A.N.: What? Another update?! Yeah, sleep is for the weak! This one was mostly done anyway so I figured I'd just go ahead and finish it.
Also, I'm sad to announce that this will be the final update posted for Council. It's been real guys. I appreciate you all so much and thank you kindly for taking the time to read my little pet project.
Enjoy another legend!
Scara and Garret had been gone two days.
Not that she was counting. Not that she was imagining them arriving at Arendelle, slipping into the palace and finding the queen. The lonely queen who kissed her like she was the only source of air…
Theonia.
Her fist clenched so tightly, she felt her nails pierce her flesh.
Branna would not let her return to those thoughts. Theo pulled her other hand away from the Død scroll as a spark snapped from her index finger. Goren glanced at her but said nothing. He was too engrossed in the moving symbols on the scroll and the heavy tomb on his left. His eyes flickered endlessly between the two, trying to pick out a pattern that might hold a clue to where their missing host was hiding.
Theo stood and moved away from the table in the library, stretching out her aching neck and rolling her shoulders. She and Goren had hardly left that table this past week, pouring over endless documents and watching the Død scroll endlessly in case any new clues arose. The only times she took breaks was to meditate with Branna. And those were by no means restful. Her visions were always filled with Death, with fear and pain and blood…
Her hand brushed the spines on the shelves, drawing her out of her memory. Branna had guided her to a shelf in the dim corner of the library, the wood bent under the weight of books containing the oldest of scriptures — those written by Erin herself. The book on which her hand now rested, the one Branna had bid her to look at, was an ancient tomb, twice the size of the books she now wrote in. The leather smelt of oil and was so badly cracked, it was amazing the book hadn't fallen apart.
Theo gently pulled it down, the pages falling open to a story towards the end of the scriptures. She sank down among the shelves, the heavy book of her predecessor falling open in her lap and let the ancient words flow through her…here was a story she'd never seen before but knew all the same.
From the writings of Erin, 1st host of the fire goddess Branna, She who brings the Summer.
The Twins: The Warrior and the Healer
Death came first.
The Mother saw that Isen was lonely and it saddened her greatly. Her daughter's Loneliness was affecting the realm as well, casting it in a perpetual state of cool and sharp air.
The Mother decided her daughter needed a playmate, someone to share her time with.
So came Død.
She was born on a cold morning, just as the banishment of the Light Goddess began and lights began to fade to the Darkness. Little Isen gazed upon her sister and the Lonely lifted from her soul. Warmth returned to the Mother's Realm as Isen experienced love for the first time.
Autumn into Winter. A perfect set of siblings.
But what the Mother had not anticipated was that Død would not come alone.
Livet soon followed, breathing into existence with a cry that shattered the silence of the realm and set everything trembling.
The world shook with the force of her Dance.
The Mother was startled, but that did not stop her from loving her unexpected daughter. Livet shared her love of all things alive, her desire to heal, and her talent for dancing. It was clear she was the Mother's favorite child.
Where Livet was lively and constantly in motion, Død was still and more often than not, despised her twin sister for the love their Mother seemed to bear her. While her twin Danced and leapt about the Mother's Garden, Død locked herself away in the silence and learned to Breathe. She would meditate for hours, trying to understand her anger, her fear, and her strange gift that brought ruin wherever she went. As the years passed and her powers grew, she withdrew inside the Mother's Palace entirely, even as she longed to explore the Realm and see the inhabitants.
Livet always encouraged her Twin to Dance with her, to wander and see the beauty around them. But Død could not bear to watch her sister create where it seemed she could only destroy. Her jealousy of Livet often manifested as anger and the two often bickered when left alone.
Only Isen could reach the secluded sister, often mediating the gap between the Twins, keeping them apart when necessary and bringing them together when peace could be made.
Likewise, only Branna could calm Livet when her own gifts overwhelmed her. The fire of the Sun-child was all that could curb the excessive growth caused by her dancing and Branna herself often taught Livet the importance of being still and waiting.
Between the four daughters, peace was made in the realm of the Mother.
But when tragedy struck, everything fell to chaos.
Branna fell in battle, her light extinguishing and her fire fading into the Darkness. Isen's Sorrow swept across the realms, devastating all with its piercing, frozen Loneliness. Isen retreated beneath the waves of the ocean, sealing herself away in a vain attempt to join her beloved sister in the Beyond.
Without Isen, Død broke.
