Pollock

[Harmonia]

Harmonia wore her heart more on her sleeve now that her magic was robbed from her than ever before. Before this disaster called the New Beqanna she had a mask of stupidity. Simple creature, they'd say, watching her marvel at flowers and speak in riddles. They thought it was fun to trade powers for favors - grant me this and I'll give you that. What could it hurt? Harmonia was a child in the mind, they thought.

Until she came calling, asking for a price much too high for them to pay.

Now? Now she was weak and vulnerable. Even in this state she found a way to defend herself and stay relevant. First it was joining a herd of others who despised the order and calmness of Beqanna, then it was following Carnage into Pangea, then it was the ability to grant powers and then...

Ajatar.

The young creature and her smoky colored child fur stands near her mother, watching Pollock with all the interest of a foal. She is quiet but not without curiosity, not without her own innocence. Even Harmonia couldn't scratch that now.

"My offer from the meeting still stands," she says, her first number of order. She disregards his coy remark to her - she is succinct these days. For the second she turns to Ajatar, narrowing her eyes at the girl. "Come on, child, do it." She orders her with the intensity of a pageant mom. The girl stalls, her eyes widen - it's rare for her mother to address her directly. "W...what?" she asks, her wide eyes darting from the strange creature named Pollock to her mother. Harmonia's face is an impassive one, no love between her and her offspring.

"Now."
"But..."
"Now. Don't be lazy, you insolent thing," Harmonia begins, taking a step toward the snake scaled girl. At first Ajatar takes a step back in shock, her ears pricked forward...then they are back, anger quick and hot flashing through her veins. The veins that carry Carnage and Deimos and a great other assortment of nasty critters. The veins that flare now and release the anger that sits just below the surface. A prick of a balloon and the air leaks out...

pestilence.

The boils start at the base of Harmonia's legs, same as before, large and pulsing under the skin. As they slowly grow up her legs they pop open and release a foul, sickening odor. Ajatar stops as soon as she feels the boils on her own skin, causing one or two scales to flake off. Ajatar is only affected a small fraction of what Harmonia is, but the realization makes her stop. It wasn't like before when her grandfather attacked them, this was softer. This was restrained.

Harmonia turns to Pollock then. "That is the second order of interest," she says, wincing.

HARMONIA

the pied piper