Darkheart (A RiR Story)
Dec. 25th, 2016 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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saladloveBut, before RiR, there was Darkheart.
Spoilers for chapter twenty of DoN, so make sure you're caught up before you read.
Chapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Darkheart
Nexion, Plane of Shadow. August 22, 2221 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
How elementals name their children varies on the type of elemental.
Greater elementals tend to name them after a couple of years, and name them something that doesn’t mean anything but seems right. Lesser elementals name them almost immediately, a short while after they’re born and name them something based on obvious characteristics, either physical or habitual, like Clawrunner or Flashtooth. Master elementals let their children name themselves and often go through many names, even hundred of years after they’re born. It’s the guardian elementals that vary the most, however. Many name their children quite literally, based on things they do or aspects of their personalities. Others name them similarly to how greater elementals name them, and others give them their name early on in life.
Gali was named when she was three years old, a year after her parents had named her older brother Nekris. They were named like greater elementals, as was fitting for shadow elementals- they tended to be less literal than others, and nevtir especially struggled to stand out with unique names.
Nevtir were seen as less useful ra’kara by most, even though they were barely alike. Ra’kara were more common and better-known, especially on Kaldriel, so nevtir were forgotten.
Not that it mattered to Gali, especially not early on. She was given a name and her parents suggested that she select a ‘gender,’ whatever that was. Nekris explained that it was something that the races of Kaldriel and Hell used to distinguish different types of people from each other, although he wasn’t sure what the distinction was. Eventually she chose to be ‘female,’ and it was explained that soon she would get to work on shifting into a mortal form and figure out her appearance. She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, either, but she was excited nonetheless as she continued to learn of her elemental and magical powers.
Unfortunately, it became quickly apparent that Gali wasn’t like most of the young nevtir, especially not Nekris. Nekris excelled wherever he applied himself, enchanting objects almost without thinking, shifting his form from solid to liquid to different shapes with ease, and quickly mastering fairly standard shadow magic.
Gali struggled to enchant anything without it blowing up in her face and her mastery of shadow magic tended to lean away from combat applications. She was good at sneaking away and slipping into places that she wasn’t wanted with use of her nevtir form altering abilities, but she struggled in all other aspects.
~~~
Kaldriel Portal, Plane of Shadow. October 3, 2223 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
When Gali was five and Nekris was six, their parents took them to the portal out of the Plane of Shadow to Kaldriel, to a place called the Infinity Cascade. Gali gripped Nekris’ hand tightly as they stepped through the portal, feeling disoriented and terrified as the reassuring presence of pure shadow energy melted away and they stepped into the night for the first time.
Gali looked around with wide eyes at the colors all around her. The gray of the stone pathway beneath her was nearly familiar, but the green of the grass and the swirling vortexes of the other portals thrummed in colors that she didn’t know existed. The sky above twinkled with unfamiliar pinpricks of light and the ground was illuminated by a silver sphere shining along with them. Elementals of a dozen types could be seen, as well as unfamiliar creatures that hummed with elemental energy that Gali knew must be elementals masquerading as other races.
She gripped Nekris’ hand tighter, looking over everything with apprehension and fear. Her parents looked amused and let both Nekris and Gali look around before one of them knelt in front of the children.
“I don’t want you to be afraid, okay? I’m going to transform.” Gali and Nekris watched with wide eyes as one of their parents- the one Gali would eventually think of in mortal terms as her mother- stepped back and transformed, the darkness fading from their limbs and replacing it with human skin and clothing. Purple eyes flickered to life as the last of the shadow faded, leaving a pleasant-looking if unfamiliar human in their mother’s place.
“Now you try.”
Neither were able to transform that day, but their parents didn’t seem to mind. They returned home in less than an hour and made occasional trips to the Infinity Cascade over the next few months. Nekris managed a transformation on their fourth trip, but Gali took far longer. This was shrugged off, initially, as her being younger than her sibling, but as a year and then another passed, it became apparent that she was, as the other young nevtir said, different.
~~~
Nexion, Plane of Shadow. September 8, 2225 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
Gali felt their presence behind her long before she heard them approach.
She was seven years old now, three years away from adulthood as seen by nevtir, and she still hadn’t managed to transform into any kind of mortal form or enchant anything notable. Her shadow abilities were abysmally weak, although not for lack of trying. Gali had spent almost every moment of free time since she was five trying desperately to get something, anything to work in her favor, but nothing except manipulating her form came easily to her.
The other young nevtir had, unfortunately, decided that this made her a target. A couple of ra’kara would shoot her odd looks now and then, as well, but they mostly left her alone. They had no reason to associate with her if she wasn’t useful. Most of her friends consisted of shadowfiends, the lesser elementals of the Plane of Shadow, which didn’t exactly make her popular either. Her brother was well-loved and seemed to be good at everything he put his mind to, which didn’t make life easier or her feelings better as she silently hoped that they’d leave her alone.
Unfortunately, children are awful the universe over and they caught up to her quickly, as shadow elementals often do.
“So, how old did you say you were again?” one of them asked, stepping in front of Gali and forcing her to stop as the others surrounded her.
“Seven.”
“Really? Because my sibling is only four and he’s managed to take a human form. What’s with that, huh? You’re almost twice his age and can’t do shit.”
“Leave me alone.” Gali tried to push past him but one of his friends grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back.
“I hear her parents gave all their good energy to Nekris,” the nevtir said, “and left her the scraps.”
“It seems like it,” the first nevtir hissed, leaning forward and stopping his face less than an inch from Gali’s. “You’re just a worthless waste of energy.”
Gali bared her teeth and adjusted her form to stand straighter. “I said leave me alone!”
“Oooh, nice trick.” The nevtir in front of her copied her action, forcing himself taller. “Shame it’s your only one.”
Gali’s eyes narrowed. “You’re wrong.”
“Oh? What else can you do?”
Gali destabilized her form, shifting into a puddle and slipping between them before reforming and taking off running.
“GET HER!”
Gali’s feet pounded against the ground as she hit her top speed, moving fast enough to leave any human behind easily but not fast enough to outrun the other nevtir. One of them, the oldest, reached her first, jumping on her and slamming her into the ground. He grabbed her arms and forced her into a position of sitting on her legs with her arms behind her back as the others surrounded her.
Gali was pretty sure she was going to die until she realized she she’d run straight towards one of the most powerful things in the Plane of Shadow and these fools had followed her right towards it.
The crashing footsteps of it approaching was their first clue.
The massive amount of shadow energy that washed over them was their second.
The blazing purple eyes was their third as they all slowly looked up the the lord ra’kara towering over them, fury and strength radiating off of its form.
“What are you doing?”
“W-we were just, um, we were-”
“Release her.”
The nevtir immediately let go of Gali and she staggered to her feet, pushing out of the ring of frightened nevtir.
“You should be ashamed,” the lord ra’kara hissed, lowering its head and widening its eyes as their purple glow drew the other nevtir to look deep into them. They flashed darker and the powers of the ra’kara took hold, conjuring up the nevtir’s worst fears into their minds and making them scream for the ra’kara to stop.
