He sits quietly and remembers, because he has little else to do while he waits; he knows, as all the Troupe knows, of each passing incarnation of the Master. Each individual vessel, memories and experience burning bright within the flame that bound all of them together.
Memory, experience, skill. Yes, all of those remained; each incarnation of the Nightmare King's mortal vessel retained those things and learned even more, to aid in the growth of their child. But their selves had been extinguished as they passed the flame; destroyed by each participant to start the cycle anew.
So it was, so it ever shall be. A change, a metamorphosis, not truly a end, not truly death. None of them truly died.
(It was always what he had told himself, what Grimm had occasionally told him in quiet moments.)
The thought brings him no comfort. (It has never brought him comfort in the first place.)
He sits and waits, nevertheless. The Ritual has ended, the flame passed on, and yet...
There is something missing, still. The Troupe is masterless, for the moment, which is not an unfamiliar thing, but...
The child has not returned to their care. He wonders what delays their coming.
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He sits quietly and remembers, because he has little else to do while he waits; he knows, as all the Troupe knows, of each passing incarnation of the Master. Each individual vessel, memories and experience burning bright within the flame that bound all of them together.
Memory, experience, skill. Yes, all of those remained; each incarnation of the Nightmare King's mortal vessel retained those things and learned even more, to aid in the growth of their child. But their selves had been extinguished as they passed the flame; destroyed by each participant to start the cycle anew.
So it was, so it ever shall be. A change, a metamorphosis, not truly a end, not truly death. None of them truly died.
(It was always what he had told himself, what Grimm had occasionally told him in quiet moments.)
The thought brings him no comfort. (It has never brought him comfort in the first place.)
He sits and waits, nevertheless. The Ritual has ended, the flame passed on, and yet...
There is something missing, still. The Troupe is masterless, for the moment, which is not an unfamiliar thing, but...
The child has not returned to their care. He wonders what delays their coming.
(Perhaps something has changed?) ]