"Sit down son." Kershaw said, motioning to a oak chair in the dining room. Mortine knew better than to decline, and sat where he was told. Their father was a very dangerous man. Behind the exterior of a jolly miner, was a cruel monster with unbelievable skills in Dark Magics. When Mortine had been slashed in the back by Kershaw's axe, he felt his life ebb away, but he was not fortunate enough to die. Kershaw nursed him back from the brink...and now he owed him. Owing this man was torture in an of itself, not as bad as the actual tortures the man had inflicted on him after the attack. How could he have been so stupid...suggesting that he and Martsia run to family in Gridania to escape from Kershaw's clutches. Of course Kershaw knew where his brother was hiding, of course he would find them. And of course he would split his brother's wife in two with an axe and then eliminate his own flesh and blood.Â
"Mortine." Kershaw said in a dark tone. The young man quickly focused, not wanting to incur his father's wrath any further. "Ye know why I kept ye alive...ye know why we must do this. Do not be weak with me livelihood boy. When she is awake, you will go down there...and if she does not agree to my demands, you will make her agree." Mortine felt ill, and could feel the blood draining from his face. He didn't want anything to do with this at all. Forcing Martsia into any situation where she did not want was like forcing a rabid Coeurl to fit into a tiny cage. Martsia was free spirited, and although her friends did not know of this...she was not one to make angry. Her wrath was known by many neighbors they'd had in Limsa. People assumed that the red streak in her hair was blood that had stained her locks.Â
He let himself imagine a simpler time, when her hair burned red in the sun, before all the trauma and terror she had gone through. All of the stress she had endured when her father started all of this nonsense caused her hair to change, and within a few years it was mostly a grayish silver. Now it was almost completely gray, save for a few tendrils of red. He knew that if she lived through this event, that it would go completely silver. He was startled awake when Kershaw slammed a fist on the table. He'd lost concentration again....this tended to happen when he'd used too much magic...and also when his flesh was still newly ripped open.Â
"I'll do what I must, Father." He responded, and thankfully it seemed to soothe the man before him. Kershaw smiled and left the room. After asking his brother in law to put in some stitches on his back he ventured round the yard and approached the cellar. He looked around: Gridania was so peaceful and calm at this moment. But he knew that Martsia's friends would come for her. That night when he was sure that Kershaw was sleeping, he sent an envelope to the Midnight Moogle. Within it was a single leaf and some berries, of a berry plant that only grew in one area. If Kershaw ever found out that he'd sent it, he would be killed. But he was willing to take that risk.
"Mortine." Kershaw said in a dark tone. The young man quickly focused, not wanting to incur his father's wrath any further. "Ye know why I kept ye alive...ye know why we must do this. Do not be weak with me livelihood boy. When she is awake, you will go down there...and if she does not agree to my demands, you will make her agree." Mortine felt ill, and could feel the blood draining from his face. He didn't want anything to do with this at all. Forcing Martsia into any situation where she did not want was like forcing a rabid Coeurl to fit into a tiny cage. Martsia was free spirited, and although her friends did not know of this...she was not one to make angry. Her wrath was known by many neighbors they'd had in Limsa. People assumed that the red streak in her hair was blood that had stained her locks.Â
He let himself imagine a simpler time, when her hair burned red in the sun, before all the trauma and terror she had gone through. All of the stress she had endured when her father started all of this nonsense caused her hair to change, and within a few years it was mostly a grayish silver. Now it was almost completely gray, save for a few tendrils of red. He knew that if she lived through this event, that it would go completely silver. He was startled awake when Kershaw slammed a fist on the table. He'd lost concentration again....this tended to happen when he'd used too much magic...and also when his flesh was still newly ripped open.Â
"I'll do what I must, Father." He responded, and thankfully it seemed to soothe the man before him. Kershaw smiled and left the room. After asking his brother in law to put in some stitches on his back he ventured round the yard and approached the cellar. He looked around: Gridania was so peaceful and calm at this moment. But he knew that Martsia's friends would come for her. That night when he was sure that Kershaw was sleeping, he sent an envelope to the Midnight Moogle. Within it was a single leaf and some berries, of a berry plant that only grew in one area. If Kershaw ever found out that he'd sent it, he would be killed. But he was willing to take that risk.
