Post by Flutter (Frosty) on Jun 27, 2011 1:23:34 GMT -5
Yet another plot that’s been working itself in… but this one was totally planned ;D kind of.
The stars twinkled above the hazy desert sky as the young mother counted each glimmering celestial object with her daughter. The street sounds were finally beginning to die down, and the heat was no longer as searing as it had been earlier. Hathor, normally a center of activity, was finally going to sleep for the night. After a plethora of dust storms, the oasis was now recovering. Dirt had been, as much as possible, removed from rooftops and canopies, and now the vendors were able to disperse their wares. For the entire day, the city was once again teeming with the life that was the hallmark of the only city in the Iset Desert.
Ange stopped counting when she heard her daughter let out a small, stifled sigh. “What’s wrong, my little one?” She tilted her head if only to gaze at the beautiful little miracle she and her husband had created together. She felt a hint of worry when Chavi’s delicate brows furrowed.
“Mama, I’m tired of being in here all the time. Liin says there’s lots of different places to go explore in!” The filly’s eyes widened in excitement, their icy blue colouring catching the fading lavender light. Ange felt her own face darken, though she couldn’t pin the reason down.
“Not all are safe, my love. Many dangers lie in wait past these walls- it’s best that we three stay here.” They can’t find us here. The unspoken words immediately put the fair Queen into a bitter mood, and so she escorted her young daughter back within the safety of the palace walls.
~~~
Ange became more and more discomfited by her dreams as the days wore on. There were glimpses of… something. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something told her there was far more to these dreams than she could have imagined. She tried to remember them during the daytime, but only thin, gossamer strands would remain and then slip away when she tried to grasp them. She’d run into quite the pickle- people were noticing her foul moods and her restlessness. While the people she served as Queen would never admit it, they had begun to fear catching her in one of these bad moods- rumor had it that she’d blown up a building with her katana, Echo.
“It wasn’t a building,” Ange huffed. “It was a group of faeries. If anyone asks, they were traveling without a passport.” This usually shut people up, confused as to what a Faerie might be (or a passport, for that matter.) She felt that these days, she could confide her fears only to Toraniko, her pet.
“I’m not sure why I feel this way, Toran,” she started. “I know I’m not pregnant again- we tested that- but I feel this… insane longing. Like I’m missing something… but how could I miss something when everyone I love is right here?”
The cat didn’t answer, but was engaged in deep thought. This was troublesome news, he thought to himself.
~~~
Toran trotted towards the Black Rose Bar, slightly disgusted by the manner of creatures that perused the location. He sought out only one, and was horrified by the fact that he was actually glad to see her.
“We have a problem,” he began. “She’s-”
“I know, you nitwit. You think I came here because I enjoy the desert?!” The ebony mare rolled her eyes at the Balinese. “Sorry. Rough night. But yes, I know. She’s starting to remember. There’s nothing more I can do, Toraniko- you try one more memory trick like you did before and she’s back to being what she was before. A stuck-up, empty shell.”
“Like you, Nyct?” he queried with a meow.
“Not quite. The Flower on her own literally has no personality. No memories. She’s something straight out of a fairy tale and quite frankly, I don’t wanna be connected with that.”
“It’d get rid of Glyph,” the feline offered hopefully.
“No, Glyph would probably eat you. Besides. You’ve got it good there- food ‘round the clock, a warm bed in winter, a hot one in summer. You ruin your chances- you ruin her- and I will kill you. Understood?”
He understood perfectly. “I’ll meet you here again in a month. Please think of something.”
~~~
There was a meadow, and the meadow was surrounded by mountains. There was only one way in or out, and that was totally blocked off during the winter, unless you were able to fly at ridiculously high altitudes. A three-bedroom cabin, situated close enough to the river to make it enjoyable, but far enough away to avoid being flooded when it rained heavily. An apple orchard in the back provided the food they needed during the winter, while the rest of the meadow was simply cultivated by nature and they ate as they liked.
In the beginning, she had no problem gathering fruits and vegetables- but soon, she began growing wearier sooner, and was soon unable to go far at all.
“Soon, love.” His face was dark and blurry- she couldn’t quite make it out.
