Completed Washed Away

[Calters]

7th of Summer, in the middle of the night

There was nothing but ocean, spread out as far as the eye could see. There was no land in sight and strangely enough, no sky to speak of. The landscape was reminiscent of the familiar Riverfall lands, sans the aforementioned and the typical commotion of the city.

Here there were no loud Akalaks or cheerful Svefra. Here, wherever that may be, there was only a lonely Akvatari, drifting solemnly through the inky black waters. Calters kicked his tail without rhyme or reason. There was simply something in his head that told him it would be a good thing to do.

This recommendation proved to be wrong, however. No sooner had he splashed his tail for the third time than he hit himself on a rock.

At least, he thought it was a rock. It looked like one from a distance, but as he neared it, he realized that it was not a rock at all. It wasn't even an object;it was a person! The former rock poked it's head up from the black waters. The creature stayed coated in the color, and Cal soon realized this was because he was swimming in an ocean of thick black goo.

It oozed between his wings and under his arms, rendering him motionless. Calters didn't cry out, but not because of his willpower. He simply couldn't open his mouth. He tried to move his tail again and propel himself away, but the creature caught it and held fast.

Calters looked into the eyes of the rocky creature, only after realizing his mistake. The creature- which he now recognized as a demon- had empty pits where his eyes should have been. Instead, he viewed the inky world through his fingertips.

His fingers roamed over Cal's exposed stomach, leaving raw patches where they touched. Suddenly given the twisted gift of speech, Cal howled. His cries echoed over the vast land, bouncing back to him in the style of his beloved ocarina. It mocked him, crying out in pain with such beauty.

After what seemed like bells of the demon's exploration, it delivered its verdict.

"Petching freak." It boomed with Calters' own voice. "You don't belong here. You will be banished to Death for the rest of your life, and beyond should you find such a thing."

Despite his lack of knowledge about the punishment, the Akvatari knew that being banished to Death was never a good thing. He screamed in protest, but the demon just laughed and pushed him into the goo, sending him deep into the indiscernible darkness.

[Lenz]

7th of Summer, 514 AV
Dreamscape

Lenz couldn’t seem to recall when it was she had shut her eyes. She couldn’t remember being welcomed into the abysmal darkness of solitude. When had she fallen asleep and where was it she had done so? She hoped with all she could muster that she hadn’t collapsed unconscious in the middle of a dangerous alleyway. She hoped with every tendon and every fibre in her being that she hadn’t passed out in a tavern somewhere. She couldn’t fathom being manipulated whilst under the influence of Slumber itself.

However, she found herself opening her eyes to witness nature’s intentions. Strong currents were lapping at the shore she was lying on; beating against the sand that crawled through her habiliments and scratched at her skin. She blinked several times before using her fingers to wipe the sleep from her eyes. When she found nothing to wipe, she dropped them to her sides, bewildered.

Suddenly her rear began to protest. The pain was ubiquitous, sending shocks throughout her entire body. She rubbed at her arms and legs, trying her best to make the aches dissipate, but to no avail. She was forever suspending herself in a spiral of hurt. Crying out, she jumped up and tried to shake her legs from the tingling sensation. Was she growing numb? What was happening to her?

She began to run. Running away from her problems proved to work on certain occasions. Sometimes, however, her daemons were provocative enough with determination so vast it was incalculable. They sprung up from where she had been previously sitting and began to chase her. No longer crying, the pain suplended by fear, she found her mouth ajar, screaming.

It was a cavernous maw filled with serrated teeth that startled her into dropping to the ground. It stood in front of her with eyes as crystal blue as a calm, clear lake. They were familiar, though. Lenz couldn’t seem to put a finger on how she knew those eyes. After contemplating, logic eviscerating any illogical meaning within her skull, she came to the conclusion that those eyes belonged to none other than Ipisol.

“Ips?” came a small voice. Lenz covered her mouth with her hands, afraid to figure out that the voice was indeed hers and no one else’s.

“Why did you murder me?” retorted the child. Her eyes were growing dark as time continued to go by.

Recognition seemed to flood all the empty crevices in the woman’s mind. She envisioned the scene as if it had happened not more than two bells ago. She saw the man, his hand slapping across the child’s face. She witnessed the little girl, her girl, being thrown into the brick wall. A sharp cracking sound before a heap on the ground was made present. Blood scorched the ground, flawing it with its scarlet hues. Lenz closed her eyes, allowing a tear to swim down the side of her face.

