Aurora turned her attention from Lady Mellia to her beloved and was surprised to see Nyanna aflame in an aura of soft rose color, but when she saw how the slave touched him, she felt a little irritated – but then it clicked in her mind and she realized that something was absolutely wrong here.
Arakiel not only smiled at Nyanna, he gently covered the hand with which she had reached out for him while his reddish eyes with the golden halo held an affectionate, enamored look.
“Stop that!” Aurora cried out as she wished for Arakiel to snap out of it and when a golden sigil formed and dissolved, his gaze briefly cleared up, causing her to shout his name in relief. “Arakiel!”
His gaze dimmed almost instantly and Nyanna’s rose eyes looked over to her while the lips formed a suggestion. “Render her harmless, will you, my dear?”
“No! Snap out of it!” Aurora shouted, wanting to renew her wish. Inside her, her soul rushed out to form the sigil, only for her golden fire to suddenly stream his way instead of carrying out her will. He had revoked her access and with it, any hope she had of freeing him.
Arakiel turned sideways, not even giving her soul a glance as he admonished her in a soft but irritated tone. “Stop that, Aurora.”
“But…!” She tried to object, yet he repeated his statement, a little more forceful this time around in a way and tone that really went straight to and through her heart. Lord reddish eyes with the golden halo stared o intensely at her, as though she had just committed the gravest of offenses towards him.
“I said stop.”
Aurora’s wings flinched while her body winced in reaction. She lowered her gaze and answered in a dejected and downtrodden tone. “Sorry, my love…”
The way he spoke made her feel terrible, as though she had disappointed him immensely even though she had only wanted to save him.
A part of her knew it was wrong, but it was him saying it. His voice, his gaze. His disappointment.
It stung, it hurt.
“Good girl,” he returned satisfied and these two words alone partially eased the hurt, but when he then immediately turned back towards Nyanna, it somehow only made it worse, especially when he asked her. “How else can I serve, my Lady?”
“Remain on standby while I sort this out,” Nyanna answered in a perfectly leveled tone while she walked over towards Aurora on easy, quiet steps.
“Now, let’s make you a bit more pliable as well,” Nyanna noted and only when her hand reached out to Aurora did she get a grip of her momentary sadness. She backed away while spreading her wings wide as if that might somehow help intimidate the other woman.
“Don’t touch me!” Aurora cried out, hoping that her soul would come out to defend her. Alas, the bit that her Lord had left her with was barely enough to keep her upright and standing. At least he hadn’t taken her all.
Nyanna’s eyes looked her over with a mixture of pity and curiosity. At the same time, she shrugged lightly without coming closer. “Very well, child. I was merely trying to make you more comfortable, but so be it.”
“Who… who are you?” Aurora asked as she tried to get a grip on herself. Arakiel was over there, smiling fondly – yet he wasn’t himself. Just like back then, the blonde woman had charmed him, yet she also didn’t seem like Nyanna at all. Her rose-colored gaze held no submissiveness at all, only acumen and infinite confidence.
The young woman ablaze in the soft pink flames held out her hands, examining them. “Who am I…?” She repeated as a slight grin formed across her face. “Nyanna – you should call me Nyanna. That’s what this flesh was called, right?”
Aurora felt a terrible omen and betting it all on one card, she suddenly folded her wings and burst into a sprint past the girl towards the house, shouting “Ezekiel, Selene!”
‘Nyanna’ only chuckled amusedly, making no attempt to stop her.
Aurora stormed back into the cottage, into the living room and was shocked to find Alannah burning in the same pink flame as Nyanna. Unlike Arakiel, Ezekiel and Selene both stood there in an almost frozen fashion, their eyes wide and disoriented like that of Mellia. By the looks of it, Selene had tried to assist her master in some way, given how close they were.
‘Alannah’ had just retracted her hand from Ezekiel and she turned sideways, giving Aurora a slight smile before her rose-colored eyes turned past her.
“Is there a problem?” She or maybe it asked, causing Nyanna’s voice to answer from behind Aurora.
“No – everything’s under control.” The other entity responded.
Aurora stopped mid-motion and worriedly looked from Ezekiel to Selene and back again.
Both showed no reaction at all. What exactly had happened to these two? Were they dazed, entranced – could she somehow free them?
Questions quickly spiraled out of control in her mind, dooming her to inaction because there was not really anything she could do by herself, after all.
“Relax, little one,” Nyanna’s voice soothed from behind, only to add in a slightly stronger voice. “She’s harmless, soul of mine.”