Gali covered her eyes before it activated its power. She knew damn well what they were capable of and knew that it wasn’t going to force her to look.
“Go home,” the lord ra’kara rumbled, glancing over at Gali once she dared to peek out between her fingers. “And don’t let them bully you again.”
Gali could only nod and stammer a thanks before taking off for home, leaving the whimpering nevtir and the lord ra’kara behind her as she flashed through the Plane of Shadow.
Not that it would help. They’d be back, although perhaps not for awhile.
~~~
Infinity Cascade, Kaldriel. September 29, 2229. Time instance 842N.
“Come on, you can do it!” Nekris urged.
“I can’t!” Gali protested, crossing her arms. “I’ve been trying for six years and I just can’t do it, Nekris.”
“You can,” he insisted. “You just need...need…”
Gali sighed. “I’m just not cut out to be a nevtir, I guess.”
“That’s not true.”
“Name one thing I’m good at.”
“You can alter your form.”
“Apparently not enough.” Gali’s claws tightened around her arms and she wouldn’t meet her brother’s gaze. “I’m eleven years old and can’t turn into anything. Who ever heard of an adult nevtir that can’t transform?”
“Hey, you-”
“That misshapen thing last week doesn’t count.” Gali shut her eyes. “I don’t want to do that again.”
Nekris sighed and shifted back into his elemental form, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not succeeding because you’re not giving your all.”
“I don’t want to become that...that...whatever that was again. I couldn’t do anything, I just...I had to go back.”
“It won’t happen again,” Nekris assured. “You just need to keep trying.”
“I don’t see why I even need to know this,” Gali muttered, opening her eyes again. “It’s not like I’m going to be spending much time on Kaldriel.”
“It’s important,” he insisted, “and you never know. With how the other nevtir treat you, you might fit in better with humans for awhile.”
Gali felt a pang in her heart. He didn’t mean it like that. He didn’t mean he wants me gone.
“I think I’m done for today,” Gali mumbled.
Nekris sighed. “Gali-”
“I’m not going to get any further like this.” With that, she swept past him and back through the gate to the Plane of Shadow. She was caught between relief and apprehension as darkness consumed her vision and power hummed through her limbs. As always, the feeling of someone hovering over her fell upon her, but she had learned to ignore it years ago. She was more worried about the other elementals that lived here, in this place that she called home. She was unlimited here, and yet…
And yet she could never escape. The eyes of silently gloating nevtir were on her as she walked, familiar villains in her recurring story. She thought that perhaps they would leave her alone- it was stupid to return without her brother, she knew, and she cursed herself mentally for the mistake- but one of them jerked his head at her and six of them fell into step behind her. They were far enough away from the gate that it wasn’t a high-traffic area, but close enough that few particularly powerful elementals would be nearby.
They’d been much better at separating her from the pack, and her frustration at herself and her ineptitude had played right into their hands again.
They quickly surrounded her and she stopped, noting a ra’kara amongst their ranks and being glad that she was immune to normal ra’kara’s fear powers.
One of the nevtir shoved her and another pushed her back into the center. She bared her teeth and held her ground, glaring at them.
“Aren’t we too old for this?”
“Not when you’re a freak,” one of the nevtir snapped. “I don’t even think you’re full nevtir. Maybe you’re half shadowfiend. That’s why they like you so much.”
“They like me because I’m nice to them! They’re people, just like we are!”
“You’re not a person,” the ra’kara hissed, “and neither are shadowfiends.” His eyes flashed and she stared stubbornly into them, easily resisting his attempts at scaring her.
“Yes. We are. You’re-” Gali’s sentence was interrupted as one of them grabbed her by the throat and held her up to his level, baring his teeth in an approximation in a grin.
“I wonder if you even bleed?”
“Oohh, I wonder.” One of the other nevtir snickered and dragged her claws lightly against Gali’s arm. When they didn’t get a reaction, she growled and slashed at Gali’s side.
She howled in pain as black blood dripped from her wounds to the ground. She struggled to get free as her tormentors laughed. She turned into a liquid and darted between them, reforming and starting to run. She was forced to stop as the ra’kara flashed in front of her, its cloaked form blocking her way with eerie red eyes. Jaws came out of the cloak and snapped at her, barely missing her arm as she stumbled back.
The nevtir moved to surround her, claws up and teeth bared.
“I’m tired of you,” their leader growled. “I think it’s high time someone get rid of you.”
Gali turned to face him, struggling not to shake as they advanced. What do I do? What can I do?
She raised her claws reluctantly, noticing with a hollow feeling that magic sparked between their claws easily. She summoned a brief flicker of purple light but it faded as quickly as it came. She cursed herself and avoided a swing from the ra’kara, throwing herself at the leader and knowing that she wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The Plane of Shadow wasn’t ever a basket of roses, but this was one of the worst parts of living here.
Gali couldn’t win. There was no way. Not against six elementals far superior to her in power. She managed to deliver a blow to the leader’s face, likely damaging his eye for good, and got a decent hit in on all of the other nevtir. Eventually, though, she fell due to an injured leg and tried to look up, vision blurring and wounds leaking into a puddle around her.
I’m an idiot, she thought, and closed her eyes in preparation for the inevitable.
Instead of agonizing pain, she felt a presence enter her mind, one that made her wounds hum softly. Strength flooded into her limbs and a warm, loving feeling wrapped around her aching heart, soothing internal wounds. The feeling of someone hovering over her faded, replaced by a melodious voice that rang in her mind, soft with love but raw with power and feeling.
“You haven’t come this far just to get this far. Fight for this!”
The voice was familiar, but Gali couldn’t place it. She didn’t think on it long, however, as her eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet, slashing a nevtir’s face and kicking another’s knee. She summoned what magical energy she could and formed a dense fog and, taking advantage of their confusion and the few seconds the fog would buy her, she turned and took off, racing for the portal.
“Run, baby, run. You can do more than you think you can, but you must go. The Shadowmother loves you.” The presence faded along with her wounds, and Gali silently knew that she had been saved by one of the twelve elemental incarnations. She didn’t think on it long, however, her feet pounding against the ground and her form flickering around the edges from exertion.
She’d been given a second chance at life, and she wasn’t about to waste it. She burst through the portal out of the Plane of Shadow to the Infinity Cascade, and, seeing no sign of anyone she knew, kept running, racing past other elementals who paid her no mind until she stopped at the edge of the island, alone on an empty beach populated only by rocks and small skittering creatures that hid at the sight of her.
Gali sat carefully on a boulder, running the events of the past several minutes over in her head. She put each piece into place before holding her head in her hands, shaking and not knowing what to do. If she returned, she knew that they would try to kill her, and the Shadowmother’s words had seemed to reflect that. You must go. It hadn’t been the words of someone who didn’t want her, as Gali would have normally assumed, but the words of a concerned parent that knew that their child was better off elsewhere, no matter how much it hurt to send them away.
