Page 1 of 2
Not forgotten
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:45 am
by Velvet Dust
During the day she walked the streets like any normal peasant. People knew her by another name now.
She almost liked her incognito and was getting used to not having more than a few servants following her.
She had observed it all from the shadows.
Her well paid harvesters had done their part in protecting the children from greedy peasants while she was hidden.
The years had passed by. A lot of things had changed. The mansions were sold and new had been bought. Her family had grown in different directions. To mention a few of them: An aunt had left to enjoy life in the world of the spirits. Her twin sister had moved to new lands and the oldest daughter, from her first marriage, had taken the path off her father. - Though less controlled and more bloody; living in Yew woods. Making innocent travellers her midnight snack.
Little Holger had grown into a strong and fierce man, digging up trouble where ever he came by.
It was Bella, her adopted daughter, who had kept it all in order. Newer forgot who she is or what she was brought up to keep deep in her heart. Trusting in the winds, as well as in the family code.
It was nights like these that Velvet was able to be herself: Nights when the moon was at its highest. She sat next to Bella’s bed while the young woman was deep asleep, stroking her hair, reminding her of it all. Night after night, month after month. Year after year. Wishing she could wake her up and tell her why she had to leave. But the shadows claimed it was too soon. – That it would only disturb the winds.
“Soon, very soon my girl” She whispered into the sleeping beauty’s ear.
She vanished, leaving a warm breeze and an odour of fresh onions surrounding the room.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:17 am
by Bella Pious
The room smelled onion again, and today stronger than the others. Bella Pious’ brows slightly tangled. That silly cook must have been worshipping the onions somewhere in the house, as in remembrance of her foster mother – the real Mistress Pious. Bella had tried to explain to Viola, her mother’s tea girl, that it was pointless to do so. The GONE would never come back. But the cook would just give a silly grin and the next day Bella would still wake up in a house that smelled like onion. It was a smell that brought both comfort and dismay
Marcella Pious’ house had always had the smell of onions. “It’s good for your health. It keeps one live long,” her mother would have said. And Bella had followed her instruction, like she had followed the wind when she had been told the wind would change direction: before the Great Tribulation, the seniors of the Pious families had started to disappear, gone; then the Great Tribulation had hit everyone. She had had to entrust her eldest daughter, Julia Pious, with Julia’s teacher, Siren the Bard, and the second daughter, Emia Pious with Lothar to go on their path in the art of Necromancy. Only Emia’s twin brother, Emerik, had stayed with his parents for his strength had not been like his sisters’. All the other harvesters and maids had left and scattered, except the tea girl.
After losing the pillars of the family and bearing the pain of departing from her young children, Bella Pious had looked at the ruined houses and fields, and the remaining 3 members in her household – a silly cook, a shy boy behind her skirt, and a husband who had not been trained to run a household – and asked the wind what it had been that they had wanted from this “change in direction,” but there had not been an answer. The wind had not brought the lost families back, either. She had been left on her own. It was her dutiful nature that had pushed her through the years to see that the House of Pious was rebuilt once again.
“Guess I probably need to pick up more Lilys of the Valley from the local florist,” Bella sighed and gave up the attempt of finding the hidden onions in her house. Sometimes when she stood at the ocean shore and stared, the wind would bring a hint of onion in the air as well. Maybe the smell actually came from her mind? She wondered. If so, would she ever be able to rid of the onions? This was insane.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:45 pm
by Velvet Dust
Anyone can be bought to silence. That was a fact that the elder had acknowledged for decays. Maids, harvesters, assassins and simple innocent tea girls, all would keep quiet and do their duties for a small fee. And if not, their guts could be found in the rivers of Vesper and their heads would be boiled and served to the wild boars.
So the tea girl had been paid for her silence. Not that she would ever betray the society. She was more a member of the family, than an actual tea girl. She had been taken into the family by Bella. When both girls were very young.
Viola was first given a job helping out at the stalls.
No one seemed to know whom the girl was nor where the girl came from. Viola was a master in dancing around and away from personal questions of any sort.
It was a natural thing for Bella, helping anyone in need.
And that was why she was chosen. After centuries searching, she was found in Skara Orphanage.
From there they guided her in the right direction, secretly from the shadows and later on, in the Pious Society.
This was one of the many things that Bella did not know and most likely would never know. She was needed in the balance of the unbalanced winds. -An important piece in the puzzle of the mystic world of the shadows.
This had been a task: All these years of trouble and loneliness.
And now the time had come to carry on the legacy. One step closer to what was expected from the elder.
Velvet folded a scroll and passed it on to the messenger boy. It was time for Viola to serve Bella The tea.
...
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:31 am
by Bella Pious
The silly girl thanked the messenger boy with 10 gold coins. She flipped back and forth of the unsigned envelope and sniffed it all over, and then she gave a silly grin that exposed of her imperfect teeth. Shaking her nice bottom she paddled into the kitchen, and Bella Pious could hear her humming out of tune all the way from her rest room across the house. A moment later, Viola paddled into Bella's room with a silver tray holding a pot, a cup, and a letter.
The tea girl poured a cup of steaming tea for Bella, and stood still.