“Harmless?” ‘Alannah’ repeated with heavy doubt in its voice while the same rose-colored eyes looked over Aurora, examined her as if to decide whether she was an obstacle to be removed or not.
So far, they seemed indecisive.
Nyanna’s voice spoke up once more, stressing a point. “The dark-haired man that struck down my old flesh is an actual Ascendant, sister-dearest! This has to be fate!”
These words caused ‘Alannah’s’ eyes to widen and then, both ‘sisters’ closed in on Aurora, who wanted nothing more than Arakiel to swoop in and save her somehow… but he stood out there, smiling like an idiot.
“Don’t touch me!” Aurora shouted in a flash of panic, repeating herself while her wings unfurled once more, colliding with the walls and ceiling. It hurt a little.
To her surprise, both women ablaze in pink stopped. The being that had called herslef Nyanna then reiterated her earlier statement. “Relax, little one. We have no intention of harming you.”
“Do we, soul of mine?” ‘Alannah’ inquired with audible doubt, her eyes jumping between Aurora and her ‘sister’. “The blonde man just killed the flesh I wore for over thirty years.”
“Call me Nyanna, will you? I like that name.” The one left to Aurora’s requested.
“Then call me Alanna. It’s been a while since our names aligned so nicely, hasn’t it?” Alannah returned and still, both hadn’t closed in on Aurora, but it was obvious that they didn’t perceive her as a potential threat… which was true.
She was utterly defenseless and these two knew. Until Ezekiel or Arakiel broke free, it’d remain so. Aurora really hoped that Arakiel broke free. He had to, didn’t he? He was destined to conquer this plane, after all!
If only she could… but no matter what she tried, her soul flat-out refused to heed her call, for she had offered it to her love.
Nyanna chuckled lightly and then addressed Aurora once more. “Look at me, little winged one.”
Aurora turned towards the girl that used to be Arakiel’s slave. The thin marking on her neck remained, still – yet the rose-colored fire all around her spoke of an altogether different understanding and reality.
“If you comply and act like a good little girl, we will not hurt or touch you,” Nyanna said, offered – and then warned. “But if you resist, then I will make you pliable and believe me, touching will be the least of your worries.”
Aurora looked into her eyes and found no deceit. She tried to think of something, anything – but there was nothing. Without her soul, she was nothing.
With a resigned sigh, her wings receded and she nodded dejectedly. “I understand… I will not cause you problems.”
“Excellent,” Nyanna returned and then looked over towards her ‘sister’. “See, there’s no need for violence.”
“I wasn’t advocating for violence, I was just a little irritated that…”
Nyanna rolled her eyes while passing by Aurora. She didn’t even try to keep her distance, only furthering the fact that she was indeed no threat at all. “Oh please, Alanna. You were sick and tired of that old bag Cahir for a while now.”
Alanna, for that is who she appeared to be now, pointed her finger at Nyanna. Gesturing lightly, she objected. “Well you got to enjoy him in his prime – I only got the leftovers!”
The other sister let out a defensive shrug. “It’s not my fault this plane is so backwards. We used to share, didn’t we?”
Both seemed that statement quite funny given the slight laughter that followed.
“What… are you?” Aurora found herself asking, wondering whether she had just overstepped her bounds. Instead, they faced towards her, two pairs of rose-colored irises staring right into hers.
“We are like you, little golden one.” Alanna began, with Nyanna making the point.
“Immortals; Seelie, to be precise.”
Other immortals. Seelie. Aurora had never heard the term, but they were like her, able to shroud themselves in soul. This much was plain obvious at this point.
And yet, these two felt so different from Selene, Aurora or Sophie, Lady Chryse’s phoenix argent.
“And what are you and that silver one over there?” Alanna asked with genuine curiosity, hinting towards a dazed, unmoving Selene.
“We are seraphim,” Aurora responded, seeing no reason to try and conceal anything. If she played along, then she would not be hurt and whatever happened, Aurora didn’t want to get harmed. She had to endure until Arakiel found a way to break free and save her or she found some way to free him.
“Ooh,” Alanna noted and chuckled in an odd tone. “Seraphim – how very curious.”
“Curious indeed,” Nyanna added with palpable glee. “To think we’d find two descendants of the Great Betrayers here! It has to be fate!”
“Great… betrayers?” Aurora repeated slowly, wondering whether she had heard correctly.
“How fitting that a mortal rules over you,” Nyanna went on and both began to giggle a little, thoroughly ignoring Aurora. “This certainly merits a lot of study.”
“These men must be extraordinary, sister!” Alanna went on to exclaim with excitement. “What a catch!”
