@Kho It's after the Realta invasion, but some time after Vestec and Logos agreed to fight over Xerxes. I would have Helvana run into a Realta if they were still going around purging stuff.
Is anyone around the White Ocean by the Valley of Peace right now? I would like to make another post before the next skip, but I don't have many ideas.
Vestec strolled into the Realm of Madness, examining his handy work. The demons were well established in the Realm. For the most part there were just roving bands of lesser Hellions, fighting and squabbling over anything they could find. In the farthest reaches, the two Lords were establishing their control over various territories, such as they were in the Realm. The land around him seemed to change every ten feet. It writhed from a thick forest to a burning inferno to a frozen tundra, so on so forth.. Vestec giggled as he walked, and the realm rippled in response, changing immediately from their brief forms to new ones. Casually, he lifted his hand and mountains rose. Dropping it, deep abyssal pits formed.
This Realm was his, and it obeyed the command of its ruler.
But he wasn’t here to play with his creation. No, he was on a mission. With a regretful sigh, Vestec leapt forward, zooming towards his destination. As he drew closer, an unholy howling could be heard, growing ever louder until it shook the very earth. A giant dome of darkness greeted the God of Chaos, the howls echoing from it. “Julky, Julky my boy calm down!” Vestec called cheerfully, diving into the dome without hesitation.
The Darkness was thick and cloying, seeming to be more a living thing, pressing close against the God of Chaos, attempting to smother his colors. All sound was muffled, even the unholy howling. “Juuuulllky.” Vestec cooed into the black. “You know how I feel about you trying to exert your will.” He clapped his hands and Chaos energy roiled off of him, pushing back the Darkness. It recoiled with an audible hiss, revealing the chained form of Julkofyr, God of Darkness. He was on his knees, howling as the Chaos Chains bit into his form. The sound was in full force, almost painful. Vestec merely giggled. “Julky! So good to see you! I’m just here for a little power from you. You know, the usual!” He practically skipped towards the trapped God, claws forming on his hands.
Without warning he ripped a chunk of Julkofyr’s flesh out, drawing an agonized scream from the trapped God. “Thank you Julky! I’ll put it to good u-”
Julkofyr’s hand, suddenly free, speared into Vestec’s shoulder. Vestec stumbled backwards, hissing in pain. Darkness started spreading from his shoulder almost immediately. “Shouldn’t have done that Julky.” He snarled, blasting the God with Chaos energy. It roared from his palms, a vibrant red of violence and suffering. Julkofyr shrieked again, writhing under the barrage, and Vestec quickly opened a portal back to Galbar, stumbling through and out.
He didn’t know where he was. Somewhere along the trees Teknall had planted all over the planet. He could feel the darkness spreading. Julkofyr’s foul essence attempting to kill him. “Not...today...Julky.” He hissed, gathering his own essence around the darkness. With a final push, he shoved his essence out of his own body, bursting from his shoulder in a shower of Divine Blood, mixing as it flew through the air.
Vestec slowly moved his shoulder around as it repaired itself. “I’ll make sure you pay for that…” He muttered, before movement caught his attention. His and Julky’s essences were writhing, forming and combining into one distinct shape. Vestec tilted his head, putting his hands on his hips, at the woman before him.
“And who might you be?”
The woman looked in the direction of the voice then lifted herself into a sitting position. She looked over her pale skin and ashen hair, then ran her fingers through her skin experiencing touch for the first time.
“I wonder who I might be.”
She replied naturally then stood up and looked around the forest.
“I suppose Helvana would be a fitting name. Anyways, where are we? Who are you?”
Vestec nodded amicably. “We’re in Galbar, one of the few populated places around. I’m your father, Vestec, the God of Chaos. Your other father is insane, Julkofyr, the God of Darkness. Quite a lot is going on right now, Helvana. Things that will drag you into them as soon as they know you exist. I won’t shield you from it. But I’ll protect you, as I protect all my children, from excessive violence and death. You will, however, need to know the world before getting drawn in. I can either show you all there is to see, in a moment, or I can drop you off in an area of your pleasing, and allow you to explore the world on your own. With my eye on you, of course. I keep an eye on all my children.”
Helvana pondered for a moment on what to choose. While having knowledge of the entire world was extremely useful, she felt more drawn towards exploring it on her own. “Hmm… exploring this land would certainly be very interesting. Give me a general idea of this land, a mental map if you would, but leave the details out of it.”
Vestec giggled. “Perfect!” He created a map of Galbar out of chaos energy in front of them. “We’re here.” A firework burst upward from the map, marking their position. “Throughout this land, we have Hain. Shell like beings, made by Toun. South from here you’ll find the Venomweald. Terrifying place, filled with monsters and mutations. To the east, the Nice Mountains; a place of safety, inhabited by the the surprisingly war like Angels. It is owned by Niciel and she harbors no violence in it. To the west, in no particular order, is the Golden Barrens, Gilt Savannah, the Darkened Spires, Great Steppes, the Changing Plains, and the Firewind Desert. I forget who created the golden plains, the steppes, and the Savannah, but I created the Changing Plains, Julky the Spires, and Zephyrion created the Firewind desert. The desert is home to Vetros, a fanatical cult of his. ”
Vestec spun the map, briefly zooming in on both locations. “Farther north is the Frozen Wastes, inhabited by Pack Minds wolf like bipeds, undead, and Thulemiz, a small necromancer of some renown, desperately attempting to create an empire. You know, people like them should form a club. We’re getting quite a lot of them.” Vestec giggled.