“I’m sorry,” she pleaded, but it was of no use, for the child had already made up her mind. Her guardian, the woman she had always looked up to, the one who she had thought was there to protect her had indeed killed her.

“That’s not good enough,” was the response before burning claws grappled onto the redhead’s forearm. Stinging, fiery pain erupted across her skin. Her flesh began to melt off, revealing veins and arteries. Crimson spattered onto the ground, marring the grass with the distasteful substance.

Lenz didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. She did nothing but take the pain as if it was pleasure. She endured it as if it was a gift sent from the gods and goddesses above. The moment ceased as she was tossed into the river to her left.

The pain instantly vanished and upon glancing at her arm she couldn’t see any wound. This was the little time she had to spend before realising that her life was on the line. The currents were strong and she was inept in proper swimming technique. She splashed around. She slapped the water like it was a bee. She kicked and flapped her arms until her attention was drawn from the task at hand. Someone was in the water with her. Afraid that it would be the monstrous Ipisol, she began to paddle the opposite way. However, fluorescent tinctures and vivid colours made her doubt herself. She turned and saw what appeared to be butterfly wings.

That was a rather large insect.

Logic was out of the question, though. She began to swim toward it as if it was her only life line. The currents were strong, but she was stronger. She was motivated and motivation got people through the toughest situations. Finally she found the source of the exuberant vibrancy and grabbed onto it. The it turned out to be a who instead.

The man had wings attached to his back and they flapped in rhythm with his desperation. So he couldn’t swim either? Suddenly his hands sprang out from underneath the water, slapping her across her face. What did he think she was- a daemon?

“Stop you imbecile!” she finally managed to shout through the water that had invaded her mouth. She was practically choking, but managed to prop herself above the rapid stream.

“Just grab my petching hand!”

[Calters]

7th of Summer
Calters was almost certain that he had not resurfaced from his punishment, but here he was, back in the water as if nothing had ever happened.

It wasn't until the salty water seeped up his nose and burned at his eyes that he realized he couldn't swim. He moved his tail and wings as he usually did, but without the natural affect. He went nowhere but down. The wing-beats became more frantic, his arms flailing about in horror. Still, he achieved nothing.

Suddenly, a miracle occurred. His hands broke the surface of the water and he pulled himself up as though he were surfacing on a beach. What he found was no beach. It was another demon- this one with sharp red hair and sour eyes.

Determined to fight back, Cal reached out and slapped the creature. It reared back, but then began to talk to him, spitting out words that he didn't understand but knew the meaning of.

He knew it was insulting him, telling him how stupid he was. He could hear it taunting him, words of his own trapped inside his skull.

It's right! I'm an idiot! I deserve to die here. Right here right now! Why won't it kill me? His mind scrambled like a dropped puzzle. All of the pieces of his sanity shattered when they tumbled out of his eyes in the form of tears and hit the water.

In a disorientating anger, he flung his arms out and struck the demon again.
"Just let me die! I know you want to! You hate me because everyone does. Even I hate me! So why won't you let me die!"

Frustrated beyond the power of words, Calters smashed his head savagely into the surface of the water. He was met not with the usual comfort of the waves, but with the harsh cracking sound as his skull met solid ground.

Kneeling on a rocky shore with the demon beside him, the Akvatari cried with ire. He pounded his fists onto the ground, watching happily as they broke open and bled. His head was bleeding as well from a decent sized gash on his right temple.

He taunted the demon confidently, raising his bloody head high and shouting at her.
"Kill me now? Will you?"
His voice broke at the same time he did, collapsing against the hard ground.
"Please?"

[Lenz]

7th of Summer, 514 AV
Dreamscape

Lenz was even more taken aback by his reaction to her proposed assistance. He wanted to die? Why was he so pessimistic? Had something happened to him that was worse that she had currently been through?

Her stomach felt like it had been thrown down hundreds of flights of stairs. She was resilient, but even god would tremble from the tumultuous thoughts that were slamming around inside her brain.

“Shut up! I despise your cowardice,” she spat, her eyes darkening as her body was succumbing to loss of feeling.

“I only kill those I see as deserving of the punishment. You’re just an idiot boy who hasn’t seen the light yet. Now get your head out of the tunnels or light a candle; grab my hand!”

Without warning and without voluntary reaction, Lenz snatched one of his hands before ducking under his arm. Her ribcage was hugging his before she began to pump her legs. Bubbles began to pop and crackle from behind her.

