Ch. 38 Gathering the Elements

From: Libitine
To: Arwen17
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:42pm

"You are permitted to decide whether or not you are prepared to be bound to one person," Mab replied, sliding her left arm under Moira Melania's body, to relieve her right arm of the baby's weight. "If you are adult enough to have sex, Leah, then you are adult enough to announce yourself in my kingdom and open yourself to courting."

"There will be no 'using' of either you or Far Dorcha, and you are not to take him up on his offer," the Queen said. "That creature is infamous for his contracts with mortals and faes alike, so much so that only the very desperate creatures take him up on his offers, his favors, or 'promises' as you called them. He knows you lost your mother, and Sky, and underwent this transformation. He knows exactly what you will ask him, for a day in the past. For a chance to speak to Moira as you knew her. He will force you to sacrifice a day in your past, for a day of your wildest fancy, and he will take the day you were born."

Mab leaned back against her pillow, as if a wave of exhaustion had suddenly hit her. Leah looked ashen, and yet, determined, as if her mind was already made up as to how she would be conducting herself. Mab supposed there was nothing more she could do; she could not punish the girl, as she had not yet done whatever it was she wanted to do.

"I have seen it happen, Leah," Mab whispered. "He takes you in his grasp. There is no light, no sound, and no future."

Idath removed his helm and tucked it under his arm, looking at the landscape high above, and far below him that surrounded Anoeth. Above him, were the skeletons of pine trees that covered the mountainside, curving as the stone structure curved.

The trees had never been covered with leaves, always skeletons, for in Anoeth, it was always winter. If Idath were to walk to the edge of the rock his castle was perched upon, he would be able to peer down to the valley below. There were no trees down below, just rocks, and wolves.

His hunt had been successful, though that was meaningless, for people were constantly dying, dying even as Idath lead his horse to the stable and gave him a pail of water to drink. He and his men had a twenty-four hour window in which the soul would remain with the body, waiting to be collected.

Sometimes, Far Dorcha and the banshees went out without the rest of the Slaugh following, and collect the souls themselves. Souls more often than not carried their sorrowful emotions into the afterlife, and mourned the death of their bodies for a brief period after the breath escaped them. More often than not, the misshapen spirits of mortals were weeping when the Slaugh rode up to their house.

Leah was dismissed to bed from Mab's chambers, and the Queen was left to examine her next move, her method of attack. She needed Far Dorcha to act as her ally, not her enemy, so she could more easily investigate the disappearances of those in other realms. In the event that the menace moved into her Land Under Rock, she needed aid too, and Idath would become reluctant to help her if Far Dorcha had been mistreated. Despite his love for Mab and their daughter, the health of his kingdom had to be placed above all that.

She removed Moira Melania from her breast as the baby fell asleep, laying the infant between her legs so she could watch her. Mab covered herself, pulling a bit of fur blanket around the child so she would not grow cold. As if he had heard her concerns about a lack of heat in the room, Loke appeared to his sister.

"Mab," the Lord of Fire said. "I have devised a plan."

"A plan, really?" she replied condescendingly, looking up at him. "How extraordinary. I hope you did not miss too many events deep in thought to construct it."

"I missed the birth of your phoenix," he snapped, gesturing to the baby. "But since you impregnate yourself for personal gain so often, I figured I could miss just one birth."

"Explain to me your plan," Mab said, her eyes narrowing as Loke walked over to her bed, looking curiously at the child.

"She is pretty," he mused. "She has big eyes like you, and a jaunt mouth like you."

"I do not have a jaunt mouth, you arrogant fire sprite," Mab grumbled, touching her hand to Moira Melania's face, as if to erase whatever imperfections Loke saw.

"I want to wake the Mountain King," Loke said proudly, turning his face to stare at Mab and await her reaction.

"What good would prodding Yorick do?" Mab said after a moment of thought. "He has not held a human form for centuries. He is cursed. What do you need to wake him for anyway?"

"Cursed? Psssh!" Loke said, swatting the air as if to cast her statement out of the room. "Please, that has to have worn off by now? Besides, all of us have to ban together to fight the disappearances. I am going to need you to convince that Ariel woman too. I have to say Mab, I am not sure about her. Why is that we cannot just raise Vivianne and put her back in her place? Our Mountain Man would be much more cooperative if we did that."

