Requiem of Depravity

Akasha

We took the majority of our journey in silence as speaking would only waste our breath. In order to travel as quickly as possible we had to traverse through the spirit realm where one step equaled a thousand in the outside world. Within the spirit realm the only ones who can speak and be heard are the spirits themselves. Those who enter the spirit realm should only listen to their and absorb their knowledge and wisdom. Only a few hours had passed since we left the city yet we were already nearing our destination, Thyella. Not only was it one of the countries that haven't taken a stance in the war Aedin had also said that the spirits had pointed him toward there. Even though compared to Aedin my spiritual senses were diminished and far less precise than his, I too could feel something from that direction. The spirits were indeed leading us that way, perhaps even drawing us toward a particular spot.

I followed Aedin through the spirit realm and as we returned to the world of the living I felt a chill through my body. We had indeed arrived at Thyella, on the outskirts of a small village perhaps. My clothes, which barely covered my body, were meant for the deserts of Barahm and thus left much of my skin exposed. Before I could say anything Aedin seemed to have read my mind as he pulled a silk cloak from his bag and handed it to me before wrapping another cloak around himself. I did the same and we continued into the village, following the direction the spirits were leading us to the nearest inn. I saw two men at the entrance, one was rather large in stature, and as I approached them I began feeling lightheaded and dizzy. The dizziness quickly turned into a pounding pain in the back of my head which progressively became worse the closer I came to the two. I could tell Aedin was suffering the same way I did as he was holding the side of his head, however the pain only lasted a moment before it subsided and I was able to approach the inn without trouble. I was about to step past the two men and into the inn when Aedin took hold of my wrist and stopped in front of the two men. He must have felt something from them because he stood there for quite a while, studying them before turning and heading into the inn. I stood there for a moment, shocked, but quickly followed him in and took a seat as he began setting his deck of tarot cards across the table. "What was that?" I asked, "Did you really stand there staring at those two people then just leave without saying anything?"

Aedin smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it Sis. If our paths are destined to cross then the gods will make it so." he said as he shuffled the cards, "Those two people are definitely among the ones we are looking for, the spirits are directing me toward them. But why awkwardly introduce ourselves by interrupting their conversation when we can wait a bit and they will most likely come to us? If we can sense something from them then surely they would be able to sense something from us."

 

Aedin

I was collecting my tarot cards and shuffling them when one of the men from the entrance of the inn approached the table. His voice was monotonous and void of emotion as he introduced himself and the other man as the descendants of Mist and Volcano respectively. I took in that information and nodded, my hands still busy shuffling the deck of tarot cards as I spoke slowly, carefully considering each word I used. After all there was no telling if these people were telling the truth or if they were lying about their identities, so I'd have to be cautious with them for now. "Good evening. My name is Aedin and this is my sister, Akasha. And the pleasure is ours, sir." I spoke as Sis gave the man a smile and a nod, "We're traveling fortunetellers from the deserts of Barahm, gypsies if you will, so our last names are of no importance." It would be advantageous for us to keep our family name unknown to these people, after all Sis was the ruler of Barahm and the walls have ears. If a country that we were at war with found out that the ruler was not in the country things could get problematic.

Still being quite cautious I finished shuffling my tarot cards and set the deck on the center of the table. My mind quickly turned to figure out a way to ensure that these people were indeed the ones we were looking for rather than pretenders or deceivers. "Descendants, very interesting. Now before we continue further with this conversation, would you care to have your fortune told?" I asked, my tone showing no hint of suspicion, "It's quick and quite cheap, very accurate too if I do say so myself."

 

What Naeova said about the Old Gods and their strength didn't surprise Izi, although it still did scare him. He was going to respond but the strangers that approached cut off Izi's thoughts of the conversations as his head was once again pierced by pain. He kept his face straight as a strange duo approached--a man and a woman--that did not looked heavily clothed enough to be from the area. They paused briefly, which he couldn't blame them for doing, before walking in to the inn. Naeova got up, spoke a few words, and walked in after them. Izi took a bit longer to follow as he had to adjust the angle of his bow to fit through the door, which had become the biggest pain of lugging the thing around.

