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Tweak says, "with my medals on my chest."

Rosalinda di Palermo (ophelos) wrote in nosuchplace,
@ 2009-03-06 14:36:00

Entry tags:

brian gallagher, rosalinda di palermo

Saturday: December 22, 2007
Who: Rosalinda & Brian
When: Late Afternoon
Where: Abandoned palace in the Northeast.
What: Rosalinda explores the dead places of the land.

Travel across the land meant facing the cold, and despite the wool shawl draped over her shoulders to keep her warm against the winter weather, Rosalinda felt the bitter wind against her face. The wool cap upon her head helped to keep her warm, as did the gloves on her hands and the scarf around her neck. She was swathed in the color red, standing out against the evergreen trees and brush and the tufts of white snow.

At the end of her journey, she dismounted her horse and found a comfortable place for him to rest. The palace’s gate opened to a courtyard covered in snow. It surprised her how no one else lived here anymore and few people visited it. The castle was alone by itself in the wilderness with no company but the silence and the birds. She crossed the courtyard, though, all the while taking in the scenery around her. The palace seemed like an enormous mansion, its stone wall glittering in the wintry setting. She wondered how stone could glitter like that. She’d never seen a human structure look as ethereal as this one.

It wasn’t of human make, though. Elves built this place. Rosalinda reached the large entrance, placing a hand delicately against the wood. A part of her was almost fearful of opening it, as if she was doing something she should not have been doing. She might have felt more welcome here if it wasn’t so silent, but the silence held an unnerving quality to it, and Rosalinda wondered why she had come here. The people in town told her it was beautiful, and she wanted to see it. It was easy to think now anything that reminded her of her life before this was gone, smashed into mere dust.

Rosalinda pushed open one of the double doors, carefully wandering into the building. The quiet continued, and she was met with a darkened entrance hall. It seemed to glimmer as well, even though there was little light to support it. She stepped inside slowly, the door parting open for her without making a single sound. Any other door would have creaked, but this one did not.

Her eyes travelled upward, casting themselves over the entrance hall. It was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen in Italy, and it took her breath away.

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buidseach
2009-03-07 06:16 pm UTC (link)

Ireland was a beautiful place in the summer, but it could be a hellish place in the winter. Though not favoring the conditions, Brian could handle the occasional light brush of wind that caused his face to feel soft pin pricks and his light chills proved he was getting used to the winter in Elysium. It was his first winter here, so that gave him a bright outlook on it all. Not to mention instead of a car ride to explore the area, he was traveling by horse which he hadn’t done since he was a child.

Brian didn’t know where he was going, or why. That was his style. Eventually the markets and the areas surrounding made you bored, so you let yourself roam. Today for some reason seemed like an appropriate day for that. His horse seemed to be in the mood to do the same. But eventually he found himself in the middle of nowhere, where only nature was his company besides his horse who grew stubborn when it noticed a palace in the distance.

The sorcerer dismounted his horse and headed towards the courtyard expecting the place to be shut off, not inviting the curious mind to inspect the area. But actually it was open, in fact it seemed like someone had already been just as curious as he was. He took a look at the place before he went further into the courtyard area. Christ the place was beautiful. Ireland had their places that drew in thousands of people, but this place was priceless.

He opened one of the doors, which already seemed to somewhat be open. Shivering slightly, he continued to walk around like he was in some sort of royal palace. When he encountered a female he absent mindedly just started to talk to her.

“I bet you the retail price on this is outrageous.”

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ophelos
2009-03-09 05:14 pm UTC (link)

It hadn't crossed Rosalinda's mind in the slightest that someone else may be out here today, and the sudden voice, though surprising, thankfully didn't startle her too much. Her hand rose to her chest, and she turned around and saw a young man near the entrance. She stood there just moments before. Rosalinda smiled kindly in his direction. "I would imagine it'd be too much to pay, even for me," Rosalinda stated, her thick accent coming out in each each word. "If only my life before today still mattered here."

A curious curve decorated her lips, and she decided to approach the younger man and extend her hand in greeting. "Rosalinda," she said, deciding not to mention all of the unneeded titles she once held in her life before the virus and the war. It seemed of little consequence, and to be honest, a part of her had been glad for these past few months to be rid of it.

"I did not think anyone else would be out here. The townspeople say no one really comes this way, even though the palace is open to all." She pursued her lips briefly, looking about the main hall. "If they put up signs and did tours, I think these halls would be full of Elysians." It was something she would do. A piece of history like this did not just sit in a corner to be forgotten, not where she came from.

