arlynnxmercer-blog

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

Please, please, please.

Arlynn begged fate as she ran to the Calderon home.

Please don’t do this. Please.

She pleaded with the powers that were, begged them for a chance to fix this, to have some control over what they’d shown her years before. She couldn’t do this again. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

But whatever prayers she offered were ignored and Arlynn’s run slowed as she stopped short when the house came into view.

Please swiftly turned to a steady stream of no, no, no. Each step was forced as the high priestess’s gait turned to an almost trance-like stumble. And when she came to the doorstep of the house, she could hear the sound of mourning. She felt ill. It didn’t take long for her to step through the already open door and feel her heart wrench itself from her body at the sight that was before her.

All she saw was a mess of red, but all she felt was a numbness that crawled up her hands and settled into her chest cavity.  Ice filled her lungs and every breath hurt as she swallowed thickly. This was not her time to mourn. It was not her place. She had no right.

“Nisee–– this really isn’t…” Arlynn barely got the words out before a five month-old Aria was placed in her arms as Nisee ran to the kitchen to turn off the boiling water.

They were about to have tea. The high priestess had wanted to see the new mother, understanding that this new journey life had her own didn’t allow for many social calls during the first few months of her child’s life. But Arlynn always made time for those she cared about and made a point to check in on her friend once a week or so.

The witch admired the Calderon’s baby girl from afar most of the time. There was something about children that made Arlynn wary–– perhaps of what she might see, perhaps because children represented something she had yet to envision for herself. Either way, the fact that Aria was suddenly in her arms gave Arlynn pause. She sighed and smiled down at the newborn, glove-clad hands holding her securely as she looked toward the kitchen, speaking softly all the while,  “your mama will be right back, don’t you worry.” But children didn’t worry, did they? They only knew what it was to be comfortable or uncomfortable, content and discontent. It was a black and white life for one so young–– there were no in betweens, no grey areas.

“Maybe you’ll like tea when you’re–” she didn’t finish her words. One moment Arlynn was in the Calderon’s living room, filled with toys and discarded bottle, sitting on the couch with the baby and the next she was standing in the middle of it. It was like a spotlight had illuminated where she stood. The child was no longer in her arms. Arlynn barely breathed as she looked around, seeing nothing until she followed the vision, taking a step forward only to feel something beneath her feet. When she looked down...all she saw was a trail of red. And she couldn’t help but follow it, the vision pulling her forward as the spotlight shifted and she saw her friend on her knees, holding a small, unmoving body in her arms. Not more than five or six. Her heart dropped. Beside Nisee was another unmoving figure but Arlynn turned her face before she could focus on Rowan’s bloodied, unwavering, empty gaze.

The vision began to waver, rippling out until Arlynn started in her seat a second late. She was back in the present and felt Aria’s small hand latched onto her nose. She flinched away, standing just as Nisee walked back into the room with a tray. 

The older witch smiled at her friend, doing her best not to shake in the young mother’s presence. “I’m sorry, Nisee–– I’m not feeling well today. I should’ve said but I really look forward to this and...I don’t want to get her sick.” She waved a hand to take the tray from Nisee’s care, magic carrying it to the coffee table. Since her friend’s hands were free, Arlynn gently handed her back her daughter, “let’s try next week, okay?”

She didn’t wait for an answer as she grabbed her bag, doing her best not to run all the way home. All she could see was Nisee sitting in puddles of blood, holding her little girl. The same little girl who wasn’t a year old. The same little girl with that bubbling laugh and already kind eyes. The same little girl she’d just held. Arlynn felt tears burn but she wiped them away as she walked briskly, as if she went fast enough she might outpace what fate had already decided.

She had no right to be there. Watching Nisee exactly as she’d seen her nearly six years prior, holding her daughter’s body, her husband’s unmoving beside her. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. The vision made reality was clear as day and Arlynn swallowed again, letting Elldine take the lead as he caught up to her. He went to Nisee’s side, hand on her shoulder, and maybe it was the fact that her twin could so freely comfort the witch that had Arlynn turning back the way she came. The way she’d left years ago, except this time she didn’t walk.

