((Be sure to read Breath of Thal for full context of what's been going on with D'aijeen and K'airos in the meantime.))
***
When she reached Vesper Bay, she didn't slow until she'd passed wholly through the gates and then almost immediately jumped off her bird. Her joints protested that action - something that was more appropriate for someone a decade younger - but she pushed it to one side. Standing in the courtyard on the east side of the port town, she looked around with wide eyes.
The town that Antimony arrived in was not a welcoming one. There was none of the normal bustle a fishing and trade town should have had. Doors were shut, streets were empty. An inn in the corner had caved in, stained with what looked like a dark liquid. The shadows around down shivered as though with incredible heat, though they were cool. The shadow that Antimony cast grew darker as she approached, likely without her notice at first, but by the time she dismounted she stood in a splotch of blackness.
The chocobo would notice that something was off, though its mind would not be able to comprehend what. Something white moving far beneath the ground, visible throught he shadow like a window, would make the bird start and shift.
The fur along Antimony's tail bristled at the sight of the town. It was more than clear that something was not right, and the inky blackness that shivered around one building was all the evidence the older woman needed. Her heart twisting with fear, she glanced back the way she'd come, wondering finally how far back Ulanan and the others were, and then took a few steps towards the black-shrouded building. She shouted as she spoke, as loud as she could manage, "Aijeen! Will you come out and speak with your mother?"
Ulanan arrived a moment later, jumping off her bird with her book in hand, feeling the strangeness in the air even before seeing the inn. The book burst open and a circle of light extended from her towards Antimony, creating an invisible barrier around her.
As Antimony approached the building, the shadows under her feet rose up. They whispered. A mask rose up and lay on the surface of the stone in front of her, as though floating on the top of the shadows. It tilted to gaze at her. Then the Baalzephon rose, its body covered in plain white masks. Thin arms lifted from its sides as it uttered hushed sounds, inaudible voices, and leaned towards Antimony.
Breath freezing in her chest, Antimony stumbled back from the masks. "Ulanan, what--" Her eyes skidded past the inky demon, unwilling to look at it, terrified by its presence but still driven by a need for her daughter. "Aijeen, please! It's your mother! I know you're scared; just come and--and talk! I will not hurt you!"
K'airos had been wandering close to the inn, shouting at people and urging them to not get anywhere near it. The streets had emptied quickly, but she kept walking around, in a circle, wondering if she shouldn't simply run away.
Then she heard her mother, and made up her mind. She ran towards her voice, around the corner and quickly coming in sight of her.
"Mom!" she yelled. "Mom! Don't...don't come! Stay away!"
A bright blue ball of light was thrown to the voidsent by Ulanan. It unfolded midair into a big geometric open maw with bulgy eyes and a hole on the top. It tried very boldly to bite on any limb of the creature.
[8/4/2014 3:42:12 AM] Kyle: The Voidsent was significantly distracted by this simple gesture from Ulanan, snapping its limbs away, the masks turning one way and then another in confusion. More Baalzephons seethed below the ground, though, observing.
***
Inside the inn, D'aijeen plucked a bloodied linkpearl from her bathwater. Her blue eyes glared at it from the blackness of her features, the tip of her tail twitching back and forth. Then she dropped it and spun on the man, smiling. "It seems your brothers don't want to learn from me after all." She walked over to the man, Qion'a, leaning forward to look in his face. "And I guess you're deaf now, is that right? Nod yes or no."
Her amusement continued until, with the twitch of one ear, she snapped straight and spun towards the room and the hall beyond. She trotted out into it, wide-eyed, looking around. "Airos? I thought I heard-" but her sister wasn't there. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the floor, now covered in darkness. She shook, her mind boiling over with thoughts.
***
The familiar voice struck Antimony like ice water and she spun towards it, feeling a deep rush of relief. "Airos, you're alright--" She huried then towards her middle daughter, deliberately not looking at the demon that writhed just a short ways away under Ulanan's attack. "Airos, something has gone very wrong. I need to speak with your sister!"
K'airos kept running, not caring for anything that could be on the way or between them. "You need to leave! She'll just get angrier!" she yelled.
