-Out of Darkness-
   Out of the pitch black emptiness floated a crumbling throne.Â
Sitting alone, solitary in place, a woman is alone-forever wearing an expression of anguished distaste.
Palm on Cheek, eyes downcast, over and over she anguishes and laments...forever.
None will witness her burden.
None will share her regrets.
Sitting alone, in her solitary space, a woman is alone forever wearing an expression of anguished distaste.
-Crime upon birth-
Edilta had a number of grand accomplishments and triumphs in her life thus far. At a young and startling age, she had managed to grasp power within her brutal and elitist-drunk clan, displaying not only her capability to produce astounding phenomena with her magic, but the intelligence to utilize her mind in such a way that she was able to grasp power with little issue of notice. In the few years that followed, she had both secured herself as a feared and respected head, and surrounded herself with individuals both powerful and equally loyal, something thus far unheard of. She had protected her home from foolish invaders, natural obstacles, and caused it to prosper through the toughest of times. She had felt the twinge and prick of love, and similar to her success thus far, she had borne a healthy and beautiful baby girl, her heir inherent, and from the divinations of the clan priests, celebrated as a child that would bring prosperity and joy their people. All of these things were her pride, her life, and she was properly prepared for all of them.
And yet...nothing prepared her for the pain of her second childbirth. Edilta could do nothing but hold her beloved's hand and scream through the pain, trying to force herself to focus on the task at hand. This day had been a source of much worry for her, and Escor-her chosen mate-for many and more moons now. The pregnancy had come with many stresses, the most concerning of which being the fate of her child. Lack of any activity at all from the child would cause anyone to worry, but a crippling sickness on top of it made things worse. As if that were not enough, the priests divination on the child was less than pleasant. Almost in opposition to its older sister, Edilta's second child was placed to be a scourge on the clan-one who would cause ruin. Apparently not one to disappoint others, on the very day deigned to bring misfortune, the child suddenly began to stir, bringing things to the current situation.
"Restrain her dammit!" the priest began barking to the aides running about like bees buzzing in a panic after getting their hive disturbed. "Dammit, I said RESTRAIN her! if she begins casting any magics while otherwise occupied we could all end up minus one head!" The priest continued to bark and scream while Escor looked to his wife with a calm but very real concern, half for his unborn child and mate, and half for not knowing what use he would have for whatever was left of his hand after Edilta was finished squeezing the last of his bones into dust, squishing his veins together like jelly. "Escor," she started, a pained blush spreading across her face, "Im quite ready for this to end already!" Feeling useless, he could not do much more than bear the pain in his palm and nod to her slowly, doing his utmost to keep things under control. Males within their clan had no real power to speak of, which is why they were considered hardly better than workers or cattle unless they were lucky enough to be born into a family of priests and diviners. Escor wasnt exactly an exception to the rule, in fact his aether levels were below average for even the males of his clan. His way of utilizing his magic however was what made him stand out. Unlike the majority of the clan that relied on their magic for everything, Escor had made efforts to train his body alongside his mind, using bursts of what little aether he had combined with his strength and artificial crystal implants to explosive effect, making him a dangerous opponent to cross without a solid plan. He was an amazing strategist, and oddly enough, an inventor of sorts, being responsible for most of the recent improvements to transportation and aether control among the clan. All of this proved useless however, when attempting to think of a way to comfort Edilta through her pain. Feeling his facade of calm coming to a fast halt as he began to see the beginnings of Edilta unconsciously channeling magic, he began to feel the urgency of the situation rise. Edilta using magic without clear intent in mind was dangerous for everyone. Unlike everyone else who are able to have normal childbirths, Edilta is the head of the clan-the Abigor of the clan. The clan heads are all attuned to the clans mother crystal-a large chunk of crystal that was the original medium for their magic, and also the current source of most of the magic supplying their home and keeping it from falling from the sky. While there was no danger of her destroying the crystal, if she were to channel such a large amount of aether alongside her own thats already massive in its own right, then everything within a pretty healthy distance might well get blown to pieces.
Before he could open his mouth to comfort her however after having his mental review of the situation, he realized that it was over. In her arms lay a beautiful baby, with aether practically singing off of its skin. "Shes going to be fine then," he breathed out with a relieved sigh, taking a moment to observe the natural crystal poking from her forehead with interest. "So, what are we going to name her?" Edilta raised her eyes slowly, tiredly for a moment, still in a daze from everything that just happened, looking to Escor with a confused expression. "What do you mean?" she sighs slowly, fighting to keep her consciousness. "Its a boy."
"Huh?" Those words and a crack of a disbelieving smile were all that he could do, for in the next moments his sons cry would send a shriek through the ward, and simultaneously everything would be erased as if it were never there.
