There was something crawling along the edges of her soul, a dark voice that taunted her every movement. She’d betrayed Genil yet again, lying like a slut with one of its enemies only to have her actions thrown back at her for everyone to see. How would she raise this child within the walls of a place that despised his kind? It wasn’t the fact that the white city was against demons, no, several lived within its confines. But she knew for a fact that the Council remembered the conferences that had come up about Fedafyr. She knew the men of the city had lost wives to the fox demon. She knew so much of this was true and yet, she had done the most selfish of actions, taking what she wanted for herself and thinking of no one else. Would she run from this place, her head hidden beneath the veil of a traitor? Maybe… Maybe.
Close your eyes, so many days go by.
The first time she had disappeared it had been almost against her will as she acted on the behalf of others. She hadn’t had interests of her own aside from protecting her city from a demon, and yet, she had found interests that she couldn’t even comprehend. Crystal couldn’t think only of her city now, nor only for herself. This life growing within her body was connected to her soul and the thought of this tiny creature, this mixture of her spirit and the spirit of another fascinated her and could bring her to tears of joy in the shortest amount of time. Love, unconditional love, flooded through her at the feeling of his feet kicking against her insides, moving and growing with each day. Little did she know, she was halfway through the conception process. Her thoughts had convinced her that he would arrive in 9 months because all other human children she’d had experiences with had been born in that amount of time. This one though, would be born in merely six months due to the amount of demon blood he had in him. How would they react to him? Would they treat him with respect because of her position, then bad mouth him when no one else could hear? The thought terrified her and angered her in the same instant. She wouldn’t allow her own child to suffer through being looked down upon, no, never. The baby moved suddenly, maybe feeling the quickening of her heartbeat and the rush of tears that hit the corners of her eyes. Calming herself, Crystal glanced into the setting sun and continued to walk through the grove of trees she’d come upon.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right.
She had somehow found her way to the outskirts of Genil and gazed out over the edges of the mountains that surrounded the city. They were rolling hills covered by forests for as far as the eye could see, dropping down into valleys uninhabited by anything more than woodland creatures and for now, a single Elder. Her feet hurt, a feeling she wasn’t quite used to and she looked down at them. They were covered in flat soled, soft leather coverings that were a far cry from her usually intricate footware. Her legs looked the tiniest bit swollen as she glanced at them, pale under the sundress she’d slid on before leaving the house. The days were warm now, suggesting that summer was just on the horizon and would by there in no time. She remembered her mother’s voice telling her that the worst time to be pregnant was in the dead of summer and she smiled, wondering what the petite blonde woman would think of seeing her daughter, ancient, but still young in appearance, with a round belly. Mrs. Jameson would have never expected Crystal to have children, in her past life, there simply hadn’t been enough hours in the day for things such as that. The crisp white fabric of her dress moved around her freely, only stretched over her tummy slightly, as she moved forward and touched the bark of one of the huge twisted trees, lined up in a peculiar way. It was almost as if they could have led her somewhere if she’d pursued the path, but she turned away from them and continued on her way, her bag bumping against her hip.
I won't last long, in this world so wrong.
Her hair spilled down her back, held securely in clip at the base of her neck. Each strand seemed to behave today, glinting in the dimming sunlight like a blaze of copper and fire. The hair pulled back from her face made her look revealed, innocent, maybe even frightened as she walked. She intended to leave this place and never come back, believing fully that Genil would be better off without someone like her. This justification kept the tears from settling her in her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. She didn’t know where the future would take her exactly, but each footstep guaranteed her a new tomorrow and a new day for Genil. Kentaro would handle anything that came up, she was certain of it. Her mind switched topics easily, brushing one painful thought off for another one a little less heart wrenching.
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
She longed for normalcy, the happy household and for a moment, she envisioned it. Cooking dinner, the voices of a squealing child and his aristocratic father in the next room. Telling secrets, giggling and pouncing around the room as bits of furniture fell over. His arms around her waist-.. The entire idea was silly, she knew. These misconceptions were pleasant to think of but it was obvious that they could never happen. There would be no time to question her actions anymore let alone regret them. There was no doubt in her mind that the deadly but beautiful demi-goddess would show up again, taunting her with her eyes, mismatched but lovely in their own right. Shi no Megami would grace this place with her presence as she had already done in the Library, leaving her mark on a statue. The stone cherub had been broken, wings laying on the floor in shattered bliss, with words that questioned her very soul. Rebuild or destroy? Wasn’t running away an option? Maybe disappearing would be her own way of rebuilding Genil. Surrender, fight, or flee. She’d been faced with the trio of options before and had intended to fight, but had only surrendered. Maybe turning the other way was the best of the three for everyone. Actually, she was certain it was.
