Aftermath

After creating the Sidhe high priest, I love him and want one for myself. If... I didn't know he'd eat my guts the moment I forgot to feed him.

Anyways.

Read, review and enjoy.




“That way,” Durth pointed and Vera followed his finger. They went into a freshly built room, where the reflective surfaces had already been set up. Una was sitting in a seat, considering the wall by the door, a dim look in his eyes.

“Una, Una,” Vera walked across the room to the other immortal as Durth turned to a mirror standing against one wall.

Durth stared at the image that reflected back at him. His hair was darker than it had been before. His eyes, he leaned in close, eyes flying open in surprise. There were purple specks that seemed to be spreading, like ink on a page bleeding outward.

Vera stepped up behind Durth, dragging Una with her, “he says his hair was dirty blonde when he arrive, eyes gray.”

“…” Una frowned and looked from Vera, to Durth and back to Vera, “What. Oh.” Una turned Durth and looked him up and down, “I do recall having such a conversation with someone, about them being. Ah, that was you, being uniquely without power. You’re right, you were blonde… that’s growth. What in the seventeen hells?”

“Someone mind explaining to me what’s going on?” Durth said quickly, “why are you all looking at me like I’m breaking the laws of nature or something?”

“Because, you are,” Vera muttered, stepping up behind Una and arching an eyebrow.

“Mother born present the way your body is acting, hair grows out in a different colour, eyes change. Mine from the pupil outward, Vera’s from the outside of the iris and inward. You aren’t Mother born, though, thus you should not be presenting like this.”

“But Ayato, who is playing with me,” Durth said, pointing at Una, “may be Mother’s opposite,” he pointed at Vera, “could he not, then, create a reaction sort of like Mother? I mean, he is the…”

“God of mortality.” Vera said quickly.

“Right, Ayato is the god of mortality. Mother makes immortals, Ayato makes… death. What happens when Ayato… takes the death of someone? They’d become one of Mother’s, right?”

“That is absolutely, the stupidest thing that I have ever heard,” Vera muttered, “is that not the stupidest thing that you have ever heard, Una?”

“No, it’s not. Illuva can become chaotic and De can become still as the deepest water,” Una murmured, “it could happen, via the balance of the world. But that would mean that Mother would have to swing the other way.”

“How exactly does Mother swing the other way?” Vera snapped, “Mother is good and kind and bountiful. If she was the opposite of bountiful we would all be dead.”

“Except for us,” Una murmured, “know why?”

“You don’t need food or water or air?” Durth asked quickly.

Both immortals sighed put their hands over their faces in the same motion. They rubbed at their faces and groaned, then dropped their hands and sighed. All at the same time. Durth blinked at the two and huffed out a breath.

“Someone mind explaining?”

“We were just picturing life without water, air or food,” Vera muttered.

“Or sex,” Una grumbled, looking upset.

“What do you mean, or sex? You have Durth.”

“What if Mother being death wise doesn’t mean she goes barren, but that she goes wild, like Vera suggested she would become? The removal of power, you said, would bring back the wilds. Because the wilds make it difficult for people to live but I’m guessing the Sidhe would have no problem surviving?”

Vera glared at Durth, “why can he make assumptions like that?”

“He’s surrounded by heat,” Una murmured, motioning to the reflective surfaces, “maybe his powers are awakening,” the troupe master looked at Durth and explained, “Tyz could know things that he shouldn’t have been able to know, because heat sources and fires would speak to him, telling him these things.”

“I can’t-” except the torch had spoken to him. “well, used torches but those aren’t fire.”

Una and Vera shared a look before Vera sighed, “we are out of the bounds of what we know. Mother cannot exactly tell us what is going on and the only person who knows would be Ayato. He’s not exactly up for explaining anything to us at the moment. We could try Raya, but how much does he really know about Ayato’s plotting?”

“He knows a little. About using someone as a filter, probably Durth,” Una crossed his arms and looked down, “but you are right, we are beyond our understanding.”