One of the incarnations spoke to me. One of the incarnations cares about me. The Shadowmother loves me even if I’m not like the others. Gali recalled her father going to the Shadowmother about her, but he hadn’t spoken of what had happened in their meeting and she had pushed it from her mind years ago. I guess she’s been looking after me. That’s what that feeling must have been... Gali hugged herself tightly. But what do I do now?
She eventually got to her feet and started to wander, circling the island but not ascending back up the plateau. She eventually reached the docks and a water elemental tilted her head as she approached.
“You want passage out of here?”
Why not? “Yes please.”
“Where to?”
“I don’t know. Wherever’s convenient, I guess.”
She nodded slowly. “I understand that. Well, Kesron’s really the closest place other than maybe Salvek, and I wouldn’t drop my worst enemy off in that sandy hellscape. Kesron Minor sound okay?”
Gali nodded. “Yeah. That sounds fine.”
The water elemental smiled at her. “Alright. Get on. We’ll depart in a few minutes.”
Gali thanked her quietly and slowly stepped onto the boat, struggling to keep her balance as it bobbed gently in the water. It wasn’t a particularly large boat, but it could carry a dozen people or so for a short time. She wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about boats, only having seen them from a distance, so she stood silently until the water elemental clambered onboard and started preparing to leave.
“You might want to shift into a mortal form. It drains a lot of energy staying like that.”
Gali looked down. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?”
“No. I can’t do much of anything.”
The water elemental whistled softly. “Is that why you’re leaving?”
Gali nodded.
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear it. I hope you figure it out. Go ahead and sit down- it’ll be about a day before we reach Kesron Minor.”
Gali nodded and sat down, watching as they departed from shore and leaving the only piece of Kaldriel that she knew behind on her way to lands she’d never been to.
The Shadowmother’s words rang in her mind, and she wasn’t certain that it was just her memory.
You can do more than you think you can, but you must go.
The Shadowmother loves you.
Gali’s silence was interrupted by the water elemental speaking. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what’s your name?”
“Gali.” She forced her eyes off of the shrinking form of the Infinity Cascade and turned to face the water elemental.
“That’s a good name. I’m Abyss.”
“Abyss?”
“My parents were a bit literal.” Abyss winked. “It’s a decent name, though. Sounds neat in English.”
“English?”
“The language that the humans that live in Kesron Minor speak. You should probably work on learning that, or some other human language- mortals can’t even hear the elemental language, nevermind speak it. Even elementals can’t speak it when in a mortal form.”
“Is that why you didn’t transform?”
“Yep.”
Gali felt a pang of guilt. “Sorry.”
Abyss waved it off. “It’s fine. It’s not like I’ll die or anything.” She paused. “Do you want to start learning a few basics of English? You’ll need it to talk to the humans.”
Gali jumped at the chance to learn something she might actually be decent at. “Yes, please.”
Abyss smiled. “Alright. It’s pretty easy, most elementals pick it up pretty fast.”
~~~
Kesron Minor, Kaldriel. September 30, 2229. Time instance 842N.
Gali watched with apprehension as an unfamiliar coastline approached them. They’d been on the waves for nearly a day now, and while it had been unfamiliar, it hadn’t been unpleasant. Gali had received a crash course in English and while she was nowhere near fluent she knew a few important sentences and enough words to get by until she could find someone to teach her more.
“Are you going to be alright once we get there?” Abyss asked, tilting her head slightly. “I know you don’t really know how Kaldriel works.”
“I’ll be fine,” Gali assured, knowing that she would absolutely not be fine. She was going into unknown territory with no help or perspective on what she was getting herself into. Abyss looked at her suspiciously but didn’t question her decision.
Soon, they docked and Gali got to her feet, stepping uncertainly off of the boat. She turned around to look at Abyss, knowing that she almost certainly wouldn’t see her again.
“Good luck,” Abyss told her, smiling slightly. “How I’d love to see where your path leads you. You’re more than meets the eye, I think.”
“I don’t know about that, but thank you for taking me here.” Gali smiled back. They watched each other for a moment before saying their goodbyes, letting Gali turn back towards the city and walk from the docks into the streets, among the crowds of unfamiliar shapes.
She quickly identified demons amongst the crowds of humans, having seen them at the Infinity Cascade occasionally. They glanced at her but didn’t seem to mind her clear elemental appearance, while humans gave her a wide berth. Her shoulders slumped and she looked closely at her feet as she walked, an awful feeling welling in her chest.
What am I thinking? I can’t live here. I can’t even blend in. Gali slipped off the main street into a darker alley, feeling immediate relief as she drew away from the crowds, the pounding of their thoughts and feelings lessening with distance. She leaned against a wall and slid to the ground, sighing quietly.
A voice startled her and made her head snap up. She immediately caught sight of a human in the darkness, leaning against the opposite wall a short ways down the alley. The human was tall, with a few scars on her jaw and neck and with bright blue eyes. She had bits of metal through her ears and nose- what Gali would later learn were called piercings- and short brown hair with the occasional streak of brilliant dyed pink. She wore a zipped black jacket and simple long pants. She didn’t seem quite like the other humans Gali had seen and, without thinking, she replied in the elemental language.
“Who are you?”
The human’s eyebrow shot up. “Don’t know English?”
Gali shook her head. “Not really.”
The human mumbled something else before shaking her head. “I’m half elemental, but I can’t…” Gali missed the next word, but it was followed by “here. Can you…” followed by “me?”
Gali frowned. “What?”
The half-elemental groaned and stood, stepping over to Gali and gently grabbing her forearm. “Come with me.”
“Okay?” Gali let herself be pulled up and she followed the stranger down the alley and through a series of mazelike pathways through the darker parts of the city. They passed humans and a couple of aven who shrank back at the sight of them, watching them carefully even after they were long gone.
“Don’t mind them.” She added an additional explanation that Gali didn’t catch, eventually stopping in front of a brick wall. She scanned around and, seeing no one, tapped one brick, then another, and pressed a third into the wall.
The bricks rumbled and a section of the slid back and into the ground, revealing a passageway.
Gali stared as the half-elemental winked, pulling her within before shutting the entrance behind her. She led the way with Gali following, down a stone staircase that leveled out and opened up into a large room carved out of the surrounding earth. It was lit with dim electrical lights and a couple of torches along with candles lined along the walls here and there. There was a small fountain in the center of the room as well as several tables and a few doors leading out along the edges. A couch was set up facing a device that Gali would later learn was a television.
Despite its appearance, the place seemed almost friendly, even when two sets of eyes turned to look at her with surprise and confusion as she stepped into the light. She subconsciously moved behind the half-elemental.
“Leo, who’s this?”
“We have company,” Leo said instead of answering, strolling casually across the room and pulling a chair up to the table that the other two were sitting at. She motioned for Gali to follow and she reluctantly stepped across the room into full view, looking over the other two as she went.