Don't you dare look at him in the eye… as we dance with the devil tonight.
The sun hurt her eyes as she walked toward it, knowing that it set in the west and that something other than this place laid there in the distance. Perhaps she’d start a new life where she was no longer Crystal Dinaia of the Elder Council, perhaps she’d be something else entirely. Money wasn’t a problem, it had never been, she was well funded and didn’t care to live extravagantly. The fortune she’d accumulated could have lasted her a lifetime, maybe several. Carefully, she stepped over a root and turned to gaze back on Genil, the buildings looming softly in the distance. She was so far away now that there appeared to be a smoky blue haze in the distance. The babble of a brook made her break her gaze, literally tearing her eyes away from her home. The water was most likely an offshoot from the Genil river that had somehow found its way through the twisting landscape. Moving toward it, she settled herself on a rock that jutted over the stream and removed her shoes, dipping her feet into the water. It was cool, not as freezing as the river usually was, and it soothed the aching arches of her feet. Crystal sighed softly and pumped her feet slowly in the water, watching it trickle over her toes. Her voice was the only sound in the darkening forest, the stars themselves staying silent and offering no comfort or direction. “Say goodbye…”
Hold on… Hold on.
"The white city fell without her. Peace revolved around her, but when the mother left her children, they destroyed one another... She'll never forget that she left--she'll wear the chains of the martyr as she pulls the world's weight behind her, still thinking she's not doing enough." Morrigan Aensland
The breaking of twigs echoed with her heavy boots as they moved across the ground--she smelled that scent, had been following it. Run away? You'll leave them to die ... again? Those full lips pursed and fell at the corners in her disappointment in the woman who carried her lover's child. The sun streaked through the bodies of the trees, causing a great contrast to her shadow as she walked through the Mystic Forest, close to her slumbering love--far too close for his or her comfort. She could feel his fear--but not only for her now, for everyone. He wished they'd all just go away--far away. If only she had the power to completely seal him in this place, she would. Save him from himself, though she could not--and she would not have him die until she could free him. Finding him would be far too difficult in another world--another plane of the universe, feeding upon the misery of someone else. Perhaps people less equipped to handle it than those here. The sounds of the creatures around her quieted, frightened of incurring the wrath of their master's lover. The soft sound of the stretching of leather across her thighs as they swung past one another was an angry roar in her own ears, silent to all else but those with the most keen of hearing. The belt rode low, the silver gromets decorated with chains that ran through them, different sizes, jingling out a soft anthem to her movements. The gliding lines of her pelvis molded into the soft curve of her stomache above the low cut of the black leather, the ribbons that secured her undergarments visible over the top of her shapely thighs, deep sapphire that tickled her skin with the only femininity found in her strong sense of being. An inch below the curve of her breasts, the same leather that made her pants began anew, this time giving way to the luscious curve of her breasts as the light glinted off each side of the laced bustier with each sway of her body. Over that, concealing her arms, was the jacket--the same jacket of heavy leather she had worn that night as Meg. The belts that hung loose from its loops flopped against her body as she walked with that purpose. Between her and her prey stood three more miles of ground. She could smell her breath as it carried on the wind--a pregnant elder with little idea of what she was doing. No doubt apanick... Shi would give her a reason to panic. Cruelty would be her crop tonight, the truth a tool to be twisted to guide the lost mare home. Crystal would remain in Genil. Shi would be certain that she put herself in no danger--after all... she would see nothing happen to that child.