“W-what are you going to do?” Aurora asked somewhat timidly as the two seelie excitedly rubbed their hands.
“I won’t harm you, little seraphim. But surely you won’t mind if we research the great enemy’s design between you and the black-haired man? What was his name again?”
Great enemy. Great betrayer – what were these two talking about?
“My Lord’s name is Arakiel.” Aurora replied dutifully, trying to focus on the discussion.
“Lord? You speak as if that has a meaning,” the seelie Alanna noted curiously, but then she seemed to recall something.
Raising her finger, she spoke up once again in an utterly casual tone, as if she was talking about the weather. “But wait, little golden seraphim. Let us first clean up this mess and then we will talk in a more cozy atmosphere.”
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“I agree,” the seelie called Nyanna affirmed and since Aurora had no say in it, she didn’t even try to comment in any fashion.
Alanna walked over towards the body that lay in a pool of blood right next to some silverware that had fallen off the table. A cup had spilled fragrant chamomile liquid everywhere.
Aurora hesitantly followed the seelie to see what she was up to.
She let out a low chuckle as she knelt down over a dead woman’s head. That woman looked like an older, slightly plumber Nyanna, Bidina or Finna. It had to be the ‘flesh’ the seelie talked about earlier. Alanna put her hand that was still covered in the rose-colored aura on the face and closed her eyes.
Seconds later, the dead woman began to age at a rapid rate and Aurora immediately turned away as she somehow had the feeling that this might turn rather gross.
Nyanna had left the cottage which mainly smelled of chamomile, but another layer of strench lay beneath, growing stronger by the moment.
A few moments later, the seelie let out a content sigh and when Aurora hesitantly turned once again, only a small mound of bloodied dust remained of the body.
“W-what did you do?” Aurora found herself asking, gasping even.
The seelie ablaze in soft pink flames shrugged casually. “Taking back what’s mine.”
Then, she looked around and two sigils of rose-colored flames appeared around her, dissolving in an instant. Crystal-clear water poured forth from nowhere, washing away the blood right after which all the liquid was sucked into the air, where it formed a floating blood-smeared orb of water. In the same vein, the bad scent was just… eliminated. From one moment to antother, it was gone.
With an incidental flick of her wrist, the immortal sent the ball flying out of the cottage and a few moments later, Aurora heard a loud surprised yelp from outside.
Alanna began to laugh heartily, so much so that she had to hold her belly while from outside, Nyanna let out a whole range of curses and when the other immortal returned into the room, it became quite apparent that she had been hit.
The seelie accused her sister of deliberately targeting her while she cast a similar spell to what Alanna had done and when the sister denied any involvement while having laughed herself to tears, Nyanna flung the newly formed orb of bloodied water back.
As Aurora became a witness in a truly bizarre battle where both sisters kept throwing things at one another with great glee, she briefly wondered whether she could use their occupation to somehow help one of the others.
That thought died quickly when Alanna suddenly headed over towards Ezekiel after having thrown the remaining liquid out of the cottage once more. This time, Aurora saw the pink sigil that the seelie formed right as her hand reached for the man’s face.
Ezekiel’s body flinched and he briefly looked around while tightening the grip around his black blade, but then his body relaxed and he looked at the seelie with an enamored expression, asking.
“How can I serve you, my Lady?”
Just like that, the other part of any potential rescue had been denied. Aurora had to do her best to keep her from falling into some kind of stupor.
“Tell him to render his seraphim harmless,” Nyanna advised, allowing Aurora to find some stability in the fact that she figured out that the seelie Alanna most likely couldn’t order Arakiel around – only her sister should be able to.
Alanna headed over to Selene and lightly flicked her forehead in an almost playful manner while suggesting. “Make your seraphim obedient, dear.” It didn’t sound like an order, given how soft the words came across her lips.
Selene broke free from the trance, her silver eyes regaining some sort of focus. Ezekiel burst into silver flames at the same time and for the tiniest of moments, Aurora hoped that he was merely pretending until he addressed his seraphim in a commandeering tone, yelling. “Selene! Stand at attention right this instant!”
“…what?” The silver seraphim muttered in confusion as she tried to compute what had happened. “Master, what is…?”
“Selene!” Ezekiel barked in a sharp voice and from one moment to another, the Selenyean princess snapped into a subdued posture, the kind that Aurora had learned at the Maidenhold.
Seeing the way Selene kept her feet in perfect parallel, the way she covered one hand with the other just above her lower belly while her whole back straightened… how she lightly lowered her head while still keeping her chest stuck out; it caused emotions to surface in Aurora, emotions she had thought long forgotten by this point.