“I know, my heart; but even soon is not enough for this babe, I think.” She managed to utter a laugh as she attempted to catch her breath. Though the morning was cool, she felt flushed with the heat of carrying a beautiful, tiny miracle.
Ange awoke with a start, making sure Xo was still sleeping as she wrote again in her dream journal. “I still don’t understand what it means…”
“Hu-wha?”
“Nothing, love. It’s still early yet- breakfast isn’t for another three hours.” She smiled as her incredibly handsome husband fell back asleep. She felt pained, really, keeping this from Xo- but not until all the pieces fell into place would she tell him. He’d be angry, yes, but he would understand. At least, she hoped- she still didn’t understand any of it, herself.
Toran watched as she put the notebook away with a muffled sigh. Nyct wasn’t going to like this. Not at all. He slunk from the bed, down the hallway and three flights of stairs, though the corridor and throne room, and into the streets towards the Black Rose Bar.
“I figured I’d see you slinking in here. This was far more intense.” Nyct paused with her drink for a moment, eyes watchful. “She’s remembering her dreams. She doesn’t know about the memories.” Nyct pressed her fluke against her forelock, nursing the headache that came with every retrieved memory. There were some distinct advantages to having her mind linked to Ange’s- this wasn’t one of them.
“She needs your help again, Nyct- there’s only so much I can do-” He was cut off.
“You’ll do nothing more. If she doesn’t remember, I get these freaking headaches that don’t ever go away. I get these headaches, people tend to drop dead. Capiche?” She seemed particularly irritated today, which wasn’t saying much, considering.
The white cat nodded, unsure of how to proceed. “I understand, Nyct… but she still needs your help.” Toran jumped as the ebony-and-gold mare winced. “Has the… other thing been taken care of?”
“Years ago. I told you I’d do it. I told Xo I’d do it. It’s been done, so back the hell off of me!” Nyct watched as the cat scattered his belongings and shot out of the Black Rose. “Guess I’ve actually gotta go do it, now.” She finished her drink, nursing her headache. Ange would never have a clue of what she did for her. “Put it on my tab, like usual.” She glared at a slave trader, groaning. Flicking her ears back, she swept up two of the younger equines he’d been panhandling. “I will slit your throat if you say anything.” The trader nodded, remembering that she’d done just that last week.
Taking her two new charges with her, she headed out. Pleased that the two foals she’d saved were Pegasus rather than horses or Unicorns, she figured the two would come in handy. And come with her. She grinned, and instructed the Pegasi foals to come with her.
They were pretty decent fliers, she thought to herself as they landed in the cave. She decided they only listened to her because trekking across the desert could be deadly if you didn’t know what you were doing. They’d avoided No-Man’s Land, but remained in the mountains. The Black foal shivered in fear.
“M’am, I don’t mean to question your motives, but-”
“DON’T call me M’am. It’s none of your business what my name is, since you won’t be seeing me for long. Go find the stallion. His time‘s up.” The colts stared at her, unsure of what to do at first- it was only after the mare’s hard, cold stare that they took off into the depths of the unmapped cave.
“Don’t fail me,” she whispered into the darkness.
~~~
At the same time, in Hathor, Ange had been staring out the window. The black form of Nyct looked familiar, and it wasn’t too uncommon to see her liberating foal-slaves. “Good gravy,” she said to herself. “She keeps taking them across the desert- one of these days, someone’s going to be killed.” She could count on one hoof exactly how many craps she gave about how Nyct liberated the foals, but she certainly didn’t want to know. She shuddered, closing the drape against the heat of the noonday sun. There were a lot of things she didn’t want to think about today. Her dream, for one. It made her feel disloyal to Xo and Pechavi to be having these thoughts- THEY were her family.
These thoughts haunted her for hours, but she promptly forgot about it upon hearing that Lizzie had attacked yet another merchant. She knew her daughter had a love/hate relationship with the Holland Lop, but most people had just decided that they hated the blasted rabbit. She watched as Chavi berated the golden bunny.
