07-08-2018, 11:54 PM
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Alex+Brush|Yanone+Kaffeesatz|Armata' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><center><div style="position:relative; width:480px; background:-webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(21,21,21,1) 40%, rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%); padding:0px 10px 10px 10px; border:1px solid #000;border-left:15px solid #333; border-right:15px solid #333;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/51uUi6R.jpg"><div style="position:relative;background:#000;padding:10px 10px 30px 10px;border:1px solid #eee; border-bottom:0px; border-radius: 30%/45px; font-family:armata; font-size: 12px; color:#fffce5; text-align:justify; margin:-150px 0px -10px 0px;"><center><font style="color:#800000; font:14px yanone kaffeesatz, sans-serif;">the first time he calls you holy, you laugh it back so hard your sides hurt.
the second time, you moan gospel around his fingers between your teeth.</font></center>
Time has no meaning here, anymore. Eyes circle, swirl around her every moment and sometimes she sleeps, exhausted by the constant fear of whatever comes next. Virgo cannot see their faces in the pitch black but she hears them murmur as they plan and plot their test for her. The pin prick of light far above is gone so she thinks it must be night when she feels an icy palm find her side. She awakes abruptly and cries out as she tries to squirm away from that awful touch, but more hands simply rest against her skin from all sides.
This is it. This is the end.
“<font color=#800000>Please, please don’t…</font>”
There is a snap like bones cracking and tears flood from her bright eyes. She cannot see them, but the sister who wept earlier has broken her own horn as a sacrifice for the swarm. It aches and throbs but she knows that this is necessary. Whimpering, the child passes off the tar-black horn to another. Someone’s fingers locate Virgo’s heart as it beats wildly against her ribs and presses the point to her skin. They all embrace her and their terrified victim lets out a scream in a final plea for them to stop.
“<i>We’re sorry, Virgo,</i>” they murmur against her as they weep together now. The word ‘sorry’ echoes across all their lips and then they drive the horn into her as smoothly as they had flowed through one another before.
Pain becomes her existence, then. Agony erupts through her veins and she can’t even find her voice to cry anymore. Her muscles lock and she’s no longer aware of whether the children are holding her still. (<I>They continue to cling tight to her. Their love is too great to let her bear this pain alone.</i>)
As her consciousness blossoms open within the hive, the children’s skin illuminates like stars in the twilight of the lake’s depths. They release her once the worst is over and scurry back to observe the change. It begins slowly, at first, with creaks and groans as her bones shift into their new positions. She becomes something vaguely feline in shape but maintains her long neck, though less broad and much more refined. Her stomach slims and she becomes streamlined like a greyhound or a cheetah, built for speed and the hunt. Two rows of curved fangs push her prey animal teeth out from her jaws in a cloud of red water. From the horn in her chest, something like black ink spreads across her skin and hides every inch of gray that she had been before.
“<I>Please…</i>” one of the children prays despite their gods failing them before. Maybe this time they’ll take pity on them all.
Her hooves are pushed off like old shoes as talons bud from her front legs, swiping at the air and snatching at nothing. Her rear legs grown three long, clawed toes each with a large dew claw-like ancient raptor feet. The hive children murmur excitedly as a new set of legs cracks out from the center of her spine. Though half as long as the other limbs, they boast two finger-like claws and even opposable thumbs with equally impressive nails.
Eons ago, the children had seen predators latch onto prey with such hands. Each made note of this while the forelegs tore the poor meal asunder. They knew they must test Virgo with power and watch how it changed her, watch how she used strength after being so weak for so long.
Though her vision is blurred and weak even with the starlight of the children, she finds herself able to see in vibrant colors now. Her eyes blink, though they are not her eyes. A new set stares just above the old, winking and watching the world through some serpent’s thermal vision. Virgo feels dizzy and the eyes swirl across her skin as the children’s had in their behemoth shape before. She wants to vomit. She wants to wake up from this fever dream.