The first Gali immediately identified as inhuman, although she was unsure of her exact nature. Her eyes were deep crimson and glowed faintly. When she spoke, a tongue piercing could be seen as well as short fangs poking out of her other teeth. She had blond hair with red highlights that seemed to be fading. She was short and dark-skinned but spoke with the same accent as Leo. She wore a brown jacket over a black t-shirt and blue jeans.
The other seemed to be human, at first. He had short brown hair and friendly green eyes the caught the light oddly, reflecting it at strange angles and making him seem slightly off. He had several piercings in each ear and strange brown marks where his jaw connected to the rest of his skull. His fingernails were long and slightly sharp, with a slight brown tinge to them. What clued Gali in to his inhuman nature, however, was the scorpion tail that extended from the end of his spine and curled easily into his lap, resting the stinger on one of his thighs. He wore long brown pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
“Who is this?” the crimson-eyed girl repeated. Leo launched into an explanation that quickly lost Gali, leaving her to look over the room curiously. On the table sat two masks that covered one’s nose and the area around one’s eyes, but still allowed the wearer to see out easily. One was red and one was blue and, upon closer inspection, Leo had a white one peeking out of her jacket pocket. On one of the walls of the cave, a purple mask hung from a knob on the wall, along with a few uncolored masks and dyes on the shelf above.
Eventually, she became aware that all eyes were on her and she slowly turned to face them, apprehension building in her chest. The scorpion-tailed man asked her a question and she grinned helplessly. Leo slapped his arm.
“Scorp, leave her alone. She’s fresh from the Infinity Cascade, right?”
Gali nodded.
“She can…” The rest of Leo’s sentence was lost to Gali but she soon forgot about it as Leo got to her feet and stepped away from the tables. Her eyes flashed brighter blue and the temperature in the room dropped as icy blue light obscured Leo’s form. When it faded, it left a serpent or worm made of chunks of ice in her place, glowing blue eyes marking its face as buglike mandibles clicked together. It was about seven feet long, which was fairly small for a jord’ks, but since Leo was only half elemental, Gali supposed it made sense.
To Gali’s relief, Leo started speaking to her in the elemental language. “So, fresh out of the Plane of Shadow?”
“Yeah. I took a boat over here.”
“Why haven’t you shifted into a mortal form? I mean, each to their own, but it’s generally smarter to not display that you’re an elemental to anyone with eyes. Especially not a shadow elemental. You’re, what, a nevtir? People are scared of nevtir.”
Gali looked away. “I can’t. I can’t really do much of anything. It’s why I left.”
Leo stared for a moment before lowering her head. “Oh. I’m...sorry. So you’re an outcast, then?”
“Pretty much.”
“Hey, you’ll fit in here just fine, then. If you decide to stay. What can you do?”
Gali looked up at her briefly before changing her form into a liquid, going under the table, and reforming on the other side. The other two shouted in surprise and Leo’s mandibles clicked thoughtfully.
“That’s really fucking cool. That’s a lot more than we can do, that’s for sure. You could open a lot of avenues for us, and, hey, we could help you too.”
Gali tilted her head. “Help me? How?”
“Well, teach you the language, for starters. Help you learn how to live among humans, for another. Maybe you’ll figure out how to turn into one, who knows? And, third, get you shadow essence or transportation back to the Infinity Cascade. You can survive a damn long time without a new dose of elemental energy, especially since you’re so close to the Infinity Cascade, but it degrades over time, especially when you’re transformed like this.”
Gali hesitated. “How would I help you, though? Who are you?”
“We’re thieves.” Leo grinned at her, an expression that was hard to read on a worm made of ice. “We steal what we need to survive because life dealt us a rough hand and we don’t have any other way. You’d prove to be a serious asset, and we can help you survive. Besides, you seem pretty cool so far. What do you say?”
Gali thought it over, looking between the three of them. What do I have to lose? “Sure. I’m in.”
“Excellent.” Leo shifted back into her human form and explained the situation to the other two. They accepted this with little argument, looking at Gali curiously. Leo motioned for them to follow and made her way over to the shelf where the dyes and masks were kept. She started to reach for an uncolored mask but paused, glancing over at the purple one.
“Leo, no. That was-”
“I know damn well whose it was.” Leo ran a finger over its surface, wiping off a layer of dust. “It’s been unused for years, Vess. It’s not fair to it.”
Scorp’s eyes widened. “Was that-”
“-Karen’s, yes.” Vess crossed her arms. “Whatever you think is right, Leo.”
Gali didn’t catch all of this, glancing between them and the mask. As she watched, Leo dusted it off and looked it over one final time before holding it out to her.
“Welcome to the Varnic, kid,” Leo’s voice trembled slightly with an unreadable emotion as Gali took the mask carefully. She looked it over before putting it on, adjusting her facial structure slightly to make it fit perfectly. She looked between them, at Leo’s excited grin and Scorp’s slight smile. Vess didn’t seem to have much of an opinion other than a raised eyebrow, but excitement burned behind her neutral expression.
Gali turned her gaze back to Leo, noting the proud glow in her eyes. “You have a lot to learn.”
~~~
Varnic Hideout, Kesron Minor. October 6, 2229. Time instance 842N.
Gali had been with the Varnic for six days when Vess strolled into base with a small grocery bag and a grin on her face. Leo’s head immediately snapped up and she raised a pierced eyebrow. “What do you have in there?”
“What do you think?” Vess pulled out several chocolate bars and tossed them on the table before sitting down. Leo immediately grabbed one and started unwrapping it, grinning widely and shoving almost half of it in her mouth before she stopped to chew. Scorp opened his more carefully, breaking pieces off section by section and eating them one at a time.
“Aaaand…” Vess reached into a pocket and pulled out a small vial swirling with black and purple energy. “Some shadow essence for Gali.”
Gali grinned and took it gratefully, “Thanks, Vess.”
“No problem. Use it whenever you need. Shove it in your room if you don’t need it yet.” Gali nodded and set it down on the table for the moment, intending to put it away once she got up.
She’d picked up a lot of English fairly quickly over the past six days, and had gotten accustomed to how the Varnic ran things. She hadn’t gone out on any trips yet, but she was excited to test her abilities against regular humans and not other nevtir. She’d learned that Leo was the leader, although she had taken over after someone named Karen had died several years back, before Scorp showed up. Leo and Vess were thieves, while Scorp worked as a fence, with connections all over both Kesron Minor and Kesron Major as well as Doravia and along the coasts of Salvek. Unlike Leo and Vess (and, now, Gali), he spoke with a Doravian accent, explaining that he was from across a fucking ocean and that he had no intention of ever returning because it was hellish.
Vess recounted the tale of how she snagged the chocolate bars and the shadow essence. Scorp continued eating his chocolate bar while Leo shoved a couple into her jacket pockets and Gali listened intently, watching how Vess’ face moved when she spoke and made different expressions, subconsciously studying it. She’d been doing the same thing to Leo and Scorp, as well, intentionally at first but by now it was automatic.
