elsylynneverbright

[elsylynneverbright]

Hello! Quick OOC post for you guys! I know I’ve been like gone for like probably actually a year or so at this point. I took a mental health break from roleplaying and by the time I was mentally ready to get back into it, I had lost interest in World of Warcraft entirely, so this blog sort of fell off. I haven’t, however, lost interest in Elsylynn’s character. In face, I have been writing for her constantly the entire time.

Now, I haven’t regained any sort of interest in World of Warcraft or anything. I think I’m done with that game pretty much forever. I have, however, regained an interest in tumblr. So, I made a personal account where I will be just kind of hanging out, memeing, and interacting with people purely for my own enjoyment. I’m not sure if this blog will revive at all or anything, but I can promise that, if it does, a great deal of the layout and approach will change. It will still be dedicated to Elsylynn’s character! It’s just that Elsylynn is no longer exclusively a WoW character.

So, anyway, my new personal blog is @riverelselynn so you can follow me there if you want!

[elsylynneverbright]

When you get your soft, italicized, “Oh.”

Prompt Here

The Emergency

something goes wrong. there's urgency. everything gets turned upside down, and you have to grab for the things that matter most-- Oh. suddenly, there's perspective, and at the worst possible moment, the moment when there is so much else going on, you realize that you have been breathless with want for so, so long. you want everyone to be safe, but please, please, you want *them* to be safe. you want everything to be okay so that you can have another chance to get things right. a chance to start over. and everything will be okay, of course, because you've made it through bad moments before, and that foundation of trust is there, even if you've never quite acknowledged it to its full potential. you trust them. you need them. *Oh.*

I feel like this is super accurate for Elsie and the story I had/have planned for her considering she was in the middle of said emergency before I had to take an irl break. I am really excited to explore this concept further! 

[elsylynneverbright]

Mirror Season Part 4: The Eternal Self

The writing prompts for this series of posts are by @velerodra-valesinger and can be found here! 

When Elsie emerged from the portal once again, she found herself greeted by yet another unfamiliar environment. She looked around herself, realizing she was behind some sort of stable. As the realization set in that she still wasn't back in Duskwatch, she immediately slammed her fists against the wall. She started to let out a frustrated scream, but she instantly paused as she heard familiar voices.

Elsie slowly crept around the stable until she got to a location where she could hear things a bit better and peak around the corner. She had little intention of interacting with her alternate self this time. She refused to play this game anymore.

She was greeted with the sight of both Kanalesha and herself, dressed and scarred in the exact same way.. Kana looked like she was on the verge of tears while this alternate self seemed to be filled with both anger and remorse.

"I told you, Kanalesha. Get the fuck away from me!" The clearly unstable version of herself yelled at Kana.

"But I thought-" Kana started to respond but was immediately cut off by the wreck.

"I don't care what you thought!" The wreck seemed like she was on the verge of tears as well at this point. She shook her head and lowered it, not meeting Kana's gaze in an attempt to hide this fact. "I'm done. We're-... I can't Kana. You deserve so much more than me."

Kana shook her head and wiped away her tears, replacing them with a determined look. "We can get through this, Else. Together."

"No, we fucking can't!" The wreck raised her voice once again. "You can't save me Kana, so leave me the fuck alone!"

Kana started to respond, but before she could, the wreck quickly pushed her backwards. "Just fucking go! Fucking go," she repeated slightly softer as she pushed her again. 

Kana remained silent for a moment, staring at the wreck with a look of both surprise and sadness. Elsie couldn't tell if she felt more anger or pity at this point. It didn't matter though. Kana finally turned around and walked off, leaving the wreck to herself.

Elsie shifted back behind the stable and covered her mouth with her hand as she slowly slid down the wall. She began to break down in tears, having to hold her mouth tight to keep herself from screaming. Just as she couldn't take it anymore, a portal manifested itself behind her, once again sucking her through.

