Although he was the kind of person to dream often, this specific dream felt a little too real for him. It almost felt as if he had control of everything around him- or rather, he had control of the dream itself.
Rodrigo found himself in a lavish corridor with magenta and gray banners hanging from the walls, pristine decorations surrounding the hallways and servants carrying food plates walking along the rooms, leaving one door and entering the other. He was certain after a few glances that this was the Peirgarten Castle in Lorhauser, the Chateau de Courtoise. However, it looked nothing like the way he remembered it. The furnitures were greatly different- just as wealthy, but still, he was certain that the time period he was dreaming was not the year of 307. He heard a few babylike giggles erupting from the corridor beyond him. Turning on the ball of his heel, he watched a little girl with long, flowing golden hair run past with a teddy bear cuddled tightly in her tiny arms. Servants ran after the girl, and soon each of them disappeared from the corridor. Rodrigo felt that he knew who the little girl was. It was Amelina. As he tried to follow after the bygone entour, a gentle voice called out to him from a door he had passed. A feminine voice, belonging to an aged woman, but her tone still sweet as wine. "Where do you think you're going, mister?" the voice said.
Rodrigo turned on his heel and looked into the room, seeing a plump, golden haired woman sitting by a painted window, a tea glass in her pink-nailed hands. "Hello there, Rodrigo." the woman spoke with a gentle smile on her face. "Why don't you join me for tea? I have some cookies for you too. Come, you must be tired, and with a lot of questions."
"This is a dream, right?" asked Rodrigo as he stepped into the room, noting the similarities between this woman and Amelina. He was certain that the woman he was in the presence of was the previous matriarch of House Peirgarten, and Amelina's mother; Noemie Peirgarten. "Is it, do you think?" the woman asked with a light grin, taking a sip from her glass. "You should look down." Rodrigo performed as instructed, glancing down to take note of the fact that he had only one hand on him. This was unusual- because in his dreams, Rodrigo still had both pair of hands. "So what is this then? Some kind of hallucination? Magic?" he began to question, taking a bold step forward. "This is me saying hello to my son-in-law, and nothing more, nothing less. Now, why don't you sit with me before your tea gets cold? I would be very upset if you turned me down, young man." she giggled after. Although her words were near demanding, her softspoken voice clarified everything that she was just a leisurely, jovial lady with a kind heart. Rodrigo could not help but feel warm in her presence. He offered an agreeing nod, and then went to sit down across from her.
"So, you know I'm-..." Rodrigo tried to speak but he was already interrupted. "Oh yes, I know who you are, what you are. Young little chivalry, aren't you? You've done some pretty questionable things in your life, you deserve a slap in the wrist. But I know your kind, Rodrigo. You're just like my old man. Trying to look all tough, wanting to show yourself like some power figure, but that's just a pretense. You've got a big, cuddly heart in that chest of yours, and I can see it with just one glance."
Rodrigo could not help but smile a faint, feeling some red creep into his bearded cheeks. He reclined into his seat, "How do you know all this?" he asked, a tilt of his head implying his questions. "Why wouldn't I know? Mothers know everything. I may not be alive anymore, but that doesn't mean a mother doesn't have a connection to her daughter even in the Everwatch. Amelina, feels… very strongly about you, I can always sense it. I can see how she feels about you, I can hear all her thoughts about you. When she was devastated after your supposed death, I shared that devastation all the way in here from the afterlife. When she rejoiced upon finding herself in your arms again- sorry, I meant to say /arm/, I shared that rejoice. She is my daughter. She's a piece of me. She came from me. I know everything about her." The woman leaned forward, placing her hand against Rodrigo's cheek, cupping the mans jaw. "You've made my little darling a very happy lady, Rodrigo. For that, I must thank you. Trust me, she may try to appear strong, try to act stubborn, but she is as soft as a pink marshmallow on the inside. And you've kept her so very content."
All this felt a lot to take in for Rodrigo at first. He laid his confusions of reality aside, focusing on the woman at hand, and her words. He felt sympathy for her, and most importantly, respect, knowing that even after she had come to pass, she had still loved her daughter very much, perhaps more than ever. "You're not angry with me?" he asked, his tone slightly hesitant. "I went and committed terrible deeds, I… killed a lot of people. I lost a part of me. I broke your daughters heart. I just-..." once more, he was interrupted. "Oh stop wailing." the woman waved her hand in the air dismissively, a smile resting on her face as she drank from her teacup. "I fear that if you had gone on any longer you were going to start crying like a little baby too. Yes, darling, you've done some bad, bad things, no doubt about that. But have we not all? Good old Etienne, my dead husband, he was so soft, he nearly drove us to the ground. Someone had to take charge to keep our family on it's feet, and I've done just that, even if it meant going against my husbands wishes. I broke his heart, but it was a necessary crime, after all, the Peirgarten is a dynasty, and we have to know when our roses will have thorns. I still feel guilty to this day that I seized power over him, but trust me, I loved him a lot. I loved him very much. Until the last moment, I loved him very dearly."
