And Soon The Darkness (Marcus)

by **Lilium** on June 6th, 2012, 10:53 am

Picking up the tray of food with both hands, Lilium carried it to the table and carefully placed her bountiful feast on the wooden top before slipping into the seat Marcus so graciously pulled out for her. Smiling at the robed man, the pale skinned creature understood his surprise, it was indeed a mountain of food. Even she knew that.

"Go ahead and Dig in. Seriously, you may need an actual shovel to get in there."

Paused midway between reaching for her cutlery, the blonde looked at him with a crinkled nose, before she burst out laughing. It was a terrible joke, but it was so bad it was funny. Still laughing, the konti picked up her knife and fork and began to cut into the thick meat and starchy potatoes that drowned in a sea of gravy.

"Alright, I know what this must look like. I'm an absolute swine, but I can explain." Lifting a piece of the still steaming potato to her lips, Lilium placed the food in her mouth, closing her eyes with pleasure and savoring the taste and the texture. Her whole body shuddered slightly with delight and a sigh of happiness escaped her. Waiting until she'd finished the bite, the woman opened her eyes to look at him again.

"Have you ever wanted something so badly, so much so that it tears at your insides and makes it so there is nothing else that you can even think about?" Lifting the pot of wine, she poured a glass for herself and Marcus, before lifting her glass to her lips. She breathed deeply, smelling the rich sweet scent of fermented fruit, honey and spices.

"When I am in this form, I can taste everything. I can feel it, nourishing me and filling me with warmth and goodness and all the life that it took to grow this food. The textures burst across my tongue and send sparks around in my mind. I hear a chorus beyond reckoning that competes with the choirs of the heavens." Sipping the wine, she placed the cup down on the table, looking at it with distant blue eyes. Her expression was sombre, brow drawn slightly.

"But then the daylight comes, and this body is warped and twisted. I am transformed into a cursed and vile creature, a beast of horns and rotting flesh. And when I am she, I feel...nothing. I taste nothing. Food turns to dirt in my mouth, and roils in my stomach till I can no longer bear it. Drink tastes of filth washed down the fish mongers hands and across the street. I am sustained by the wretched light of the damned sun, sustained as it burns me. My flesh cringes at its touch, yet my body is survived by it." The tone of her voice had changed, as though she spoke from far away, harsh and bitter. Without realizing it, she had gripped her knife tightly in one hand, knuckles white-on-white as her hand trembled. Blinking suddenly, she looked at the knife, dropping it with a start before staring at Marcus with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry. I..I didn't..." Blushing slightly, Lilium picked up her knife again and began to furiously attack her food, eating quickly as though it would suddenly disappear into nothingness on her. All the while she avoided his emerald gaze, ashamed by her words. Too easily the darkness crept up on her, the bloodied faces and broken bodies. Angrily she tore off a piece of bread and cut off a piece of cheese. It wouldn't take long though, she would be full far before all the food was gone, but she would make a damned good effort to clear it all.

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 6th, 2012, 3:59 pm

Lilium's sweet laughter caught Marcus by surprise, as he regarded her in polite silence, a smirk across his face. He was not a judging man, and his experience tended to lay in the role of the unqualified observer, viewing the world from atop a glass panel. But things had changed in the past year; changes that had been building within the young scholar finally came to glorious fruition. Marcus was thankful for this curiosity, but knowledge carried with it burdens many often disregarded. He knew these vices quite well from his own experience, and would not forget them anytime soon. Straying onto more optimistic topics, Marcus refocused his mind's attention on the lovely Konti woman, struck from the heavens, as she attempted to explain herself.

The sheer ability of her to hold conversation while continuously shoveling food into her mouth was impressive in and of itself, but as she explained further, Marcus became a bit jealous even, chuckling aloud. The simple act of dining was obviously a euphoric experience for her, and Marcus reflected on this curiosity for a moment, reviewing how different her world was from his. What else was going through this divine companions mind that Marcus could not even comprehend? The thoughts of an Ethaefal were beyond even an attempt at grasping, and so Marcus simply smiled to her as she listed her favorite foods and drink. Something so mundane to him had suddenly the potential to become so much more, and it was an interesting prospect. The questions never ceased with this woman from the sky, and as her soul grew dark and her words turned melancholy, the questions only grew larger.