To her right, the sun began to settle beyond the horizon. Her hand swept out, the fingers stretching the leather between each digit as she encouraged the very sun in its descent. Ten minutes, the night came early to this land--just tonight. The creatures of the forest, confused, let out their howls of dismay, rabbits scurrying home quicker for their safehaven so as not to be out when the wolves were aprowl. An irritated beast dared her path, the deep grays of its fur and the bright blue of its eyes a contrast that was in and of itself worthy of praise. "One such as you--so blessed by my hand--should see fit to know your place...." The wolf stood but a moment more, then downcast its eyes to the ground in formal apology. It waited for her to pass, inquiring on the judgement she would perform upon it... Fearless, it did not wince at all when her fingers brushed its beautiful pelt, and Shi took the moment to dip down beside it, lifting its nose up to look at its eyes, though it did not look at her. It knew what resided in the beauty beneath her slitted pupils--a world it needed no knowledge of, unlike Eve and Adam, it was content with the knowledge it had of its own world, and for that, was spared. Shi stood to her feet again, lithe as a cat as she drew up to a full 5'6" and continued down the path not walked by other creatures--not even those of the night. Her path was the one that the plants withdrew from her upon, the poisonous barbs retreating away from her equally poisonous body as she glided through its midst. On the bridge of her nose sat those shades again, though they concealed nothing from her. She saw in the dark almost clearer than the daylight. Each step brought her closer, the stalk becoming a rhythm that her body swayed to, much like the music of the Anarab Night Carnival. Her tongue slid out across her pale pink lips, slipping back behind it to caress her left canine, the beautiful fang put to no good use since she had come to this place. Her claws had grown dull beneath her love, but she had thought the trade worth it. The moonlight came from behind the clouds, reflecting white across the lense of her shades. She pulled those glasses from her nose, her lashes resting against her cheeks.
She was here.
Before Sae'ni lay a clearing, drawn beautifully in the shape of a butterfly from the heavens. In the right wing lay a small brook, surrounded by rocks that framed it in its home. From there, the water travelled down the edge of the wing, decorating it, and then sweeping off into the trees to join a greater stream, still small, but bigger than itself, in order to create, through the gathering of numbers, a greater river than Genil. It had not yet succeeded, but hope bubbled down the rocks--that larger stream--Crystal was less than thirty feet from their joining point, well within the distance of her voice should Shi call out, but she would not scream Crystal's name. No--the redhead would come to her, but it would not be because Shi called her.. not traditionally. She stepped instead to the left wing, where three tree stumps lay, obviously broken and long since dead. Upon them grew new life--mosses and flowers that founds root in their decaying bark. From the first, she stepped to the higher platform of the second, and from there she leapt to the third, its surface standing eight feet from the surface of the grass. The wind swept her curls across her face, those deep blue coils dancing in a prelude to her opening lips. Between those white lips came a soft hiss of breath as she drew into those lungs, but the words that slipped out started at first as a whisper, "Walked into our world and made horrible sounds. I can still hear them today, Strangely they seem, beautiful now... Though they outlast, my love." The words pumped through her body, and her fingers grasped at the invisible lines that held their lives entwined. The deep blue lead backwards, further into the forest--to her love, still sleeping--and the red. She wrapped it around her index finger, gently tugging at the very soul it was attached to, "Still each time I always meant Every word, everyone. Though, in time, they finally bent--Every word, everyone, every word..."
"'I will wait for you,' she said, endlessly.
'I will wait for you,' so spoke, Misery..."
Shi's voice pressed through the deepest of nights, seeming as if a very band of angels sung that song. Each voice that drew from her overlapped the others, weaving the lure even as she watched that string grow taut and loosen beneath the waves of Crystal's thoughts. In her body, Shi felt the pulling of the cord, dragging straight down the slip of her spine as her eyes shuddered closed in the darkness, the glowing light that poured for them too intense even for her. "I returned to you but found my empty home... The radio told me to stay--As it burned down, I sang alone. I sang alone... You will outlast, my love." The wind swept up around her, drawing the mist from the brook and encircling her in that moment. The pale alure of her skin shone beneath the moon, the perspiration on her lower lip shuddering with her breath as the orchestra in her mind played to an a capella song. Again her lashes lifted, the gold and red glow hidden beneath the downward tilt of her head as she stared up through her lashes, down the line of that string. it loosened, she wrapped it about her fingertip again, like lost thread. A fire burned down it, and Shi inhaled the heated air as a pair of unfamiliar green eyes tried to sever the connection. You shan't hurt her. Your intentions.. what are they?! A child's voice. Such a protective thing--he sensed Shi's hostility, no doubt. The invisible string tugged again and the equally as invisible flames climbed a bit higher. Truly, Shi would have looked a fool had someone unknown to the witch arts seen her that moment, except that they might be frightened of her eyes. The glow inside them burned, grew brighter as she struggled with an unborn infant. She'll come to me... whether you like it or not... You'll die if she doesn't... That such a struggle could go on without Crystal even aware she was being tugged in that direction but for the strange urge to come toward the sound of the song was truth to the irony of a God's existance. To always be unknown in her actions--to find followers only through faith. "Still, each time I always meant every word, everyone... Though, in time, they finally bent--Every word, everyone, every word..."
