💫

Acacia/Ciarán - Age 15

A smirk lingers on Vexy's lips as she grasps the bars in front of her cell, swaying slightly as she says, "Though I can't possibly tell for sure due to this confinement..." her voice trails off, glancing around the cell she resides within before she offers me a cheeky look and asks, "...you're wondering what I am, aren't you?"

Her ears tilt back forward and then outward again while I continue to stare at her curiously. I finally ask, "If I ask, would you bother to tell me...let alone the truth?"

"That all depends," she shifts her grip before leaning sideways, though her eyes never leave mine, "would you believe me either way?"

There are a few moments of silence as those unique eyes look at me.

When I say nothing, Vexy says, "From what I've gathered here...you're walking a dangerous thread that even you can't see..."

"What are you talking about?" I ask her, furrowing my brows with confusion.

She faces forward once again, bringing her nose between the bars before she sniffs a few short times. Vexy then inhales one large breath before she exhales, "I can smell them all over you."

"Them?" She could be referring to anyone at this point...

She leans back and in a matter-of-fact tone states, "You associate yourself with demons-"

"I don't-"

Vexy makes a sharp tsking sound that is also mixed with a yip. I close my mouth, watching as her eyes narrow on me before she says, "What they show themselves, as...their class, you could say...warlocks and witches, yet do you believe them human?" It's a rhetorical question because when I part my lips to speak, she silences me by shaking her head and proceeding with, "Of course you do. You believe but what you see and what you're told, but you haven't even scratched the surface of these creatures."

Appearing to have a lingering hatred toward them, it's bitter the way she says these words with resentment.

After a few moments, I tell her, "They're showing me magic..."

"Knowing what I've just told you," she arches a brow and questions, "what can you conclude? You're a clever girl Arin, but you're not the only one playing this game..."

Mercury's words ring in my head...

"Whatever game you think you're playing...you obviously don't know who all the players are."

What does Mercury want...?

What does he want...aside from taking out his hatred toward my mom out on me for what she did to his dad...

...I've never stopped to think for a moment and analyze what he said. Also...he did say players as in multiple...are there others out there planning something that I don't understand the reasoning why and their end goals?

"Can humans do magic?" I ask, trying to put two and two together about this class business she mentioned.

Vexy's smirk turns almost into an ugly grin when she replies, "Of course they can't."

"I'm not human..."

"No my dear," she shakes her head and finishes, "though I can tell you've been told this before and have continued to doubt yourself."

"Am I a witch?" It's the only thing I can go off of and continue, "I can do magic...but I couldn't when I needed to prove it."

Vexy tilts her head to the side and states, "Just because you can do magic doesn't make you a witch," she pauses while moving her hands as to list, "mermaid, faerie, different types of demons and many more..." she pauses and eyes me with a sly look, "...they aren't witches or warlocks, now are they?"

She's got a point.

"What am I?" My heart skips a beat before I grasp the bars of my cell, "Do you know? Or do you know I'm not human...?"

That wicked grin returns before Vexy says, "I can't understand why you're being shrouded in an illusion..." she shrugs her shoulders and muses, "...that's not my business however," she pauses and returns with, "I'm beginning to understanding why you're here..." she once again appears to be distantly thinking before she finishes, "...though the outcome for me doesn't matter in the slightest and I could hardly care what happens when the final piece falls while the other rises."

"What-"

Vexy's eyes glance over me once again before she says, "You're a pawn...you've always been a pawn and a pawn you must remain to win this game...because even a pawn can change the game once it reaches the other side of the board."

As she begins to speak in terms I understand, I ask, "A queen? Bishop? Knight? Rook?"

If what she's telling he holds significant meaning...

...then perhaps I really can...

Vexy giggles and releases a sigh while speaking to me as a child, "You set yourself limitations...beyond the confines of a board game is where you need to set yourself. There are far more of what a pawn may become outside this restrictions."

I...

...I don't understand.

I finally ask the question she's been wanting me to, "What are you?"

Vexy's interest peaks, though she paces back and forth behind the cell bars while my eyes follow her movements. When she comes to a halt, she snaps her fingers as though a light bulb turns on in her head. Vexy eyes me and says, "How about I do you one better?"

"Excuse me?" I ask, slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanor.

Once again, she muses with an airiness to her words, "I'll tell you what I am...and I'll even give you my true name..."

I'd read it from a book in that separate room in the Meliorist Sanctum library, that if you know a being's 'true' name, you can hold power over them if you know how...

...Vexy isn't a run of the mill being then.

Why would she offer that kind of power?

Those eyes of hers lock with mine when I ask, "In exchange for what?"

Vexy smirks while shrugging her shoulders and motioning around to the cell, "When the time comes..." her eyes flash with something I can't seem to understand, "...you'll set me free."