"Oi've never been a big fan of fortune tellers miself," Izi said to Aedin as he settled in a spot behind Naeova. He had walked in just in time to be introduced and to hear the others' names. An echo of the pain he felt as the two walked by still lingered and he used it as proof for himself that at least one of these people was a descendent. "I don't mean to be rude to either of you but I do mean to be blunt. Which one o' you 'ere is the descendent? From the looks of things about every descendent has experienced a sharp pain in the 'ead every time we meet each other for the first time. My 'ead felt full o' Athena when you two walked up, so there's my proof that one of you at least is a descendent. And you just told us you're from the desert so my guess is Sand." He gave a nod to Akasha and said "Sorry for the tone o' voice ma'am." Izi leaned on his bow, which was strong enough to support the man's weight, and waited to see what response he had goaded up from the gypsie duo.

 

Akasha

Sure enough like Aedin said the two men had come to them and they were indeed descendants. When they began asking questions Aedin simply greeted them with an offer to tell their fortune, probably to prompt the two men to respond and to decide just how much information he wanted to reveal. I inwardly chuckled at the short exchange between them, particularly at the sharp contrast between these people being so very blunt and to the point compared to Aedin's formal and fanciful nature. But from what they said as well as the directions of the spirits these people were definitely trustworthy enough to share our story with. I heard a sigh coming from Aedin which usually meant he had finally decided on something.

"Very well. However the walls have ears. And much like how the mysteries of the desert like to keep themselves hidden we the people of the desert like to keep our secrets hidden." Aedin spoke slowly which I let out an almost-silent sigh. He was still talking using his oh-so formal and fanciful speech. These people were asking you questions so the least you could do is to not speak with them in riddles. I shifted my position and rested my elbows on the table, crossing my fingers to make a bridge under my chin to rest on. "How about I explain things to them so they can understand better?"

Aedin responded with a nod and as he returned to shuffling his deck of tarot cards I turned my gaze back to the two men. "What my brother meant is for us to all keep our voices low. Some things are probably better off not being known to the general public." I explained before I continued with answering their questions even though I wasn't sure if these people would even recognize our surname, "Our surname is Crestfall and as siblings we share the same ancestor. We are both the embodiment of the desert, the descendant of Sand. We've traveled here from the deserts of Barahm with the help of the spirits through their world because of something Aedin has seen in a vision."

As if right on cue one of Aedin's tarot cards flew out of the deck as he was shuffling, probably a slip of the hand. However the card, which landed face-up, had an image of a woman in a black flowing dress cutting through a white thread. At the bottom of the card was inscribed the word "Atropos."

"Atropos, the Daughter of Nyx. The Inflexible Fate. The cutter of the thread of life." Aedin announced and I quickly picked up to explain the card to the two. It was quite an odd coincidence that the card had showed up just as I was about to talk of the Old Gods' return. "She represents a creeping danger, the fear that lurks around the next curve, and an immanent threat. As her name suggests the Inflexible Fate cannot be avoided, only confronted. My brother's vision was exactly this, an immanent threat that must be confronted. They are returning." I finished. The two men most likely knew who 'they' were and there wouldn't be much more explaining necessary. "Anything else you need to know?" I asked as Aedin returned the card back to the deck.