The pain in her eyes as she went on about her 'other' self perplexed Marcus, but his sympathy overrode his scholarly questioning. He shunned the thoughts of how the change happened and what it felt like, focusing on the woman with a steady gaze as she grew more distant. She hated herself with such passion; dreading her return into a divine state. That part at least was understandable. After all, the Ethaefal within her was impossibly far from home, with no way back. Or so Marcus assumed. As Lilium continued speaking of this 'wretched' body, Marcus knew this was the curiosity he had been searching out since their first meeting. When he noticed her hand trembling in seeming fear, Marcus hesitantly reached out to place his own on hers, before the knife dropped violently onto the table. A smile greeted her as she escaped this downward spiral of despair, and apologized unnecessarily. Marcus had heard something dark within her speak, and it sounded a lot like fear; fear of never becoming what one was accustomed to being, fear of immeasurable and fundamental change. Marcus followed that thread to it's logical conclusion, believing the sorrow and self-loathing to be a product of rejection, rejection of this reality and all it stood for. Marcus tended to jump the gun on matters such as this, but he enjoyed the mental exercise nonetheless, as it gave his mind the courage to help change things, hopefully for the better.

As she returned to her food with the same amount of vigor, Marcus could easily see the red tinge across her face. With a gentle smile and an equally sincere tone, the young magician reached out, to her, across both the physical and mental planes. His hand went out to grab the hand with her knife, as his voice came out into the air between them. "If you're not going to look, please listen. You're a sweet and sincere woman, and those are qualities that extend through all things. I doubt someone as divine as yourself could ever be described as a wretch." He chuckled a bit, slightly to relieve the tension in the air, and slightly to relieve himself. He honestly had no idea if her words carried any weight, or any clue as to what Ethaefal even looked like... It was a crapshoot at best.

He hoped he was right.

by **Lilium** on June 7th, 2012, 10:53 am

Glancing at the hand on hers, Lilium stopped eating, listening to his words as she stared at his darker skin tone against her pale one. She had eaten enough to feel full, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough. The roast was half gone and the potatoes too. As was a good serve of the cheese and a chunk of bread. The wine was close to being done, yet the pie remained untouched.

"You speak kind words...but you have only met me in the evening. When I wear this mask. During the day, you would see my true form, and you would not be so quick to correct me. Dressed in horns and locked in the throws of autumn. A mockery placed on me by Syna herself, a punishment for something I don't know I've done." Looking up at his intense green eyes, the somber woman shook her head.

"I have been on this mortal plane for over two hundred years, before that I saw the beginning of the end. There are things...in this world that I have...seen. Things I have done. She has done." Pausing, she stared at him, before taking a deep breath and smiling, gesturing at the pie.

"Please, share this with me. I am so full I want to burst, but I refuse to leave a good dessert intact." Cautiously, she squeezed the hand that held hers and looked at him with sincere crystalline eyes. It was so easy to fall into the misery that consumed her, balanced so precariously on the incoherent thoughts and feelings that dwelled in the abyss of her mind. Lilium could contain it during the evening, even though she struggled now. The day was another story. Would Marcus say such kind things during the day?

Why would she even think that? Did she plan on meeting him again so soon? It surprised the ethaefal when she realized that indeed she wanted to.

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 7th, 2012, 3:13 pm

Marcus smiled, hoping she would reply as such. He had not wished to impose, but this way, his curiosity demanded he follow up on her words. Marcus saw a challenge in her serious tone, as she spoke about the ethereal form that laid within her. Lilium held within her such morose memories that Marcus would never understand, despite any of his empathetic attempts. But so far, Marcus had no idea what was so bad about Lilium's divine transformation. He simply saw a mind damaged by a traumatically scarring moment, as it struggled to regain some semblance of normality. But the problems ran so much deeper than that...

