Cassandra Pendragon
"Soul Sigils. Talk" I had to give it to the spider, despite the gawking Purple Worm, despite the overwhelmed, ancient vixen, whose slender limbs transmuted into scaled bulwarks of draconic strength intermittently, she focused on me immediately and replied without a second's hesitation. Didn't mean I liked her answers.
"Pretty hard to get right." She tilted her head as if listening to the distant scraping where the crew was still moving the canons around with the sweat on their brows. Unfortunately she didn't have ears. She "heard" with her feet. Which probably meant one of her eyes had caught something of interest. "Catastrophic to get wrong for the caster as well as the receiver. Is that a Purple Worm?" An acidic stench hit me as bubbles of a foaming, yellow-green liquid formed in the corners of her maw. "I thought they had gone extinct. Never tasted one. Can I have him?" Seriously, had they all gotten up today with the mission of pulling my strings? Something must have given away my mood, maybe the aggressive hum of aeons torn asunder behind me, since she immediately continued: "Or not." With a wink that ran across her eyes like a wave she added in Indigorath's direction: "no offence, escargot. Had to try."
"None taken," he replied lazily, his earlier apprehension all but gone. "I know how scrumptious I am. I'll retain the right to bring it up again at an opportune moment of my choosing, though."
"Fine by me," the spider clicked, her pincers grinding. And then she jerked, her eight legs lifting off the floor for the fraction of a second as silvery sparks vanished into her claws with the sickening smell of burned ozone. She contorted her body in an almost artistic fashion, her eyes quivering. Hissing she whirled around, her legs scraping ominously across the planks, while Aglaia buried her face in Indigorath's side to hide her blossoming smile. "No need to become rude," Shassa complained while two of her legs were busy caressing the thread of magic that still connected her to the gem in my stamp. "I'd never try to drain one of you acquaintances."
"Right," I scoffed, "that honour is reserved for me alone." She moved her head in a very alien imitation of a shrug.
"Fine. I lied. If it weren't for you and that hardly disguised dragoness over there I'd fill my belly to my heart's content. Satisfied?" Like a bloodhound picking up a scent she gradually turned to face Sera. "Who are you, anyways? One of Viyara's ilk? Do excuse my seeming lack of manners but you can't expect an isolated prisoner of darkness to keep up with the most recent gossip." To my surprise my grandmother caught my eye and only answered after I had inclined my head slightly.
"No, I'm Cassandra's grandmother. Sera. And you must be Shassa. I've heard quite a bit about you form my descendants. If you want, we can take a few hours to discuss it in detail." Her last words were accompanied by an ominous, golden glow deep in her throat.
"I think I'd rather not. Dragon fire is supposedly very bad for the skin and you do seem a bit on edge." She decidedly turned away and looked at Aglaia but the vixen couldn't hold her interest. Instead the spider chose to settled down, the wooden tiles creaking under her weight. "Right. Soul Sigils." Half of her eyes focused back on me. "Am I right to assume that this little release is the carrot? I'm not even going to bother asking what the stick might be. Let's see… they create a one sided connection between two souls. That's why they're bloody dangerous for everyone involved. Even the caster won't escape a mistake unscathed since his own soul is touched by the magic. If done properly they establish a shackle, a direct connection that allows commands, emotions, even information to enter the subjugated soul freely without any interference or delay. They can also be activated to consume the host, delivering its energy to the caster. Considering the power a single soul holds even a handful of thralls can turn a sorcerer into a fully fletched calamity." She paused before she quietly added: "in theory I think they could even be used on immortals, provided you have the strength to challenge an eternal will. But that's something I should ask you. Has one of your kind ever tried binding another?" I frowned, seriously considering her question. I came up blank but Ahri didn't. I merely relayed her words, my extinguished anger surging again with every word I uttered:
"Once, at least. When I died my brother forced another… angel," I got stuck on the word for a moment since he hadn't been an angel to begin with but rather a transmuted demon, "to burn his core to curse the knights of hell. They are… were the enforces of the demon race." Ozone and the crackling of infinity rolled off me in palpable waves and it took a while to reign my temper back in.
At least no member of my family seemed to mind but the spider and my newest friends were quietly trying to put as much distance between us as they possible could, mouths and maws agape. A fruitless endeavour, considering I had redecorated the cluttered room and, aside from the bed where my brother was snoring obliviously, there really was no space to move out of the way. "I'm fine," I pressed out through clenched teeth, which retrospectively might not have been the best idea. My voice was still carrying the thrum of rage and it made Shassa, Aglaia and Indigorath flinch as if they had been whipped. With a Herculean effort I took a deep, calming breath and added deceptively calmly: "bad memories. Don't mind it. Why did you ask?"