It took Bella a few minutes, when she finished the chapter of "Exotic Pets" she had been working on, to realize that the tea girl didn't take her leave. "Oh, Viola, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to ignore your tea." Bella quickly took a sip of the uncalled tea and almost chocked. Last time Viola had surprised her with her new rotten-mushroom tea, and Bella wondered what this one was made of today. She tried to push up a cheerful smile and turned to the tea girl, "Is there anything else?"
"Hehe." the tea girl grinned again, but her violet eyes fixed on the envelope. Looking surprised, Bella Pious picked up the envelope and gave Viola a puzzled look. The tea girl didn't have a habit of waiting for her to read and reply her daily mails, and she was even more surprised when she found a blank sheet inside the envelope. "Viola ... what is the meaning of this?"
"Hm?" the tea girl leaned forward to see what Bella laid on her desk, and clumsily knocked the pot over with her chest. The strange tea spilled all over the sheet, and while Bella jumped up and quickly grabbed her "Exotic Pets" she saw red writing slowly came into view.
"Come to the tower you once lived,
When the moon her highest gaze she casts."
a strong scent of onion steamed from the letter and tears filled Bella's eyes.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:07 am
by Talerco Pious
Just like he’d expected, the town of Nujelm was deserted and quiet. The guards threw the couple some sleepy glance as their horses trotted by. At least the moon was shinning high in the sky, or else Bella’s old tower would be like a haunted house in this ghost town. Inside the tower a skinny figure covered in a death shroud was waiting for them.
“I see you brought your man along,” the hooded-man said, “now follow me.”
He teleported them to the Bath House in New Haven and headed into the sauna room. “Now sit,” the hooded man said. “You have done well,” it said to his wife, “the Spirits are pleased.” Talerco could see the expression on Bella’s face stiffened, and her back was the stiffest he had ever seen. He just crossed his arms, leaned on his back, and closed his eyes, trying to remember the last time he had had to endure the sauna heat in plate mail. The hooded-man had a whispery voice, and it inquired about the family, wind, shadow, onion, and so on. Bella only gave short replies with graduate annoyingness in her voice. Talerco listened. At one point she jumped up from her seat with fire in her voice. “Mister,” she exclaimed, “I will not sit here and listen to some stranger preaching me about some Shadow that never answered my prayers!” she took a deep breath and continued, “And judging us on how well we do as if we were some broodmare and stud in the market!” Talerco suppressed a smile and would have kept his eyes closed if Bella didn’t suddenly gasp and shriek. His eyes quickly turned to the source of his wife’s fear, his hands moved on the sheath, and saw the disguise on the hooded-man had been removed.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:54 am
by Bella Pious
“How dare you!” she only remembered herself screaming that when she had seen the uncovered face. According to her husband's description later, she had also turned to him with blank eyes and shrieked, “She is FAKE! This is not real!” They must have taken off soon after that because she couldn’t remember much else happened in the Sauna. It felt like a dream and now she woke with dizziness and headache. She slowly finished the cup of tea left on her nightstand, and let her head calm down. Could it be true? Could SHE really have returned? And if it had been true, how dare she had left us and now come back like those years had been like a day.
“The Ranch ... the Ranch ...” she could hear the wind whispering. The Tower was where she had started, and now she must go to the place where that past had ended. She sensed that would be where she could find the answer to her journey -- if it wasn't just a dream. She ordered the tiller-man to sail her to South Moonglow, where the old Pious Ranch had been, and where Bella must meet HER. "Marcella." Bella finally spoke out that name as the two women met face-to-face one more time. Although most part of Bella's heart was still angry, a small part of her claimed the joy of the impossible.
“It was a task, a hard one, to bring out your strength.” Marcella said before Bella could start with another word. “Which the Spirit knew was what was needed to carry the family through.” “What family?” Bella asked, “I nearly lost them all!” “But the Society is not dead,” Marcella paused with a slight smile, “and now you need more children.”
Bella choked and her vision became blurry, “More children? So I could lose them on some mission I do not sign up for?” She took a deep breath, “Cella, I am only an ordinary woman and I only want a peaceful life with the family I have gotten."
“We all sacrificed. Your task has come to an end. Now the burden will be carried on by someone else.” Marcella caressed the girl’s hair and said, “And you haven’t lost them. I have been watching close-by,” Marcella said in her whispery voice, “I always have.”
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:04 pm
by Velvet Dust
It was no surprise to her that Bella had her husband coming along with her to the tower.
Nor that the girl blacked out in rage.
In despise of the serious situation of the meeting, it had been slightly amusing seeing Talerco stubbornly sitting in his plate armor, in the warmest room in the Bath house. At least the man could stand the pain of burning steel up against his body.
Shortly after Bella and Talerco left, Marcella let the winds carry her to the Ranch in Moonglow. She sat on a fallen log; that had been laying there on the ground for hundreds of years, slowly getting covered in moss.
She waited meditating.
The girl arrived and sat on another log not far from her. Less red in her cheeks. - Less furious, yet still on guard.
