Closed Where was the Light

[Gwin]

Fall 66, 514 AV
Cliffside Grotto


Riverfall felt as if it was built for Gwin. While others were confined to bridges and piers, the Akvatari simply hovered over or swam through the waters of Plunge Pool Bay, basking in stray droplets from the waterfall, to go from the north to the south side of the city or the other way around. Since taking up residence at the Blue Gem, Gwin had also started frequenting the nearest park across the bay.

Cliffside Grotto with its endless stairs winding around old trees, young saplings and blooming autumn flowers inspired her in a way that was hard to describe. It represented all Riverfall stood for, attracting both residents and visitors at all times of day and night. Since the watchstone had changed color, the park was also alight with vibrant oranges and deep reds. Those had blinded Gwin during her first visit... until a Konti pointed out what a nice contrast they created next to her grassy green tail and butterfly wings. After that, she often sat on stone steps or between the flowers with her music.

She'd toyed with a melody all day, arranging the notes this and that way, trying to find the perfect order. When it came to composition, music was all about order. Which note and which pause went where... Everything stuck in her mind as easily as the waves rolled up the shore, again and again. Creating the best sound was the problem, not remembering.

As Syna sank towards the vast blue ocean, she'd finally worked through it from start to finish. After taking a deep breath, she played the first tiny notes again with trembling fingers and an air of ceremony. It'd be the last time, the careful test if every note, every flourish and every pause had slipped into place. While admirers of nature left the park one by one, replaced by lovers and the hopeful, the Akvatari sank into her music once again.

In that deep place, nobody could reach her and nothing could stir her contemplative mind. The first notes were soft caresses upon the fingerboard until the melody swelled like the tide. Soon it loomed over the flowers and washed around the trees, signs of imminent doom laced into the tapestry of it all. After bells of work, Gwin's fingers knew the song in and out, yet her mind was still sharp and bent on perfection.

[Evalin]

Evalin had never noticed it before, the silence that surrounded her. The world would grow still, backing away slowly. Nothing would look at her, not directly at least. Even the animals, who always seemed so distant and carefree would change their demeanor when the Immortal came close.

Her body this day was the body of a child, small robes and a cloak that was slightly too big clothed her figure and long black hair fell over her shoulders as she knelt to stare with eyes as red as blood at a cat that was huddled half hidden by a bush of some kind, or was it one large bloom? Evalin was never very good at identifying plants or flowers... or really anything pretty. Now she began to wonder why she had never taken an interest in such things as this. Were they not normal for a girl to find flowers pretty and look for the beauty in things?

"Thats right..." Evalin whispered, reaching forward her hand toward the cat, "I'm not a girl anymore..."

The animal hissed, its fur standing on end as it swiped at her outstretched hand once before darting away, leaving the nuit kneeling there alone, her hand paused with fingers extended to meet nothing but air. Faintly Evalin began to wonder. When did she start to notice these things? Surely they had always been true, but before she had never paid attention. It never used to be important to her, it never surfaced in her mind to notice such little things. So strange that now, of all times, these little things suddenly felt so big and obvious. Was she just blind before? And more importantly, did this mean she was now somehow different?

Slowly lowering her hand Evalin rested her elbow on her knee, tilting her head to the side to stare after the fleeing tale of the creature that wanted to simply be left alone. She couldn't tell what she was feeling. Was it sadness, or disappointment? Why would she feel anything at all? It was just a stupid cat.

Blinking slowly Evalin looked out as the light in the sky began to dip toward the horizon, some half formed thoughts tried to surface but were soon drowned out by the sounds of something new, something that invaded and shattered the silence in which Evalin was surrounded. Furrowing her brow Evalin stood, grasping the icy gem at her neck as she turned toward the sound, following it almost mindlessly as she felt consumed by the curiosity of the unknown. What could it be? Who could it be?

The answer that came brought more questions than answers, for what she found to be the source of this melody was a creature, an odd creature unlike anything the Immortal had ever seen. It was something new, which to one who had lived for centuries was a rare, and precious occurrence. The nuit came from behind, approaching slowly so as not to interrupt the tune. Kneeing once more she tilted her head, those eyes of red gazing at the strings as they created a sound different from anything she had heard before. When it stopped Evalin would whisper softly in the silence.

"Such music... it reminds me of blood and pain and death. I do not understand what you play for, when there is nothing to torture..."

