#and what Reshaye is

[animezinglife]

They're not even prominent characters, but just the fact that Ezra (who is Fey) will have to watch not only his human wife grow old and die, but his own (mixed) children and their children after that because they don't have the Fey immortality is devastating.

No wonder he's so shut down and broken on top of every other reason.

Anyway, this is why I don't want any of the Prythian Fae we know and love to end up mated to humans. I don't want that pain for either of them.

Pretty sure we can't just conveniently keep tossing them into Cauldrons or killing them and having the High Lords bring them back to life so they can get their happily-ever-after.

[dangermousie]

I really love this bit. I also love that even with his memories wiped, regularly tortured to the brink of death and beyond, with marks on every inch of him to contain his magic, Max is his own unbreakable, unbowed self who just can't be leashed and all he's planning is to get the hell out of there, the impossibility of it not even entering his mind, broken as it is. (Side note - is the pattern he's drawing that even he himself does not know what it is, Tisaanah's skin? Because aaaaaaaa!)

Honestly, I love it.

I also love Tisaanah basically losing it. She was all about her cause but she's fucking had enough and I love it. Honestly, 90% of the characters in this series make me want to smash them and I genuinely get Caduan's "all the humans should be wiped off the face of the earth what they did to the fey" agenda. His "kill them all, let god sort them out" honestly makes a little too much sense.

Also, Caduan x Aefe break my heart so much because I am spoiled and I know Max and Tisaanah get their happy ending but Aefe and Caduan do not. (Side note - I kept wondering why we kept getting Aefe narration in book 2. I liked it but I saw no connection to the main storyline and then to learn Aefe is Reshaye, BEFORE they stripped her personhood from her and turned her into a mad weapon to be implanted into others oh my GOD.)

Like - she had so much honor and talent and they took it and wrecked it and destroyed ger and he went through impossible hell to rescue her and it's still not going to be enough to fix it. UGHHHHHH

ETA: honestly they break my heart.

[siderealxmelody]

The Forever War: Reshaye

Orsus remembered everything, they remembered the time before all of this when it was just them and the music. They remembered after spinning Phos, Nyx, Thana and Deia into existence. They'd been the bridge, the conduit for them. Perhaps a better analogy they were the loom their magic came from.

Perhaps they shouldn't be surprised when Phos and the others wanted more - not to be dictated and held back. Perhaps they shouldn't have felt so horrified to be held down and torn apart - their flesh eaten.

Unir had eventually overthrown his father, the other heirs helping them. Orsus had been the first thing he'd unlocked in his father's vault. Unir had won his throne and war with them by their side.

He'd given him a realm of their own. Ostium was beautiful, a void where they could still hear the music and not be interfered with. Then Samkiel had come, begging for aid - for aid in another war.

So they had - but the end has ripped them from that calm and into this new era. Violence happened again and again. They evaded Lanthys and Vesperus as much as possible - still they were grabbed and taken to their facilities.

They were put to work, a killer that couldn't die. They went by Roccurem here, better they thought them an abberation than what they actually were.

They were bounced from the breeding facilities, to the gladitoosl pits and pleasure stables. Used and abused, their magic siphoned for Lanthys and Vesperus gain.

As Theia's rage swept through they slipped away again, barely able to get out now. Their magic had diminished them to the body of a child - so tired, so traumatized to grow.

The world kept spinning, Sarai was the one for one them. She wasn't like her uncle or grandfather, she didn't ask for their magic, their weapons. She asked for her knowledge, they were in positions of power now. They refused to make the same mistakes as their parents. They were out of their depth, will they help them?

Natalia was the first to sing to them, to treat them as a person after Sarai. Maeve gave them a sweet and toys that were simply toys - not things to weild.

Was this was what family meant?

Achlys took the Changelings, they watched as the wild ones helped - rage and grief forcing them to choose such a chaotic option.

For the next little while they were cared for, even as Orion and Shahar's war was doomed from the start.

Slowly they had brothers, a family. But rumors were swirling now of Ayla and Kaden looking for Reshaye - for them.

As Ayla lost the one tether she had to her morality the flame was lit. Orsus knew a starts to devasting war when they saw one.

Would Samkiel beg them for their aid again? Would Natalia?