“Anywho, if you head East you’ll eventually crash into the Metallic Sea, creation of Toun. He didn’t like Jvan having the only ocean, and made his own. Before that, you’ll hit the Ironheart ranges, home of the Rovaick. Mountains, all created by Teknall. Down the line of them is the city of Xerxes, that’ll be a festering burning ruin soon enough so don’t worry about it. Heading South, you’ll hit the Sparkling and Fractal sea, Jvan’s creations. Filled with horrors, so be careful. Way down south is the Mountain of the World, home of the dwarves. It’s connected to the Ironheart ranges and surrounded by islands and a new ocean. Long story. I’ll tell you later.”
Vestec closed the map, pressing a finger against Helvena’s head to give her it for mental use. “Of course, that’s not nearly everything, but it’d take the fun out of exploring if you knew where everything was.”
Helvana listened intently to her father’s explanation then closed her eyes as she reviewed the information in her head after receiving the map for herself. After memorizing what she was told she opened her eyes and looked back at Vestec. “So there’ll be a party in Xerxes? I wish I could attend, but I’ll have to stay out of it. Is there anything else?”
Vestec tilted his head in thought. “Not so much a party as a bloodbath. Nothing that comes to mind, my dear. I’ll be watching you, protecting you from death. Mistakes are all yours though. If you ever need me, I’m a prayer away.” He spread his arms, gesturing widely. “The world is yours to play with dear. Go have fun.”
“Thanks, daddy. Tell mom I love her or something. Goodbye.”
After saying this she turned around unceremoniously and went deeper into the woods. Walking amidst the trees, Helvana feasted her eyes on nature and its rich colors. The smell of blooming flowers, chirping of birds and a distant river flowing gave off a peaceful feeling and Helvana simply let it all flow into her. Suddenly, as if to break the peaceful atmosphere, she laid her eyes on a bloodied bird with jet black feathers; a crow. It struggled to move and tried to take off into the air, but its wing was broken. Helvana looked at the crow in complete silence for a while, but she didn’t notice the time passing. Moving slowly, she got to her knees and crawled towards the crow, it instinctively backed away.
“Come here, don’t be afraid.”
She outstretched her hand and small black tendrils emerged from her fingertips. They surrounded the crow, gently wrapping around it, then pulled it towards her. She held the crow in her hands carefully then embraced it, covering the broken wing in her darkness.
Helvana held the crow in her embrace for a couple of minutes before peeling off the darkness on its wing and revealed that it was now healed. The crow beat its wings and flew off, then landed on a nearby branch as Helvana watched with a smile. She outstretched her hand again and this time the crow flew over to her and landed on her arm. She giggled lightly as she petted her new friend. “Now, show me who did this to you.”
The crow flew off again as if obeying her request and she followed after him. The edge of the forest wasn’t very far and soon enough a village came into view. Helvana hid behind a tree to spy on the village. “I see, so they are the ones. Let’s see how they fare with the touch of a demi-goddess.”
Saying this, Helvana placed a curse of misfortune on the village and calmly walked back into the forest.
__________________________________________
A couple of days had passed since Helvana placed the curse over the village. Its inhabitants had begun to worry about the series of bad events that suddenly started as well as noticing that more and more crows flocked in the nearby forest.
In a tavern, a group of three men were gathered to drink and talk, or rather complain about the situation.
“I heard a lot of bad thing’s been happening ‘round. You lot know anything ‘bout it?” A man sporting a full grown beard asked.
“My brother tripped when carrying a few logs and sprained his ankle pretty badly.” A tall man replied and drinked from his beverage. “Nothing happened to you yet?”
“Nothin’ noticeable, but the neighbor had an accident and broke his arm. Poor lad’ll have a tough time recoverin’.”
“I heard the shepherd lost a couple of his sheep. And I lost a lot of my tools lately.” A third man, or rather boy, with shoulder length brown hair added.
“You’re in luck if you only lost tools, Lloyd.”
“If you call luck losing over half the stuff I use to work, then yeah, I am in luck. *sigh* My boss’ really mad at me for it…”
“Honestly, I don’t like those birds flockin’ ovr at the forest. Those things bring death in their wings.”
The bearded man said with a grim look on his face. The villagers noticed after a while that whenever someone died, a crow was somewhere in sight and looking ominously towards where the body was buried. So whenever they saw one, they’d immediately chase it out of the village or kill it.
“Some people think this is the work of a witch.”
“I heard some rumors about that. Something about a woman wandering the forest stark naked.”
“Sure, as if that makes any sense. The people that saw this woman were probably just drunk.”
“I talked with some people ‘bout going to look for the witch. If yer interested in seein’ it for yerself you can just give the word, kid.”