She was weak. Her calves were immediately beginning to burn. She hadn’t eaten in several days and even if she was dreaming, which she doubted she was, the physical effects of her lack of hunger portrayed deleteriously on her physic. Her collarbones were protruding from her skin and her hip bones were piercing the man’s stomach. Her fingers were slender and frail as she continued to claw at his hand.

Propelling herself forward, she managed to escape the wrath of the more forceful currents. Finally, her determination had given her the better of the doubt. She had made it to the shore.

“You little mother petcher. You could have killed us. I don’t give a petch if you wanted to die. There’s too much to see, too much to do in your life. You don’t deserve it and the quicker you get that in your mind, the better you’ll be.”

Since when had she become so optimistic in her lectures and since when had she gained a vulgar mouth on her? She had never cursed so much in her life. It wasn’t until now that she had to use it, though.

“Get up,” she growled.

But she couldn’t. Her eyes were too heavy. Her arms and legs felt like thousand ton weights were resting on them. She tried to lift her torso, but it wouldn’t go further than an inch off the sandy surface.

She would reside here until something provoked her to move, and that is exactly what happened.

The suddenness of a crack of thunder made her jump out of her skin. She was still lying on the ground when a lighting strike hit a mere few feet from her head. The impact sent a pile of sand flying onto her face.

Choking, she tried to spit out the foreign contaminants. This simply ended in her coughing up phlegm and more water from the river down below. She forced herself to turn over as she heaved continuously.

“Petch.”

[Calters]

7th of Summer
This time when the demon's words stung his skin, he knew what they meant.

“You little mother petcher. You could have killed us. I don’t give a petch if you wanted to die. There’s too much to see, too much to do in your life. You don’t deserve it and the quicker you get that in your mind, the better you’ll be.”

He blinked the dripping blood from his eyes, only to find that when he opened them, the wounds had vanished. "I don't deserve it?" His voice was nearly mute, but it did him good to feel the words coming from his own throat.

A Mist Pigeon landed lightly on his arm, proceeding to peck at his ears and neck. Calters picked up the bird with ease, stuffing it into the ground where it was swallowed into a cage. He watched the ground rumble and growl, as if it were hungry for more.

Sure enough, the ground split into hundreds of tiny pieces, each one moving and speaking in a language that Caters didn't know. The chaotic din went unnoticed by the demon. She sat unawares off to the side. When the ground beneath her opened and she fell in, she didn't even seem to mind.

Calters' mouth dropped open, his world tilted dizzily from side to side, and his hands shook with renewed rage. She saved his life and now he had let her die! Claws split from his fingers and clawed up the earth. He dug endlessly and fruitlessly, for what must have been days.

But then, within a heartbeat, she was back. The ground was restored and Calters was returned to his earlier position with his normal appendages. Just as he thought normality had returned, lightning struck without warning, narrowly missing the woman's head. Her hair frizzled in a thousand directions and her face was splattered with the now-familiar black goo. No, sand. That's sand.

Calters flapped his wings, discovering that not only did they work but they were massive. His wings sparkled a vibrant scarlet color as they had when he was just a child. Leth's light shone through them even though the God was not present. His overgrown wings provided a safe and welcome tent around the demon and the Akvatari, sheltering them from the rapid lightning.

"Come on," He prodded her lightly. Some of his natural speech patterns seeped into his voice. After all, it belonged to him, didn't it? "You saved my life. Morally, I can't leave you here so you better stand the petch up."

[Lenz]

7th of Summer, 514 AV
Dreamscape

Her memory was a ticking time bomb. A migraine was becoming too distinct to neglect. Mentioning the word only gave her more of bitter taste in her mouth. She propped herself up on her elbow before managing to get to her knees. Crouching in a strange position, she then hoisted herself up with ease. This ease was obviously reinforced by a tender hand that belonged to the creature with butterfly wings.

She was easily distracted, something that was necessary when her mind was shooting off thoughts like bullets ricocheting off of various walls. However, at a time like this it wasn’t the best thing to be swept up in.

She observed his wings and how they seemed to glitter in the sunlight that wasn’t there. Latent waves of energy seemed to spring to life, dancing on the colours that flourished the iridescent shapes and figures.

She sighed inwardly, entrapped in a never ending epiphany of pleasure. Just the sight made her insides cool down. She had been on fire; rage and vexation blistering up her intestines and spilling the bile within them out her pores in the form of sweat.

She coughed again as she stared into the boy’s eyes for the first time. There was no feeling she received from the sight, nothing but the simplicity of ignorance. Ignorance could be blissfully interpreted, though, couldn’t it?

