Open Hidden in Darkness

[Vyvian]

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Winter 38th 513 AV

Vyvian slouched like he always did. Red against white.

Blood on bone... fire and ashe.. a rose on a corpse..

All of these things Vyvian imagined were infinitely more graceful than he could ever be, but he liked to imagine he evoked those metaphors in other people's minds as well.

He was currently having a rest from the extensive learning and research he was undergoing to understand Akajia and other seemingly, to others, useless morsels of information, all of which absorbed Vyvian so much he often forgot to eat.. or sleep... or anything really.

So when his mind collapsed from exhaustion and he began to feel the insanity of being locked in the same room for days on end, he would go out to any public place and would just... stand there. Listen. Pick up the news of the town, and listen to people's uttermost secrets. The things people tell each other when they think they're not being overheard. Vyvian was secretly proud and suspected he could create quite a turmoil if he felt the urge. Kalinor was surprisingly secretive in his opinion. A lot of people liked to hide things behind doors and appear to conform. Such was near extinction he guessed.

So Vyvian stood there hunched, leaning. A splash of crimson in the sea of white. He closed his eyes, pulled his hood down, and listened.

He smiled lopsidedly. He loved eavesdropping.

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[Voldaire Cassiope]

38th of Winter, 513 AV

The Cassiope web stalactites were nestled above a sheer drop into ichor-black abyss, a gaping maw that Voldaire discerned contained a lake at the bottom. The silk passageway from Voldaire's home to the nearest public square was spotted with opalgloams, providing ample light.

The Symenestra snaked along quickly, scaling down into the womb of the cave as he had countless times before. It wasn't long before he was able to slip into the dark and disappear into the quiet echoes of the labyrinth he called home.

"You can't keep leaving like that," a female voice behind him called out, a lucid panic audible in her even pitch.

Voldaire froze, his blood thickening into jam in his veins.

"Please stop leaving without telling me. I will always find you, Brother."

Noralei was draped upside-down from the passageway, her cool gold eyes glinting with stern love at her brother.

Voldaire clutched his fists in hot fear and swung around, his molten amethyst eyes settling on his hanging sister. "Nora, you're not in charge of me. You never used to care what I do, why do you care now?"

At that, the female Symenestra dropped from the ceiling and approached her much-taller brother. "Voldy, after we got that letter from Vendalor, you know what you must do. Why do you keep walking away?"

Voldaire looked away, pained at her question. "I'm not ready to go on my harvest. I wasn't prepared... Maybe I should wait until next year."

"You aren't getting any younger," she responded, placing her hand on her brother's cheek. "You should leave with the rest, on the Do-Vedenza Kina. Go to Vendy, and you two can work together."

"I don't want to work with him, you know that, Sister." They both paused after his last word, then stepped apart. Voldaire's eyes settled back on his sister, the misplaced anger having simmered into a less abrasive presence.

Noralei continued to look away, her hand touching her chest. After a moment, she lifted her silver hair and unfastened the pendant she was wearing. She collected it in her palm, turned around, and extending her closed palm to Voldaire.

"This was Mother's. Her grandmother wore it, back when Cassiope was prosperous. It used to bring us luck, but now it's a symbol of our failings. Maybe we can fix that, Voldy." She paused, pulling his hand with her free grasp and forcing the pendant into his palm. He lifted it, revealing an opalgloam spider charm on a silk thread.

"This was really Mother's?" was the only thing Voldaire could think to ask, fixated on the jewelry. She touched this. She wore this. He inhaled a sharp breath, exhaling slowly. He hadn't felt this excited in a while, and all from a sterile piece of jewelry. I wish it smelled like her.

Neither party seemed observant of the occasional passerby in the public corridor, or the Symenestra leaning on the wall.

"Will you do this for me, Voldaire?"

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[Vyvian]

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Vyvian raised an interested yet sceptical eyebrow towards a couple opposite him. While the two obviously started off with an argument, the male having left Kalinor apparently without his significant other's permission. Eventually the couple became more compassionate towards each other, so evidently they were siblings and not a wed couple. Siblings are forced to like each other from birth, wed couple argue much more, because they're more unique from each other.

Then the sister handed over some simple piece of jewellery and the other made some subconscious exclamation.

Vyvian's eyes slid back towards them, like a hawk's. Now his curiosity was piqued, there was no escaping him now.

The brother was evidently engrossed in the trinket, which made Vyvian interested with why he was engrossed. Frowning a couple of shades darker, his scarred side of his face twisted more into a skull.