The one concept that still evaded Marcus' mind's perspective was the immense amount of time that had soaked Lilium's life. She had lived over ten times his own lifespan, and that simply after the Valterrian; after the fall that changed her forever. Marcus gazed tenderly into her eyes as she looked up at him, his attention fully on the sorrowful woman before him. He listened to her words as she reflected on memories best left dormant, that Marcus could see were not as cheery and upbeat as he had assumed. His gentle smile became an encouraging smirk as he spoke, interrupting Lilium's introspective pause. His words carried a confident and eager tone, as Marcus accepted her challenge-of-sorts. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to just to see for myself how monstrous and vile this dark side of you is."

When Lilium offered to share her dessert, Marcus felt the tone lift out of the chasm it had fallen into, and he welcomed the lighter feeling. Depressed women were double threat to Marcus, due to his chivalric complex and his innate curiosity, and he found himself thinking clearer and calmer when faced with a gentle smile. Returning her expression in kind, Marcus took his fork in his hand and leaned over the table to take a scoop of pie. He smirked to her as he precariously carried the slice back to, jesting with her in a playful tone. "It seems like you're no match for a buffet." He slid the pie past his lips and savored the sweet medley of flavors. Marcus smiled over to his curious companion as he brought a finger up, sliding a piece of cream from his lips, and licking it off his finger. He was not one for sweets, but he was in no position to refuse her kind offer, especially with the mood around them. Marcus smirked as he went in for another piece, making sure they finished the pie, as he worked to extend this brief bout of happiness she had in his own way.

"So, what are your plans for the rest of the night, my darling monster?"

by **Lilium** on June 9th, 2012, 12:35 am

Watching with a smile as the scholar took up her offer of dessert, Lilium used her fork to break off a piece and pop it into her mouth, savoring the sweet cinnamony taste of caramelized apples and sugar. The cream broke through the sweetness with a rich decadence that complimented the dessert just so. Taking a few more mouthfuls, she finally put down her fork and sat back with the last of her wine in hand, looking down at the decimated food with a curious face.

"Find yourself with me in the day, and you can meet my beast."

At his comment, the ethaefal paused for a moment, before chuckling and shaking her head. The emerald eyed Marcus amazed her at his ability to transcend over her moment of darkness. Indeed, she had seen lesser men give her a curious look that indicated they thought her mad and bid her a quick good night. Sipping at her wine, the konti hummed curiously.

"I have indeed found myself bested by this meal. But it was worth it. What shall I be doing...well, on a normal night, I would now be singing in some tavern to pay for my meal and board. But on a normal night I don't often find myself in the company of sweet-mouthed scholars with a taste for the...ancient." Her eyebrow lifted slightly as she spoke, placing the glass gently on the table between various food items.

"Shall we walk perhaps? I would like to see the stars, and I will eventually need to find somewhere to take up board." She didn't say it, but the pale creature didn't want to bid the man farewell so soon. Standing, she nodded to the gentleman at the front on the way out, allowing Marcus to take her arm again if it so pleased him. As they walked slowly from the mess hall she would allow him to guide her steps.

"Tell me, Marc. How many others have you met, like me? Ethaefal?"

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 9th, 2012, 1:39 am

Marcus was growing quite fond of this doubtfully-divine woman, and his curiosity concerning her other 'half' was ferocious. Upon mention of a place to board up for the night, Marcus took a quick note, eager to lend her his bed if it meant prolonging their curious meeting. A small chuckle slipped past the young student's lips as he thought back on that idea, standing from his seat. That would be the first time he'd have a woman in his bed on the first day meeting her. Passing it off as playful laughter, Marcus walked over and took her arm into his own, smiling down to her. "Shall we depart, mi lady?"

Leaving the University grounds, Marcus decided upon taking a stroll to the Storm Shrine, out on the foothills skirting the city. Overlooking Zeltiva, the shrine would provide a lovely view of the stars, and Marcus was eager to help his new companion make the best of her time. Thankfully, it would not be a walk filled with awkward silence, and Marcus smiled as he answered her question with a casual tone. "You are the first person I know to fall from the heavens. Before tonight, I have only read about your kind vaguely spread out through books." He smirked over to her, surprised to find a lot of his inhibition no where to be found. "I must say though, I prefer the real version over the textbook definitions." Marcus relished the feel of her soft form against his side as he pulled her linked arm closer to him, playfully accentuating his words. His smile was radiating, and his emerald orbs gleamed with calm glee. It had been a while since he met a woman who he got along with, and he should have known it would been someone literally foreign to this world.

