Dark Glass Envy (Private)

[Sereptinidy]

Timestamp: 49th of Summer, 510 AV After having settled and established some kind of daily routine in close proximity to the Eypharian city of Ahnatep Sereptinidy now felt content enough to start on her creative work, the first memory of the place she would ban on paper. She would do that with every city she came across, slowly and systematically, so that she could preserve what she experienced as well as practice her writing on a regular basis. She knew that only through practice she could get better. First she needed inspiration, though. When first exploring the streets, trying to get a flair for the city, she had realized that the Eypharians probably didn’t hold the Akvatari in high regards. The general attitude towards her consisted of scorn speckled with slight irritation and something else … envy, perhaps. That really was what had taught her the first and most important lesson about this six-armed race. Wearing face powder and jewelry like others did clothing and dying their hair in the brightest colors, the Eypharians were proud of their beauty and strived to augment and accentuate their natural advantages. Vanity and a sense for power measure seemed to be the one personality trait all of them shared. In some way, it made Sereptinidy sad, for what was beauty but another illusion of mortal perception? Perhaps they thought beauty led to power – something many Eypharians seemed to strive for. But Sereptinidy couldn’t really imagine why the citizens of Ahnatep had gotten so consumed with themselves and their social hierarchy. All she was do was watch and suck up every bit of information she could get from gestures, body language, bits of conversation her ears picked up here and there … She even led one or two conversations herself and tried to give them a philosophical twitch, but the exemplars she came across were quite obviously not interested in philosophy, or even in her, for that matter. Once they discovered that they couldn’t get anything more of use out of her, they lost interest, and Sereptinidy noticed that. But who was she to care? Her mission was to write, and so she would write to set the entire world on fire. The first step was to construct a story that reflected Eypharian culture. And after a few days of watching and talking, an idea started to form and take shape in Sereptinidy’s mind. On the fourth day of her stay, after she’d found herself some kelp off the Eyktolian coast, she returned to Ahnatep and crouched down at one of the typical flat roofs. Stretching out beyond her were yellow stone walls and the glittering and bustling of a town full of ambitious individuals. It was there that the Akvatari took out the first sheet of paper and a full vial of ink and started to pour her thoughts and emotions into the words.

[Sereptinidy]

The first words she wrote sounded a little stiff, but soon she was so entangled in the story that she simply wrote what came to her mind … The Eypharian’s perfect beauty was reflected in the large mirror she faced. Her body had been carefully crafted, bearing seductive curves as well as soft skin and a warm golden hue. The flat belly and slender hips were the traits her colleagues envied her for the most. Silken strands of dark hair cascaded like a waterfall down her form, covering her breasts. It had been dyed with blueberry liquid, countless of times, until the color manifested itself in a mysterious velvet blue shimmer and complimented her eyes that were like deep, dark lakes. Symmetry dominated her face, full lips of the color of grapefruits, a straight nose and long, black lashes casting a shadow over her gaze. This person was the most attractive concubine at the Perfumed Cloisters and had been for a little longer than five years now. Her real name and identity had been forgotten – everyone asked for Envy, the Eypharian with the blueberry hair. Her name was her trademark and her skill her identity. She didn’t need anything else. Of this she was sure when she turned and faced the attractive man that would be her client for the next few days … At that point, she tried to alter her writing style a bit, to emphasize the strong emotions Envy was feeling. Now the quill revealed that secretly the Eypharian was looking for someone she could truly and openly love. Envy’s dream was to help someone else climb the ladder up to the very top. Because of that she had worked so hard, learned dancing and seducing and bringing pleasure to men. Only for that reason she had tried to become the best concubine alive – so she could leave this life behind and become the best wife. Sereptinidy felt the bitter longing her main character radiated. With a melancholic smile she continued, wondering where Envy would take her. You have the potential to become a truly tragic creature, don’t you? The scene she was rushing through now consisted of intelligent conversation, winks and hungry looks. Envy and her new client – one who was more prestigious and wealthy than all the others before – seemed to like each other. A small spark of hope was suddenly lit in the darkness. While he continued replying to her witty jokes and they shared the disgust and cynicism that had kept them alive in that cursed city, she felt that this was different from everything she had done before. Could it be …? Sereptinidy continued, trying to shorten her descriptions and sentences a bit. This was already becoming a tad too long for a short story. In every good short story, the punch line should appear quickly and surprisingly, triggering a precise end without any explanation. The most important feature was to leave the readers thoughtful. Their emotions should stir and their opinion and beliefs should be challenged. She wanted to inspire readers to think differently, to consider options they wouldn’t have thought of before. Her stories should bring a novelty. Sereptinidy knew that she could only offer her own personality to the critics, and that was what she tried to do, countless times and a little differently with every new story. But this was about Envy, the Eypharian who sought true love. While the sun rose in the sky above the desert, Sereptinidy buried herself in the last third of the story.