Would they be allowed a choice or no?

Did they desvere one when without them the world would fall apart again?

@luxmaeastra

@starlsssankt

@sankta-alina-s

[luxmaeastra]

He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be the person to decide these things. But Natalia could go into labor any hour - she couldn't come. Even if she desperately wanted to, even if she wanted this closure as much as he did.

He supposed as her mate, as the Heir to Terresan, and High King of Prythian in Exile - he had a say in all this.

Fucking Daglan and their protocols. He looked from where Keir knelt bound. His children held back by gaurds, forced to watch. They'd stopped crying, begging for their father back. Would his children be next? Would this be the justice come to them when all those he used to get here got their revenge?

He dragged his eyes to Helion, he looked half crazed. The light around wasn't like Noelle's even at her worst it didn't feel like the ground was melting - like a star was being dragged toward them.

"Do you understand now? If Keir hadn't done what he did that day none of this would have happened Sebastian! My sisters were taken by Valg, her parents were killed."

He stepped closer, the heat, the gravitation pull nearly made his knees buckle. Maybe it was the latent Daglan blood in his body that kept him upright. His grandmother had bowed to no one. Mala had been a child of Deia herself, her flame ran down his bloodline. Algelika weilded that better than he did, like she breathed but he knew how to access that magic too. His lightning sparked, unfurling around his feet.

"Helion -"

"DONT YOU WANT REVENGE?! DONT YIU WANT HIM TO PAY FOR DESTROYING YOUR FAMILY LIKE HE DID OURS?!"

He exhaled, laughing as he ran a hand through his hair. This madness it didn't start with Cassandra. Perhaps it is the last curse of the Reshaye, all that power but unable to mentally handle it.

It would be something it would do.

"We are on the same side Sebastian."

Sebastian looked back to Keir, to Mora the knife at her throat. She didn't beg, she didn't cry or weep. She only held his gaze, daring him to walk.

What was the legacy he wanted to leave his children? He'd promised Natalia he'd come back, that he'd live instead of die for her.

But he didn't see a way out of this, he didn't -

All this rage, this revenge. Yes, yes that's what he'd wanted. That's all he wanted then he'd held his boys.

It was cliche, but he wanted to make the world better for him. He wanted to do good, he wanted them to remember for the lives he saved and not the blood on his hands.

He turned and walked away, Helion's laughter echoing on the wind. He found Etele easy enough, but then she wasn't hiding. She looked young as she whirled to stare at him.

Her light blazed around her, but he was faster, moving behind her as he slit her throat. The Changeling poison seeping into her veins. He stepped back as she collapsed, as he felt the ground rock from the fallout. He mentally tightened the bond. He knelt before her, gripping her throat.

"Keir may have started this but your family continued this agony."

He turned from her, hearing the second heartbeat in the air. He held out a small vial of the antidote.

"Enough for one of you. Hope you're able to tell him that."

It would be enough for the baby inside but if they choose her, well then they didn't deserve the fucking legacy.

Sebastian looked down at Keir, the sky churning with dark clouds. He undid the bounds, dragging him to his feet. Helion was gone, the soldiers had fled. The children safe hiding behind their mother.

"Sebastian -"

"I did this for my children, for the peace of mind I need to wash my hands of is entire chapter."

He turned to Keir, letting that brokenness finally be seen.

"We trusted you. We loved you Keir like a brother. How could you think to do this -"

"It was never aimed at your families. I just wanted Night to fall for -"

"Save it. Don't contact me again."

------

"How is she? Did she go into labor yet? Are the -"

"She's fine Sebastian, Noelle is with her as is Angelika and -"

Sebastian bit back a snarl as Cyrus touched his wrist.

"Sebastian what did you do?"

"I ended a fucking war. Now get out of my way before I electrocute you."

Cyrus blinked, stepping back, he strode into the house. She was fine, of course happily chatting. Sebastian couldn't stop the rising violence in him. He set his sword down, thankful the twins were in court - Khione and Boreas were prissy but as Boreas was a Daglan and Khione a Changeling - it was safer for them to be there.

"Get out."

Noelle snapped her head to him, she huffed.