Graceful, desirable, attentive, submissive… harmonious obedience. This posture encapsulated it all – everything that the abbess had ingrained deep into every maiden-to-be. The fact that Aurora recalled that it took a lot of effort to master the subtleties as this stance demanded certain parts of the body to be tense while leaving others only partially relaxed.
Aurora’s internal downward spiral got disturbed when Alanna began to laugh out loud as she walked over towards the silver-haired seraphim.
“Look, Nyanna!” She exclaimed while looking over Selene who kept up her posture, but she was also trembling. “Spawn of the Great Betrayers, reduced to a delectable morsel!”
“She’s afraid, Alanna dear. Look!” Nyanna pointed out and the two seelie chuckled in delight again. Ttheir laughter rang so very mockingly in Aurora’s ears and Selene most likely had it even worse.
The other seelie turned towards Ezekiel, asking. “What’s your name, dear?”
“Ezekiel il Impyrea, my Lady.” The blonde man with the amethyst eyes replied in a thoroughly enamored tone.
“Give me your seraphim,” Alanna suggested so flippantly, yet Aurora’s heart skipped a beat while Selene actually broke posture, staring with disbelief and growing terror at her ensorcelled lord or master or whatever he was to her now.
“Selene is mine, my Lady,” Ezekiel stated, however. Once again, a brief flicker of hope arose that he had somehow broken free.
It was smashed to smithereens right as he went on, adding. “But I will share her with you, my Lady.”
“Interesting,” the seelie noted as though she hadn’t expected that outcome.
And then a whisper suddenly resounded right next to Aurora’s ear, causing her to flinch and yelp in a brief flash of fear while her body subconsciously reverted to a posture that nearly caused Aurora to fall into despair.
“Come along, little golden one.” Nyanna had whispered, beckoning Aurora to follow, which she did in a hurry to gloss over the shameful act she had just performed.
Why… why would it come back now?!
Hadn’t she beaten it!?
Then why…
Aurora had to forcefully stop herself from going down a memory lane that had no part in being with her any longer and yet a terrible premonition remained that it was still down there, in the deep recesses of her mind.
The sight of her champion and Lord made these bad thoughts go away, but others began to creep in, for he wasn’t himself.
The seelie had done something to him, charmed him in some terrible, profound way and given the way the two seelie interacted with one another, they were absolutely certain that their spells held.
Aurora had briefly, ever so briefly managed to cut the influence right at the start… but without access to her soul, she was powerless.
But then her eyes fell onto one of her shards at Arakiel’s belt. So far, the seelie hadn’t paid any attention to it.
From that insight, a chain of thoughts formed: perhaps… just perhaps, she could still do something.
Just like she had done back then when Nyanna had charmed him the first time.
Her Lord needed her, just as she needed him.
Nyanna stopped in between Arakiel and Mellia. He still wore Aurora’s soul for all the world to see and what had once filled Aurora with pride now seemed like a terrible mockery to her – and it was the seelie’s fault. It was also kind of his fault, too.
Nyanna paid Aurora not a lot of attention, most likely having written her off already for the time being.
“Dear, what is this girl’s name?” The seelie queried towards Arakiel.
“Mellia il Kalanaar, my little sister,” He replied in a voice that sounded so eager to please it terrified Aurora. She had to save him somehow – this wasn’t how her conqueror was supposed to act!
Nyanna nodded contently. “Her ancestry is terrific, just like yours… what was your name again, dear?”
The immortal knew, she had to – but she was just mocking him, mocking her.
Fear turned to anger, irritation. It gave her courage, even if she kept it hidden inside her for now.
Soon, she’d need it very soon.
“Arakiel il Kalanaar, my Lady.”
“Just like yours… a sibling, then.” the seelie concluded and then ordered out of the blue. “Let me taste your blood.”
“Of course, my Lady. A moment, please.” Arakiel replied and then walked over towards his blackened scimitar that lay on the ground, the body of the elven woman having dissolved into nothing but dust at some earlier point in time. Only the blood-soaked blades of grass and the soil beneath spoke of the event.
Her Lord picked up the weapon and casually slashed his own hand, causing Aurora to wince at the sight, but she had to remain strong just a little longer.
The shards were right there. She just had to wait for the seelie to be distracted for a brief period of time – and soon, before she became aware of them.
Arakiel offered Nyanna his hand and she began to greedily lick up the fresh blood, uncaring for it covering the edges of her mouth and even other parts of her face.