"Your tattoo," the spider replied hesitantly, her eyes following the erratic movements of my wings. "It's something very similar, I think. I can't say for sure, though." I could, though, and she was right, most likely, in a very roundabout way. After all, when I had crafted the connection I hadn't started from scratch. Chances were I had based my work on something I had seen before. Without the subjugation component, of course.
"Are you sure," Ahri asked with an alluring smile in her voice. "When we're finally together again I wouldn't mind a little role play." She was mainly trying to get my mind off the past and I felt immensely grateful, especially because that particular line of imagery held a certain appeal.
"Emphasis on play," I chuckled internally. "My life would be a whole lot easier if I could simply order you around."
"So would mine be," she pouted. "Right now, for instance, my fiancée is parading around butt naked in front of people I haven't even met, yet. For future reference, I'd rather you wouldn't."
"They aren't even staring…"
"They are… when you're not looking. Even your own shameless mother. Only Reia has some decency. The worm and vixen as well as your granny can be excused, they haven't gotten used to you, yet, but the rest… You really shouldn't trust in your mundane sight anymore. Or wear something more durable. If memory serves one of our brothers had the ability to weave light. Now that would be fitting. Hm… I think I know how. But without access to our transcendent powers we'd need some ingredients."
"Seriously? You're trying to distract me and you start rambling about… clothes and how I'm stared at by my own flesh and blood? Have you met me?"
"It worked, didn't it," she laughed. "And most of it was true. I'll leave it up to your imagination to figure out what wasn't." I really didn't need to puzzle, I could feel it. As jealous as she could be from time to time she was more than just a little proud to be the only creature in existence who could do more than ogle me. The more often someone exceptionally beautiful had their jaws drop to the ground when I walked by the happier she was, even though she'd never admit it. Which meant she didn't mind my occasional exhibitionism too much. From time to time.
"As if you were any better," she harrumphed. "You meant it when you said to Arthur that most of the world would kill you for your wife and you enjoyed every second of it. Hypocrite."
"I didn't judge, darling. I… attested. You're completely right, the thought that the love of my life is more beautiful than any goddess makes me giddy, lets me swoon… turns me on, but it's just luck. I'd love you all the same if you were born a regular kitsune."
"But a kitsune it would have to be," she joked… more or less. I'm sorry, but I had been raised amongst the fox tribe. My definition of pretty was ever so slightly skewed.
"A fey might also do," I answered, feigning seriousness. "Or a dragoness…" I couldn't keep it up, my reignited anger, stirred by the rising shadows of the past, long forgotten. Truthfully I added: "it's idle speculation. You know as well as I that you'd have found me, even if I had been stuck as a exceptionally hairy dwarf for centuries. And it wouldn't have mattered."
"You had to go there, didn't you," she sighed. "Now I have to come up with something genuine or I'll feel shallow. Thanks, Cassy, much appreciated. I still love you, though, even if our tattoos don't put you on a leash and you drive me up the walls some times. There. I fear that's all the romance you're going to get until I can feel your embrace again. And you're making me wait, aren't you? Again. If you mean to use the spider, you'll have to stay close by." Luckily she was wrong, otherwise I'd have been in trouble. I shook my head, which earned me confused stares from Indigorath and Aglaia and annoyed ones from the rest, and said:
"The gem has to stay close by."
"And who do you think could control… oh, I see. She already respects or even fears Sera. She's said as much. But… what do you expect the spider to do?"
"Read the sigil. You heard her. A complex construct like the one she described… it has to have some form of personalised structure. Even if it's simply to designate the owner. As knowledgable as she is when it comes to the dark arts she should be able to narrow it down. If Arthur's spies had still been alive I'm pretty sure I could have seen all I needed to know with a single glance. With them dead… reconstructing and strengthening memories is possible but far beyond my grasp. If a nine tailed fox dragon and an ancient Spider can't figure it out, who can? If they can recreate the Sigil, the spider will be able to tell us what we're dealing with and how to continue."
"I never thought I'd say that," she mumbled darkly, "but I'm really missing Mephisto and it hasn't even been half a month. He'd have made so many things so much easier."
"True, but we've done alright, haven't we. And it's getting better."
