Shadows Cast By Sunlight (Lilium)

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 14th, 2012, 4:12 pm

8th Day of Summer, 512 A.V.

The dorm was dark, faint moonlight unable to illuminate such a space, but the dark was both welcome and hurried this night. For one, the darkness brought release from the past, and for the other, hesitation towards the future. The young scholar unable to sleep was the latter.

Marcus laid quietly on the floor of his room, a permanent smile emblazoned across his face. To be correct, it was actually his cloak that laid quietly on the floor, another secret below that, and he atop his cloak. He silently rested, his mind meticulously piecing together imagined renditions of Lilium's divinity. As opposed to most of his scholarly class, Marcus was not above sleeping on the rough stone below him; he had occasionally had to do just that even back in his home. Still, nothing could damper this evening, and his nerves were jumping with eager excitement. He had slept on and off throughout the night, but as it grew closer to dawn, Marcus could not allow himself to miss such a magnificent event. A metamorphosis of an angel into a supposed demon was not something that occurred often, although if it was to happen anywhere, Marcus would've guessed it ended up at the University.

The dawn was swiftly approaching, but Marcus was a gentleman before a scholar, although the lead was short on that count. He did not bounce to his feet, hovering above her like a cook studies fruit at a stall. He did not pull out ink and parchment to begin transcribing the events like an elderly chronicler. No, he did no such thing, and laying on his makeshift bed, Marcus did not stir. He was content to let the sun rise and allow Syna to conduct her grace. If he so happened to catch a glimpse of the transformation, no harm done, right? And so he waited, his head tilted forward despite the quickly-forming crook in his neck, and watched as the sky outside subtly changed it's tint, from a dark purple, closer to the light sea-blue he was calmly awaiting. His radiant smile remained, as the excitement built up. Minute by minute time slowly passed. Marcus had sat up as to view the rising sun without breaking his neck, and slowly the realization crept in that she would not stay that long. Marcus set his steel will to making sure that didn't happen, but that thought only let other fiends of doubt into his curiously overactive mind. His hand absentmindedly found its way to the bulge of his sword hilt, hidden under his cloak, as Marcus imagined a scene of a roaring demon galloping around in his room.

He had to work to hold in his laughter.

But his fears were perhaps confirmed, as he heard the silent and rehearsed rustling of a person escaping, like a mistress leaving her patron's side. Luckily, Marcus had gotten the short straw, and the sheet of his bed was the most annoying piece of cloth imaginable. He swore multiple times that it was an entirely new material that rustled on touch, but this night it proved its use. Marcus held his tongue for a moment, before laying back down onto his 'bed'. His voice came out with a slightly amused tone as he spoke to no one in particular. Perhaps the ceiling would care to listen.

"It's about time to get up and run, eh?"

by **Lilium** on June 15th, 2012, 12:42 pm

Lilium had slept, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. But it was not peace that she found when the conversations between herself and Marcus faded into nothing and their voices silenced. In the abyss of her mind, it was darker than any night she had faced. Flittering images danced across her vision. Faces, crying, bleeding. Smoke, she could smell the smoke from guttering rooftops and the bodies as they burned. Limbs and tentacles, torn forcefully from smooth bodies and frightened creatures. She could see herself standing between bodies and lost weapons, spears protruding from the battlefield. Somewhere in the distance some poor soul cried and cried and cried. But it wasn't some poor soul, slowly she looked down at shimmering copper hands. Her hands, dripping with the blood of so many. It was her, she was crying. And slowly, she laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

With a start, Lilium opened her eyes, heart almost jumping out of her chest. In the darkened room, it took the woman a moment to recall where she was. Marcus, yes that's right. He had offered her a place to rest her head, without ungentlemanly requests or expectations. Her lips turned up in a small smile as her head shifted to the side to look out the window. As quickly as it had come, her smile faded. The sky had already started to change, to lighten, as the sun rose from under the horizon. And as it came up, so to would she change. Panic gripped the blond woman, unwilling to allow Marcus to see the monster she became. Last night, the morning had seemed so far away, but now it was here - and about to break into the day.

Moving the sheet, Lilium cursed silently as the material rustled like some dried out leaf, seeming to become louder the harder she tried to keep it quiet. Curse this petching sheet. Sliding to her side, the konti sat up and made to stand.

