Castle Hydra: Next Generation

[lycrawaterz14]

"No." Kenan said simply. "Whoever hurt her, however badly, they must die." He sounded like Adrian was a child he was simply waving off during an argument. "I am not the one who has a hard time controlling my tongue." He glared at Judeao. "It is a serious matter. It isn't natural, and your personality is getting worse. You're lonely."

 

"NO I'M NOT!" Kenan bellowed, his hands trembling. "In fact I'm NEVER alone! 'When is the shadow girl going to bear,' or 'what are you going to do about Arachne, or Mara'! Or I try to spend a LITTLE amount of time with Aza and the public acts as if there's a war brewing! I'm not even going to take her out of the castle, much less my bed, she'll reject me! Just LEAVE ME BE!!!"

[frostmourne]

"Fantastic." Adrian threw up his hands in defeat and stormed out. The shouting was loud enough to jerk Aza out of her induced sleep. As soon as she realized the cause of her waking, she started to cry uncontrollably. Jasper remained awkwardly still for a moment before his programming forced him to act. The AI wrapped its arms around her and patted her back soothingly. "It's alright madam. It's alright Azalea." Aza stopped crying, surprised. No one had called her Azalea since she was a little girl. Only Jared had called her that when he wanted her to stop crying. Adrian burst into the room and froze at the sight of a tear stained Aza cradled in Jasper's arms. "Get your metal claws off of her." he snarled. The AI complied and Aza was wrenched away from it. "J-Jared." Aza stuttered. Adrian shook her roughly. "He's not Jared! He's nothing but an imitation!" Aza flinched and sniffled. "Y-you aren't real either. Lies...All lies!" she screamed. She pulled free of the shadow and ran out of the mansion, still crying. She collapsed in the center of the rose garden, too exhausted to run further. She curled up and continued weeping. "Hmph. Melodramatic crybaby." Edited August 9, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan felt Aza waKe and a pang of guilt hit him. "You have disturbed her." he growled. Judeao held his head. "Whatever." he growled.

[frostmourne]

Aza flinched when she heard someone moving towards her. "Hey, miss? You alright?" an unfamiliar voice chirped. A young girl peered down at her, half eaten apple clutched in one hand. After deciding she didn't look very interesting the girl tossed the apple at her head and ran off giggling. Aza rose slowly, looking positively livid at the retreating figure. Shadows coiled around her and she opened her mouth to utter the command that would send them racing towards the girl. She couldn't utter a word. She lowered her head and the darkness that was usually in constant motion paused and then disappeared entirely. "Shadows will never obey anyone weaker than them. You've become so fragile. Why all this doubt Aza?" Adrian crooned, his hands resting on her shoulders. "You aren't afraid, are you? What's happened to you? When you were little, you would slaughter armies without a second thought. Now look at you. Can't even scratch a child. Pathetic." His coos turned into a sneer in the end. Aza gestured at a dark corner of the garden, but the shadow didn't even twitch. Adrian laughed mockingly and walked away, casting her a brief scornful look. "Start looking after yourself. I've put Jasper into a permanent hibernation and I shall no longer assist you until you can seal your heart away." Aza sat down on a marble bench, her hands curled into fists. She plucked a rose, letting the thorns dig into her fingers. Normally their stems would be smooth as glass but without Jared, they seemed to have lapsed back into old habits. She crushed the delicate bloom between her fingers, not seeming to mind the blood from the cuts.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan and Judeao screamed it out before Kenan silently sulked back to Aza's side.

 

"I-..." he didn't have words, he just had that small sound in the back of his throat. Sadness had consumed him to the brim. He started to cry, just quiet tears of sorrow. Judeao had won, and Aza was no longer allowed in the realm of the dead until she was his wife. He had no choice in the matter. "Aza..." He tried to hold her, offering out his arms.

[frostmourne]

Seal your heart away. Adrian's words echoed in her mind but she tried to push them away. It didn't matter if she couldn't control shadows anymore as long as Kenan was there she tried to tell herself. She turned to face him, but she did not move any closer. "Hey. Don't cry." she said quietly, offering a small smile. It vanished quickly since she was too tired to pretend she was fine. She raised a hand and brushed away a tear. She looked at the mangled rose she still gripped in one hand. Soft white petals were dyed pink by the blood from the cuts. They were barely healing at all, the drain of having to regenerate slowing the process. The black snake bracelet she had always worn suddenly faded to white too. Aza released a strangled cry of surprise and frustration. Even her familiar would no longer follow her. She tore the bracelet off her wrist and hurled it away. She heard it shatter and it was all she could do to stop from sobbing. Seal your heart away. Her watery eyes seemed to crystallize and sharpen until they were as sharp and steely as the point of a sword. Whatever emotion she felt fell away and she dusted herself off. She rose and started walking out of the garden, walking back into the mansion, completely ignoring Kenan. Edited August 11, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

He had heard her strangled sob and assumed it was at him.