"That is out of the question," Mab said firmly. "She would come and drown Moira Melania, or Leah, or them both, and I cannot have that. I was not aware, Loki, that your people had fallen victim to this unnamed menace."

"Oh, you are pulling out the old pet name, huh?" Loke teased, chucking her under her chin. Mab wrinkled her nose and Loke laughed. "My realm in tact thus far," he replied. "But I am trying to halt this before it gets that far. If any one element is weakened, the others fall victim to disease. The water world is taking quite a beating, as is Idath, whether or not he has expressed it to you."

"He probably does not wish to put the child in danger," Mab said softly, looking down at the baby. "Which I very much appreciate, but he is not equipped to combat this on his own."

"All the more reason for you to come with me, Mab," Loke said, touching her on her shoulder so her eyes would draw to his. "Leave Moira . . . Mel . . . Mellie with Merlin and come with me."

"I am nursing her," she said. "I would not be able to leave her for long intervals."

"So stop nursing her," Loke said with a shrug. "You will ruin your figure anyway, and that will make your Lord Idath even more distressed."

Mab narrowed her eyes once more, defensively glancing down at her chest.

Far Dorcha's trumpet sounded for the umpteenth time, and Idath slowed his horse as he approached the house his Anku had pointed out to him. He could sense the sorrow in the spirit, the confusion, and the need. Holding out the talisman he wore around his neck to collect souls, Idath felt a smile tug on his cheeks. His adrenaline rushed and he took a deep breath, ready to feel the surge of energy when the soul was collected.

His horse sprinted past the mall house, picking up speed again as it always did after a soul was collected. There was no surge, no glow to the stone. Idath let out a shout, and his horse stopped immediately.

"What is this about?" Death growled, holding the empty stone so his Anku could see. Far Dorcha was clutching his trumpet as he peered through the window of the hut. He was pale, and when his eyes met Idath, they were large.

"There is no soul here," he said. "I was wrong."

"You were not wrong," Idath dismounted, still holding the talisman out in front of him. He dangled it in Far Dorcha's face. "I felt the soul. Where did it go?"

Far Dorcha swallowed. "I can only guess my Lord," he said, acting his part. "But I believe it was just taken from us."

From: Arwen17
To: Libitine
Posted:Thu Jul28, 2011 11:33am

The air in Tintagel was choked with so much magic it was almost like being Under the Hill. Mab liked it that way apparently. She was constantly weaving new layers of enchantment to thow over the entire area. Many of the old layers from ages past still held power as well.

But Tintagel was no more than a temporary dwelling while they waited for Moira to grow up. It would never equal the land of magic. And that was exactly where Leah had wandered away to, in her search for fae-flesh. It was Mab's realm, there was no reason to fear.

But she was all alone. The recovery of Mab's court would take time. The landscape and crystals glowed with a new brightness, but her people would take time to grow to what they once were.

Leah swore to herself she would have a bloody orgy right here right now if only there were flesh to take advantage of.

She couldn't get her mind off sex. Her aura throbbed with unfulfilled desire and an unquenchable craving. Then she tasted a delicious scent as Far dorcha made himself known to her.

Ariel and Loke stood rather far apart from each other on the rocks. It was nothing personal, but their elemental powers were naturally opposite and antagonistic. Water's instinctual response was to smother fire, so it was best not to stand too close to each other. Instead Ariel poured her water down through the earth, awakening the plants, the worms, and the earth itself. It was soothing and refreshing to the ground and it groaned in delight. The Mountain King unconsciously shifted in his slumber, seeking more soothing water. There was a sudden violent hiss of air as Loke slashed his fire across the rock face and stopped its attempt to move toward the water.

The combined power of their taunting woke up the Mountain King with a roar. "Why do you torture me?" his gravely voice rumbled with anger.

"Oh please, its the only real way to get your attention." Loke jeered.

The Mountain King's hand clenched and then reached for him. Yorrick was feeling less and less sleepy lately. The earth was slowly waking up again as the renewed practice of the Old Ways rejuvenated it. Small movements that would have seemed troublesome before no longer bothered him. Loke brutally singed the rocky hand that reached for him.