“Lizzie, what did I tell you about attacking the merchants?” Her brows nearly met- not an easy feat for an Arab-esque filly- as she looked crossly at her bunny. Lizzie didn’t react. Chavi’s face fell. “You don’t remember at all?” The bunny shook her head. “DON’T DO IT!” The princess was nearly lifted off the ground by the force of her shouting, causing several people to smile when they saw what was going on. This was a near-daily occurrence, and several people had previously suggested turning the rabbit into a meal. Pechavi wouldn’t have it. Her best friend was an almost-vegematarian, and said that all petpet life was precious and a gift. She wondered, in the back of her head, where Liin might be. She certainly wasn’t dumb enough to go looking for her, but she felt like it had been a super long time since she’d seen her. She missed Taek, too, even if he was sort of stupid. She decided to ask her mama if, somehow, she could ask Aunt Nyct to go find Liin for her. It sounded like a good plan, anyhow. Grinning, she took Lizzie by the scruff, holding the furry creature in her mouth as she trotted down the street back to the castle.
~~~
Nyct heard three sets of hooves clopping through the caves- two merrily dancing foals and the dragging ones of the stallion they’d found. She was impressed- the labyrinth was dark and surely terrifying to a pair of young foals like that, but they had actually found him rather quickly.
“Speak and your death will be slow. Stay silent and I’ll end your life quickly.” She watched, unimpressed, as the once proud stallion nodded. She had to be careful- last time she’d tried this, he’d ticked her off so much she nearly HAD killed him. But for what he’d done to Ange, he deserved as slow a death as possible- preferably before she remembered him. She gagged when he exhaled, the stench of him overwhelming. While his body may have given out long ago, it seemed as if something inside of him kept him going.
It made her oddly uncomfortable to think about it. She felt Ange shudder, far off- she’d have to do this quickly, anyhow, so as to not let Ange know about it.
“Foals, if you would so kindly go to the outside of the cave and stay there for approximately three minutes, I would be much obliged.” She felt irritated when they bowed- forget it, she’d be taking them to the palace. They’d never make it on the Plains, let alone out of the Ethos.
She turned her attention back to the stallion, who had stepped a little more into the light. Sometime during the last month, the stallion’s body had died. There was no doubt about it- a wing had fallen off, flesh was missing. Nyct’s head nearly exploded with the pain of looking at him like this. Her shared memories with Ange made her remember that while he might have been loving once, he’d abandoned her several times- once just after Ange found out she was pregnant, then again just before she’d had the baby- and finally, when he didn’t come home. Period. He’d been more and more distant to the point of being neglectful when he had been home. Ange didn’t deserve that, even if she was unbearably stupid at the time.
“Oh, Koda. No wonder you’re not screaming at me. Your throat’s been eaten out.” She decided that the only way to get rid of the corpse was to set it on fire and get the hell out of there. “Let’s get this over with. Ignitious.”
Weeks later, people would notice that just north of No-Man’s Land, the smoke was still going, and the entire labyrinth ablaze.
Thankful that the incredibly stupid lot of humans down there avoided anything that looked like it might possibly be magic, Nyct took off towards the castle again, the foals close to her sides. She felt a new emotion, previously unknown to her, roiling in her gut. If she had to put a name on it, its name would be ‘guilt’. It was both inexplicable and unwanted, and in the end she decided she had just felt guilty for taking so damn long to do what had been asked of her years ago. She decided that was it when the sudden urge to vomit had gone away.
“Uh… miss? We’re hungry,” the Black colt said, obviously tired of the pretense of being a ‘good’ slave. This crazy mare had taken them into the mountains to catch a zombie in a black pit, set the zombie on fire and then- only fifteen minutes had passed- was making them go BACK to Hathor. His friend, who was unsure of well, everything, had mentioned that he was hungry.
“You can eat dirt if you’re hungry now. You can eat like kings if you wait an hour,” Nyct snapped. “The King tends to be pretty rewarding to those who help on royal business,” and is even more generous if you keep your traps shut about it.” The colts eyed her suspiciously, thinking that there was no way their perfect King was in line with someone so crazy as to set a zombie on fire.
“What kind of reward?” the Black colt spoke again.
“Freedom.” Nyct was impressed when the colts were silent for the rest of the flight home.
Nyct stormed into the castle, the guards shrieking in response. They understood that their beloved queen had a dark side, and that dark side was her ‘sister’. Still, it was never made easier when she could open the doors on her own- some swore that she’d create a thunderclap for the effect. “Take the foals to the dining room. I need to speak with my sister’s pet and my brother-in-law immediately.”