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buidseach
2009-04-12 03:29 pm UTC (link)

"It sometimes is good not to be able to afford fancy oversized buildings. I think if you have so much space, you'll feel kind of empty in other genres of your life. I know that might not make any sense, but the less is more thing started to make sense to me after awhile...I never was rich though, Im sure I would toss that saying out the window if I could afford such a nice place." Though he was content in a small flat, he couldn't say he'd feel the same if he had a lot of money.

He cocked his head over at Rosalinda when she spoke of her life before everything went to shit. Brian knew it wasn't his business, so he scratched the back of his neck before he carefully searched for a good choice of words. "If you have memorabilia from where you once lived, that could always count for a memory or a small meaning. There are some things I am glad to leave behind. Teaching University kids sure was a bitch." That much was true. Though he cherished his job, he wasn't too crazy about writing lessons, dealing with troubles he would rather not involve himself with and various other things. Though a small relief it was better than nothing.

The stranger seemed quite kind so he didn't hesitate to shake her hand. "I'm Brian. It's nice to meet you." He somewhat chuckled about how he came to the rather beautiful place.

"You know, the funny thing is, my horse just kind of led me here. Kind of like it has been here before. I grew lazy and stopped navigating it. I zoned out and here I am." Elysians, hmm..he never thought of that for a name. Pretty interesting. Too bad they could never go home. Because if he could, Brian would gladly call himself an Elysian.

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ophelos
2009-04-14 12:52 pm UTC (link)

When he continued to speak, Rosalinda decided she liked this man. It wasn’t a decision so much as it was an innate feeling she sensed from his countenance. His talk of ‘less is more’ was also a true thing she couldn’t deny. “Extravagance can occasionally be good for a community,” Rosalinda said absently, allowing her gaze to travel around the great hall. “Say, a building used for all.” Her eyes flitted to look in his direction. “But not so good for the individual. I have seen many a man’s head get too big for his shoulders . . . and women,” she conceded. “And all because they had more than they could handle.”

Rosalinda sighed a little, realizing she had spoken somewhat of her past. Not in detail, but enough to get him curious. Luckily, he did not ask her any questions about it. She didn’t have any possessions from her former life except for the clothes on her back at the time of her car accident and the items in her purse. It wasn’t much. She never had time to go back and retrieve more. She gave a sad smile, but didn’t answer him.

Her spirits lifted when he introduced himself, though, and she extended her hand to shake with him. “Nice to meet you, Brian. You are from Ireland? Your accent . . . ” She smiled, albeit curiously, not wanting to assume he grew up there or spent most of his life there if he didn’t.

“I came here on purpose,” Rosalinda said. The vast hall drew her eyes to each of the walls as if it called out to her. “I wanted to see a castle again. To remember this isn’t a dream. It still feels like a dream.”

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buidseach
2009-04-14 10:39 pm UTC (link)

"You sound like you were quite wealthy." Brian stated, his voice lifting in a sense that stated that he was curious but he was not pushing her to have to explain herself. There was this feeling that she was maybe born into it or was just naturally familiar with wealth and didn't involve herself in the greed aspect. It was not easy for many to be wealthy but not greedy.

Brian chuckled a bit when it came to his accent. "Yes, Ireland indeed. You are most certainly a European. I'm always confused with a Scot, so I think it's rubbed off on me to either guess that you may be Portuguese or Italian. I'm going to be safe in saying maybe even Spanish just in case. " He gave somewhat of an apologetic glance. "I never got to travel much. I was one of those people who were incredibly dead set on their life profession. So while I did have transfer students where I worked, I never got to see the beauty of Europe to become familiar with different people and accents. If you got to travel, then you are quite lucky. Now I regret being so fickle and never exploring places I wished to see."

The whole sanctuary did indeed feel like a dream and Brian found a piece of old furniture to sit on while he looked around the perimeter of the place. "..I don't blame you for coming here." He fumbled his fingers slightly and laughed. "You know I near thought I was on drugs when I saw two Pegasus fly through the air. It was the most beautiful yet frightening thing in the world. Beautiful because I never thought those creatures would exist, but frightening because it was my confirmation that I was so far from home it was ridiculous."

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ophelos
2009-04-16 02:42 pm UTC (link)

She aimed a knowing glance in his direction, a silent amusement flickering in her eyes. Rosalinda wasn’t going to answer his question, and the look in her eyes said as much. Her silence might as well have been her answer, though.

Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled more fully. She was glad that she had been correct in her guess. The smile on her face didn’t take very long to expand into a grin when he commented on her own nationality. Rosalinda bowed her head somewhat, casting her eyes to the floor as she nodded. “Yes, I think it is clear I am also a European.” She looked up again to face him. “Italian,” she offered, raising her brow a little. “Though if you mentioned the others, as you have, you would not be too far off either. I have what they call . . . an ‘eclectic’ background.” She listened as he spoke of traveling, feeling sad when he mentioned he never really got the chance to do so.

“Yes, I traveled quite a lot,” Rosalinda told him. She inhaled a soft breath, sighing a moment later. “It came with the territory of my life calling.”

She knew exactly what he spoke of as he mentioned the pegasi. “I thought the same thing. There are so many strange things in this place. Wonderful, like a fairy tale, but strange.” Rosalinda wondered what existed further into the palace and turned to look at Brian where he sat in the chair. “Would you like to explore the grounds with me? I am familiar with castle grounds enough that I think we will not get lost.” She offered a smile as a promise that she hoped to keep. If she got them lost, then it would be a hell of a time finding a way out.

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buidseach
2009-04-17 11:03 am UTC (link)

"You know, this will sound awfully strange." Brian began, chuckling about what he was about to say. "But Italians are quite amazing. The food, the culture, the hospitality. I used to be forced to watch this horrid show called the Sopranos and it was amusing to see that Italians had such a sense of humor on how Americans interpreted Italians. While they admitted some of it was true, they laughed at the issues that weren't. Not to mention American pizza is...well..disgusting in comparison. There was this place I used to eat at religiously and they had American pizza verses the real deal and it was quite..well different. That honestly is the closest I have been to Italy. The people and the food. The stories I have been told are quite amazing as well." It was a random chunk of information, but he felt oddly comfortable sharing it.

"You make it seem like you were unfortunate traveling, I am sorry to hear that. While I would have given anything to travel, I understand people can grow tired of it. Especially if it's business related." She was a mysterious woman. She drove him nuts to try and figure out what she might have done, but it almost seemed painful for her to talk about it so he kept his mouth shut.

"I'd love to explore the grounds. It would almost be a memorable experience I think." The sorcerer got up from where he was sitting and made a light motion for her to lead the way.

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ophelos
2009-04-28 12:03 pm UTC (link)

It was nice to hear someone speaking of her homeland with fond memories, even if he had never been there himself. His comments on Italians reminded her strongly of her family and friends, and she felt herself missing those things even now. It wasn’t that Elysium was lacking in them, but that she avoided most people on purpose and failed to encounter those things here as well. Rosalinda smiled a little sadly. She was unfamiliar with the show he was talking about. “I haven’t seen that show,” Rosalinda said, recalling how she had little time for luxuries like television, save for the news. “Television was one of those things I never got to fully enjoy.” With a hectic life like hers, it was no wonder.

She smiled again, and this time it didn’t hold the tired quality it held before. “No, I liked traveling. It . . . grew tiring sometimes,” she revealed in plain honesty. Rosalinda cocked her head to the side, a gleam appearing in her eyes. “There are only so many times one can get on a plane before you wish you could take a car or sit at home and do nothing for the day. But I did a lot of charity work, and sitting still was not as much of an option as I wish it had sometimes been.”

There. She explained one small thing to him. But Rosalinda was much more interesting in traveling the grounds than talking about her life. Right now, she preferred to be in the present, not the past.

Raising her chin, she smiled and turned on her heels to lead the way. She chose one of the random corridors, a long and gilded tunnel. Light poured in from a few windows on the far end. It turned off only there. “This is a very well-kept castle,” she said, glancing at the paintings on the walls. They were strange. One was a portrait, and she stopped to look. They weren’t human, though they looked close enough.

“This was a castle made by the elves, wasn’t it?” she asked, just looking to verify her information. She had seen some elves, but she hadn’t really looked at them before.

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buidseach
2009-05-04 12:43 pm UTC (link)

Brian gave a sincere dismissive wave of the hand. "Trust me, television in all truth is utter shit. It pollutes the mind." He guessed he was getting old. When he was younger he would have never said that, but he guessed in truth that's what he believed. "Maybe back in the day it wasn't so bad, but it's utter shit though we don't want to admit it." The sorcerer said truthfully. "So you were lucky to be one of the ones who missed out on watching television."