"No. You're covered in blood but -"

//basixally Seb is about to loose control and just burn up his magic if he doesn't hr some kind of anchor or Centr soon?//

Discord and chaos, standing at the borders of day they could smell it within the air, they could taste it upon the wind. A small delegation gathered upon the border, not daring to enter despite the news they had received. Why would they? Even if it was their family, even if it was their blood. Thesan’s hand gripped her sister’s tightly, the newly crowned High Lady of Dawn stood tall as they could only see the chaos from a far.

“Keir told us not to get involved,” Endymion spoke up. “This goes back before the your sister returned to us Thesan.” The fall of Night, it had been the period of which Sarai and Thesan had been separated. After Spring had fallen each sister had been split up: Thesan had returned to Dawn while Sarai had been dragged to Night. There had been no warning about what was to happen, no whispers about the fall which would come.

His attention was fixed upon his mate’s twin, whose power swelled before dispersing with each moment. Her mating had been granted by her sister, a ceremony in Dawn. A place in Dawn, Sarai could have any role she desired but she had chosen the quieter life. A life along side the wolf, with Viren who was proving himself to be an ally and family member.

“Keir and his family will survive this, but our brother may not,” Sarai spoke up finally. “Helion is lead by his heart, he loves fully and hurts easily. When he is hurt he makes wrong decisions.”

Thesan looked back to Endymion - she didn’t need to say anything.

—————

Natalia looked from what she was working on, her attention drawn to Sebastian after he strode in the house. The scent of blood was thick, a wave of nausea flared up as she rose her hand up to cover her mouth. Even this late in her pregnancy, even with her labour impending.

A look of confusion crossed her face, the sudden actions and temper. She rose from where she was, ignoring the twinges. She reached out to touch her sister’s arm, assuring her she did not need to abide by his demand.

“She stays,” she countered as she moved forward. “For you are in no fit state to attend to me, and you return to me like this.” Her eyes narrowed.

“What have you done?”

[skyler-reads28]

Daughter of No Worlds

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️

Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but sharp wit and what little magic she had. The night she tries to buy her freedom she barely escapes with her life. She goes to the Orders, determined to train her magic and go back to save her friends she left behind. Tisaanah is willing to do anything to save them, even wield death itself. But how far is too far?

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like the concept was new, and the plot wasn’t predictable. I loved Tisaana and Maxantarius, and I’m very interested in learning more about Reshaye.

[starlsssankt]

Orsus lowered their hand their blade disappearing, their eyes fixing on Anastasiya. She had wasted away, her face hollow. Her eyes glazed stumbling forward, the Mages died around them.

Orsus has instinctively thrown a sheild to dampen her magical effect on them. They hissed softly, she was far more powerful then she should be.

The commander of the witches, Jarl snickered. His fingers ran over Anastasiya's hair. His fingers playing with the ends before he dropped his hand.

"And what are you Orsus? What magic have you specialized in?"

Orsus thought quickly, they could call on their magic - kill Jarl and take Anastasiya home.

But the years under Simon and then Xaden made them pause and think. They had others who counted on them.

"What did you do to her?"

Silver fire flared in their eyes as they stepped closer.

"Did you touch her Jarl?"

Jarl rose an eyebrow and shook his head.

"My Matron wouldn't have allowed such an insult. She's still a powerful female."

He smirked stepped closer, not afraid like he should be.

"Now a truth for a truth. What are you? I've never seen such magic like that. I've never seen a blade like that."

Orsus swallowed, looking to Anastasiya.

"I'll tell you, I'll let your people have it - let her go."

Jarl chuckled stepping even closer.

"She'll die without the magical smoke we give her. It keeps her alive and docile. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't she beautiful?"

Orsus flicked the blade into their hands and looked to Jarl. The silver runes flared in cold fury.

"Then prepare to -"

Orsus screamed, their magic scrambling. Their pain intense - they fell to their knees.

Their mind was dizzy, they tried to move - to scramble away. They looked at Anastasiya who stood impassively at simply stood and watched.

This was a trap.

They looked to Jarl, he smiled at the realization showed in their eyes.

"We were payed handsomely for it. Pity I'll never know what you are Orsus. I'm sure we should could have fun together."

The black crown curled around their throat, their magic silencing. They couldn't find the energy to scream.

Eosphorous stared down at them, blue eyes dark and determined.