Ange watched, curious, as the Black and Light foals were lead into the dining room. She made a note to speak with them in the morning, knowing that they’d be all too willing to speak to her- she hated using her status among her people to get what she wanted, but sometimes that was the only option.
That night, Ange had the same dream- but it expounded on itself, just like it had every night for the last month. This time, the stallion vanished without a trace, and she was in labor. Whatever events happened before that, she couldn’t quite grasp. There was a deep sense of malcontent in the air, and when she looked over through her contractions, she saw Nyct standing there.
”Nyct, what do I do? What am I gonna do without my love?“ she begged. She felt drugged, and whatever had been used on her wasn’t helping her pain.
“You know I can’t understand you right now, Ange. Now push,” she demanded. Ange noticed that Nyct was studiously watching her progress, like she found the whole thing very interesting. “Almost there. You’re doing great,” she added, almost as a forethought. Ange got the feeling from Nyct that she felt bad for her… for some reason. She couldn’t think past what was happening right now. “Now, after this baby is born, I’ll let you keep her for three months. Anything past that and she’ll die.” Nyct stared coldly at Ange, and the ivory mare knew that her ebony counterpart was serious. “After that, you’ll find yourself in a totally different realm. You’ll remember everything when you can actually handle it, since you’re doing a pretty piss poor job of it, yourself.”
“Remember what?” she asked as another contraction took her body by the small hairs.
“Nice try. Push again and you’ll have a foal to take care of.”
Ange pushed once more, but woke up before she was able to see the baby.
“Wait… Nyct wasn’t there for Pechavi’s birth. Xo and Tor were- and Ance. So what the hell happened?” She noticed that Xo wasn’t in bed- in fact, it seemed like that ‘restful sleep’ had simply been a short nap. With any luck at all, the two Pegasi foals would still be in the dining area.
When she found that they were just leaving, she nodded off the guard. She grinned gently at the colts, and felt mildly uncomfortable when they bowed. “You will be freed on one condition,” she said, her heart racing. Bile rose in her throat, but she pushed past it.
“What the hell did my sister do this afternoon?”
Story continues in the When Doves Cry Mk II (Plot) board. We've totally necro'd this RP because Lisa and I our characters won't leave us alone.
The stars twinkled above the hazy desert sky as the young mother counted each glimmering celestial object with her daughter. The street sounds were finally beginning to die down, and the heat was no longer as searing as it had been earlier. Hathor, normally a center of activity, was finally going to sleep for the night. After a plethora of dust storms, the oasis was now recovering. Dirt had been, as much as possible, removed from rooftops and canopies, and now the vendors were able to disperse their wares. For the entire day, the city was once again teeming with the life that was the hallmark of the only city in the Iset Desert.
Ange stopped counting when she heard her daughter let out a small, stifled sigh. “What’s wrong, my little one?” She tilted her head if only to gaze at the beautiful little miracle she and her husband had created together. She felt a hint of worry when Chavi’s delicate brows furrowed.
“Mama, I’m tired of being in here all the time. Liin says there’s lots of different places to go explore in!” The filly’s eyes widened in excitement, their icy blue colouring catching the fading lavender light. Ange felt her own face darken, though she couldn’t pin the reason down.
“Not all are safe, my love. Many dangers lie in wait past these walls- it’s best that we three stay here.” They can’t find us here. The unspoken words immediately put the fair Queen into a bitter mood, and so she escorted her young daughter back within the safety of the palace walls.
~~~
Ange became more and more discomfited by her dreams as the days wore on. There were glimpses of… something. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something told her there was far more to these dreams than she could have imagined. She tried to remember them during the daytime, but only thin, gossamer strands would remain and then slip away when she tried to grasp them. She’d run into quite the pickle- people were noticing her foul moods and her restlessness. While the people she served as Queen would never admit it, they had begun to fear catching her in one of these bad moods- rumor had it that she’d blown up a building with her katana, Echo.
“It wasn’t a building,” Ange huffed. “It was a group of faeries. If anyone asks, they were traveling without a passport.” This usually shut people up, confused as to what a Faerie might be (or a passport, for that matter.) She felt that these days, she could confide her fears only to Toraniko, her pet.
