"You're an illusion..."
"Always so insightful, my dear child..."
Leo watched with fearful eyes as the king, once towering over him, turned to liquid, pouring into the lake of tears. "Lupin!" The deity cried out, sitting up and frantically scouring the water for his wolfshifter. He searched and searched, only stopping as Leo caught a glimpse of his reflection in the clear water.
"That's... Not me..." Leo said, looking over his redesigned form. Color shifting eyes glazed over his features, seeing himself dressed in beaded and gold jewelry with intricate serpents, scarbs, and cow designs. Underneath a gold-beaded necklace with starry hanging pearls, black binding silk wrapped around the deity's chest, matching his black harem pants and gold-beaded belt.
The deity ran his hand through his now black hair, seeing streaks of dark blues, reds, greens and purples that shimmered under light. Gasping in confusion, Leo whispered to himself, "What is happening to me?" with a shaky breath. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME, MOTHER!?" He suddenly yelled with a voice not his own. Tears filled with star dust spilled from Leo's eyes, blurring his vision.
As Leo cried in frustration, sobbing could be heard, but it wasn't his. This loud sob rang far in the distance, echoing across the tear-filled lake. 'Mother?' Leo thought, forcing himself to stand before staggering forward into darkness. The deeper the deity travelled, the more fog came to confuse him, concealing the way he came and playing with his mind.
'Mother... Mother... MOTHER... WHY AM I THINKING OF MOTHER!?' Leo cursed in his mind, biting his nails and pulling at his coily hair. A lump formed deep in the deity's throat as he looked to his left, seeing a memory he knew all too well. Screams of a child being hit by a drunken mother rang in Leo's ears.
The mother held onto the child's arm tightly while striking the child's back and legs. She yelled in distress and cried, not knowing what she was doing to her own spawn. Leo gasped unsteadily, turning away and running past the scene. The child's screams and coughs still echoing behind him.
Leo ran until he couldn't hear the child or mother's screams, taking long and deep breaths as he fell to his knees. He sighed and wiped away the tears falling from his eyes. "Basterd..." The deity spat, looking up to see another memory, but this one was not his... A human woman dressed in a nun uniform, tied to an unlit pyre.
The woman wept as a crowd gathered around her, spewing insults and throwing rotten food at the poor woman. A cage stood far from the pyre, holding a bound albino wolf who tried his damnedest to escape. In front of the crying woman, a nun gripped a beaded necklace with a silver cross. "M-mother please..." The woman pleaded, smiling dimly at the nun.
"...I be sorry mine daughter... Yet thou are a child of chaos." A priest stepped forward. Holding a burning torch, he spoke with a loud and demeaning tone. "Dolly Piper, for the crimes thou hast committed against the temple, thou shall sear at the pyre. May thou rest 'i peace." Before throwing the torch onto the pyre, allowing the crying woman to burn with a wicked smile on his face.
As she burned, the woman yelled for her mother, pleading with bloodshot eyes while the albino wolf banged against his cage. The nun simply looked away from her child, a single tear trailing down her wrinkled face. Leo watched in dismay, confused and broken by the memory before him. 'What... is happening?'
The scene vanished into the fog, leaving only the deity behind. He stayed there, trembling and confused. He felt like his heart was breaking, and he felt powerless to stop it. He looked up at the sky and cried out in anguish. A spiteful voice was released, yelling in pure agony for reasons unknown to him, "FINE! I'LL PLAY YOUR DAMN GAME, MOTHER!" He shouted, running further into the fog, following the sound of sobbing.
After witnessing more and more memories of pasts unknown to him, the sobbing became louder, mixing with blameful muttering. Soon, Leo forced himself to stop, looking at a crying older human woman dressed in black, her long grey hair soaked, sticking to her stone grey skin. A white halo hung above her head, wavering weakly. Reaching out to the woman, Leo asked lowly, "M-ma'am? Are you alright?" Startling her.
The woman turned, soulless white eyes filled with tears meeting Leo's gaze. "So this is the form you've chosen? You look lovely my dear... Or do you prefer handsome now?" The woman asked in a dismal voice, smiling longingly. The deity rubbed his arms nervously, eyeing the woman up and down. Tears stained her face, mixing with her black eye shadow and mascara. She looked so depressing.
"You shouldn't pity your mother. It's unfit for a child to mourn his mother." The woman spoke as she spread her arms, as if inviting her child to rest in her motherly presence. Watching the woman cautiously, Leo hesitantly sat down, stating, "... I-I don't think I u-understand... What's h-happening I mean..." Something about this woman seemed unsettlingly strange to Leo. When he looked into her eyes, he felt fear and sorrow...
Sorrow...
Mother...
A gasp escaped Leo's lips as he backed away from the woman, realizing who she was. Her dismal yet kind demeanor was wavering, the woman sighed, looking away from the young deity. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "This must be so much for you. After everything I put you and your precious pet through..."