OOCThis is in reference to the last musician she met, who used her music as a method of mental torture as she caused them pain

[Gwin]

Song :

The longer she played, the more obvious became the biggest weakness. It had been hidden behind each note, stuck between lines before. Now that she was playing the song the way it was meant to be, her fault shone bright as day. A musician could be skilled, but if their heart wasn't in the music, it'd always sound wrong. Gwin had stuck to sad or whimsical melodies before, little things and easy feelings, but Riverfall had planted a desire in her to branch out... Yet she didn't know where that desire came from, had never heard the flow of music that inspired that song.

It was merely a product of her mind, floating in space without any roots in reality. Knowing that, her fingers grew weary. When she looked up, her turquoise gaze locked with red pieces of coal. A girl was kneeling by her side, observing the way strings bent to the Akvatari's will. Black hair, black cloak.

The music broke off, leaving silence for the girl to fill with whispers. For the moment, relief caused her to hold on to those words, embrace them... until the meaning registered. Then pale eyebrows were raised high. What an outrageous idea! When she spoke, it was softly, to contradict what the girl had said, not to mimic her way of speaking. "No, I do not play to torture, quite the opposite in fact."

As she was searching for words, something about the girl sent a shiver down her spine. Her fingertips were prickling, so she moved them to caress the neck of her violin. The instrument wasn't at fault, after all, it was all her. Wrong. "I have dedicated myself to music to delight my listeners... and the music is everywhere. It'd be a waste not to express it so others can hear it too."

Still, she hadn't said all and the girl seemed to be waiting. Those red eyes bore into her as if they wished to drag everything out of her body, organs, lungs, lastly the heart. Then her features lit up. That edge, that sense of unease was what her song lacked. "Have you really witnessed a musician torturing others? How did they do it?" To one who didn't know Gwin, it'd seem she was genuinely interested... and she was, but only to the point of theoretical knowledge. Much had changed in her to even inquire further.

[Evalin]

The Immortal blinked and tilted her head, following the motions of this creature's hand that stroked the instrument in such a loving way, as if it were somehow alive and precious. How odd, to have such love for something that could not see, could not speak and could not breath. Was it so important to her?

Those red eyes came up to meet the girl's, and absently Evalin touched the soft blue gem that hung at her neck before looking away toward the setting sun, "I do not hear anything... The music is silent for me." She shrugged and looked back at Gwin, "Except when they screamed. Then I could hear it. Down, deep in the caves where the serpents slithered over rock and stone, in a place that sat in an agitated peace between two sides. It was a flute that she would play, not this object you now hold. She would play a soft, simple melody as she walked between the cages, always the same thing so they would know it was her. When she chose her audience the light tune would go silent, and the sound of metal on metal was heard as the cage door was opened and she entered. A new melody she played, always different for each subject, but soft. Just loud enough for all in the dungeons to hear. She would play for a time, sometimes only a chime other times longer. Then she would set her instrument down and begin to cut..." The girl's eyes fogged over as she began to remember those scenes in the Dungeons of Zinrah. At the time they had been so fascinating, so inspiring. Now when she remembered them... There was a tightness in her chest that made her hesitate before continuing, "She would cut twice, then three, and then four times. Light gashes on the thighs and neck before sitting down to play once more, the red blood coating her flute as she played and giving a slight gurgle to the notes. Often the audience was crying, and the melody matched well with the falling tears. She would then continue, setting her flute aside to make deeper cuts, carving off the flesh as easily as one might carve a side of beef. And they would scream, so loud that it would cause others in the dungeons to join. SO the last melody was played as she left, a strong one that lead to the climax that ended abruptly... often, this would signal the end of another life and all would fall to silence once more. She would never wipe off the blood before she packed up her things and left, but as she walked she would play the same melody as she had when she entered. Red would drip from her fingers and come from the end of the flute, leaving a trail and silence in her wake.

The nuit smiled slowly, only a half smile though for she could not feel it as she once had, "It was beautiful." She glanced down at the instrument and then back to Gwin's eyes, "Her music I understood, but yours I cannot... It seems pointless to play when no one is near to listen."


OOCI love that song!

[Gwin]

The slightest hint of surprise was painted in Gwin's eyes. Although she'd realized few possessed her intimate relationship with music, she still found it hard to imagine...

Her mind was taken to other places as the girl started telling the story. When she mentioned screams, Gwin shivered. She lowered her instrument, slowly, as if afraid that the words could cut it too. At first it sounded innocent enough, but the tone indicated horror before it was voiced. A sour taste rose in her throat, but at the same time fascination chained her to the girl's lips. There was something eerie about her, Gwin noticed, and not only because of the way she was telling the story. Cold as stone, yet moved by that musical torture as if it was the most marvelous thing.

