Post by Sephiroth du Lac on Jul 8, 2010 23:49:59 GMT -6
“Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title”
-Virginia Woolf
Part 1: Douleureuse Garde
-Virginia Woolf
Part 1: Douleureuse Garde
*The camera falls upon a field deep in the heart of mother England. 60 miles outside of Plymouth, England. Hidden deep within the maze of forests and roving fields sits a ruined castle in the mist. The scene is picturesque. Peaceful. Serene. As if unspoiled by human hands since time long forgotten. In the shadow of the underlying wood two figures approach. Their footsteps silent. Their motions gentle as if treading on sacred ground. Slowly they step out of the shadows revealing themselves to the warming mid day sun. The figures are that of a man and woman as they slowly walk forward as if finding hidden Eden itself. The woman, a gentle soul, stares at the massive structure in amazement. The pack on her back a distant memory of the long hike to this sacred spot. The other figure, clad in black and walking with a cane stares into the horizon. Breathing the air deep. This is the country he was born to. The beautiful isle that was his home for centuries. He is Sephiroth du Lac, the woman beside him is his wife Maria, and for the first time in a long time he is home. He stares up at the castle his eyes locking onto the beautiful rainbow hung beside it in the heavens by the morning mist. A smile creeps his face as the simple words come to him.*
Seph: Joyeusegarde.
*Seph just smiled and closed his eyes savoring the scent from his breathing days. His eyes clenched as memories flooded his mind. Memories forever lost to the past. Maria stands in awe of the wondrous sight, her eyes staring at it like some peasant girl in the storybooks.*
Maria: It is a marvel, mi amor. Is this what we have come to find?
*Seph sighed his concentration broken, her words intruding into his thoughts. Disrupting his memories as he tilted his head downward.*
Seph: No, my love. This castle is not the scene I wish to show you. This castle is merely a backdrop for that which has already happened. I've come to show you this...
*With that he points outward to the field. and she turns her head. Though pristine the field is unlike any other and yet it isn't. There is a feeling here. One that cannot be described. A hush and awe as if the field itself were sacred and permeated to the very core with the blood of the honored dead. Seph said not a word as he walked before her stepping not toward the castle but away to a clearing in the field.*
Maria: A field? We hiked all this way for a field? I do not understand, mi querido. Why are we here?
*Seph did not turn instead leading the way as her footfalls followed him into the brush.*
Seph: We are here because this place is significant to me. It holds secrets, it holds truth, it holds memories long since buried. Forgotten by all manner of men. Buried upon lies that I have cast upon it like a shadow.
*He knelt down in one spot of the field and gripped a handful of soil. The soil was rich, plentiful. The field might have been a grand field for tilling. Instead it was overgrown, forgotten, lost to the minds of men. Seph gripped the soil tightly as he stared at his hand. Maria watched his strange behavior with silence though inside she was feeling a strange ominous sense in the air.*
Seph: See I own this land, Maria, my love. But it also owns me. Here was the site of one of my greatest failings once more made into triumph as I did upon our wedding day so did my sire for me. You see this is where it happened. This is where it all began. This very spot.
*Seph looked down and let the soil fall from his fingers he stood but did not turn to her. She looked at him confused though secretly the fear rose in her. She hated when he talked in riddles. Yet somehow he always told her truths. Strange truths she did not understand. This time however it seemed deeper. Personal. As if what he said had great influence.*
Maria: Qué? Where what began, mi amor?
*Slowly he turned and the look he gave was one of dead seriousness. His eyes stern. His lips tight as if given a blank no nonsense stare.*
Seph: Where I was born again, my love. Where I was born into darkness.
*She stood in sudden realization. She knew little of Seph's past. Few did but even more so she. Her eyes moved transfixed to the spot as he stared down once more at it. His eyes never flitting from it.*
Seph: Upon this spot she found me. Upon this spot I laid bleeding, wounded like the prey after the arrow finds it's mark. I had little of this world and she... she was the enemy. I should have died that day. I should have died with the souls who fought with me. A hundred score men lost their lives here and I... I was among them.
*Maria looked at him confused. No sign of war showed around them. No battlements, nor holes, nor mark of upheaved earth. If there had been such a battle it had happened long ago, forgotten to time and tide. She looked to his face for a sign. A smile or assurance of his joking. She searched in vain because the eyes that met her were of serious note.*
Seph: I lay bleeding, oh wounded piece of earth. I cried to God above to save me. I cried aloud for help from some unseen and. Instead there was another hand that day that reached out for me. Clad in robes of scarlet and gold she reached out and took me in her arms. She... she... supped on me. Drank deep of the vine that was my life. She drank and spoke sweet words to me. "Come to the arms of your christian god or spend it with me this night" she said. I made my choice and on that day I was as I am. That day was the death of my old life and I have never looked back. This is the place of my death. Where I stopped being the man I was and became the monster I am. This is the very birthplace of my curse. The birthplace of the Sefira.
