Speech = ``…..´´
Thoughts = [… …]
ºº
``W-where am I..?
She muttered softly, the words coming out through her lips before she even had realized that had taken place as she felt herself being drag into a strange world. And strange it was…
That was the first thing that came to her mind as the world around her slowly ceased to be a blur of darkness and light and gained more and more definition. First taking notice of the walls of stone and wood around her, then the beams of light and the sound of the wind softly howling in the outside, bathing her in their ethereal embrace.
She almost could see each and every speck of dust hanging in the air, floating without purpose or direction.…, the cracks in the walls, the smooth surface of the wooden pillars in the ceiling, the different shades of light in which the beams of light entered into her view...
She did not know why, but everything felt so simple.., so calm. And yet, everything felt somehow…
Her chest heavy with a mysterious apprehension, yet her heart throbbed calmly as her ears perked at is sound. Her fingers felt cold and warm, as if she was drenching them within the confines of a pool of cold, icy waters while holding a hot steaming coal between her fingers...
She started to lean over, taking a slow deep breath before rubbing her head. Small, slender fingers gracing and stroking locks of golden of her mane as she tried to find away to ease the ache in her head. As far as she knew there was nothing there to warrant such strange feeling. She was merely resting on a strange coloured bed in an abandoned house, nothing else...
The metallic scent of copper and burnt out ashes reaching her softly, making her face crease with confusion given the fact that she could not see any reason why she had sensed that..
``How strang-..´´
Her words died out in her throat, leaving nothing but a pained choking sound to escape through her lops as realization dawned in her like a hammer. Something that had escaped her notice thanks to the dizziness in her mind and the fact it was trying to reboot in an effort to normalize everything around her.
Her neck rotating painfully slow to the side while her eyes opened wide to comically proportions, blue pupils shirking to the size of a pin, taking unbeknownst to her a shade of bright crimson for a brief moment as they stared shocked at culprit behind the sudden increase of her heartbeat a thousand times over.
Her hand…
She could feel sweat trail down her forehead, her throat clenching tightly, robbing her of her voice as she found herself lost staring at her limb, flexing and clenching her fingers with great caution, almost fearful as if a simple brush of air could wipe them away. Take them away from her
She was brought to her senses when she felt the cool touch of tears slid down her cheeks and drop down over her hands.
It was…., it really was her hand. Not a deformed mass of rotten flesh that had tore through bone and flesh and left the entire limb useless as it ate away her nerves like a pack of hungry termites, but her own albeit slightly more pale original limb..
A thousand thoughts crossed her mind as she could not pry her gaze away from it, and how couldn't she when the last thing she remembered was the monstrosity that had taken its place? Her mouth open wide, gawking like a fool as she had no words to say at what her eyes were witnessing would have been the mildest of reactions...
The thought that she was still dreaming did came to mind.., but looking around she knew that where she was resting was not the peaceful place she had just come from. With its clear skies and calm breezes, with the clear, flooded ground where she could stared down at her reflection like a mirror.
This place...for lack of a better word felt abandoned. A ruin.., somewhere that she hadd not previus recollection of idea of why would her mind bring her there. And that could only mean one thing.
Awake..
She was awake….
"Come with me if you want to live..."
Like clockwork the words came in to mind, prompting a small smile to warp around her lips.
Those had been the words the strange man had shared with her. She remembered the way his voice echoed softly yet coldly in her ears, the passion of his composure and the sweet tremor of the ground as he moved through that peaceful landscape as if he ruled over it.
And above all things... the silent and solemn caring look in his eyes as he stretched a hand for her to grab onto, uncaring whether his dwarfed hers by a large margin. Offering her salvation...
Even as her heart ached with a thorn that she would never be able to pull out and her mind was assailed with the memory's of what it once was and what could have been she had not doubted his words…, not even once.
She could not explain why.., but she felt it. That he would never hurt her…
Maddening wasn't it? After what had led her to that moment in time...and yet she jumped the gun to grab his hand. Finding herself...to not really care much about that any-more.
Even if it was a lie, even if it was a scheme to deceive her and bring her more pain...she would never regret her decision to hold onto the last living being that had offered her companionship. No matter how brief such ease would last...
Unbeknown to her a warmth's had started to spread over her cheeks, painting them in a soft shade of scarlet.
