11-06-2019, 04:10 PM
<div style="background:linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(0,0,0,0) 150px, rgba(0,0,0,1)450px),url('https://i.postimg.cc/SRdjs889/okay.png') top center no-repeat;background-size:620px auto;width:600px;margin:auto;padding:150px 10px 0px 10px;border:1px solid #000;"><div style="color:#eee;padding-bottom:250px;text-align:center;letter-spacing:5px;">i will be brutal</div><div style="color:#B73F1C;font:16px times new roman;border:3px solid #eee;border-bottom:0px;border-top:0px;border-radius:35%/35px 35px 0px 0px;padding:30px 10px 10px 10px;"> He watches her go, down along the gray shoreline and into the mist until even her silhouette is invisible to him. She never tells him where she’s going and he doesn’t ask. Larva knows she will always orbit back to him and he doesn’t mind the wait so much anymore. He’s gotten used to the way his madness looms on the edges of his mind as she leaves, the way it comes slipping in with the same old song and dance that he’s grown accustomed to. The monster closes his eyes and when he opens them once more, he’s laying on his side at the beach while the setting sun turns everything dark orange or red. His old joints ache even though he’s lying perfectly still while Samael looms over him with a smile that is all teeth.
This was how he died, the first time. He knows this is the first and not the third because that awful child’s hooves come crashing down on his skull with a muffled crunch. In this nightmare, though, he gets to see the way his grandson just kept smashing his face until the dirty gray sand ran red even without the dying light of the day. He gets to watch as the boy walks away without a word, completely unceremonious and unsatisfied. This death had been quick and perhaps even deserved, but he is still furious that he could not fight back. Everything in him wanted to rage against his ending, wanted to show the world that he would not go softly.
And yet he did.
He died old and weak.
He hardly remembers the second death. When he opens his eyes once more, there is a group around him but their faces are all blurred like a poorly exposed photograph. Larva remembers that Beqanna had summoned them from their graves and gathered them here on the beach. He can even recall that one of them had been chosen to return amongst the living. His mouth opens to curse that man, to demand that he be given that gift of life once more. The old serpent watches with gritted teeth as the other shambling corpses begin to crumple into the sand as the magic leaves their rotting carcasses. Even as the world goes black, he howls with rage and vows that he will return despite their best efforts.
And he did get that second chance, didn’t he? He tried to live an honest life where he did right by his lover. Larva even ruled a kingdom alongside her and Depp, a place that vowed to maintain balance in the world. In that third incarnation, he had lived long enough to see old age once more. He also lived long enough to watch his Dillan die before him.
When he opens his eyes one last time, he is standing there watching the waves roll in. Samael is beside him with a wide grin and a spell to finish him off at last. Larva swallows hard and takes a step forward, into the frigid waves where Dillan waits for him just beyond his reach. He can taste the saltwater as it coats his tongue and he coughs but he never stops. Farther and farther out, he swims in the hopes that he can kiss her face one last time before it’s really over. But his love just keeps dancing inches before him until his legs grow too tired to keep him afloat. When he sinks beneath the surface, the world goes dark and he can hear her saying she loves him.
He jolts awake when Dillan kisses his face, reminding him these are only visions of things that have already come to pass. Still, his smile is frail when it forms across his lips. She doesn’t ask what troubles him but instead tucks herself against his side and rests her head under his chin. Their souls are perfectly in tune with one another and few words are needed between them anymore.
“<I>Have you noticed how many have gone?</i>” he says at last, gently resting his chin against her head. “<I>I worry. There’s a storm brewing and our children have suffered enough. If I were in Tephra.. Maybe I could protect them.</i>”
Larva doesn’t know if he could bear to leave her again when they’ve only just begun their eternity together, though. He presses his lips to her brow and watches the dreary waves come rising up the sand before them. If he went, would she follow close behind? The thought terrifies him, knowing she could be in danger among the living just as their family is now.
“<I>Would you wait for me again?</i>” he asks, still staring ahead. She begins to move beneath his embrace but before she can answer, he finds himself stepping backward. The ancient viper knows the answer already. “<I>I love you Dillan. I love you in this life, the one before, and whatever comes after.</i>”
And then the world turns black once more.</div></div>
This was how he died, the first time. He knows this is the first and not the third because that awful child’s hooves come crashing down on his skull with a muffled crunch. In this nightmare, though, he gets to see the way his grandson just kept smashing his face until the dirty gray sand ran red even without the dying light of the day. He gets to watch as the boy walks away without a word, completely unceremonious and unsatisfied. This death had been quick and perhaps even deserved, but he is still furious that he could not fight back. Everything in him wanted to rage against his ending, wanted to show the world that he would not go softly.
And yet he did.
He died old and weak.
He hardly remembers the second death. When he opens his eyes once more, there is a group around him but their faces are all blurred like a poorly exposed photograph. Larva remembers that Beqanna had summoned them from their graves and gathered them here on the beach. He can even recall that one of them had been chosen to return amongst the living. His mouth opens to curse that man, to demand that he be given that gift of life once more. The old serpent watches with gritted teeth as the other shambling corpses begin to crumple into the sand as the magic leaves their rotting carcasses. Even as the world goes black, he howls with rage and vows that he will return despite their best efforts.
And he did get that second chance, didn’t he? He tried to live an honest life where he did right by his lover. Larva even ruled a kingdom alongside her and Depp, a place that vowed to maintain balance in the world. In that third incarnation, he had lived long enough to see old age once more. He also lived long enough to watch his Dillan die before him.
When he opens his eyes one last time, he is standing there watching the waves roll in. Samael is beside him with a wide grin and a spell to finish him off at last. Larva swallows hard and takes a step forward, into the frigid waves where Dillan waits for him just beyond his reach. He can taste the saltwater as it coats his tongue and he coughs but he never stops. Farther and farther out, he swims in the hopes that he can kiss her face one last time before it’s really over. But his love just keeps dancing inches before him until his legs grow too tired to keep him afloat. When he sinks beneath the surface, the world goes dark and he can hear her saying she loves him.
He jolts awake when Dillan kisses his face, reminding him these are only visions of things that have already come to pass. Still, his smile is frail when it forms across his lips. She doesn’t ask what troubles him but instead tucks herself against his side and rests her head under his chin. Their souls are perfectly in tune with one another and few words are needed between them anymore.
“<I>Have you noticed how many have gone?</i>” he says at last, gently resting his chin against her head. “<I>I worry. There’s a storm brewing and our children have suffered enough. If I were in Tephra.. Maybe I could protect them.</i>”
Larva doesn’t know if he could bear to leave her again when they’ve only just begun their eternity together, though. He presses his lips to her brow and watches the dreary waves come rising up the sand before them. If he went, would she follow close behind? The thought terrifies him, knowing she could be in danger among the living just as their family is now.
“<I>Would you wait for me again?</i>” he asks, still staring ahead. She begins to move beneath his embrace but before she can answer, he finds himself stepping backward. The ancient viper knows the answer already. “<I>I love you Dillan. I love you in this life, the one before, and whatever comes after.</i>”
And then the world turns black once more.</div></div>