Post by mahila on Mar 13, 2013 0:57:53 GMT -5
This was eternity for Mahila. She sat alone, on what she presumed to be a cold stone floor and against what she presumed to be a cold stone wall. She could not see it, this 'room' she sat in, everything that surrounded her was pitch black. She would have assumed she forever lost her eyesight except she could still clearly see herself, her pale skin glowing eerily bright in the midst of the blackness she was enveloped in.
How many days had passed she did not know, nor did she care by this point. All she knew was this was her fate set for her by Felios, one that left her alone with nothing but her thoughts to remind her of her one mistake that cost her an eternity of freedom.
Something strange happened then, something that threw off the angelic guardian as things happening had become something foreign to her; a sound of something unlatching, the old familiar sound of a large metal door rang in her space yet she could not see anything. The floor under her she felt disappeared and she could feel herself fall momentarily, wanting with every inch of her being to find a way to steady herself to land on her feet but whether it was the lack of activity she'd had for what must have been years or a force so strong it pulled her body to its will she fell backwards, her back landing surprisingly softly against another cold surface.
Suddenly a light shone in her face, forcing her to shut her eyes tightly. She heard an unforgettable voice, soft and comforting, yet condescending as it spoke.
"Mahila..."
Mahila bit her lip, her hands balling into tight fists as she tried to open her eyes. The light was so bright they stung, unable to open more than a sliver but for what she saw she knew she'd been here before. This room, the tall white-stone pillars that surrounded her. As her eyes took their time adjusting she lay her head back, feeling an overly warm presence over her, soft and unidentifiable, a force that shook her nerves now more than ever.
"Felios," she spoke automatically, despite the sting she forced her eyes open enough to get a look at what form he decided to grace her presence in. She opened her eyes to stare into a set of pearly white orbs, his structure being that of a nymph-like one just like any of his angels yet being that of a humanoid male with a larger muscle mass and broad shoulders. His skin was very pale with the slightest hint of a gold hue to it, his hair loose, silvery white and reaching past his ankles. It almost blended in with the very loose-hanging black, white and gold robe he wore. He sat by Mahila's head, leaning over to meet her face to face, a patronizing smile among his features as though he were pleased that somehow Mahila remembered who he was after all this time.
"My darling Mahila," he spoke to her sweetly, "I need you to do something for me."
Always got to the point. As Mahila's eyes adjusted to the light they already narrowed as she stared up into the god's.
"Then get Hephisia to do it," she mumbled darkly, "I'm nothing more than a 'failure' to you, remember."
She remembered his words too well before she was sent away. Felios did, too, and for a moment he sat with his smile, it widening as he looked down at her. His hands ran along her forehead and down to her jawline where he forcefully grabbed it and squeezed until she let out a small cry in pain.
"You abandoned your post. When your master dies because you intentionally abandoned your post, how do you expect me to deal with it?" he snarled before releasing his grip on the woman. Mahila's hands rubbed at her chin as she stared at him, short rapid breaths in between her open thoughts.
"You locked me in a box for who knows how long? How do you think I'm going to react?!"
Felios sighed, a chuckle escaping him as he rose to his feet and walked in a circle around her. Mahila sat up but only got as far as to her one knee before she stopped and watched him take his stroll around her. If he was going to knock her down for this one it was best to be as close to the floor as possible for it to begin with.
Instead, Felios folded his hands in front of him and smiled.
"You're a very bitter girl, Mahila..."
"I live every day with nothing else but the memories of his death on my mind. Does this really surprise you, my Lord?"
"I'm here to give you a chance to turn it around..."
"Nothing will bring my Master back."
"For you, Mahila. I have a job for you to complete," Felios's movements ceased as he eyed the young guardian before him, "and should you do this as well as I feel only you can, I will grant you what you so seek--freedom. Forever, you shall have it."
Mahila was silent for a long moment as she tried to figure out what kind of game Felios was playing, it had seemed like nothing about what he'd just said seemed right. She failed the one mission she was created to complete and was punished for it; she held no personal grudge against Felios for his actions, though she wasn't happy that she was enduring what she was, either. To her, it was all fair. Here, he was offering her what appeared to be a really unheard of proposition.
"Mahila," Felios spoke again when she did not answer, "I'm giving you a second chance. This is something any other of your tried-and-failed ancestors would have leaped in to do should I have ever given them the chance to do it."
