Reia Pendragon
"Just a few more minutes," I slurred drowsily and tried to wiggle out of the fluffy embrace I was stuck in without opening my eyes. When the tails around me stopped moving I grinned with satisfaction and snuggled deeper into the soft body behind me. For half a heartbeat I felt entirely content… protected, safe, until a chill crept up my spine. I knew Cassy's smell inside and out and there was no mistaking her for anyone else, but even though she had always been cold, quite literally, her skin simply didn't radiate as much heat as others', I had always felt warm close to her. Not right now. Wherever her velvety fur or her silky skin brushed against me it felt like the touch of a starless winter night sucking the warmth right out of me.
I opened my eyes and blinked in confusion, the whitish green, speckled light that danced across a silent forest floor about as familiar to me as the intricacies of sewing. Pine needles and wilted leaves, snowdrops and woodruff, gnarled, ancient roots and the trunks of mighty trees easily as broad as our home rose all around me, covered in a thin, delicate blanket of white. Snow. I had never seen snow before but somehow I instinctively knew what it was. Which also explained why I was feeling cold. It had to be freezing to…
With a jolt I jumped to my feet and promptly became entangled in the silvery ocean of tails around me. With a suppressed curse I lost my balance and tumbled over, crashing down on top of Cassandra with my full weight. "At least I don't have to wake her up," I thought wryly as I already imagined her arms catching me but to my surprise she didn't react, not even when I buried my elbow in her ribs. "Sorry," I mumbled as I rolled off of her. She must have been truly asleep. "Where are we," I continued and flopped around on the ground like a fish on dry land to face her.
Something's not right, I thought when she didn't react. Motionless she laid on her side, her tails still tangled up between us, her raven black hair covering her face like a veil. Frowning I scrambled to my knees, the hardened snow cracking loudly with my every movement. Gently I reached out and brushed the silky, black curtain from her cheeks. The very next moment I froze, my gaze glued to her hollowed out cheeks, her closed eyes.
Traces of silver were still glistening on her skin, especially around her eyes and mouth as if she had started bleeding profusely and had never bothered to wipe away the blood. Her face was sunken, emaciated almost, and she didn't breathe. My stomach clenched and a surge of panic singed my insides. What had happened to us? How did we get here? And what, by all the gods, could hurt my sister?
Frantically I pushed her tails out of the way, my eyes stinging, my vision bleary. The soft, nimble limbs felt like… things in my hands, dead and lifeless. If I hadn't been woken by their movement just a few seconds ago I wouldn't have had the strength to ignore the rising dread but I knew she was still there. She had twitched. She had to be alive. But why…
When I finally managed to unbury her from the fluffy tomb I gasped and my tears started falling freely. She was entirely naked, her lithe, pristine body covered in… wounds. Deep, bluish gaps marred her silver skin, torn muscles and even silver bones peeked through the tears but there was no blood, not even coagulated clumps around the cuts. I tried to breathe in, but it ended in a sniffle. I just couldn't smell anything around the painful lump in my throat. "Gods," I whispered, "what have I done?" I didn't even realise why I had uttered the words at first but then the memories came back in a rush. The ship, the Purple Worm, Cassy's cube… the Trident. No, no, no! It was my life I had been prepared to bargain with, not hers. Never hers! What had I done? And then I remembered…
I had fought her with fangs and magic and claws, I had tried to kill her, to finally silence her, to extinguish the fire in those eyes that had reminded me of what I had lost, of what I had run from for uncounted years… but I hadn't won. I had burned. I hadn't been able to overcome her ironclad determination, her unbound willingness to keep me safe… my vision splintered. I was me, kneeling, crying at my sister's side but I also wasn't. A faint shadow of what I had once been reared its ugly head, a final, defiant parting gift before it would forever vanish.
Burning silver, the assurance of eternity, the knowledge that I had finally held her in my grasp, that I would finally be the only one deciding my fate. A scream, thundering through the sealed realm like the wrath of heaven, the flames of the circle surged only to be devoured the very next instant as a towering figure, wreathed in silver and blue, rose from the ashes, a burning crown upon its brow. Splendour and might, a suffocating presence, not yet fully formed but brimming with the promise of what it one day would become, the torment of a world torn asunder… the taste of blood on my tongue, the exquisite agony as something more than magic poured into me, slowly erasing, slowly devouring the shackles I had crafted for myself. Soft flesh parting underneath my fans, the pain of lost limbs as a frothing maw filled with glowing teeth tore through my flimsy form. For hours, days, years we had fought but while I had become weaker, my power devoured with every clash, she had grown and in the end… I fell. Not into darkness but into the light and she had payed the price for me, she had payed her dues. For me… for the little girl I'd become… for us.