 

Esther looked closely at the girl who had given her her travelling cloak. She was not sure if she could trust this person; people other than her were wary of giving a strange new person anything of worth; it was just largely unseen. The other girl inroduced herself as Elsa, the Descendant of Storm. Esther did not know whether to trust her about this affirmation or not, so she reached out through the ground and looked at her energy flow. It was much, much brighter than a normal human's, so she took it to be true. "My apologies. My name is Esther. I am the Descendant of Life. I did not mean to startle you." She stood, letting the cloak fall from her, and she offered her hand out to Elsa, but she was already at the door, mentioning food. She sighed and looked at her stomach. It rumbled the smallest amount. She did need to eat. And she was rather covered with dirt. She much preferred the earth being around her rather than woven cloth, but she knew that she must succumb to the others' will in order to be productive and continue on her mission. Had the girl also mentioned more Descendants? Mist and Volcano, she thought. She sighed, and willed the earth to come away from her and into a small sphere in front of her. Her mind strained from overuse of her Art, and she almost collapsed again. She really needed to eat. She wrapped Elsa's cloak around herself and went to stand next to her. "Yes, let us eat. I do feel that primal urge."

 

Well, that could explain the moss. “Who ever said that I was startled?” Elsa replied, raising an eyebrow. She appeared to be indifferent to Ester’s nudity, as if she was used to seeing people in their birthday suits. She watched as all the dirt peeled off the girl and form a small sphere, which then fell to the ground. “Well, that’s one way to do it. Put the tunic on as well.” She gestured to the chair with the rest of the clothes on it. It would be bad if the cloak were to fall off in the middle of the inn without anything else covering the poor lass. The tunic was the bare minimum, since it covered all her precious parts.

Elsa leaned against the wall and checked her pockets, making sure that she had enough money to buy enough food for both of them. She then began to tap the wall behind her, impatiently waiting for Ester to get dressed. “…So you’ve studied the Arts as well?” she asked. She had attempted the pursue the Arts before, but after she was…put out of commission for several months, Elsa had great difficulty getting back into it.

 

Esther looked at Elsa in astonishment. Certainly all the Descendants have learned to use their Arts? It was just a common fact, at least to her. "Yes, I have. It has taken most of my life to master sufficiently, but it has been worth it. I do dislike the toll it takes upon me every time I use it, however." As if to complement what she said, her stomach rumbled almost inaudibly again. She placed her hands on it. "My, my. I don't believe I've eaten in quite some time. I think I have to. I really don't like eating what Mother Earth has given me, because I don't want to see myself destroy life, but I must in order to serve her." She used a silver pin from the cushion on the chair near the door to pin her tunic together, not wearing anything underneath, it resembled a sort of shade one would put on a candlestick. She brushed it down, making sure that none of her dust had gotten onto it before she walked out. She looked up at Elsa again. "Shall we go?

 

“Hm. I was expected to, and I did for some time, but something happened and I had to quit my studies for several months.” Elsa brought her hand down and rested it on her belly. “I’ve been trying to get back into the swing of it, but the toll's a bitch and I'll have to train my body so that it doesn't kill me or something.” She listened to Ester’s talk of Mother Earth, with most of the meaning going right over her head. The girl put the tunic on and Elsa nodded, holding the door open for her. As they exited the room, she felt a dull pain slowly forming in her head, not unlike what she felt earlier when Naeova and Izi were around. “I guess they found another descendant,” she said. She saw the two men sitting at a table with two others, a man and a woman who she assumed to be siblings. She stood by the boys and acknowledged the newcomers with a nod.

 

Izi turned to look fully at Elsa and the girl that fainted, who was now fully clothed, when they came down from the room. "'Ey there Elsa. Why don't you bring your friend there over here so she can explain her side of the story to the rest of us?" He got up and moved two more stools so that the girls could sit with the rest of the group before taking back his own seat. He looked at the girl that had fainted and said, "My name is Izi, I'm the one that gave you a cloak and then carried you to the room where I'm guessing you woke up in. If you don't mind I'd like my cloak back before we depart. It has extreme sentimental value to me. And your food is on me, what ever you want to get. So long as you talk about what brought you here to the rest of us." Izi called over a server and pointed in the direction of the two girls.