"Then my apologies, oh Lord, for it is an unheard of act of yours I find myself questioning it for several reasons," Mahila answered immediately, her eyes kept on the god as he stopped in front of her, "first of all being that I truly have failed at my own reason for existence to begin with. When someone like Hephisia, as wise and successful as she is is available, even before knowing what your request is I feel she would be a better choice."
Felios turned his head to the side as he listened to Mahila, noting it was always her very clear-cut, black and white way of looking at her own social situations that always seemed to make him smile and appreciate her. He saw a lot of this pass onto her own successor, Shanira, someone who had thus far made him so very proud. And yet it was the thought of Shanira right now that turned his warm smile into a frown as his eyes revealed to Mahila an odd anxiousness in them.
"Normally yes, I would send for Hephisia. However, this is something I feel that you, my dear, would be personally better for considering who is all involved in it," he sighed, crossing his arms as his tone turned very grim, "but answer me this first, Mahila. You know her the best; how capable is Shanira? How safe is the Santo-Lucian king in her care?"
It took Mahila a moment to realize how very serious Felios was with this question as she had thought it would have been obvious, especially to a god of all things. Shanira was Felios's favourite little girl, she would have thought he would have had a better grasp on her skill set. Regardless, Mahila tried to piece together an honest response based on what she'd last known about the reckless and exuberant girl.
"Shanira...her loyalty knows no bounds. I've always wondered if the bond she has with her own master is stronger than the one I had had with mine. Where she's not very cautious, she's at least reliably responsive to him," Mahila spoke with a shrug, "she's most likely to die than to fail if that's what you're worried about, my Lord. I would say that should something happen, she was capable enough before I lost my master. I can only imagine how she's grown in my absence."
At least, she hoped. Felios nodded.
"Good. Then leave the king to Shanira. As for you," he turned his head the other way and began pacing about the room again, "the problem I have is growing. Mahila, as a world exists it's safe to say that evil will never cease to, either. There's a lot going on on Allorum presently, and more I feel that is on the way that I cannot stop myself. Hephisia was originally created to help one of my most highly devoted on Allorum banish evil as I have no means to go there myself, but she...you, all of you created by my hands have the ability to take what I give you and grow, transform and fight the evils that threaten the world and my people."
He stopped and glanced back at the angel who still watched him intently, an obvious curiosity raising within her that he saw in a raised eyebrow of hers. He smiled a hopeful smile as he continued.
"But Shanira is there alone, and I feel it with everything within me that it's not enough. What plagues Allorum now and what is coming is too great, something dark and horrible. Shanira's mission does not change and with the Frexton boy coming to a close end mastering my most powerful of spells, her job becomes more serious and even at this point it's imperative she can not fail. Her focus needs to be him, which means I need someone else in to help snuff out the other problems as they arise. Preferably someone who has experience in tracking to investigate and shut down these evils there and those approaching, and even moreso someone who seems to know Shanira and the king better than they even know themselves, someone who may have watched their every movement and know them, someone who can be available if something were to happen..."
He paused then, their eyes meeting though Mahila's expression did not change. She acknowledged him with a brief nod, however.
"You understand then, Mahila? You see why it is you I choose above even Hephisia? The personal connections, and the skills I need involved?"
"Yes, Lord Felios."
"Then you will go to Allorum immediately. Find the evil, the darkness and its sources and destroy it. Bring it down however you must, and ensure Shanira stays to her duties as intended. Complete this successfully and I shall grant you an eternal life of peace, and freedom."
"...Yes, my Lord..."
It was an awkward thing to be going to Allorum in her real form instead of the fox she'd spent over fifty years in. Even now she felt strange, feeling and knowing she shouldn't be here and somehow Felios should have gone with Hephisia instead but even Mahila knew she couldn't refuse this. It wasn't because of the promise of freedom, but the curiosity and oddly unconditional worry she felt while wondering how Shanira and Alexander were holding up on their own without her. She'd spent something like eighteen years looking out for them whether she wanted to or not, it felt like an obligation that even with her master deceased she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
And so she descended, landing on the sandy shores of the Bright Beach, a place so touchingly familiar to her that it almost felt wrong to be here even now. Her gaze turned immediately to the large hill overlooking Lux Lucis, the castle as bright as she had remembered it, and a shot of guilt rattled through her nerves as her first instinct was to head towards it.