“I’m not sure why I feel this way, Toran,” she started. “I know I’m not pregnant again- we tested that- but I feel this… insane longing. Like I’m missing something… but how could I miss something when everyone I love is right here?”
The cat didn’t answer, but was engaged in deep thought. This was troublesome news, he thought to himself.
~~~
Toran trotted towards the Black Rose Bar, slightly disgusted by the manner of creatures that perused the location. He sought out only one, and was horrified by the fact that he was actually glad to see her.
“We have a problem,” he began. “She’s-”
“I know, you nitwit. You think I came here because I enjoy the desert?!” The ebony mare rolled her eyes at the Balinese. “Sorry. Rough night. But yes, I know. She’s starting to remember. There’s nothing more I can do, Toraniko- you try one more memory trick like you did before and she’s back to being what she was before. A stuck-up, empty shell.”
“Like you, Nyct?” he queried with a meow.
“Not quite. The Flower on her own literally has no personality. No memories. She’s something straight out of a fairy tale and quite frankly, I don’t wanna be connected with that.”
“It’d get rid of Glyph,” the feline offered hopefully.
“No, Glyph would probably eat you. Besides. You’ve got it good there- food ‘round the clock, a warm bed in winter, a hot one in summer. You ruin your chances- you ruin her- and I will kill you. Understood?”
He understood perfectly. “I’ll meet you here again in a month. Please think of something.”
~~~
There was a meadow, and the meadow was surrounded by mountains. There was only one way in or out, and that was totally blocked off during the winter, unless you were able to fly at ridiculously high altitudes. A three-bedroom cabin, situated close enough to the river to make it enjoyable, but far enough away to avoid being flooded when it rained heavily. An apple orchard in the back provided the food they needed during the winter, while the rest of the meadow was simply cultivated by nature and they ate as they liked.
In the beginning, she had no problem gathering fruits and vegetables- but soon, she began growing wearier sooner, and was soon unable to go far at all.
“Soon, love.” His face was dark and blurry- she couldn’t quite make it out.
“I know, my heart; but even soon is not enough for this babe, I think.” She managed to utter a laugh as she attempted to catch her breath. Though the morning was cool, she felt flushed with the heat of carrying a beautiful, tiny miracle.
Ange awoke with a start, making sure Xo was still sleeping as she wrote again in her dream journal. “I still don’t understand what it means…”
“Hu-wha?”
“Nothing, love. It’s still early yet- breakfast isn’t for another three hours.” She smiled as her incredibly handsome husband fell back asleep. She felt pained, really, keeping this from Xo- but not until all the pieces fell into place would she tell him. He’d be angry, yes, but he would understand. At least, she hoped- she still didn’t understand any of it, herself.
Toran watched as she put the notebook away with a muffled sigh. Nyct wasn’t going to like this. Not at all. He slunk from the bed, down the hallway and three flights of stairs, though the corridor and throne room, and into the streets towards the Black Rose Bar.
“I figured I’d see you slinking in here. This was far more intense.” Nyct paused with her drink for a moment, eyes watchful. “She’s remembering her dreams. She doesn’t know about the memories.” Nyct pressed her fluke against her forelock, nursing the headache that came with every retrieved memory. There were some distinct advantages to having her mind linked to Ange’s- this wasn’t one of them.
“She needs your help again, Nyct- there’s only so much I can do-” He was cut off.
“You’ll do nothing more. If she doesn’t remember, I get these freaking headaches that don’t ever go away. I get these headaches, people tend to drop dead. Capiche?” She seemed particularly irritated today, which wasn’t saying much, considering.
The white cat nodded, unsure of how to proceed. “I understand, Nyct… but she still needs your help.” Toran jumped as the ebony-and-gold mare winced. “Has the… other thing been taken care of?”
“Years ago. I told you I’d do it. I told Xo I’d do it. It’s been done, so back the hell off of me!” Nyct watched as the cat scattered his belongings and shot out of the Black Rose. “Guess I’ve actually gotta go do it, now.” She finished her drink, nursing her headache. Ange would never have a clue of what she did for her. “Put it on my tab, like usual.” She glared at a slave trader, groaning. Flicking her ears back, she swept up two of the younger equines he’d been panhandling. “I will slit your throat if you say anything.” The trader nodded, remembering that she’d done just that last week.