Ariel sent a huge wave to fall between them. "Now boys, behave yourselves. We didn't come here to start a fight."

Yorrick turned his attention to her. "You're not Viviane, and yet I sense the power of Water rests in you."

"There's been a slight regime change while you were asleep." Ariel explained.

"My friendship was with Viviane. I will not help you."

"I'm fully aware of your friendship. But can we not become friends? Water and Earth have always gotten on so well." Ariel smiled sweetly and allowed her water to gently flow over him and caress him.

For a moment it looked like he would buy it, then he said, "You stink of Mab."

That made Ariel's face fall in disappointment. "So you're only friends with people who hate Mab?"

"No, I'm friends with people who are wise enough not to trust her." Yorrick growled darkly.

Ariel brushed her golden hair back from her face and looked at Loke. "Now what do we do?"

"Where persuasion doesn't work...you use threats." Loke grinned sadistically. "Stone-head, unless you get up off your backside now, you will find out what the powers of water and fire can do when combined."

Yorrick was insulted, but as he examined the determined look on both of their faces, he realised his only ally was dead and he could not fight off two elements at once.

With much grumbling and muttering of curses, Yorrick pulled himself from the ground where he had slept for so long. As he stood up, great earthy chunks fell from him until he was mortal-sized. Long ago, he had laid down on the hillside and when he had fallen asleep, he had became more like a personification of his element until he was inseparable from the earth itself. But now he returned to his more human-like form. Earthy shards fell from his gray skin and he smelled of earth and growing things.

"You always look like you need a bath because you're covered in dirt." Loke criticized him as he sized up his brother.

Ariel however walked forward and placed a hand against Yorrick's cheek. The earth-man flinched at the contact, but then Ariel lightly ran water over his skin washing away the last of the dirt and making Yorrick at least halfway presentable for an elemental king.

Yorrick took her hand from his face, gazing at her with wonder, "Water was always so much kinder to me than Air."

Loke snorted to himself behind them.

"Do you think there's any particular reason why Idath and my people are hit the hardest?" Ariel spoke up. "I don't see any connection, but its very strange."

Ariel was seated on the right side of Mab and Loke was on the other side of Mab. Yorrick was on the other side of Ariel, glaring sullenly at Mab.

If Ariel hadn't been in between them, Yorrick might have attempted to make a move on Mab. He blamed her for Viviane's death.

Idath was not seated, but peering out the window, his back to them all.

Loke grinned cheekily at Yorrick and the Mountain King lunged for him in response. An earthquake started at the same moment Loke set the table on fire. Mab and Ariel stood up. Ariel doused the table with water, but Loke ran into her trying to dodge the sudden avalanche of rocks aimed his way by Yorrick.

There was a violent hiss of steam that rose where Loke's body collided with Ariel's. They fell away from each other onto the ground. "Ouch!" Loke whined, half of his body, which normally was always burning, was soaking wet. Ariel hadn't fared any better. Half her body was scorched and looked far more painful than Loke's wetness.

But their wounds were healing quickly.

"Enough! You two stay on opposite sides of the room at all times. Also, Yorrick and I stay on opposite sides as well." Mab snapped at them.

"Who made you Queen of the Elements?" Yorrick retorted.

"We took a vote and it was decided." Mab spoke sarcastically, then rolled her eyes. "Use what little common sense you possess and cooperate."

Idath said nothing as he watched this little drama between the elements play out. They had never gotten on well, the elemental powers. They represented opposite extremes so of course it was hard for them to reach a consensus on anything.

"So what are we going to do about our problem?" Idath interrupted what was promising to look like an excellent cat fight between all of them.

"Any suggestions?" Mab asked skeptically.

"How about..." Loke whispered conspiratorially, "Mab and Ariel remove all of their clothes while I watch and..." Mab slapped him around the face.

Loke grinned, while Mab rolled her eyes again and Ariel stared at him in disbelief.

Mab and Ariel's eyes met as they both felt the same thing for different reasons.

"Far dorcha has taken Leah." Mab whispered in horror.

"Where?!" Ariel beseeched her. She would tear apart the oceans and the land to find her.