But she knew nothing was there for her. The new king would be there, Shanira with him. It wasn't her place, she had something else to do. Mahila bit her lip and turned away from the road that lead to the shining castle way off in the distance, her march and first order of business taking her in the direction of a small town south-east of Lux Lucis.
How many days had passed she did not know, nor did she care by this point. All she knew was this was her fate set for her by Felios, one that left her alone with nothing but her thoughts to remind her of her one mistake that cost her an eternity of freedom.
Something strange happened then, something that threw off the angelic guardian as things happening had become something foreign to her; a sound of something unlatching, the old familiar sound of a large metal door rang in her space yet she could not see anything. The floor under her she felt disappeared and she could feel herself fall momentarily, wanting with every inch of her being to find a way to steady herself to land on her feet but whether it was the lack of activity she'd had for what must have been years or a force so strong it pulled her body to its will she fell backwards, her back landing surprisingly softly against another cold surface.
Suddenly a light shone in her face, forcing her to shut her eyes tightly. She heard an unforgettable voice, soft and comforting, yet condescending as it spoke.
"Mahila..."
Mahila bit her lip, her hands balling into tight fists as she tried to open her eyes. The light was so bright they stung, unable to open more than a sliver but for what she saw she knew she'd been here before. This room, the tall white-stone pillars that surrounded her. As her eyes took their time adjusting she lay her head back, feeling an overly warm presence over her, soft and unidentifiable, a force that shook her nerves now more than ever.
"Felios," she spoke automatically, despite the sting she forced her eyes open enough to get a look at what form he decided to grace her presence in. She opened her eyes to stare into a set of pearly white orbs, his structure being that of a nymph-like one just like any of his angels yet being that of a humanoid male with a larger muscle mass and broad shoulders. His skin was very pale with the slightest hint of a gold hue to it, his hair loose, silvery white and reaching past his ankles. It almost blended in with the very loose-hanging black, white and gold robe he wore. He sat by Mahila's head, leaning over to meet her face to face, a patronizing smile among his features as though he were pleased that somehow Mahila remembered who he was after all this time.
"My darling Mahila," he spoke to her sweetly, "I need you to do something for me."
Always got to the point. As Mahila's eyes adjusted to the light they already narrowed as she stared up into the god's.
"Then get Hephisia to do it," she mumbled darkly, "I'm nothing more than a 'failure' to you, remember."
She remembered his words too well before she was sent away. Felios did, too, and for a moment he sat with his smile, it widening as he looked down at her. His hands ran along her forehead and down to her jawline where he forcefully grabbed it and squeezed until she let out a small cry in pain.
"You abandoned your post. When your master dies because you intentionally abandoned your post, how do you expect me to deal with it?" he snarled before releasing his grip on the woman. Mahila's hands rubbed at her chin as she stared at him, short rapid breaths in between her open thoughts.
"You locked me in a box for who knows how long? How do you think I'm going to react?!"
Felios sighed, a chuckle escaping him as he rose to his feet and walked in a circle around her. Mahila sat up but only got as far as to her one knee before she stopped and watched him take his stroll around her. If he was going to knock her down for this one it was best to be as close to the floor as possible for it to begin with.
Instead, Felios folded his hands in front of him and smiled.
"You're a very bitter girl, Mahila..."
"I live every day with nothing else but the memories of his death on my mind. Does this really surprise you, my Lord?"
"I'm here to give you a chance to turn it around..."
"Nothing will bring my Master back."
"For you, Mahila. I have a job for you to complete," Felios's movements ceased as he eyed the young guardian before him, "and should you do this as well as I feel only you can, I will grant you what you so seek--freedom. Forever, you shall have it."
Mahila was silent for a long moment as she tried to figure out what kind of game Felios was playing, it had seemed like nothing about what he'd just said seemed right. She failed the one mission she was created to complete and was punished for it; she held no personal grudge against Felios for his actions, though she wasn't happy that she was enduring what she was, either. To her, it was all fair. Here, he was offering her what appeared to be a really unheard of proposition.
"Mahila," Felios spoke again when she did not answer, "I'm giving you a second chance. This is something any other of your tried-and-failed ancestors would have leaped in to do should I have ever given them the chance to do it."
"Then my apologies, oh Lord, for it is an unheard of act of yours I find myself questioning it for several reasons," Mahila answered immediately, her eyes kept on the god as he stopped in front of her, "first of all being that I truly have failed at my own reason for existence to begin with. When someone like Hephisia, as wise and successful as she is is available, even before knowing what your request is I feel she would be a better choice."