Elsie fell back into reality, not bothering to try and catch herself this time. She landed on a hardwood floor and merely laid there for a moment crying. Eventually, she looked around and was greeted by surprisingly familiar surroundings. She was in her own home again. She took a moment to sniffle and wipe her eyes before standing up.

“Kana?” Elsie called as she began to walk around the room. All she wanted now was to just melt in her lover’s arms and know that she was still there. “Kana? Kanalesha?” Elsie continued to call out but received no answer. “Vadel? Vadel? Kana?” Elsie kept calling names as she began searching about the house more frantically. “Kana?!?” She began to yell this time. 

“They aren’t here.” Elsie whipped her head around to see herself once again. Oddly enough, this person had not been there a moment before as she was searching around frantically. She looked exactly as Elsie did now with the same clothes and scars, yet somehow she looked different. It was as if some sort of aura was surrounding her, but Elsie couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Nevertheless, Elsie clenched her fists and walked forward. She let out a scream of frustration as she picked up a nearby vase and threw it against the wall. “Just let me fucking go home!” 

“I’m sorry. I’m not quite done with you yet.” The eternal sat down on a chair in front of Elsie before motioning to the nearby couch. “I promise I’ll send you home soon.”

“No! This is fucking bullshit! I’m done with this shit! I just want to go home!” Elsie placed her hands on her temples as she began hyperventilating. “I can’t take this shit anymore! Who the fuck are you? What different version of me is it this time?”

“I’m not a different version of you; I am you. I am every you. I am what ties every single version of you together.” The eternal responded as she crossed her legs. 

“So it's your fault that I’ve been stuck here! Why I can’t go home! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Elsie stepped toward the eternal aggressively.

“Because, I needed you to see.” The eternal responded plainly before motioning toward the couch. “Take a deep breath. You’re almost done.”

Elsie fumed at the eternal. The two stared each other down for what felt like ages before Elsie finally just crossed her arms and walked over to the couch. She sat down silently and continued to stare at the eternal, still filled with anger but at least giving her the chance to speak.

“I apologize for the scenery as well. I didn’t mean to deceive you, I just felt you might be slightly more comfortable in your own home rather than some endless void.” The eternal chuckled as she sat back, letting out a calm breath.

“Tell me why I’m here,” Elsie demanded.”Why are you torturing me like this? Making me see all this shit?”

“Because, like I said, I need you to see. To learn. Every single alternate reality you have visited has been important for your own personal development.” The eternal held up a finger the second Elsie started to speak. “And, before you ask, I know it is important because, to reiterate, I am you. This mirror season… it is an astonishing phenomenon that I saw as an opportunity. So tell me, Elsylynn. Tell me of your interdimensional travels. Tell me everything that you were able to deduce yourself.”

“Fine.” Elsie huffed angrily. She paused for a moment to think on the subject before shrugging. “The first one was me if I never went to war forty years ago. Instead of going to war, she chased her dreams. And she achieved them. She is everything I could have been. Or even could be, I guess.”

“And was her life better? Were you envious of her,” the eternal asked curiously.

“Honestly? Yeah, at first.” Elsie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting all the rage she had built up dissipate at least somewhat. “But then I found out she never met Kana. Vadel was never born. She never met any of my friends at Dead Sun. She achieved everything that she… I... ever wanted. But she was alone.”

The eternal merely smiled at Elsie and nodded. “And the second?”

“That was me in some completely alternate universe. I didn’t recognize jack shit there. She was young but still similar to me. Everything in her life had happened pretty much the same but in a different context if that makes sense. Well, she was more like me than the one before her. I definitely envied her more but then… I am her. I don’t know. I have to admit, it was nice seeing the things that transcended universes.”

“And the third one?” 

“I don’t fucking know what the deal with that one is. You tell me? She was nothing like me. She was a selfish, sadistic bitch. I’m nothing like her. I don’t even understand how she could be me.” Elsie’s anger was beginning to flare up once again as she remembered the assassin.

“Are you sure about that,” the eternal asked Elsie plainly. She stared at Elsie unflinchingly, awaiting her answer.