Marcella knew she did not have to say much. Bella would know the answers she was seeking. Know the answers by simply listening to the whispering winds. That was how it was with the chosen ones.
As the worst part of the task was coming to an end, it was time to summon the little girls.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 6:32 pm
by Penelope Ma'Eles
It was one of the misery nights Emia missed her family. Not only her parents and siblings but everyone else too, even Viola. Though the intensive training within the art of dark magic and Lothar himself had teached the young girl some patience she couldn't ignore the feeling that something was about to happen. The last time Emia met Julia it seemed like she would burst with anxiety but no matter how hard Emia tried, her sister remained silent. Emia felt a bit annoyed about it but yet she was worried. Where was Julia? Yes, the girls had seen each other many times without anyone knowing during the years the family had been separated. Occasionally, during the darkest nights Julia sneaked in her bedroom and just sang with a beautiful tone to help Emia sleep peacefully. At times Julia treated her with Antiope's delicious pies or just stayed with her talking.
Though Emia tried to hide the fact she was still a child, she couldn't stand the loneliness and fear especially if it was thundering and the sky seemed like it would tear open. Those were the few times she decided to make her skills in use and gate herself to the place Julia was staying. This time something was preventing her. Emia knew the strange feelings she had were getting stronger and it had something to do with... home. Emia decided to wait for a little longer and see if Julia would appear onto her doorstep. Before going to bed she quickly packed some of her reagents and spellbook in her bag among with other essentials. Just in case.
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:07 pm
by Thetis Ce'Elel
On that very night Julia was wandering around her room. She had checked and re-checked all the necessary belongings she had carefully packed but she couldn't relax. The moment was at hand. She had known it for some time now but the problem was to tell about it to Emia. How would a girl so young understand the circumstances they all had been in if it was hard for herself as well? Julia remembered the look on her sister's face when she was forced to keep quiet. Never before had she lied to Emia or left things unspoken and she was disguised herself because of that. Due to the feelings she had after the last meeting Julia decided to wait until the time was right. She knew Lothar wouldn't mind, Emia had always wandered on her own and this time Julia would be with her. Julia was sure Emia had felt it already as well since the wind was already turning. It had to be done now or it would be too late. Besides Julia missed her family too much to waste any more time. She grabs her bags and looks at herself from the mirror for a second. Blush rises to her cheeks when she sees her slightly chainged body and she quickly covers her chest with her cloak. She doesn't wish to be seen as a child anymore, but not ready to be young woman eather.
Julia whistled and waited for her steed to approach. They had a long journey ahead but Julia wasn't too worried about the familiar road. Before she could even notice she was standing on Lothar's little garden. The little sister was still awake, sitting on her bed, waiting silently. Julia smiled a bit and saw Emia's eyes blinking in the darkness. "Ready to go home?" Julia asked. Emia nodded and grabbed her hand. The girls made their way outside so that Emia could make a gate to a place they hadn't been in years. Just before they enter to the gate, a small dove rises to the sky. There was only few words in the letter.
" We are home."
Re: Not forgotten
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 3:23 am
by Bella Pious
"This be the one," said Marcella Pious, as the three adults stood in front of a long wall and a bar gate and stared at the house behind.
Days later, Bella and Talerco had the official documents sorted out and a new butler hired from Britain to manage that house. But before the reunited family could move in, the butler had informed them there had been plumbing problems in the basement area, due to the old age of the house. The butler also informed, in his letter, that none of the plumbers hired was able to fix the problem because the house was "haunted" -- according to the guards and townsfolk of Nujelm. There were many vivid stories listed in his detailed report, but to summon it all up, he was saying that regrettably, it was fruitless trying to hire any local girl to work in that house.
"Oh dear," Bella looked at her husband worriedly, "what am I going to tell the kids now?!"
The truth be that her worries were in vain. The kids were excited. Julia's and Emia's eyes were wide open in excitement when they heard the house was "haunted", and even the timid Emerik ran a few laps in the house after he was shown the pool and the garden. "Children," Bella reminded them, "Grandmama said the Spirits are protecting this house, so do not be overly alarmed if there was a hole on the wall." She had to raise her voice so the running kids could hear her, "But if you feel there is something wrong, be sure to report to Mr. Tealeaf or your father!"
Bella nodded at the new butler, Mr. Tealeaf, as he swiftly followed the children, and turned her attention to the big empty hall. This was going to be a big job renovating this old place. But firstly they would need warm beds and a big meal to comfort their body and to prepare for the days to come. But what comforted her the most was that the new days will come with families together.
The next few weeks were chaotic. Everyday there were meetings with designers, workers measuring up the rooms and hall ways, discussion with the carpenters, and listing things to be ordered. There were parcels delivered in everyday. Due to the shortage of staff in the house, Mr. Tealeaf was busy counting and checking the delivery and ordering them to be placed in destined rooms. All the adults were busy settling, so the children just get busy playing. One day Talerco received a big parcel, and the kids were in awe when their father proudly took out a giant trophy of a Red Dragon he had slain, while their mother frowned. Mr. Tealeaf had the workers put it up in the Northern hall. "We shall call this room 'The Dragon Hall'," said Talerco, and it was decided.