“'I will wait for you,' she said, endlessly.
'I will wait for you,' so spoke, Misery... Oh..."
The string grew taut once more, the flare of the flames becoming green and angry. Shi's full lips curved out over her beautiful white teeth. She'd won. Each bead of water that rolled down over the curves of her body, sliding from the curve of her cheek down beneath the slender arch of her jaw--from there down her neck, toward the crevice of her breasts as they shuddered while she breathed those victorious breaths--heavy breaths. Tired, Sae'ni was surprised. Caught off guard by a demi-god's power in the womb, granted he was allotted much more than she with her powers sealed. Spells he should have not seen, the child had struggled against. Still struggled against. The flames receeded, down the thin red string, back toward Crystal... The darkness closed in around the light, but it did not disperse, merely grew larger as it gathered at the end. Her lips did not voice the profanity that went through her mind as she watched the ball gather. I asked for your intentions, Goddess..? The voice was soft, demanding, but alltogether frightening. As if Fedafyr stood before her, in all his glory as the second eldest of the Elementals and had caught her tampering with the lawless spells that were archived away in the boxes. Her eyes widened, the glow dying in them to a dull light. The green flame swept up the thread, and she dared not try to cast in the middle of the spell. The brat knew. He knew that if she defended herself with a word, she would have to free the thread. Clever little Shit... The flame caught her opposite hand as she raised it to cover her face and took with its burst--so bright to her eyes, though without light to anyone else--the full arm of the leather jacket she wore, melting the white of her skin that was exposed. She would face Crystal looking a bit roughed up, so it seemed. How ... inappropriate. Anger graced her visage only a minute before her right wing struck out, cutting the wind in its presence. The emotionless look on her face kept her concentration as the skin rippled and wrapped itself around her arm, fixing its flesh so the coat itself looked to only have been torn by a fashion statement. The string shuddered around her finger, anger, no doubt, from the child's failure... She leaned forward, the string close to her lips as she sung the last piece of the incantation straight to it, like a microphone with a sadistic grin upon her face.
"I have been waiting for you--Biting as you taught me to. I have come to relieve you of life and love..."
Re: Helpless.
The woman left her shoes behind as she rose from the rock, her feet still cold and damp as she moved away from the stream. She walked away from it carefully, being certain not to slip and fall into the shallow water. Her bag remained on the rock as well, next to her shoes as she wandered away from her seated place. Not knowing why she kept walking when her legs were so tired, Crystal gazed into the night as she walked toward a once again unknown location. This feeling that told her to move at all costs was familiar and she almost predicted the future as she continued toward a familiar face, one that had started a relationship she didn’t understand but appreciated nonetheless. Fear had been all that filled her the first time she’d come into an encounter with this Goddess, broken and held down as she was, but now her feelings toward Shi no Megami had changed in a strange way. If the being had possessed the desire to kill her, she would have. Something kept the demi-god for doing just that at the Carnival that night she’d been so out of her own skin, pretending to be someone else because it hurt so much less to forget that Genil existed rather than to return to it and fight through all of the sadness.
Following the strand which had been pulled from her own soul, Crystal entered the clearing and stood mere feet away from Shi, her eyes downcast. She knew she was there, did she really need to lift her head and pretend to be strong? Her thoughts were so flooded by maternal hormones and uncertainty about the future that she had somehow mixed up the future of Genil with her own, making them one in the same. She was confused, to say the least, about what to do. Her hands folded in front of her as she stood in a patch of moonlight the trees had provided her with, barefoot and pale, she merely looked at the ground. Light flooded around her, making her look ethereal and waiflike. The white dress landed above her knees, though it hadn’t when her stomach had been flat. The change left her looking fragile and delicate, though the glow of health surrounded her entirely. The tummy had been something she’d had to learn how to deal with, especially when putting on her shoes had become a problem, though she was only three months along. Her cheeks remained the smallest bit flushed and the need for makeup was never addressed, nor had it been in years. Naturally dark eyelashes touched her cheeks in half moons as her eyes closed. Tiny strands of hair had escaped the clip as they always did and danced along her shoulders bared by the straps of her dress. Full pink lips curved downward, not in sadness, just merely resting emotionlessly. Her bare toes were caressed by the blades of grass in the clearing. Crystal’s appearance could have deceived even the most jaded of hearts, convincing them that she had done nothing wrong in life and regretted no words she’d ever spoken. She was the whore of Babylon in an angel’s garb, or so she considered herself.