Her Breath quickly followed the Sorrow, the inhabitants of the realm wasting away where they stood, the whole land falling silent under her curse. Abandoned by the sister who always promised to contain her, Død left the Mother's palace and traveled the realm, allowing her power to overtake her and wreak havoc. Her anger carried her far, bringing Death with it. She sought only to destroy. After all, that was all she could do.
Livet found she had to fight if the Realm was to survive. She rose against her twin and tried to contain her within the Mother's Realm. Wherever Death went, new Life soon followed.
Død tried to drive her away, tried to make Livet stop but her sister was persistent. Much as she had always been Livet's shadow in childhood, now Livet had become hers. Without Branna to cease the endless creation of the new, Livet's powers stretched across the land as Død's had, choking everything with new life, the inhabitants multiplying until they consumed everything, only to die en masse once Død arrived. Such a display only served as a constant reminder to Død of the curse she had always carried. Where her sister created such beauty, she could only destroy.
Angry and resentful, Død lashed out at her twin. And so the War began.
It was a battle such as the realm had never seen. The fate of all things hung precariously in the balance and suffered endlessly as it raged. When Død was stronger, everything suffered and died. When Livet overcame her sister, they were all forced back to life, back to suffer and die once more when the battle inevitably changed.
The Mother tried to stop them but their gifts had grown too powerful. They were a force all their own now, one she could never hope to contain. The constant battle tore on, the raging war threatened to tear the Realm apart. Two halves of a whole cruelly so mismatched…destined to love but unable to find a balance.
As the Freeze of Isen's Sorrow gripped the Realm, the Twins fought constantly above the frozen ocean, spilled blood on the endless snows, and shattering icicles with the vibrations of their attacks.
Død only wished to be free of her sister, to take her curse far away and be alone with it. But Livet would not let her go. She needed her sister, wanted her to stay in the Realm and find the balance she so craved for her gift.
As the war dragged on, Livet knew she would need help if she were to ever overpower her Twin. She went to the Mother and asked her for something, anything that might give her an advantage over Død. Wanting to see the war come to an end at last and her daughter to come back home, the Mother agreed to aid Livet.
She went into her garden and, combining both her own magic and the powers of her daughter, created a beautiful flower that glowed with the golden light of the sun and pulsed life's energy. Plucking this flower, she gave it to Livet. With its power, she could heal as well as slow the spread of Død's curse.
Død watched with a heavy heart as her own Mother turned on her to aid her sister. Her Breath grew sharper. She fled the garden before her curse would destroy everything.
So long as Livet had the Flower from their Mother's garden, she could not hope to outlast her. She would need a weapon of her own, something to match and overcome the limitless healing power her Twin had acquired.
Driven back again and again by Livet and the Flower, Død retreated to forge a weapon of her own. Deep in the heart of a volcano, using her sister's Lonely tears and her own blood to cool the star-steel, she let her magic and the magic of the Darkness flood into the weapon. The result was a blade so poisonous, only she could hold it. Tainted as it had been in her blood, it turned its magic on all but her.
So here it was, the prefect weapon to end their constant war. The Sword.
But as she was returning from forging her great weapon, Branna was reaching into the frozen ocean to revive Isen.
The Sorrow lifted from the Realm and the in habitants rejoiced in the return of Summer. The snows vanished and the cold loneliness melted. But for Død, the war was not over. There was one last place she had to go if she ever hoped to be free: the Great Tree.
The Tree was older than even the Mother herself and its branches and roots stretched far across the realms. By climbing along a branch or sliding down a root, one could cross into another of the legendary realms and subsequently return.
It was here that Død hoped to finally leave the Mother's Realm and be free of her burdens.
But Livet had beaten her to the Tree and now she stood between her and the path to her freedom. The Twins faced off before the enormous, twisting roots. Død drew her Sword and Livet readied her Flower.
But Livet had not come alone. Upon her return to the realm, Branna had awoken Isen and lifted the Sorrow. Now, the elder daughters had come to put an end to the war.
But Død only saw them all rising against her. Even Isen, who had once been her only confidant. Død attacked them all, her poisoned blade threatening to overpower them with but a single blow.
The battle raged. The Mother closed her eyes.
Fresh from another battle, Branna held back Død's curse as best she could, matching her blow for blow with her own weapon. Isen conjured a shield of ice to aid her, Livet reversed the damage they caused.
Død grew more and more desperate. Her attacks became wilder, more dangerous. As Branna cornered her, she lunged for Livet, her evil blade raised to kill.