"It's about time to get up and run, eh?"

Sighing, Lilium no longer tried to hide her escape. She sat quietly on the bed and shook her head.

"I told you, Marc..I am different in the day. Last night I said things, about allowing you to see the change. I was...it is..." Her eyes lifted to the window and with a sad shake of her head, the ethaefal stood.

"Gods damn you and your emerald gaze, I warned you. I warned you." With all the glory that the songs eluded to, Syna's great light burst across the landscape in a brilliant sunrise. It reached the scholars window and touched the skin of the ethaefal. Her features slowly began to morph as the light bathed her face. Skin darkened to an almost apple cider shade, shimmering in tones of rose gold where the sunlight kissed her skin. Her hair turned towards a rich auburn color, red as the sunset on a summer day, swiftly moving from root to tip. From either side of her head, a pair of golden horns emerged, twisting down and curling back. Her features seemed to get more refined, cheekbones and nose becoming something only sculptures would carve, and her height grew slightly. Finally, pale blue eyes turned to face Marcus, shifting with liquid fluidness to a rich golden amber. Dressed in all her horned glory, Lilium shook her head.

"This is what I am, your relic come to life. The beast woken from her nap. Happy?" Her tone was sad, reserved..as though reliving some unspoken nightmare. Lifting her hand, the celestial creature turned it, examined it. Slowly her fingers clawed into nothing.,and with a frown, she lowered it again.

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 15th, 2012, 4:21 pm

Marcus watched with profound curiosity as the sun touched her Konti form, transfiguring herself into a body that couldn't help but be called divine. Her graceful curves subtly became works of art; ocean waves upon sunset skin. Her face became a perfectly carved bust of Syna, and Marcus tried not to focus on her actual bust. Taking it in was a breathtaking feeling, that made the young scholar almost begin rattling off a dozen dozens of question; How did it feel to change? Are the changes always the same? Do you have different clothes for your different forms? Regardless of his curiosity however Marcus knew how Lilium felt about this divinity of hers, this curse, and the student sat in front of the bed was beginning to understand why. She was a creature loved and cherished by the gods, and after being left alone on this mortal plane, there would be no rescue. If Syna had come come to pluck her up in two centuries, even Marcus had his doubts about her salvation. And so he decided; he was going to brighten her day as he did her night.

Marcus got to his feet, his body slightly stiff from the restless night, but he stood nonetheless. The cool summer breeze kept the room a perfect temperature, and so the ex-dockworker had not even noticed the absence of his shirt. Also out of his mind was the sword hidden underneath his cloak, which he had taken off to lay firmly on the ground as bedding. Marcus' emerald eyes seemed to gleam with curiosity and good cheer, even in the shadow of the rising sun. His back was to the window as he faced the godly woman before him, standing in silence as he gazed at her. This time, his eyes did not stray from hers, almost as if there was an unannounced staring contest at play. He waited longer yet, his arms crossed as he made a motion to look out the window, before chuckling. He flashed her his usual playful smirk as he spoke, his voice tender in the warm summer air. "Well, I'm not dead yet. That's usually what happens when people meet demons, is it not?" He hoped the jest would break the sheet of ice covering this sorrowful maiden, as he walked over to her, reaching out to take her hand. Back in the recesses of his mind, Marcus was prepared to step back and haste his way to the blade hidden beneath his cloak. But he shut that part out, caution being thrown to the wind as usual. He reached out to hold her hand tenderly in his own, and spoke one calming phrase that he hoped would soothe the demon within her. He offered her something she hadn't actually seen in years.

"Let me show you true sunlight." He wasn't talking about Syna this time.

by **Lilium** on June 16th, 2012, 11:31 am

Even in her ethaefal form, Lilium could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. As the scholar stood, figure now visible silhouetted in the morning light, the red haired creature realized his clothing was less than it had been last night. His shirt had vanished, exposing a nicely shaped torso to the godling dressed still in her white gown. Cheeks turning a deeper shade than the rest of her form, the ageless woman kept her molten gold gaze on the emerald eyes that stared back at her, almost defiantly. Marcus flashed her a smile and spoke briefly, jesting lightly about her comments from the night prior.

The bodies, broken and bleeding. Hands clawed in throws of death, broken and torn.