A desire to try something suddenly rose in Gali and she got to her feet, scooping up the shadow essence and stepping around the table to cross the room to the door that led to her personal space. She shut it behind her and sat down on her bed, looking around at the plain walls around her. She didn’t have anything personal, not yet, but Leo assured her that she would once she started thieving.
She glanced down at the vial of shadow essence and uncorked it, downing the energy within in a single go and carefully setting the vial on her nightstand. She shivered as her power spiked, her eyes glowing faintly with suppressed energy. She shut them and tried to clear her mind, focusing like Nekris had taught her on the appearance she wanted to take. This time, she thought of how it was put together, what it would look like making different faces and how it would move.
She inhaled deeply, and as she exhaled, she released the energy.
She felt darkness swirl around her and a strange tingling sensation run through her body, changing its shape and proportions and what it was. She had felt this only once, when she had managed to transform into something that wasn’t quite finished or functional.
This time, when Gali opened her eyes, it was to the sight of pale-skinned human hands.
Gali wooped and jumped to her feet, almost falling over but barely catching herself on the nightstand. She darted over to the mirror in her room and grinned widely, purple eyes twinkling in excitement.
A knock that she identified as Leo’s sounded on the door. “Gali? What’s going on in there?”
“I need clothes!” Gali shouted in response, stunning Leo into silence for a moment.
“What?”
“I transformed! I did it I did it I did it!”
Leo roared in joy. “How tall are you?”
“Around Vess’ height!”
“VESS! Can Gali borrow some clothes?”
“What?!”
“WELL WE CAN’T HAVE HER STROLLING AROUND NAKED!”
After some confusion and shouting, some of Vess’ extra clothes were tossed into the room and Gali took about ten minutes struggling to get them on. Leo was tapping her feet impatiently on the other side of the door and as soon as Gali deemed herself presentable, she stepped out and grinned at her.
Leo roared cheerfully and scooped Gali up in a bear hug, whirling around and squeezing her tightly. Gali was dizzy and felt sore around the ribs when Leo let her go, barely registering Vess’ congratulations or Scorp’s pat on the shoulder.
“I’m so proud!” Leo practically bellowed. “Are we all of a legal drinking age? Because I think some alcohol is in order!”
“Do not get an elemental drunk,” Scorp warned. “Especially if we’re trying not to be found out around here!”
“We can bring some back, don’t worry!” Leo assured, ruffling his hair and making him cross his arms moodily. “Today is a day to celebrate!”
Gali didn’t stop grinning for the rest of the day.
~~~
Daestic City, Kesron Minor. October 16, 2229. Time instance 842N.
Gali had to struggle not to bounce up and down in excitement as she, Leo, and Vess snuck through the alleyways of Daestic City. This was Gali’s first big mission, actually breaking into somewhere and not just pickpocketing or grabbing things from stores. She’d learned how to use her human form quite effectively, blending into crowds easily with her short stature and nondescript appearance once she managed to change her eye color from purple to brown. Leo had informed her that this was usually difficult for elementals, but Gali had managed it easily- a nevtir ability, Leo figured- and thus looked like a normal human unless you paid close attention to her magical output or could see the flow of magic.
Gali was also excited to see Vess at work, as she’d never actually seen her do anything as she’d only gone out on daytime missions and Vess’ vampire skin would burn in the sun. The crimson glow of Vess’ eyes was the most suspicious thing about the three of them as they moved through the darkness, their masks hidden in various pockets and pouches until they reached their target.
When Gali had asked Leo why the Varnic had chosen to set up base in Daestic City, she explained that it was home to quite a few wealthy merchants and a fairly diverse population. Few people minded if you were a hybrid, like she and Scorp were, although Scorp was more often targeted with verbal abuse due to how strange he looked. Vampires were less discriminated against here, as well, which made it safer for Vess although she was still careful when she went out alone.
They made their way into the richer side of town, slinking between large houses and avoiding streetlamps carefully. Their current target was supposed to be away tonight, which offered an opportuinity for them to break in without having to worry about him being there. Still, they would try to be as quiet as possible in case he had guards or servants within that they were unaware of.
Leo made a hand motion as they reached a house, indicating that it was their target. They pulled out their masks and slipped them on, donning the appearance of the Varnic. She froze a security camera that pointed into the backyard before surveying the fence and locked gate carefully.
“Can’t climb that. What do you guys want to do?”
Gali winked and shifted into her elemental form, melting under the fence and forming on the other side. She unlocked the gate and pushed it open, shifting back into her human form and bowing as Leo grinned at her.
“I knew you were a good idea.” She stepped through the gate with Vess not far behind. Leo froze another security camera and stepped up to the back door. “Think you can go under this one? Be careful- there’s probably a security system inside that you’ll want to disable. Look for a white box on a wall with a little red light on it.”
Gali shrugged and gave it a shot, leaving her mask behind on the outside on her way under the door. She reformed and looked around, noting that she was in a kitchen. She stepped through it into a hallway and a red light caught her attention, drawing her towards a box matching Leo’s description. She realized that she had no idea what to do with it so she just pulled it off the wall and cut the wires. Nothing seemed to happen, so she set it down and went back to the door, unlocking and opening it without a hitch.
Leo raised an eyebrow and handed her mask back. “That’s fucking amazing.”
“You could get us anywhere,” Vess mumbled, stepping inside and looking around. “I’ll stay down here and see if there’s anything valuable to grab. You guys go ahead up.”
“With pleasure.” Leo grinned and motioned for Gali to follow her. Gali shifted back into her human form and followed her upstairs, careful not to make any noise as they went. Leo looked at their door options before jerking her head and going through one, entering an empty bedroom.
“Check under the bed,” she hissed, going over to a set of drawers and starting to open them. Gali dropped to the floor and crawled to the edge of the bed, moving a strangely lumpy rug aside to reveal a safe.
“Leo! There’s a safe!”
“Good. Go get Vess. She’s good at lockpicking.”
Gali nodded and went back upstairs, motioning for Vess to follow. Vess shoved a silver bowl she was admiring into her backpack before following, nodding at the lock that Gali motioned to. She watched carefully as Vess fiddled and struggled with it, but it eventually clicked quietly and she opened the safe to reveal a small brown bag and a stack of paper currency. She shoved the paper in her back but picked up the small sack, shaking it and hearing it clink softly. She opened it curiously and her eyes widened.
“Leo, we’ve got bloodcrystal here.”
“What?!”
“Keep your voice down!” Vess hissed.
“Right, right.” Leo hurried over to them, peering into the bag. Gali leaned to get a look and saw a few small red crystals that glowed faintly crimson, similar to Vess’ eyes. “Oh, wow. How much do you suppose that is?”
“I don’t know.” Vess pulled the drawstring on the bag and shoved it in with the rest of her loot. “But I’m sure Scorp knows someone who will take it.”
“What’s bloodcrystal?” Gali asked, tilting her head.