“I think I’m going to go bother Paw and Ayan,” Durth muttered, “they at least make sense within the bounds of what we actually know.”

“Yes, about Ayan, Una…” Vera muttered, turning to Una.

“Go,” Una said to Durth.

Durth left the room and wandered out of the temple. Back outside, he went straight to the trailers and wandered around the camp until he found Ayan and Paw. The two seemed to be crawling over one another, like kittens playing together. Ayan spotted Durth first and stopped, all but sitting on Paw’s head. Paw then realised Durth was there and brushed Ayan off as if Ayan was nothing more than a bug.

“Well?” Paw said, rolling onto his belly and resting his head on his arms.

“I’m presenting like a Mother born, they think, and they’re worrying about Mother possibly going barren. I suggested she’d just go wild instead of barren. Vera mentioned something about the lands turning back into wilds, said that she had lived in them before.”

“Wilds?” Paw asked, looking towards Ayan.

Ayan’s lips turned upward, just slightly. Remembering a better time? Did Ayan have memories of the wilds?

“Trees taller than you are,” Ayan murmured to Paw, “not just old time trees, but all the trees. Creatures from myth and legend, behemoths and animals with power. And the old time trees, you can hear them across the forest, hear them singing along with Mother.”

“Hey, what connection is there between the Sidhe and the wilds?” Durth asked, “I mentioned that the people would likely die but the Sidhe probably wouldn’t have any problem surviving and they changed the subject and kicked me out of the room.”

Paw tilted his head towards the sky and considered. Durth frowned and looked to Ayan for an answer. The young man shrugged.

“He’s a keeper of memories and history.”

“Is before speckle time, long time afore,” Paw groaned and rubbed his face, “shattered memories and fragments of a time long gone.” a sound came out of Paw’s throat that Durth knew he couldn’t imitate without sounding like an idiot, “may know more about it.”

“Who is the sound I can’t pronounce?”

“High priest,” Paw murmured.

“What high priest-” the fwump behind Durth made him flinch and he knew his timing was off even as he turned and jolted himself backwards and into Ayan. The young man made a snorting laugh and patted Durth’s shoulder.

The creature that had hit the ground was gangly, too large for the youthful face and the innocent, wide eyes. Pupils slits that expanded into six pointed stars swirled with colours that Durth couldn’t even begin to describe. Hair was at odd ends, beads and feathers, bits of glittering shards woven into the many shades. The creature stood and hunched backwards, mouth opening to display an impressively sharp set of teeth. The hands moved, stiffening as if the creature had claws instead fingers.

Barefoot and nothing more than a loincloth. Its skin was speckled and splotched. Lean and well muscled, well tanned on the pales of its skin shades, the creature was something beyond a Sidhe. Pointed ears peaked out from under the hair.

Oh yeah, and it was half the height of Ayan and obviously not yet full grown.

“Gwhethehellisthat?” Durth squeaked out, shoving Ayan between himself and the creature.

“Is high priest-” and that sound.

“It’s eyes are-”

“Is high priest,” Paw said as if that explained everything.

“I’ve never seen this high priest before,” Ayan murmured quietly, coldly. The young man shrugged Durth off small, unintelligible sounds coming from his mouth as he bent his head and approached the male. The male responded, voice barely audible. Ayan straightened and sighed out, “alright, he’s a high priest.”

“Tells you so,” Paw growled.

“What’s that on his finger?” Ayan asked, voice going suddenly high.

“Ring?” Paw grumbled, “who know? High priest wear what high priest wear. Come, him hungrish.”

Ayan frowned and looked at Paw before he turned his attention to Durth, “did you register what he just said?”

“The high priest is hungrish?”

“That’s what I thought he said,” Ayan muttered, sighing loudly, “come on, I know a little alcove that no one visits, he can browse there while we get ready. Durth, you come too.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re the filter!”

“Oh. Right.”


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