Aurora slowly approached, but didn’t act just yet.
“M-hmm…” Nyanna muttered contently after having more or less cleaned Arakiel’s hand. Another sigil appeared and dissolved in an instant, causing his bleeding wound to coagulate. It didn’t heal right away, though. Had Aurora done it, it would’ve healed in a matter of mere moments.
“That is some delicious blood,” the immortal noted ecstatically. “Ripe with untapped potential and a dash of power! You, my dear, might just be what I’m looking for.”
“I am elated to hear that, my Lady.” Arakiel responded in a slightly subservient tone, giving the seelie a smile.
“W-what are you planning with him… with us?” Aurora had asked before she realized that she had done so. She immediately cursed herself internally, for she was supposed to not draw attention, yet the being’s words had caused her a lot of worry.
Nyanna turned to her, the bloody lips curling to a mischievous grin. Somehow, the light on this beautiful meadow of flowers made her eyes seem to glow just ever so slightly.
For now, I intend to find out how his class works and how it affects you… then, my sister and I will run some tests and depending on the results, we might just decide that it is time to unify once more.”
“Unify?” Aurora repeated, asked.
“My twin and I are fractured,” Nyanna responded as if that term alone somehow explained everything. When she noticed Aurora’s confusion, however, she went on to elaborate. “We’ve been spreading our blood all across the Middle Kingdom for the past century and depending on whether our Arakiel here is worth it, it might just be time to finally revert to our true state and move on. I am admittedly growing tired of this plane.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but the seelie wasn’t done just yet. “We sometimes do wonder how the other worlds are doing… given the great enemy’s victory.”
“You speak of the god-in-grey… the Transcended?” Aurora inquired carefully.
“Precisely… but you can explain all of that in much more detail in the near future. I’m sure you and your ‘Lord’ as you call him have many fascinating details to share.” Nyanna replied with a smile and at that point, Aurora just had to ask.
“W-what… happened to… Nyanna?”
“Oh, the one whose flesh I’m wearing?” The seelie asked in a perfectly nonchalanat tone. “A fragment of the vessel is still in this body… but you should consider it dead. We seelie cannot possess our vessels without overtaking them.”
Vessels… overtaking. The immortal spoke so casually about it. Aurora didn’t know what to think of it, so she asked some odd question instead. “Is… Bidina also one of your vessels?”
Nyanna looked over towards the bloodstain as if that answered the question. When she realized that it did not, she concluded with some interest. “You seem wholly ignorant on our matters, little seraphim. How fitting that you and your kind are raised in captivity after you broke the order of old.”
“Because the four seraphim assisted the god-in-grey?” Aurora guessed, perhaps even surmised.
The seelie’s smile lessened. “Precisely. But we’ll have lots of time to discuss such matters. For now, let me quickly take care of this one.” She muttered while turning to her Lord’s little sister.
“Please don’t kill her!” Aurora exclaimed but the seelie laughed while shaking her head.
“Silly girl,” she returned while another sigil of rose-colored flames formed next to Lady Mellia’s head. “I wouldn’t waste such a good seedbed.”
When the seelie fully turned away, Aurora saw her window of opportunity.
She reached for her Lord’s belt with a swift and precise motion, snatching two of the dawnshards she had offered him.
She felt the light inside them, felt it heeding her call. She called on the gold, tapped it to make her wish come true, the wish that Arakiel shake off the spell and free her from this foreboding nightmare.
But then, Aurora suddenly felt a shap pain across her cheek as something slapped her with so much force that she was thrown off of her feet.
Thoroughly unaccustomed to pain, she cried out while letting go of the shards and with it, her last hope of breaking free.
Although she fell on a soft bed of flowers, the impact left her dazed nonetheless.
Her ears rang while her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened
The scent of flowers, of grass and soil enveloped her while above, a familiar voice spoke.
“My Lady,” Arakiel spoke up and Aurora’s heart sank.
Surely he wasn’t going to.
Surely it hadn’t been him.
Fear began to spread throughout her – fear first, but despair followed more or less right afterwards when he continued.
“Aurora just tried to cast a spell behind your back.”
Just like that. It was all gone just like that – any hope she might’ve had.
“Is that so?” The seelie queried somewhat surprised and turned around.
From her bed of flowers, Aurora saw the rose-colored eyes and they shone shining ever so softly, but the blood smears across the immortal’s face gave her a truly dreadful look.
“You decided to be naughty, did you?” The seelie asked as if that somehow pleased her. “Well then, allow me to show you how we deal with naughty girls like you.”