The only reason he could think of to be that attached to jewellery was either sentimental value, or monetary value.

Simple then. He would take it off this brother and visit a jewellers. Then his curiosity would be satisfied. Heck, depending on how this brother turned out, he might permanently steal it. Depends on how kind the brother was.

Pulling his hood over his head deeper, he stepped out into the crowd slowly and watched to see where this brother went.

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[Voldaire Cassiope]

Voldaire froze, looking straight into his sister's eyes. Her soft gold irises were like lemons in a field of ash.

"I will do this for you, Noralei."

"Thank you, Brother." She withdrew her hand from his jaw and slipped into the dark, nails clacking as she snaked back up to her home. And just like that, Voldaire's sister was gone. First she won't let me leave without her permission, now I'm being sent out of Kalinor... If only my life knew consistency. He paused for a long moment, still looking to where his sister disappeared, silent as a moth.

Where was I even going? He regained his composure and looked around himself, as if becoming aware of his body's existence and location only moments ago. I don't even care anymore. Let's just go back home and see what I can even pack. I feel stressed now. Voldaire's brain became a swarm of thought, like mosquitoes in the reed of a swamp when twilight blankets the water. He turned his body to match his gaze, following after his sister.

Why is she changing her mind now? Is it because Vendalor is hurt? Do I save him or abandon him? This... love for my sister... is strange. Voldaire's head pounded with brackish confusion as he neared the passageway to his web's cavern. My sister. He started climbing up the cave. Could be. He crossed above his stalactite. Mine forever. The last thought crossed his mind as he crawled down into his home and disappeared inside, completely engrossed in thought.

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[Vyvian]

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Like a single drop of blood trickling down a cheek, Vyvian in his red coat followed some distance behind the brother. Something had changed in the brother's demeanour, he seemed more contemplative, thoughtful. Vyvian hung from the ceiling and looked up, or down, depending on your perspective. His hair hung loosely and his hood hung motionless in the air. Well he'd found where the brother lived. Interestingly the sister lived nowhere near, maybe an old argument? Or maybe one relocated for convenience's sake.

Creeping softly down the stalactite Vyvian trod as softly as he could on the roof of the building, eyes searching all over. The main entrance granted him a tiny crack to look through, so he knelt down and covered himself totally with his coat, appearing like a red drop of moisture on the roof of the house. Emotionlessly he looked inside the house and.. observed.

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[Voldaire Cassiope]

Inside, Voldaire was swinging back and forth on the silken cord bisecting his stalactite home. His dark violet eyes were clouded with contemplation, their sharp pupils set on the pendant he hand hung on the wall for observation. I can't do this. I don't know anything outside of the cave. I've never left before. He slowed his swing and halted. I was never going to leave, and now I'm back under their noses. It's like they say, you can't escape blood. The young Symenestra sighed heavily, as if pushing all of his brood and angst out of his body. After the long exhale, he lifted his shoulders and scanned the dark home.

I have to tell her that I can't do this. I will fail her.

Voldaire swung his cord and snagged the pendant, clutching it with onyx claws. His nails clacked audibly on the hard, glowing stone. Voldaire mourned his gall, grinding his teeth together. I'm never going to amount to anything, am I?

"I can't do this," he uttered. He repeated the phrase, smoothing out his clothes. "I can't do this." Each statement grew prouder, paradoxical to their contents. With a burst of energy, Voldaire shot up his homely silken cords to the main entrance, pushing aside the drapery shielding his house from the cavern.

For the first time in a while, Voldaire saw someone outside of his family. And they were crouched near the entrance of his home. The energy on his frame quickly melted into fear."Who... are you?"

His reflexes braced his frame against the entryway defensively, bearing his fangs. "I've never seen you before. I'd think I'd remember a burned one," he growled.

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[Vyvian]

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Vyvian tensed visibly as the brother emerged in front of him, before turning scared, then hostile. The fear shone like a lamp through the otherwise tough appearance. Vyvian straightened up languidly, looking down at the bestial Symenestra with amusement.

"I'm Vyvian, and you are...?" he trailed off, brushing his hair over to cover his scar a little better.

"And of all the terms I've been insulted, 'Burnt One' certainly is the least creative. I was here because that ring you were just given interested me."

Vyvian grinned maliciously and extended his finger, pushing it against the Symenestra's incisors until it bled. Sighing in ecstasy he brought his finger back and licked up his blood contemplatively as he looked at the diameter of the wound.

"You don't sharpen your teeth then. Don't leave our prison much?" he gave a sweeping gesture to Kalinor.

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