Crystal Fellowship (Season 6): The Knight and The Hero

[Sometime after leaving the Zodiarc Observatory and before reaching the battlefield of Nexus, Nasdamn sits cross legged against a rotting stump while plucking a tune on his violin. His eyes seem slightly dulled by the growing tension of a his trial, but he remains resolute though shaken. He gets up from his resting place and seats himself next to Dahlia, putting away his violin, and clasping his hands together with hint of dramatic flare as he smiles.] “How are the new powers feeling,” he asks with mild curiosity.
"Like rainbows and butterflies." Dahlia rolls her eyes. "It hurts like hell, like every other time."
“Ah, of course. You know if you weren’t with Io I definitely think you could be a comedian. Sarcasm suits you too well to be a coincidence,” he jokes as he taps his thumbs together and just looks down at the grass,” Besides the physical pain, how are you holding up mentally. You’re not going to snap and go into a blood rage are you?”
Faron off in the corner hears that last bit and sarcastically crosses his fingers and mouths "I hope so"
"Not unless you're planning to try and kill me and Io thinks it'd be a good idea." Dahlia sighs."What's up Nas? What's bothering you?"
“It’s not really something that’s bothering me. It is more something I want to know,” Nas pauses before letting out a sigh,” Punch me if this crosses a line, but... What was Iris like?”
Dahlia freezes up for a second. "Um...i...shit...."she clears her throat and looks down at the ground. One hand unconciously goes to touch the necklace under her shirt"She was brilliant, and a pain in the ass. Very energetic, you know like every other 8 year old. She spent a lot of time with our dad in his shop. Took apart anything you left lying around for too long. She was a really happy kid" Dahlia trails off.
Nas just listens, soaking in each of your words with an understanding nod. “She sounds extraordinary. Did you do everything with her? I don’t know what it’s like to have siblings so I can only imagine how it felt having someone by your side. Someone as special as her must have made things seems so much brighter. I had assumed it was her that inspired you to ribbon dance.”
Dahlia laughs. "Yeah you clearly don't have siblings. We fought constantly. My mother got me into dancing. Iris had two left feet and would rather be surrounded by metal. I was always stepping on something sharp and screaming at her that she would ruin my feet if she didn't keep her shit contained. But she was my sister and i loved her, and she would help me steal cookies from the kitchen." "Having a sibling is.... odd. You love them unconditionally but you also want to strangle them. But yeah life is better with them ... most of the time"
“Sounds like me and Faelor except all I want to do is slap him,” Nas laughs and just continues to smile for a bit before resuming a serious expression,” So you took more after your mother than your father, eh? Was she a dancer too?”
"Not far off. Yeah, i was much more like my mother. She wasn't a professional dancer but she did love to dance, and sing, and before you ask no i can't sing."
“I kind of assumed you couldn’t,” Nas chuckles that dies into silence,” Gods only know that before I met you, Io, Orion, Frungi, Faron, and Faelor the only person that would have grieved my death would have been my mother, Calliope, and Zevlin.”
"Having just one person is more than a lot if people get. Despite current circumstances, you're a lucky guy."
“And yet I feel so cursed... I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see Calliope again. Queen Titania has something up her sleeve, and by her only giving me one quest at a time it keeps me on a short leash,” Nas explains as he pulls some honeyed mead out of his bag and takes a few sips,” I honestly thought about hanging up my bow and violin... Just for one day to see how a normal person lives without hearing everything and being able to turn it into a song or a sonnet...” Nas looks back at his violin and seems conflicted, as if he doesn’t know whether to smash it or play. “But,” takes another sip,” I know the only reason I would retire is to be with Calliope.”
Dahlia taps her fingers on her leg nervously. "Nas, I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, you do know that doing this, completing your trial, means there's a real possibility that that'll never happen? No retirement, no going back to start a family. There is a real chance we don't come out if this alive. Again I'm not trying to scare you. I just wamt you to be prepared. This is a no take backs kind of thing."
“I know. Trust me I know,” he puts down his cup and wipes away a few drops of mead from the corner of his lips,” I’m not afraid of death Dahlia. I knew what risks I was taking before I even came back to Arhor’ha. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still dream about it. I can’t be robbed of my dreams. It’s impossible, and by that logic I will always have hope and determination to keep going. No matter how much crap I have to push through to do it.”
"Okay then, as long as you know." She's quiet for a moment. "Remind me again why you and Calliope haven't just run away together? Said 'Fuck Titania' and gone off somewhere?"
“Ah... well.... I can’t say I haven’t suggested the idea to her before. The Feywild is a dangerous fucking place out in the wilderness. I thought about us eventually living with Zevlin since he is the only person I trust enough to keep us safe and he knows the most about the wilds. Besides that we’d probably dead before we left the Court. Calliope is a noble and if she left I doubt she would be allowed to leave freely. Her parents, and the Court, would see her as a traitor and me as the reason for her dissent. Keep in mind she’s a thousand times smarter than me, and she’s probably gone over this idea more times than I have yet she insists to stay.”