[ Fifteen days later, in the hall of judgements ]
What a cruel joke. Edilta thought bitterly, sitting in the center of a large podium and surrounded by peers she wanted nothing more than to shatter into pieces. Below her, tied down and bound to the floor with magic, lay her newly born child. The laws of her people were rather unmerciful and strict. Before he was even born, he was assumed to be a child of misfortune because of some priests reading-a crime in itself if confirmed true. Normally such a claim would fall through with the birth of the child proving they were an average citizen; This was not the case today. Fifteen days ago my son was born...a beautiful, shining baby boy. Ive never had such happiness followed by such dread and anguish in my life. Edilta inhaled slowly, taking in the scene from her nightmares made reality. As leader of her people, she was required by custom to preside as the final judge over the fate of her son as dictated by their laws. Despite whatever she may feel, she was bound to emotionlessly pass judgement over all who were tried here.Â
However, Edilta Abigor realized full well what this trial really was. A public display of her first known failure, and an attempt to use emotional reaction to usurp her position as the Abigor. If she were to give an emotional ruling even once, she could be claimed unfit for leadership, as she no longer upheld the standards and interests of her people, but rather herself. The stress caused by the situation was meant to be twofold, and her sons crimes made it impossible for her to help him. If he were simply being accused of being born on the wrong day, she could easily dissuade the ruling to her favor. Her son was not being accused of just one crime however, but five. Him being paraded as a cursed child ironically is what put the final nail in the coffin. His appearance, gender, and display of potential are all directly opposed to what was considered normal by not just herself, but everyone present. A people known for their manipulation of crystals causing their features to shift into hues of blue and green, particularly about their eyes and hair, he has already proven himself an anomaly. But being a male that is able to channel such magic freely-and so soon after being born is what scared everyone the most. Men are known to have little control over aether in her society, and his levels have already appeared to surpass most citizens considered elite. The fact that he was also born with a crystal in his forehead made things worse. It is proof the magic was not simply a one time accident, it was something he would eventually be capable of replicating again and again. Even this would not be a problem per se, had the magic itself simply been powerful. Instead, it had to be something no one had seen before, a type of magic that appears to eradicate everything in its wake. Where once there was a room, with a bed, medical salves, doctors and aides...her mate...there was, quite literally, nothing. As if they were never there at all. Instead what remained were marks and scars that suggested whatever once occupied the space they were in was eaten away, as if by some monster.Â
Only it wasnt a monster at all, but a baby. HER baby no less, the one most associated with the ideals and standards of her society, which is why a trial against an infant is able to be blown to this proportion. By being born the son of an Abigor, he was cursed to be a target of political schemes and used as a device of unrest. Unable to even display emotion during the duration of a trial, Edilta kept herself stoic, digging her fingertips into the back of her clasped hands if she began to feel herself slip. This farce needs to be over soon. I tire of this already.
One of the judges finally spoke up enough for Edilta to stop tuning out the hearing. "-And as has been reviewed, the accused has been found guilty of assault of renowned citizens, destruction of property, unauthorized use of high level destructive magicks within enclosed areas, murder, and being a child of misfortune. With these grave offenses already mounted against him, the council believes it best that the criminal in question be sentenced to death-" "Denied," Edilta immediately cut in. "The criminal in question is an infant, and therefore protected from any damages to property upon arrival. Further, under both heritage of birth and recognition of status via aether use, he has already identified himself as a renowned citizen, removing him from any and all consequence of assaulting individuals of the same class under defense of self cause."Â
Edilta knew this game, and how to play it. If her enemies were going to use their laws and policies to push an unfair trial upon an infant, then she would use those same tactics to prevent it. Sadly, her defenses were at an end. All she could do now was offer a satisfying ruling for everyone. In order to end this game, I must give a ruling that neither damns the boy to death, nor saves us both from shame and punishment. Edilta silently allowed herself a moment to anguish over her sorrow under the guise of thinking deeply, knowing all too well the best answer, but wanting in no way to carry it out. Steeling herself for what comes next, she spoke. "However, he has indeed murdered many high class citizens, this fact cannot be ignored. Under our laws he cannot be put to death, but being a child of misfortune he cannot be suffered to his own devices in a prison either. As such, he shall from this moment forth.....be stripped of all rights to be a proper citizen. He will be a servant of the palace servants, and stripped of his right to both learn or practice magic. His face shall be branded with the mark of the accursed, and he will be stripped of his name." Upon hearing the murmurs of satisfied onlookers and judges, Edilta began to stand, before being halted by one of the judges sitting nearby. "Milady Abigor," she started, "Surely such a ruling is worse than a death penalty? It would be far kinder and efficient to just kill off the child of misfortune now and sa-" she found herself cut off by a sudden chilling in the air and a glowing stare of fury from Edilta. "Lili Lilim," she spoke as she turned to face her, the air beginning to crackle with electricity, "Are you questioning my authority? If you would challenge my rule Ive no accepting you right now." Lili's eyes returned the stare with defiant hesitation, but she knew better than to try fighting the clan Abigor directly. She would have to satisfy her need to humiliate her in other ways, later. In actuality, allowing her son to live presented even more chances to do so, his fate now truly being worse than death. "N-no ma'am," she started, immediately popping from her soft seat and dropping onto her knees. "I simply thought death of such a dangerous individual would be a mercy, rather than allowing-" "MY authority does not sustain capacity for mercy." Edilta turned and briskly left the room, leaving an uncomfortable chill in her wake as her son looked on quietly. He hasnt cried since the fourth day.. Leaving that thought with her, she steeled herself for the realization that she would never again be allowed to interact with her son, or hold him, or even observe his growth. Fifteen days was all she had with him, and it was all she would ever have.
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-The Drowned Years-
[ Four years later ]
Its suprising how fast time flies when you let yourself go on autopilot. Four years had passed since I stripped my son of his rights and possibilities. It was four years ago, and yet I feel as if that was the day Id died. Nothing else in particular changed, everything afterwards returned to the usual lull of the throne. Except now I had no mate, and my son was branded a criminal. I caught glances of him sometimes, while roaming the halls or resting on a balcony. His treatment was indeed awful. The brands upon his cheeks won him the hostility of any who happened to look upon them, red targets for the high and mighty to aim at. Thanks to being stripped of his name, he was often called useless, and I could only smile bitterly when I noticed one day that he actually reacts to it-he thinks it his own name! Elsewise if not being bombarded with insults he could not hope to understand, he was being beaten and called a mutant, a claim even I myself cannot completely deny with that mane of hair a brown-red sore thumb pointing out to all that he was different, or those burning eyes of his, seemingly challenging all who gaze into them a fiery intensity. While his life seemed to fall ever deeper into the darkness of despair, my daughters life twinkled and sparkled brighter than any other. Her growth leapt and soared forth, a prodigy many found themselves even more pleased with as they hailed her as the child of prosperity. I gave birth to the woman who would supposedly bring the clan great prosperity and happiness, and the man who would supposedly. This however, is impossible; One of them has to be wrong. So that leaves me wondering throughout my days. Am I the mother of salvation, who allowed her son to be damned for the satisfaction of others, or am I the mother of ruin, who damned everyone when she allowed her son to live despite being the harbinger of them all? Alinor is five now, and so far she has shown the most potential of fulfilling her promised purpose, but that in turn leaves me feeling empty. No matter what decision I made, everything ceased to matter after that day.Â
Its shocking how fast time flies when you cease to care. Four years have flown by since I ceased to care about this clan that would destroy my child over a possibility. I am left wondering what I uphold this position for, what I really want. At first, I just focused on the fact that I did not simply have one child, and tried to build off of that. Forget one child, dote on the other. But being a ruler is different. I can try to ignore what is all I want, but I cannot forget when I have to face those responsible for my anguish every day. the priests who divine possible futures, Lili Lilim who had scraped and struggled her way into becoming one of my seven knights, and myself. I could not escape from nor forgive any of them. What an annoying prison.Â
"...I need to take a walk."
[ At the same time ]
The boy didnt know what he was doing wrong. Not given the luxury to learn proper speech from anyone, he could not understand more than a handful of words that were barked at him; an ignorant toddler who could no more understand what was being said than he could tell the difference between scary insults and scary orders. All he knew was that an older person was screaming words at him and pointing at something on the wall, and when he looked towards where she was pointing, she would hit him over the head. Over and over again she would hit him. "I told you that you were to clean the dust from the bottom of the portrait frames you ignorant cursed ingrate!" The womans name was Vele Vente, a miserly and bitter old woman whom was given the task of caring for the boy until he was able to earn back the kindness she bestowed with service. She was never able to accomplish much in life, having a low enough compatibility with aether to not even be able to sustain a proper connection with an artificial crystal in her forehead. With such disappointing capabilities in a society where magic was almost everything, her families already low standing plummeted into the depths of obscurity, her crowning achievement in life being a good enough servant to serve in the palace in her senior years. As if to stick a nail into her shameful life, she was voluntold to take care of the cursed child of misfortune, and since has felt a sting of shame and frustration that she could not shake. Increasingly bitter by the day, she eventually began to vent on the small boy, finding that her suppressed fear of the child was slightly relieved with each blow. Knowing he had no way to understand her, this was her one vice in her passing days. Continuing to hit him as others passed by & nodded approvingly, she began to strengthen her strikes to his head, her last blow knocking him into the nearby wall, and drawing blood.Â
"When I come back here, that wall had better be scrubbed CLEAN, or Im just gonna have to paint the rest of it with your blood to cover it up, you hear!?" As she turned to walk away in a prideful huff, actually tired out from all her "physical activity", she found herself face to face with one Edilta Abigor, clan head, feared leader, and mother to the child whos head was bleeding onto a wall while he sat in a crumple against it dizzily like a ragdoll. "I see youre very devoted to your work down to your discipline Vele." Contrary to what Vele expected, Edilta's face and inquiries were calm. Thinking that the woman was even colder than she imagined, she bowed her head respectfully before replying. "Of course ma'am, I am quite dedicated and proficient in everything involving service to you, from cleaning to discipline. All is for your honor and the honor of our clan milady." At this string of comments, Edilta raised an eyebrow and began a slow clap. "Quite admirable," she began, "I am very impressed. I am quite famished from my walk just now, so I would have you serve me some tea. Since you are so devoted to your work and me, I trust you would have no issue humoring me for a bit." At this, Edilta begins to calmly walk away, waving slowly for Vele to follow, much to her suprise and happiness, feeling she was finally being given a chance to raise her standing a bit more.
After following her to a nearby balcony and being given the necessary items from her usual servers, Vele began happily preparing tea as Edilta looked into the expanse of white beyond, seemingly in a sort of daze. Feeling uncomfortable with the silence, Vele began to speak up. "Its amazing isnt it ma'am? Our ancestors built such a large castle from magic, and the adamantoise below keep us out of reach from all. They must have known how amazing it was, seeing as they made so many balconies so we can take in the view all over the place!" "I am aware of our history Vele, I do not need a refresher lesson." Edilta replied with a mixture of disinterest and irritation, prompting Vele to hasten her work. "W-well anyway milady, the teas ready. Best to drink it while its pipin hot & fresh!" Vele hastily poured the tea into a overly decorated cup and handed it to Edilta, who accepted without shifting her gaze from the expanse beyond and took a sip, tasting it patiently. After a few more sips and moments of awkward silence, Edilta spoke up. "Vele," she started, the air coming down with a slight chill, "You value discipline and quality in your work, yes?" "Of course ma'am, I am quite dedicated and proficient in everything involving service to you, from cleaning to discipline," she repeated her line from before, adding "and I am quite proud of it!" "You have said this twice now. You see, I also value discipline and quality above all else; it is my pride and my joy to be the face of this our most glorious society." Edilta closed her eyes slowly, then overturned the cup in her hand, pouring its contents onto the floor. "So why then, is it that you cannot brew a simple cup of tea properly?" Vele's eyes widened in horror as she felt the chill in the air become a frost, and heard the beginnings of electricity crackle around her. "You are a senior servant within the palace, so it is impossible for you to have not been instructed on how to brew tea properly. I can only assume you are looking down on me, and as ruler I must assume this is a hostile action by one who cannot properly utilize magic." Edilta's eyes began to glow their terrifying ice blue that promised judgement as Vele tried to stammer out a reply. "Of course not milady, I live to serve-" her reply was cut short by Edilta's continually raising voice and chilling magic. "The cup has refuse from the leaves, making the water unpleasantly thick. You failed to stew the leaves long enough before adding the sugar, causing the flavor to be an unpleasant mixture of bitterness and blandness; further, you handed me the cup immediately after pouring, and handed me the cup while you held onto the handle, causing me to recieve a burn." As if to confirm her words, Edilta opened her white hand to display a red line pulsing painfully across her palm. "Clearly, you were trying to poison my palate and assault me with your tea. This insult shall not go unpunished. GUARDS!" In mere moments, Vele was surrounded by robed women pointing heavy looking weapons towards her. "This woman has injured my hand with her carelessness. In exchange, take her right hand, so that she may never again forget to place thoughtfulness into the things she does so carelessly with her extremeties. She has also insulted my palate, so in exchange remove her tongue, so that she may never again enjoy the priveledge of taste. Finally," Edilta paused, the crackling in the chilly air quite loud now, "She has looked into my eyes and lied to me. Remove her left eye so that she never forgets the gravity of lying to someones face." Turning back to viewing the desert beyond once again as she finished her order, Vele spoke up rather quickly, her panicked voice more of a squeak than anything. "M-m-milady Abigor, please reconsider! If I have truly offended you so, then please allow me a chance to-" her words were cut short by a sudden wall of frost enveloping her mouth, sealing it shut. "You must have forgotten who I am," Edilta said as she turned, her icy eyes glowing coldly into Vele's, "I am Abigor. I am the one who leads our clan to greater glory and prosperity, and my position does not sustain any kind of mercy. Live on, repenting your mistake forever." Having finished her rebuttal, she turned back to her view, unresponsive to the further please and squeals of Vele as she was dragged away.
As the doors shut behind the guards, a woman holding a rather unreasonably large gourd appeared to be standing behind them, taking a prolonged swig from one of the many smaller gourds tied to the larger one. A faint blush on her face, her dark green hair falling in a messy mop over her face down to her shoulders, she wiped her mouth, raising her seemingly dizzy blue eyes onto Edilta. "Wazzat really necessary?" She began with a burp, wiping her mouth with a soiled and wrinkled sleeve, "I guess ev'ry one oughta watch out for the overprotective mommy!" Chuckling slightly to herself she took another gulp of her drink while offhandedly noting to herself that the chill indicating Edilta was getting irritated returned to the air, albeit without the threatening crackle of electricity. "Ive no idea what you mean." She replied simply, not bothering to turn around. "Oh don' ye though? I mean I don' think anyone else was listenin' thanks to them scary magicks you always pull out whenever youre bein' all majestic, but I heard it clearly." The woman paused to burp, then continued, "You told her to repent her MISTAKE forever, not her mistakes. Someone who knows you well enough might be able to glean what you were really miffed about, but I guess you's got everyone wrapped tightly enough round them fingers of yours that they wont question you out of fear of judgement." Finishing her statement, she returned to slirping & gulping her drink, spilling bits of it here & there. Sparks singing suddenly through the air, Edilta opted to reply, "An impossible conclusion, I in no way acted emotionally, I simply passed judgement on an incompetent individual. Nothing more, nothing less." At this, the woman smiled impishly, then suddenly jumped to Edilta's side, suddenly seizing the cup and inspecting it. "Hmm.....dont feel like its sizzlin my flesh to me! If I didnt know any better, Id have to guess you just burned your own hand to make it seem like you were injured by the cup. After all, if it was that hot, you would have immediately dropped it no? You also took multiple sips of the tea, and last I checked, if something is boilin hot enough to burn your hand like that, you wouldnt be able to taste it soilin yer palate since itd be too busy melting away the flesh in your mouth. But thats if I didnt know any better." Throwing the cup from the balcony into the expanse below, she shrugged it off. "Guess no one'll have the chance to find out now though. My bad milady." Edilta stiffened, but kept her gaze fixed onto the horizon. "Your insinuations insult. I am in no position nor have I the right to be worried about the boy. That task should fall to another individual, not myself; Whomever should care for such an accursed child is no concern of mine, as long as he is able to carry out his sentence of existing as a rankless citizen for the rest of his life without accident. The feelings of either party is irrelivant, as long as these conditions are fulfilled." Upon hearing this the drunken woman frowned a bit before smiling wide & embracing Edilta with a giddy giggle. "Aww, yer so cute when you try to ask people to do favors! I'll do it ta make ya happy you adorable little sweetling you!" In the next moment a bolt of electricity was occupying the space where the drunken woman just was, the woman in question having already jumped backwards with a strange laugh. "I dun 'member givin ya any requests to do nothin you drunken harlot you! And dont go touchin me with that stinkin alchohol breaf on ya, it makes me nauseous!" Edilta shrieked the words out, before a deep blush spread across her face and she coughed into her hand to regain her composure, looking at the tea she had spilled onto the floor earlier in defeat. I can never beat this woman, she thought with a mixture of irritation and maybe a bit of happiness, then continued, "You understand what youre saying dont you? Youre ranked second in command of my knights. I cannot have someone that close to me raising him, it would imply my influence. Adopting him would lower your social standing, and the fools would insult you behind your back. You'd become a target." "I dun recall ever giving two bubbles in a fart what folks thought of me in da first place," the woman replied flatly with a shrug, "If they got enough guts to bring any of that mess to my face I'll just have to make them swim through a steaming fresh pile of adamantoise dung!" Finishing her statement with a thumbsup and another swig, she began to walk away.
"No, I still need you for a while yet," the chilly air around Edilta began to fade as she continued, "Besides, he would only need someone to look out for his well being, nothing more." Looking back to the horizon as she finished her sentence, the drunken woman simply shrugged and began taking gulps from her gourd once more, exaggerating her exhales & taking in the view. Distracted by her noisy drinking, Edilta turned to face the woman, wearing a weary but calm expression.Â
"Give me some of that."
-Chaos and Order-
 Scratches, cracks, and general damage began to coat the marble floors and granite walls, breaking hanging ornaments and protruding bits of obsidian as two blurs bounced and jumped and flew about in the castle. To those caught within the typhoon of destruction, the scene had become something of a norm for them. Catching bits of angered howls ands shouts only served to confirm any doubts they might have had about the situation.
"The Second and Fourth seated knights are at it again," they would always think or say, already fully aware of whom the blame belonged too. It had become so steady an occurence nowadays that those caught in the middle were hardly even shaken anymore, continuing about their day as the chaos unfolds around them. The blurs continued to clash and sing throughout the castle, until finally they settled within a wide open room filled with boxes and drapes forgotten and dusted over; a storage room that had gone unused or perhaps forgotten for quite a while. While the blurs danced and bounced from the walls in the room, one was repelled in the air and sent crashing down into a pile of boxes, flinging boards and splinters of wood and clouds of dust everywhere. Landing neatly on the ground, a woman wearing a tight fitting halfrobe, her arms and legs covered in various ornaments and gaudy looking jewelry, and carrying an extremely heavy looking double bladed axe. Pointing it at the pile of wood where the other blur just landed, she held her head towards the light, her wide forehead and embedded crystal slightly reflecting it where her gray-green bangs hadnt found themselves fallen from their neatly placed style on her head.Â
"Mui Shiranui, you have defiled the honor of the second seat enough. I am going to beat the weight of your position back into you until you have some semblance of sense returned into your head!" She shouted her proclamation to a silent pile, only the faint rumblings of shifting movement being her one response. After several moments a dark blue haired woman crawled out of the rubble, looking equal parts confused and tired, a tiny gourd grasped in each hand and her face covered in dust. Coughing slightly and scratching her head before turning to her addressor with a yawn, she climbed out a bit silently and sat on her large gourd in the pile, she finally replied with a thoroughly bored tone. "Seriously Lili? What are you so wound up about anyway?" Mui nonchalantly tuned out Lili's unending speech while she busied herself with removing the dust from her body bit by bit, until she raised one of her gourds for a sip of pick-me-up. Realizing that her gulp was far less satisfying than usual, she inspected her suspiciously light gourd to find that the wood around the rounded bottom had been deeply cracked-and therefore most of the contents had leaked into the filthy pile below. Contrary to what most people believed, Mui was very serious about the things she chose to be passionate about. Things at the top of her list involved not being stressed, drinking, and the creation and maintenance of her gourds, which she considered art. Her methods of creation were very intentional and well thought out too. If one were to observe closely they would realize that every gourd was fashioned of a different size and made of a different variation of wood, metal, and stone. With painstaking love and effort she carved and molded them all herself, even going so far as to fill each with varying amounts of liquor and give tie each of them very specifically to her largest main gourd, cutting designs into each and and painting specific designs on each, so that as she walked the gourds tied in varied ways would have the appearance of a dancing painting. She even went so far as to pick out which gourds to drink from and which amount so that when they collided and knocked against each other as she walked they would make different sounds-her attempts to both keep things fresh and provide a different form of music. Now one of them was damaged. This meant hunting for the wood to recreate it, carving new designs into it, and repainting it; During this entire process she would have that much less liquor to drink, so needless to say Mui was continually less happy the more Lili went on.
While musing to herself the various ways she could get payback for the trouble Lili just caused, Mui felt a sudden shifting beneath her, as if something was struggling beneath the debris. Digging her now free hand into the pile, she fished around through the wood until catching whatever it was, grabbing a piece of cloth and yanking it out with a curious interest in whatever it was. At the end of her grip was a familiar boy holding a cloth, and seemingly quite intent on running away from whatever it was that just abducted him, his little legs kicking on the air like someone with every intent of getting far away from something-namely this situation. "Oh...its the kid.." Mui sighed with a smile, taking the cloth from his hands to begin dusting off his hair. "They really ought to at least cut yer hair, people are gonna start to thinkin yer a girl at this rate." She wasnt wrong. Having been left to grown untamed, the boys hair was already well past his shoulders, his bangs obscuring most of his face, the uncared for appearance being the only thing left lending to its masculinity. Placing him on the ground when she realized his already tattered rags were ripping under his own weight, the boy immediately bolted off blindly-and straight into Lili's unprepared bosom. Unintentionally wiping his face against her halfrobe in his attempts to escape, her once shimmering robe was quite quickly defiled into a messy shadow of its former self-much to Mui's amusement. Already immediately livid from this turn of events, seeing Mui's smug face was the nail in the coffin, and a moment later the boy found his head had just made best friends with the pointed butt of an axe hilt, while also learning that kissing the floor at hilt blown velocity was a great way to make your sharp teeth grind really badly against all the soft flesh in your mouth and tear it into shreds, while also busting his lip. Her smile disappearing, Mui immediately ran to his side to pick him up off the ground, her eyes flickering at the sight of blood spatters on the floor and a new scratch somewhere on the side of his head bleeding profusely down his neck from somewhere underneath his mop of hair. "What do you think yer doin to a kid!?" she growled while turning to Lili's direction, her mouth twisted into a snarl. "Im doing everything within my rights," Lili spat back cooly. "This abomination on society is the lowest of ranking citizens, and he had the nerve to not only leave your presence without paying proper respect, but to also invade my person and wipe his...*Lili took a moment to make an extremely displeased and disgusted face*...essence all about my person. I am very finely within my rights to punish him accordingly." While she was technically correct, Mui knew that Lili was fully aware like everyone else that the boy had no way of possibly knowing any of this information, seeing as he was left in an abyss of neglect the past four years, and being so young on top of that, him being held accountable for laws he couldnt possibly have knowledge of was many of the loopholes that could be exploited in their laws. He is a low class citizen, so as a high class citizen-and a leading authority no less, she would not be questioned if she were to decide to brutally and unjustly punish a child if that child happened to be the cursed one hated-or feared-by the entire clan. "Perhaps it will learn proper manners if I remove a few of its teeth? Perhaps break the eyesockets so that the eyes are forced open at all times and he will remember to actually look where he is going? OR *Lili clenched her fist until her knuckles cracked* perhaps I'll just break its arms so that it knows never to touch those clearly beyond its league!?" Smirking to herself as she finished her statement, she was thrown off course when she noticed Mui pick the boy up and walk towards the exit, even more shockingly leaving her gourd behind as she did so. At first Lili could only stare in complete and utter shock at the turn of events, but a few moments later her shock formed into a smirk.
Digging into her collar and retrieving a small and gaudy looking whistle, she blew into it and sent a loud shrill throughout the halls. At first there was nothing, but moments later the room began to fill with more people-Outer Castle guards that fell directly under Lili's command, three robed magicians forming from glyphs in the ceiling, and curious passerby that heard the shrill-all appearing one after the other until the original three occupants were surrounded and giving Lili the crowd she wanted. "Hear me! The cursed child has defiled my honor as third knight and assaulted my person with his filth. I demand the proper punishment in accordance with our laws, but Mui Shiranui has found herself at odds with my completely lawful judgement. Hence, I call all here as witness to my proclamation: Mui Shiranui, if you do not cease this obstruction of justice, then I will have no choice as head of Outer Castle Order but to utilize my entire force to correct your wrongful path!" Having finished her threat, Lili picked up her large axe and pointed it at Mui, the shean of the thick blade reflecting the increasingly bright light glowing in her eyes-Lili was fully serious and invested in her words. And there it is, Mui thought, finally seeing the pieces come together. Normally whenever Lili chased her she only did so until Mui stopped running, and then would chew her ear off for hours on end about etiquette and proper image. Today however, she not only chased her with more vigor than usual, she only did it in certain areas, as if she were herding her towards an objective of some sort. Finally, she knocked Mui into the pile of old storage-something that she would normally never do without the best of reasons; reasons that now had come together in Mui's head far too late, realizing that she had already lost the game the moment she was made into a cannonball on top of the child. She could only stare into the childs face and curse herself for not noticing sooner while the boy busied himself with removing bits of wood from her clothes, one hand on the side of his head. "There aint no justice in beating on a kid fer yer own jollies," Mui said finally, taking a deep breath. "Im taking the kid to the apothecary. I wont pull rank or nothin here, but ya all know who I am, and that it dont matter how many of ya there are. If you get in my way, then I will break you." Â At this, the three robed figures floating above them finally stirred, the one in the middle being the one to speak in an obscenely loud and commanding voice. "THIS INCIDENT HAS BEEN WITNESSED AND SHALL BE RECORDED AS AN OFFICIAL CHALLENGE. LET THE RESULT BE WHAT IT MAY, BUT NONE SHALL DISTORT THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" Having finished its statement, the robed figures all similarly disappear into glyphs as they appeared. Not wasting a moment after their departure, Lili charged for Mui, starting yet another chase down the halls and corridors reduced to blurs and the sounds of clashing.Â
 -The Spear and the Princess-
Alinore looked over the balcony with twinkling eyes as she stared at the white desert below, her usual silent companion looking on without any expression to speak of. This was the first time Alinore had actually had the time to gaze at the world below outside of the inner Palace walls. Having shown her ability to thoroughly excel at her studies, her demand for exploration of the outer castle was allowed, if only for a brief time and with her usual escort to follow her. What she saw was the bone white desert that her home floated and traveled over constantly, until every fourth year when the time comes for the clan to accept applicants into the society, provided they were found worthy. The desert itself was known for its harshness, with constant sandstorms, brutal extreme weather, supposedly home to many fierce monsters, and considered a devoid of any other developed race aside from her clan. What Alinore saw however was not a harsh white wasteland, but Sparkling Jewel that she had yearned to gaze upon for as long as she had known about it. Turning to her companion with a beaming smile, she began her series of questions. "An An, who does the desert belong to?" Anell Garcelle looked to the girl with her usual expression, stoic and emotionless as she surveyed her surroundings. Alinore was a girl that seemed to shine brighter than the sun at times, but the nature of her curiousity had always given Anell pause. To anyone who looked upon her, Alinore was every bit the girl she was foretold to be prior to her birth-a child of prosperity and growth for her people; It was even reflected in her features, which seemed to make her seem divine when compared to the rest of her people. It was a well known superstition that their clans "colors" passed down through the generations reflected a childs potential for magic. A people who have thus far been shades and hues of blue and green, the individuals potential for magic was theorized to be reflected in the quality and color of the individuals eyes and hair. Bright shades of blue and green usually meant the child was suited to healing magic, while the color and brightness of the childs eyes determined the potency of the said individuals ability to channel said magic. Darker shades of blue and green in the hair usually meant that the individuals capacity for destructive magics was higher, and were reflected as such respectively. The only known exception to this "theory" so far had been the current Abigor, Alinore's mother, who is known for having mastered multiple forms of magic without any known disposition to one or the other despite having the appearance of one who would specialize in healing magics. Whereas her mother is an exception to the theory however, Alinore seemingly bypassed it altogether by not falling into either category properly. Her pale snow hair appeared white at first glance, but inspection of the roots revealed very dark blue hair, similar to her father. Continue inspecting the locks all the way to the tips, and you will find the snowy tips painted ever an ever so pale light blue. Look into her eyes and you see your own reflection staring back, pools of blue-green sparkling brilliantly into yours like a mirror. Her proficiency with magic only made her seem all the more divine in the eyes of those entranced-a child of five mastering basic magic was unheard of, even for her mother. To Anell, this girl was clearly a being completely different from her, but she was not sure that she felt like the child she was foretold to be. Something about Alinore made Anell want to submit, to protect her, and do anything she wishes, whatever the cost may be. What she couldnt place, however, was WHY Alinore made her feel this way, which is what made her uneasy. Having taken a moment to indulge in her thoughts, Anell finally opened her mouth to answer as emotionlessly as her face appeared. "It belongs to no one, heir."
Alinore pondered her answer for a moment before smiling and moving on to her next question. "If it belongs to no one, that means it can be mine right?" Her concentration broken from the seeming madness of the question, Anell locked her gaze onto the girl breaking her attention. "You would claim the Myym Desert for your own heir?" Taking a moment to consider the question, hand on chin, Anell thought to herself for a proper answer, feeling again that twinging discomforting need to submit to the girl. "It would be very difficult to do so, and it is not a very nice thing to have. Are you sure you want to claim it milady?" Looking to Anell as if she said something preposterous, the chipper girl frowned and put her hands on her hips, still somehow looking like she was happy all the while. "What are you talking about? Of course I want it. Something that pretty, and no one would take it....its just strange. I'll have it." Walking once again to the balcony edge to peer onto the desert below while happily ignoring Anell's insistence that it was dangerous, her eyes caught sight of something most strange-nay, impossible, below her. Bouncing and smashing against each other and the Outer Castle wall were a series of blurs. By all appearances, Alinore was witnessing a conflict happening far below her, but one thing in particular clashed with the logic of such a conclusion: They were doing so without any floor or ground below them to speak of. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be their source of footing was the outer wall of the Castle that so many blurs were bouncing off of and disappearing into the sea of Adamantoise pulling and anchoring the Castle below. Upon continued inspection, Alinore realized that the blurs were getting increasingly closer, and at an extremely fast pace. No sooner had she realized this did she see a stray spell fire off in her direction. Pulled back at the last second by Anell, the duo turned to the entryway of the balcony to see a group of lalafell fighting each other on and up a wall. While Anell simply surveyed the situation with her usual lack of emotion, Alinore found herself bursting with curiousity and questions. How did they manage to move so quickly? How are they running up the wall like its the floor? why are they fighting? What is...that? Finding that she couldnt see what was going on very well, Alinore tried focusing the entirety of her attention on the details of what was going on around her, trying her best to take in every detail of what was going on.Â
After about half a minute of watching the exchange, Alinore had an idea of what was going on. Â For whatever reason, a group of people was attacking one person. She was doing rather well for it being so many against one, but her movements were awkward, and strange. Forcing her eyes to focus on her more, she realized that the woman was carrying someone, and for whatever reason, it seemed that person was the target of interest. Her strange movements that earned her cuts and strikes were always made whenever the person in her arm was the target, and almost immediately after the aggressor of said attack found themselves reeling downward towards the desert below. The situation was escalating fast, and Alinore found herself interested. "An An, who is that person that woman is protecting? Is it an important person?" Anell hesitated for a moment, then gave yet another emotionless answer. "It is nothing you need concern yourself with, heir." An An is avoiding answering me. She never does that. Deciding that whomever was interesting enough to start a brawl up a castle wall was worth knowing about, Alinore began to ponder about how to bring them to her level. On one hand, every second she wasted the group rose higher and further away. On the other, stopping might not be possible for her. After all, they could run on walls. Young as she was Alinore clearly understood that feats like that were nothing that could be done simply. The women fighting were skilled. Deciding that gambling and failing was better than thinking she would fail and do nothing, regretting it later, Alinore put her impulsive and completely half thought plan into motion. I just need to get them back down here, she thought, concentrating her aether as much as she could in a wide arc above them. Feeling her magic come into focus she released it, causing a large wall of ice to suddenly sprout in the path of the women fighting. Having successfully stopped them, she began firing shards of ice in their direction, forcing them all to separate to dodge them. Having caught them all in her trap as she wanted, she let her aether expand in a cone behind the wall of ice, making everything above it a slick coat of frost above it. Taking the oppurtunity to force them lower even more, Alinore weakened the tethers to her own aether to make the wall of ice brittle, it breaking from the wall and forcing everyone below it to move away in order to dodge. Finishing her display by creating two more walls of ice around the entrance to the balcony, she fell to her knees as the cluster of women landed inbetween them in clumsy scramble, the wall of ice forcing them down onto the balcony coming to a halt with a smash against the other two, sliding down to block the entrance to the balcony in a sloppy pile.
Looking around frantically for the source of the attack, everyone present froze when they saw the duo present behind them. Getting up from her knees to address the group, Alinores face lit back up. "So...why are you guys fighting? It must be important if you guys are running up walls and stuff right?" She lowers her stare towards Mui's arm, now covered in cuts, to look at the little girl covered in rags squirming in her arm. "Its because of that kid right? Who is she?" While everyone else stared on frozen in place, Anell turned to Alinore to give her counsel. "Heir, their dispute is of no importance, let us retire back to the study for more-" "An An, this is really interesting. Im want to know whats going on." Having been cut off, Anell falls silent, her expression only briefly cracking into one of worry before forming back into her usual emotionless default. Still caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Lili was the first to speak up. "H-honored heir, this woman is obstructing lawful justice, and as such we are issuing proper punishment and-" "Aint no proper punishment in torturin a kid you damn lunatic!" Mui growled before she could finish her sentence, her eyes flickering. "So...you couldnt issue out justice on your own?" Alinore asked, gesturing to the crowd surrounding Mui. "O-of course I could honored heir, but this is not a personal dispute, but lawful justice. Therefore-" "So youre going to attack someone who cant fight back and someone trying to protect that person with a group of people for justice? It seems a little mean." Still smiling, Alinore systematically broke down Lili's argument, all the while edging closer to Mui. "I have an idea," she began gleefully, "I'll watch the kid so you two can have a fair fight. That way whoever wins can do what they want right?" Half pulling, half snatching the boy from Mui's still stunned arm, she grabbed him by the hand and led him back to her original position at Anells side, who's face began to crack ever more with each passing moment. "B-but honored heir-" Lili began again, but again she finding herself cut off by Alinores smiling intervention, "So now you can have a fair fight here right? Im looking forward to it...unless you think that you would lose."Â
Upon hearing those words, Lili's face went a deep shade of pink. Turning her burning eyes to Mui in frustration, she dug the blade of her axe into the ground and began a chant that threw everyone present off guard. "I am Lili Lilim." As she continued her words aether began to build in her forehead, her artificial crystal embedded there beginning to glow like her eyes, forming a trinity of sorts. "I am the flow of order. By my oath, all who foster chaos shall be eradicated." Finishing her chant, Lili's body began to lighten and warp, until she was transparent. Closing her eyes, her face began to melt away until she was a oddly shapen body of water. Appearing harmless for a moment, all was proven false as the water began lashing towards Mui, who barely managed to dodge in time by jumping back and bouncing off the ice to clamber back onto the castle wall, immediately being set upon by the strange body of water, a small crater being left behind by the hit in the wall of ice, which eventually began to melt and evaporate, moving towards the body of water that was increasing in size.Â
Within moments, Alinore realized that this battle was one in which Mui was once again at a disadvantage. Whatever the other woman had become, she was clearly not using any magic that was safe for any to come in contact with. If evidence from the wall of ice that she added to her mass was any indication, getting caught once was the end. Then, to Alinores chagrin, the women that were with her before immediately began setting upon Mui again as well, very much making things the same as before. Or so she thought at first. Mui was very clearly capable without her hands tied. As Lili's water mass attacked her, she would fluidly dodge it, while managing to still land attacks on the other women. As they ascended, the mass lashed towards Mui again, only for her to grab one of her attackers and use her as a shield. When the mass moved around the hostage to attack Mui, she would kick off and attack another, forcing the mass to both catch one of its comrades and try to keep up its assault. As time went on, it became clear to Alinore that the increased attackers, actually worked in Mui's favor. Whatever magic Lili was working clearly wasnt infinite, the giant mass of water was getting slower the bigger it became, and the pile of bodies getting bigger on the balcony seemed to imply that everything Mui was doing was quite intentional. Back at the slick frost Alinore created earlier, Lili absorbed it into her mass, while Mui elbowed her last individual attacker towards the pile below them, her final knockout before the last showdown. With the now massive blob of water falling towards them  with no clear way for any of them to dodge, Mui simply stared upward and smirked.Â
"Ya know...that magic of yours is pretty scary if you think about it too much. I mean, all the magic that hits ye just gets converted into yer aether and added to yer mass right? But no matter how fancy you make it look, theres no way ye can completely alter your body so quickly and still have all your control, no matter how strong ye are. That means your real body is just being hidden in there. Its an ILLUSION." Still smiling to herself, she jumped into the air just as the mass closed in on her, reaching for "something" in the wall of water. Suddenly, everything dissapates into clouds of Aether, and Mui is charging to the ground with Lili's arms wrapped around Mui's, her face contorted in pain. After landing, Alinore saw that Mui had Lili held in the air incapacitated, her fingers dug into Lili's forehead with her crystal tightly squeezed between her index finger and thumb in what looked to be a very painful affair.Â
"Having an artificial crystal can be such a pain right? If someone manages to get a good enough hold on it, I heard the pain'll be enough to make most wet themselves. Wanna help me test it?" She began to squeeze tighter while Lili squirmed and screamed, only to find herself interrupted with a spear pointed towards the back of her neck-Anell's spear. Alinore hadnt even seen her move, nor had she heard her, which was a cause of much distress in a short amount of time. Finding her too fast to follow with her eyes was not something that Alinore would have been suprised about, but she hadnt even heard a woman fully clad in body armor move from her side, nor had she felt it. It was as if she was always behind Mui with the spear pointed, and the Anell that was next to her all this time was a dream. "That is enough Mui, you have proven yourself victorious. Any further and this will become unsightly behaviour-behaviour that I will not condone in the presence of the heir." Dropping Lili into a heap on the ground, Mui turned to scowl at Anell, seemingly unfazed by the blade of a spear against her throat. "Ye really wanna get in my way right now Nelly? I aint in the mood fer any more annoyances today". Anell blinked slowly and answered in her usual emotionless tone, like a statue given a voice. "If I must fight you to make you obey, I will." Both of their eyes coming to a glow, Alinore began to feel the situation go sour fast. Just as she tried to come up with something to remedy the situation, the boy who had so far become little more than scenery suddenly bolted forward, grabbing one of Anells pauldrons and pounding on it with his tiny hands. Having noticed the childs sudden interruption, Anells cold gaze lowered along with her spear as she addressed the boy. "You would challenge me? Your bravery will be remembered." "OI!" Mui cut in, "Touch the kid and I'll rip yer-" "I HAVE AN IDEA EVERYONE!" Caught off guard by Alinores sudden scream, she skipped to the boys side and snatched him into a half hug, half chokehold.Â
"This kid is the reason for this issue right? Well I decided I like this person. So from now on, this person will be mine." As the two looked on dumbstruck, Alinore simply smiled her happy smile and tilted her head, with the boy simply struggling to get from her hold and back to his pummeling. "What exactly is it you are saying heir?" Anell inquired with a raised brow, her curiosity in the turn of events similarly reflected int Mui's face as well. "Ye tryin to say yer gonna protect the boy or somethin?" started Mui, still trying to understand the situation. "Ah, so the kid is a boy huh? Well....nope, Im not gonna protect him or anything. Im just saying, that from now on, he is mine, so no one else can play with him, ok?"
And so fell all the hands in place, that would one day bring the woman to her solitary space.
Where she would sit palm in cheek, eyes downcast, forever alone in that place.
Forever wearing an expression of anguished distaste.
To be continued...
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