“Well, yeah I am! I mean, she’s evil. And I’m not!” Elsie paused for a moment as she looked down. She looked back up into the eyes of the eternal which were continuing to stare into her. “Right? I’m not evil, right?”

“There is no such thing as good or evil people.” The eternal shook her head as she leaned back. “Every single person is equal parts good and evil. The difference between them are the decisions people make. Which side they decide to give the light of day.”

“So… that bitch… is actually inside me then? She is me?” Elsie slowly looked down at her hands, remembering the feeling of the blade in them as she held it to the assassin’s throat.

“While I can’t really answer the philosophical aspect of that question, I can say in whole honesty that every you that you have encountered is equally you. The only differences are, as you said, context.” The eternal smiled as she twisted Elsie’s own words around. But then, Elsie supposed those were her words too.

“Ok, whatever.” Elsie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again. “And what about the fourth one? Hm? The fuck was the point of that one? Me except I’m stupid enough to break up with the love of my life? To push her away?” That was the first time Elsie had referred to Kana as the love of her life, and she could feel the weight of the words hanging in the air as the eternal stared at her.

The eternal shook her head slowly. “That wasn’t an alternate reality. That was your future.”

Elsie stood up suddenly, immediately filling with anger once again. “What the fuck are you talking about? My fucking future? I would never do that! That's bullshit! That can’t be true!”

“It doesn’t have to be.” The eternal responded calmly. “Elsylynn, something is coming. Someone is coming. If you are going to stand any chance, you have to learn.”

“Fucking learn what? Tell me what the fuck I have to learn! Tell me how to stop this!” 

“It doesn’t work like that.” The eternal’s response was a bit less calm than it had been. “And even if it did, it wouldn’t matter. The things you need to learn aren’t things that can just be taught to you. They’re things that you have to figure out for yourself.”     “What kind of cryptic fucking bullshit? That’s fucking stupid and you know it! If you can’t help me, why bring me here?” Elsie was very clearly yelling at this point. 

“The mirror season phenomenon was an opportunity for me to give you the opportunity to learn.” The eternal, while not yelling, was starting to reach the level of frustration that Elsie was at. She clearly at least shared Elsie’s stubbornness.

“That’s so fucking stupid. And who the fuck is coming that’s so light-damned important?” Elsie scoffed at the eternal and turned on her heel, directing her attention to anything other than the eternal’s face. It was rare Elsie got so mad at someone she had to turn away, and of course the fact that it was her own face made it far worse and far easier to vent her frustrations.

The eternal stood up and spoke plainly once again. “You already know.”

For a moment, it was as if time froze for Elsie. The realization of who the eternal was speaking of slapped her like a ton of bricks. She slowly turned back around to the eternal before speaking, no longer yelling but still just as frantic. “So, what? What do you want me to do? How am I supposed to stop her?”

“I can’t answer that question, Elsylynn.” The eternal merely shook her head.

Elsie shrugged and began shaking her head as well. Now her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. She struggled to choke back a sob as she began to speak to her again. “I don’t get it. I don’t know what you want from me.” She motioned around her in exasperation as she looked at the eternal pleadingly. “This? This has been torture. All I’ve seen is versions of myself that are what I could be, but I’m not. I’m not good enough to chase my dreams, I’m not good enough to just be happy. Light, I had to fight the personification of everything I hate about myself! And then you’re telling me that the one that was worse than all of the others… the one that finally broke me… that one isn’t even a different universe? That’s my fucking fate? Can you not just see for one light-damned second how much this is torturing me.” Elsie finally relented, allowing her sob to come forth. She put her head in her hands for a moment, letting herself cry. She then suddenly kicked the nearest chair as hard as she could, turning back to the eternal and yelling through her tears. “Just let me go home! I don’t fucking care anymore! I didn’t learn shit! You failed!”

The eternal merely stared at Elsie in silence. She wore a face of pity, but Elsie could not tell who for. Finally, one last portal manifested behind Elsie. “No, Elsylynn. If you haven’t learned anything, then we’ve both failed.”