Gwin could even understand her to an extent, although the Akvatari's fascination came from her love for music, not a taste for torture. The girl's words had a rhythm to them so that Gwin could almost hear the song of the flute. Occasionally it was laced with screams and weeping... She briefly closed turquoise eyes.

As the girl ended, she opened them again. "I don't know about beautiful, but it certainly sounds extraordinary. She performed the torture as if it was part of a grand play, playing the part of director and orchestra at the same time. Was it not so?" She couldn't help but feel a reluctant kind of respect.

The half smiled was mirrored without hesitation. "But you're here now. If you're willing to listen, I'll try again." Regardless of the girl's answer, Gwin lifted her violin and began chasing the first lamenting notes once again. Beyond their little conversation, dusk was beginning to fall and dim the colors of the Cliffside Grotto.

[Evalin]

Nodding slowly Evalin said softly, "It was so."

Evalin closed her eyes as she listened to the tune as it began once more, rocking slowly as if she were enjoying it. As the light began to fade however she would glance to the horizon, forgetting for a moment that the music stemmed from a mortal source. She took this time to look more closely at the creature before her, as odd as she was it was fascinating in it's uniqueness. Eyes gazed over scales and fish like tail, the torso of a woman, a girl young of age that set the cravings in the nuit's mind to rustle and scratch to be brought to the surface, begging for the blood that she knew flowed through the girl's veins. This however was pressed down, deep into the recess of the Immortals mind... for the time being at least.

Those eyes of red caught then on the wings upon the creature's back, so very different than any wings she had ever seen. They were thin, fragile and delicate looking. Edging closer Evalin would extend one hand to touch those odd appendages.

"To remain so close to me, to hear and not cower at my words... surely you are a monster just as I. What creature but a monster would not tremble and cry when they see me, would not run when they see the Immortal eyes that hunger for blood and death and suffering." Evalin said raising an eyebrow as she sought to meet the girl's eyes again, "What are you, that would break this silence that surrounds me, and are you brave or simply foolish to come so close when all others would not dare?"

The last of the light began to fade and the world of Night began to consume the land, and thus Evalin found herself once more at home. In the darkness, where few dared to tread. Where people could pretened she was just a figment of their imaginations, a nightmare that held no sway over their waking lives. What foolish creatures they were. They did not realize how far the reach of nightmares truly was.

"Your wings... They are nothing like my own." Evalin said shifting closer still, her eyes still scanning the Akavatari up and down, "You are an oddity, a monster that plays and speaks of music. You should not be so flippant and carefree. Know you not with whom you speak?" Evalin came even closer, reaching to now try and brush her fingers over the hand that circled the Violin as she stared into the girl's eyes with her cold, unblinking stare, "I am the Immortal Witch Evalin, Goddess of Vengeance and the devourer of lost souls... Are you not afraid?" She paused and blinked, "For you should be."
.

[Gwin]

This time, Gwin fell into the middle of her music immediately. She didn't have to try and remember what the girl had told her, instead the echoes of her words and Gwin's own imagination merged with her play almost effortlessly. For the first part her fingers were dancing madly on the wooden fingerboard to create those powerful and dark tunes that resembled screams from time to time. For the middle part her arms grew heavy and as a consequence her play slowed down. Very briefly, the underlying sadness surfaced, spiced with a sprinkling of fear. Then the theme picked up again, more powerful, until it climbed and climbed to a sharp climax.

It ended suddenly. Once again, Gwin was so lost in her music that she didn't even notice the strange girl's gaze burning all over her. When touched, her wings would shiver momentarily before coming to rest again. She certainly felt whatever disturbed their smooth beauty, but a kind of reflex protected them from damage.

Of course, Gwin knew what the girl had done as soon as she opened turquoise eyes and fell back into the material that was before and all around her. There were the gardens, slowly losing their brilliant reds and oranges, and there was the girl in the shadows. She appeared to be one with the night, more at home and somehow more vibrant than during the day. Everything about her was monochrome save for those red eyes.

When she spoke again, the Akvatari could only sit and stare. Like a rabbit caught in the snake's hypnotic glare, she couldn't even lift a finger, although she wanted to. First and foremost, she wanted to put her instrument away, lock it in its protective case, and then she wanted to escape into the crisp air where no bipedal could follow her. Instead she sat. When their gazes connected, she blinked. "Break your silence? You have entered my circle of music and I simply couldn't stop playing my part. I'm not strong enough to shut out its call." One part of many, doubtlessly, as countless melodies existed in time and space.