"We've been looking for you. We need you Orsus. My family never made the deal like Unir did. My father always warned him to let you go would cause calamity."

She reached for Orsus collar dragging them to their feet.

"We have rebels causing too much noise. Put them down and you'd be free of us."

------

Bryce turned on the TV, freezing as the landspace of Pangera came onto the screen. She could feel Orion and the others around her.

They had meant to go there in a week. The landspace was burning and cratered. The camera focused on one figure a thing clad in armor so dark it seemed to eat the very light around them.

The announcer's voice was glib, excited.

"The Asteri finally have ended the rebels threat. They'd debuted Reshaye - a weapon so potent they'd only to need make one of them. It was made to hunt Ophion down and break their coded messages. We're finally going to have peace in the east."

//idk how but here//

Alive. That was literally all that he had to go on, all that he'd held to for years. Had it truly been that long? Sometimes, it felt like barely a day, and sometimes, it felt like centuries had passed since she'd walked away-- and he hadn't seen her since.

But over and over, Aleksander had known at least one very important truth--Anastasiya was alive. He could feel her enough to know that much, for he'd told himself over and over that he'd know if she was dead. He'd be able to tell, to feel it, if her soul was no longer in this realm.

He wasn't even sure if this rumor would turn up anything other than a dead end--like every single other one had. Not a whisper of Anastasiya had existed, not a sign of her presence in ages. And if Aleksander hadn't convinced himself that she lived, he might grow to doubt it. Might start to think she had actually fallen--

Boots crunched on thick snow, nearly two feet deep. His thick, black cloak fell around him, hood pull low enough to block out the howling, blistering wind that bit against his skin as it blew off the mountains to the north. So close to places that he'd rather not be, too... so close to countries, to borders, who'd rather see him dead and destroyed if given half the chance--

There.

A flicker of... something. Red, pale--but it was color against the blanket of white snow that covered the entire area, a break in the intensity of the blinding white. Aleksander squinted against the light, the way the sun shone off the snow, as each step brought him closer and closer to the form ahead...

To her.

❝ Ana. ❞

Her name left him quietly, a rush of air, before Aleksander ran the rest of the way, falling to her side as he rushed to see if she was still breathing. ❝ Ana... ❞

@siderealxmelody

[gccdstories]

//the forever war verse!//

Achlys was dead, the veil keeping the changelings from the Valg and Daglan kingdom and fallen.

Wendlyn, and Midgard's wards raised in response but they were the simple capitals.

Vaalbara for the Valg and Prythian for the Daglan as a whole were left unprotected.

Mating markings flared, piting neighbor against neighbor - friend and family against each other.

Everyone knew that Changeling royals getting their mates would be catastrophic.

------

Dianna looked to the sky, feeling the rush of it in her veins. They needed that book - they needed to find the Reshaye.

The weapon could stop this war, could save them all before it was over. Maybe if she got that book Kaden would let her see Gabriella for more than a week this time.

Tobias and Alister seemed more restless than usual. What did they understand that she didn't?

------

Samkiel was happy to stay away, to let his grief consume him. But he felt it now, the screaming of his kin - the Changelings were free.

They were taking whatever they wanted.

He stared at the fire, watching it all in numb and unfeeling.

Raffiel he called himself, he claimed to be Apollion and Cassandra's son. He wore the Heir Marks that his parents had denied.

Would he take his crown?

Should he let the boy have it when he knew the cost came in blood?

------

Adaine turned away from the window, surges of wild magic were blowing free. Whatever spells the Daglan and Valg had performed were being erased.

She looked to her cousin Xaden and Sebastian.

Sebastian stared at the Wyrdstone as the last of the light flared and died. He rubbed at his temples, Xaden couldn't handle the tense silence.

"What now? What's happening?"

"We put up the wall, we tried to stop this from -"

"Pa!"

There was an edge of panic to it. Sebastian lowered his hand and squeezed his son's shoulder.

"War. War is coming. They are free, free to get the revenge they'd wanted to for the last 500 years ago. That's what's coming Xaden...they don't have honor. They will not hesitate to hit you where it matters. Stay with Catriona, stay with Dean let Azriel and Aleksander -"

"Didn't they help free them? Won't they listen to them?"