From: Libitine
To: Arwen17
Posted: Fri Aug 5, 2011 8:37am

There was an emptiness that rang through Mab's body. It reminded her of the emptiness one must feel when a death is witnessed, as if at that moment there is a realization of eternal loneliness. Far Dorcha's laugh reverberated in her skull, and Mab grabbed hold of Loke for a moment, waiting anxiously for the sound to die down.

Where has he taken her?

"Far Dorcha?" Loke questioned, pulling Mab to his side. She pulled away roughly, smoothing the wrinkles on her tight, velvet dress. Loke watched her carefully, clearly able to detect the cogs turning in her head by the expression she held in her eyes.

"The Anku only kidnaps on his employer's behalf," Yorrick interrupted, his eyes fixated on the window Idath had been looking out of previously. "Is that not correct, Lord Idath?"

"You are not to accuse him," Mab growled, leaping forward, her eyes glimmering like a great black cat's. Her deep navy dress clung to her frame as tightly as a second skin, but the fabric at her feet fanned out, shifting as she shifted her weight on the floor. Besides the waving fabric, Mab was still, posed to strike Yorrick if he so much as took a breath.

Idath, as was his nature, stood still, where as Ariel froze out of fear. Loke wanted so badly for Mab to strike him. That release of energy would center her, bring her back to the task at hand.

"Far Dorcha does not act outside of instruction," Yorrick said.

"Why?" Loke said, instigating. "Because faes are too simple to act on their own accord?"

Mab's shriek harmonized with the great sound of a crack from the ceiling. A bolt of lightning came down, striking Yorrick at his feet. The Master of Mountains did not flinch, but rather shook his head.

"You have always plagued my trees with your shards of fire," he sighed.

"And you have always made mountains to cut apart my storms," she snapped.

"It is finished, Mab," Loke said, an oddly serious expression on his face. "If Far Dorcha is the puppet in this scheme, than Idath cannot be the master, for his people as most wounded."

"A perfect cover," Yorrick grumbled, stepping away from Mab slowly.

"You cannot protect him because he is your bedfellow, Mab," Loke said with a shrug as Idath crossed to the Queen.

"And you cannot speak of me in such tones as though I were absent from the scene," Lord of Winter declared. He did not touch Mab, but stared at Loke as if he had just placed a protective arm around her. "Far Dorcha rides in my Slaugh, lending his services to me, but I have no hold over him. He has never kidnapped for my cause, only Mab's."

"Are you accusing-"

"I accuse no one," Idath interrupted Loke, lifting up a hand to stop his word. "I merely recall the pattern of his behavior. But do you think, perhaps, we have leapt to too grand a conclusion? Leah gave him her purity, and was probably in Mab's court to seek him out, or some other fae to quench her thirst. Who are we to say she did not go willing so as to have him carnally?"

"I cannot feel her," Mab said, her voice almost a whisper. "I feel her constantly, she had Moira Melania are twin candles, blown out when they . . . leave worlds I cannot reach."

"And which world's are these?" Loke pressed, impatient with talk.

"Worlds in which I do not exist," she answered, lifting her gaze to Idath.

In the still of the night she crept into darkness to meet him. The woods was cold, the first winter's snow was upon it before the next moon, she guessed, which would be early but welcomed, as the summer heat still seemed to beat against the backs of those who had worked in the fields.

It was an unusually still evening for one on the brink of winter. Ordinarily, the winds howled in this late month, but tonight, Mab kept him still. Her fingers brushed the thick trunks of trees as she moved through the forest, her feet seeming to float above the fallen leaves that coated the floor.

Where have you taken them?

She passed something she thought strange and lowered her gaze, a rare action for Mab to commit. A tree trunk. Just the trunk, sawed clean. The light colored wood glowed in the moonlight, a dull moon itself.

"Anku."

She moved faster, stopping to glance each time she passed a stump, which was more and more frequently as she got deeper and deeper into the thickening wood. Without the passage of too much time, but rather, the passage of a great deal of ground, she came to a man-made clearing, constructed. Stumps littered the ground before her, an odd collection of them in the center of the clearing, lit wholly by the glow of the moon.

"Her Majesty!" the forest breathed, "Long live the Queen! A chair! Bring Her Majesty a chair!"