She had kept her promise and I… I would honour it. And that meant letting go. Gabriel no more. I was Reia Pendragon, first of my name, the first incarnation of a newly born immortal. I was alive.
I felt my tears solidify on my skin as a nimbus of palpable cold, like a frozen mist, shrouded us in numb silence. Even the rustling leaves, the scurrying beetles in the overgrowth and the creaking trees quietened down, ossified in the fraction of a heartbeat. A silky whisper, like gowns caressing over skin, reached me and I felt a tug on my back. Blue, harsh light flooded over Cassandra's rigid form and ice crystals began to bloom on her skin, adorning her with gems she'd never have the chance to see. A sharp jolt of pain made me flinch as I felt new tails sprout but I didn't care. Like a fawn desperately clinging to its dead mother I tried to snuggle into her, to make her see me, feel me, recognise me, but she didn't move. She didn't even breathe.
"Please," I cried, my voice choked, "please, just come back! You can't leave me, not you!" I pressed my cheek against hers, intertwined my tails with hers, longing, pining for a hint of warmth, for any sign that she was still there but as the world around us froze, so did she, her beauty slowly disappearing underneath a blanket of crystallised tears. My tears… my fault. I hadn't wanted this. The only reason why I had even wanted to become what I now was had been her. I hadn't been able to bear the thought of leaving her again and now… what had I done?
My strength left me and I could only cower at her side, desperately wrapping her tails around me in the absurd hope that she'd react, that I could call her back but I didn't even know where she had gone, what she had endured to get me here. "Wake up," I whispered hoarsely, "please, wake up." But she didn't. I knew she couldn't even hear me but still I begged. I begged and I pleaded while ice slowly claimed the forest. The world froze over and so did I. I was alone and this time she wouldn't chase after me, she wouldn't suddenly appear and save me. I had seen to that…
"You're a powerful one, aren't you? I wasn't sure… enough of the pity party already, you know better. If you keep on pumping your ice through the forest someone's bound to notice and we don't want that." Hope. A few words uttered with surprise and respect in equal measure ignited a bonfire of hope in my heart that almost made me feel like I was burning. As an afterthought the velvety, enticing and decidedly feminine voice added: "and she doesn't have to save you. She already did. The rest is up to you. And me, maybe. Get up. It's time to move and you don't have your strength, yet. Lugging your sister around is going to drain you much more quickly than you can imagine. Get up."
My blood thundered in my ears and I felt giddy. My fingers trembled as I brushed away the frost on my lashes and looked up to peek at a forest of immaculate ice. Everything around me was frozen, covered in a blanket of sparkling white and blue. From Cassy's tails to the towering oak we laid under everything had been smothered in a wave of snow and cold. Silence reigned, except for a tiny ball of red and black, hovering above us like a miniaturised star. "What are you," I had breathed before I could even realised what I had said.
"What? Shouldn't it have been who?" She didn't sound upset, rather… intrigued. "The name's Lilith. I'm sure Cassandra has mentioned me once or twice. I'm an… aunt, of sorts, or rather I would be if I was actually here. But the explanations can wait. In about ten minutes you're going to realise that even an immortal has a hard time against powerful beasts if they can't use their magic. And since I can't help we should get going. Doesn't matter where, as long as it is far away from here. How fast can you learn how to fly?" I blinked and then I grinned. There was a chance. There was a chance for me to see my sister again, otherwise Lilith wouldn't have asked me to bring her along. That was all that mattered. No matter how minuscule that chance, no matter what I had to do, I'd try gladly until the very end.
"Fast," I stated resolutely as I stretched my creaking joints and squatted down to pick Cassandra up. She wasn't heavy once I had freed her from her frozen coffin but she was still taller than me. It wouldn't be fun. "As fast as I have to. Can you keep up once I move?" The glowing orb produced a sound that reminded me of someone blowing raspberries.
"I'm the thought of a demoness. Don't worry about me. Worry about clearing the boughs without breaking your neck. If you smash your head into a tree hard enough you'll die and your darling sister will have one hell of a time regenerating while she's being digested by a bear. 8 minutes."