With a mighty heave, Branna sent the evil sword flying out of her sister's grip.
The blade spun end over end until it buried itself deep within the roots of the Great Tree. Stabbing right into the heartwood.
Time drew a sharp gasp as the curse spread.
The Sword destroyed the Great Tree, the connector of all the realms. Not even the combined powers of Livet and the Mother could salvage it. Where the blade pierced the wood, the tree older than time itself rotted and crumbled to bits. The dust coated all the realms and faded into their fabric.
Such a loss was felt by all.
Such a life extinguished was unforgivable.
The Mother banished Death from her kingdom, sending Død alone to the world below to live out her eternal existence in exile. The Sword, She shattered, scattering the pieces to the winds.
But to the Mother's dismay, Død's siblings would not let her go alone. Isen came forward first, asking that the Mother bestow the same fate upon her as she had upon her sister. The Winter had been her fault. If she had not lost control, Død would not have broken and the War would not have destroyed everything so precious.
Branna came forward next, demanding that wherever Isen went, she would follow. Livet came forward as well, asking to be sent along so that she could keep an eye on Død and help reverse whatever destruction she wrought.
The Mother was saddened greatly. Without the Tree, they could never return. If she sent them away, she would never see them again.
Isen, Branna, and Livet all still agreed.
Crying tears of Loss, She banished them all, confining them to their most basic forms and forcing them to rely upon humans for a physical form. Even though she knew the love Isen and Branna bore for each other, she split them up, keeping them between the Twins so that war might never again consume her children. Isen could slow the spread of Death and Branna could cease the creation of Life. But to do so, they could never be truly together again.
And so Død became the Autumn, her Breath falling across all things and ending their lives as her curse stole across the land. Isen became the Winter and her Song lulled all to sleep, to rest from the curse until life could come again. Livet became the Spring and her Dance shook all those living back to life and created new life where before there had been only the remnants of the dead. Branna became the Summer and Howled across the land to cease the acceleration of creation. Endlessly, they turned, finally in balance.
The Twins were forever separated so that their powers could not clash again and throw the world out of balance. The Lovers were forced apart to keep the world at peace.
Thus, the four children of the Mother were sent to Earth to live out the rest of their days in the Council of the Four Seasons.
Theo finished the legend with an unpleasant taste in her mouth. The book fell forward, sprawling open on the floor in front of her.
No, something was wrong here…there were inconsistencies between Erin's stories and her own…
In the legend of Isen and Branna, there was no mention of a great battle between the other spirits. Only Branna's fight against the Darkness and Isen's eternal winter.
And the Great Tree? She'd never heard of such a thing. In all the legends she had written, the spirits only spoke of falling to Earth, of Død's banishment for some crime.
She had always assumed it was just the creation of the sword itself but…
She picked up the book again, scanning the ancient writing once more:
The Twins were forever separated so that their powers could not clash again and throw the world out of balance. The Lovers were forced apart to keep the world at peace.
Forced apart to keep the world at peace…
Does that mean…if Els…Isen and I ever…come together…we could upset the balance of the entire world?
Branna had no words but Theo could feel her anxiety burning away within.
There was no mistaking this fear. Somehow, sometime between when Erin had written this legend and Theo had first picked up the pen, the story had changed. Details had been forgotten or overlooked. Knowledge had been lost.
But why? How could a legend change?
How could Branna have forgotten something as important as the Great Tree? Or Død and Livet's battle?
Theo glanced down at the lines of the legend again, something at the bottom of the page catching her eye. She lifted the book up and peered at the writing.
Scrawled under Erin's signature, in a completely different hand, was another sentence of runes…
Theo read them once. Twice. Again. But…how could…?
"Mistress Theonia!"
Goren's shout startled her so badly the book slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor. The troll rounded the corner at a roll, springing open so fast he landed flat on his stomach.
"Theonia…" Goren said, not at all deterred by his clumsiness. "I've got it."
She was shaking, actually trembling. "W…what?" She asked.
Goren stared hard at her. "I've got a positive lock on Død's host."
Theo leapt to her feet to follow the troll back to his calculations, her heart hammering with anticipation.
The book remained open on the floor, the final sentences of Erin's scripture visible…and the last note that had been scribbled hastily and untidily by the desperate hand of her lover, Ileana…
But a small gust of wind as the Summer host sped out of the room in pursuit of her sisters sent the pages flapping and shifting.
The final annotation was covered by the pages of the past and remained unread.
A.N. See you guys at the sequel! :)