[elsylynneverbright]

Mirror Season Part 3: Dead Alive

The writing prompts for this series of posts are by @velerodra-valesinger and can be found here!

    Elsie stumbled back into reality once again. She took a moment to survey her surroundings and was quickly greeted with the fact that the place she had ended up at was once again unfamiliar to her. “Light fucking damn it!” She turned and immediately kicked the nearest wall. It was a counter intuitive action, but one she felt necessary to vent the frustration of being lost in time and space.

    Elsie looked up to fully survey the room. It seemed to be a very small house with a fire roaring in the fireplace. She had only just now realized that she was not alone in the room, as a very confused man was standing just next to the chair in front of the fire place. He had likely stood up as soon as she appeared.

    “Shit, sorry. Uhh, magic shit.” Elsie gave the man a half-hearted smile. She was pretty surprised to see someone other than herself standing in front of her. “I don’t really want to bother you, sir. I’ll just be going now.” She slowly started to creep toward the nearby door.

    The man continued to watch her curiously, trying to deduce where she had come from. After a moment, his brows furrowed and he started to say what Elsie could only assume to be an accusation of trespassing, before suddenly being cut off quite literally by a dagger. Elsie watched as a dagger suddenly pierced through his abdomen. The man only had a moment to look down before the dagger was swiftly removed from him. He immediately slumped to the ground, a pool of blood beginning to surround him. 

    Behind him stood some sort of hooded assassin clad in black leather armor. She sheathed her dagger on her right hip, and Elsie noticed she had a matching one on her left. In fact, the daggers looked really familiar somehow.

    The hooded assassin slowly lowered her hood and took off the mask she had been wearing under it to reveal exactly what Elsie had feared, her own face. Unlike the other two alternate versions of herself she had encountered though, this one’s face was exactly like hers, scars and all. The only difference between the two was the sly smile the assassin wore as she looked Elsie up and down.

    “Not exactly the person I planned on seeing here.” The assassin chuckled. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

    “To what- what the fuck?” Elsie exclaimed as she gestured toward the dead body. “What the fuck are you doing? Why did you kill him?”

    “The fuck are you talking about? He is my mark.” The assassin just laughed at Elsie as she crossed her arms. “What, the blood a bit too much for you?”

    “Your mark? What the fuck are you, some contract killer?” Elsie crossed her arms and glared at the assassin angrily.

    The assassin gave Elsie a confused look as she looked down at the body. She then shrugged as she turned back to Elsie. “Nah, I’m a fucking door to door saleswoman.” She stepped over the body to where Elsie was standing. “Why the fuck are you asking me all these questions when you are the one who blinked into existence with my fucking face?”

    Elsie looked at the assassin, clearly quite annoyed and not at all enthused by her sense of humor. She then let out a soft sigh as she dropped her arms. “I’m from a different fucking timeline, blah blah blah, I’m sick of explaining this shit. I’m you but I’m not.”

    “Yeah, fucking clearly. How did you get here?” The assassin asked as she began to circle Elsie.

    Elsie clapped her hands together and made a wide arc gesture. “Magic.” She watched the assassin as she circled her, never letting her completely out of her sight. “So you’re an assassin or something then. Why? You seriously in this type of thing for the money?”

    The assassin laughed and shook her head at Elsie. “No, not just the money. You know why.”

    “No I don’t, that's why I asked.” 

    The assassin shook her head and pointed to Elsie’s face. “You have the same scars as me. You’ve been through what I have. You know.”

    “Yeah, I have been through what you have.” Elsie turned to face the assassin completely. “So where the fel is Kana? Or Vadel? Or all my friends at Dead Sun? Eilithe, Reveria, Mairdrin, Azura,” Elsie continued to list off names of her friends but the assassin just shook her head.

    “I know what you’re doing. Putting names to faces as if it will elicit an emotional response or some shit. The point is, they aren’t here.” The assassin merely continued to grin at Elsie and circle around her.