Felios turned his head to the side as he listened to Mahila, noting it was always her very clear-cut, black and white way of looking at her own social situations that always seemed to make him smile and appreciate her. He saw a lot of this pass onto her own successor, Shanira, someone who had thus far made him so very proud. And yet it was the thought of Shanira right now that turned his warm smile into a frown as his eyes revealed to Mahila an odd anxiousness in them.
"Normally yes, I would send for Hephisia. However, this is something I feel that you, my dear, would be personally better for considering who is all involved in it," he sighed, crossing his arms as his tone turned very grim, "but answer me this first, Mahila. You know her the best; how capable is Shanira? How safe is the Santo-Lucian king in her care?"
It took Mahila a moment to realize how very serious Felios was with this question as she had thought it would have been obvious, especially to a god of all things. Shanira was Felios's favourite little girl, she would have thought he would have had a better grasp on her skill set. Regardless, Mahila tried to piece together an honest response based on what she'd last known about the reckless and exuberant girl.
"Shanira...her loyalty knows no bounds. I've always wondered if the bond she has with her own master is stronger than the one I had had with mine. Where she's not very cautious, she's at least reliably responsive to him," Mahila spoke with a shrug, "she's most likely to die than to fail if that's what you're worried about, my Lord. I would say that should something happen, she was capable enough before I lost my master. I can only imagine how she's grown in my absence."
At least, she hoped. Felios nodded.
"Good. Then leave the king to Shanira. As for you," he turned his head the other way and began pacing about the room again, "the problem I have is growing. Mahila, as a world exists it's safe to say that evil will never cease to, either. There's a lot going on on Allorum presently, and more I feel that is on the way that I cannot stop myself. Hephisia was originally created to help one of my most highly devoted on Allorum banish evil as I have no means to go there myself, but she...you, all of you created by my hands have the ability to take what I give you and grow, transform and fight the evils that threaten the world and my people."
He stopped and glanced back at the angel who still watched him intently, an obvious curiosity raising within her that he saw in a raised eyebrow of hers. He smiled a hopeful smile as he continued.
"But Shanira is there alone, and I feel it with everything within me that it's not enough. What plagues Allorum now and what is coming is too great, something dark and horrible. Shanira's mission does not change and with the Frexton boy coming to a close end mastering my most powerful of spells, her job becomes more serious and even at this point it's imperative she can not fail. Her focus needs to be him, which means I need someone else in to help snuff out the other problems as they arise. Preferably someone who has experience in tracking to investigate and shut down these evils there and those approaching, and even moreso someone who seems to know Shanira and the king better than they even know themselves, someone who may have watched their every movement and know them, someone who can be available if something were to happen..."
He paused then, their eyes meeting though Mahila's expression did not change. She acknowledged him with a brief nod, however.
"You understand then, Mahila? You see why it is you I choose above even Hephisia? The personal connections, and the skills I need involved?"
"Yes, Lord Felios."
"Then you will go to Allorum immediately. Find the evil, the darkness and its sources and destroy it. Bring it down however you must, and ensure Shanira stays to her duties as intended. Complete this successfully and I shall grant you an eternal life of peace, and freedom."
"...Yes, my Lord..."
It was an awkward thing to be going to Allorum in her real form instead of the fox she'd spent over fifty years in. Even now she felt strange, feeling and knowing she shouldn't be here and somehow Felios should have gone with Hephisia instead but even Mahila knew she couldn't refuse this. It wasn't because of the promise of freedom, but the curiosity and oddly unconditional worry she felt while wondering how Shanira and Alexander were holding up on their own without her. She'd spent something like eighteen years looking out for them whether she wanted to or not, it felt like an obligation that even with her master deceased she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
And so she descended, landing on the sandy shores of the Bright Beach, a place so touchingly familiar to her that it almost felt wrong to be here even now. Her gaze turned immediately to the large hill overlooking Lux Lucis, the castle as bright as she had remembered it, and a shot of guilt rattled through her nerves as her first instinct was to head towards it.
But she knew nothing was there for her. The new king would be there, Shanira with him. It wasn't her place, she had something else to do. Mahila bit her lip and turned away from the road that lead to the shining castle way off in the distance, her march and first order of business taking her in the direction of a small town south-east of Lux Lucis.