Painfully, Lilium closed her eyes, forcing the images out of her mind. They taunted her, teased her. They haunted her, twisting into the reality she lived in. Her hold was slipping already, why was she still here? Why had Syna let her fall? Gods, and Goddess...sins of the world brought into Divinity. Damn..damned...

A hand touched her own, drawing the autumn touched creature back into the here-and-now. Her eyes opened quickly and glanced down at their joined hands. It was a strange feeling, mortal flesh on ageless. The scholars skin felt warmer that her own, and the tender moment washed away the rotting memories in her mind. Glancing up through scarlet locks that had fallen in front of her face, Lilium allowed herself to smile.

"Indeed, you have survived for the moment, it might possibly be your manner of clothing - or lack there of - that has helped with that." The blush crept down across her throat and disappeared into the low cut 'v' of her white dress.

"True sunlight, you say? I'm not sure there is anything to Syna's wretched gaze that I haven't already seen." Her amber eyes searched his face, seeking the need to believe his words. Two hundred years on this cold, unforgiving rock...she wanted so badly to believe something good could come of it. And Marcus caught her curiosity with his behavior towards her, stirred something in her she could not quite recall. A memory of a time far beyond this life, and her last. A time where a stormy faced man and a beautiful white woman smiled down at her and made her feel safe. And loved.

"Morning sings to you, but I hear only the choking cries of burned souls. Maybe you can teach me how to hear its song above them."

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 16th, 2012, 5:01 pm

The only thing more impressive to Marcus than the sight of this divine woman was the sight of this divine woman suddenly stricken crimson. Marcus innocently smiled to Lilium as her cheeks began to compliment her newly-colored hair, and a part of his mind was proud to know he could still do that to a woman, let alone a fallen angel. Another part of his mind was even further thrilled to see that she was not all that different from her night-borne self. She seemed more prone to her introspective fits, but perhaps that was simply something she hid better during the night. It was a curious reaction, but not an unwelcome one.

His determination to share his so-called sunlight was only exaggerated, akin to throwing oil on a campfire.

Marcus smirked playfully to Lilium, his emerald spheres glowing for a moment. This was peculiar, in so that the young scholar had his back to the window, his shadowed face contrasting his cheery demeanor. Now, glowing is not an understatement in this case. A visible vibrancy came to the green eyes that had seen many things and read many tomes. It flickered a few times, a controlled grin remaining on Marcus' features before returning to his simple, glow-like emerald green. Storytellers may use the phrase liberally at the nearby tavern, but there is no other way to describe this peculiar phenomena.

The shirtless scholar knew the phrase, 'If you care for a woman, prepare to tear your heart out.' Marcus chuckled inside the safety his mind as perhaps he was one of the first to truly come close to that. A small stream of faint mist slowly surrounded Marcus' left arm, a tinge of green to the air around it, but otherwise invisible to the eye. The small extrusion was nothing for the experienced Reimancer, but the sensation of loss could not be evaded; it was simply redirected. He smiled, perhaps for the first time having this loss of himself cosnsoled by a woman's smile. The voice that had calmed her all through the night came up once more, this time with a comforting tone that shared her peculiarity, and even a tinge of repressed sorrow. Marcus raised his hand as he spoke, motioning to place hers in his own. "You are not the only one with secrets to be shared and memories to forget." He focused carefully on the res around him, cautiously keeping it sparse and light. The man knew when to show his tricks and when to hold them in his sleeves.

"The thing about the sun is, you have to come out of the shade to see it."

by **Lilium** on June 17th, 2012, 5:13 am

Lilium watched Marcus' face with curiosity as from the shadows of his silhouette those intriguing green eyes started to illuminate, glowing with a flickering brightness from somewhere beyond that which they knew. A brief look of curiosity crossed across her face as the celestial being stared at him.

"Light from within, bursting for release. A curious thing, yes indeed." Slowly, as the glowing subsided, the ethaefals eyes shifted down to the man's hand as he extended it to her. Unaware of anything out of sorts, apart from the fascinating glow from his eyes, Lilium took it gently. She didn't fear him, she feared nothing. Not because she was brave or stoic, but because she lived with fear and horror every day and night whenever she closed her eyes our found herself reminiscing to much. If the scholar had in fact been sent by something or someone to be the end of her miserable life - the ethaefal welcomed him whole heartedly.