"Can't be too hard," I muttered and spread my wings, "Cassy learned how to fly in a blink." For the first time I craned my head and looked at the two scintillating limbs I had risked my sister's life for. My grinned widened. Two swanlike wings, each about twice my size, sparkled in the dim, whitish light. The feathers consisted of a myriad of tiny, intricately linked, bluish snowflakes and the perfect pattern was aglow with an echo of eternal power. A faint mist rose from them as if winter itself was breathing through the beautiful, glasslike structure while a shower of immaculate ice crystals gently soared towards the ground. That'd do. Oh hells, that would do.
Reflexively I moved my tails to keep my balance but when the cold light hit the shimmering appendages I gasped. I hadn't grown out one tail but two. With four of them I'd have been considered an elder on Boseiju despite my not even thirteen years of age. Not to mention they weren't black anymore but blue. Not the dark blue of a night sky or the deepest parts of the ocean either, but a light, almost aquamarine colour like an iceberg or a frozen, crystal clear pond.
"She really did it," I breathed. I wasn't conceited enough to believe it had been my doing. Not even for a second.
"Yes, yes, fabulous," the self proclaimed demoness scoffed, her light flickering nervously. "Could we postpone the celebration? If you listen closely you'll hear the forest groan. There's a storm of fangs and claws coming and I'd rather not be here when it arrives." Right. Wounded sister. Stuck in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was a tad too soon to count my blessings. Without another wasted breath I tightened my hold on Cassandra and wrapped two of my tails around her for good measure. I wouldn't let her fall. Never.
As I spread my wings my heart was already beating at the top of my throat, the far fetched pipe dream of soaring through the sky with my family was finally within my reach. I crouched, my muscles quivered with suppressed tension and I launched myself into the sky, my wings beating furiously. About half a heartbeat later I staggered, lost control and crashed towards the oak we had been sleeping under. A new jolt of fear tore through me and I flipped my body around, turning myself into a cushion between my sister and the unyielding bark of the tree. A second later we became a disheveled heap on the frozen ground and a shower of ice rained down on us from the shaking branches, accompanied by the bitter smell of blood and crushed acorns.
"Ouch," I groaned as crimson flowers bloomed around me from the warm river I felt trickling down my back. "On second thought I might need a while," I slurred defeatedly. Even the short moment had been enough to convince me throughly that even though I was able to fly I didn't have the foggiest idea of how to go about it.
"Fuck," Lilith cursed, "she's really burned you to the bone this time, hasn't she? There's nothing left, not even a single memory. Alright… run. Now. I'll do what I can to buy you a bit of time but if you don't start moving now your immortal life will be one hell of a lot shorter than the few years you've spent as a kitsune." Terrific. At least I hadn't broken any bones. I hoped.
I scrambled to my feet dizzily and redoubled my hold on Cassandra. "Can't I fight," I mumbled and tried to blink away the dark spots obscuring my vision. "With your help…"
"I can't help," she erupted anxiously. "I'm just a thought. It's already friggin impressive that I managed to keep a strand of consciousness functioning without a connection to my core. I can't do jack shit. As for you… no. Truth be told, right now you're even weaker than you were before. You can't use your magic, even your transformations will be sealed until your core connects to the stores within you. Your next evolution."
"So all I have to do is remember something important from my past," I asked breathlessly as I took the first few staggering steps.
"Didn't you listen? There's nothing to remember! Gabriel is gone. There's only you left and you'll have to make your own way. No shortcuts this time, honey." She paused her wisp like figure flickering. "Cats," she cursed a moment later. "It had to be cats. Listen, you have to speed up. Now. There are huge, black cats on your trail. A lot of them. If they catch up…"
"I'm a fox. I know what they'll do," I hissed through gritted teeth but I still couldn't convince my aching bones to move any faster. I had barely managed a handful of tottering steps. The ice cold fear I had buried under a fragile layer of excitement returned in full force and I felt my ears quiver and swivel. The forest was still silent. For now. "What if I hide Cassy and lure the cats away," I suddenly blurted out while I finally picked up my stride and limped around the oak. By the Great Fox, my shoulders were already aching and I hadn't even started running, yet.
"They aren't after you. They're after her. I don't think they can even smell you. Where's the firecracker? Ahri… that was her name. If you can…"
"I don't even know where we are," I cursed. "How should I know? She's probably going mad right now. How long were we gone?"
"Considering what happened to you, as in to your core, I'd say a while. Cassandra hasn't grown up, yet. It must have taken her ages to overcome Gabriel. It shouldn't even have been possible, but she's always been a freak. On the other hand, two immortals nuking it out? If they smashed the time stream to bits it would be over in a thrice. Come to think of it I don't have a clue."