Lenz’s line of sight wavered down his body and found that his legs were bare. He was wearing nothing but a thin patch of fabric that covered his genitalia.

Already certain that all she was experiencing was indeed a dream, she wondered if because he had butterfly wings there was a general possibility that he could also bear other unique attributes.

“Very strange,” she muttered to herself as the boy suddenly took off.

Their footfalls quickly fell in sync as the two dodged obstacles that had been carelessly placed in their path.

The redheaded woman had been so intent on trying to maneuver her way around those obstacles that she had completely forgotten to see where it was she was going. She didn’t know if the boy that was leading even knew what it was that had become their destination.

Two thick posts had been driven into the ground by unseen forces. Air currents began to lift the woman up from the ground as if she were a balloon filled with unidentified weightless material.

“Fly, help me!” she squealed as their hands were no longer touching.

Broken apart by the opposite of gravity, their fingers were soon no longer interlaced. Crying out, for having a fear of heights, Lenz was soon flying through the air. She squirmed and writhed until she managed to collect her bearings.

She was soaring headfirst into a patch of thick flora. There was a multitude of plants strewn about wherever she looked and as her gaze slipped downwards she noticed a very sinuous path leading from the entrance.

There, she saw a small boy with vibrant wings standing with his eyes opened wide.

[Calters]

7th of Summer
Youth bubbled in the Akvatari's veins. His mind was blissfully silent, producing not a word against him. When he pictured himself, all he saw was a smiling boy with scarlet wings and a fluffy seal tail. All around him, flowers danced to the music of silence and Cal longed to dance with them. He grinned with the overwhelming feeling of joy and spread his wings wide as if he were planning to hug the world.

His father was there then, grinning too. Jouyos gave off an aura of warmth and comfort like no other Cal had ever known. His father held out an ocarina to the boy- the very same one that Calters played each evening. The thought confused him briefly, but was dismissed in favor of the gift.

"It's a big one, Cal. It belonged to me for many years and it helped me through a lot of tough times. Got me into some too! But now it's going to help you. You'll be able to play it and charm anyone you wish, as long as you remember who gave you that powerful gift of music."

"You!" Cal's voice squeaked with the awkwardness of childhood.

His father laughed and shook his head, at the same time opening his sky blue wings to welcome the slight breeze.

"No, son. It was Rhaus who gave you the gift of music. I just nurtured it."

Cal hesitated before bobbing his head eagerly. He didn't really understand what his father meant, but he was pleased that they could agree on something.

The ocarina sang out as it was pressed into his open hand. Its melody was bittersweet, playing music that could bring both tears and laughter. As soon as the music had died out, his father's image was gone. In his place, there was a simple "J" carved into the boy's palm. His ocarina sported a scar to match.

The warm and safe feeling stayed even in its producer's absence, and Cal reveled in it. He threw himself into the flowers and sang a single note, long and proud. It wasn't a song really, it was just a feeling let loose into the world.

Rolling over, the boy found himself facing a young girl who was enjoying the flowers as well. He smiled at her and she smiled in return. But something was off.

"Why aren't you happy? Can't you feel it?"

[Lenz]

7th of Summer, 514 AV
Dreamscape

In truth, Lenz wasn’t truly frightened beyond belief. She wasn’t tortured by the thought of being up so high in the sky, no. Instead, she was just confounded by the very act she was succeeding in accomplishing.

To be the first person in the entire world to fly without the use of wings or any other machinery was astonishing to her. It was stunning and the radiance beamed from out of her cheeks in waves of blinding light.

Eroticism suddenly began to take part in her emotions. She was beginning to feel very warm and more so in certain places of her body. In the nether regions a hearth of burning embers had caused comfort.

She was envisioning nothing less than the torment of all she hated. With this gift, with this spectacular power, she could manifest delight by causing destruction down upon those she detested.

Apparently her feelings didn’t shine through the façade she had plastered onto her face. Removing the mask, she allowed a smirk to slip onto her lips. It latched onto the corners of her mouth and pulled upwards as she craned her head to see that she was no longer alone.

A short boy with wings of invigorating shades was also drifting on and off the currents of the wind.

His hair was tousled, something Lenz would always have wished for her son to have. Tousled hair and large green eyes with a small mixture of crystal blue swirled throughout. But no. She had been robbed of her chances to have children and she bore the mark from the Zith who stole her baby from her.