As the man spoke, Lilium tilted her head and looked at him, smiling and cheeks still slightly red.

"Memories are never forgotten, secrets never forget. They hold you and dig their clawed hands into the secret corners of your soul, and taunt you from where you can't reach them." Her smile turned into a soft chuckle, before her brow drew together and her head shook slightly.

"I don't want to see the sun, She ripped me from her womb and threw me to the dirt. I slowly rot, this body decaying and dying with every moment I am in it. And Syna does not care to see me, nor I her. There is peace in the shade." Her hand tightened on his own, if only for a moment, before she took a deep breath and sighed. At least with her hand in his, she didn't see the faces of the bodies she helped decimate.

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 17th, 2012, 1:26 pm

Marcus smiled brightly to his divinely-sorrowed companion as he felt the gentle cool of her hand against his. Her difference was comforting, akin to a shaving of ice placed on a hard-worked brow. Her difference was actually attractive to the young scholar, who still remained with a deeply-rooted complex against the normal and ordinary. For the first time in his life, he was able to play the part of the gallant hero, or at least somewhat close to him, and that fulfilled another complex of his.

Marcus was not a perfect man.

That said, his smile remained gleaming as she spoke of the safety in the shadows, half of Marcus' mind focusing on her words, and the other half tending to his ethereal gas. It had taken months of practice in order to get comfortable splitting his thoughts up, but when he finally understood the feeling of it, the uses were limitless. His res slithered it's way around their arms in a double helix-sort of shape. Marcus used his favorite technique of imagining snakes hovering just above their arms. He loved snakes. As he condensed the gas in order to form these hazy shapes, it became thick enough to be visible, the light green cloud swirling in an undulating pattern along their joined arms. He spoke, concealing his effort well behind a facade of innocence, and if a playful grin had crept onto his face, one could have imagined he was unaware of the strange cloud. His words carried a more elegant tone to them, as he sunk more deeply into the role he played.

"The shade is an illusion my dear. Without the sun, there would be no shade, only darkness. And there is no safety in darkness. If you despise the sun so much, walk out among its rays, conduct your business, and laugh and be merry before it. Spite it so, and you'll find the day is not something to be feared." He held her hand tenderly as he continued, his face showing a momentary strain as the gas transformed into streams of suspended water. This trick was always a mess, and Marcus decided to focus on that instead of his lecture. He closed his mouth, poised to speak, and focused as his mind drew up a mental image of the snakes slithering behind him to create a heart over his shoulder. "You have lived for two hundred years, and I'm certain you will live two hundred more. With a heart as strong as yours, how could you not?" He had hoped he'd guess the angle right, his voice nothing but a distraction, but Marcus did have his streaks of caution. Ensuring she'd see the climax of his show in full view, the eager scholar pulled Lilium close to him, one deft motion with her hand in his, and held her in an embrace. Over his shoulder hung a heart suspended by pure will (And a small core of res), illuminated beautifully by the rising sun. Even through his concentration, Marcus smiled as he held her, eager to share what warmth he had with this woman who had gone through so much. Holding it softly in his arms, Marcus hoped he had distracted her from whatever plagued her mind. It was the least he could do.

Pulling away for a moment, Marcus looked over his shoulder as with a powerful push, the heart collapsed into an unshaped blob surrounding the central core of untransmuted res, and was propelled out of the open window. In a situation where you only required a second or two of control to set the trajectory of something, full-transmutation was a viable option, and orders of magnitude better for the magician. Glad to be ridden of that drain on his mind, Marcus grinned playfully, as he went to do what even his scholarly concentration could not hold up against. A slight inching forward was all he needed to press his lips up against hers, the warmth of their bodies tenderly creating a conduit of sorts. He held this as long as he was able, with one thought running through his mind.

Now we're even...

by **Lilium** on June 18th, 2012, 1:33 am

Curiosity filled the ethaefal's mind as she slowly saw the slithering conjuration swirling around their arms. Her amber eyes moved with the gas, fascinated by it. There had been men and women she had known in her years, sorcerers whom were able to control the elements around them. Sometimes they had been good, kind people. Some had been bad. Blood thirsty warriors smiting people on the battlefield with burning fireballs and liquid flame. The smell...she remembered the smell.

