"Once upon a time, in a far off cult, there lay a small village at the edge of the woods.."
Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus
omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio
infernalis adversarii, omnis legio,
omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.
We exorcise you, every impure spirit,
every satanic power, every incursion
of the infernal adversary, every legion,
every congregation and diabolical sect.
Lucien and Nyx
Lucien knew he would always have love in his heart for Nyx, no matter how much he feared him, no matter how much Nyx loathed him. Lucien was about to speak of this when his brother spoke up:
"So Lucien, how many other lives have you destroyed since I've been gone?"
Lucien choked verbally for a moment, "That's-- that's not fair. I haven't done anything wrong. You still can't forgive me?" He felt the tears welling up already but forced them back.
"Of course not. You killed our mother. Father hasn't forgiven you either, you should know."
Nyx's eyes glowered for a moment, gold against his tanned skin. Darkness ebbed in the aura around him and Lucien took a step back, afraid.
"You really went to see him?"
"He'll be seeing you too, brother. I'm not here to forgive you, and I never will. I'm here to collect mother's things."
"Wha... why?" Then the realization hit Lucien, the reasoning for their mother's belongings. Nyx was going to attempt to bring her back.
A dark art, a forbidden one, and for good reason...
Nyx began to walk towards Lucien's dwelling, and Lucien followed him, so panicked that he just left his delivery on the steps of the library.
Alec
The woods was never-ending. Every step crackled the foliage and startled Alec. Lost, determined, but he was beginning to lose sight of his purpose. He began to crave the safety of his Master's lap, the warm fire to light the room, the softness of Master's touch...
No, you can't go back.
But then, when Alec nearly turned back, a light appeared through the trees. He followed it as if it were the North Star. When he came to the source, it was a glowing moonlit reflection in a pond. The woodland creatures he had seen in the forest before were no longer making noises or around to be seen. He peered into the reflection to see nothing but light. Until his hand reached in, and Alec felt the calling of someone he didn't recognize. He didn't even flinch when another hand grasped his and pulled him through the portal.
--
Alec opened his eyes to a comfortable darkness, and a tired face looming over him. Intimidating, but somehow inviting.
Nothing but absolute disgust filled Alistair’s entire being, from not only seeing a new face to match the previous, but to have caught the attention of the pair and /introduced/ felt physically sickening. On a good day he could get by with his deteriorating social skillset and could manage to spit a few sentences even, but this was too much. He had already asked the smaller witch of his business, and to be asked even more questions in this.. conversation was ill inducing. “Alistair,” he grunted, feeling more and more drained. Not yet sleeping meant being even worse at carrying conversation, but he forced himself through this with gritted teeth. “He fell, I helped.” With that being said, the exhausted one basically fled from the scene, returning to his house and finding it hard to keep his breath steady. It wasn’t the soft spoken one’s fault, but a small burn of hatred was eating Alistair from his core. Why was this even happening? Just last month he could feel himself occasionally smile at the elders as they performed their tricks from over the decades. Maybe he was just tired and should sleep….
---
When the red haired boy awoke after countless hours (in reality, probably 20), he wanted to clear his mind of any putrid humans and wanted to try to finally summon a familiar. In no time, Alistair was at his summoning table, copying a perfect outline from which he saw in the book he looked off of, wanting to get this one finally right. Earlier summonings for a familiar in particular hadn’t gone the best. The most he had ever gotten was a limb or two of an animal, which was unpleasant to say the least. But he wouldn’t lose hope. “Beluga, seruga…” he began his chanting as his eyes lit up in excitement. He had a good feeling about this time.
Lucien and Nyx
Lucien's breath caught in his throat as he saw the familiar figure approach. He was dressed in all black, weapons at his side. Boots thudding against the ground as he made his way over.
Lucien's twin, Nyx.
Five years had passed since the brothers last saw one another. Lucien surveyed his twin. His dark burgundy hair was cut shorter than Lucien remembered, and his eyes were a more piercing cerulean than before. His skin was tanned. There was a difference in his aura now. More confident, stronger, but recognizable by that same arrogance.
Physically, Lucien and and Nyx were built the same. Average height, slender nose, plump lips and lanky bodies. But now, Nyx's muscles had defined where Lucien's had softened. Lucien was porcelain-pale and a tad curvy. As a child, Lucien felt that Nyx was what he should've looked like.
Lucien wondered if he had changed much since Nyx last saw him, and suddenly became aware of his own appearance. He nervously ran his fingers through his mint-colored hair, and tugged on the laces of his black and pastel pink corset.
"Lucien." Nyx pressed his lips together in a grin. The soft brother wasn't sure whether to embrace his twin, or ignore him to cry at home. Their last interaction had not been happy. In fact, they had been hell, and the cause of Lucien's innermost pain.
After a moment's hesitation, Lucien couldn't hold it in anymore, and his anger towards his brother faded. He rushed over and wrapped his arms around Nyx, "Nyx! Oh brother, I've missed you!"
Nyx didn't hold his brother back, but he didn't push him away either.
After letting go of him, Nyx glanced over the pastel witch, but then looked over his shoulder to see the red-headed stranger. Lucien was anxious to know if his brother thought more highly of him now, rather than weak.
"Seems we have a spectator." He announced, gesturing. Lucien turned his back to see the witch he had just been in contact with.
"Oh, he, uhm, helped me a moment ago." Lucien smiled and turned to the stranger. "Could I have your name?"
With his jaw now tightly clenched out of instinct, the witch stared blankly at the new item in his hand. He was thankful he had never taken off his gloves. Looking up again at the unfamiliar face, his eyes narrowed in tight. Why is it that he was so polite, despite Alistair giving off as much of an unwelcoming vibe as possible? Most took the hint and left him alone, and certainly didn’t give him a candle in return.
Augh, he was spending too much of the fleeting morning’s time dawdling with this person. So help him if there were people in the library…
And with that, Alistair gave a small nod of thanks (because who could be that rude to someone who was still currently bleeding?) and turned his back, hoping to find absolute silence in the building he was approaching. People just didn’t make sense. Some were overly polite, others the extreme opposite. One of the main reasons he went out of his way to avoid as much interaction as possible. His draining lack of empathy was tiring. There was some still left, but ugh. Alistair just needed a good book on something new.
What he didn’t realize was how late in the morning it already was, and how many mothers were flocking to rent beginner books for magic users. Two steps in could tell him this, and he had to abruptly stop and turn on his heel, dreading the possibility the new face could be out there. Even worse: a second being had arrived. This one felt familiar, as if it resembled the one previous. Standing together, they looked related, meaning they would probably talk.
Lucien
"What do you want?" The red-head huffed, annoyed for whatever reason. It wasn't like Lucien wanted his help. Lucien wanted nothing more than to deliver his supplies and go home and try to forget how embarassed he was.
But still, Lucien appreciated the gesture of his help, however rude his response was afterwards.
Lucien hefted his things back into his arms, before meeting the stranger's eyes and realizing he hadn't spoken yet. He blushed and looked away, "I-I'm taking some things to the library that I thought might help with keeping the library a peaceful place to be." He smiled sheepishly.
When the red-head was not impressed by his words, Lucien sucked in a breath and plucked a small candle from his supply. He lifted the stranger's hand from his side and placed the candle daintily in his hand before quickly releasing his hold, "thank you for helping me up, I really hope you have a lovely day..."
Lucien awaited the stranger's response, excited but nervous. Some people didn't appreciate nice-smelling things, some people did, others didn't like Lucien's over-friendliness, but he had learned to ramble compliments when nervous.