She was running. She was running and running and running until she came to a clearing that had her stumbling to a halt. Her face was wet but Arlynn hardly noticed as she doubled over, hand flying to her mouth as a silent sob escaped. As her chest felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it again and again and again. She clenched her teeth and shifted forward, forehead touching the forest ground as arms wrapped around herself, as though she could keep herself from falling apart. But the tightness of her chest made gasping for air necessary and once she started, she couldn’t stop. Rasping. Gasping. Heaving. It was an ugly sound–– an ugly aching cry that scratched at her throat, demanding to be released into the night, into the darkness that now surrounded her. She knew that somewhere, out there, Nisee was mourning the lives she’d lost. 

And as Arlynn collapsed to her side on the frosty forest floor, curling into herself as she cried, she mourned the lives she hadn’t been able to save.

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

;; a study in names

featuring: @hadrianmordecai , @beautifullyxtainted , @arranmordecai , @amorymordecai

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

niseecalderon‌:

Nisee smiled at her high priestess. “I’m ok, I think,” she said, waving Arlynns offer off. The witch always put others first, and Nisee was reasonably certain that would have been the case regardless of her position in the coven. Arlynn was a good woman, and she deserved people looking out for her as much as she looked out for others. She hummed thoughtfully. “I do think he would have wanted that,” she agreed.“ She recalled Malcolm’s smiling face for a moment and felt a pang of emotion.

Nisee paused. If anyone was safe to ask, it was Arlynn. Her high priestess would understand her fear and anxiety, but Nisee also worried about adding to Arlynn’s burden. She bit her lip and then asked quietly, "Arlynn… Is it possible that there is another omega around?” Nisee wasn’t stupid, and she didn’t think the wolves would flagrantly disregard the Accords, but the way she’d heard the bodies were torn up… “I don’t mean to jump to conclusions or anything it just feels so… Familiar.”

She bowed her head a bit, almost ashamed of herself for even asking. She had been harsh with Max when he’d run into her because the possibility was so fresh in her mind that she couldn’t think of anything else. Maybe an answer from Arlynn could help? Nisee hoped so.

Arlynn nodded at Nisee’s reply, smiling slightly, “well, let me know if you change your mind, yeah?” The witch nodded for her fellow coven member to take a seat as she returned to her own, wondering what Nisee had come about.

Still, the moment the other actually voiced her question, Arlynn felt her stomach twist. She pressed her lips together for but a moment before sighing. “I don’t think it’s so simple, Nisee.” The high priestess toyed with a discarded bookmark, looking over at the younger woman, “I think...I think this is bigger than any one person. Any one species, really.” It was an honest answer, though she imagined not a satisfactory one. 

“And I don’t think thing will get better soon either.....not before it gets worse.” Not the most encouraging sentiment but a true one and Arlynn wanted to be true with Nisee, if only because she hadn’t been before. “So we need to stick together. Our coven,” she gestured around, as if to allude to the members who passed through subtext for coven meetings, “and the other factions as well. I know it’s not easy to hear but we’ve worked so hard for peace....as tempting as it is to cast blame or find an easy answer. I don’t think we really can. Not just yet.” There was something else at work here, Arlynn could feel it in her bones and that alone was why she refused to even guess at who was behind the recent deaths until there was more evidence. Any evidence really.

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire saénz

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

;; unspoken understanding • AURELIUS

Arlynn felt the air shift when two more lights were extinguished in Roseville. There was an imbalance and it was like grief welled up from the earth, spilling over into her people. Into Arlynn and she knew something was wrong. It didn’t take long to piece it together, to hear the names of the fallen and her first thoughts went to that poor girl, the Mordecais and Rel. She couldn’t impose on Freyja just yet, knowing how fresh and painful losing a parent was, losing both even. She knew Dean would see to the Mordecais and she didn’t really hesitate before sending Aurelius a message, praying to the gods he’d see it. She told him to meet where they always did when neither felt like being surrounded by people but where they could both tread without infringing on each other’s warded spaces.