*Maria stood dumbfounded at the tale he spun and for the first time fear gripped her. Something in his stance. Something in his eyes spoke to her. Warned her, perhaps it was the fear all men have of death. Or perhaps she feared madness gripped him. Neither could have been right could it? And if her fears were confirmed what then? She was with him. Alone. Lost. Without him she could not find her way back to her hermano. No, there was something in her mind that knew. What he said was true and it was important.*
Maria: Why do you tell me this, mi querido?
*He turned to her and with mournful eyes he looked to her. In them she saw the weight of years. The weight of centuries and in her a fear suddenly grew but in her was also instilled the violent need to rebel against that fear for she saw in his eyes his need for her and with a defiant look she moved forward kissing him softly his response was grim but no less passionate then her own.*
Seph: I show you this because there can be no secrets between us. No moments of doubt. What I do I do because I love you. What I do is not for revenge or for pleasure. What I do... what I will do is because I, like she, have no choice. I love you and like her I choose who I love and who I comfort. No one chooses for me, but you have a choice too, Maria. Your brother, is a good man. He is worried about you. I will not take from you that blood. I will not take away that sacred bond between you. Only you can choose. Only you can break the bonds of blood. What I ask is for you to stay at my side through it all. Regardless of what I do or what has to be done. I take no pleasure in the acts I am about to perform but in you I will ask patience and understanding. Please, will you stay with me? I ask because I have to ask for once the door is open it cannot be closed. He is your brother. Your only blood relative living. What say you? Can you walk with me? Even if it means losing that which is your only familial tie?
*Maria stood speechless. His eyes deeply filled with pain and regret. He did not look at her. Something which pained her deeply, for his look always filled her with life and light. He had become her sun but now his face was overcast as the clouds in the sky. As she prepared to answer he interrupted her thoughts with conditions.*
Seph: Say nothing now. Think. I did not have such luxury. I shall afford it to you because my heart is with you. I pray that yours is as well.
*Slowly he walked away leaving her to think and as she sat down in the grass nearby he heard her weep. Unsure of it's meaning however he spoke not. Knowing words would only sway her bias and this was her decision.*
Part 2: God's chosen few
*Seph stared from the castle grounds at the figure of Maria sitting upon the grounds. She did not move. Did not utter a word or even a curse. She was silent. Quiet and in that he knew she was pondering his words. Their meaning. Seph sighed leaning upon one of the ramparts as the noon day sun blazed through the clouds. His eyes cast to the horizon as with gentle thoughtful words he spoke to the unseen figure of his opponents as he stared out thoughtfully.*
Seph: What I do now I do for her. Not for me. Not for any hatred in my soul for those born of hatred die of hatred. Rebecca taught me that. She was my sire. Fifth removed from our father Caine. For that alone I give her glory in her wisdom and her words have guided me since the first nights.
*Seph tilted his head. His eyes downcast before he turned to face the camera. His face stern but with regret, deep and wounding, not fire, not rage, simply the pang of loss and deep scars of memories long since past.*
Seph: Tempestad, my brother. She was like unto my mother. In those first nights she was my matron. My guardian. My guiding star and in her wisdom I thrived as a child under his mother's hand should. Her words rang with me and to this day they ring true. One of the things she told me was a phrase. A simple parable her sire had taught her. You see she use to tell me; "Let your family be as a tree: prune the weakest branches that the whole may be strong." Wise words from a very wise woman. You see Tempestad you are like a weak branch upon the tree of our family. I have always felt as such, always shook my head at your reluctance. Always turned my nose up at yourself righteousness. Even now you chose to blame me for the failures that were shared between us. Maria was harmed because of our hubris. Our failure. Not just mine. But even now you cast blame. Why is that brother? Is it because you can't take the thought of your own failure? Or is it because you deep down blame her? Blame her for her choices? Blame her for her choice of me?
*Seph breathes deep and drops his head and as he opens his eyes we see a strong anger rise up in him. One that seems to trewmble with thoughts of anger and rage welling up inside.*
Seph: I am sick of your excuses. Your accusations. Your lies! I told you how I felt and you didn't believe me. I told you how we felt and you didn't believe me. Did you think that I would not hold her? Kiss her? Touch her flesh? She is my wife! Not by trickery! Not by deceit! Not by unseen forces making her act but by choice! She chose me! And that just burns you up inside doesn't it? That just tares you up inside doesn't it? That she chose me! A stranger! A cruel twisted man such as I to love?! It kills you that she doesn't need you anymore. That she clings to me. Well, I have one thing to say to you, my dear brother-in-law! Just one thing!
*Seph looks at the camera and in his fury screams out.*
Seph: GET OVER IT!!!