“It’s a rare variety of crystal that can be used for a lot of things, primarily magic and enchantments. It’s really dangerous if used incorrectly so don’t toss that bag around too much, Vess.”
“They’re crystals, not explosives!”
“Whatever.” Leo went back to what she was doing and scooped some silver and golden rings into her bag. Gali looked around for anything valuable that the other two weren’t stealing and eventually she just picked up a fancy desk lamp and shoved it into her bag. She moved into the next room and hid the merchant’s toothbrush for the hell of it, replacing it with a pencil before stealing some loose change sitting on the counter. She went back into the bedroom just as Vess left. She followed with Leo not far behind and they grabbed a few more things including a faintly glowing hourglass and some more miscellaneous silver objects.
Gali was quite proud of her desk lamp, loose change, and random shiny crap she found on a shelf as Leo led the way back out, shutting both the door and gate behind them. They took off and stashed their masks, zipping up their backpacks and putting them on fully. After all, three people walking around at night with burlap sacks is very suspicious while three people walking around at night with backpacks is only mildly suspicious.
They were, not surprisingly, stopped by a police officer demanding what the hell they were doing walking around at night. By now, they were walking around on normal streets talking quietly about whatever came to mind that didn’t scream ‘we just robbed somebody!’ and having a great time. It was less suspicious than being caught sneaking through alleys with full bags, Leo explained, and while they couldn’t be arrested for doing it with empty bags, they were carrying enough loot on them now to justify them being in jail for a really long time.
Gali’s terrified human heart stopped when the officer approached them. She gulped quietly as she turned to face him along with Leo and Vess, feeling like they were absolutely going to get caught.
“Hello, officer.” Leo smiled at him. “It’s good to see you out, keeping people safe at night.”
“What are you doing out here this time of night?” he asked, ignoring her completely.
“My friend here is a vampire,” Leo explained, “so if we want to walk around the city with her, we have to do it at night. We’re perfectly safe, I assure you.”
“Hmm.” He narrowed his eyes, but they didn’t seem to be overly suspicious. “What are your names?”
Right. Leo said fake last name. Not Sinestren. Fake last name. Um.
“Leonaldra Hyglan,” Leo lied smoothly.
“Vess Crythos.”
“And you?”
Gali gulped, panic taking over. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Gali Fred.”
Leo shot her a look of what the fuck are you doing but quickly corrected it. The police officer looked at them for a moment more before nodding slightly, shrugging it off.
“Carry on, then.”
“Thank you, officer.” Leo smiled at him again before leading the way down the street. They didn’t speak until they had entered the alleyway approaching the hideout, but when they did, Leo turned to glare at Gali.
“What the fuck were you thinking? Gali Fred? That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard!”
Gali grinned at her. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“That’s so terrible!”
“I panicked, okay? It was too stupid to be faked, at least.” Gali crossed her arms. “I can’t believe we got out of that just fine.”
“I can’t either.” Leo rolled her eyes, hiding an amused smile, before opening the door to the hideout and leading the way inside.
“Scorp!” Vess called. “We’ve got some serious stuff for you tonight!”
“Oh, hell yes.” Scorp set down his book and grinned as they sat down and placed their bags on the table. “Show me what you got.”
Leo opened her bag first and showed him the assortment of items she’d managed to get a hold of. He nodded slowly, mumbling to himself before picking up the bag and setting it on the floor. “I can find a home for all of these, I think. The hourglass in particular is interesting- I’m not sure what it does but I can sure find someone who does. Gali?”
Gali unzipped her bag and pulled out the lamp, raising eyebrows.
“A lamp,” Leo said slowly.
“You guys were taking everything else valuable!”
“No, no, it’s good. Not worth a fortune by any means but I can get something from it.” Gali showed Scorp the rest of what she had and told him how she’d swapped the merchant’s toothbrush and a pencil for the hell of it. He rolled his eyes and congratulated her on a job well done getting them in and put her bag on the floor as well.
Vess showed him what she had and he grinned at the straight-up money and silver until she held up the small bag containing the bloodcrystal.
“This, though, is where we hit the jackpot.”
Scorp raised an eyebrow. “My imagination’s running wild.”
Vess opened the bag and showed him. His eyes went as wide as they could go and his jaw dropped. He snatched the bag from her and carefully pulled out a single crystal, holding it up to the light and turning it to get a good look.
“Where oh where did you find this?”
“In the merchant’s vault. Pain in the ass to pick, let me tell you, but totally worth it. What do you think you can get for those?”
“Oh, damn… I dunno. A lot, I can tell you that.” Scorp carefully put the crystal back and closed the bag, putting it in a pocket. “I’ll have to ask around, see what I can find. But this is genuine pure bloodcrystal. That merchant has lost a damned fortune tonight.”
Leo patted Vess on the back. “Good job getting into that thing. You should teach Gali how to pick locks sometime, too- you know I’m no good at it and we could use two lockpickers.”
Vess nodded. “I’ll do that. And you’re only bad because you rush and try to force it.”
“Just break the lock! It’s not hard!”
“It’s loud!”
“And that’s why I leave it to you!”
Scorp rolled his eyes and got to his feet. “You guys bicker over locks. I need to sort through this stuff, contact some people, find a buyer for this bloodcrystal.” He grinned at them before picking up the bags and leaving for his room, leaving the three thieves alone.
Leo turned to look at Gali and grinned. “You did really well back there. Great job with the gate and the door especially. I knew it wasn’t a mistake picking you up off the street.” She stood and picked up Gali in a tight hug, making her yelp and hug back once Leo let her go.
“You’ve still got a lot to learn, but you’re way better than most novice thieves.” Vess winked at her. “Let’s work on that.”
~~~
Varnic Hideout, Kesron Minor. September 14, 2230. Time instance 842N.
Gali jerked awake as someone knocked on her door.
The first thing her eyes registered was the lava lamp on her desk, which she grinned at before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. They’d managed to sell the bloodcrystal a few months ago for nearly a fortune and, giddy with riches, she’d immediately bought a lava lamp. They had saved most of their money, but they had enough that they didn’t have to steal to survive or do anything too risky just to make it through the week.
It hadn’t been since before they’d sold it that she’d been awoken by a knock on the door, so she frowned as she got up and opened it to reveal Scorp on the other side. He looked to be dressed to go someone, with a backpack on and his laptop bag hanging off of his shoulder. His tail was curled up and lowered and he’d actually put on shoes for once.
“Hey, Gali. Just letting you know I’m heading out.”
Gali frowned. “You’re leaving? Why?”
He grinned sheepishly. “Some cousins of mine were just born and the family wants me there.”
“But we need you!” Gali protested. “How long will you be gone?”
“Only a few days, don’t worry. And if I don’t go my aunt will kill me. I never go to family gatherings or anything. But hey, I’ll be in Skerek, so maybe I’ll be able to set up some contacts while there. I’ve been meaning to expand out to the east.”
Gali sighed and stepped forward to hug him. “We’ll miss you,” she mumbled.