 

She... She was ashamed of him. He was not worthy. His heart could have shattered if he had one. He would have fallen if he wasn't sitting down. He had... Loved her for so long... And she had rejected him. Earlier she loved him... But now he was weak. He wasn't worthy anymore.

 

Judeao was right... He didn't need her. He could take any wife he wanted. Any! Aza came with too many attachments anyway! He stood and shadowstepped to his kingdom where Aza was banished, no intent of returning except for buisness.

[frostmourne]

Aza's composure vanished the minute she stepped into the mansion. Blood and metal covered the walls and floors. It looked like a massacre had taken place. She turned around to apologize to Kenan only to find him absent. She made an odd choking sound and sat down in the blood. She couldn't cry any more, only feeling abandonment. She didn't even look up as a blade was pressed against her cheek. "It would be so easy to kill you right now. So, powerless and deserted by everyone. How does it feel?" Skulni chuckled. "Good thing that guy did have some brains. Running off the moment you can't stop him. Didn't anyone ever tell you to never fall for someone who wasn't willing to catch you?" Aza said nothing, knowing Skulni was just rubbing salt in her wounds. "Oh well. You'll see him soon enough." The blade raised to lop off her head, but then didn't move another inch. It clattered to the ground as Skulni sat down beside her. "Just kidding. Much more fun to watch you die slowly." Aza didn't react even as he reached forward to touch her cheek. Her gaze remained locked on the place Kenan had been. "See you in your nightmares." Skupni whispered before disappearing. Aza felt like she couldn't move. She suddenly noticed that her fingers had become transparent. She laughed bitterly, the sound terrifying as it echoed off the walls. She couldn't even keep herself solid anymore. She would soon completely fade away, gradually forgotten by everyone until no one remembered she existed. A shadow of a shadow.

[lycrawaterz14]

Adele approached Aza, just sitting down beside her. She didn't offer any words of comfort, just took her fading hand. She leaned her head in her shoulder, at least she was there for her.

[frostmourne]

Adele's touch was enough to make her entire arm break off and shatter as if it were glass. The somewhat translucent fragments vanished as soon as they came in contact with light. Aza undid the brooch that held her cloak in place and watched with a detached interest her body disintegrated. The dark dress she was wearing hid the fact that she no longer had a pair of working legs. She couldn't stand if she wanted to. There was little pain, only the feeling that she was losing herself. "I didn't expect...to ever be reduced to this. Not dying, but simply ceasing to exist." she mumbled. Her face had started to become paler than ever. The room was starting to become rather strange. Light gathered in places where there should be shadow and crept closer gradually. "The vultures are here. They'll vie for whatever is left." Aza reached up and combed a hand through her hair. They were falling out quickly and she threw it at the glowing spots. They gathered around it greedily, reducing the silky black strands to nothing. "Thank you for coming, Adele." she whispered. There was a sharp splintering sound as her other arm broke off. The lights fell upon it immediately and then turned their attention on her. They kept creeping closer, waiting for her to closer her eyes. "And he didn't even say goodbye." she sighed sadly, unable to cry now that her eyes had also become crystalline.

Edited August 12, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

"Aza, this is jut a misunderstanding. Please! He thinks you don't love him because he cried!" she looked desperate. "I watched his father live out his life with one he truly didn't love, please don't make Kenan that way. This is just a misunderstanding..."

[frostmourne]

Aza could barely even speak any more. "I can't even stand. Even if I could, aren't I exiled?" she said in a quiet voice. "He gave up so easily. I'm worth so little. I thought he would at least show up to watch me fade." Her face was starting to become completely transparent. There was another delicate clinking sound and a crack appeared on her cheek. "Adrian. I was beginning to think you'd miss the show." she said in a voice that was barely louder than the sound of falling snow. He stepped out of one corner, the light scattering before him. "Not for the world, sweetie." he replied, his voice breaking a little. He knelt beside her a gently kissed her cheek. "I'm so sorry." he said softly. "You didn't do this to me. He did." Aza murmured. "I'm...so glad...you came." More cracks were racing across her face. Adrian bowed his head, not wanting to see her completely fall apart.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan was back at the same spot he was for Jared and Adrian... Aza didn't deserve less then they did... She could never die. He loved her too much, even if she thought him weak.

 

"Aza Cepernum." he whispered, as the drop hit the water. There was a rush of power to her, enough energy to sustain immortality. Aza resealed, completely fine. But a young woman was sighing, white haired like Arachne, but much stronger and happier. "Well..." she sighed. "Welcome back from the brink... There is lots of technicalities here, but... Yeah. For now you're immortal. Enjoy it... I am Rechal, I am one of the more advanced fates, like Arachne."