It was cold but Arlynn only pulled her coat closer about her slight frame with glove-clad hands, feet hardly seeming to brush the light snow covering the clearing where she waited for her friend. She hated this. She hated the pain she felt in the air, the loss she knew all too well. It brought back memories that still ached–– the discovery that her parents were gone. The void that filled her when she realized there was truly nothing she could’ve done to protect her father and how her own fear had left her blind to her mother’s fate. She wished she could’ve seen this too. And for what wasn’t the first time in a month, Arlynn cursed her gift, if it could be called that these days. Her inability to control it angered her at times like this, it made her wish for her brother’s gift or anyone else’s–– who could actively choose to use what fate had bestowed upon them rather than wait for it to call upon her. Rather than wait for it to show her a truth she couldn’t bear.

The witch stopped her pacing, drawn from her thoughts at the subtle presence of another and she turned around to see Aurelius there, in the middle of the clearing, looking all his centuries old. Looking like Atlas being weighed down by the world he never asked to carry. Looking like she had so many years ago. She didn’t say a word– didn’t offer condolences, just as he hadn’t when he’d visited her upon Malcolm’s death. They both knew neither needed that. Empty words, however well intentioned, were still empty. They didn’t bring back the dead. She didn’t speak but her actions spoke volumes, the witch not hesitating as she drew him into a hug, arms slung around his neck as she mourned with her friend, as she told him, without saying a word, that she felt their deaths in her bones as well. That she understood his loss as well as she understood her own with Malcolm, with her parents, with everyone who’d fallen around them whilst they remained standing. She understood the pain that came with surviving.  @aureliusshepherd

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

elldine‌:

Elldine cracked a smile and squinted over at the grimoire his sister had laid out as he reached in for two thermoses. “Lobster bisque – you sure? Taking the lot of them down – even if the new one would be an iron fortress in itself, there’d still be a moment of weakness in the interim – however short it may be.” He pursed his lips and gave the thermos to Arlynn, followed by a spoon. 

“It might do the trick since its something… new to the security system we have now, but risky.” He didn’t like risky business. Especially since it meant he’d have to reweave all the contingencies she so casually mentioned taking down – it wasn’t hard to redo them, but it was the time it would take to restructure everything that he was concerned about. 

“Oh, you know I’m going to eat the entire batch.” She smiled slightly as she accepted the thermos from him, summoning a spoon from the small kitchenette area in the back. The moment she’d taken a sip of her brother’s soup, she rolled her eyes, “this isn’t fair, you know that, right?” 

But that was about as much a distraction as the witch could entertain before focusing on the matter at hand. She pressed her lips together, leaning back in her seat once more as her twin spoke. “What if we put a temporary layer beneath–– enough to remain protected once the main ones are down but simple enough to build off of and recreate a foundation around?” 

Arlynn stood up then, reaching for a grimoire she’d cast aside rather than use magic to retrieve it this time. “I found this one,” she began flipping through the pages, “and considered it because it’s one spell but” she began flicking through from the first page until the end of the spell, eleven pages later. It had been used on royal estates in the past throughout history, “doesn’t seem very practical does it?” 

A spell that long would require even more precision than weaving multiple ones together despite being a single spell. And Arlynn didn’t think they had the time or the energy to put into it which is why she’d come up with her other idea. “We can try to go over the ones we have but some of the better spells require a more or less blank canvas, hence my suggestion to repeal some of them but,” she lifted her shoulders, returning to her seat and soup now, “if you have ideas, now’s the time, Dean.”

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

Elldine: [...]

Elldine: That's not good. Who?

Elldine: I have but these things do take time to do right

Elldine: I'm not about to rush them just to get them done if they come down to being our last line of defense

Arlynn: Thalia and Brandyn

Arlynn: You should see Hadrian.

Arlynn: You're not rushing. I'll help us get them done.

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

Elldine: Attic of the store -- been putting some decorations back

Elldine: What's going on?

Arlynn: Another body.

Arlynn: Not one of ours–– I'll be there in twenty.

Arlynn: Have you worked on the wards at all today? I want them all up by tonight.

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

Arlynn: Where are you? Just left your place.

Arlynn: We need to talk. This is getting bad.