As the pair of curious people started up the subtle hill, following the path to the shrine, Marcus came up with a question of his own, his curiosity demanding some form of release. His memory was matched only by his curiosity, and this acted as a double-edged sword at times. "You mentioned earlier about a man you knew with 'eyes as blue as mine are green', but a bit skewed. I'm curious, but who was this man?" Marcus held a gentle smile, ready to retract his words at a moments notice. Gods knew he would hate to bring up any dreadful memories of centuries past.

It was interesting dealing with a woman who walked through time itself.

by **Lilium** on June 10th, 2012, 3:56 am

Lilium smiled as he spoke, her blue eyes looking into the distance as she seemed to dredge up something remembered from her current past, allowing herself to be pulled closer as she recited words the sounded like they were familiar.

""She simply did not belong. I can think of no other way to describe it. She was too sacred and lovely to walk on dirt and stones, to wear common cloth, to ask for bread. Having her here was like cleaning a latrine with silk." Chuckling, the konti tilted her head.

"Fineas Bead was always fawning over the beast, like it was some Goddess fallen to his lap. A Collection of Ethaefal Accounts, I believe he called it. I remember telling him it was a ridiculous book, but well...men are what they are." As they climbed the slight incline, the pale skinned creature realized she knew the path they walked. They were moving towards the Storm Shrine, a temple created for the devotion of Zulrav, fashioned in a similar style to the holds of the City of Ice and Snow. That must give Morwen cause to chuckle, a temple created for another deity, fashioned in the style of Her children's houses. Lilium smiled silently to herself at the thought.

At his question, the konti nodded slightly, glancing up at the luminous moon staring down at them.

"Indeed, I did say that. He was like me, the first ethaefal I had met since my fall. A beautiful creature, Son of Leth. The moon brought his change. When I met him, he still believed in faith, and honor." Her smile seemed to be mocking the past.

"He still believed we would go home." Turning her gaze to Marcus, she shook her head.

"A youth, by our standards, still believing Father dear loved him and would rescue him from mortality. Poor child. He had not seen the things I had seen, not yet." Her smile faded again, and the blonde sighed.

"Perhaps, if there is anything I regret since returning to this world, it is him." Brow creased slightly, she left it at that, not explaining what it was she regretted about the ethaefal with tidepool eyes. Focusing on Marcus again, she shrugged.

"That was about one hundred years or more ago though. Give or take."

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 10th, 2012, 4:34 am

Marcus let out a soft chuckle, scratching the back of his head as they continued their stroll. His mind had no true response to this story, as he found himself dumbfounded by the passing of time. A year of Marcus' life would be like a moment in Lilium's, and the very thought perplexed the young scholar. Regardless, it was obvious to him that his divine companion looked back fondly on this man, but the story still carried with it a somber tone, which Marcus was beginning to expect with her years past. It seemed that all of the memories of the past, oh, two centuries, carried with them some unspoken horror, which Lilium was kind in not sharing. However, keeping such things bottled up was unhealthy, at least for a mortal human being. Then again, this woman truly had something unspoken bottled up within her, and whether or not it was truly a horror would be left to Marcus to find out. Returning to reality, Marcus faintly smiled to her, hoping to bring her out of this introspective melancholy. In usual form however, this situation only solidified his determination to help her make the best of her time with him.

He flashed her a genuine smile as he spoke, his voice remaining in its calm and welcoming tone. "Live in the present, and seek out the past. That's my take on life. You've already done enough for the past, so I do believe you've earned some care-free living, don't you?" He smirked to her as they reached the shrine, taking her by the hand to a grassy overlook on the other side of the august structure. The starry sky hung gloriously above them, the abode of the gods looking over the couple. Marcus glanced over for a moment, before striding out before her towards the edge of the hill, turning to face her with a playful smirk. He waved his arms before him, as if he was presenting the entire sky to her as a gift, as his voice came out once more, this time carrying an energetic feeling alongside his words.

"Now then, let's live in the present my dear, if only for tonight."

by **Lilium** on June 11th, 2012, 12:30 am

Looking up at the vast starry sky, the blue eyed woman could see them. The constellations. They were readable, all of them, a map across the world to guide those who chose to look. Coming closer to the man as he smiled at her, Lilium sought out a familiar set of stars and nodded in their direction.