[frostmourne]

"For a moment I hoped I would be rid of this stupid girl and her petty problems. Keeping me locked away, tormenting herself in the process. She is powerless unless she frees me, and she'd rather die than do that. It would have been kinder to let her fade." Aza said in a chillingly cruel voice. The voice quieted and Aza seemed to blink a few times before realizing what happened. She swept her gaze over the scene with less emotion than the cold voice from before. She looked to her wrist where her bracelet had been and then turned her eyes outside to the rose garden. She rose slowly, her movements as painful as those of an old lady. She stepped into the garden and picked another rose. "All better? And not even a 'thank you'?" Adrian said lightly, following her out. "What do I have to be thankful for? An eternity of...this?" she said gesturing around her. "I've lived too long as is." Adrian snatched the rose out of her hand. "An eternity of roses doesn't seem that bad. Roses for eternal love." he said brightly. Aza remained silent, glaring at the flower as if it were the source of all her troubles. "I hate roses." she said quietly. "That's not what you said when Jared made these gardens for you." he reminded her. "I've changed. You heard what it said." she mumbled. "I always knew you were a eagle wearing a dove's feathers. Or was the saying a wolf in sheep's clothing?" He held out the rose to her, his attempts to cheer her up going no where. She knocked it away and it rolled into the bushes. Edited August 13, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

"Um... hey! Lady!" Rechal followed her. "I need you to sort out some things. Both of you." She glared at Adrian. "We need to sit down and sort this out."

[frostmourne]

Aza ignored her completely, her gaze fixed on something in the distance. She didn't move even as Skulni leaned over and put his head on her shoulder. Adrian immediately started, but Aza shook her head slightly. Adrian looked baffled as she allowed Skulni to start draining blood. "I can see his ribs." she said without much emotion. It took several minutes before Skulni finally tore away and licked the blood off his lips. She raised a hand and he hesitated for a moment. Sighing, he took her hand and quickly transformed. A white snake wound itself around her arm and then dropped to the ground. It left behind a silver imprint of a snake that coiled elegantly from her wrist to her shoulder. "I'm surprised you accepted." Aza commented in a voice that was no where near surprise. "How I could I deny a heartbroken lady?" Skulni said quietly, dropping to one knee before her. "So, now that I'm your familiar, I'll be by your side until we walk upon the ruins of the world together." he said melodramatically. "Seriously, I'm going to stick around until you get sick of me, m'lady." Adrian was staring at her like she had gone insane. "Go sort things put with her. He can't hurt me anymore." Aza said, waving Adrian off. He shook his head and headed over to Rechal, clearly impatient to get whatever it was over with. Skulni sat down on the bench beside her and started to play with her hair.

Edited August 16, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Rechal sighed. "I don't have time for this..." she snapped her fingers and a large mahogany table was in front of them. There was a small rectangle of darkness, and light shine around it ominously. It looked like it was painful. They were all seated, Aza, Skulni, Adrian, a small potted plant with a cube like blossom, Judeao, and Kenan. Kenan looked outraged, and when he shadowstepped he only reappeared in his chair.

 

"Now. Kenan, the Aza, then anyone else. What's the problem, and we'll figure out a solution." Rehal took notes.

 

Kenan looked shy. "I'm supposing the problem is Aza being alive... Just give me the punishment and I'll accept it without merc-" "Death! This isn't about punishment. Asa's existence right now is through a loophole a Cupid found for you! You two were meant to be together, so we have three options. Let her die and you go on your merry way, you both die and Adrian and Jared take over as Death, or you both live as a couple. I need all of your stories to decide." she growled. Kenan shrunk back. "It is not Aza's choice to love me. She has made that clear..." he said glumly. "I... was having a hard time and she left me. I was dying and she stayed with Adrian and Jared. She's made me make terrible decisions for my rule for her." he growled, but more like he was about to cry. "But... I din't want her to die. Is there any way Adrain and Jared could take over and Aza live...?" He asked. Rechal sighed and said no. Kenan looked depressed, but Rchal pressed further. "If you don't love her, why give her immortality?" she asked. "I gave her immortality because I love her. Not for any political reason like I have before. She may chose to be without me, but at least I'll know she's there. I'll be happy just by being near her, even if she has rejected me." he mused.