The woman sighed, leaning back as she continued her words softspokenly. "You have to understand that there are some things that are irreversible, Rodrigo. You have to accept your mistakes and move on from them. You've been living in the past, but you have to give the future a chance. You condemn yourself as a dishonorable man, but there is still time for you to prove yourself the opposite, no?" Rodrigo retorted, "Half my life is already over," but the mother Peirgarten was quick to fire back, "Half your life still remains."
The answer made Rodrigo freeze, as if he had no arguement to offer back. She was true, after all. Her words could not be fought against. Every word she spoke was right. "I just..-" "Shush. Try to argue with me one more time and I will take my shoe off and hit you upside the head with it." The mother quickly stopped him with a sweet grin, leaning over the table. "You've got to find that inner piece in you, Rodrigo. Look at your head, you're all graying. Like an old stressed man. You do that to yourself, you think too much. You blame yourself too hard. You create problems in your head that don't exist."
The two of them turned their heads to the window at the sounds of giggling coming from the gardenery downstairs. They both looked down, seeing the little girl Amelina playing with the doves by the pond while the servants watched over her. Her sweet pink dress pooled around her tiny feet as she swished the water around the doves, giggling to herself. "You see that girl, Rodrigo?" the mother asked, a soft sad smile on her face. "You of all people should know the amount of pain and suffer that little girl is going to face when she grows up and comes of age. Don't add to her pain by beating yourself around like that. You're her husband. You're her lover. Your job is to make her happy- keep her safe. You've got to be her guardian, not another tear on her face." Rodrigo's hazel eyes went wide, watching the girl play in peace, oblivious to how much pain that greedy, ambitious men were going to cause her when she grew up and became the leader of her house. She played with doves and cuddled her teddy bears, and she had not a clue in her mind that a day would come when she would have to struggle to keep her family alive, keep her lands away from warmongerers, balance on her own two feet without anyones help. He had to hold her- he needed to give her the balance she needed. He had to be the pillar that would keep her on her feet. She couldn't survive another fall, and he knew that very well.
"Oh", the mother went, all of a sudden. "Looks like our time here is just about up, Rodrigo. Come here, stand a bit. Let me have a good look at you. I want to see my son-in-law better while I still can." Rodrigo looked quietly a bit, and then slowly stood up to his feet. Once upon a time he would stand proud and show his goods, but with age came gray hairs and tiny little insecurities. "Hmm.." the woman stood up also, going to stand infront of Rodrigo, looking him from head to toe. "Handsome face. A little too gray. But handsome. You have a nice nose. But your poise is all wrong. Throw those shoulders back a little, you're a Peirgarten. You must stand proud, not weak." she grinned up at him as she pushed on his shoulders all motherly.
"Promise me, Rodrigo. You're going to take care of her." she placed her hands on his shoulders, staring up at him, looking for a promise in his eyes. "I've been so lonely up in there… I miss the embrace of my little girls. I want to touch their soft faces, feel their cheeks. I want to hear them call me mother again." Tears prickled the mother Peirgarten's eyes as she spoke. Rodrigo looked at her with a softened, sympathetic glance. "Listen, Rodrigo. Amelina needs you. Please, take care of my daughter. She can't bear all the weight of the world on her little shoulders. You need to help her. Promise me that you will be by her side." Rodrigo raised his hands, both the real and the metal one, and after a moments hesitance, he wrapped his arms around the mother, giving her a gentle embrace. "I promise, mother. I'll take care of your daughter very well. I'll make sure she's never alone. I promise."
The mothers eyes filled with tears, which soon began to stream from her cheeks. She embraced Rodrigo back, holding onto the mans shirt collars as she buried her face into his chest. Her body became lighter and lighter in his arms, and soon she became translucent, before slowly, but surely, fading away, and returning with a teary but happy and relieved smile, to where she would forever be. The Everwatch.
Rodrigo felt a hand tug on his trousers, turning, and looking down to see the little Amelina, staring up at him with big, wonderous green eyes. She looked shyly to Rodrigo, before slowly reaching her little hand out towards him. Rodrigo's glassy eyes watched her adoringly, before leaning down to a single knee. His sole hand united with her little one, holding onto it firmly. The little girl smiled, and so did he. His eyes began to close. And then reopened.
Laying under sheets inside the Peirgartens City Estate in Regalia, he had finally woken. In his hand was another hand, almost as if this was the continuation of where the dream had left off. Rodrigo's eyes opened, staring at the sleeping face of his wife, her hand in his own, their fingers intertwined. A peaceful, loving smile developed on Rodrigo's face, gripping her hand tighter. For the rest of the night, he watched her sleep.