*Seph shakes with rage his hands clenched in anger as he turns his head then looks back his eyes filled with hatred and malice.*
Seph: Because you may blame me for so much but look in your heart, Tempestad. Look at what festers there. Your hatred. Your rage. The things you just won't let go of! The rage at a child cast into the world alone. His only sister now abandons him. Yes, I see it in your crying eyes. In your so called "holy anger"You feel alone and miserable and that is why you hate me. Because I took something that was yours. But she's not yours, Tempestad. She isn't mine. She is her own woman and unlike you I give her a choice and whether she chooses me or chooses you it's her own decision now. So call me the villain. Call me a scourge. Call me whatever you want Tempestad because the only one you have to blame is yourself. And when I stand over your bleeding body and hold your title to the heaven's you remember these words. It's all your fault. For it is like my sire said to me once... To find the greatest darkness... seek within!
*Seph stopped firming in his own rage. Calmly he breathes trying to withdraw himself from his passion. The beast barely held back as his eyes grew dark and his fangs bore to the camera.*
Seph: And you, oh devoted father Gabriel. You oh father of lies. You oh well spoken devil here the words of your own god. Isaiah 45:7... I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Your contemptuous kind have hounded mine all our unlives. You who steal joy from others. Who taint them with your myths and words. And yet you deny that your God has a place for me? That he did not create me as I am. Tis true for I was once as you. A servant of the light! But as God makes the light he also makes the darkness and upon my rebirth my sire told me the truth of our existence. Of Caine, of Enoch, of floods and wickedness. I have heard more of your God from the lips of my own kind then of yours. Do you wish to know about the nature of God, Karras? I am the very will of such a being. For I punish those who chose sin over life. Who worship darkness. I am so that your pitiful kind can have an adversary. So that you may cull the sheep and keep the flock in their pens. I am what the lord God has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!
*He raises his hands to the sky in mocking devotion his face locked upward to the sky. Then he drops it down along with his arms before pointing toward the camera.*
Seph: You want to hear the word of the lord thy God, Karras? How bout this? 'Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.'... Proverbs 18:12! 'An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.'... Proverbs 21:4! 'Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.'... Proverbs 28:5! Look at it again and again, Karras! Remember it! Keep his commandments in your heart because all they are is warnings for I see in you the heart of the wicked. I look into your soul and see blackness. A black cross of shadows sitting in darkness. My sire, Rebecca, always said "In the darkness there is no rainbow." Do you know what that means, Karras? Can you fathom that for even a second? Allow me to enlighten the enlightened!
*Seph looked up to the sky and the camera followed seeing the rainbow above the castle walls.*
Seph: "And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."... Genesis 9:12-13.
*The camera dropped once more to Seph's face who gazed up boldly at the sky.*
Seph: "And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald."... Revelations 4:3
*Seph dropped his head to the camera and gazed into it with fire and wrath as if the wrath of the heavens themselves was in him.*
Seph: You see, Karras, I too know the scriptures. I too know the words of the one above. But among them also I know those who turned their face from God. The words of my ancient father. The words of Caine and those are the words I have held in my heart. I am a monster, born of the curse of the first shedding of blood. Does not God have a place for all men, good and evil? Wicked and righteous? What is my place then? Simple. I am the proof of God's anger. I am the holy wrath of the almighty. I am blood set upon blood. A curse. A monster and a monster I am lest a greater one I become. So cling to your flock. Preach the good word. Say your prayers by the light of candles and icons of the holy saints. For when I come it shall be like a thief in the night and I shall find your sheep huddled in their pens and then your sacred lambs will all be slaughtered and you their shepherd slain. Judge not, Karras! Lest...ye...be...Judged! For the blood is the life, forever and ever.
*Seph then lowered his head and folded his hands in mocking of a prayer and looked forward to the camera with a smirk that would make the devil himself cringe from it's blasphemy.*
Seph: Ah...men.
Part 3: The choice
*As Seph finished he walked down the path of the castle rounding the dirt laden path down. At length he rounded a corner just as Maria walked forward with her head lowered. Her eyes downcast. Her face filled with worry. Seph stood motionless his eyes gentle as he looked at her with hesitation. She gazed at him and he at her and Seph merely asked the question that plagued his mind.*
Seph: What say you? Will you stay with me tonight?
*She looked down and then at him her eyes timid and unsure of what to say. She hesitated and he looked to her in pity and trepidation but then she walked to him and gazed up at him as she ran her hand along his face.*
Maria: I already made my choice.
*Then she leaned in and kissed him deeply. With love and passion unknown to man before or since and as she pulled away the love in her eyes shown for him.*
Maria: And I don't regret it and I won't ever take it back.
*Seph smiled at her overcome with emotion as he embraced her and kissed her passionately then with tender touch he brought her to his side and gazed up at the sky with her.*
Seph: Then stay you here and watch with me.
*And as the camera fades to black all we see is a single scripture.*
"But Jesus said to him, 'Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?'"
- Luke 22:48
- Luke 22:48