The blue maw Ulanan had summoned changed colors, still biting on the limb. It became orange, the color spreading from the top along with sparks that came from the hole there. The next moment, its big eyes had busted out in fire. And then its whole body followed, exploding and leaving nothing of itself behind.
***
Qion'a didn't answer to D'aijeen. Not with words or a nod. He was truly deaf. He kept his arms wrapped around the head a moment longer.
***
The Baalzephon made no sound as it fell, slowly, like a sinking cloud. Its body burned. Its thin arms dwindled like twigs. The shadows accepted it as it sagged away. In the same moment, another began to rise not far from it. Very slowly, unhurried.
***
D'aijeen had already forgotten the man. K'airos had said she would wait. D'aijeen could hear... she did hear. No, it couldn't have been. But K'airos had said that she'd told.
Her thin legs pitch black, D'aijeen walked into the hallway, book still held against her chest. She turned to walk outside, careful not to hurry herself. Already she felt weary, just from the shivering of her hands, the shaking of her tail, the wideness of her eyes.
***
"It will be alright, Airos, I promise." Antimony ran right up to her daughter, made to grip her arms and then, as though she couldn't help herself, hug her close. "Ulanan will help keep us safe. I just need to speak with Aijeen. She's scared, but it's okay. I promise you!"
K'airos practically lunged at the hug, collapsing on her mother's arms. "She's not scared! She's...I don't know what she is! I tried to do what she wanted, but it wasn't enough!" she cried, words trampling over each other, becoming barely understandable. She pushed away, but still kept her hands on Antimony's arms. "You need to leave! She'll hurt more people if you don't!"
The lalafel hadn't moved an ilm from where she stood. She moved the pages of her book and two other balls of light came from it, taking the same shape as the previous one. One of them did the predictable thing and tried to bite the voidsent's head off. The other followed Ulanan's finger and flew towards the two Miqo'te.
D'aijeen stopped on the steps of the inn, just outside, and watched her mother and sister embrace. Her body tensed up, but then it relaxed, and suddenly she didn't feel like anything. All of her tiredness melted into numbness. She felt weightless. The sensation was so strange that she laughed at it. She laughed loudly, and the shadows around her shook as if they were laughing too. Her eyes smiled, and then teared up, she was laughing so hard.
Antimony kept K'airos close even as her daughter sought to pull away. She kissed her forehead, pet her ears. "You don't have to be scared, Airos. I will make everything alright again, I promise. I will--" She blinked in confusion suddenly, lifted her head somewhat as laughter reached her ears. Twisting her head towards the sound, her mouth dropped open, eyes widening at the sight of her youngest daughter. She half turned, not letting go of K'airos immediately but still wanting to give D'aijeen attention. The black on her skin made Antimony's stomach roil, though. How far had she fallen with these demons? "Aijeen... What has happened to you..?"
K'airos shook, looking at her sister. "You need to leave!" she repeated. "I don't want you to, but you have to! She'll get worse!" She turned to face her mother with a pleading expression.
Ulanan walked towards them, hastily, with the book in her hand shining brightly. There were now half a dozen blue maws hovering following behind her, and she probably had another few inside a pocket somewhere.
"Happened? Mom, I've made myself beautiful." D'aijeen's laughter fell away, though she still smiled broadly. She paused in her approach to turn sideways and let herself be seen, brushing the wand and rodent skulls through her skirt so the stained frills would bounce. "I wanted to be pretty for Airos. She is my love, after all. My destiny. My most perfect dream. The one lover that can redeem an entire world of hate. My own K'airos." She pushed her hip to one side, stretching her discolored legs in display. "Do you like it, mom? Have you come to reconsider? If you would only accept me, we could all be together."
Turning from K'airos while keeping one arm on her, Antimony fought back a rising nausea at D'aijeen's actions. She shook her head slightly, tail quivering, sensed Ulanan moving closer to them but found the bulk of her focus locked on the young girl across from her. "Aijeen... I only want us to be together again, happy again," she breathed. "Is this... is this because of what happened in Ul'dah? That monster... I know it wasn't your fault, love. I know."
D'aijeen reeled, taking a step back, ducking forward as if to catch her balance. Then she was upright again, and she ground out in a deep, choking tone. "How do you know about that?"