"I could have done without being tossed into an iron maiden that sucked the very life out of me, but I guess, and again I can hardly believe than I'm saying this, it could have been worse. Much worse. Alright, the longer we talk the longer I'll have to wait. Hurry up. I'll have to move in a few minutes. I'll still keep an eye on you but I'll have to focus on the real world for a while."
"I'll try to stay out of trouble. And Ahri? Thanks. I do love you. To the moon and back." Silky warmth, like her tails embracing me, surged through our connection as I felt her gently settle down in the depth of my mind. Oh boy, that space was staring to become crowded. Sometime soon I'd really have to make sure not too many locked up monsters were waiting down there rattling their chains. For her sake and Viyara's. Probably more for the dragoness'. The angel would be fine and I wouldn't mind losing a few old burdens. Unlike wine they didn't age well.
I hadn't really gone cross eyed but unless we bolstered our minds with a considerable amount of energy our conversations weren't really instantaneous. Even thoughts needed time to form. And this time we hadn't which meant I had lost focus, even my wings had disappeared when Ahri had managed to calm me down. To Mordred's undying amusement. Behind our mom's back he mimicked a gesture that almost seemed like the cracking of a whip but that couldn't have been true. Could it? Considering he immediately feigned innocence, quite badly I might add, when our mother turned towards him following my sharpening gaze, it definitely could have. Goddamn it! If he was going to keep it up he'd soon pay Arthur a visit in dreamland. Or maybe I'd just toss him overboard and be done with that tailed nuisance for good.
"I'm fine and sorry," I stated instead. "When you're as old as me there tend to be a few memories best left buried to rot. It might not have looked that way but I'm not in danger of losing control. Not anymore." It only took me the fraction of a second to realise how utterly unhelpful that last sentence had been so I quickly added: "haven't been for days. Still, I didn't mean to scare you." I was mainly addressing Aglaia and Indigorath but I could as well have saved myself the trouble.
The vixen pulled away from the slug, her gaze cheekily roaming across my body only to settle on my eyes. For a long moment she stared at me, the blood rushing to my cheeks under her uninhibited appreciation. "You didn't. You scared me when you held back a mountain so we could live. Now, though, you might have hurt me."
"May the severed souls have mercy," Shassa hissed exasperatedly. "Does every female humanoid think with her ovaries these days?" Before anyone could complain, though, especially yours truly, she surprised me: "you seem pretty normal," she added towards the Purple Worm, "maybe you could get me up to speed without hearts dripping from your eyes every time you see a piece of exposed flesh." The ensuing moment of deafening silence was broken by a faint, rumbling crash a floor above us and a veritable flood of muted curses.
Sera literally jumped in fright, her head elongating into a scaled snout midair, her slender fingers twisting into talons. When she crashed back down the planks creaked ominously as a searing hot gust blew back my hair. "Sorry," she rumbled embarrassedly and jerked her head in my direction. "What she said. I'm a bit twitchy." And suddenly my sister began to laugh, clear as a chime, her sparkling eyes darting from one to the other. It took me a moment to realise why but when I did, I couldn't help but join in. With a few steps I reached the bed and decisively tore away a generous part of the expensive velvet Arthur was snoring on. While I wrapped it around my body I looked up, the half frozen but entirely absurd scene still eliciting a merry chuckle… even without my naked, winged and tailed ass dancing around at the centre. For a bystander it must have seemed like a bad, fantastical imitation of a poorly scripted sit com.
Soon my mom succumbed as well, mirth rippling through the room like waves in a pond. Only the spider and the Purple Worm seemed slightly lost. They exchanged a confused glance which bordered on befuddlement when my whole family suddenly began to form a tight group, laughter and chatter carrying away the awkward, lingering tension. Somehow Aglaia was swept along as well, maybe because she was another vixen, maybe because she had been in the way, but she ended up in the thick of it, the language of our people an entirely foreign melody to her.
Her ears twitched cutely while she was torn between watching me explain to Sera and my mom that I meant to extract Arthur's memories and have Shassa and Sera turn them into something real, something tangible, or Mordred pick up Reia and twirl her around, thanking her enthusiastically for helping him achieve a long time goal. Seeing his brother beaten black and blue that was. According to him I wouldn't have handled Arthur that roughly if I hadn't still been seething because of how he had treated her. Not that Aglaia understood a single word. She had never lived on Boseiju which meant we probably sounded like a bunch of chirping lunatics to her.