    “So where the fuck are they?”

    “Oh you know, some abandoned me, some dead, this, that, and I don’t really give a shit.”

    “Where. The fuck. Is Kana?” Elsie clenched her fists angrily as her gaze followed the assassin.

    “Oh come the fuck onnn” The asassin rolled her eyes at Elsie. “You are seriously still on her? You are so fucking naive. You really think you can have a life? Be happy? Maybe you think you and Kana could get married, maybe adopt some kids? I mean, considering how well Vadel worked out.” The assassin merely shook her head as she continued to circle Elsie as Elsie became more and more filled with anger. “You’re a fool living in a dream. You know what is coming sooner or later. You’re going to fuck it up like you fuck everything else up. See the difference between you and me, is that I’ve accepted who I am. I’m not hiding this shit anymore. I’m doing the only damn thing either of us are any good at.”

    Elsie gritted her teeth and glared at the assassin. “Yeah? And what the fuck is that?”

    “Killing.” The assassin laughed. “Come on, don’t give me that look. You know its true. Tell me, have you ever told Kanalesha why you are so ashamed of what happened at the broken shore? Why you can’t face yourself.”

    “Because I fucked up.”

    “Because you liked it.”

    The assassin stopped in her tracks and grinned at Elsie. Wordlessly, Elsie took out her stun batons and extended them, flicking them on. She then immediately rushed at the assassin.

    The assassin seemed to be fully prepared for the possibility as she unsheathed her daggers and blocked Elsie’s strike in one fluid motion. “Aww, did I strike a nerve?”

    Elsie frustratedly pushed off the assassin. The assassin took a moment to twirl her daggers around before cracking her neck. Elsie then rushed forward again and swung at the assassin’s torso.

    The assassin quickly hopped backward and used one hand to push Elsies hand as she swung, continuing her momentum for long enough to quickly smack Elsie with the hilt of her dagger.

    Elsie staggered for a moment, but the assassin didn’t give her much time to get her bearings as she immediately lunged at her and sliced at her with her daggers. Elsie quickly hopped backwards as well, swatting the daggers up and away from herself using her batons. While her arms were out of the way, Elsie quickly kicked the assassin in the stomach.

    The assassin staggered for a moment before grinning. The two went back and forth like this for a while, matching each other blow for blow. One would attack, and the other would counter. The two fought almost exactly alike with the only noticeable difference being the weapons they wielded.

    The monotony of their stalemate was finally broken up as Elsie hopped backward onto the nearby chair. She quickly lowered herself down and twisted around on her heel, kicking the assassin in the face.

The assassin stumbled backwards, turning around and bringing her hand up to her jaw. Elsie then quickly jumped off the chair and attempted to slam her stun batons down on the assassin.

Just as her batons were about to connect with the assassin’s back, the assassin disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Before Elsie could figure out what had happened, she suddenly felt the assassin land on her own back, wrapping her arms around her neck.

Elsie struggled against the assassin on her back who held onto her neck tight. After a moment of steadying herself, the assassin held her dagger in the air and started to plunge it down into Elsie’s neck. Elsie very quickly slammed her stun baton into the assassin’s face.

The assassin let out a yelp of pain and released Elsie, falling to the ground behind her. Elsie stumbled forward, hacking and coughing for a moment as she filled her lungs with much needed air.

Elsie turned to look at the assassin for a moment, who was currently covering her eye as she picked up her dagger she had dropped. Shadow magic. Elsie should have known she would do that. Elsie did know that the assassin would do that. Elsie thought for a moment as she watched the assassin prepare herself for another strike. Elsie then let a small smile grow on her face as she got into a fighting position.

Elsie rushed forward once again and swung at the assassin, who once again countered Elsie in the exact same way as before, pushing her in the direction of her momentum. However, this time, Elsie quickly ducked and continued her momentum, twisting around and kicking the assassin’s legs out. As the assassin fell, Elsie quickly rose and smacked her with her batons.