“No thanks. I have to take care of my brother and I don’t have time for these stories. But have fun strolling right into her den if you’re so eager to see a pair of tits. See you guys later.” Lloyd made a snide remark before getting up and leaving.
“I’ll join this search. Gotta pay that witch back for hurting my brother.”
“Alright. Let’s finish up ‘ere and go meet the group.”
The two emptied their mugs and left.
Near the edge of the village a group of men had gathered. Some of them had pitchforks and scythes, others had clubs and the hunters had their bows. The mob only numbered 14 in total since their village wasn’t very big, but still these men would go after the witch. And when they noticed no one else would join the group, they ventured into the forest.
__________________________________________
A shiny fruit hanged beneath a branch and swayed softly on the breeze. It was already as ripe as it would get before eventually falling to the ground. And so it did, but because something had struck it. A black, rubber like membrane covered the fruit and shielded it from the fall and a woman covered in a cloak adorned with black feathers picked it up. She peeled off the membrane and took a bite of the succulent fruit.
This was pretty much what Helvana did the past days. That is, learning the taste of things. She also crafted the cloak she now wore from her darkness and feathers she herself plucked from her crows. As boring as tasting fruits may look to anyone else, this was actually quite entertaining for her, even though she was mostly doing this to pass the time while she let the village simmer a bit with her curse.
As she finished savoring the fruit, a crow landed on a nearby branch and cawed. Helvana outstretched her arm and the crow flew over to her. It was the same crow she had healed several days ago, and now it was as if he was her loyal pet.
“What news do you bring today, Oscar?” The crow cawed again. “Oh, I see. So they have finally taken notice. Have the others guide them in and don’t get too close to them.” She scratched Oscar’s neck before setting him off.
Oscar flew along the trees, rallying a couple of other crows with his call. After gathering about two dozens of crows, Oscar lead the flock near the edge of the forest and they all landed on the trees, waiting for their guests. Soon the mob of villagers came into their view and the crows cawed in response as if greeting them. Naturally the villagers didn’t like the welcoming and threw rocks at the birds, prompting them to fly away, only to land somewhere else further ahead into the forest.
The hunters were leading a separate group and although they were not unnoticed, they were as sneaky as ever. One of the hunters saw a crow looking away from him and into the other group of villagers. He aimed his bow and pulled the arrow slowly then loosened it. The arrow struck true and the crow fell dead to the ground as the villagers cheered and the other crows cawed loudly in unison as they scattered.
The villagers headed further in and came upon a clearing with a big tree at its center. They walked in, and from behind the tree, Helvana showed herself. The villagers were frozen in place momentarily as they gazed at the half-naked woman.
“Welcome, humans. I must say, you lot have some way of walking into someone’s home. I sent my pets to greet you and you go right ahead and kill one of them.”
“So you really are controlling the birds! What do you want from our people?! Why did you curse us?!”
“Why, I want nothing at all. I just made your people go through a series of unlucky events as payback for what you did to these poor birds.” A caw was heard and Helvana looked up and outstretched her hand for Oscar. “You boys did nothing wrong, right Oscar? These savages just started bullying you for now reason.”
“You bitch! These pests bring death upon us and you think they’re innocent? I had enough of her!”
One of the villagers broke out of the group all of a sudden and charged at Helvana. But with a swift movement of her hand, the attacker tripped. His feet had been rooted to the ground by her darkness and no matter how hard he struggled, he just couldn't tear it off.
“Rude. The crows never did anything to harm you.”
“You lie! Whenever one of us dies there’s at least one of them present!”
“It was just the whim of some god I can’t care less about. Whatever his reason were, he wanted the crows to seek out death, not straight up cause it.”
Hidden behind Helvana, a hunter pointed an arrow at her and loosened it. But it bounced right off the cloak. Helvana sighed and formed a crow quill from her darkness on her hand and threw it in the direction of the archer with unerring precision. It struck the archer’s hand and turned into a tar like substance, then hardened into rubber, effectively fusing his hand with his bow. “This is for killing one of my crows.”
She closed her hand into a fist slowly as if crushing something and the darkness around the archer’s hand tightened, crushing both his bones and his bow. He rolled in the ground in pain while screaming and Helvana smiled coldly. “I feel awfully merciful today, so leaving you as a cripple is enough.” She said to the archer, then turned to face the mob that was now shivering. “Now, leave this place right this instant or I’ll be even rougher with this rude fellow here.” She stepped over the villager that had tried to attack her and pushed her weight on him. The other villagers backed off slowly, then turned tail and fled the forest in fear. Satisfied, Helvana released the man on the ground and kicked him away.
“Don’t come back. The next time a crow is hurt, their wings will carry death.”
The man picked himself up and ran away as well. Helvana sighed and Oscar landed on her shoulder.
“Oscar, I told you not to let the others near the villagers.” She said as she scratched his neck. “Don’t be so careless next time, okay?”
__________________________________________
A couple of days had passed since the villagers confronted Helvana and now they were too scared to go to the forest. The crows continued to flock around Helvana and now some of them were going into the village and feeding on the crops. While some villagers were too scared to do anything about it, others didn’t put up with this and chased the crows out.
