[fic] Joyful, Joyful
Jul. 11th, 2009 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonsheenInspired by this entry from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandomsecrets, a Prince of Persia fic-thing I forgot to post. Set immediately pre-game. Like, two seconds before Elika falls on him, pre-game. Elika, on sacrifice.
When her mother died they celebrated. It was not meant as an insult. It was just what the Ahura did. ‘O’, they sang, ‘she has made the greatest sacrifice one can make! How glad she must be, to be welcomed so by Ormazd!’ They burned the sacred fires for seven nights and the people feasted. The whole of them that were left were able to fit in the Palace’s grand hall. This, no one thought too hard about. Once upon a time the crowds would have once poured into the streets.
Elika participated in the banquets and presided over the lighting and dousing of the flames. As the last surviving woman of the royal line, this was now her duty. Afterwards, with the smoke still cooling, her father called the household servants to the main chambers and told them they were free to go. Most of them came from families who had served the Kings for generations. Their service was appreciated, but no longer required. Some stayed on. Most left. Elika watched them go, bent under their packs against the slant of the wind. They vanished into the desert horizon. She had grown up with these people. And watching them go left nearly as sharp a pang as the knowledge that her mother would never again sing to her.
‘But I must be joyful,’ she told herself. ‘They have abandoned their duty, but my mother has completed hers. She is with Ormazd now. How wonderful that must be.’
The writings told her that if she cried, she must cry for happiness for the glories that the departed must know. Happiness did not come easy. It did not come when the earth beneath their felt strained like a barrel about to burst at the sides. It did not come easily when the trees once again whispered to all who ventured near, louder than ever before. It did not come easily when her father ceased to light the night fires, and spent his days in his chambers, alone. It was hard when the visions began speckling her sight like sunspots, calling to her the way they’d called her mother. But Elika tried to be glad. She tried. For there was no greater sacrifice than one made out of duty. There was no greater joy than being welcomed by Ormazd.
‘And mother,” she told herself, staring out at His temple. It was not far now, and with luck the guards would not catch her. ‘I will be with mother, too.’
fandomsecrets, a Prince of Persia fic-thing I forgot to post. Set immediately pre-game. Like, two seconds before Elika falls on him, pre-game. Elika, on sacrifice.When her mother died they celebrated. It was not meant as an insult. It was just what the Ahura did. ‘O’, they sang, ‘she has made the greatest sacrifice one can make! How glad she must be, to be welcomed so by Ormazd!’ They burned the sacred fires for seven nights and the people feasted. The whole of them that were left were able to fit in the Palace’s grand hall. This, no one thought too hard about. Once upon a time the crowds would have once poured into the streets.
Elika participated in the banquets and presided over the lighting and dousing of the flames. As the last surviving woman of the royal line, this was now her duty. Afterwards, with the smoke still cooling, her father called the household servants to the main chambers and told them they were free to go. Most of them came from families who had served the Kings for generations. Their service was appreciated, but no longer required. Some stayed on. Most left. Elika watched them go, bent under their packs against the slant of the wind. They vanished into the desert horizon. She had grown up with these people. And watching them go left nearly as sharp a pang as the knowledge that her mother would never again sing to her.
‘But I must be joyful,’ she told herself. ‘They have abandoned their duty, but my mother has completed hers. She is with Ormazd now. How wonderful that must be.’
The writings told her that if she cried, she must cry for happiness for the glories that the departed must know. Happiness did not come easy. It did not come when the earth beneath their felt strained like a barrel about to burst at the sides. It did not come easily when the trees once again whispered to all who ventured near, louder than ever before. It did not come easily when her father ceased to light the night fires, and spent his days in his chambers, alone. It was hard when the visions began speckling her sight like sunspots, calling to her the way they’d called her mother. But Elika tried to be glad. She tried. For there was no greater sacrifice than one made out of duty. There was no greater joy than being welcomed by Ormazd.
‘And mother,” she told herself, staring out at His temple. It was not far now, and with luck the guards would not catch her. ‘I will be with mother, too.’
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-12 03:48 am (UTC)I like the mini-fic, It's really fitting for the setting and likely what she was feeling.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-12 03:52 am (UTC)It helps that the the epilogue extra sort of adds a bit more hope (And the Prince's logic for what he did is actually surprisingly sensible, if not entirely justifiable), but I admit I could've taken the ending for just what it was. It's TERRIBLE for Elika and goes against everything her character stood for and I hated having to go through with it but I loved the game for making you do it.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-12 03:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-12 06:34 am (UTC)And I loved the ending if just because, yeah, BALLSY. Chira can attest that I was sitting there going, "... OH DUDE THEY WENT THERE!!!!!"
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 03:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 03:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 03:40 am (UTC)I do not know Prince of Persia but your fic intrigues me. Perhaps I should remedy this situation.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 07:07 pm (UTC)This is easily my favorite. ♥ So gorgeous, and so Elika.
EDIT: ... and by epilogue I meant sequel, but I don't have the epilogue either. XD