Marcus spoke, talking of her life gone and her life still to come. But the idea of living another two hundred years sent a shiver of horror through the golden woman. How little she wanted to be here, in this form, feeling it withering and dying all around her soul. Or what was left of it.

Memories fading to the back of her mind, Lilium was captured by the shirtless man quite suddenly, pulled into an embrace which caused the creature to stiffen. Her eyes widened and hands reached for the three pronged weapon that usually hung on her belt. The belt she had stupidly taken off and hung on Marcus' bedpost. Her hands moved to rest against his shoulders and her sanity began to waiver. The light began to darken, to disappear, as the abyss within her mind threatened to take over. Wild animalistic eyes glanced toward the bed, to the man and finally caught sight of the image suspended in the window. Her movements stilled and the threatening blackness was pushed back into the depths where it belonged. A heart all made of crystal clear water, rippling slightly as it hung in her view, illuminated by the sunlight behind it and splitting the rays into a kaleidoscope of colors that painted the room in reds, greens, purples and blues. The instinct to fight disappeared as her racing heartbeat settled and her breath caught in her throat.

"By the stars..." She whispered in awe, before the beautiful creation suddenly dispersed out the open window and into the light of day. Turning her gaze to the emerald eyes that looked into her own golden gaze, Lilium felt the same blush from before creep into her cheeks. The sorcerers skin pressed against her own where her soft white gown didn't cover, and a thousand drums seemed to beat inside her chest. And with the next indrawn breath, Marcus' lips were pressed to her own. A kiss, stolen in the confines of a gentleman's bedroom. How terribly improper. Gently, the ethaefal's fingers curled against his bare skin and her amber eyes closed. With a soft sigh, Lilium returned his kiss, allowing herself a moment bathed in his shared normality and drowning in the feeling he stirred in her.

Slowly, her returned kiss became firmer, more passionate. Her brow furrowed as her mouth eagerly accepted what he had offered to her, hands moving to lace fingers in dark cropped hair. The morning sunlight glinted off golden horns as the celestial woman tilted her head slightly. Breathing suddenly heavier, Lilium allowed her teeth to graze his lip, her brow deeply creased. Her mind was empty, without haunting images or violent tenancies. For the first time in a long, long time, she felt...normal. It was like a drug, and Marcus her instigator. The autumn godling let her old-fashioned values fly out the window with his beautiful water creation. She was at his mercy, at least for the moment.

by **Marcus Dymez** on June 18th, 2012, 3:11 am

He was glad to hear her muttered words; more so than anyone could imagine. While the University professors tended to promote the more altruistic and professional applications of Reimancy, anyone who had a basic grasp of the art reveled in the combat aspects of it. Marcus included. The fact remained however, that a small a part of him was glad for these moments to mend instead of damage. Especially with a woman as lovely as Lilium. But his action to follow was not fully thought through...

Marcus was no stranger to kissing, or even the more intimate aspects of women. He had gone through the wisps of youth just as any other child had, and he had shared in the fleeting romances of adolescence. However, his earlier relationships were never more than awkwardly short-lived flings, his mind always finding faults where he didn't wish to pry. His curiosity urged him to dig deeper, and he soon found that most woman who made their company around common people, where common themselves, and to Marcus, common was a shallow puddle for his limitless complex. Lilium though was more akin to a vast cavern, reaching so far down into the depths of the earth that one could not graze the bottom with Syna's own light.

It was exactly for this reason that Marcus had found himself earnestly surprised by the angel's subtle build of passion.

This is not to say that the young man was ungrateful. Far from it. Marcus felt a roaring fire inside his being that his mind was not used to. It was not the calm exertion of sword-fighting, or mental wearing of reimancy; those his mind could accompany. But the raw passion he felt was a strange sensation that had rarely found it's way to his curious exterior. And speaking of exterior, as Marcus fought to keep up with his slightly overwhelming maiden, his mind was actually in a state of panic. This was the part at which things historically tended to fall apart, as the young scholar began to frantically over-think the options before him, and the consequences of such. Where do my hands go? Should I be holding her tighter? Is she waiting for me to stop? The last question was answered quite briskly as Marcus felt the smooth sheen of Lilium's teeth along with the gentle wind of her breath. He knew this was the opening he was waiting for, and deftly made his parry.