She hated that her voice came out high. Her sisters had helped topple Achlys. Emelin and Estrella surely were favored right? Surely that counted for something right?

Sebastian sent his neice a tight smile.

"It might, I'm sure they've all made allies. But I don't know if it'll be enough. Many of the Changelings are older and won't listen - they want -"

He flinched, rubbing at his wrist. Be blinked, the Call dragging at his skin. He gritted his teeth exhaling.

"Uncle Bash, are you alright? Is there something -"

Sebastian turned away, pulling his sleeve down over his wrist. He looked to Adaine and Xaden.

"Prepare, get ready."

Natalia I can feel them Call me. I don't think they're just going for me.

Athril, Viren, and Cyrus had all chosen their mates over the good of their Clans. He knew one day he'd pay for that - he had hoped they'd have more time.

//For Nat and Xaden? And Idk any of the new ones?? SYGAEL!!//

Natalia froze where she stood, her hands clenching against the back of the chair she stood behind. Eyes darkened, narrowed. As she heard her mate's voice in her mind, the dread sat like a heavy weight of ice inside of her.

Shadows curled against the wall, the floor; it had been ages since Natalia's emotions took such an effect on her, since her control slipped enough that the darkness was free. Not held back and leashed by her own strength, her own will.

She had been a little girl the last time that had happened.

But the fear that gripped her in that moment as Sebastian's voice echoed in the bond--

Where are the others?

Natalia wasn't even sure who all she referred to with that. Just her children? Or everyone else? Friends and allies and all that had sided with them through the centuries?

Xaden frowned; there was something his father wasn't saying. He noticed the way those shoulders had tensed, that hiss that he'd tried to tell himself he hadn't heard and was imagining--but Xaden knew he'd heard it.

❝ You're not telling me everything. ❞ That hadn't initially been what Xaden had meant to direct towards Sebastian, but perhaps his feelings overtook the logic. He didn't worry about trying to take the words back anyway.

❝ What else is wrong? ❞

@siderealxmelody

[thevictoryofthepeople]

//For Erebus!!!//

Reshaye didn't know who this other was, if he was truly a god like the races of the world said - or something else. It looked to the horizon, the sky painted red like a battle field.

"They used to worship me, used to - I was the void for this universe. The Empty, the very foundation they built their magic and belief on. They - I was the neutral ground, I held shrines and altars. Then they got greedy, shattered and broke me into this...form."

It shook, fingers running over its skin, it didn't have skin before. It didn't have a form before this. It had been blissfully asleep, eternally unaware of this world and the rot inside it.

"50,000 years they used me Kin. 50,000 years I was their tool and weapon. I don't - I don't know who I am, who I've become infected and marred in the filth of this world."

It looked to Erebus something warm flaring inside them. Was this what the creatures called hope?

"Can you fix me?"

//VIC. LOOK I HAVE AN ELDRITCH ENTITY AGAIN!! WEEEE//

QUESTIONS OUTSIDE THE CLOUD OF DARKNESS | ALWAYS OPEN ✿.｡.:* erebus ask - for reshaye | @siderealxmelody

☆:**:. The primordial god's tongue was taken from him. speech gone as if he was a child who still did not know how to utter words much less string together comprehensible sentences. The being in front of him was a different one than he had encountered previously. He had no idea how to move forward, especially with the inquiry that was brought up.

Fix it?

What was that supposed to mean? It wasn't like it was a machine. Hell, even if it was, he wasn't the type to deal with engineering. He was the god of shadows, the darkness. He was the forgotten one. Simply existing under the platforms of his family. What could he do?

Yet, he could see the broken pieces of this being. It reminded him of himself.

How mildly upsetting, and that was putting it lightly.

"It seems that you have been through much. I do not know how I can help you," he said. "Nor do I believe I can fully fix you as you requested. However, I do not lack empathy. I will do what I can to assist you. Though, if you seek to better the world, that may prove harder to do. Will you still go along with me or will you venture somewhere else?"

[animezinglife]

I freaking knew it. I called it.

I KNEW that Reshaye was Aefe and that some fragment of her was what had been placed in Tisaanah.

I KNEW MAX HAD SOME FRAGMENT OF CADUAN or that his magic was somehow a vessel where some part of Caduan was reaching for Aefe.