The children were kept inside most of the time, but a courageous few snuck out that evening and met at the edge of the forest. They wanted to test their courage by heading in at night, but when they saw the crows looking back at them, they froze in place. Except for one boy.
“Come on, guys, they’re just some stupid birds.” A boy with short, light brown hair said with confidence, despite his friends' fear.
“B-but the evil witch is in there, right? What if she eats us alive?” A girl wearing a green dress said while holding her skirt tightly.
“Didn’t we come here knowing about the witch? Where did your courage go?”
“Yeah, but this was a bad idea after all. We should leave before the adults find out we snuck out.”
“Fine, go back if you want. I’m going in.”
Ignoring the other kids, the boy turned his back to them and waltzed into the forest as if it was nothing. He was followed all the way by crows as he advanced deeper into the woods, and even though he started to feel tense, he didn’t turn back to leave. He walked around for awhile, not knowing where he was going, and the sun had started to set, but he didn’t want to leave just yet. Eventually he found a clearing with a huge tree in the middle and walked towards it.
“My, what do we have here?”
The boy trembled a little when he heard the voice of a woman and slowly turned his head to look behind. When he saw Helvana he jumped and hit the tree with his back.
“Hello there, little one. What brings you here, hmm?” She said as she approached the boy, but he didn’t reply. She knelt down to get on his level and looked him in the eyes. “What’s the matter? Did I scare you so much you swallowed your tongue?”
“I-I…”
“Yeeeeees?”
“I-I just…”
“You juuuuust?”
“I-I just wanted to prove that I’m not afraid of you!”
“Aww… aren’t you a cute one?” She said as she ruffled the boy’s hair. “I must say, I didn’t expect a child of all else to come here after the others came. So, little one, tell me your name.”
“I’m Gwyn.”
“Well then, Gwyn, now that you’re here, what will you be doing?”
“Well…”
“You didn’t think that far, did you?”
“No… You... You’re not going to hurt me, right?”
“Why would I?”
“You hurt the others, so…”
“I only hurt them because they were mean to me and my pets. That wouldn’t have happened if they had been nice to me. Anyways, it’s gonna get dark soon. Your parents will worry if you’re not back.”
“I don’t have parents. I live alone with my big brother.”
“... I see.” Helvana looked a bit gloom for a moment, but then smiled and ruffled Gwyn’s hair again. “You shouldn’t make your brother worry then. It’ll be hard for you to get back on your own, so I’ll help you. Oscar.”
At her call, Oscar came and landed on her shoulder.
“Be a dear and show Gwyn the way out.”
Oscar cawed in return and flew over to a branch on the edge of the clearing.
“Now, just follow after him and you’ll be back home before you know it. And be careful not to trip in the tree roots.”
“Thanks! You’re really nice, miss. You’re not evil at all.”
Gwyn ran towards the tree where Oscar had landed on and stopped suddenly, then turned around.
“Hey, what’s your name, miss?”
“... My name’s Helvana.”
“Okay. Bye bye, Helvana.”
Gwyn left after that and Helvana giggled softly. “Such a brave boy. But I’m not that good of a person.” As she walked back to the tree, she kicked something metallic. Looking down, Helvana saw a bangle lying on the ground and she picked it up to have a better look at it. “What’s this? Did Gwyn drop it?” She looked in the direction of the village in thought, then shook her head and slipped the bangle on her right wrist. “I have a feeling he’ll be back anyways. Might as well hold on to it.”
__________________________________________
The next day, Gwyn and his brother were gathered to eat breakfast. His brother had been working until late at night, so he didn’t notice Gwyn’s little adventure. But he did notice something was missing.
“Gwyn, what happened to your bangle?”
“Huh?” he looked at his wrist and noticed that the bangle was missing. “Oh no. I dropped it!”
“And where did you drop it?”
“Well… You don’t need to worry about it, Lloyd. I’ll go fetch it later.”
“Gwyn, you’re hiding something. Did you go somewhere yesterday while I was working?”
“N-no. I was at home all day just like you told me to be.”
“Did you now? Then why don’t you go look for the bangle now?”
“Uhm…”
“Gwyn, you know that’s a memento from father. Tell me where you dropped it.”
“I…” Gwyn hung his head. “Dropped it in the forest.”
“What?! I told you that place was dangerous! Why did you go there?”
“Me and the other kids wanted to do a test of courage, but I ended up being the only one to go in. I must’ve dropped it when I met Helvana.”
“Helvana?”
“The miss everyone’s being calling a witch lately, but she’s not bad. She was nice to me and even showed me the way out.”
Lloyd sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “You’re grounded. You can’t go outside today.”
“Okay…”
“I’ll go get your bangle, do you remember where you met this Helvana?”
“In the clearing with the big tree.”
“Okay.” He sighed again as he got up from the table. ”Good thing I don’t have any work today.” And with that, he left Gwyn alone and headed to the forest.
Lloyd stood in front of the edge of the forest. He looked at the crows and they returned the glare, but ignoring the menacing stares, he entered the forest.
Quickly making his way to the clearing, he noticed that the crows had been following him and cawing all the way, making the place creepier than it should be even though it was a bright day. Upon arriving at the clearing, he walked towards the big tree and looked around for his brother’s bangle.