But now.., feeling the cool touch of the air against her skin, the way her muscles flared up in response at her desires as she flexed and clenched her fingers, the steady sound of her heartbeat throbbing inside her chest as she placed a small delicate hand over it.., if she concentrated hard enough she was sure that she could remember his touch..
Now she knew that he had been right.
``It was not a dream, you...you really cured me..´´
She muttered out loud, still shocked by the revelation, yet with no small amount of gratitude. She would have burst in tears again if she did not felt so overwhelmed at the moment to do so.
``That is correct, child. You can say that you are officially healed from your ailment... for good.´´
At the sound of that voice that she had heard in what felt like a lifetime ago, yet drawn her as if she was under uncontrollable thirsts she turned her head to meet it.
Feeling her body freeze in the spot, forgetting how to move, how to breath even! Until it eventually relaxed once her eyes rested upon his large, bulky frame...
When her world had turned white and he had dissipated from her sights, she had thought that she would never see him again. She had never felt more happy to be wrong. Her eyes drank his form as he stood standing just across the room from her while chiding herself internally for not taking notice before...
Just like before, he was a towering tower clad in darkness that seemed to overtake everything around it with its mere presence. The light of day barely able to pour through the window behind him, wrapping and reflecting all over his body, cutting a rather sharp figure that glowed around the edges with warm beams of golden light mixing with the black, purplish aura exuding from him like a man sized eclipse..
Those red burning coals lit up a little brighter as they met with her own…, each of his movements drawing out with seemingly perfection as he turned to face her, gauntlets filled with razor sharp talons gracing and scratching the air with simple yet ethereal like moves as if they were twirling a tune she was not privy to, leaving a faint trace of dark, electric smoke to linger in between.
Her delicate ears twitching at the sound of his metal heels grinding against the ground.., sending ripples of energy, the dusty filled air pushed aside with each step he took, as if the mere act of walking was too much for the world to bare. And though his face was coated in thick bone devoid of any flesh, she was sure that he was smiling underneath.
Or at least….that was what she believed.
By the time he reached her position with two simple long strides she was reminded once more how massive he was as she was forced to cock her head back to try maintain her eyesight with his. It was then that she realized that she had been caught staring…, her judgement clearly having disappeared for as long as she had been awestruck, prompting her to lower her head.
``M-my apologies...I did not mean to-..´´
``Do not...´´
``What..?
``Do not berate or judge yourself for you have yet to incur my wrath, child. Your curiosity may not be appreciated, but its not abhorred in the slightest either..´´
He halted, his eyes glowing brighter, then dimmer...before he lowered himself, sinking one knee into the dusty ground. Allowing him to get to level with her, though he still towered above her by a large margin. Those rusty old tubes attached to the sides of his mouthpiece jangling with one another by the motion.., the sound of his cold, sharp breaths cutting through the air and filling the silence between them.
Then he spoke once more...
`` In fact, I would have found disturbing….. your lack of it.´´
She blinked, turning her head around as she felt the embarrassment she had felt vanish.
``A re you sure you really don't mind..?´´
A low growl emanated form him, it did not sound threatening though. Almost like a dry, mirthless laugh.
``You are the second living creature to gaze at me form without losing your mind or wits. After all this time, a little indiscretion of the likes of you is something that I will survive..´´
She allowed those words to sink down in her mind, finding almost a strange urge to chuckle, but before she could do or ask what he meant something else came to mind.
``So...I am cured, you cured me. You really did….´´
He stared down at her…, his burning eyes still like common flames that had been froze in time, yet her guts whispered of the way his eyes were almost scowling.
``I did…, I do not make custom to lie...´´
She almost apologized for what she had done, she would have as it was the least he owned him. And yet...she could not, it pained her...
But she had to know…
Her body pushing her forward, to lean closer to him until only a sparse distance remained between them, her small hands clasping tightly around the edges of the bed to hold her still.
``But how..!? No one in the town could find a solution for it..., there are no texts that speak of a way to fight it…nothing at all´´
``….´´
``My body was almost completely rotten, dead, monstrous…´´
``…´´
`` And yet you cured me with the touch of a finger? Just like that..!?´´
``Just like that….´´
The simplicity of the answer brought her speech to a halt..., or perhaps it was the lack of grandiose mannerism behind it. The way he uttered such impossible deed as if he had merely pointed out a scratch in a wall. So much unlike the speech of her kin and their social interactions.