He hugged her back. “I know. I won’t be gone long, though. Just don’t get yourselves arrested, a’ight?”
“No, Scorp. I’m going to turn us all in to the authorities and you’ll come back to this place being the new police station.”
Scorp groaned. “Don’t even joke about that. Anyway, I’ll be in touch.” He tossed her a phone, winking as she looked at it in bewilderment. “Vess or Leo can teach you how to use it. I’m out.” He turned and walked towards the exit, holding up a hand in a wave.
Gali watched him go before glancing down at the phone and going to find Leo.
~~~
Daestic City, Kesron Minor. September 22, 2230. Time instance 842N.
Gali was slipping out of the jewelry store with a jacket pocket full of dubiously acquired goods when she caught sight of a familiar figure slinking along the edge of the crowded street, heading towards the alleys. She sped up upon seeing his coiled scorpion tail and put a hand on his shoulder, making him jump and raise his tail. He paused when he saw who it was and shook his head, pulling Gali into a hug.
“Don’t do that!” Scorp protested. “I could have stung you!”
“Sorry.” Gali grinned. “I just got excited. You’ve been gone ages.”
“It was eight days.”
“We almost died.”
Scorp raised an eyebrow.
“Okay. Maybe not. Come on!” Gali grabbed his hand and dragged him through the alleys back to their base, opening the door and pulling him down shouting about his return.
Leo and Vess greeted him enthusiastically, hugging him tightly and demanding to know what his new cousins were like and if he’d brought pictures.
“What do I look like, a fuckin’ idiot? Of course I brought pictures.”
Gali had to admit that she wasn’t impressed with what human- or at least humanlike- young looked like, but she figured she couldn’t really judge them too harshly. Something had been bugging her since Scorp left, however, and she waited until they were all sitting down to bring it up.
“I didn’t know you had family, Scorp.”
His grin faded slightly. “Yeah. Yeah, I...I do. I’m not close to anyone, mind- they’re all fairly distant, and a lot more human than I am- but I show up sometimes.” He shrugged. “My immediate family isn’t alive anymore, so I don’t have many people I talk to much. Not that I’d want to anyway- how do I explain that my job is fencing stolen goods? Can’t. So I don’t.” He raised an eyebrow. “What about you? Got any family?”
Gali felt a pang of guilt and looked down at the table. “Yeah. I do. I left them behind in the Plane of Shadow.”
Vess patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry. If it helps, I’m the only surviving member of my family except a nephew that I don’t know or something. I outlived them all.”
“My mom kicked me out the house on my eighteenth birthday,” Leo mumbled, crossing her arms. “She didn’t like that I’m a lesbian. Haven’t spoken to my family since. Don’t care. They can kiss my ass and my wealth for all I care.”
“Don’t let them near the money,” Scorp scolded. “We worked hard for that.”
“What’s this we?” Vess asked, raising an eyebrow. “When was the last time you stole anything?”
“I sell the damn things! Illegally! It’s a hard job, asshole!”
Vess laughed at him and Gali rolled her eyes.
She might have left her relatives behind back in the Plane of Shadow, but part of her knew that this was her real family.
~~~
Daestic City, Kesron Minor. August 24, 2252. Time instance 842N.
Gali had been with the Varnic for nearly twenty-three years. She was now thirty-five years old and a highly skilled thief as well as a master of infiltration. She could move quickly and quietly and had learned how to cheat at almost every card and board game there was and could pick pockets without even the most alert demon noticing. They had moved around from city to city in Kesron Minor, changing places every few years, but they often returned to their main base in Daestic City to store most of their supplies and loot that they didn’t want to sell.
They were in Daestic City on the day of the invasion.
They’d recently returned from a few months out in Kralon, a few hours away from their main base of operations. It had been moderately successful at best and they’d headed back early, figuring that taking a break for a little while wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’d decided to go out and get some breakfast together- and actually pay for it- to relieve some stress from the last few months.
Gali leaned against Leo as they waited for their food, shutting her eyes. Leo patted her shoulder reassuringly.
“We’re out of Kralon, don’t worry.”
“I know,” Gali mumbled, “I’m just stressed.”
“How can you be stressed?” Scorp demanded. “We’re getting pancakes!”
“Even I’m excited for pancakes and I don’t need to eat!” Vess informed them, leaning forward and grinning. As sunlight struck her arm, the necklace around her neck glowed faintly. They’d stolen it a few years ago and discovered that it allowed the wearer to avoid being burned by the sun no matter how much time they spent out in it. They’d quickly learned that this protection extended to vampires and had immediately carted Vess all around the city in the daytime, which hadn’t been her favorite activity, but at least now they didn’t have to plan around the whole oh yeah Vess’ll burn to death if we do that thing.
“I don’t know,” Gali sighed, opening her eyes and sitting up. “I just have a bad feeling about today.”
“Well, we’re back in Daestic. We’re home.”
Gali nodded but quickly went back into her own thoughts, ignoring what her friends- no, her family- were talking about, lost in the swirling heaviness that weighed on her.
Leo tapped her arm and she looked up, temporarily breaking the spell over her thoughts. Leo smiled and Gali mirrored the expression, glancing at Vess and Scorp who both looked happy and relaxed, glad to be back home and with each other.
That was the last moment where everything was okay.
Screams made their heads whip around and a shadow fell over the city. Gali’s bad feeling spiked into heart-stopping fear as she tore out of her seat, racing out the door into the street and looking up, eyes wide and body freezing as the end of the world bore down on them.
Monstrous and unfamiliar ships loomed overhead, ringed by descending smaller ships that opened doors and dropped half-metal creatures down to the streets.
The cyborgs- for that’s what they were, even though Gali didn’t yet know the word- immediately locked onto targets and started shooting, deadly precision and the cold lack of mercy sending shivers down Gali’s spine and making her wish she had a weapon with her.
“Leo!” Her voice broke in the middle of her shout but she didn’t care, backpedaling to stand beside the rest of the Varnic and wishing that they had some way to know what was happening, to prepare for this, to fight. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know!” Leo’s fists clenched and her eyes glowed brighter. “But what I do know is that we’re being attacked, and I’m not going down without a fight.” She stepped forward and the temperature dropped. Gali reached for the magic to change her form, preparing for the fight of her life.
They didn’t get the chance.
One of the smaller ships flew by overhead and released a pulse that blanketed half the city, making Gali scream and fall to her knees as her power was sapped. She felt her access to her magic- her core- drop to almost nothing and it was all she could do to look up as unimaginable pain gripped at her chest. Leo screamed out a similar reaction and fell to her side, shaking and struggling to stand back up.
Vess shouted in surprise and knelt down to try to help Gali up. Gali latched onto her and was halfway up when gunfire registered and Vess’ face froze, eyes wide in shock.
Gali felt warm liquid against her shirt when Vess’ legs gave out and she fell, taking Gali with her. Gali quickly untangled herself from Vess and screamed when she saw the crimson spreading around her. Vess’ eyes had dulled and she had stopped breathing, and even Gali shaking her couldn’t make her move or even react.