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

pastimes • pt. one

;; puzzels

Arlynn loves puzzles. She loves 1000 piece puzzles and rubik’s cubes, brain teasers and anything of the sort. There’s something calming about messing with the pieces or the puzzle to solve it that she enjoys. She doesn’t have to think much about it and lets her hands do the work.

;; game night

No one loves a game night like Arlynn. She’ll convince other coven members to play at times too, knowing that sometimes a break is needed and that doing something fun and meaningless can be good for the soul at times too. She enjoys Scabble (especially with the coven, as they can play in Latin), catchphrase, taboo and any other game where it’s necessary to guess what the other person is trying to get at. Needless to say, when she and Dean team up, it’s rather an unfair advantage. Recently, there haven’t been many with everything going on, but it’s a fond memory to hold onto in such trying times.

;; books

It’s only natural that Arlynn’s read so many books, having lived a long life by mortal standards. She’s gone through periods of reading more from one genre than another but enjoys biographies most, especially on humans ignorant of the supernatural who’ve still done astounding things with their lives. It’s inspiring to Arlynn, to see how much humans can accomplish. She’s also got an affinity for recommending the perfect book for a person’s mood whenever they come into the shop. 

;; writing

Arlynn writes almost as much as she reads, be it journal entries, her own prose or poetry or anything related to magic. Unless she’s adding to a grimoire, it’s rare for the witch to share what she’s written, though, over time she has submitted to various literary and scientific journals under pseudonyms. 

;; social media

As the times have changed, Arlynn’s caught on a bit to them, at least most recently in the 21st Century and social media. She’s most active on photo sharing sites like Instagram, but focuses on Subtext’s own page. She posts various things from the shop; from new books to suggested reading to reader’s picks and events they host, she’ll keep the page filled with anything and everything Subtext or literarily related. Her own reflects the much of the same content as Subtext’s but she’ll post more with her brother or coven member friends. She’s always been partial to photography and over the years as picked up a few tricks here and there, having practiced on and off since it became possible for individuals to pick up photography as a leisure activity and hobby. 

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

hadrianmordecai‌:

The Manor was a grand place, almost as glamorous as the Estate. They were sister sites, built in parallel of each other, only one was located outside the warded sanctuary that housed the GreyShadow Coven; open to the public, those who loved propriety and the finer things that life had to offer. As he entered the room he had been ushered into by one of the staff, he spotted the only other person inhabiting it.

Arlynn Mercer. High Priestess of the Ashvale Coven, sister to Elldine Mercer, and a dear friend. She was certainly one who fit into her surrounds, and had dressed the part today. She rose to her feet as long legs ate up the distance between them. “Good evening, my darling.” To be a vampire meant you lived in a different timezone to all of those around you, even though one shared the same land and air as the rest. 

The smile on his face did little to hide his fangs as he dipped his head, pressing a kiss of greeting to her cheek. “It’s been too long.” Aside from the meetings of the Conclave, which were hardly a social visit, it had been several weeks since the pair had been in a room together. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Arlynn nodded at Hadrian, tipping her chin to the side slightly as he placed a kiss upon her cheek. She wasn’t big on touch but could allow this as a courtesy between leaders. And, truthfully, Hadrian had lived such a long life, she doubted he’d not encountered truths about his future at some point or another. Not that she’d see anything but even if she had somehow, Arlynn didn’t think anything would put him off as it might others. He’d lived many lifetimes to adjust to the reality that fate was a cruel, often fickle mistress without regard for others. 

“I wanted to talk,” she admitted without much hesitation. There really was no need to beat around the bush with the vampire, “about how people have been taking the news of Malcolm’s death. Where fingers are being pointed.” Despite her own conviction that it was neither the vampires, nor the werewolves who’d taken part in her fellow witch’s demise, she knew some of her coven members were eager to point fingers, eager to cast blame on someone who fit the bill. It would be too easy, Arlynn believed, to do just that. She knew the humans were also wanted to blame someone as well. And she wanted to make sure that they were all quelling doubts within their congregations, so to speak, that none of them would harm another, none would go against the accords they’d all signed. Not without dire consequences. 

