Summer: Parting is such sweet sorrow

[Sean Hall]

Sean stood in front of the memorial to the lost students as he had several other times since the memorial service. He'd been unable to say anything at the service or afterward during his various visits, but now he'd decided on a course of action. He began drawing power into himself words tumbling from his lips in a strange tongue.

((Open))

[Gaius Montgomery]

Guy approached and was about to say something when he figured out that Sean was doing some magic related. So for now he just watched curiously.

[Sean Hall]

The trees nearby swayed as Sean continued to chant. The words seemed to resonate with sadness as Sean reached up towards the sky and seemed to pull stars from the heavens until he had one "star" for each of the fallen. The stars circled around the memorial as Sean continued to chant. The chant grew in volume and the "stars" seemed to settle in a line. They each began to change in shape before settling onto the memorial itself.

One of the stars became a series of cogs, another became a Norse rune. Each took on a shape unique to the person it was meant to represent until Sean reached out towards the final star. His hand covered itself in ethereal flame as he cradled that final star for a moment before it too began to change shape.

It became a flower of flame and starlight before it too settled onto the memorial. The chanting trailed off and when it was finished Sean staggered and fell.

[Gaius Montgomery]

Guy broke out of his state of wonder and rushed to catch Sean.

[Sean Hall]

Sean was thankful that he hadn't collided with the stone. For a moment he was quiet before pushing himself away from Guy and onto his feet. The act of which made him stumble again before just deciding that the ground was a perfectly reasonable place to sit down. He stared at the memorial sweating and breathing heavily.

The flower on the memorial continued to change and a Phoenix seemed to push itself up from the center of the blossom.

[Gaius Montgomery]

"Are you alright Hall?" he asked, trailing off as the ongoing spell caught his eye.

"That's bloody beautiful..."

[Sean Hall]

"I'll be...alright, Gaius," Sean said staring at his handiwork, "It's not enough. Not nearly enough."

[Gaius Montgomery]

He gave Sean a gentle look.

"You can't bring back the dead Sean..."

[Sean Hall]

"Maybe not, but this isn't enough Gaius," Sean said, "This is just a meaningless gesture, highlighting our...no my failure to be there for her...for them. Just more signs, more things to display it for the world to see."

[Gaius Montgomery]

"You aren't the only one to fail that day."

[Sean Hall]

"That doesn't make me feel better, Gaius," Sean said, "I don't take comfort in that I'm not the only one who failed because I can only control what I do. And what did I do? Nothing. I was back home worrying about my own affairs."

[Gaius Montgomery]

"You're saying you should have been sitting by our window, gazing longingly at the sky as you wait for your girlfriend to return from God knows where?"

"Somehow I don't think she'd want you to be that pathetic."

[Sean Hall]

"No, I simply should have been here rather than absorbed in trying to figure out my past and how to undo it," Sean said, "It would have kept for a few more weeks and maybe then I could have been here for her. Maybe Elizabeth wouldn't have died, and a bunch of cultists wouldn't have wrecked my parents house. If I'd been able to control my desires things could have turned out differently."

[Gaius Montgomery]

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

[Sean Hall]

"No, but maybe I should have," Sean said.

[Gaius Montgomery]

"Oh, so you're blaming yourself for not being bloody omniscient. That makes perfect sense!" he said with well-intentioned sarcasm.

[Sean Hall]

"Oh, so you're blaming yourself for not being bloody omniscient. That makes perfect sense!" he said with well-intentioned sarcasm.

"It doesn't when you put it that way," Sean said, "But a true mage would've been able to know."

[Gaius Montgomery]

"Oh, so you've met one then?"

[Sean Hall]

"Don't mock me, Gaius," Sean growled

[Gaius Montgomery]

"The only thing I'm doing is trying to get it in your thick head that you're being an idiot. Like it or not, you're just as human as the rest of us."

[Sean Hall]

Sean was quiet for a few minutes before standing up without answering Guy's statement.

[Gaius Montgomery]

"So it's the silent treatment now?"

[Sean Hall]

"So it's the silent treatment now?"

"There's not enough time to explain it, Gaius," Sean said.

[Gaius Montgomery]

"You're a great and powerful wizard, nothing is beyond you, and us lower beings just don't get it. Does that about sum it up?" he asked, both pity and hurt feelings practically bleeding from his words.

[Sean Hall]

Sean turned towards Gaius his hands clenched into fists.

"Alright," Sean said, "I was going to be used as a gate for an Elder God because my parents were children of another Elder God and since they were unable to conceive another Elder God gave me the spark of life. Does that allow you to make sense of the situation a bit better?"

[Gaius Montgomery]

Guy was silent for a few moments, but didn't veer even further off his original point.

"I care about your pain. I care about your loss. I couldn't care less how you came into this world."

I just care that you're in it.

[Sean Hall]

"I care about it, Gaius," Sean said, "It means I should have been able to do something. I should have been more prepared. I should have been able to keep Mira and Elizabeth safe, but instead they are both gone despite the power I can wield."

[Gaius Montgomery]

"You can't see the future Sean, and it isn't your fault that powers out of your control took them from you."

[Sean Hall]

"Yes, yes it is," Sean said and began walking away from Guy.

[Gaius Montgomery]

Guy just sighed in defeat and let Sean go.