[ASignalInTheNoise]

Sometimes I feel like a bird in a cage.
On display for everyone to see, tied here.
It's not really a surprise I spend so much of my time dreaming.
Is this how the Duchess feels, at times? I have everything I could ask for ...

... but not what I really long for.
I've been told it's only natural for me to want to travel.
To fledge Arcadia and see the world as it is without fetters tying me down.
Of course, there are people I care about here. How could I not care about them?
They have been here from the moment I was given my freedom as a fledgling.

They have believed in me. Shepherded my potential to where it is today.
I am grateful for that, but at the same time, some part of me feels ... restricted.
I have been raised for a purpose, and I thought I could accept this in it's entirety...
To serve Arcadia and it's people faithfully, in whatever role it was deemed I would do best in.
Sworn to always do right by Mother and her desires...

And yet...
... I am treated like a bird in a cage by others,
Fragile, like a wallflower.
Something to be watched and admired from afar.
Raised my whole life to be something more, something great.
But I am a bird in a cage.

Mother speaks of patience and kindness.
I try to live up to what she asks of me.
But I cannot help but feel the frustration within...
... maybe one day, I'll be more than a bird in a cage.
If only I dream hard enough.

If only I could show her now,
How beautiful and proud,
That budding voice,
Bloomed through the noise,
To rise above the clouds.

[ASignalInTheNoise]

Oh, Mother Koretheia...
... Please, hear me.
I know you are busy.
I know there is so much more for you.
I try not to ask for very much.
But this time ... I would like an answer, please.

I close my eyes,
Tell me, why must we suffer?
From the day I had potential, I have been raised for this.
From the day I blossomed, I have been chosen for this.
From that day, I was told I had so much promise.
Why, Mother, do they treat me like I am fragile?

First, it was Caelan; him, I ... can understand.
At least I think I can. That is his way. The way he was made.
I don't worry about it too much. It hurts. It chafes at me, when I have reached so far.
... but these prayers are silent, for a reason, now, and when the chance to avenge my song was there...
... I was not chosen. Nymphaea- Nymphaea, I cannot understand. I have tried to.
Was it accident? Was intention?

It took my Song, mother. It took my song from me. I cannot sing.
I try not to be angry. I try not to hurt. I try ... I try and I try and I try...
I dream. I dream about being strong. I dream about being able to protect them.
I dream about a world where nobody doubts my strength. I just want to be strong.
Like they are. But I'm not. Am I? I don't know anymore.

Mother Koretheia, please .... please,
Tell me why.
Why was this my path?
I have no song. My beautiful voice. Gone. Taken by an unfeeling ... thing.
So much of me has been taken.
I still stand strong, I still- I still try to do what is right.
They treat me like I am just a bird in a cage. 

Maybe...
... Maybe they're right. Maybe I should just stick to dreaming.
Of that world where I am everything I am not in this one. 
Maybe when I am weaving that blanket of clouds...
... He'll show me how to do what I can't do.

I am tired of being a bird in a cage, Mother.
I will not let it bind me any longer.
I will reach for my Dreams,

For the Tears of a Thousand Shattered Swords,

For the Cries of a Thousand Broken Dreams,

For the Hopes of a Thousand Broken Souls.

[ASignalInTheNoise]

Oh mother, oh Spring Maiden, oh lady of Redemption...
... I ask your forgiveness. I ask for punishment. I ask for judgement.
My hands are unclean. My hands are stained in the blood of Man.
My hands are stained for the purpose of the erasure of an entire people.
And. I. Knew. That.

Oh, long have I been willing to abide by opinions of extremes,
Long have I been willing to let live those who would commit evil under the guise of good.
Long have I been willing to accept shades of grey within the world, but all seem convinced they are in the grey.
No. No longer. No longer will I abide by such things. No longer will I let such acts pass unheeded.
No longer. I foresaw a moment when the Dreams of the Jotun wiped from this world., such as they are-

Even if they are of conquest, of crusades in the name of some cause of another.
Even if they would cause pain and struggle in others.
Even if the world had turned against and condemned them.
Such a crime. Such a crime I will not abide by. Such a crime I will not let pass.

I am done allowing lines to be crossed.
I am done allowing those with power and wisdom allowing cruelty 'for a better world' to go without opposition.
No more. No more will I meekly stand by, unsure of myself, unsure of my position, unsure of my very being.
No. More.