"I don't know how..." my voice trails off. Even if I did...she's here for a reason. All of these beings here have committed unspeakable crimes to earn themselves a sentence in Elysium.

What if she could help those around me understand what I am and prove it?

Would that be worth it alone?

"You will," she arches a brow while sizing me up, "I know you're debating whether or not to trust me and why I'm even here to begin with. We've both been manipulated, and that's earned us a lovely seat here..." while I remain silent, she then coxes me with, "...if you set me free, I will also tell you exactly who and what you are."

My heart stops in my chest.

She does know...

Almost as if she knows what's running through my mind, she states without hesitation, "Ekáti."

"What is that?!" I can't help but ask so hurriedly, "Someone's called me that once before but I don't know who. I believed it to be my imagination or perhaps dreaming subconsciously..." pausing a moment, I also remember those words and say, "...I was also told that I'd given all I have, my wolf for my very existence. I don't understand..."

Vexy's eyes are almost in slits when she says, "You're no werewolf...but that makes sense..."

"What-"

Vexy shrugs her shoulders and asks while arching a brow, "Do we have a deal, Arin?"

"I-"

"Yes or no?" She's quick to interrupt me once more.

If I can learn about the power of using a 'true' name, perhaps this deal will benefit me in the future...

...but to set her free, I don't know how and she doesn't appear concerned with that at this present time.

What happens if I set her free?

She said we were both manipulated...perhaps she understands...

"Deal," that one word causes a shift in the air between us. Though nothing changes elsewhere, I can see another change in her demeanor, especially the way her ears move outward and remain there.

Vexy nods and informs me without any hesitation, "I'm a kitsune," she takes a step to the side in her cell and then says, "Kukan."

I don't even know what that is...

"There's half my end of the deal..." she muses to herself while taking a few steps back away from the bars, settling back onto the small cot, though she's almost concealed by shadows now. Her voice is more distant when she notes, "I'll keep up the other half when you fulfill yours."

Releasing a small sigh, I release the bars I'd been clutching in a death grip, though I hadn't noticed up until this point. Walking back away to my cot, I lay down on my side, staring at the stone wall.

I have to get my parents to trust me again...

...even though I was right, fighting them on my word versus what they saw isn't going to help me.

I need to calm down and focus on not having my parents turn against me. Especially after telling them the truth and them not being able to see it, I need to keep my mouth shut and get by until there's an opportunity I can use. I know when I leave here, and he has his chance, I'm going to regret ever telling my parents because Mercury will punish me in his manner he sees fit. It's unavoidable now...

Nightmares slip soundlessly through my mind after I drift off to sleep.

When I feel a chilling, bone-numbing cold creep through my muscles, my eyelids snap open. My vision is hazy as I stare up at the ceiling. My heart is racing, my clothes soaked in sweat as I breathe in and out hard. After I roll to my side, glancing around the room...it's so quiet.

When I glance at Vexy's cell, it's all darkness once again, not able to make out any form. Something isn't right as the air feels thick and stale.

Rising to my feet, I walk cautiously toward the cell bars, glancing as far as I can in either direction. There's nothing there, a sigh of relief leaving my slightly parted lips. Taking a few steps back and away, it's the first moment time isn't a concept to me...

When I turn away to look toward the window, what I see sends me straight into a panic. Dark purple tendrils slither through the bars, consuming the stone walls while they creep ever so slowly toward me. My heart accelerates, staggering backward until back hits the bars of the cell door. When it does, the air catches in my lungs, and my eyes grow wide with fear.

They continue to travel closer, that undeniable fear coursing through my veins leaves me paralyzed as I release an almost inaudible cry.

Just before I feel like I'm going to die...

...a white light flashes before my eyes. The warm glow bathes me in its radiance once again as it saves me from the feeling of impending doom.

The forest is calm and serene as the birds can be heard chirping in the distance. White fur surrounds me, encasing me in a warmth I've never known. The touch alone sends an electrical current trailing beneath my skin, through my muscles and bringing out a heightened sense.

Eyes...

...reddish-orange eyes shift before me before slipping out of focus.

Touch.

It causes not only fear but a sense of peace at the same time. It beckons me to trust and believe in it...I want to, but that darkness that feels like it's been building within me forces my heart to turn icy...

...that voice. I've never heard it before as it asks me, "How can you reject me? You don't even know me...how are you so cold-hearted that our touch doesn't evoke a single emotion from you?"

It fades away...though the feeling that remains...nearly shatters my heart to pieces.

Everything slowly slips back into focus, a heat lingering in my heart that I've never felt before with previous visions I've seen.

Vexy's voice is the first thing I hear, though she's giggling slightly as she sighs, "I understand now...I get it," her murmuring is only understandable to herself, "...he wants you..." those eyes of hers lock with mine and she sneers, "...dead or alive is the question though."

💫--To Be Continued--💫
-Updates on Mondays & Thursdays-