He looked all over the ground around the tree, but the bangle was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he heard a rustling above him, and looking up he saw a woman lying down on a particularly large branch, sleeping quietly. Lloyd’s vision was immediately drawn to her face, beautiful beyond any measure and serene like an angel. He couldn’t see much of her frame as she was mostly covered by her crow feather cloak, but her right arm was left hanging under the branch.
And there he saw his brother’s bangle. He tried to grab it, but it was just out of his reach. He continued to try nonetheless, but then something swooped over his head and he lost his balance, making him fall. Lloyd looked at what had done that and saw that a crow had landed beside the woman. It cawed and the woman rustled a little. It cawed again and this time she moaned something. “Just a little more, Oscar…”
It cawed yet again and finally the woman lifted herself up as she groaned in annoyance and rubbed her eyes, exposing her bare body in the process. Struck by the sight, Lloyd stood up and turned away. “Oh, a visitor? And so early in the morning too?”
She said in an annoyed tone and Lloyd heard her jumping down the branch. He turned his head slowly and when he confirmed that the woman was covered up, he turned around and cleared his throat. “Sorry for waking you up, witch, but you have something that belongs to me.”
“Hmm? You mean this bangle?” She said lifting her arm through her cloak, exposing her shape once again, then lowered it back.
“Yes, that.” Lloyd said while facing away from the woman. “That bangle belongs to my brother, Gwyn. Could you return it to me?”
“Oohhh, so you’re the big brother he mentioned. Oscar, greet our guest.”
“Hello.” The crow mimicked the word in a funny way, giving Lloyd a surprised look on his face.
“Anyways, did he arrive safely?”
“Yes. Why would you care anyways?”
“Am I not allowed to? I made sure he got to the village safely, but Oscar didn’t follow further than that, so I was wondering how he was doing.”
“Well, thanks for taking care of my brother, I’ve been pretty busy lately. I’m Lloyd, by the way. Your name is Helvana, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” She said while walking towards Lloyd as she removed the bangle from her arm then handed it to him. “Here.”
“Thanks.”
He took the bangle while looking away. Noticing this, Helvana smiled impishly and placed her hands on her hips, raising the cloak just enough for the front opening to show her cleavage. “What’s the matter boy? Why are you shy all of a sudden, hmm?”
“I-it’s nothing. Anyways, I’ll be leaving now. Thanks again for taking care of my brother.” He turned to leave and walked away.
“Wait.”
Lloyd stopped in his tracks and looked back at Helvana.
“What?”
“Before you go, I have a request for you.” She said as she walked towards him, still adorning the same impish grin as before. “There’s a little… something I’d like to taste in return for taking care of your brother.”
“... W-what do you want to taste?” Lloyd’s face reflected his embarrassment clearly.
“You see, what I want is…”
__________________________________________
*slurp* *slurp* *slurp*
“H-hey, don’t do it so fast.”
*slurp*
“But thish ish shooo gooood.”
*slurp* *slurp*
“Seriously…”
*slurp* *slurp* *slurp*
“W-wow, look out!”
“Ahh!” She got covered in it
“I told you to be careful...” Lloyd said, then sighed.
Helvana grabbed a cloth and cleaned her feathered cloak. “Hhmmm… Thanks for the meal. I’ve never been this full.”
What she had covered herself with was, in fact, the dinner Lloyd had prepared. The thing Helvana wanted to taste was simple home cooking.
Lloyd had returned to the forest later that evening with ingredients and cooking utensils and made soup for dinner. The fire was still alight, although the pot where the soup was made was already empty. Gwyn ended up coming too and played with the crows after he was done eating.
After she was done cleaning herself up, Helvana giggled softly.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, I just remembered how you reacted to my request earlier today. You looked soooo disappointed.”
“Sh-shut up. What did you expect me to think when you talked so suggestively like that?” Lloyd looked away in embarrassment. His eyes landed upon the pot he used to make the soup. It was big enough to make food for a family. “I’m surprised you managed to eat all that, though. I was worried I had made too much, but ate over half of what I made…”
“I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve never tasted anything like this before.”
“... You never had soup?”
“I never ate anything other than fruit since my birth.”
“Really? What about your family? If… you have one.”
“I do have one, although…” She paused for a moment. ”They’re both gods.”
“Ahh, I see… Wait.”
“I’m a daughter of Vestec and Julkolfyr. Weird pairing. I was born only a week ago, actually.” Lloyd kept silent for the whole time, his face showing his shock clearly. “What, is it really that hard to believe that I’m a demi-goddess? Making curses, gathering crows and looking as perfect as I do aren’t enough of a sign?”
“W-well… When you put it like that… Speaking of curses though, why did you curse our village?”
“I just got some revenge from your people hurting my crows. That curse’s already dispersing though, it seems you people haven’t done anything bad to my crows lately.”
“After the scare you gave the villagers, who wouldn’t? But they’re starting to bother us more and more now. The crows eat our crops and the villagers are afraid to do anything that’ll anger you.”
“I noticed. It seems I was careless to how many crows I could flock at once. You don’t need to worry, though. I’ll be leaving this forest soon.”