After several long moments, Crystal let out a sigh and glanced upward, her eyes taking on an almost silver sheen in her moonlit spotlight. Shi was before her, dark and beautiful in ways she couldn’t comprehend or even begin to dissect. Though she knew parts of her story, she didn’t know the most important puzzle pieces that would help her understand. Yet, there were things that made her feel completely connected to this woman, this goddess, and these same things filled her with shame. She opened her mouth to apologize, but could not. She wanted to make this life in her into an excuse but couldn’t claim she didn’t want him, or so she suspected the baby was a him. Something in her soul made her dream about this child, envisioning him as he would look at five years old. A mystical quality that she had picked up from her own mother, she knew that he would have her hair and the most beautiful eyes she could imagine. His smile would rival the sunrise itself, slow and painfully gorgeous. He would charm, he would love, he would live in happiness and that was what was most important. Her hand rose to her stomach and she rubbed it slowly along her belly button, soothing herself by knowing that her child was there. Crystal couldn’t bring herself to apologize for something, someone she didn’t consider a mistake. At first she had wanted to declare the child a monster, claim he was the spawn of his father, but she had seen too much to believe the lies that her mind tried to formulate. This child, Eytan, was not a monster, nor was his father, they were just different from her and she couldn‘t return to the place in her mind that told her demons were monsters with no questions asked. Unconditional love welled up in Crystal as she thought of her son, his son -- their son -- and she couldn’t claim that she was sorry he’d be brought into this world. She would fight to the death to make sure that he was given a chance to become a happy, healthy child, at the cost of herself, at the cost of Genil, at the cost of this world. Nothing was more important than this baby. It wasn’t clear how these things had taken place inside her, how her heart had immediately become entwined with this tiny half-demon that clung to her solely for life. What grand symphony had organized a waltz so beautiful that it could simply shatter an entire city if it so chose? The music played on.
Her eyes searched Shi’s appearance, questioning what looked like melted patches on her clothing, but she voiced none of her curiosity. What could have come close enough to touch such a creature? It was truly none of her business though the concern was evident. Crystal attempted to be the woman she knew she was inside of her, buried sometime during the last seven years of her life. Her posture held her upright, prim and proper as had been engrained in her mind during the early stages of life. She’d been taught to pace dramatically when trying to close a case in her favor, to use her eyes to her advantage, to plead, to reassure, to save a man’s life even if he didn’t deserve it. Perhaps those things made her a monster, she didn’t really know nor care, her job was her job and it had changed little since beginning. It was her mission to save those who she could not judge for the power of judgment was not for her to give out, she was merely to defend and never ask questions about right and wrong. Her voice echoed as she spoke, clinging to the trees around her as the words slipped from her throat, soft and kind, “I’ve made my choice, Goddess.”
"The white city fell without her. Peace revolved around her, but when the mother left her children, they destroyed one another... She'll never forget that she left--she'll wear the chains of the martyr as she pulls the world's weight behind her, still thinking she's not doing enough." Morrigan Aensland
Re: Helpless.
The last piece of the puzzle slipped into the clearing, the hiss of the angered child ringing in her ears. Those bright green eyes glowed in the back of her mind, glaring at her. I don't mind if you hate me, pet. Probably safer that way... Her eyes ceased glowing as the string snapped, disappearing from life and leaving only the barest cut across the pad of her index finger. The soft smog of her breath swept past her lips, too warm for the cooling air around her body. Her body coiled into itself, one leg slipping off the edge of that platform to dangle as the other lowered her slowly to a sitting position. Her eyes lid from the bare feet of Crystal Dinaia up her shapely calves, to the fall of that white dress. Past the belly, much further along than she probably expected. Up the curve of her neck, to those blue, crystaline eyes. Behind those, the regret and indifference--the pride and the prejudice. Crystal's torn heart and soul as it warred within her body, and Shi had very little patience for it, though she felt it. Those red locks reflected with the silver light of the moon and stars, creating a halo about Crystal's head as it did Shi's own. "I've made my choice, Goddess..."