She has not noticed that her tail has split into three halfway along its length. The ends curl slightly and the long strands mimic the shape of a peacock’s glorious tail, luxurious like the train of a queen’s wedding gown. Despite all her sharp edges and ragged claws, there is beauty in the danger of what she has become. Even the children are in awe of the elegance such a monster could possess. They stare at her, wide-eyed until one steps closer to the writhing girl.
He reaches out and skims his fingertips across the perfectly smooth skin along her ribs, then along the barbs that have grown more pronounced along her spine. Her body ripples beneath his touch like the lake’s surface and grows white where ever he touches. Before their eyes, she has become piebald and the pink-white skin seems to glow in their light.
Then, the snow-colored patches of her coat grow transparent.
Only her bones show through the crystalline skin, but there is muscle and tissue there despite the illusion. The child steps back and their jaws collectively fall open as they realize what a lovely abomination they have made. Little fish swim closer, unconcerned with the spectacle. They only wish to pick the bones clean as they have for centuries before. Orange, white, and shimmering silver fish, no larger than the children’s palms, swim between her ribs as casually as they might a rotting log. Glass takes the place of her skin in those previously open areas, trapping the fish inside. They will be her bait in the times to come. They will lure prey close enough for her twenty-six claws to sink into them.
She is solid once more. Somewhere, someone whispers her name, but her ears have changed and she finds she does not know how to move them anymore. The little lynx ears twist and turn in confusion but they cannot pinpoint anything just yet. The children gather close to her as their breath shudders in anticipation.
“<I>Breathe. Breathe. Walk. Run.</i>”
They command her and the words repeat all around her as they wait eagerly. Her size has hardly changed but she finds herself strong enough to step forward with one of her new dragon-clawed forelegs. Virgo’s mind struggles to form coherent thoughts but images come to her as easily as before. She takes another step, then the raptor feet follow suit until she has moved several meters. Her limbs are clumsy with their newfound power and the small fingers at her sides twitch uncomfortably. Her mouth opens to speak but the question withers on her tongue. The fish within her aquarium body continue to idly float between her ribs despite her frustration.
Even now, she thinks of Eerie. She cries as she remembers how she’d laugh at Virgo, twisting and fighting the magic that held her prisoner back then. She is helpless again, a slave to their games.
“<I>Don’t cry. Don’t be afraid, please,</i>” a girl says in a whimpering voice as she reaches up and takes Virgo’s face in her small hands. At last, she can see her face in the dim light of their star-skin. The child is afraid and fighting back her own tears. Somewhere in Virgo’s mind, the word ‘sister’ echoes across her thoughts. The swarm-child presses her lips to Virgo’s reptile nose and another pets the area her mane used to be. Her muscles shake a little less. They are hideous, broken things, but she begins to wonder if they are not as terrible as she thought.
<I>Reality is subjective, Virgo.</i>
The thought drips into the swarm’s consciousness but she does not understand. Her throat forms a weak croon of confusion before the children paint images across her mind – stars shining brightly during midday, snow beneath a scorching sun, and the dead smiling among the living. Somehow, she understands their gift then. As the hive-children bend the rules of this universe, so may she, yet reality is not theirs to create or destroy. The children show her their crimson tears of love, pouring over her and melting the power from her body to ease the magic from her like a delicate robe once they’re done. They huddle nervously around her as they wait for her to flex her strength, wide eyes glowing brightly in a sea of little star-spawn.
The swarm’s memories flood her as their connection stabilizes, and suddenly she understands their desperation. Her heart thunders in her chest as tears stream down her cheeks and across her shoulders where the thermal eyes have settled for now. Their infinite loneliness aches down in her bones as she recalls their time in space, drifting between callous galaxies for so long. They shivered and wept together as their tears turned to ice on their cheeks. Virgo understands everything now.
The ink and glass girl coughs weakly as her new ability warps her vocal chords to return her voice.
