08-12-2020, 06:31 PM
<center><img src=https://i.postimg.cc/t4LXcSLK/by-kharthian-small.png></center><center><table bgcolor=011d33 style="border-color:#121313; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 10px"" cellspacing=15 cellpadding=15 width=600><tr><td><p align=justify><font color=ededed face=times size=2>Having just died, the idea of a trek through some fog did not feel like a daunting task in comparison. And her curiosity had returned while she listened to the information they were given - a desire to see whatever it was lay where worlds meet. Surely there will be something fantastic.
<font color=6aa6d5>“Shall we?”</font> Beyza offers the words with a small smile to Jamie before she moves into the fog. As though they were about to stroll through a sunlit woods or graze together on wildflowers. She doesn't give much thought to the other souls that had passed over, only focusing on the one she really knows. And then, as the thick fog surrounds her, she is not afraid - only wondering if he is. Or does he feel at home in the dense, thick air? She won’t ask, though, not after their last meeting. She is torn between wanting to him to see her be strong and not wanting him to think she’s dumb enough (or reliant on her magic enough) to not even feel fear after death.
After a while, the buzzing steadily grows louder. When it is persistent enough to comment on, she looks to her (what? Friend? Acquaintance? Companion?) she freezes in the action of taking her next step.
The fog billows around Jamie like it belongs on his skin, and of course it does. It turns to black smoke so much like his shadows as his legs and spine elongate and he becomes skeletal, otherwordly. Those bright yellow eyes burn but not with any fire.
They are so cold they scald her as she looks into them.
She is looking into the eyes of Death as it calls to her in Jamie’s voice <font color=5D5D7D> “Beyza.”</font>
Although there is some doubt, Beyza easily believes that this is why Jamie had been afraid to be whole - why he had not accepted his true self. Because he was harbouring Death - and surely that would be a fearsome thing to unleash upon Beqanna. She tries to remember whether she had met Jamie and Liv for the first time before or after she had revived her sister and the radioactive girl - or was it after? Had Death come to the world and stalked her, waiting for the chance to confront her about what she had stolen.
Perhaps she should have pushed Jamie that day so that they would not be here now, on Death’s home turf.
Beyza isn’t sure what she feels when she turns to face Death but she does not believe it's fear. There’s a fierce sort of pride, perhaps, and a rush of something in the pit of her stomach. A fierce attraction that makes her want to go to him, right here in this fog, if it weren’t an incredibly wrong time and place. So instead she stands her ground, head held high, a fire of her own burning in her white eyes. It is easy to assume why Death would come for her. <font color=6aa6d5>“I’m not sorry.”</font> She tells him and means it. She feels no guilt - not when Caledonia, of everyone she knows, deserves to be alive. The world needs her light.
<font color=5D5D7D>“You should be.”</font> Death hisses as he takes a step forward and looms over her, the movement causing the bones beneath his skin to rattle. <font color=5D5D7D>“You owe me two souls, little magician. Perhaps I will keep you and your friend instead.”</font> The black fog that surrounds him curls towards her, a beckoning finger as it reaches out to brush her skin as the plumes closer to the ground solidify around her hooves into a thick oil, the same that she had choked on just moments ago.
This, finally, elicits a response from her as she stumbles away, her hooves making a suction noise as they pull out of the slick oil. <font color=6aa6d5>“No!”</font> She did not want to stay here, in death, not now. Did not want to see what tortures wait for her in a place where she cannot die again but instead would suffer through it forever. And she would not allow Jamie to suffer here either. Whether he was just possessed by Death or a piece of it himself, it wasn't fair for him to be trapped here in the afterlife. They just needed to make it to… wherever they were supposed to go. Towards the buzzing, that was it. But before she can move the oil is around her feet again, rising up her legs and solidifying as it does - rooting her to her spot as she twists and watches Death approach - grinning Jamie’s shark grin.
She struggles, trying to use her magic to make her escape, but it is sluggish and slow to come to her call. A flicker of panic makes her eyes widen a little more (though when they are all white, who can tell?). Only for a moment, because inspiration hits her then and she calls out desperately before the oil can crawl up her skin and rise to her throat. <font color=6aa6d5>“Wait! Wait, what if I send you two souls when we’re back.”</font>
<font color=5D5D7D><i>“Three”</i></font> Death bargains in a rattling hiss near her ears and Beyza accepts without hesitation.
The fog and oil retreat from her. She stumbles at her release and, trembling just a little, begins to move once more toward the sound of the buzzing - believing Death/Jamie would follow. Believing that he’d haunt her steps until this promise was fulfilled. And although maybe there was a flicker of fear in her heart now, she felt a rush of excitement as well. A way to keep him close, a way to prove herself to him. And all it would cost was three souls.
The excitement did not last long, not when the fog grew thicker and the buzzing noise grew so loud it deafened her to all else. She tries to use her magic to shield herself and Jamie from the noise but abandoned that pursuit when it only seemed to make it worse. She's sure she can <i>see</i> the noise it is so loud, that it blurs her vision on the sides from the intensity of it. Beyza thinks she cries out in frustration and pain, but if she makes a noise of her own it is lost in the haze of everything else. Only when the fog ceases and reveals a cliff does she stop - shaking her head and trying her best to focus on the near-nothingness - eyes wild as she turns to see whether Jamie or Death made it through the fog at her side.