Green eyes looked away for a second, to Ulanan and then past the lalafell towards the entrance to the town. She hesitated, watched the gate for a second, and then returned her near-mournful gaze to her daughter. "D'hein cared about D'ahl very much, too. I know it must have frightened you, Aijeen." She finally pulled herself away from K'airos to take a few steps towards the younger girl. "And... and you are grieving, I know. Please let me help you."
K'airos faced her sister, though her eyes were fixed on her mother's back. She tapped her hands together repeatedly. She said nothing, since every time she did or said anything things simply got worse.
Behind, Ulanan and her maw squad stopped, not very far, peeking between the two Miqo'te.
The Baalzephons continued to move beneath the shadows, as though waiting. D'aijeen didn't even see them. Her eyes were on her mother, though. "Grieving? I'm done. I'm not afraid. Fear is what other people feel instead of love. You're all afraid. I can see it all over you." She gestured with her head. "Airos is afraid of me. You brought the Lalafel the hurt D'ahl. How do you think you're going to help me when you're afraid of me?"
Antimony went quiet at that. Quiet because it was true. She was terrified of her own daughter - or rather, what her daughter had become. This was so much worse than the beast in the desert. It was worse than all the hateful words. Shutting her eyes, Antimony took in a shaky breath and then, very slowly reached into her pocket to pull out the letters Ulanan had given her. "Protective spells," she said, her voice as steady as she could make it, but thin in the fear that rode just beneath. She held the papers towards D'aijeen as though showing her and then, very deliberately, dropped them to the ground. "You are my daughter," she said. "I love you. I will not fear you."
"I'm not a child anymore." D'aijeen continued forward a few paces, the smile inching its way back on to her face. "You don't love me. You just want to stop me. You don't love me. You don't want to get close to me, or touch me, or listen to me. You don't think I'm pretty. You don't like what I do. You don't love me. You just want to take my Airos away from me."
K'airos took a step forward. She was about to burst into crying again, but she kept herself under control. "No! Don't you see?" she shouted to her sister. "You are the one driving me away from you! We would be happy if you hadn't freaked out at mom! You need to stop!"
"None of that is true, Aijeen," Antimony managed through a thin breath. "None of it. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have come here."
***
When she reached Vesper Bay, she didn't slow until she'd passed wholly through the gates and then almost immediately jumped off her bird. Her joints protested that action - something that was more appropriate for someone a decade younger - but she pushed it to one side. Standing in the courtyard on the east side of the port town, she looked around with wide eyes.
The town that Antimony arrived in was not a welcoming one. There was none of the normal bustle a fishing and trade town should have had. Doors were shut, streets were empty. An inn in the corner had caved in, stained with what looked like a dark liquid. The shadows around down shivered as though with incredible heat, though they were cool. The shadow that Antimony cast grew darker as she approached, likely without her notice at first, but by the time she dismounted she stood in a splotch of blackness.
The chocobo would notice that something was off, though its mind would not be able to comprehend what. Something white moving far beneath the ground, visible throught he shadow like a window, would make the bird start and shift.
The fur along Antimony's tail bristled at the sight of the town. It was more than clear that something was not right, and the inky blackness that shivered around one building was all the evidence the older woman needed. Her heart twisting with fear, she glanced back the way she'd come, wondering finally how far back Ulanan and the others were, and then took a few steps towards the black-shrouded building. She shouted as she spoke, as loud as she could manage, "Aijeen! Will you come out and speak with your mother?"
Ulanan arrived a moment later, jumping off her bird with her book in hand, feeling the strangeness in the air even before seeing the inn. The book burst open and a circle of light extended from her towards Antimony, creating an invisible barrier around her.
As Antimony approached the building, the shadows under her feet rose up. They whispered. A mask rose up and lay on the surface of the stone in front of her, as though floating on the top of the shadows. It tilted to gaze at her. Then the Baalzephon rose, its body covered in plain white masks. Thin arms lifted from its sides as it uttered hushed sounds, inaudible voices, and leaned towards Antimony.
Breath freezing in her chest, Antimony stumbled back from the masks. "Ulanan, what--" Her eyes skidded past the inky demon, unwilling to look at it, terrified by its presence but still driven by a need for her daughter. "Aijeen, please! It's your mother! I know you're scared; just come and--and talk! I will not hurt you!"