[frostmourne]

Aza looked furious and stood up. "Rejected? I cried because my familiar left, took three steps away and when I turned around, you weren't there! I never went anywhere!" she said sharply. She opened her mouth to say more, but her eyes were already starting to turn to black. "Her second slip in one day. You must have really broke her. Nothing but a pathetic, emotionally unstable declawed shadow spirit." the voice chuckled, Aza sitting back down. Her features were becoming more and more like the Aza from her nightmares. Breathtakingly beautiful and even more cruel. She looked at Adrian, who seemed to suddenly realized something. A flick of her wrist was all it took for the shadow to collapse and the silver cube to clatter on the chair. "One less person to worry about. Skulni, you are dismissed." He started to protest, but the mark glowed and he returned to the form of a white snake that quickly disappeared into the silvery mark. Aza then turned to look back to those left in the room. "I don't want to sit through story time a nanosecond longer than I have to. The quicker a decision is made the better."

[lycrawaterz14]

"Your familiar left...?" Kenan choked out. "Aza, I'm... I'm so sorry... I didn't know..." he tried to stand but found he couldn't. He turned to Rechal. "Please, please let me hold her." he whimpered. Rechal had her hands on her face. "So... You two didn't break up. You just had one fight and left way other? Yeah, go ahead. I'll try to decide." Kenan rushed beside Aza, gently holding her shoulders. "Those were the longest steps I've ever taken." he mumbled, and tried to hug her. "I'm so sorry... Please forgive me. I want to be there when you break, I want to hold you and put you back together. All I want is you. I only left because I thought you did, and even then I couldn't stay far away. Aza please..." he rushed out, before hugging her tightly.

[frostmourne]

"I'm sure she would think that was romantic if she could hear you. She can't, so would you kindly take your hands off me? Seriously, do I have to massacre an entire country to get you to realize that I'm not her?" the voice snapped, wriggling to free itself. "If you weren't Death than I would probably be trying to kill you right now." "So you didn't even miss me a little bit?" Jared called out being dragged along by an Adrian-shaped shadow. "Oh great. Not you again. I thought you were stuck in a box." the voice groaned. "I am. I don't know how Adrian dragged me here. I must say, this is the first time I've seen you not killing someone." he said lightly. "Not a great choice of victims here." "I see. When do you plan to give her body back?" "Over my dead body." the voice snarled, clearly not planning to relinquish control. "You don't have a body." "Neither do you two. And how did you manage to drag his consciousness out of that cube?" The shadow shrugged, not quite knowing how to explain dragging a mind through a void.

[lycrawaterz14]

He looked angry, and just held on tighter. "You realize I remove consciousnesses from bodies for a living. Get out. Now." he hissed.

[frostmourne]

"Yes, but do you realize that getting rid of me will mean she will never regain her power again? Don't you think you're being rather hasty?" the voice chuckled, taking obvious delight in the fact that Aza would be devastated by the loss. "Besides, if you do that, I'll be free of this stupid girl. I have existed for far longer than you and survived much worse than this." a slightly different voice added. "As is, I can't leave if I want to." Aza's body simply faded to shadow and reformed just out of Kenan's reach. "Can't you do something?" Adrian complained, looking at Jared. "Yes, but that something would make him throw a fit." Jared muttered under his breath.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan backed off when it meant hurting Aza. "What do you want then?" He hissed, starting to sound offended.

[frostmourne]

"Hmm...well, I never thought I get this far with you sticking around, but I really ought to get rid of her before she regains what sense she has left." the voice mused. It closed its eyes for a minute and reopened them, looking quite pleased with itself. "Let's see how you like being locked up for a change." it whispered mockingly. Aza's hand suddenly jerked, and the smug grin fell off her face. "Stop trying. It won't do you any good. Besides, when I'm finished with the...alterations, you won't even know how to move." Aza's features had been changing subtly ever since the other one had wrestled control, but now the changes had become so drastic that she was hardly recognizable anymore. "Well, since I can't protect you, I'll destroy you." Adrian said cheerfully, forming a sword and quickly stabbing it through her head. It was rather disturbing to see her still turn around and scowl despite the sword sticking out of her skull. "She won't wake up that way. Do I come out everytime you stab her?" She put both hands on the hilt of the sword and slowly eased it out, producing a disgusting squelching sound. She pointed it at Adrian while it was still dripping blood. "Off with your head." she said with a rather macabre grin. She lopped off his head with one clean cut, severing the spinal cord with ease. "Have you been reading Alice in Wonderland again?" Adrian said just before the sword came down. Edited August 19, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan protected Adrian's neck, his fingers not even affected by the blow as they bounced off the sword and he picked Adrian's head off the floor, letting the nerves and bone reattach to his neck. He held the blade and hissed in her ear. "I know Aza's in there. Let her out! What are you anyway? You aren't her, that's for sure. Just get back where you came from..." he hissed, grabbing Aza's wrists. He held her close though, on arm around her waist and the other holding back her wrists.

Edited August 19, 2012 by lycrawaterz14