Her eyes widened briefly as the girl spoke of wings. So Gwin couldn't escape from that bipedal, after all? The thirst for answers that grew in her, however, was only quenched in part. Evalin. So that girl wasn't a mere human, after all, but a monster that only wore their visage for convenience's sake. After meeting that boy mage in Zeltiva, Gwin should've known it... Yet amidst fear there was a tiny voice of protest. "What is monstrous about music? I do not understand your thoughts."

She took a deep breath. "And why do you announce yourself like that? I already felt the wrong in you, but I couldn't let it go. With fear, there comes fascination. Besides, you would've already done something if you wished me harm, no? How could you listen to my music before devouring me? It'd be a waste." And Gwin didn't even mean her skill as a musician, but simply her tireless desire to express what she heard and give it to others.

Sheer taste for destruction and pain wouldn't go that far, right? Gwin couldn't imagine it... not even the less melancholic Akvatari could. She was braver and less concerned, but music still ruled her above all.

[Evalin]

She stood, a slow motion as she began to undo the ties of her cloak. Her small fingers worked methodically, though she did not look away from the girl as she spoke, "Music is a mask... a mask that hides the cruelties of the world. It is a falsehood and a lie, a fantasy so beautiful it tries to pretend the bad does not exist, or so terribly sad it acts as if there is no good left in the world. It is a deceiver, a trickster, a rogue who gives you what you wish for while keeping from you what truly is." The clock fell to the ground, and then those little hands began to undo the ties to her robes, slipping them off her shoulders as she moved up the steps to stand behind the woman.

"You think too highly of me... what creature does not like a bit of music before a fine meal. It is only proper in many wealthier families." Her robes fell to the ground and the Immortal stepped free of the clothing, completely bare to the world as she came closer. As she did she began to pluck at the strands of her djed, that which made up her physical self and searched for the knot of controled power that held her child form in place. This she then began to loosen, and slowly, ever so slowly, her body began to grow.

"One's palate at times needs a moment to decide what it is it desires. Does this monster wish to pluck from her morsel it's eyes and eat them like fine grapes one at a time, or perhaps she will cut off those fingers and sample them slowly before turning hungry eyes to other more substantial meats." Evalin had to concentrate to guide the slow transformation, but so often she had done it now that it was almost second nature. Kneeling behind the Akvatari now Evalin would come close, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. The fingers, once small and childish, had grown longer and thin as bone. Her nails began to lengthen before the woman's eyes, and with a subtle twinge of her mental will Evalin commanded those nails to become sharp points and blacken to the color of the night sky.

"I was amused that a little mortal such as yourself would not run from the sight of me, but quickly this amusement begins to turn to boredom..." Her gripped tightened as Evalin leaned close to Gwin's ear. Her hair had lengthened, her face gaining more adult features as the pale skin pulled tight over her skull. Teeth filed themselves to points as the Nuit licked her lips with a black tongue, "And now my hunger grows in earnest... For blood I feel a desire, a thirst which is so hard to quench. An eternal torture which shall never end... but for tonight, perhaps it can be eased."

As she finished her physical changes Evalin let her focused turn to the biggest change of all, one she was still practicing. She pulled as much extra mass from the rest of her body as she could, creating a skeletal figure as she focused this djed to two points on her back that began to bubble and rise, spreading out from her back over the few chimes the rest of the transformation took to spread out into two black wings, each six feet in length made of thin leather and delicate bones, like those of a bat. These wings then Evalin used to encircle them both, blocking the light of the moon as she ran her right hand up Gwin's shoulder, over her neck to cup her chin, turning the Akavatari's face to look straight into her eyes as she smiled, "Tell me child... why should I not feast on you tonight and satisfy my hunger."

OOCSorry for the wait! Again I took some liberties so PLEASE let me know if you want me to edit something. I got caught up in the flow for sure. I hope you are enjoying it too!
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[Gwin]

As the girl spoke of music, launched into a crooked explanation, every part of the Akvatari screamed in protest. Suddenly the young voice was tainted by words that tore apart innocent ideas and turned the entire world upside down. Gwin wanted to interrupt, to correct those horribly wrong notions, but she found herself biting her tongue and watching numbly as the girl cast away layers of fabric. Just like that, she also discarded the appearance of her flesh and plainly revealed the otherness inside. The black tips of delicate wings quivered, but the rest of Gwin sat still as a stone.

