#proud of that background tbh because I never expected it to look half decent at all

[shenzaibird-art]

So here's actually the first pic I drew of Verloren after the redesign headshot! That means this pic is almost one year old now, what!! A lot of things bother me about it because this actually started as a "quick sketch", and also I still hadn't figured out his shapes back then. Also maybe it's because I've stared at this pic too much since it's been my desktop wallpaper since last July lol

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Alone

Story-text under the cut because it's kinda long

As Verloren had killed the king and every person who would have been a candidate to replace him, the responsibility for ruling the kingdom now fell upon him, a responsibility that he did not wish to take, for he never had any interest in ruling. But if there was no way out of being king, he thought maybe he could use some help, so he turned to Sellatrix, the only person he ever trusted and the only one who didn't hate him. They had been very close, and he considered her a true friend, or perhaps almost something a little more than that. So in a move surprisingly daring even for him, he asked Sellatrix if she would like to be his queen.

Sellatrix was conflicted. It was difficult for her to deny her feelings for him, and the two of them did make quite a pair. But the pleasant moments they once had, like playing games or talking under the moonlight about the most random things, now felt like something of the past. After all this spilled blood, all the victims he made and all he was yet to make, she knew there would never be peace again. There was no place in his future for things to ever be as they once were.

So betraying her own heart but following the wiser path, Sellatrix refused Verloren's proposal. She realized then that there was nothing left for her to gain by staying around him, as he was now like a broken image of a person once dear to her. So one day, she said her goodbyes and left the castle to go live in the forest near her hometown, to be away from the rest of the world for as long as she could.

On the day of Sellatrix's departure, Verloren watched her leave in a gryphon carriage as the sun went down, hoping she would change her mind and turn back. But she never did. That night, as the moon rose into the sky, Verloren felt more lonely than ever before. In his quarters, he reflected upon all that had been happening, and all that was lost.

Verloren leaned against his desk, going over his thoughts, his claws sinking into the wooden surface. How could things have fallen apart so suddenly? This was not how it should have happened. The enemies he made, the bloodshed... none of it should have happened. But it did. And now he had to deal with what was left.

Sellatrix may have been the only friend he ever found, but he could not allow himself to lose his way because of her absence. She was just a person, and he had never needed anyone before. There was his research to be done and enemies to destroy.

But for that one night, despite how much he tried to deny it, Verloren felt an immense void creeping up where his heart should have been.