He chuckled slightly when it came to plane traveling. "I used to just lay outside and watch the planes fly by. I used to ask myself if people were thinking the exact same thing. While I imagine flying..was." It really was unfortunate that it had to be stated in the past tense since it was very unlikely they'd be flying on a plane anytime soon. "Exciting. I just picture everyone loathing the layovers, the connecting flights, the lost luggage, having to deal with people they don't like on business trips. Hell I worried about that on travels by car. So dealing with people from far off had to be exhausting. I wasn't fond of meeting people from other schools who I knew were asses. Prepping for the meeting was stressful enough, but charity work and things? That's bloody ten times more exhausting. Charity work is just considered a job where you donate and do nothing more, but it's much more than that." Though Brian just did charities of the schools and sorts, he knew big charities or not, it wasn't easy.

Brian leaned in to inspect the painting and smiled. "My family would have gone nuts over this place. Ireland has many believers of faes especially. But Elven tales aren't too far. Plus I mean, come on now! Lord of the Rings is a classic! I've seen a lot of elves at the Town Hall. They seem so damn serious. More serious than the ones in these paintings."

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ophelos
2009-05-07 04:39 pm UTC (link)

Rosalinda found herself grinning broadly at his description of television. “So, I haven’t missed anything important?” she asked. Rosalinda gave a slight shrug of her shoulders with an accompanying look of ‘oh well’ on her face. “Well, that is good,” she announced. “I would have hated to miss out on something good that I couldn’t catch up on at this point in my life.” While some people might have been lucky enough to salvage televisions, DVD players, and some DVDs, she doubted most of it was still around anymore. In a matter of life and death, it was hard to focus on little things like that when there were more important things to deal with.

She gently laughed as he talked about his view on flying. It sounded familiar to her. Rosalinda disliked the wait in airports, though she rather liked airports overall. They were interesting places full of all kinds of people, and she made many short-term friends along the way. Eventually, though, too much traveling at once became exhausting, and that was her experience with it towards the end.

She nodded in affirmation of what ‘charity’ work was considered by most. “A lot of people think it is easy.” Rosalinda made a motion with her hand as if she was tossing something outward. “You . . . toss in some money, and everything is taken care of. But, no, it doesn’t work like that. You have to plan meetings, organize fundraisers, make sure the donations are added up properly and distributed where they need to go. . . . It is a lot like public relations meets accounting,” she added with an amused smile, closing her eyes as she shook her head. “Not so easy as it is made out to be.”

She walked up closer to the portrait. It was a man and a woman in regal dress. In a strange way it reminded her of her own life back home. There was a portrait like this of her parents and siblings somewhere in the world, quite possibly still in one piece. “Italy does not have too many fairy tales by comparison,” Rosalinda said. She couldn’t help but smile as he mentioned The Lord of the Rings. “I know that movie,” Rosalinda told Brian. She held up her hand to her chest as if to indicate height. “I met . . . one of the little men at a charity function. I’m having trouble recalling his name. He was a very nice person, though.”

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FIN! Sorry this took so long and we need to post again soon!! :*

buidseach
2009-06-13 12:52 pm UTC (link)

Brian gave a wide grin towards Rosalinda. “No. You haven’t missed anything important. Well, besides the news but let’s admit that the news is highly depressing. At least here we have rather interesting rumors. Hell, we should have a paper. I’m sure people would love that. Not to mention the Council might even love it because it would reduce their meetings. Not saying that they don’t like their meetings. But a newspaper might give them time to relax instead of always having to do a Town Hall meeting. I know sometimes people get all huff and puff about going as well. I don’t see the big deal.” Brian said candidly. “I mean really. It’s not much of our time.”

The sorcerer really loved looking at portraits because he was one of those people who tried to see things more in depth with them. Was the family happy? What were they thinking while the portrait was taken? Maybe you could see it in the woman they she was bored or was longing for something while the man was trying to portray a personality that was nothing like himself. He knew it was weird, but he liked it. It was just like how he used to love making stories about random people he saw walking about his town.

He chuckled about Rosalinda meeting one of the “little men” and turned towards her. “Oh..a hobbit of sorts? How..lucky he must have felt to be at that height.” He teased before he started to walk ahead of her. “Come on! Let’s take a look at this picture! It’s simply fascinating!”

His voice started to fade in the distance while he waited for Rosalinda to catch up with him.

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