"Have you...?" Her voice rolled over her tongue as the left corner of her soft lips edged up over her tooth in disgust. The air around them cooled to a disturbing low, causing goosebumps to rise on the skin. The arch in her tone was one of sarcasm, and Shi licked her lips and leaned her head back with an exasperated giggle--Those eyes; they narrowed. The child snarled at her, wanting desperately to have a connection to attack through... "I noticed. Your decision is, of course, to run curtailing into the night? I have a real question--do you realize really which of the two options you chose?" Her eyes swept Crystal, moving those mismatched beauties to the direction of Genil, where she saw the Council Palace's tip peaking up over the trees. She had run the last time--run, and it had been crushed. Did she associate her decision with something else? Perhaps she fought to justify it as something else... Chasing the loss with a bit of ignorance to hide the sadness. Her body rolled, her arms tensing as they lifted her bottom off the platform and allowed her to hop down, her hair bouncing about her face with her eyes closed, until those curls covered her red eye again, though it was no mystery to Crystal what hid behind it. She stepped forward, closing the gap, but never too close... The white skin that melted into the curve of her breasts gathered the moonlight and danced with her movements, the breaths that filled her lungs and expanded her body to strain against the strings and leather of the black corset.
"A story, Crystal Dinaia.... Once, there was only two--the Father and Mother Dragon... Father time... Mother Earth... All else didn't matter, for Mother's skin stretched across the universe, manifesting the many planets... but Earth--your Earth--that was her heart.. First, Father and Mother Dragon made emotions--rules and regulations upon them... They laid together, and the White Children came to existance...." The woman paced around Crystal, like a predator waiting for the Prey to wince so that it could strike, a snake that was coiled about her and judging the threat she had to its own existance... all at the same time, "These white Children were split. The Elemental Gods first, then the Primary, and the Secondary.. Among the elementals, there was truly one who loved unconditionally... the second born, the god of Earth, Fedafyr...." Shi's came around in front of Crystal again, her nail dragging across the air, manifesting a line as if she wrote upon a chalkboard... Eyes, first, coming to life a beautiful emerald, and then a face... pouting lips with black hair that fell straight around soft cheeks as tears slipped down its face. Further down, in its hand, a cub was born to the image, sickly looking.... "When Mother grew her green children and gave them so much freedom--no rules to run their lives by--we were jealous. We fought for the attention of the Green Children of Mother's heart. By having that attention, we were given more freedom, for they could act out our fantasies for us..." The image died, and Shi dragged her fingers across the very screen she had forged, the white lines moved, became their own images. A boy stood there, straight, white pants, with a beret on his head and a book under his arm. Beside him stood a woman with long, flowing brown hair, in pieces of silver armor and looking very much the age-old Spartan soldier...
"Elmri was just short of being an Elemental. She was a Primary--the Goddess of Chastity, Moments younger than me and yet, she lost the power that was granted between our status. She loved Fedafyr--and we loved each other. She was my best friend.... Mariq, a secondary god and apprentice to Fedafyr, planned to win his power... Playing upon Elmri's jealousy, he convinced her to seal me away." The image dripped into the scenery again, and the next time she touched the canvas of air before Crystal, from her finger came a gout of fire, "I was taken from our bed. Sealed away in Hell. Mariq, playing innocent, fooled Fedafyr into freeing me from the spell... the price he paid was more than his godship, but his humanity. What you see in the mirror--what you see when the green flakes come into those inhuman yellow eyes--you see the person that your child will be. Borne of the Earth... he will love unconditionally as Fedafyr... but a babe possessed of that much power--he will be in danger.. and dangerous." Shi turned to face Crystal, and smiled that small, cruel-struck smile. "Your future is written--Do you see it? You will stand, or you will leave destruction behind you. There's no option to run, because the plague follows you. You'll learn, or you'll die... and him with you. People like me--we'll destroy your home... Run--let them be scattered to the wind... and I'll take your friend's heart instead of her wings."
The implication was enough, she thought, that a dazed Crystal could have caught it. Sae'ni was not above lying to drive her back to her home--not above frightening her back into her place. No affection fell between them, not in the drops of sarcasm that dripped from her tongue, but Shi... was affectionate. Never in her mind would she admit it--never in her breath. Not if she died, but what held Fedafyr here would have her loyalty, however twisted Shi's code of moral loyalty was.
Re: Helpless.