It felt as if someone had merely drawn out a blank sheet of paper and written the answer to the universe without even paying any worthwhile attention to it. And yet...she knew it was not an empty boast.
The idea of her life been taken by such a terrible, incurable decease only to be cured like nothing would have been laughable a few weeks back.
She was no longer laughing...
``I-I have no words to say, I don't know if its even possible.. ´´
It was the truth. All of this, any of this...it was just too overwhelming.
She was glad that he waited, that he did not press her on...acting like a silent observer as she fought to control her breathing and keep her heart under control.
``You can try…, say words and I will put them together...´´
It was a good idea, if not the best she had heard in a long time…
And so she did, or tried at least. Clenching her fingers even more tightly against the frames which now creaked and shrieked in protest as her fingers were literally digging through the wood like it was butter. Opening her lips, air brewing inside her lungs.., creating a small whirling of fire that ignited her veins.
And yet nothing came out but silence...
She clenched her jaw, her body tensing as she tried to pour out her thoughts, yet she failed again. Even if she knew what she wanted to say…, her body betrayed her once again.
So she did the second best thing she could do…, launching herself forward, hands stretched forward as they freed the mauled bed frames as she found something else to grab onto in the form of the still kneeling towering man.
Who as she started to bury her head into his wide chest rose from the ground as if struck by lightning. Pulling her away from the ground, her small feet dangling in the air while her hair.
His body was cold, the cool touch of steel and leather biting into her, but she did not give in, especially not when she knew the way her face was heating up, tears splattered now onto the black fabric and carapace.
She breathed in respite when she felt him not pushing her away, but instead placing his hands behind her back to held her.
Albeit...more hesitantly that she would have expected had she the mind to perceive it.
``Fate must have let you to me…., I thought the goddess had cast me out of her light. Thank you..´´
``Fate had nothing to do with this, let alone your goddess. The end of your life was already cast down, cut short by circumstances outside in your control by the hands of nefarious mortals and their dark schemes...nor I have need for your words of gratitude.´´
The rumbling of his voice drew her attention back, cocking her head back to stare at his face, yet finding it difficult when her head became intertwined with those old tubes.
He did not seem to mind or had not notice, though she had the feeling the latter was rather improbable..
``They are merely wasted….´´
``What do you mean? Wait.., ailment..?´´
He stared at her again, his eyes peering into her soul, silent..yet speaking in length of the thoughts and emotions laying behind the layers of fire. Before she could speak another word he lowered himself back into the ground and pried her away from him much to her dismay and...mild disappointment once she found herself resting over the warm mattress she had being laying upon...
``Curse, demonic possession, ailment….words that now held no power or importance over you as you are now cured of it. In other words, you are free…, she-elf´´
He spoke out, his voice echoing coolly and sharp through each pause between intake and intake of air.., yet mildly more softer at the very end. And yet, though he had answered plainly…., it had not quelled the doubts and questions that started to grow inside her. Creating more questions than they answered.
``I was...cursed? Why.? Who would do that..?´´
She asked, her voice trembling at first disconcerted before anger started to slip in like water through cracks on the ground as she stared at him. Why would she be subjected to such terrible death? What had she done to be the target of such foul thing!?
The answer was simple: Nothing…
She had done nothing…, and that infuriated her even more. The sheer absurdity of the unfairness of it finally festering deep inside as everything that had happened was proven not as a struck of bad luck, but rather by the design of another.
Someone that had not cared for the pain they brought….
``An entity which name has passed by on history into legend. One that they would likely keep that way..´´
She bit her lip, her eyes following avidly the swift gesture of his talons as they seemingly started to scratch an invisible beard. Each, swift stroke making her dread and curiosity implode higher and higher inside her.
And then they stopped moving.
``Its name, is Diabolos...the demon lord´´
ºº
A/N
The thought for Reaper to say Aurora instead of Diabolos was strong, but as of yet, even though he suspects correctly who she is and why she wanted to die so fervently, I don't think the cult truly knew that Aurora was Diabolos, but more like two separate entities...or perhaps they know but felt that the name Diabolos scares the people more like Voldemort rejecting his given name as Tom riddle, I could be wrong again though, your thoughts..?