Taking her two new charges with her, she headed out. Pleased that the two foals she’d saved were Pegasus rather than horses or Unicorns, she figured the two would come in handy. And come with her. She grinned, and instructed the Pegasi foals to come with her.
They were pretty decent fliers, she thought to herself as they landed in the cave. She decided they only listened to her because trekking across the desert could be deadly if you didn’t know what you were doing. They’d avoided No-Man’s Land, but remained in the mountains. The Black foal shivered in fear.
“M’am, I don’t mean to question your motives, but-”
“DON’T call me M’am. It’s none of your business what my name is, since you won’t be seeing me for long. Go find the stallion. His time‘s up.” The colts stared at her, unsure of what to do at first- it was only after the mare’s hard, cold stare that they took off into the depths of the unmapped cave.
“Don’t fail me,” she whispered into the darkness.
~~~
At the same time, in Hathor, Ange had been staring out the window. The black form of Nyct looked familiar, and it wasn’t too uncommon to see her liberating foal-slaves. “Good gravy,” she said to herself. “She keeps taking them across the desert- one of these days, someone’s going to be killed.” She could count on one hoof exactly how many craps she gave about how Nyct liberated the foals, but she certainly didn’t want to know. She shuddered, closing the drape against the heat of the noonday sun. There were a lot of things she didn’t want to think about today. Her dream, for one. It made her feel disloyal to Xo and Pechavi to be having these thoughts- THEY were her family.
These thoughts haunted her for hours, but she promptly forgot about it upon hearing that Lizzie had attacked yet another merchant. She knew her daughter had a love/hate relationship with the Holland Lop, but most people had just decided that they hated the blasted rabbit. She watched as Chavi berated the golden bunny.
“Lizzie, what did I tell you about attacking the merchants?” Her brows nearly met- not an easy feat for an Arab-esque filly- as she looked crossly at her bunny. Lizzie didn’t react. Chavi’s face fell. “You don’t remember at all?” The bunny shook her head. “DON’T DO IT!” The princess was nearly lifted off the ground by the force of her shouting, causing several people to smile when they saw what was going on. This was a near-daily occurrence, and several people had previously suggested turning the rabbit into a meal. Pechavi wouldn’t have it. Her best friend was an almost-vegematarian, and said that all petpet life was precious and a gift. She wondered, in the back of her head, where Liin might be. She certainly wasn’t dumb enough to go looking for her, but she felt like it had been a super long time since she’d seen her. She missed Taek, too, even if he was sort of stupid. She decided to ask her mama if, somehow, she could ask Aunt Nyct to go find Liin for her. It sounded like a good plan, anyhow. Grinning, she took Lizzie by the scruff, holding the furry creature in her mouth as she trotted down the street back to the castle.
~~~
Nyct heard three sets of hooves clopping through the caves- two merrily dancing foals and the dragging ones of the stallion they’d found. She was impressed- the labyrinth was dark and surely terrifying to a pair of young foals like that, but they had actually found him rather quickly.
“Speak and your death will be slow. Stay silent and I’ll end your life quickly.” She watched, unimpressed, as the once proud stallion nodded. She had to be careful- last time she’d tried this, he’d ticked her off so much she nearly HAD killed him. But for what he’d done to Ange, he deserved as slow a death as possible- preferably before she remembered him. She gagged when he exhaled, the stench of him overwhelming. While his body may have given out long ago, it seemed as if something inside of him kept him going.
It made her oddly uncomfortable to think about it. She felt Ange shudder, far off- she’d have to do this quickly, anyhow, so as to not let Ange know about it.
“Foals, if you would so kindly go to the outside of the cave and stay there for approximately three minutes, I would be much obliged.” She felt irritated when they bowed- forget it, she’d be taking them to the palace. They’d never make it on the Plains, let alone out of the Ethos.
She turned her attention back to the stallion, who had stepped a little more into the light. Sometime during the last month, the stallion’s body had died. There was no doubt about it- a wing had fallen off, flesh was missing. Nyct’s head nearly exploded with the pain of looking at him like this. Her shared memories with Ange made her remember that while he might have been loving once, he’d abandoned her several times- once just after Ange found out she was pregnant, then again just before she’d had the baby- and finally, when he didn’t come home. Period. He’d been more and more distant to the point of being neglectful when he had been home. Ange didn’t deserve that, even if she was unbearably stupid at the time.