But here's my question after reading Children of Fallen Gods (and don't hesitate to tell me I missed something--I might have):

Max wielded Reshaye for years, and she was deeply attached to him in more ways than one. Once I developed my suspicion, my thought was that it was her clinging to Caduan or whatever magic of his that was familiar to her that she recognized in Max.

So here's my question or possibly the part I missed: why is Caduan only just now able to get to Aefe and to rip her from her Wielder? How was he able to essentially resurrect her, or re-create some version of her?

Also, I'm sorry, but I hope Caduan, Aefe, Tisaanah, and Max somehow all team up long enough to put Nura's head on a spike as the new decorative feature of the Orders entrance.

[animezinglife]

I have a really bad feeling that...

Reshaye may actually be some remnant of one of the Fey (Aefe's my suspicion) that got ripped out and bound somehow. That Tisaanah and Max are, in some twisted way, a parallel (or going to be a parallel) to Aefe and Caduan.

Either way, something Fifty Shades of Wrong is going on and I'm scared to find out what it is.

I also just...really sense a betrayal coming on.

I sense one coming on in the modern story, too.

Parallels.

[siderealxmelody]

Top two are Reshaye in more God/Wyrd form. The bottom two are what it looks like when it's in armor and then without. 👀

@starlsssankt

@luxmaeastra

[luxmaeastra]

The Soul Forge still burned bright. It's furnaces never ceasing, its armory always stocked and ready.

Lumas wasn't sure who ruled this, or who had made it. The notes on this were more scant than what had been on Reshaye.

But it was old, older than the Asteri, the Valg and maybe even the Slaugh. Someone had to have taught them how to light their forages.

Lumas has scarcely come to the gates for them to open. One of Them stood waiting for them. His shoulders relaxed, he remembered this one.

"You still live?"

"By the will of the Holy Fire yes. Welcome back Lumas. Have you gotten bored of peace?"

Lumas snorted and followed the other inside.

"You think I caused this instability? No. The witches are proving more of a rot than we anticipated. Have the others made it here yet Andominus?"

Andominus grinned and shrugged.

"You know I cannot tell you. You will see for yourself when the wars begin and the sky runs red with blood."

"You mean rains with blood?"

Andominus stopped and looked to him, his stare unnerving.

"No."

--------

Lumas laid the blades out before Viren, Sarai and Silba. He grinned and held out a smaller box to his mate.

"I comissioned this specifically for you my heart."

Viren looked out over the weapons, they gleamed newly polished. He hesitantly picked one up gasping at how light it was, he felt it slowly mold to his form.

"What did they want in return Lumas?"

Lumas looked from the daggers and arrows he was sorting. He rose an eyebrow at his son-in-law.

"It is called the Soul Forge Viren. What did you think they asked for? One for each of the things I asked made. Oh, give these to your parents. I am not sure if Ilyios and Nyktos had a chance to go."

He pointed to a smaller pile. Viren shut his eyes trying to think past the dizzying nausea.

"You always did think of me." Silba smiled as she took the smaller box. Spoiled and loved, it was how she felt when he did things like this. Always thinking of her, always going out of his way she sometimes she felt as if she did not give him the same back.

She didn't deserve him. Yet, she would fight to keep him by her side. This world they were about to enter was one she knew all those years ago, it was one she had grown up and she was about to face once more.

Sarai reached for the blade before her, the was a sense of familiarity when she held it in her hands. Much like her spear, one she hadn't needed to wield for a while.

The Soul Forge, she remembered Hellas telling her stories about it. She had never really gone there, by the time she was old enough she had already been tucked away in Cassandra's court. The weaponry she did have had always been gifts from her parents.

Nausea. She wasn't feeling nauseous, her attention snapped towards Viren before she reached out and gripped hold of his arm. "Are you okay?"

[luxmaeastra]

Keir stared at his mother's body. His lips kept twitching but he could feel it slowly moving back into the mask his father had taught him - indifference.

Reshaye grinned at Nyktos.

"You heard me correctly. Beg Nyktos and I'll give you her soul."

Keir twitched and looked to Reshaye.

"I never - it was never meant to be her Reshaye. Why didn't you stick to the -"

"Because she would have crumpled and gone mad. Nyktos is stronger than that Keir."