“And where are you headed?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Vestec gave me a map before he left, but there are just so many places to visit…”
“You’re leaving, Helvana…?” Gwyn suddenly asked with a gloom look on his face.
“Aww, don’t worry, Gwyn. I won’t be going anywhere for a while. I do plan on leaving sooner or later, but it won’t be too soon.”
“I see…” he replied with a dejected look.
“... Anyways, it’s getting late. We should be leaving soon.” Lloyd said trying to push away the gloom.
“Right, it’ll be dark soon. I’ll help you carry the things to the edge of the forest.” Helvana stood up to gather the things Lloyd and Gwyn brought, then threw a lump of darkness at the bonfire to extinguish it.
“Wow… You’re pretty strong.”
“Demi-goddess.”
“Right.”
The three walked towards the village without saying anything. When they arrived at the edge of the woods and the village came into view, Helvana passed the luggage she carried to Lloyd.
“Farewell, boys. I most certainly enjoyed the company.”
“Bye.”
“Bye bye.” Gwyn still had a depressed look on his face.
“Make sure to come back again. I’d like to taste some more of your cooking.”
“If we have the time.”
They parted, each heading to their own homes.
__________________________________________
About a week had passed since then. Lloyd and Gwyn visited Helvana multiple times whenever they had the time. This morning Lloyd payed her a quick visit before heading for work and brought a few gifts along as well.
“What’s this?”
“Clothes. You’re always wearing nothing more than that cloak, so I thought you want actual garments.”
Helvana held up the dress and inspected it. It was of a plain brown color that left the shoulders exposed and would be held only by the arms and one’s own bust. It also had a sash to adjust to the user’s waist, and beneath that the skirt parted to give openings for each leg.
“Where did you get these?”
“They were from my mother. They were just gathering up dust anyways, so I thought you might make use of them. You’re not as tall as her though, so you’d probably have to adjust the hem.”
“... Thanks. I’ll try them on right away.”
She said with a kind smile painted on her face as she headed towards the big tree and went behind it change. She returned a few moments later wearing the dress without her cloak as she looked over herself. The hem did indeed hang close to the ground, but not dangerously so. Beside that, the dress seemed to fit her frame well. “I don’t think it looks good on me with my skin be pale like this. Are you sure you want me to keep it?”
“Like I said, it’s just gathering dust at home. And I think you look good on it.” Lloyd said looking away in mild embarrassment.
“If you say so. I guess I can just dye it later if I feel like it.”
“Oh, I also brought you a pair of boots.”
“Did you bring jewelry too?”
“No, this is all I brought for you.”
Helvana grabbed the boots Lloyd offered and slipped them on. The soft fur left a warm and comfortable feeling over her legs.
“Why, if I don’t look like a village girl right now. Surprisingly they fit rather perfectly.”
“Make good use of them.”
“I will, thank you for the gifts.”
The two just sat there for a while, not speaking a word; the cawing of birds and the rustling of leaves being the only things heard.
“Ah, I had almost forgot. I had lost a lot of things after you cursed the village, but lately they’ve been showing up one after the other.”
“I see, I told you the curse was already waning, though it being gone won’t fix everything. You never told me what you work with, now that you mention it.”
“I’m a carpenter. I’ve doing wood work for a few years already, even before I had to take care of Gwyn.”
“And what happened to your parents?”
“They were hunters. One day they set off with a few others to hunt and just didn’t come back. The other hunters said they were killed by a beast.”
“I see. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a while anyways.”
They fell silent again and stared into nothing as if simply counting the passing seconds. This time Helvana broke the silence.
“I’ve decided to leave tomorrow, just so you know.”
“I see… And where will you be going.”
“For now I’ll be heading East towards the White Ocean. I want to see for myself why it’s called the Metallic Ocean.”
“Is that so…” Lloyd was most certainly feeling down from hearing that. He knew that Helvana would leave sooner or later, but it knowing that she’d be going away soon made him sad all the same. An idea popped in his head and he got up to leave. “Alright, if it’s like that I’ll prepare something for your journey.”
“More gifts? Are you trying to convince me to stay?”
“No, I’ll just give make you a little something as a parting gift. To be honest, this place is better off without you.”
“Harsh. But you’re right, I’ve been too much of a bother already.”
“I’ll be back by evening, so you better wait for me. I’ll bring Gwyn too.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you to come back then.”
With that, Lloyd returned to the village and Helvana returned to the big tree and put on her cloak over the new dress. She had no more interest in tasting the fruits the forest offered, so with nothing to pass the time Helvana simply waited.
And waited.
And waited…
Before she knew it evening had arrived. The sun was soon setting, but there was no sign of Lloyd returning and no crow signaled his approach either. Helvana was still sitting by the big tree, waiting with a downcast expression. She did nothing other than wait the whole day, curious as to what Lloyd wanted to give her.
Hearing the beating of wings, Helvana stood up and offered her arm for Oscar, her face changing to a happier one in expectation.
“Did he arrive?”
*caw*
“... What?” She felt a chill.
*caw* *caw*
Releasing Oscar, Helvana held the edges of her cloak and then used them like wings, she took off to the sky.