Crystal’s back was ramrod straight, her hands had come unclasped as she cautiously watched the goddess before her and now rested on either side of her stomach. Her chin was raised slightly, her jaw clenched and tight, making her high cheek bones stand out more sharply than usual. There was no trace of a smile in her demeanor nor in her stance, only a warning. Beings of long ago loomed in the air before her own eyes and she surprised herself by not even wondering what type of magic created the illusions. She knew the story was true, the gaps being filled in by the moment but she didn’t let the sadness of the tale sway her mind, her thoughts staying sharp and direct as the child wiggled within her, feeling the rigidity of her body. Her thoughts were directed toward him for a moment as she closed her eyes, whispering his name in the confines of her mind as she told him not to worry, that she was fine. I love you, little one.
Perhaps the words she spoke were true, that Genil would crumble if she left, but her own sense of self tried to convince her otherwise. There were other Elders, others than carried that weight on their shoulders, but then again, if she ran so would they. Maybe it wouldn’t allow rebuilding if she was to abandon them, but merely destruction. Could she live with murdering Genil yet again? No.. No. Not this time. She couldn’t run, not now that she truly thought about the future and nothing more. Genil would learn to love this child as she did and if they didn’t she would force them to. No one would mistreat him because he had done nothing wrong by being born into this world. He was merely a child, if anyone was to blame for indiscretions, she would take them with a smile on her face. If anyone could make this work, she knew she could. It wasn’t the guidance that angered her, but the fierce words that followed it. A demure smile traveled over the Elder’s face as she moved closer to the goddess, a direct challenge to her personal space. For the sake of honor and self respect, no god would flinch from a human. Raising her hand quickly, she brought it in a quick slapping motion toward Sae’ni’s cheek. Millimeters away from skin, she stopped and curved her long fingers in nothing more than a caress. It was the briefest of touches as she met her eyes and nodded slowly before moving backward, turning her back to the goddess. The moon was full, round and pregnant as she, herself was. She stared at it for a moment before speaking, her hair filled with the silver sheen, mercury mixing with copper, her eyes skyward. “If you touch Morrigan… You will die. If not by my hand, by millions risen together. I promise you that.” Her voice didn’t waver, was simple and soft, and unusually cold. Somehow, speaking of gore, she sounded innocent. Her anger was hot, but had somehow become a blue flame within her soul. Crystal looked down at her stomach and without turning, glanced part way over her shoulder. The action was smooth, planned as she spoke.
“Oh, and Goddess…? Will you be Eytan Dinaia’s god-mother?”
"The white city fell without her. Peace revolved around her, but when the mother left her children, they destroyed one another... She'll never forget that she left--she'll wear the chains of the martyr as she pulls the world's weight behind her, still thinking she's not doing enough." Morrigan Aensland
Re: Helpless.
Those lips parted into a smile that was sarcastic and well-lined with her fangs. She wasn't at all threatened by the idea of Death, but the corners did twitch twice when those words poured from Crystal's mouth in their finality. She'd chosen to go back--the way she was supposed to. Safe, inside her white buildings. Shi moved herself away from Crystal, the question hanging from a thin, electric wire in the air, waiting to shock her if she got too close. Her fingers touched the gritty side of the broken tree trunk as she approached it, a small pink flower decaying beneath her chilled breath as she stared at it. Her other hand pulled the shades and put them across the bridge of her nose. Her face was blank, beautiful and porcelain as she thought, irritated at the question and amazed at the redhead's balls to say such a thing. Her bare arm lay stretched before her, covering her stageside from Crystal as she took a deep, satisfying breath in.
"Your child--he's Fedafyr. Half of him is the man I loved. To be his mother would be ironic--and you are quite the cruel bitch, Crystal Dinaia... for your balls, I'll give you something," She took her fingers from the tree and rushed them through those deep black curls. She turned to face Crystal, her feet spread out to brace herself as she stood, creating the look of a woman who was ready for the darkest alleyway--no, lurked inside it... "You'll have no problem with this child--he loves you without care for anything else. There will never be a thing in the world that will turn him on you. He loves not his father, not his heritage, and not his own self yet--but you. He fights for." Shi turned and headed her way toward the edge of the butterfly's wing, the grove becoming too cramped for her as she stood there with the woman. "You are truly a human being, Crystal Dinaia--The monster that every creature truly fears. Freedom is a price paid for with pain and betrayal. You'll see that soon.."
Her footfalls echoed through the trees as she stepped past them, and a single howl pervaded and broke through the shattered starlit night. Where the goddess walked, the trees hardened into petrified wood.
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