Rodrigo found himself in a lavish corridor with magenta and gray banners hanging from the walls, pristine decorations surrounding the hallways and servants carrying food plates walking along the rooms, leaving one door and entering the other. He was certain after a few glances that this was the Peirgarten Castle in Lorhauser, the Chateau de Courtoise. However, it looked nothing like the way he remembered it. The furnitures were greatly different- just as wealthy, but still, he was certain that the time period he was dreaming was not the year of 307. He heard a few babylike giggles erupting from the corridor beyond him. Turning on the ball of his heel, he watched a little girl with long, flowing golden hair run past with a teddy bear cuddled tightly in her tiny arms. Servants ran after the girl, and soon each of them disappeared from the corridor. Rodrigo felt that he knew who the little girl was. It was Amelina. As he tried to follow after the bygone entour, a gentle voice called out to him from a door he had passed. A feminine voice, belonging to an aged woman, but her tone still sweet as wine. "Where do you think you're going, mister?" the voice said.
Rodrigo turned on his heel and looked into the room, seeing a plump, golden haired woman sitting by a painted window, a tea glass in her pink-nailed hands. "Hello there, Rodrigo." the woman spoke with a gentle smile on her face. "Why don't you join me for tea? I have some cookies for you too. Come, you must be tired, and with a lot of questions."
"This is a dream, right?" asked Rodrigo as he stepped into the room, noting the similarities between this woman and Amelina. He was certain that the woman he was in the presence of was the previous matriarch of House Peirgarten, and Amelina's mother; Noemie Peirgarten. "Is it, do you think?" the woman asked with a light grin, taking a sip from her glass. "You should look down." Rodrigo performed as instructed, glancing down to take note of the fact that he had only one hand on him. This was unusual- because in his dreams, Rodrigo still had both pair of hands. "So what is this then? Some kind of hallucination? Magic?" he began to question, taking a bold step forward. "This is me saying hello to my son-in-law, and nothing more, nothing less. Now, why don't you sit with me before your tea gets cold? I would be very upset if you turned me down, young man." she giggled after. Although her words were near demanding, her softspoken voice clarified everything that she was just a leisurely, jovial lady with a kind heart. Rodrigo could not help but feel warm in her presence. He offered an agreeing nod, and then went to sit down across from her.
"So, you know I'm-..." Rodrigo tried to speak but he was already interrupted. "Oh yes, I know who you are, what you are. Young little chivalry, aren't you? You've done some pretty questionable things in your life, you deserve a slap in the wrist. But I know your kind, Rodrigo. You're just like my old man. Trying to look all tough, wanting to show yourself like some power figure, but that's just a pretense. You've got a big, cuddly heart in that chest of yours, and I can see it with just one glance."
Rodrigo could not help but smile a faint, feeling some red creep into his bearded cheeks. He reclined into his seat, "How do you know all this?" he asked, a tilt of his head implying his questions. "Why wouldn't I know? Mothers know everything. I may not be alive anymore, but that doesn't mean a mother doesn't have a connection to her daughter even in the Everwatch. Amelina, feels… very strongly about you, I can always sense it. I can see how she feels about you, I can hear all her thoughts about you. When she was devastated after your supposed death, I shared that devastation all the way in here from the afterlife. When she rejoiced upon finding herself in your arms again- sorry, I meant to say /arm/, I shared that rejoice. She is my daughter. She's a piece of me. She came from me. I know everything about her." The woman leaned forward, placing her hand against Rodrigo's cheek, cupping the mans jaw. "You've made my little darling a very happy lady, Rodrigo. For that, I must thank you. Trust me, she may try to appear strong, try to act stubborn, but she is as soft as a pink marshmallow on the inside. And you've kept her so very content."
All this felt a lot to take in for Rodrigo at first. He laid his confusions of reality aside, focusing on the woman at hand, and her words. He felt sympathy for her, and most importantly, respect, knowing that even after she had come to pass, she had still loved her daughter very much, perhaps more than ever. "You're not angry with me?" he asked, his tone slightly hesitant. "I went and committed terrible deeds, I… killed a lot of people. I lost a part of me. I broke your daughters heart. I just-..." once more, he was interrupted. "Oh stop wailing." the woman waved her hand in the air dismissively, a smile resting on her face as she drank from her teacup. "I fear that if you had gone on any longer you were going to start crying like a little baby too. Yes, darling, you've done some bad, bad things, no doubt about that. But have we not all? Good old Etienne, my dead husband, he was so soft, he nearly drove us to the ground. Someone had to take charge to keep our family on it's feet, and I've done just that, even if it meant going against my husbands wishes. I broke his heart, but it was a necessary crime, after all, the Peirgarten is a dynasty, and we have to know when our roses will have thorns. I still feel guilty to this day that I seized power over him, but trust me, I loved him a lot. I loved him very much. Until the last moment, I loved him very dearly."
