Moonsong

Celosia found herself bathed in the light of the moon and the stars, alone outside of her house for the first time since she and the others arrived in this new world. Her dark eyes searched the beautiful space, taking in the paradise that so contradicts the nature of the rest of the land. It was so strange to think such different environments could exist so close together, yet there they were. She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her forearm briefly as she looked. It was so peaceful. In a way, the pool and the luscious grass all reminded her of the Garden she and Remi visited outside of Northaven. She smiled softly, thinking about the piece of the world they left behind. Bending down, she slipped her boots off and rolled her pants up to just below her knees. She felt the grass between her toes and pressed her lips together. No matter how often she felt the sensations, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to understanding what things felt like without actually feeling pleasure or pain from them. It was so strange, almost like existing without the full experience . Remi was the only one who knew, and it wasn’t like he’d be able to relate. She stepped forward, her feet submerging in the water. Cel looked up at the moon with a small smiled, the only sounds being that of the running water and her legs moving through it as she walked. Archebold celosia Bride of Darkness

Light padding on the ground could be heard as Archebold tapped his walking stick along the grass. He said nothing, he only watched. His eyes hollow, dark...yet brimming with life thought extinguished.

"Liberating isn't it?" He asked in that familiar ease in which he spoke. Confident with every word that left his lips. Archebold crouched and leaned his hand on the ivory stick as to hold himself up.

"Absence of sire...control...overcome by free will...quite liberating I'd say." Fingers tapped on the lionshead as he pushed himself to his feet once more. "This world..." he muttered as he glanced over the land. "...I quite enjoy this world. It's ignorance to us could prove beneficial...we are after-all...free to pursue our own devices at our whim. I'd be lying if I said I didn't indulge amongst our hosts already...different, feeding as a free man...no rations or restrictions.

I've shed the suit they had tailored and feel reborn in skin I've not felt in ages...yes, very liberating indeed."

She didn’t hear the padding of his walking stick, drowned out by the running of he water and her own small movements through the pond. She remembered the dip she had with Remi in the Garden before coming to this place. She remembered warming them by the fire that she made hover in the air. She remembered the conversation with Acheron, however broken it was. The thoughts brought a sentimental smile to her face. His voice, however... The voice that haunted her dreams, gave her light in the darkness that surrounded it... Celosia stopped moving, practically frozen where she was, listening, just listening to him speak and praying she wasn’t imagining it. The absence of sire, while it was freedom for him, brought a pain she didn’t expect. He had been here this whole time... This whole time... His sire had controlled him, so liberating was correct for him. Hers hadn’t. Hers loved her, and she him, so his absence was painful. But he wasn’t absent, not anymore. Cel turned her head over her shoulder, thumb mindlessly touching the ring she wore which held no power anymore, her eyes gentle and matching the tame smile she wore as she looked at him. She stepped out of the water and started approaching him, glancing at the ground briefly. ”Liberating for some,” she said, shrugging lightly, ”oppressive for others. I would caution you to believe our hosts completely ignorant, lest you find yourself unprepared.” The red-haired girl gave him a tight lipped smile and would wrap her arms around him, uncaring of the possibility of leering eyes. She squeezed her own closed, not wanting to let go of him, fearing he might up and vanish if she did. It was a valid fear, as he had a habit of doing such a thing, then reappearing when it suited him. A strange way to live, but freeing nonetheless. That’s what he strived for, anyway... Freedom. And he had it finally. ”I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered, looking up at him again. celosia Bride of Darkness