[Sereptinidy]

Perhaps she was growing old, after all. It was something she had always tried to avoid by bathing in fresh milk and only using the most exquisite oils. Despite all those preparations this situation seemed to slip out of her control … Something happened. The change wasn’t far away, Sereptinidy sensed it. All the time Envy had believed herself in full control of the situation and her meeting with that mysterious, nameless man. Of course, she knew his social position, his political affiliation and other details, but she hadn’t truly known him until she had spoken to him. Still they played the game of cat and mouse, scheming and trying to attack from behind. It was fun to the Eypharian, no doubt, but she also felt that her opponent was better at rhetorical games than her. Then the writer tried to fasten the pace. Breathless, she rushed through the next sentences. Softness, bare skin brushing against lips and hands caressing sun-tanned forms. They were getting closer to the core of the story. And then … And then, when the sensation invaded her entire body, burned the blood in her veins and let her scream with pleasure, something slipped. The elaborate triangle at the base of her neck flashed in a soft light. The next thing she saw was his shocked gaze. She immediately knew what had gone wrong. The one thing she had avoided and hidden all the years on her way to the top had eventually gotten loose. How could she have been so silly? No longer did the man get lost in the infinite depth of her dark blue eyes. No longer did they perfectly match the hue of her blueberry dyed hair. Instead her left eye, devoid of a pupil, shimmered translucent. Envy could see that he found himself reflected in the glass orb placed in her left eye hole. Shock and disgust cast a shadow over his handsome features. He turned away from her only flaw and greatest shame she had failed to conceal. Had she only been more careful … but now everything was lost. A last time the man turned around and words left his lips. Envy gave a sad smile. Only then did Sereptinidy realize that she had held her breath. Releasing it with a soft exhale, she stopped and reread the last few lines. They sounded good and caught the suspense she had tried to build up very nicely. Hopefully those wouldn’t need any major corrections. Satisfied for the time being, the Akvatari carefully stored the filled pages away in her satchel and returned to the place she called her home during the duration of her stay in Ahnatep. After leaving satchel and pages there, she went on a short trip to the sea. It was evening – she had barely been able to finish the story before sunset – and her body was demanding food. Tomorrow she would put some last corrections on the story and finish the piece up. Like every original character she invented, Sereptinidy felt that Envy somehow stayed with her for the rest of the day.

[Sereptinidy]

The next day, after she had eaten and made the usual round in the Ahnatep streets she had gotten used to, Sereptinidy found herself at the same rooftop. Fortunately the day was sunny and the air still, so that she could spread out the whole story in her lap to look it over and make corrections. The first thing she noticed that for a short story the piece featured too much description. A short story had to be composed with care, she remembered. During her youth in Abura, she had found out all those things through reading books and writing her own stories. Criticism and the occasional advice from fellow writers had played a significant role, but the most she had learned from reading and practicing her own writing. Now Sereptinidy knew that short stories were made up of a brief introduction – or without any at all – the main part in which the situation and storyline was shown and the surprising punch line heading towards an abrupt end. That was what she wanted her own story to be composed of, too. While shortening descriptions here and there, occasionally crossing out whole paragraphs in the process, Sereptinidy wondered if all short stories had to be written the same way. Wasn’t it novelty what fascinated those who liked the story? Shouldn’t she bring something new into the trade? But since she couldn’t think of any change that’d make her own story significantly better, she refrained from trying. Somewhere in the future, when she was more experienced, she told herself and sighed. While the city got hotter and hotter she slowly corrected the descriptions of the whole piece. When she was done, she realized that its length had been reduced to three pages. Although she first felt bitterness over the loss of so many words, her creations, she knew that in the end it was good. There was a reason why they were called short stories, after all. She had corrected minor mistakes and false grammar already, but she still read through those three pages again to make sure that she hadn’t missed a single comma or period. Usually Sereptinidy was fairly good when it came to grammar, but there were still some mistakes she frequently made. Perhaps she should collect and jot them down one day. Not now, though. After barely an hour of making corrections and pondering over the right formulations, she declared the work as finished. No matter how long one corrected the work, it never really felt as finished. But the outcome was something she could live with. The title came to her naturally: Envy’s Beauty. It summed the storyline up nicely and added a mysterious touch, in her opinion. Satisfied, she tucked the three pages away in her satchel and disposed of the rest. Now what to do with the finished work? Sereptinidy believed that with Ionu’s blessing she would find someone who found pleasure in reading the story, one day. Until then, she would keep it. END

[Cayenne]

What a lovely, flowing thread. I greatly enjoyed reading it. Well done! I hereby award the following: Writing - 3 XP Observation - 1 XP Philosophy - 1 XP Lore: Eypharian Stances on Physical Appearance and Grooming