Perhaps he was sword-fighting after all.

Marcus retreated his lips, a lot shorter of a distance than his mind had intended. His fierce passion shivered as he pulled away from her grace, and in reality he had barely pulled back half an inch. He orchestrated deep breaths, smoothly regulating his heart-rate in a combination of a sword-fighting exercise and a magicians mental technique. Only fueling his increasingly-confused mind, Marcus finally became aware of how tender and close Lilium truly was. The warm press of her breath was a devilish tease after their kiss, bringing out a tinge of irritation and a few unhealthy doses of playful ideas. The exotic sensation of Lilium's chest pressed against Marcus' bare skin only accelerated his growing passion, each heartbeat drumming against him like a sensual urge. His mind was filled with messages he was not prepared to handle, but there was one thing he knew would be necessary, and that was time.

And for the young scholar, sly words seemed to be fitting currency for time.

Even with his new determination however, Marcus knew he could not hold himself back completely; that would be like giving a man three kegs of ale to drink within a bell, only to take it all away within a minute. One had to attend to such things delicately, and so Marcus spoke between tender pecks, his lips bouncing against hers between words. It was a miracle he had any breath at all. "Lilium... I believe I've fallen under... your spell. I feel obliged... to tell you, I'm not very good with this-" Frustrated with a mind that would not clear, Marcus mustered a burst of willpower usually reserved for his wizardry, as he pulled his lips back, interrupting his staggered words. He felt his blood boiling beneath his skin as he forced himself apart from the divine woman before him.

Her chest rising and falling did not do much to help either.

Marcus gazed into her eyes, his emerald spheres burning with restrained desire. He was still growing accustomed to the sculpted features of her heavenly form, and his own body tore at him like a dog on a chain. "Lilium, I don't want you to fear life anymore, and for that I will do anything within my power. But I am on the brink of losing myself, and I don't know what else I can do. The thought of you is burning me up, and if we keep course, my passion will get the best of me." Marcus' cheeks grew slightly rosy as the words slipped past his filter, not to mention the unmentionable strain against his trousers. His voice was heavy, both in breath and tone, as his words rang through the hot air between them. The young scholar's mind hung by a frayed thread above the fire in his heart, his skin hot to the touch. Managing to pull a hand up to stroke one of her flushed cheeks (Not those cheeks), Marcus spoke up once again, revealing his capability to stop himself, even if his eyes said otherwise.

"Sunshine be damned... Some things reside in the shadows for a reason..."

by **Lilium** on June 18th, 2012, 5:43 am

Lost in the moment, Lilium could feel the stirring deep within her, a raw unbridled thing ready to rend flesh from limb in a moments notice. Her fingers tightened on his hair and her breathing steadily increased as he spoke against her lips. Under her spell, rather the opposite it seemed. And quite suddenly, Marcus pulled away completely, breaking the overwhelming tide that had crept up on her.

Standing in his arms, bodies pressed together and eyes locked, the abandoned child of Syna blinked in confusion, drawing herself back to his words. Flushed and trying to control her breathing, the woman withdrew her hands from his head and pressed her fingers into fists. It occurred to her then, what she had done. In a moment of peace and sinless serenity she had become the monster. Again. Gods, no..no.

"Shadows...yes. Somethings should remain in the shadows." Her voice was but a whisper, and with sudden tears in her eyes the ethaefal drew away from him and turned to gather her belt with trembling hands.

"I am so sorry. Marc, you would do well to keep away from me. This cannot be, not with this." Her hands gestured to her body sheathed in autumn, glancing at his emerald eyes, Lilium shook her head.

"Do not fall for this...facade. You are young, and good. You are a talented spell caster and life is just waiting for you to take it. I am the shadows Marcus. I am Death walking in flesh. Men have died for me, with me. I have murdered hundreds...I see them...I see their eyes, the dead eyes. The broken little bodies..." Tears threatened to spill as the golden celestial pressed her hands to her head. The abyss was growing, threatening.

The bodies broken...bleeding all bleeding all...

"I need to go, and you need to stay here..away from me." Lowering her hands, her voice contrastingly calm compared to the insanity that screamed to be released, Lilium made a move for the door.