Reshaye stepped closer to Nyktos their eyes shining in cruel glee.

"Beg on your knees to him Nyktos. And if Keir agrees you can have her back."

Keir held onto why he'd done this. Casimir and Enya could still be alive. Reshaye was right if he had an heir why would his father kill it? Especially if Iris couldn't give him another one?

Brushing the hair from her face, this was not how their story was meant to go. They were meant to have many more years together, she was meant to stay by his side as the muse of the Night. Blessed by the darkness, envied by the moon, shining as bright as the stars.

How could he do this to her? She who carried him, who gave him life. Those months she had paraded around the court delighted to share the news of her triple blessing, the birth of their three beautiful souls filled their family. Nyxia had never been more delighted than at that moment; her moon, her star and her sun.

His eyes darkened as they rose to meet with Reshaye, his jaw tightened as he cursed the moment he had dared bring them into their court. Bitterness twisted within him as he began to see the way things were woven, how they had influenced those brought into their family. If he did not harm his children, he would enjoy the mercy of seeing them all be torn a part in the pits in Hewn.

Nyktos carefully laid his goddess down upon the chaise within the room, his shoulders rolled before he turned and glared at Keir. "She will never forgive you for what you have done, you may have your prize to gloat, know I am man enough to beg for my mate. Your mother was always enough for me...Sadly the same cannot be said for you and yours, was she really worth the risk you put this family through saving her."

With that he turned, staring at the creature that held the strings. He lowered onto his knees, his hands tightened before he looked back towards his wife. Wife, mate, chosen, fated, life. He could call her so many things, if she was gone then there was no reason in this world for him not to destroy everything.

"Please...bring her back."

[luxmaeastra]

They were one of the first to rise from the waters of the Wyrd. They'd been by Reshaye's side from the beginning. It destoryed them more than it probably should that it was stuck in what amounted to a nighrnare for it.

They had driven themselves mad many times over imagining the splendor of their true form. Of how their true voice would have sounded and felt agaisnt their ears.

Perhaps it was the strength of the drink or perhaps it was the jealousy. What was it that Kertayan had done to earn such a coveted position and not them?

If anything shouldn't it be them that ruled their kin? Shouldn't it be them that birthed such a holy line? After all they could carry such a special child if Reshaye deemed worthy of such a honor.

Reshaye stood away from the celebrations. Perhaps the noise was grating on its sensitive senses. It looked to them, taking the glass they held out for it.

"Hello Achak. You aren't happy with my decision."

"Why them? What has Kertayan done to earn something that we haven't?"

Reshaye looked to the festivities.

"He never begged for my attention or really much of anything. If I chose you both you'd both never leave me be."

"They deserve to hear your voice on -"

"No they don't."

It looked to them their full attention pinning them in place. They tried to hold on, to stay standing. But the weight was too much pushing them to their knees. Was the buzzing their own thoughts or its power? Was it their imagination or had the party gone silent?

"None of you deserve my attention or time. Kertayan understood that. You are all temporary and when I am free of this I will finally be done with all you buzzing gnats."

It grinned, a cold smile. It dropped the glass on the floor letting the bloodwine and glass shatter all over them. Its voice went low hiss as it bent down to their ears.

"I will never be yours or his or anyones but mine. I will never give you what you seek Achak. I suggest you remain on the floor where you belong. They're gnats buzzing and fighting but you're a dog, a thing that is only fit to run after crumbs."

It turned and walked away. It met Sarai's eyes the smile not wavering.

"You wanted my opinions on all of this. Have I satisfied your curiousity yet little Sia?"

It refused to marr itself in this world. It refused to become just like these things and forget what it was. It was infinite and vast before. It would not make itself small for these things to understand it better. It didn't need them, not as much as they needed it.

What were the Daimons without their God and purpose to protect it?

The honour to be invited to such a celebration was one she had not expected, though she probably should have. Kertayan had become one of her closest friends, even as their relationship had hits hardships and stumbles, they both had a health appreciation for each other. They understood the importance of their friendship in the scheme of things, but they also both knew the gift that came from knowing Reshaye - one that could easily be taken away when it desired.