The girl had grown by a head... and kept growing, already towering over the sitting Akvatari. Her mouth was dry and hot air stuck in her throat. She noticed the urge to cough as if through a thick fog, but somehow didn't give in to it. Before she realized it, the eternal melody in the back of her mind had stopped altogether as if the world was holding its breath in the face of such a creature as stood before her now.

A part of her idly wondered why it would choose just that time and place to cast away all illusions and show its teeth. Why to her? In the meantime the girl continued, painting gruesome images one after another. She didn't even wait for the paint to dry, did she? Gwin's fingers twitched as they were mentioned, the long and graceful fingers of an experienced musician.

They were so precious. And suddenly she knew the reason. The music had lured the girl in, at first curious, then stirred by echoes of something dark and deep. It had to be the song. Never before had Gwin tried to compose a song full of that kind of darkness mixed with angry red malice. She'd learned her lesson... too late, it seemed.

Blood. Finally dark shapes exploded from the girl's, no, the creature's back and were wrapped around their forms like a cloak of shadow. The only difference was the leathery texture, the way it made the air sigh, so strong. Gwin instinctively hugged her violin and pressed it against her chest in a futile motion to protect that which she cared for the most. It didn't matter, of course. Instruments could be bought. Again her wings trembled, very obviously smaller and more fragile than their counterparts.

Feed. Strangely, Gwin saw all that was happening around her as if through a haze and felt her body, its trembling fear as if it belonged to a different person. She knew she should be afraid, but couldn't manage it. How curious. Then she smiled a quiet smile. "I could play the tune to your torture, you know... Although I've never tried, I'm sure I could." Any and all forms of music would be at her command one day. Why not learn another? She gestured with one hand. "This could have so much more style. Like you said earlier, music hides the truth like a pretty mask in silk and lace. But it also translates reality and highlights feelings. It makes whatever is expressed through it so much more vivid... and beautiful."

There was a glitter in her eyes, now a muddy gray, that didn't leave a doubt about the meaning of her words. If that creature wished to torture, it'd be so much sweeter with music. Whatever happened, music would settle around it and make its pure colors shine. Contrary to her former self, this Gwin was fascinated by the possibilities the girl's story had suggested. She wasn't afraid to taste them.


OOCI hope you can tell how much I'm enjoying it from this!

[Evalin]

The little one twittered on, trembling all the while as she was faced with a force she could not possibly understand. She saw the darkness in the world, manifested as this beast with great wings and eyes burning with the hatred of the world and colored by a thousand innocent victims. Her words were unexpected, yet somehow it lit another moment of compassion in this ancient soul as those long fingers inched down Gwin's chin and circled her neck.

Evailn leaned in closer, pulling at the back of the girl's neck and using her other hand to forcefully tilt the woman's head as the Immortal brought her lips down to nearly touching the Akavatari's skin. No breath escaped the nuit's lips, for she did not breath, and her skin was as cold as ice. Her nails were sharp, and where she pressed hardest the skin might give and let forth a small droplet of blood. Parting her lips further Evalin widened her jaw, her elongated canines now brushing softly against Gwin's skin, closer and closer as the Immortal prepared to devour her victim... but the words she heard made her pause.

Pulling back just enough so that she could see Gwin's eyes once more, Evalin tilted her head, "Do you know that which you say child...?" Slowly Evalin released the girl's head, both her her hands now tracing over her shoulders, eyes shifting to look over those wings that were so different than their own, "Doubt I that you might know the song of my tortures, be they those that torture me or those that I do use upon others."

She paused as if in thought, once more cupping the girl's chin with her own long fingers, "But still... What you say does intrigue me, which be a rare thing of this you might be sure." Patting Gwin's cheek Evalin released her face, her hand now tracing one nail down her neck, over her chest and down the arm that protected the instrument that drew such curiosity from the Immortal, "Your words have given me pause to the end of your existence, for now. Child, if you might do what you say then I would have you follow me."

Standing Evalin rose to her full height, extending her wings out as she angled her head so that she peered down on the Akavatari like a master might look down upon a slave, "I would spare you this day, but in exchange you shall be the minstrel of my new age. You pledge your music, and your being, to me and bow to me as your Master and you will play the song of vengeance which I shall orchestrate." Those great wings folded around the Immortal's form, like a makeshift cloak as Evalin extended her hand down to Gwin, never breaking eye contact, "What say you child...?