The woman sighed, leaning back as she continued her words softspokenly. "You have to understand that there are some things that are irreversible, Rodrigo. You have to accept your mistakes and move on from them. You've been living in the past, but you have to give the future a chance. You condemn yourself as a dishonorable man, but there is still time for you to prove yourself the opposite, no?" Rodrigo retorted, "Half my life is already over," but the mother Peirgarten was quick to fire back, "Half your life still remains."
The answer made Rodrigo freeze, as if he had no arguement to offer back. She was true, after all. Her words could not be fought against. Every word she spoke was right. "I just..-" "Shush. Try to argue with me one more time and I will take my shoe off and hit you upside the head with it." The mother quickly stopped him with a sweet grin, leaning over the table. "You've got to find that inner piece in you, Rodrigo. Look at your head, you're all graying. Like an old stressed man. You do that to yourself, you think too much. You blame yourself too hard. You create problems in your head that don't exist."
The two of them turned their heads to the window at the sounds of giggling coming from the gardenery downstairs. They both looked down, seeing the little girl Amelina playing with the doves by the pond while the servants watched over her. Her sweet pink dress pooled around her tiny feet as she swished the water around the doves, giggling to herself. "You see that girl, Rodrigo?" the mother asked, a soft sad smile on her face. "You of all people should know the amount of pain and suffer that little girl is going to face when she grows up and comes of age. Don't add to her pain by beating yourself around like that. You're her husband. You're her lover. Your job is to make her happy- keep her safe. You've got to be her guardian, not another tear on her face." Rodrigo's hazel eyes went wide, watching the girl play in peace, oblivious to how much pain that greedy, ambitious men were going to cause her when she grew up and became the leader of her house. She played with doves and cuddled her teddy bears, and she had not a clue in her mind that a day would come when she would have to struggle to keep her family alive, keep her lands away from warmongerers, balance on her own two feet without anyones help. He had to hold her- he needed to give her the balance she needed. He had to be the pillar that would keep her on her feet. She couldn't survive another fall, and he knew that very well.
"Oh", the mother went, all of a sudden. "Looks like our time here is just about up, Rodrigo. Come here, stand a bit. Let me have a good look at you. I want to see my son-in-law better while I still can." Rodrigo looked quietly a bit, and then slowly stood up to his feet. Once upon a time he would stand proud and show his goods, but with age came gray hairs and tiny little insecurities. "Hmm.." the woman stood up also, going to stand infront of Rodrigo, looking him from head to toe. "Handsome face. A little too gray. But handsome. You have a nice nose. But your poise is all wrong. Throw those shoulders back a little, you're a Peirgarten. You must stand proud, not weak." she grinned up at him as she pushed on his shoulders all motherly.
"Promise me, Rodrigo. You're going to take care of her." she placed her hands on his shoulders, staring up at him, looking for a promise in his eyes. "I've been so lonely up in there… I miss the embrace of my little girls. I want to touch their soft faces, feel their cheeks. I want to hear them call me mother again." Tears prickled the mother Peirgarten's eyes as she spoke. Rodrigo looked at her with a softened, sympathetic glance. "Listen, Rodrigo. Amelina needs you. Please, take care of my daughter. She can't bear all the weight of the world on her little shoulders. You need to help her. Promise me that you will be by her side." Rodrigo raised his hands, both the real and the metal one, and after a moments hesitance, he wrapped his arms around the mother, giving her a gentle embrace. "I promise, mother. I'll take care of your daughter very well. I'll make sure she's never alone. I promise."
The mothers eyes filled with tears, which soon began to stream from her cheeks. She embraced Rodrigo back, holding onto the mans shirt collars as she buried her face into his chest. Her body became lighter and lighter in his arms, and soon she became translucent, before slowly, but surely, fading away, and returning with a teary but happy and relieved smile, to where she would forever be. The Everwatch.
Rodrigo felt a hand tug on his trousers, turning, and looking down to see the little Amelina, staring up at him with big, wonderous green eyes. She looked shyly to Rodrigo, before slowly reaching her little hand out towards him. Rodrigo's glassy eyes watched her adoringly, before leaning down to a single knee. His sole hand united with her little one, holding onto it firmly. The little girl smiled, and so did he. His eyes began to close. And then reopened.
Laying under sheets inside the Peirgartens City Estate in Regalia, he had finally woken. In his hand was another hand, almost as if this was the continuation of where the dream had left off. Rodrigo's eyes opened, staring at the sleeping face of his wife, her hand in his own, their fingers intertwined. A peaceful, loving smile developed on Rodrigo's face, gripping her hand tighter. For the rest of the night, he watched her sleep.