The assassin quickly hopped up, shaking her head for a moment before grimacing at Elsie. The two then began to fight once again, but this time Elsie continued to stay one step ahead of the assassin. Each time Elsie attacked, the assassin countered in a way that Elsie could predict. Elsie knew that this realization was also something that the assassin could likely figure out, so rather than giving her the chance, Elsie continued to attack her tirelessly.

Each second, Elsie managed to connect her batons with the assassin. It was not long before the electricity from the stun batons had begun to get to her. The assassin rushed at Elsie one last time in anger, and Elsie was prepared for it.

The assassin stabbed at Elsie, but Elsie side stepped and grabbed her wrist and smacked the dagger out of her hand with her baton. She then slammed her shoulder into the assassin’s chest. The assassin stumbled back before slicing at Elsie with her remaining dagger. Elsie quickly dodged backwards before catching her hand with one hand. She used her other arm to slam her elbow into the assassin’s arm. The assassin screamed in pain as Elsie broke her arm, dropping her final dagger. Elsie quickly caught the dagger and kicked the assassin down. As the assassin landed against the wall, Elsie held the dagger against her neck.

There was a familiarity to the feeling. Not just the feeling of holding the dagger either, as it was clear why that felt familiar. They were her daggers after all that she had used for so many years and were now being used by her girlfriend. Rather, there was a familiarity to this feeling of holding the dagger to her neck. The feeling of holding one’s life in her own hands and being able to take it in one swift motion was one Elsie had not felt in sometime but one she was all too acquainted with.

“You’re fuckin weak.” The assassin laughed and spit at Elsie.

“I kicked your fuckin ass.” Elsie tightened her grip around the dagger.

“Yeah? You’ll get your share of getting your ass kicked when she comes.” The assassin looked at Elsie seriously and then laughed as she watched the confusion set in on Elsie’s face. “Come on, do it. KIll me. You know you want to.”

Elsie pushed the dagger up to the assassin’s neck even closer. So close now, that a bit of blood from her neck began to trickle down the dagger. She stood there, staring at the assassin for a moment. This wasn’t just a different version of her. It felt like Elsie was standing face to face with the personification of all she hated about herself. She did want to kill her, more than anything. 

“No.” Elsie finally stepped back, removing the dagger from the assassin’s throat. She then immediately tossed the dagger across the room. “Fuck you. You’re not me.”

“That's bullshit and you know it.” The assassin just rolled her eyes at Elsie.

“No, I am nothing like you. I never will be.” Elsie shook her head as she picked up the baton she had dropped in favor of the dagger earlier. “Even if we are the same person, I’ll never let myself become you.” Elsie sheathed her batons, and a familiar portal opened up once again, sucking her into it. 

As Elsie disappeared once again, the assassin shook her head and spit off to her side. “Yeah, sure. We’ll see about that.”

[elsylynneverbright]

Mirror Season Part 2: Destinies Entwined

The writing prompts for this series of posts are by @velerodra-valesinger and can be found here! 

    Elsie found herself stumbling back into reality once again. She took a moment to steady herself and try to keep herself from vomiting again before looking around. She expected to see the clearing she had been standing in prior to the mirror’s appearance and perhaps her sister waiting for her. Instead, she found herself in the most foreign room she had seen in her entire life.

    Next to her was a small bed that clearly hadn’t been made in sometime and a small desk that was similarly untidy. That was where the things she recognized in the room ended. There was some sort of black viewing screen in the window sill next to the desk as well as another smaller viewing screen attached to a collection of what seemed to be buttons with lettering on them. There were paper bags filled with trash strewn around the room, all with odd symbols that Elsie did not recognize. Elsie’s ears twitched as her focus shifted from the foreign nature of the room to some sort of music that seemed to be permeating the room. She began to look around in search of whoever could be playing such a song, but there was not a soul in sight. 

    As she began to explore the room in search of wherever this gnome playing a lute must be hiding, one of the two doors suddenly burst open and Elsie was greeted with exactly the face she was afraid she would see, her own.