The chant continued, voice upon voice echoing over the next. A stump, closer to the collection of them, the prime seat before a stage, began to grow. It grew, not into a tree, but a throne, a long back that curved with vines and carvings of faes near the top, and great clawed feet that dug their toes into mud.

"The guest of honor! Our guest!"

Mab walked cautiously to the chair, noting as she drew closer, the way the voices grew more desperate, and yet, more quiet. She sat, and the branches of the trees burst into light. For a moment, Mab thought it was a burst of fire, but she soon saw it was only an incredible multitude of lightning bugs. They floated over the stage, situating themselves in such a way as to direct light specifically on the stage's center, a spotlight. And then a child appeared.

It was a child small in stature, dressed in sheer white with a ruff around his neck and a white skull cap on his head. His face was dusted white, eyebrows and eye lids outlined in black. His small mouth was painted red, exaggerated lips drawn up in a smile, while his actual lips were set in a frown. His movements were very . . . forced, structured, as though he were being pulled. Upon reaching the stage's center, his bowed head was raised, and he produced a white sheet. He held it out to his left, then his right, as if to try and prove to Mab that it was real. He then held it in front of himself, showing only his head. With a smart tug, the cloth was thrown into the air, but what remained behind it was not the child, but smoke.

Suddenly, there was music, a great drumming, that drowned out the silence. Children appeared on the stage, very suddenly, boys and girls alike both dressed and painted in the same manner. The all had vacant expressions on their faces, and moved as thought they were dolls, manipulated by a larger, invisible child, except they performed acrobatics.

They jumped into the air, dancing and tumbling to the drums' beat. It quickly became more advanced, children ran to grab hold of vines ans swung from them, gliding through the air only to let go and be caught by another swinging child. It was as she watched, details of the children's origins became clear.

One of the children on the vines had lumps beneath his skin. His forehead bulged from underneath his cap and his arms seemed to be heavily weighted by other growths beneath his skin. A girl on the stage, flipping at the beat of the music, had skin that was peeling from her body.

Diseased, all of them.

As quickly as it had begun, the movement stopped. Children above hung to the vines on which they had been swinging, and those on the stage looked to their right, making a path in the center of the stage. Even more children lead a pot of boiling water to the center. The little boy from the beginning undid a latch on the side of the pot, revealing a panel of glass from which Mab could see inside.

The little boy lead the girl with the peeling skin to the side of the pot. She hung her hands at her side for a moment, and then took a great twist into the water. There was a splash, and the water burned the child bystanders. They did not flinch.

Mab watched the girl writhe in the hot water, her makeup running off her face as her hands pressed against the glass. The water on the surface bubbled and hissed, smoke billowing down over the edge of the pot. The girl suddenly ceased her motion.

One by one, the children dropped to the ground, as if at that moment, their diseases had overcome them. When the last one fell, Mab stood, her eyes scanning the fallen bodies for a sign.

Far Dorcha appeared in the center of them, near the pot, and smiled.

The memories of their escapades, circuses, wounded Queen Mab, especially when her gaze fell upon Moira Melania's face. Had she been taken, what would Mab have done? Had the baby gone missing, a token left in her place, what would Mab to do?

That is why they, the people, had turned on her. There was no other reason. She had seen it as an honor, that the fae Queen had chosen their child, but they had seen it as treason against them, for as they served her, she was to protect them.

Mab had excused herself from her siblings to go to the baby. She had no plan beyond confronting Far Dorcha, and that was something to be done alone.

While the ground before him was cracked, it had not cracked under his weight. It had always been cracked. He lead Leah, wings bound tightly across her chest, hands tied together at her waist, though it did not matter, for there was no magic here.

Far Dorcha clapped his hands, the sound bouncing off jagged rocks that jutted up from the broken clay, and looked out to the gray horizon. Everything was gray.

A great man appeared from thin air, not by use of magic, but by use of his soul. All he had in this wasteland was his soul, and the soul could appear and disappear at will, but never cross the boundry of this land.

"Imperial King," Far Dorcha said, gesturing behind him to his prize. "Jupiter, I have brought you the faery princess."

The man in red touched his hand to Leah's cheek and smiled.