 

Esther walked back into the main lobby with Elsa, noting the design of the structure. Manmade things did not fare well in her opinion, but she couldn't help but be fond of the way it was put together. She noted the way Elsa had put her hand on her stomach before they left, and she didn't think it was because she was hungry. Maybe Elsa had been with child some time ago. She herself had never known that glorious feeling, but she could imagine the pleasure of bringing human life into the world. But why had she seemed in pain with that thought? Wasn't it her choice? She thought of bringing it up further with her, but now was not the right time. As the two came into the lobby, she saw the two men from before, and now another woman and another men. She felt for any signs of differentiation from the pair, but she could tell nothing. She was out of her element, and therefore incapacitated. The brusque man had invited Esther to eat while she presented her side of the story. She nodded at him and saw the quieter man from before come to her. He seemed to be the leader of the group. He intently stared at her so as to make sure that she wouldn't faint again. She felt that she was okay for the present moment. The shock of the vision had faded and she wouldn't fall down from attempting to divulge its contents once again. The man introduced himself as Naeova, descendant of Mist. Ahh, the most powerful of the gods. That's why he was leading the others and would lead her as well if she journeyed with them. She knew that she must, for that was her duty to her Earth. The brusque man asked for his cloak back before they left. She nodded at him, acknowledging his request. She had not known that he had given it to her. Turning back to the other man as he asked her name. She smiled and began to speak. It is a pleasure up make your acquaintance, Naeova, descendant of Mist. I am Esther, descendant of Life. I come from the West bringing terrible news. Apologies for this..." A thin sheen of of sweat covered her now and she was shaking. She sat down in the chair behind her and ignored the server when she came. "I am sure we all know of the first vision. Our time of peace has come to an end as they swiftly approach. But what I've seen is that they are heading directly for us. You cannot remain here. If you do, one of us shall surely die." If they were all together in one place again, the Gods would be able to easily see them and pick the fight before they were ready to battle. She hoped that he would understand her urgency.

 

Elsa watched in disgust as he greeted Ester gently. That guy...he was really hard to read, and she didn't really want to bother trying to understand him. She saw Ester's trembling and ordered some soup for the poor girl when she ignored the server. "Eat. You're stressing your body out, going beyond your limits and all. And we can't have that, not in this situation." They all needed to be at their best if what Ester said was true.

Naeova asked the group about their combat experience and Elsa hesitated to respond. "...I've been trained in both close combat and the Arts since I was very young," she stated, crossing her arms. "But I'm not as strong as I used to be, and I'd prefer not to use my Art in my current state." At least she had a higher pain tolerance now, so she could handle a bit more that she used to, even if she isn't as strong or agile as before.

 

Izi watched in utter confusion as Naeova embraced Esther as if they had known each other for years. "What a sad, strange little man." he whispered to himself under his breathe. "If you must know, I have a lot of experience in combat. I've hunted bandits and murderers in the mountains for the majority of my adult life. As for my skill in the arts I'm great with starting and manipulating small fires but large fires, like forest fires, are beyond my ability to control. I can also throw small rocks at a pretty high speed. Fast enough to kill, but boulders are also beyond my control." Izi waited quietly to hear what the others had to say.

 