</font>
</font></p>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cormorant+Garamond" rel="stylesheet"><div style="font-family: 'Cormorant Garamond', serif; font-size: 19px; color: #ccdeed; transform: uppercase; line-height: 105%; text-align: center; text-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #ffffff;"><i>beyza</i></div></tr></td></table></center>
<center><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/kharthian/art/YHH-Beyza-Littlewillow-art-828263754">artwork by kharthian</a></center>
<font color=6aa6d5>“Shall we?”</font> Beyza offers the words with a small smile to Jamie before she moves into the fog. As though they were about to stroll through a sunlit woods or graze together on wildflowers. She doesn't give much thought to the other souls that had passed over, only focusing on the one she really knows. And then, as the thick fog surrounds her, she is not afraid - only wondering if he is. Or does he feel at home in the dense, thick air? She won’t ask, though, not after their last meeting. She is torn between wanting to him to see her be strong and not wanting him to think she’s dumb enough (or reliant on her magic enough) to not even feel fear after death.
After a while, the buzzing steadily grows louder. When it is persistent enough to comment on, she looks to her (what? Friend? Acquaintance? Companion?) she freezes in the action of taking her next step.
The fog billows around Jamie like it belongs on his skin, and of course it does. It turns to black smoke so much like his shadows as his legs and spine elongate and he becomes skeletal, otherwordly. Those bright yellow eyes burn but not with any fire.
They are so cold they scald her as she looks into them.
She is looking into the eyes of Death as it calls to her in Jamie’s voice <font color=5D5D7D> “Beyza.”</font>
Although there is some doubt, Beyza easily believes that this is why Jamie had been afraid to be whole - why he had not accepted his true self. Because he was harbouring Death - and surely that would be a fearsome thing to unleash upon Beqanna. She tries to remember whether she had met Jamie and Liv for the first time before or after she had revived her sister and the radioactive girl - or was it after? Had Death come to the world and stalked her, waiting for the chance to confront her about what she had stolen.
Perhaps she should have pushed Jamie that day so that they would not be here now, on Death’s home turf.
Beyza isn’t sure what she feels when she turns to face Death but she does not believe it's fear. There’s a fierce sort of pride, perhaps, and a rush of something in the pit of her stomach. A fierce attraction that makes her want to go to him, right here in this fog, if it weren’t an incredibly wrong time and place. So instead she stands her ground, head held high, a fire of her own burning in her white eyes. It is easy to assume why Death would come for her. <font color=6aa6d5>“I’m not sorry.”</font> She tells him and means it. She feels no guilt - not when Caledonia, of everyone she knows, deserves to be alive. The world needs her light.
<font color=5D5D7D>“You should be.”</font> Death hisses as he takes a step forward and looms over her, the movement causing the bones beneath his skin to rattle. <font color=5D5D7D>“You owe me two souls, little magician. Perhaps I will keep you and your friend instead.”</font> The black fog that surrounds him curls towards her, a beckoning finger as it reaches out to brush her skin as the plumes closer to the ground solidify around her hooves into a thick oil, the same that she had choked on just moments ago.
This, finally, elicits a response from her as she stumbles away, her hooves making a suction noise as they pull out of the slick oil. <font color=6aa6d5>“No!”</font> She did not want to stay here, in death, not now. Did not want to see what tortures wait for her in a place where she cannot die again but instead would suffer through it forever. And she would not allow Jamie to suffer here either. Whether he was just possessed by Death or a piece of it himself, it wasn't fair for him to be trapped here in the afterlife. They just needed to make it to… wherever they were supposed to go. Towards the buzzing, that was it. But before she can move the oil is around her feet again, rising up her legs and solidifying as it does - rooting her to her spot as she twists and watches Death approach - grinning Jamie’s shark grin.
She struggles, trying to use her magic to make her escape, but it is sluggish and slow to come to her call. A flicker of panic makes her eyes widen a little more (though when they are all white, who can tell?). Only for a moment, because inspiration hits her then and she calls out desperately before the oil can crawl up her skin and rise to her throat. <font color=6aa6d5>“Wait! Wait, what if I send you two souls when we’re back.”</font>
<font color=5D5D7D><i>“Three”</i></font> Death bargains in a rattling hiss near her ears and Beyza accepts without hesitation.
The fog and oil retreat from her. She stumbles at her release and, trembling just a little, begins to move once more toward the sound of the buzzing - believing Death/Jamie would follow. Believing that he’d haunt her steps until this promise was fulfilled. And although maybe there was a flicker of fear in her heart now, she felt a rush of excitement as well. A way to keep him close, a way to prove herself to him. And all it would cost was three souls.
The excitement did not last long, not when the fog grew thicker and the buzzing noise grew so loud it deafened her to all else. She tries to use her magic to shield herself and Jamie from the noise but abandoned that pursuit when it only seemed to make it worse. She's sure she can <i>see</i> the noise it is so loud, that it blurs her vision on the sides from the intensity of it. Beyza thinks she cries out in frustration and pain, but if she makes a noise of her own it is lost in the haze of everything else. Only when the fog ceases and reveals a cliff does she stop - shaking her head and trying her best to focus on the near-nothingness - eyes wild as she turns to see whether Jamie or Death made it through the fog at her side.
</font>
</font></p>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cormorant+Garamond" rel="stylesheet"><div style="font-family: 'Cormorant Garamond', serif; font-size: 19px; color: #ccdeed; transform: uppercase; line-height: 105%; text-align: center; text-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #ffffff;"><i>beyza</i></div></tr></td></table></center>
<center><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/kharthian/art/YHH-Beyza-Littlewillow-art-828263754">artwork by kharthian</a></center>