“Oh, Koda. No wonder you’re not screaming at me. Your throat’s been eaten out.” She decided that the only way to get rid of the corpse was to set it on fire and get the hell out of there. “Let’s get this over with. Ignitious.”
Weeks later, people would notice that just north of No-Man’s Land, the smoke was still going, and the entire labyrinth ablaze.
Thankful that the incredibly stupid lot of humans down there avoided anything that looked like it might possibly be magic, Nyct took off towards the castle again, the foals close to her sides. She felt a new emotion, previously unknown to her, roiling in her gut. If she had to put a name on it, its name would be ‘guilt’. It was both inexplicable and unwanted, and in the end she decided she had just felt guilty for taking so damn long to do what had been asked of her years ago. She decided that was it when the sudden urge to vomit had gone away.
“Uh… miss? We’re hungry,” the Black colt said, obviously tired of the pretense of being a ‘good’ slave. This crazy mare had taken them into the mountains to catch a zombie in a black pit, set the zombie on fire and then- only fifteen minutes had passed- was making them go BACK to Hathor. His friend, who was unsure of well, everything, had mentioned that he was hungry.
“You can eat dirt if you’re hungry now. You can eat like kings if you wait an hour,” Nyct snapped. “The King tends to be pretty rewarding to those who help on royal business,” and is even more generous if you keep your traps shut about it.” The colts eyed her suspiciously, thinking that there was no way their perfect King was in line with someone so crazy as to set a zombie on fire.
“What kind of reward?” the Black colt spoke again.
“Freedom.” Nyct was impressed when the colts were silent for the rest of the flight home.
Nyct stormed into the castle, the guards shrieking in response. They understood that their beloved queen had a dark side, and that dark side was her ‘sister’. Still, it was never made easier when she could open the doors on her own- some swore that she’d create a thunderclap for the effect. “Take the foals to the dining room. I need to speak with my sister’s pet and my brother-in-law immediately.”
Ange watched, curious, as the Black and Light foals were lead into the dining room. She made a note to speak with them in the morning, knowing that they’d be all too willing to speak to her- she hated using her status among her people to get what she wanted, but sometimes that was the only option.
That night, Ange had the same dream- but it expounded on itself, just like it had every night for the last month. This time, the stallion vanished without a trace, and she was in labor. Whatever events happened before that, she couldn’t quite grasp. There was a deep sense of malcontent in the air, and when she looked over through her contractions, she saw Nyct standing there.
”Nyct, what do I do? What am I gonna do without my love?“ she begged. She felt drugged, and whatever had been used on her wasn’t helping her pain.
“You know I can’t understand you right now, Ange. Now push,” she demanded. Ange noticed that Nyct was studiously watching her progress, like she found the whole thing very interesting. “Almost there. You’re doing great,” she added, almost as a forethought. Ange got the feeling from Nyct that she felt bad for her… for some reason. She couldn’t think past what was happening right now. “Now, after this baby is born, I’ll let you keep her for three months. Anything past that and she’ll die.” Nyct stared coldly at Ange, and the ivory mare knew that her ebony counterpart was serious. “After that, you’ll find yourself in a totally different realm. You’ll remember everything when you can actually handle it, since you’re doing a pretty piss poor job of it, yourself.”
“Remember what?” she asked as another contraction took her body by the small hairs.
“Nice try. Push again and you’ll have a foal to take care of.”
Ange pushed once more, but woke up before she was able to see the baby.
“Wait… Nyct wasn’t there for Pechavi’s birth. Xo and Tor were- and Ance. So what the hell happened?” She noticed that Xo wasn’t in bed- in fact, it seemed like that ‘restful sleep’ had simply been a short nap. With any luck at all, the two Pegasi foals would still be in the dining area.
When she found that they were just leaving, she nodded off the guard. She grinned gently at the colts, and felt mildly uncomfortable when they bowed. “You will be freed on one condition,” she said, her heart racing. Bile rose in her throat, but she pushed past it.
“What the hell did my sister do this afternoon?”
Story continues in the When Doves Cry Mk II (Plot) board. We've totally necro'd this RP because