__________________________________________
Lloyd was lying crumpled on the ground, covered in bruises and cuts. Several villagers surrounded him with clubs and other weapons, occasionally hitting him with them.
“Stop this!” Gwyn shouted to the mob. “Stop hurting my brother!” He tried to stop the villagers, but he was simply pushed aside.
“Get out of here, you brat. This is what you get for getting involved with that witch.”
“But Helvana is not evil! She was just protecting her friends!”
“Bullshit! Her ‘friends’ are ruining our crops while you two go to her as if it was nothing!”
The beating continued on. Gwyn kept on trying to stop the villagers even though it was useless. “Please… Somebody… Help!”
The distant cawing of several crows was heard as if to answer Gwyn’s pleas. The villagers stopped beating on Lloyd and looked towards the forest as countless black wings emerged from the trees. The wave of crows loomed over the village, circling around the mob, and through the circle came a warping, black mass, headed to the center of the mob: Lloyd.
Noticing this, the villagers backed away from Lloyd and the black mass took the shape of Helvana, as she spread her cloak like wings, landing softly beside him while her crows landed in the buildings around them. She knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder; he was still alive, but badly hurt: his left arm was broken and twisted, his right eye was slashed and useless and he was bleeding from his deeper cuts. She looked at his hands and saw that he was holding something: a bird mask made of wood.
She stood up and Gwyn ran towards her, being immediately taken under her cloak, and hugged her leg.
“Helvana… you came.” Gwyn said sobbing.
“Yes, I couldn’t let this go on.” She flashed him a gentle smile before looking back at the mob, a cold rage taking over her.
The mob looked back at her in uneasiness as they felt her presence weighing down on them. One of them stepped forward to speak. “Witch! How dare you-”
He was interrupted by a quill thrown at his mouth. It melted on impact and sealed his lips. “Silence, worm, you don’t have the right to speak.” She said in a scornful voice. “You rabble cower in fear of me, but attack an innocent man that befriended me. You are truly disgusting.”
“We were going to get you too, witch. We won't sit by and have our food taken away by you.” Another villager replied.
“Oh really? It’s a good thing I came to you instead then. Go ahead, make your move, but know that I won’t show a glimmer of mercy to anyone that takes a step forward.”
The atmosphere grew even heavier. All the courage in the mob vanished, but the weight on their bodies froze them in place.
Helvana felt something grabbing hold of her leg and she looked down. Lloyd looked at her pleadingly, his poor state reminding her of how she met Oscar.
“Don’t… hurt them…”
“But…”
“Please…”
“...” She kept on looking at him, but the determination on Lloyd’s gaze remained unshaken. She sighed and looked back at the mob, now with a much lighter expression. “Very well, I won’t harm you any further, even if it’s against my will to do so.” She said to the mob, then knelt once again and lifted Lloyd in her arms. “Don’t follow us, or I will retract my mercy. Let’s go, Gwyn.”
She left the village with Gwyn under her cloak, the mob dispersing in fear of her.
__________________________________________
A bright light shined through the canopy and landed on Lloyd’s face. Waking up, he felt something soft cushioning his head and opened his eyes slowly, but noticed that his right eyelid wouldn’t move. Touching his face, he noticed there was a rubbery membrane covering the eye that was hurt the last day. Then he saw that it wasn’t just his face, but his whole body was covered in patches of black rubber. Even his arm that had been broken and twisted was now being held back in place and hanged from a band going over his head, all made by the same substance.
Another set of arms was wrapped around him in an embrace, pale as snow. He turned his head around and saw Gywn sleeping beside him and Helvana’s face right next to his, breathing calmly with the same angelic look as when he first met her. He blushed when he noticed that the softness on his head was her breasts, but he didn’t make any sudden moves so as to not wake her up.
He placed his hand over Helvana’s, basking on her warm embrace. She had saved him and his brother and didn’t harm their assailants just because he requested it. He felt fuzzy inside in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He felt Helvana rustling behind him and heard her yawn. “Good morning, Lloyd.”
“Good morning.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah. Thanks for yesterday.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lloyd stood up while Helvana woke Gwyn up. Despite the beating he had taken the day before, Lloyd felt great. He didn’t even have any trouble standing up. “Did you treat my wounds?” He asked as he turned to face Helvana, who was now up on her feet.
“Yes. You should be mostly healed by now.”
“I see.”
“Your arm and eye were in a really bad shape though. They’ll take a while longer to fully heal. I’m not very sure on the eye though, that’s pretty different from other wounds. But don’t worry, even if you never recover sight on it, you’ll still look pretty cool with that eye patch.” She said giggling.
“Excuse you, but I’d much prefer seeing than looking cool.” He replied nonchalantly. Helvana’s sense of humor must’ve rubbed off on him over the days.
“Thanks for the gift, by the way.” She picked up the bird mask from the ground and put it on, placing the leather strap over her head. “Do I look scary?” Her voice was a bit muffled by the mask.
“Enough to scare a child.”
“Perfect. Gwyn, what do you think of this mask?” She said while turning to face Gwyn.
“Wow, you look just like your crows!”
“You liar.” She said to Lloyd over her shoulder, who just laughed.