Tears streamed down Gali’s face as she forced herself to her feet, pulling out her mask and putting it on for some kind of security, some kind of familiarity as her core hurt from shocked loss that she had hardly registered and the pulse that threatened to tear her apart.
A cyborg stormed towards them and raised its gun, but was forced to turn as Scorp screaming something unintelligible and threw himself at it. His tail was up and his claws were extended, allowing him to latch onto the cyborg’s arm and arc his stinger towards exposed scales on the cyborg’s neck. It threw him off and barely glanced Gali’s way as she charged at it, fury burning in her blood.
I can’t lose them. I can’t lose them. I can’t-
She screamed as pain arced up her leg, forcing her to fall as the bullet embedded itself in bone. She hit the ground hard and skidded, sobbing in pain as skin was scraped off of her face and neck. She lifted her head in time to see the cyborg bring its arm down on Scorp, who had gotten to his feet. His eyes blazed in green fury and he raised a hand to block the cyborg’s stroke.
It struck. Scorp grunted in pain as he was hit but his arm held. There wasn’t even blood as the cyborg froze in surprise, eyes whirring in confusion as it recalculated.
Scorp’s eyes narrowed and his fingers wrapped around the blade. With a quick motion, he tore the cyborg’s arm off and threw it into another, roaring and throwing himself at his original target.
Leo wasn’t far behind, fists clenched and mouth open in a roar. A hail of bullets shot from the second cyborg’s arm, shredding Leo’s right side but bouncing harmlessly off of Scorp. Gali screamed Leo’s name as she fell, the remaining half of her face still angry even as her life fled and crimson splattered both Scorp and the first cyborg.
Gali dragged herself forward but turned as an explosion behind her drew her attention. Her eyes widened as the debris fell, and then the world went black.
~~~
Gamma train line, nearing IAL (Previously Akrar). September 10, 2252. Time instance 842N.
Gali Leo Fred.
That’s the name she’d given them when they asked for it.
She was the last surviving member of the Varnic, as far as she knew. The world as she’d known it had been destroyed, taken over by an alien race that they hadn’t even seen. The portals had been closed, and already the reduced magic was affecting her negatively.
She was alone.
A heavy, bitter numbness had settled over her since she’d awoken after the invasion. She leaned back against her seat on the train, wishing that she was back at base and that this had just been a nightmare, a nightmare that she could awaken from and go out of her room into the waiting arms of Leo, Vess, and Scorp. She shut her eyes and shivered, remembering Vess and Leo’s faces as they’d died, Scorp’s expression at the last moment she’d seen him before the building had fallen on her.
The only thing she had left was the comforting presence of the mask on her face, its slight weight reminding her of what she still had and not just what she’d lost. A heavy sigh pulled itself from her lungs and she opened her eyes again, casting her gaze around at the dozens of other poor souls on this train along with her.
Another girl met her gaze and shot her a sad smile that Gali couldn’t help but return. She had long brown hair and friendly blue-green eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses that looked mournful and anxious, but she still had a light burning behind them that Gali felt had probably gone out in her own. She could tell that the girl probably wasn’t human- an elemental, probably- but she didn’t think long on it, shutting her eyes again.
It was hours before the train rolled to a stop and the doors opened. Gali reluctantly got to her feet and patted her pocket to ensure that her brand-new ID marking her as a citizen of IAL was still there. She followed the others off of the train and presented her ID to a cyborg- with a chill, she realized that this one used to be human- before being given her apartment street and number and allowed outside of the train station.
As she stepped outside into the cool Akrar air, the girl from the train not far behind, one thought rang in her mind.
Things would never be the same.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-25 10:28 pm (UTC)*gets trapped on Kaldriel for at least 20 years*
“Run, baby, run. You can do more than you think you can, but you must go. The Shadowmother loves you.” The presence faded along with her wounds, and Gali silently knew that she had been saved by one of the twelve elemental incarnations.
Twelve elemental incarnations huh? Is that like a god of each elemental type?
“Don’t mind them.” She added an additional explanation that Gali didn’t catch, eventually stopping in front of a brick wall. She scanned around and, seeing no one, tapped one brick, then another, and pressed a third into the wall.
The bricks rumbled and a section of the slid back and into the ground, revealing a passageway.
There's a Diagon Alley on Kaldriel? O_o
They were in Daestic City on the day of the invasion.
Oh shit, here it comes...
“Even I’m excited for pancakes and I don’t need to eat!” Vess informed them, leaning forward and grinning. As sunlight struck her arm, the necklace around her neck glowed faintly. They’d stolen it a few years ago and discovered that it allowed the wearer to avoid being burned by the sun no matter how much time they spent out in it. They’d quickly learned that this protection extended to vampires and had immediately carted Vess all around the city in the daytime, which hadn’t been her favorite activity, but at least now they didn’t have to plan around the whole oh yeah Vess’ll burn to death if we do that thing.
I wonder where Vess and her necklace are now, I can think of a couple of vampires who could use that necklace...
Vess shouted in surprise and knelt down to try to help Gali up. Gali latched onto her and was halfway up when gunfire registered and Vess’ face froze, eyes wide in shock.
Gali felt warm liquid against her shirt when Vess’ legs gave out and she fell, taking Gali with her. Gali quickly untangled herself from Vess and screamed when she saw the crimson spreading around her. Vess’ eyes had dulled and she had stopped breathing, and even Gali shaking her couldn’t make her move or even react.
Well shit....
It struck. Scorp grunted in pain as he was hit but his arm held. There wasn’t even blood as the cyborg froze in surprise, eyes whirring in confusion as it recalculated.
Scorp’s eyes narrowed and his fingers wrapped around the blade. With a quick motion, he tore the cyborg’s arm off and threw it into another, roaring and throwing himself at his original target.
Cool, Scorp is part of the same bug race as Seven, I did wonder with the tail and all.
Another girl met her gaze and shot her a sad smile that Gali couldn’t help but return. She had long brown hair and friendly blue-green eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses that looked mournful and anxious, but she still had a light burning behind them that Gali felt had probably gone out in her own. She could tell that the girl probably wasn’t human- an elemental, probably- but she didn’t think long on it, shutting her eyes again.
Who's the girl that was on the train with Gali?
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Date: 2016-12-26 08:20 pm (UTC)That necklace is likely either lost or in storage somewhere, if the Mainframe recovered it.
Scorp Allvaer is part visper, yes. He's more visper than Seven is, as evidenced by his tail and remnants of mandibles.
it me!
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 09:00 pm (UTC)I'm hoping that the mainframe recovered it and have stored it somewhere that no one has discovered yet, but somewhere they could discover soon. Would help Xela or Scott out immensely, rather than having to cover themselves in paint.
Visper, yes that's the name of the bug race I was searching for. Scorp's still alive isn't he?
Aha! A wild Tanadin appeared! I did wonder if it was you XD