K'airos had been wandering close to the inn, shouting at people and urging them to not get anywhere near it. The streets had emptied quickly, but she kept walking around, in a circle, wondering if she shouldn't simply run away.
Then she heard her mother, and made up her mind. She ran towards her voice, around the corner and quickly coming in sight of her.
"Mom!" she yelled. "Mom! Don't...don't come! Stay away!"
A bright blue ball of light was thrown to the voidsent by Ulanan. It unfolded midair into a big geometric open maw with bulgy eyes and a hole on the top. It tried very boldly to bite on any limb of the creature.
[8/4/2014 3:42:12 AM] Kyle: The Voidsent was significantly distracted by this simple gesture from Ulanan, snapping its limbs away, the masks turning one way and then another in confusion. More Baalzephons seethed below the ground, though, observing.
***
Inside the inn, D'aijeen plucked a bloodied linkpearl from her bathwater. Her blue eyes glared at it from the blackness of her features, the tip of her tail twitching back and forth. Then she dropped it and spun on the man, smiling. "It seems your brothers don't want to learn from me after all." She walked over to the man, Qion'a, leaning forward to look in his face. "And I guess you're deaf now, is that right? Nod yes or no."
Her amusement continued until, with the twitch of one ear, she snapped straight and spun towards the room and the hall beyond. She trotted out into it, wide-eyed, looking around. "Airos? I thought I heard-" but her sister wasn't there. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the floor, now covered in darkness. She shook, her mind boiling over with thoughts.
***
The familiar voice struck Antimony like ice water and she spun towards it, feeling a deep rush of relief. "Airos, you're alright--" She huried then towards her middle daughter, deliberately not looking at the demon that writhed just a short ways away under Ulanan's attack. "Airos, something has gone very wrong. I need to speak with your sister!"
K'airos kept running, not caring for anything that could be on the way or between them. "You need to leave! She'll just get angrier!" she yelled.
The blue maw Ulanan had summoned changed colors, still biting on the limb. It became orange, the color spreading from the top along with sparks that came from the hole there. The next moment, its big eyes had busted out in fire. And then its whole body followed, exploding and leaving nothing of itself behind.
***
Qion'a didn't answer to D'aijeen. Not with words or a nod. He was truly deaf. He kept his arms wrapped around the head a moment longer.
***
The Baalzephon made no sound as it fell, slowly, like a sinking cloud. Its body burned. Its thin arms dwindled like twigs. The shadows accepted it as it sagged away. In the same moment, another began to rise not far from it. Very slowly, unhurried.
***
D'aijeen had already forgotten the man. K'airos had said she would wait. D'aijeen could hear... she did hear. No, it couldn't have been. But K'airos had said that she'd told.
Her thin legs pitch black, D'aijeen walked into the hallway, book still held against her chest. She turned to walk outside, careful not to hurry herself. Already she felt weary, just from the shivering of her hands, the shaking of her tail, the wideness of her eyes.
***
"It will be alright, Airos, I promise." Antimony ran right up to her daughter, made to grip her arms and then, as though she couldn't help herself, hug her close. "Ulanan will help keep us safe. I just need to speak with Aijeen. She's scared, but it's okay. I promise you!"
K'airos practically lunged at the hug, collapsing on her mother's arms. "She's not scared! She's...I don't know what she is! I tried to do what she wanted, but it wasn't enough!" she cried, words trampling over each other, becoming barely understandable. She pushed away, but still kept her hands on Antimony's arms. "You need to leave! She'll hurt more people if you don't!"
The lalafel hadn't moved an ilm from where she stood. She moved the pages of her book and two other balls of light came from it, taking the same shape as the previous one. One of them did the predictable thing and tried to bite the voidsent's head off. The other followed Ulanan's finger and flew towards the two Miqo'te.
D'aijeen stopped on the steps of the inn, just outside, and watched her mother and sister embrace. Her body tensed up, but then it relaxed, and suddenly she didn't feel like anything. All of her tiredness melted into numbness. She felt weightless. The sensation was so strange that she laughed at it. She laughed loudly, and the shadows around her shook as if they were laughing too. Her eyes smiled, and then teared up, she was laughing so hard.