“<font color=#800000>I-I’m ready. I am.. worthy..</font>”</div><div style="position:relative;font-family:alex brush; font-size: 38px; color:#800000; text-align:center; line-height:20px;">V<font style="font-size:34px;">irgo</font>
<font style="font-family:yanone kaffeesatz; font-size: 12px; color:#EEE; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:12px;">you will ruin him and he will thank you; he will say please.</font></div></div></center>
the second time, you moan gospel around his fingers between your teeth.</font></center>
Time has no meaning here, anymore. Eyes circle, swirl around her every moment and sometimes she sleeps, exhausted by the constant fear of whatever comes next. Virgo cannot see their faces in the pitch black but she hears them murmur as they plan and plot their test for her. The pin prick of light far above is gone so she thinks it must be night when she feels an icy palm find her side. She awakes abruptly and cries out as she tries to squirm away from that awful touch, but more hands simply rest against her skin from all sides.
This is it. This is the end.
“<font color=#800000>Please, please don’t…</font>”
There is a snap like bones cracking and tears flood from her bright eyes. She cannot see them, but the sister who wept earlier has broken her own horn as a sacrifice for the swarm. It aches and throbs but she knows that this is necessary. Whimpering, the child passes off the tar-black horn to another. Someone’s fingers locate Virgo’s heart as it beats wildly against her ribs and presses the point to her skin. They all embrace her and their terrified victim lets out a scream in a final plea for them to stop.
“<i>We’re sorry, Virgo,</i>” they murmur against her as they weep together now. The word ‘sorry’ echoes across all their lips and then they drive the horn into her as smoothly as they had flowed through one another before.
Pain becomes her existence, then. Agony erupts through her veins and she can’t even find her voice to cry anymore. Her muscles lock and she’s no longer aware of whether the children are holding her still. (<I>They continue to cling tight to her. Their love is too great to let her bear this pain alone.</i>)
As her consciousness blossoms open within the hive, the children’s skin illuminates like stars in the twilight of the lake’s depths. They release her once the worst is over and scurry back to observe the change. It begins slowly, at first, with creaks and groans as her bones shift into their new positions. She becomes something vaguely feline in shape but maintains her long neck, though less broad and much more refined. Her stomach slims and she becomes streamlined like a greyhound or a cheetah, built for speed and the hunt. Two rows of curved fangs push her prey animal teeth out from her jaws in a cloud of red water. From the horn in her chest, something like black ink spreads across her skin and hides every inch of gray that she had been before.
“<I>Please…</i>” one of the children prays despite their gods failing them before. Maybe this time they’ll take pity on them all.
Her hooves are pushed off like old shoes as talons bud from her front legs, swiping at the air and snatching at nothing. Her rear legs grown three long, clawed toes each with a large dew claw-like ancient raptor feet. The hive children murmur excitedly as a new set of legs cracks out from the center of her spine. Though half as long as the other limbs, they boast two finger-like claws and even opposable thumbs with equally impressive nails.
Eons ago, the children had seen predators latch onto prey with such hands. Each made note of this while the forelegs tore the poor meal asunder. They knew they must test Virgo with power and watch how it changed her, watch how she used strength after being so weak for so long.
Though her vision is blurred and weak even with the starlight of the children, she finds herself able to see in vibrant colors now. Her eyes blink, though they are not her eyes. A new set stares just above the old, winking and watching the world through some serpent’s thermal vision. Virgo feels dizzy and the eyes swirl across her skin as the children’s had in their behemoth shape before. She wants to vomit. She wants to wake up from this fever dream.
She has not noticed that her tail has split into three halfway along its length. The ends curl slightly and the long strands mimic the shape of a peacock’s glorious tail, luxurious like the train of a queen’s wedding gown. Despite all her sharp edges and ragged claws, there is beauty in the danger of what she has become. Even the children are in awe of the elegance such a monster could possess. They stare at her, wide-eyed until one steps closer to the writhing girl.