“People want answers, understandably so, but until we get them, they’re looking for someone to blame.” And the last thing anyone wanted was for their own people to subvert their authority, to cast blame and act out on it. She may have said it was an far fetched fear months prior but with the recent deaths, who could say. Emotions were running high, fear was prevalent and when one took intense emotions combined with fear and a desire for retribution and justice–– it could make for a potentially messy situation. As leaders, it was their duty to talk about all these things, even in an unofficial capacity when nothing’s been acted on yet-– it paid to be prepared and to try to defused any tensions that might arise.  

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

Crush n°1

Danielle Campbell

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

modern goddess: athena

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aureliusshepherd‌

I’m glad you’re okay. It would seem callous, short-sighted, to say that he was glad she too was okay after what had happened. Physically, sure, Arlynn would be alright. And he had no doubts as to her mental and emotional fortitude either- he had too much respect for the witch for that. She probably was okay. She was strong, had to be strong when it mattered. But okay was an incomplete description for any good leader after the loss of one of their people, with the threat still lurking on the horizon. Managing was as good as one could hope for in this situation, really, at least in his experience. Aurelius settled for nodding, the grim set to his expression softened by the empathy in his eyes.

Arlynn led the way into the kitchen, and Aurelius followed after, fingers idly brushing the wall as he crossed the threshold from the living area to the kitchen. It’d been a long time since he’d lived in such a consolidated space as Arlynn’s apartment- the sprawling halls and rooms of the estate had been home for a while now, and before that there’d been a number of other dwellings, generally similarly opulent- but he could understand the appeal. There was a warmth to the witch’s home that was comfortable, life lived in every corner. 

“And your selection never fails to impress. You could open up a tea shop in a corner of Subtext.” 

Once in the kitchen, Arlynn swung open the cupboard where she kept her tea, and Aurelius, behind her, looking easily over her head to study the variety of teas kept there, let out a quietly thoughtful hum as she spoke, a smile tugging privately at his lips while her attention was still turned away from him, quietly amused by how her extensive tea collection never failed to live up to description. “I think I’ll stick to the basics today. Green tea would be wonderful.” By the time Arlynn shot a smile over her shoulder, Aurelius had tucked his earlier private smile away, but he dredged it back up again in return. Two equally intentional smiles. They were like an echo chamber, reassuring themselves and each other that all would be alright. 

The great irony for Arlynn was that as much as she wondered after the future, and as much as she had the ability to see the future in some instances, she never had control over it. It was almost worse, in a way, she thought at times, to see fate unfolding before her without a say as to how to change it. She wondered if she’d seen Malcolm’s death–– if she’d have been able to prevent it then. 

She suspected not. Fate was fickle that way. It would let you see from the window but wouldn’t open the door when you knocked. It never did for her, no matter how many times she tried. No matter how many times she begged.

“Maybe I should,” she mused with a small smile before taking a small tin with her favorite green tea and grabbing the kettle to boil some water. She put the water on and leaned against the counter, nodding in his direction, “thank you for checking on me, Rel....it’s...I appreciate it.” Another small smile and dipped head, glad that for his presence, more than she’d initially thought. 

Without Dean by her side (and he couldn’t always be as he also had duties to attend to), there was a loneliness that settled in the witch. It was the sort of loneliness that went hand-in-hand with the burden to lead, one she shouldered with pride and determination, but a burden nonetheless, especially in times like these. Having another shoulder to lean on, to even lend her support to, well....it helped. Aurelius knew what it was to lead and to have to keep face and so it made it easier for Arlynn when she didn’t feel she was able to do just that. 

While she might not have said all of that, she knew he’d understand why she said what she did. His presence chipped away at the loneliness and isolation she might’ve otherwise felt, when she was unable to show what she was truly feeling to those she was supposed to be leading. She knew she didn’t have to do that with Aurelius and it made the burden even slightly easier to bear. That meant a lot to Arlynn. 

literary diversions || a & a

[arlynnxmercer-blog]

I was quiet, but I was not blind.

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park (via wordsnquotes)

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