Because her mind was locked onto that particular memory of her life, she opted to lift up her shirt and investigate. Once the bottom hem had reached just below her breast line, she saw what made her cringe every time.

Two very deep, thick and long scars flawed her otherwise perfect skin. It was raised in these specific spots. Another scar was added to the first two only this one was less severe.

Suddenly self-conscience about herself, Lenz dropped her shirt. Upon doing so, her gravity defying feat was resolved. She quickly lost balance and began to fall through the stygian clouds.

“I don’t care anymore,” she murmured as somber thoughts soon took hold of her heart.

She cascaded like water through the sky, spreading her arms out to feel the air as it slid in between her fingers. It smacked her palms and burned her face as the ground soon began to come into view.

“I really don’t.”

[Calters]

7th of Summer
The young boy stared into the girl's eyes with curiosity. Although her mouth didn't move, she cackled in response, as though his question were the stupidest she'd ever heard. It was a horrible sound, and it reverberated ten times over in Cal's ears. His hands moved to cover his ears, but he couldn't block out the sound.

Cal closed his eyes tightly, crying out for his father as he did so. No answer came to him. In desperation, Calters opened his wings and flew away as fast as he could manage. He didn't know where he was going other than that he needed to escape the noise.

As he moved, he felt himself grow. It was painful to do all of his growing in such a short time but it was nothing compared to the assault on his ears. Cal felt age pressing down on his bones and pulling them apart. The voices returned in his head, joining in the chorus of laughter aimed at him.
Freak! Outcast! Unwanted little petch!

All he could do was fly faster.

In mid-air, he passed the demon-woman. She was falling, crashing to the ground as though she hadn't a care in the world. Her mouth moved, but Cal could hear no words over the laughter in his head. He reached out for her in a last effort to save his savior.

The man in flight caught the flightless woman, but she only dragged him down. She seemed heavier than a human could be, as if she were not only hurtling to the ground but racing him there. With his arms locked in place around her shoulders, he could only briefly cry out before they hit the ground together.

And then, once again, there was nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see. This time, the lonely Akvatari was absent.

[Lenz]

7th of Summer, 514 AV
Dreamscape

It felt like she was flying. It also felt as though she were drowning in her own tears. The salt licked her open wounds. The acidic sensation pierced into her flesh and burned her insides out. She didn’t grimace due to the fact that she was mentally deteriorating. Instead, she felt as free as she had ever felt before.

She would finally embrace the afterlife with open arms and with a genuine smile poking and prodding its way onto her wrinkled face. Instead of the false one she always wore to lead people on, she would mean it with all of her heart.

Speaking of her heart- it would no longer be shattered into the million pieces it currently was. She wouldn’t be cut or bruised as she plucked each fracture from off the ground. Instead, she would grab the adhesive, she would grab the sewing needle and the spool of thread and she would lean down and collect the little bits and pieces of her.

She would stand up tall, with her head raised high into the air and she would proceed to help mend herself back together again. But all this could only be done once her empty vessel betrayed her living essence.

The soul inside of her could for once escape and soar into the light that depicted happiness- something she hadn’t experienced in a long while.

She was so wrapped up in herself at the time that she didn't even recognize cold hands being wrapped around her bony waist.

Falling felt so surreal, but the timid feeling of fear still wavered in front of her. She clawed at it and willed it to leave, but it would not isolate her. It would follow her around like a black dog all her life, haunting her with its menacing voice, taunting her with its harrowing words.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling the course, harsh, cold and uninviting air obliterate her olfactory senses. She exhaled and felt her lungs shrivel up and fall off. Her body was tearing itself apart, the seams splintering off and peeling down her back.

Her stomach exploded, she could feel it. The collateral damage allowed all the butterflies to escape from captivity. Soon, her mind too followed suit. All thoughts were gone as she continued to sink further and further towards the ground.

Conclusively, her heart evaporated and with it went her soul. She was nothing more than an empty shell found in treacherous grounds.

She hit the ground.

__________

Lenz couldn’t remember anything besides jolting awake with a start. Her back was leaning up against a brick wall and her legs were spread straight out in front of her. Her head had been resting gently against an empty crate beside her.

She had woken up in the middle of a small abandoned alleyway. Shivers quickly raced up her spine until she gave way and shuddered for their absence.

Without another moment of hesitation, she jumped up and brushed herself off, her surroundings spinning as she grew dizzy. Controlling herself at last, she turned on her heel and made way for home.

Wherever that was.