Fancy Seam
"Come on, Prince! Surely you can't be that bashful."
"I wouldn't exactly call it bashful," Addam hedges, working his fingers in the creases around the knees of his pants. "I just...know your tendency to embellish."
Minoth shakes his head, tutting good-naturedly. "Not embellish, my prince, explore - explore!"
Fine, yes. Minoth has a tendency to...overindulgently explore. All of his subjects are worn out to their own barest creases, paralleled and paradoxed to within an inch of their memory, yet still somehow lovingly, subtlely, and composedly rendered, whenever the non-self-titled Auteur of Indol gets his feverishly scribbling hands on them.
It's fascinating, and more than a little humbling, but it's also why Addam has never agreed - indeed, always refused - to let Minoth pen him into a script. His nine scripts so far conveniently (expertly) dance around the man who has even allowed, by his existence if not his legislature, Minoth to so closely observe their little group.
A Happy Encounter - detailing the heroics of Lora and Jin as they're met in battle by a mysterious combatant who aids them in dispatching a rogue unindigenous monster and saving the children. Full of pleasant conversation, deeper revelations, and stray threaded remarks on the true calling, if not nature, of the Aegis. Addam is merely incidental, in this.
Beyond Endless Dunes - detailing the preparation for and journey through Dannagh Desert on the way to the Tornan capital, Auresco, with all the storybook sites in between: from the Verdant Fairylands to Lake Wynn to the Turqos Plateau, the author had taken his time with this one to truly and inspirationally execute on location. Obviously, not about people, really at all, save for the bit about the clownery precedent to obtaining the desert medicine (necessary according to an unknown anonymous tip).
The Quaestor - detailing the assumed and learned internal machinations of one ambitious and geopolitically relevant official from Indol, as he exerts his influence and curries himself support. This tale, too, while tense and somewhat sparse in nature as it delves from conference conversation to sidelong glance, derives from anonymous but apparently quite personal sources. What Prince Addam knows of the Quaestor also apparently turns out to be summarily unhelpful in such an account.
The Capital Under Fire - detailing the strife and terror of a proud, historic capital city beset by flames and celestial strikes unseen since the time of Alektos the First, when it had been the Tornan Titan herself erupting in purge. The concise but incisive description of the destruction, Addam has always thought, particularly shines in this piece. Most of the people in the battle, save Lora's trio, are nowhere to be found.
The Knight of Torna - detailing the intrepid exploits and historical derring-do of the newly appointed Lady Lora, Knight of Torna, of course! Her dreams, disappointments, and favorite pastimes are all included, as a sort of holistic homage and even guidebook to the woman herself, for her theoretical fans. Yes, Addam pinned the badge, but he remains more or less incidental; what indignity to invoke Jin's stolen status with the lens of plain conversation?
Preparing for the Worst - detailing the mood and happenings around the capital as the band of adventurers shore up their spirits and mend together their talents to build shelters and ships, settle preferences and tiffs, unearth bequeathed treasures, hold a cooking contest, and plan for an orphanage, someday soon. Now, Prince Addam had been a judge at that illustrious cooking contest, but so had the venerable Sir Maulton, and well, he's much more arresting a character, without a bout of nepotism to be thrown.
What You Must Protect - detailing vignettes of each shining (and, alternately, crestfallen) face beaming up through the rubble in Auresco as the heroes try to right what was wronged, in such a fair locale. Every citizen is named and honored, save for those who elected not to be, and each is given a diverse and unique characterful portrayal that intends to capture the wholesale determination and ingenuity of the city. But Addam doesn't actually live there, does he? Hasn't for years.
The Aegis - detailing further insights on the nature and goals of the Aegis, Malos, as well as some introspection on his "sister" Blade, Mythra. Overall, the mood retains quiet horror and abstract shock, since the way Malos acts is nothing like one would expect of an emissary of God such as he portends. Well, but does Mythra act how one would expect of Addam's offspring? Perhaps...perhaps not. It's not really addressed.
Community Spirit - detailing the somewhat more involved and larger-scale quest to deliver life-saving medicine from another Titan to an ailing girl. Replete with rising occasions to honor and newfound bravery and teamwork, to depict the true soaring wonder of the human, and Tornan, spirit. Addam is, yet again, merely incidental in this; incidental to the incidental detail of his wife, who had known the girl's mother quite intimately some distant, but happy, years prior.
"How else will I bring the past into the present?" Minoth pleads. "People need to know about you."
Addam is silent.
"I need to write about you."
Addam swallows, draws himself up and back. "You could write about me, if you wanted. That's fine. For yourself, in private."
"Sharing's part of it," Minoth says morosely. "Part of my craft. You know that."
Addam nods. "It's a wonderful craft. You're so talented."
"But not talented enough for you?"
The tip of Addam's nose leads the whip around to face Minoth: gentle, knobbled face not hardened in challenge.
"No, no, Minoth. Too talented. Much. That's the problem. You know that."
"'History lives forever.'"
It's one of Minoth's favorite sentiments to echo, and one that Addam's sure he himself coined. It sounds good to say, but none wise would ever actually agree.
History dies, actually. History's just records; the past is the past.
"I want you to live forever."
Oh.
Oh, well.
"You can write it after I'm gone."
Minoth takes a deep breath, nods.
"Addam... Thank you."