He reaches out and skims his fingertips across the perfectly smooth skin along her ribs, then along the barbs that have grown more pronounced along her spine. Her body ripples beneath his touch like the lake’s surface and grows white where ever he touches. Before their eyes, she has become piebald and the pink-white skin seems to glow in their light.
Then, the snow-colored patches of her coat grow transparent.
Only her bones show through the crystalline skin, but there is muscle and tissue there despite the illusion. The child steps back and their jaws collectively fall open as they realize what a lovely abomination they have made. Little fish swim closer, unconcerned with the spectacle. They only wish to pick the bones clean as they have for centuries before. Orange, white, and shimmering silver fish, no larger than the children’s palms, swim between her ribs as casually as they might a rotting log. Glass takes the place of her skin in those previously open areas, trapping the fish inside. They will be her bait in the times to come. They will lure prey close enough for her twenty-six claws to sink into them.
She is solid once more. Somewhere, someone whispers her name, but her ears have changed and she finds she does not know how to move them anymore. The little lynx ears twist and turn in confusion but they cannot pinpoint anything just yet. The children gather close to her as their breath shudders in anticipation.
“<I>Breathe. Breathe. Walk. Run.</i>”
They command her and the words repeat all around her as they wait eagerly. Her size has hardly changed but she finds herself strong enough to step forward with one of her new dragon-clawed forelegs. Virgo’s mind struggles to form coherent thoughts but images come to her as easily as before. She takes another step, then the raptor feet follow suit until she has moved several meters. Her limbs are clumsy with their newfound power and the small fingers at her sides twitch uncomfortably. Her mouth opens to speak but the question withers on her tongue. The fish within her aquarium body continue to idly float between her ribs despite her frustration.
Even now, she thinks of Eerie. She cries as she remembers how she’d laugh at Virgo, twisting and fighting the magic that held her prisoner back then. She is helpless again, a slave to their games.
“<I>Don’t cry. Don’t be afraid, please,</i>” a girl says in a whimpering voice as she reaches up and takes Virgo’s face in her small hands. At last, she can see her face in the dim light of their star-skin. The child is afraid and fighting back her own tears. Somewhere in Virgo’s mind, the word ‘sister’ echoes across her thoughts. The swarm-child presses her lips to Virgo’s reptile nose and another pets the area her mane used to be. Her muscles shake a little less. They are hideous, broken things, but she begins to wonder if they are not as terrible as she thought.
<I>Reality is subjective, Virgo.</i>
The thought drips into the swarm’s consciousness but she does not understand. Her throat forms a weak croon of confusion before the children paint images across her mind – stars shining brightly during midday, snow beneath a scorching sun, and the dead smiling among the living. Somehow, she understands their gift then. As the hive-children bend the rules of this universe, so may she, yet reality is not theirs to create or destroy. The children show her their crimson tears of love, pouring over her and melting the power from her body to ease the magic from her like a delicate robe once they’re done. They huddle nervously around her as they wait for her to flex her strength, wide eyes glowing brightly in a sea of little star-spawn.
The swarm’s memories flood her as their connection stabilizes, and suddenly she understands their desperation. Her heart thunders in her chest as tears stream down her cheeks and across her shoulders where the thermal eyes have settled for now. Their infinite loneliness aches down in her bones as she recalls their time in space, drifting between callous galaxies for so long. They shivered and wept together as their tears turned to ice on their cheeks. Virgo understands everything now.
The ink and glass girl coughs weakly as her new ability warps her vocal chords to return her voice.
“<font color=#800000>I-I’m ready. I am.. worthy..</font>”</div><div style="position:relative;font-family:alex brush; font-size: 38px; color:#800000; text-align:center; line-height:20px;">V<font style="font-size:34px;">irgo</font>
<font style="font-family:yanone kaffeesatz; font-size: 12px; color:#EEE; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:12px;">you will ruin him and he will thank you; he will say please.</font></div></div></center>