Her attention was drawn to the scene that begun to emerge, the sight of the one she knew as Achak on their knees. Had she been so lost in her own thoughts she had not noticed this scene grow. Her gaze flickered over the shattered glass, the bloodline that coated the floor. Even hearing what was being said she barely reacted, the view of it was one she had learned to understand and accept. She would not insult it by saying she understood it, there was much she would never know - yet she never feared the darkness that was it.

Sarai bowed her head slightly in response, her show of respect towards it. Even at its most frightening she would stand tall and not cower, even if the day came she was no longer of use to it and it wished her gone. After all, there were terrors she had seen that had helped her steel for this world she now lived within. “As always,” she finally answered before she moved to set her glass on the side. “If you wish to leave, I don’t think any here would blame you from going.”

[luxmaeastra]

It slept again, a dreamless, mindless - Something tugged at it hard. When it awoke it was somewhere else, somewhere familiar and safe.

All at once it all flooded back, the terms, the pain - the fear. It found the others easy enough. It pushed past the dizzying elation.

"I told you all not to follow me. Why was it Dalazo was the only one who listened to me?!"

Nitini sat on the ground, still in her humanoid form. She was painted something. She looked up and glared at Dalazo.

"Funny, I thought that constituted as a traitor. I said the same when those things held me. Did any of you listen back then?"

It remembered how they'd found Nitini, a living husk. Tortured and abused again and again. Kept hidden and locked when it wasn't being used. It wasn't the first to wish to share its voice with others.

Dalazo huffed in the form of the guard it had taken. Perhaps it was easier for all of them - to show forms then their true selves. When did they begin to hide things from each other?

"That was different. You weren't in your right mind. Reshaye it Rirevu was just being selfish to keep us from its new toys. And then didn't want them killed when they inevitably turned on it. I warned you they –"

//The confrontation?? Reconcilation? Idk Reshaye kept thinking about this and then dreadinh it//

The lectures were not what it needed at that moment, the lecture of how they had told it that they would turn on it, that it was foolish and selfish. Its eyes cold and hard as it stared at Dalazo, its energies wanted to coil around the things that he had called toys.

No, they hadn't all been toys. Some had been special, some were worth everything that happened. They brought memories that it cherished and kept safe, they were the beings that kept it going and wanted to keep its siblings away. The fear of them hurting them.

"There will always be bad with the good," it finally spoke. "Yet the good will always outweigh the bad, their lights illuminate the world and keep away the darkness of those who turned on me." It curled into a ball, it just wanted to recover without its siblings turning on it.

[luxmaeastra]

"Hello Auryn"

She looked up, gold eyes widening in delight. A name only few knew now. She had so many, hoarded them like a Fomorii did it's jewels.

"Icarus!"

It wasn't Icarus but it wore his shape, it held his memories. She moved from her bed, appearing still in a child form. She smiled softly up at it reaching for it's cheek.

"No, Reshaye. An even greater blessing."

It didn't acknowledge that turning from her to look out at her kingdom.

"You've evaded the destruction of many of the worlds close by."

She hummed padding closer.

"It is easy to do so with your gifts, with the help of my subjects. They dream so many wonderful things, would you like to taste it?"

It didn't answer that either. She looked up at it, her eyes wise in a way it wasn't.

"You are hear to kill me."

Reshaye turned to her and shrugged.

"I am hear to lay waste to a realm the Archoness does not like. You needn't die with them."

"Would you let me go?"

"Would you be stupid enough to be wait till I find you?"

//uhhh very old past? Pre V&R? IDK//

Leaving her people behind though, what type of Queen would she be if she acted so selfishly. Her focus turned towards the kingdom, the world she had helped build and protect for so long. She had known it was all a matter of time, she knew that they had been upon borrowed time.

Had it been because of its good graces? She knew they had a past, but she also recognized that the boy she once knew was not who was standing before her. This was a being of wisdom, one who held so much upon their shoulders.

She moved forwards, resting her hands upon the window as she smiled. "I have lived long enough, I will not leave my people to die alone," she finally confessed before she looked towards them. "After all, from destruction will come new life. Something beautiful will grow from this, from the sacrifice of myself and my people."

Though they would not know the destruction that would come, they would live just long enough to know she was sure. "Can I at least share some of the dreams with you before you do? At least so someone remembers what was here when it is all gone."