Esther felt the stranger's arms wrap around her. A sensual invasion. She felt so wrong and so right. His scent seeped into her and she made sure to take as much in as she possibly could. Leather, sweat, and the scent of falling rain. It was absolutely intoxicating and she melted under Naeova's touch. She moaned and sighed just the slightest bit and let herself loose. She swooned as if from fatigue, but it was really from sheer pleasure. Something about Naeova turned her on in ways she couldn't have imagined... and she was disgusted at herself. How could she let a man, a mere man do something like that to her? Tears welled in her eyes as she heard Elsa order the soup. Her stomach rumbled with an unexpected ferocity. She gasped and sat down; she needed to eat something before she faced the others. The server came to where Esther was sitting and gave her a steaming bowl of soup. A sort of broth with more meat than vegetables, something she could be happy about. Esther noticed that the server had set down a spoon and was sauntering her way back towards the counter. "Thank you, kind madam..."] The server turned, nodded, and sashayed away. Esther picked the spoon up with a shaking hand and began to slurp the warm liquid in front of her. She then noticed that Naeova mentioned something about combat experience and then the Artes. She perked her ears up and listened to the Mist and Volcano descendants' tales about their experiences. Esther herself could not really fight, though she could tend to the wounded... As the Volcano descendant finished speaking, she decided to go ahead and lay her cards on the table.. "I... do not believe that I have much experience in the heat of battle, but I can heal the wounded, at least satisfactorily at best... As for my Art, I have been disciplining myself since a very young age when my mother taught me how to make a flower grow." She demonstrated by using the grime on the floor and dropping a palmed seed she had in her hair into it. She willed for the plant to bloom forth and she pushed with what strength she had left and from the seed burst forth a yellow rose. Glowing, she plopped back on her chair, heving from the exhaustion, unsure of how she managed even that with the trials she had put herself through recently. "My apologies for my uselessness..." She delicately folded her hands and she waited, contemplating the nasty look that Elsa had shot Naeova when he hugged Esther. Was that look sparked from jealousy or something else...? Just what was Elsa capable of? Hopefully, Esther would not bring out Elsa's bad side...

 

Aedin

So it seemed that everyone was already fully aware of the fact that the Old Gods were returning. It made me wonder why the spirits decided to contact me about this at such a late time. Akasha and I, we were the descendants of the Sand, the prophets of the desert, yet it seemed that we came to this knowledge far later than the others. Perhaps I'm losing my touch. Perhaps my abilities of foresight and clairvoyance were becoming dulled. I shook my head slightly and set that ridiculous notion aside. As a clairvoyant I couldn't doubt myself at all for if I didn't believe my own prophecies then no one would.

The man asked for our ability in combat, and to be honest neither Akasha nor I had any skill or proficiency with a weapon of any form. We weren't all that well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and only carried a small kris for self protection when it was necessary. However our Arts were a different story. "As for Akasha and I, we do not possess any experience in combat and only hold knives and daggers for self-defense." I explained to them and Akasha continued, "After all we are only travelers. Mere gypsies. So we try to avoid conflict." Hopefully the others' combat abilities would make up for our lack of said skills. "As for our Arts, well our family has always had a lineage of being practitioners. So we naturally put more emphasis on them rather than our physical abilities. My brother and I possess different Arts as well, I possess the ability of illusion and mirages-" Akasha explained but stopped for a moment for me to continue her sentence, "And in my case my Arts allow me to create living constructs of sand, stone, and other objects." Neither of us went into too much detail. They didn't need to know any more than that lest we wished to reveal to them our true identities. Even by just informing them of our Arts we may have said too much, however if we kept everything a secret then they would have reason to distrust us.

 

Esther listened to the stranger's speech, considering what he had to bring to the table. When he looked around at each of them, Esther noticed that he looked at her longer than he did the rest of them. What was he thinking? She continued to eat her broth and continued to stay silent. She knew that she would not be of much use in combat... but was that so apparent in her speech?

As the stranger went to sit by himself, she, too, stood.and walked out of the inn. A brisk, chilly night with a deeply waxing moon. The clouds were thin and showed signs of falling ice. She loved this sort of weather. She found a set of stairs that that led to the rooftop of a nearby building. She climbed them and sat underneath the moonlight, thinking about all that had transpired that day. Naeova had seemed to know just about everything that she had seen in her vision... Was this a sign? Was Naeova their friend or their enemy? She laid back and let her hair uncoil. It spilled everywhere. Looking at the rabbit in the moon, she thought more. Was it worth it travelling with them? Was she a valuable ally or would she be in the way? She sighed and laid there, simply watching the clouds move by...