I thank you, Estinien, but you misunderstand me. Not since I was an apprentice in Kinloch Hold have I felt any manner of unease at wielding the power to destroy, alongside that of restoration. We had a saying in the Circle, that the mage who cannot hex cannot heal."
"Then why do you so detest the name of warrior?"

"That's just it-tis the name itself which grates upon mine ears. Words bear meaning, love. We were taught as such as babes in the Circle. I choose mine with care, or so I strive; as surely as I choose the silk which adorns me, or the carmine for mine lips. And
'Warrior', to me, conjures not the skill in battle you so admire, but the ax-slinging marauders and sellswords of Limsa Lominsa, all fury and raucous airs, who fight without cease. Make no mistake, I would not disparage their skill for anything. Nor would I ever deign dismiss the history and weight of such a title as Warrior of Light, not as a foreigner to this world-truly, I am humbled that Eorzea should think me worthy of the mantle of her greatest heroes, those who gave their lives to so protect her at Carteneau.
But I hear a hardness in that word 'warrior' which does not suit me, and discomfits me."
Estinien blinked. "It's the aesthetic of the word you mislike?"
...yes. Oh Estinien, I do not expect you to understand. I scarce understand it myself. Maker knows I am betimes a vain and flighty creature, and I cannot help it. But a 'Warrior' is hard, encased in an ironworks, and can never be hurt. And I hear in that the echoes of how I was treated in my homeland, where women like me were denied our maidenhood, rather viewed as naught but mules to be worked and abused, to thanklessly suffer the burdens of others and swallow our own with smiles upon our lips. We were strong, were we not? I do not like it."

"I would not mock you for such a belief, my love.
Even should I not wholly understand the sentiment behind it, still I understand the meaning of words and names, more than you might know. I myself shed the mantle of Azure Dragoon for a reason, for I came to despise what it meant to me. If 'Warrior of Light' should cause you a mere onze of the torment my former title came to cause me, then 1 shall never call you that again, and do not require a reason," Estinien said softly. He tilted her head back, to gently part her lips with his own, brushing his tongue lightly against hers in languid ardor and no small amount of reassurance.
She exhaled a sigh of relief, feeling some of the tension which had risen all unbidden in her muscles melt away. "Thank you, Estinien. That means a great deal to me," she said.
"Tis only right and fair. But... what would you prefer to be called?" he asked.
Gisele froze slightly, her eyes a bit wide. She supposed she should have expected it, for it was a natural inquiry to make, following such a confession.
Still, it startled her a bit nonetheless, and she thought on it for a long moment. Not because she doubted the answer; far from it. It was because, despite all his protestations to the contrary, her reasons for it were something he surely would mock, so prosaic was her beloved dragoon.
"Know you the Leonhart Romances?" she asked, with a tremor in her hands, her heart beating in her ears.

"I know of them, but not an onze more. They were quite popular among certain knights in the order, but such things are the province of more refined men than I," Estinien replied, somewhat wryly. "I was always too pre-occupied with swinging my spear to care overmuch for such tales. Americ has always adored them, though. Why do you ask?"
"Urianger introduced me to them, when first I joined the Scions. But they weave a tale of women with great power-an ancient line of sorceresses--and the knights who are sworn to protect them, powerful though they are. I devoured the first volume nearly in one sitting, so captivated I was. I was minded a great deal of the fanciful stories I read as a child in the Circle, of Orlesian chevaliers and the enchantresses who enthralled them without a single spell. The Leonhart Romances are much the same...filled with dashing knights devoted to women whom the world fears, who move the very heavens to protect and save them, such are their bonds born of intense love and devotion. I suppose these stories left quite the impression upon a young apprentice locked away in a gilded cage, for whom such romances were quite forbidden. The world feared me, for my magic-the Chantry instilled and fed that fear. The notion that a handsome knight may swear to always be at my side, even should all the world hate and despise me...it meant something, and still does. Even the disagreeable Leonhart knight, who feared making himself vulnerable until he met his sorceress." Gisele snuggled back against Estinien. "Mayhap especially that one."

Aurora Thee Elezen

@kylenne.bsky.social

Aurora, 40s Black, bi nb femme (she/her). Elder goth and nerd. Multifandom, ffxiv/bg3/forgotten Realms mainly. Home of The Elfpile(tm). NSFW, no minors please.

271 followers180 following104 posts