"The Lily of the Gods. That's the constellation of my namesake." She said with a smile, before turning to face the scholar. His emerald eyes and excitable tone of voice caught her, and the fallen creature couldn't stay in the past. Indeed, living for the present, isn't that what she strived to do every night? All this sadness and anger and thoughts of the past. She kept these things away from the night, saved them for the day. It was harder to keep them away during the day, when every mirror and window and shimmering pool of water reminded her of the death that hung to her like some putrid smell.

"Living in the present, that sounds like a good idea. Even if its only for the night." A cool evening breeze blew up from the grassy hillside and swept over the pair, bathed in the glow of Leth's light. Lilium continued to look at the face of her companion, searching his gaze and caught in the rich emerald light that seemed to dwell just beyond. Just out of reach. There were secrets in him, the scholar. Things that she didn't ask about, yet wondered anyway. Reaching out, the woman pressed her hand to his cheek gently, smiling still. Standing on her toes slightly, the scaled konti pressed her pale pink lips to his softly.

"Thank you Marc, for your kindness tonight. You remind me that even if I am bound to this mortal plane for eternity, there are reasons to enjoy it. Like I said, you see the story not just the sounds. Plus, it was altogether rather fun playing the part of your...companion." Her smile widened and she laughed slightly before trailing off. Withdrawing her hand, the ethaefal breathed in the sweet scent of summer grass.

"I do so love the evening."

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 11th, 2012, 1:23 am

The stars shone with a warm luminescence this night, as Marcus stood with his lovely new friend and watched as she pointed out her namesake. It was a strange feeling, watching this divine woman point to the stars as Marcus would point to the docks. To her, the sky was her home, back with the realm of the gods. Yet she had gotten stuck here on the little chunk of rock Marcus resided in, and for a brief moment, as his mind made the shift from his thoughts to the tangible world before him, a small whisper in his mind gave him a slight surprise.

The Valterrian wasn't all bad I suppose...

He had no time to think upon that thought however, as his mind was suddenly entranced by her gaze, which carried an infectious quality to it. It was a scene straight out of a storybook, and Marcus held back a chuckle at the cliched nature, the foreign princess falling from the sky into the lap of a common shopkeeper, and as they stared at each-other, they instantly fell in love. Perhaps Marcus was not completely head-over-heels for this woman yet, but he would be lying if he didn't care for her. He had always had a sweet spot for troubled women, and Lilium's problems stood for quite a long list. He felt there was no way he could be happier as he stood there, the subtle breeze running through the foothills. But he was mistaken.

And for once in his life, he was sincerely glad to be wrong.

Marcus had never been too good with building relationships during his younger years, considering most of his peers to be too normal for him, and airing a sort of superiority in his strange nature. Perhaps that was why this kiss was so meaningful for him. His entire life these days was centered around the strange and the interesting, and a near-complete shunning of the ordinary. Marcus' mind felt a wave of calm crashing over it, as his lips tingled with her gentle touch; a feather couldn't have laid lighter. His mind wanted to hold her head and prolong this moment, and as he stood there, frozen in time, his thoughts turned to more masculine devices, which he quickly shunned from his mind. Those were the last things he needed to be thinking about right now.

Knowing he had to act, lest he look like a schoolboy, Marcus simply flashed his characteristic gleeful smirk, as his slurred mind struggled to come up with something to say. His voice came out sketchy, and flustered was perhaps an understatement. "It was, uhm... Fun to have you in the role. Of my companion that is." He scratched the back of his head nervously with a sigh, finally admitting to himself he had lost his composure, and gave himself a moment to regain his bearings. Chuckling, Marcus sat down to face the city below, speaking once more as he gazed down at Zeltiva. His voice was more calm now, more akin to his usual tone, although it was obvious from his expression that he was still somewhat lost by the moment. "Well, Congratulations Lilium. You definitely caught me off-guard with that one..." Laying down on the grassy hill, Marcus gazed up at the sky and simply lived in the moment, enjoying the peace and tranquility occupying his mind while it lasted.

Lilium wasn't the only person trying to hold onto the present.