I will rage with your Love, mother.
I will rage until I cannot rage anymore. I will rage with no hate in my heart.
I will rage against those who would cross the line of evil 'for the sake of the world'.
We are all capable of choice. I learned that; I learned that as I watched the world turn against us with relief.
I learned that I am the only one who can make my choice to correct evil whence it comes.

Arcadia stood by the Lumin-King as his vassal.
From whence I am, the most change can be affected. From whence I am, Love may rage.
I will rage here, most excellently, for as long as I may. For evil has masqueraded as good for far too long.
The Cycle of hate must be broken. And my weapon to break it shall be the love in my heart for all things, for all people.
For all who walk, for all who dream, for all who dare to believe in a better future.

My heart rages with Love.
It will rage, and rage, and rage until my soulstone is broken.
There may be suffering.
There may be pain.
But to Love is to resist evil.
To love is to choose a better path.
To love is to be better than you were before.
With my Heart Aligned to this Vow...

I will soar on wings of Hope.

[ASignalInTheNoise]

For so many years now, I have dreamt of a better world.

I have hoped to see it come to fruition, one day, perhaps soon, even...

Alas. The world is fickle, and my abilities so limited. And yet my heart...

Still gleams with that hope, with that promise. Ah-ha. Even in my darkest moments, it has remained.

It brings me no measure of joy that such a spark survives all that has befallen the world.

But still, I am only a few measures closer to that world I so desire.

I have come upon a way of thought, as these years have passed, as I have sat under the boughs of Solais and pondered.

A concept of something precious and holy, a budding spark of promise and potential. An idea, most gentle.

It is a truth that the world I desire is an impossible dream. An utterly impossible, foolish thing to seek.

But why should such a determination stop me - and so many others - from seeking that world, regardless?

It is the Impossible Dream, to stop the unstoppable, to right the wrongs of the world.

It is an impossible dream to which I am in love with, it is that impossibility which drives me forth, ever more...

... to cross the line between impossible and possible. Perhaps I shall never cross it. That, too, is fine, so long as in my striving...

That I leave behind a changed, better world with each step I take along that path. For each moment I stand beside those I love,

Who seek just as I do. a better world, for all. We are beset by so many things upon us, the tide nigh unstoppable...

The grudges of the Old World, the hatred and despair of the Void, the simple fact that Man shall always fight and covet.

All terrible. All ever-weathering forces upon this path which buffet us with a whirlwind almost unstoppable.

Almost.

And so in that tiny sliver of possibility, I write now of my Holy Dream.

The Holy Dream, where one may rest their broken body, their battered mind, their strained spirit,

Where one may find themselves afloat upon the hopes within that drive them forth and invigorate them with the whisper,

The whisper that says 'yes, you are capable of achieving these things', the whisper which mends their wounds, soothes their suffering...

The whisper which encourages them to stand against a tidal wave, to be daring enough to either be washed away in it's cruelty...

Or stand against it and part the sea of doubt and uncertainty before them, which enables them to stand regardless of which outcome...

... to let it be writ for now and forever that they chose to embrace hope and possibility over despair and failure.

It is the impossible dream to see this world thrive, to prune away the malignant evils that drag us down to suffering.

And so that is what I have given up so much for - and gained in so many ample ways more,

For I have found love, companionship, and purpose in my life after wandering along for so many years.

With the love of Mother in my heart, with the blade of Dreams at my side, and my friends to stand as a wall against that impossible tide...

I have found myself, and others, who would believe in the Holy Dream; the dreams that say 'what if', and speak unto the world a different ending.

Tis a simple joy, I've, in this moment, to stand and bask in the light of a new day, in the light of new possibility.

And so it shall be the Holy Dream I write upon these pages of, that I write upon the world in Her Name and the name of 'try anyway',

That I walk forth to achieve and make real unto this world. To craft from the gossamer webs of the Spirit Realm that beautiful reverie,

So that so many who have gone so far, suffered so much, and still choose to rise - may have yet a moment to break, to cry, to mourn.

So they may be healed, to go unto the world yet again ...

... and reach for the impossible dream,

and make it possible.

To dream ... the impossible dream...

To fight... the unbeatable foe...

To bear... with unbearable sorrow...

To right... the unrightable wrong...

To try... when your arms are too weary...