“So, umm… What do we do now? We can’t go back to the village.”
“Isn’t it obvious? You’ll be coming with me.”
“Huh?!”
“Of course you will. I’ll take responsibility for the trouble I caused to you two.”
“But… are you alright with this, Gwyn?”
“Sure am. I’ll miss the other kids, but we can’t go back like you said.”
“But what will we do about food? I planned on giving you some of our own, but I dropped it when I was attacked.”
“Don’t worry about that, I snuck in our house at night and got us some food and other things before they could take our stuff.”
“You know, for an elder brother, Gwyn’s a lot more assertive than you are.”
“Hey!”
“Anyways, we’re already up, so let’s get going. We’ll stop somewhere to eat later.”
“Alright, alright, we’re going. Are you ready, Gwyn?”
“Yup.”
He said cheerfully as he grabbed Helvana’s outstretched hand and the three of them left the forest heading East, the ever present murder of crows following behind. It would be a long journey to the White Ocean, but they had nothing to worry about in sight
“Say, aren’t you going to take that mask off?”
“Don’t you want me to use your gift?”
“Well, that’s not it. I just thought you wouldn’t have it on all the time.”
“Alright.” She lifted her mask to show her face. ”If you want to look at my face that badly, I’ll allow it.”
Vestec takes a trip to his personal realm to harvest some of Julkolfyr's essence, but he was careless and got attacked by Julkolfyr.
Returning to Galbar, Vestec ejects the darkness Julkolfyr infected him with.
The darkness mixes with Vestec's blood and energy and the fusion creates Helvana.
After naming herself, Vestec taught Galbarian Geography 101 to Helvana and gave her a mental map of the world, and also told her of the impending battle on Xerxes.
Afterwards, Helvana left and entered the nearby forest, where she met a wounded crow that she healed. This also gave them a mental link that allows them to understand one another with ease. (1 Might spent to heal the crow; excessive power created a link between them.)
The crow shows Helvana who had wounded it and she decides to get payback by cursing it with bad luck.
A few days later, some villagers gather to complain about the bad luck. They discuss about rumors of a witch and some of them decide to join a hunting party to go after her.
Helvana is warned of the the hunting party's approach by the crow she healed, who she named Oscar. She sends him and some other crows to welcome and guide the hunting party towards Helvana, but they killed one of the crows, which angered her.
The group later met her and she accused the villagers of being needlessly evil to the crows and that they were wrong about the Eyes of Reathos causing death, although the name of the curse isn't mentioned.
Some of the villagers try to attack Helvana, but she effortlessly stops them and then cripples the man that killed her crow. She then disbands the villagers.
A couple more days later, some kids want to go into the forest for a test of courage, but only one of them actually goes in.
After meeting Helvana and assuring that she wouldn't hurt him, they exchange names, the boy introducing himself as Gwyn.
Helvana sends Oscar to show Gwyn the way out of the forest and he comments that she's not evil like the other villagers claim her to be, though Helvana denies Gwyn's compliment after he left.
Soon after, Helvana finds a bangle that belongs to Gwyn on the ground and she decides to keep it for when he returned for it.
The next morning, Gwyn's elder brother, Lloyd, notices that his bangle is gone and learns that he sneaked into the forest last night and leaves to retrieve the bangle.
While looking for the bangle, Lloyd meets Helvana. They exchange names and Helvana hands Lloyd the bangle, but before he could leave, Helvana asks for a reward for helping out Gwyn.
Later that evening, Lloyd returned with Gwyn and made her dinner.
They converse after eating and the discussion leads to Helvana revealing her divine origin to the brothers. She also mentions that the curse she placed on the village was waning since no more crows were hurt and that she would soon leave.
Gwyn and Lloyd visit Helvana several more times for the following week and, during one particular visit, Lloyd gives Helvana clothes that belonged to his late mother.
Helvana accepts the gifts and declares that she'll leave the next day. Wanting to give her a parting gift, Lloyd tells her to wait for his return at evening.
Helvana waits until she's warned by Oscar that Lloyd was attacked by the villagers for associating with her and rushes to him.
She rescues Gwyn and the badly wounded Lloyd from the villagers and threatens to kill them for attacking Lloyd, but he begs her not to hurt them. Against her better judgement, Helvana answers to his plea and leaves peacefully with Lloyd and Gwyn on tow.
The next morning, Lloyd wakes up to the sight of black patches covering his body and Helvana gently embracing him.
After Helvana wakes up, she explains that she healed his wounds, though his arm would take longer to recover and that his eye may not recover fully. She also tries on the bird mask that Lloyd carved for her. (1 Might spent to heal Lloyd's injuries.)
As she was responsible for Lloyd and Gwyn's exile from their homes, Helvana takes them under her wing and the three depart towards the White Ocean.
Starting Might: 4 -1 Might to heal crow's broken wing (Might invested in Darkness(healing)) -1 Might to heal Lloyd's injuries (Might invested in Darkness(healing))
I tried to talk with Dawnscroll through PM almost a week ago, but he didn't reply. I'll take that as a sign of either disinterest to this RP or RL issues. Whichever the case, I'll take full adminship from now on until he returns, if he does return.
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