Antimony kept K'airos close even as her daughter sought to pull away. She kissed her forehead, pet her ears. "You don't have to be scared, Airos. I will make everything alright again, I promise. I will--" She blinked in confusion suddenly, lifted her head somewhat as laughter reached her ears. Twisting her head towards the sound, her mouth dropped open, eyes widening at the sight of her youngest daughter. She half turned, not letting go of K'airos immediately but still wanting to give D'aijeen attention. The black on her skin made Antimony's stomach roil, though. How far had she fallen with these demons? "Aijeen... What has happened to you..?"
K'airos shook, looking at her sister. "You need to leave!" she repeated. "I don't want you to, but you have to! She'll get worse!" She turned to face her mother with a pleading expression.
Ulanan walked towards them, hastily, with the book in her hand shining brightly. There were now half a dozen blue maws hovering following behind her, and she probably had another few inside a pocket somewhere.
"Happened? Mom, I've made myself beautiful." D'aijeen's laughter fell away, though she still smiled broadly. She paused in her approach to turn sideways and let herself be seen, brushing the wand and rodent skulls through her skirt so the stained frills would bounce. "I wanted to be pretty for Airos. She is my love, after all. My destiny. My most perfect dream. The one lover that can redeem an entire world of hate. My own K'airos." She pushed her hip to one side, stretching her discolored legs in display. "Do you like it, mom? Have you come to reconsider? If you would only accept me, we could all be together."
Turning from K'airos while keeping one arm on her, Antimony fought back a rising nausea at D'aijeen's actions. She shook her head slightly, tail quivering, sensed Ulanan moving closer to them but found the bulk of her focus locked on the young girl across from her. "Aijeen... I only want us to be together again, happy again," she breathed. "Is this... is this because of what happened in Ul'dah? That monster... I know it wasn't your fault, love. I know."
D'aijeen reeled, taking a step back, ducking forward as if to catch her balance. Then she was upright again, and she ground out in a deep, choking tone. "How do you know about that?"
Green eyes looked away for a second, to Ulanan and then past the lalafell towards the entrance to the town. She hesitated, watched the gate for a second, and then returned her near-mournful gaze to her daughter. "D'hein cared about D'ahl very much, too. I know it must have frightened you, Aijeen." She finally pulled herself away from K'airos to take a few steps towards the younger girl. "And... and you are grieving, I know. Please let me help you."
K'airos faced her sister, though her eyes were fixed on her mother's back. She tapped her hands together repeatedly. She said nothing, since every time she did or said anything things simply got worse.
Behind, Ulanan and her maw squad stopped, not very far, peeking between the two Miqo'te.
The Baalzephons continued to move beneath the shadows, as though waiting. D'aijeen didn't even see them. Her eyes were on her mother, though. "Grieving? I'm done. I'm not afraid. Fear is what other people feel instead of love. You're all afraid. I can see it all over you." She gestured with her head. "Airos is afraid of me. You brought the Lalafel the hurt D'ahl. How do you think you're going to help me when you're afraid of me?"
Antimony went quiet at that. Quiet because it was true. She was terrified of her own daughter - or rather, what her daughter had become. This was so much worse than the beast in the desert. It was worse than all the hateful words. Shutting her eyes, Antimony took in a shaky breath and then, very slowly reached into her pocket to pull out the letters Ulanan had given her. "Protective spells," she said, her voice as steady as she could make it, but thin in the fear that rode just beneath. She held the papers towards D'aijeen as though showing her and then, very deliberately, dropped them to the ground. "You are my daughter," she said. "I love you. I will not fear you."
"I'm not a child anymore." D'aijeen continued forward a few paces, the smile inching its way back on to her face. "You don't love me. You just want to stop me. You don't love me. You don't want to get close to me, or touch me, or listen to me. You don't think I'm pretty. You don't like what I do. You don't love me. You just want to take my Airos away from me."
K'airos took a step forward. She was about to burst into crying again, but she kept herself under control. "No! Don't you see?" she shouted to her sister. "You are the one driving me away from you! We would be happy if you hadn't freaked out at mom! You need to stop!"
"None of that is true, Aijeen," Antimony managed through a thin breath. "None of it. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have come here."
![[Image: AntiThalSig.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/179079766/AntiThalSig.png)
"Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven."
Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii)Â - Â Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki
