RPM
Achronum
kittyluna45
Scrawl Banditta
Not a Sayan
KazAlkemi
Neziul
Kirah
Blizz
The Castle - Two Weeks Ago...
Queen Meliscente Segovia Alys Maerwynn was presented to the subjects of the Castle for once last time. The Throne Room was open for all, as the Queen's coffin was placed where the ornate chairs once sat. Flowers adorned the coffin, charmed by Magyk to keep the vibrant colors of spring despite the dreary and cold December day. At the front were supposed to be the chief mourners - her three children, Valda, Luna, and Myrus. Meliscente's brothers and sisters, as well as their own children, were in attendance as well.
Yet at the back of the room, a young witch dressed in black cried silently, the tears pouring down her face. She knew that it had to be done - that Meliscente was a scourge upon this land and that things would be better off without her. She had a task to complete, one which she knew would outlive herself and that she could only entrust to one other - Fleur, the Port Witch Mother. Creating a Magykal bubble of silence around herself, so that way she could speak freely, Nera stood in the line, waiting to view the fallen Queen and say her goodbyes.
"You were like a mother to me, Meliscente," Nera whispered, placing a black rose upon the coffin. The fallen Queen had been aged beyond her years. "I was lost and confused...so terribly alone...And I thought that you were my mother - how much I wished it would be so, you'd never know. I yearned for the day that you would claim me as yours..." Nera took a shuddering breath. She didn't care that she was holding up the line. No one else had anything they needed to say to the dead but her.
"But you used me, my would be Mother," Nera insisted. "Just as you use everyone around you...Once you had no need of your replacement daughter, you cast me aside! As if I were just a plaything!" she snapped, her fingernails digging into the inside of her palm. "...But I will admit, there were times when things were good. Moments when I could imagine we both could be something beyond our nature. Do you recall when you taught me to braid my hair? Or when you told me not to be ashamed of my fiery locks, but that they were a symbol of the fire that burned within me?"
She was silent for a moment, placing her hand on the coffin as she took back the black rose. "...I suppose you expect me to regret my actions, to wish that I did not send you to the grave."
"But my Queen, the only thing I regret is that your death was painless. And that I could not send your children with you - a mistake that I will rectify, rest assured...Princess Valda, Princess Luna...Even Myrus...They have what is rightfully mine. And I shall see to it that they are destroyed, along with everything you held dear and loved. If you believe that Fendrel met a gruesome end...You have seen nothing yet."
Present Day - The Castle: December 22nd, 12,507 - 10:15 AM
@FantasyChic: Constance nodded, embracing Fleur for a moment. She knew how much Nera had meant to her, how much she had meant to the Coven as a whole. While Malekith's death was no great loss, Nera's was deeply felt. She had been the one to convince the twins to join the Coven, as well as many of the other children. "Bernice'll gather them all up," Constance said, going off to have a quick word with her counterpart before she got to work. A few moments later, Jezebel will approach Fleur again, holding her head in pain from a massive headache before telling her of her latest vision - a good one this time.
@KazAlkemi: Despite the sullen and morose atmosphere of the Young Army caravan, there is a small silver lining. The medic had news beyond their diminished numbers - in fact, it was perhaps the first bit of good news that Amarantha had heard that day. "Ma'am...It's 118, she went into labor," the medic explained, ushering for Amarantha to follow him. In the medical tent, amongst all of the despair and death, a girl of about eighteen years cradled a newborn infant on a bed. As Amarantha approached, the new mother looked up at her, smiling slightly.
"Do you want to meet Dawn?" Girl 118 asked quietly, looking at Amarantha. There was no father. The baby's eyes were a brilliant yet aged blue, with a face that seemed to have already lived through one lifetime and was ready to experience the next.
@LadyRunic: Badger nodded, looking at Rhys for a moment before taking a deep breath. Although Rhys wouldn't know it yet - no one would - Badger managed to actually patch Rhys up without giving him an infection. He then held his hand out, staring at the book with his keen blue and green eyes. "Fetch book!" he repeated firmly. The book flew off the ground to Badger's hand, hitting him with such force that Badger was knocked the ground by his own handiwork, with the book falling flat and covering his face. "...Did I do it right, sir?" Badger squeaked. It would seem Rhys had found himself a prodigy.
Arya Rincewind
Location: Wizard Tower - 1st Floor
Arya bit her lip slightly, positively crimson as Cuyler leaned in. She could feel his breath on her skin and it had a slightly dizzying effect. It took all of her mental effort to focus on Cuyler's revelation of the scratches on the window on the second floor. While it could be nothing, it was possible that it may very well be connected - someone had to have broken into Wizard Tower to mess with the Questing Pot, that much she was certain of.
She then knelt to the floor, her ears feeling like they were bleeding as Valda's voice appeared screaming out of nowhere. Holding her ears, they were ringing as Valda's voice cleared and Arya took a ragged breath. "...This is why I do not care for witches..." she murmured, as one of Atkin's former cat friends ran by and let out a hiss. Yet by the time she rose to her feet, about to share the news with the others, her heart stopped - as Atkin reached into the Questing Pot! "ATKIN!" she screamed, her emerald eyes alive with fury as she dove towards him and smacked the stone out of his hand - it was blank, thankfully - and it clattered back into the pot.
She stared at him, her hands shaking a bit - fear or anger? "Do you have a death wish?!" she scolded, looking at him seriously. "Understand that even if a Draw had not been called and there is no Gathering present, I cannot protect you if you are Picked for the Queste!" she pleaded with him. "What would I tell your family - that I had allowed their son to perish on a barbaric mission?" she added on, before she took a deep and calming breath.
"...At any rate," she said, taking another breath for a moment, "Queen Valda has just contacted me with grave news. The late Queen was indeed murdered - by a witch called Esren Carlan, alias Nera Hawthorn. The Deputy Hunter killed her the previous day...And I must imagine that however she killed Meliscente, it was the same means by which she restored the Questing Pot. It would make sense, after all, for an intruder to Wizard Tower to be one with a Magyk of their own."
She took another calming breath, knowing that Nera Hawthorn's reign of terror on the Castle may have been brief, yet its legacy would be long lasting.
Myrus Silvers
Location: the Palace - Infirmary
Emperor Taj frowned, troubled by this revelation. Although others took comfort in the fact that Nera, the one behind all of this mess, was dead...it brought to mind certain implications. Someone else must have taken the stone. But who? And he feared that more likely than not, they would not be pure of heart or intent. "I must go inform my sister that the stone has changed ownership," Emperor Taj explained, bowing his head to Valda before he left the room.
Myrus gingerly took a sip of Skaoi's concoction and sensing that it was safe, began to drink more deeply. Her herbs were just what he needed and the color returned to his face, as Myrus gave off a healthy cough. His nerves were soothed and he took a deep breath, looking at his sisters and the healers in the room. "Y-yeah, Mr. Buttface left already..." Myrus stammered. Hearing that Nera was dead did soothe and settle his nerves some. But at the same time, there was just something wrong with him.
He couldn't help but worry that if he wasn't careful, it would one day kill him.
Becky looked grimly down at the floor for a moment. She had had her suspicions that Queen Meliscente had been murdered...yet this confirmed them, then. Her life had been ended at the hand of another. "Our poor queen that was...and the poor queen that is," Becky murmured cryptically. She then looked at Myrus and Luna in particular. "Now, the both of you, rest. We still do not know exactly what that vile woman did to your minds."
Antonije Magnisky
Location: Ramblings Room 1036
Antonije couldn't help but feel slightly sick from all of the space and time travel that had been conducted in the last few moments. He looked at Bruce for a moment, seeing the Asgardian-mutant weakened and exhausted in the chair. Constance never would have expended her energy like that for him. It brought tears to his eyes as he stared at Bruce for a moment. A moment later, Bruce would feel Antonije's arms around him as the boy hugged him and cried.
"Хвала, Бруцеи," he mumbled. He then pulled away from Bruce as his sisters appeared in a flash, dragging Myth along with them. Marya or Medea - Myth wouldn't be able to tell which at this moment - had gotten her a jar of sugar and a sandwich to eat. It seemed to be the twins' idea of a healthy diet.
"Ти си кући, тата! И довели сте Антхони! Да ли ће вам мит увек бити твоја девојка?" Marya exclaimed, as both she and Medea quite literally jumped on top of Bruce. Antonije moved back so that way he was pressed up against the wall, looking at Myth a bit nervously. As excited as he was to see his sisters, he felt terrified. He had no doubt that Fleur meant her words and that one day, she'd come for them. He clenched his fists slightly, looking down. He didn't want to lose his family.
