#(oops my own issues with god slipping in there oops oops recognition of the self in the form of the creation oops)

[last-flight-of-fancy]

Hallima and Halone

Timeline: Myths of the Realm Raid Series

There is a certain level of absurdity that Hallima's life has reached when meeting the Gods Themselves ranks as only in the top five strangest things that has happened to them.

It's strange and awkward and feels like hearth and home in a myriad of ways. They are kind and distant and ephemeral. Hallima doesn't know how to feel about them, so they don't think about it, instead treading moment to moment as needed. It works, mostly.

There is one in particular though, where the feeling is more confused than the rest.

When Hallima was still very young, newly stumbled into the borders of Gridania, some local witch or seer had paused walking by him on the road, staring at him with a thoughtful gaze. Hallima hadn't thought much of it, glaring back with fists clenched- he knew he looked strange, covered in hard scales and tattered rags. This was nothing new.

"You are a long way from home, child." The seer had spoken, voice measured and even. Hallima said nothing. There was nothing to say.

After a long moment the seer's companions had called out to them, realising they had fallen behind, and they sighed softly. They reached into their robes and pull out a small packet which they hold out to Hallima.

Hallima doesn't take it, stepping back mistrustfully.

(how old had they been then? Barely past the Hyur seer's kneecaps.)

"Just some food. I have nothing else to offer I'm afraid. Fury guide you, child."

"Fury?" It's the first thing Hallima has said to the seer. Or anyone in a very long time.

"Your Guardian God." The seer smiles just a little. "Halone the Fury. It's a little gift I have, to see these things."

Later through much observation and eavesdropping Hallima would learn that Halone was the Goddess of Ice and War, benefactor of the benevolent and faithful.

It never quite sat right with Hallima. They never liked the cold.

(They never did talk about it with Sidurgu, but they don't really have to. They've settled into a comfortable balance of irrelevant truths that lay by the wayside of their brotherhood.)

(They do talk about it with Aymeric, the blur of half-remembered memories and suspicions and the weight of Ishgard's sins. It's a rough conversation, but they do feel better afterwards.)

And then Hallima meets Halone herself, and all of it comes rushing back.

They know that the Gods do not intervene in the lives of mortals. The things done in Their names were not necessarily by their will. This does not stop some bitter part of Hallima's heart (one that sounds suspiciously like Esteem) from laying some blame at the feet of the Goddess for what could have been.

The Gods call on Hallima to talk, and always the obediant puppet, Hallima goes.

(Too far, Esteem)

They approach Halone, and Halone smiles at first, greeting them with aplomb. Then her smile falls, taking in the expression of the Au Ra below.

(Hallima isn't used to feeling so small. It's purely because of her sheer size of course, and any chill they feel in their fingers merely the result of a phantom wind.)

"We have said before that we do not interfere in the lives of mortals. We love them, and we are shaped by their faith, but to exact our will upon them is not our wont."

She floats lower then, coming to kneel before Hallima, bringing her as close to eye-level are her size would permit.

"Our pantheon offers guidance to the lost, and we hear their prayers. We cannot act, but we always listen."

"Were you listening then?" Hallima hears themself speak as if through a fog.

"I was." She nods, her voice quiet and solemn. "They wished for victory, to bring hope and peace to their families who awaited them."

"Just them?"

Halone releases her spear, which floats gently at her side, and touches Hallima's cheek with two fingers. Soft though her appearance seems, Hallima can feel the thick callouses on them.

"Nay. I heard yours too. For safety and home."

They don't ask why she hadn't answered. That answer has already been given.

"I cannot act on the will's of our faithful, but I do regret that my name was invoked to put such pain upon you, my child." She says, and she sounds genuinely remorseful.

"I don't know if I would call myself one of your faithful."

"And such is your path to walk." The smile returns to Her face. "One I would not have any other way. A Guardian God is one given by birth, but the one you choose is yours alone, and all the more important for it. Do not feel tethered to me for such circumstances, bitter as they are. Like all my brethren, we wish for our dear children's happiness, in whatever form it may take."

Something lifts from Hallima's heart, a weight they hadn't realised they had been carrying.

"Thank you, Halone. For listening."

"Of course, my child."