    This new version of herself walked into the room, dancing around with her eyes closed, seeming enjoying the elusive gnomish musician. She had a toothbrush resting in her mouth that she occasionally brushed a bit with, but was mostly engrossed in the music. She had on a crop top pink sweater and a pair of black sweatpants. The oddest thing about her though was that, unlike Elsie, she did not seem to have any sort of pointed ears. She looked like an average human, yet she still very clearly shared Elsie’s face, other than the scars yet again.

    Elsie just watched the girl dance for a while until she finally opened her eyes and the two met each other's gaze fully. In an instant, the girl removed her toothbrush and pointed it at Elsie as if it were a weapon. “Who the fuck are you, and why the fuck are you in my dorm room,” she asked Elsie, gargling toothpaste as she spoke.

    Elsie simply rolled her eyes as she walked over to the bed and sat down on it. “You from a different universe, blah blah blah, it's complicated.”

    The student stared at Elsie for a moment, remaining motionless. She then slowly began to inch her way to the bathroom, never taking her eyes off of Elsie. As she disappeared into the bathroom once again, Elsie could hear the sound of the student spitting out the toothpaste in her mouth and turning the faucet on. Elsie could hear a few splashes and assumed it was the sound of the student splashing a bit of water on her face.

    The student re-entered the room a few moments later and looked over to Elsie before rolling her eyes. “Shit, you’re still here.”

    “Yeah, I am. Did you think I was just going to vanish?” Elsie gave the student a puzzled look.

    “I mean, you aren’t real, so I hoped so. Just another hallucination. Which means, I’m probably not getting enough sleep again. I mean finals are coming up and all but I should probably take a bit more care of myself-”

    Elsie cut the student off as she began speaking once more. “I am real. Like I said, it’s complicated.” Elsie glanced around the room again at all the foreign objects before returning her gaze to this seemingly human version of herself. “Where the fuck even am I by the way? And where the fuck is that fucking music coming from?” Elsie stood up suddenly and resumed her search for the elusive singing gnome, making an even bigger mess in the room than there was before.

    The student looked at her oddly for a moment before quickly rushing forward and trying to stop her from destroying her room in her search. “What do you mean? It's coming from my laptop!” 

    The student grabbed Elsie's hand, tearing her attention away from her search, and the two stared at each other for a moment. They focused on each feature of their faces that was completely different. The hair, the glowy eyes, and even the scars. After a while, the student finally lets go of Elsie's hand and the two speak in unison. "What the fuck are you?"

    Eventually, the two finally took their eyes off each other and separated. Elsie walked over to the bed and sat down on top of it, looking around the room at all the foreign objects once more before letting out a sigh and laying back on the bed. “And what the fuck is a ‘lap-top’ by the way?”

    The student just pointed at the screen with the buttons on her desk before walking up to the seat next to it. She picked up the pile of clothes that was resting on it and tossed them into the middle of the room before taking their place on the seat. “So, if you are supposedly ‘real,’ what the fuck are you doing here? And can you preferably leave soon? I really need to get some sleep. If I sleep through my eight AMs again, Kana will probably kill me.”

    Elsie started to answer the students' question until she heard the familiar name. She opened her eyes wide and sat up a bit as she turned to the student.”Kana? So you know Kana in this universe?”

    “Well, no shit. She is my girlfriend.” The student gave Elsie an odd look as she leaned back in her chair. “How did you not know that if you’re me?”

    “I- well, I do know that. She is my girlfriend in my universe too. It's just… I just talked to a different version of myself where she hadn’t met Kana so I wasn’t sure if that was like a… constant.” Elsie scratched the back of her head as she leaned back on the bed again. “Also, we aren’t technically the same person. I mean we are, but different universes and shit.”

    “That makes no fucking sense.” The student just laughed and shook her head.

    “How do the ears not give that shit away? Or the fact that I am standing here instead of being inside of you?” Elsie shook her head in the same way the student had before letting out a sigh. “Whatever. How did you meet Kana?” Elsie turned slightly to look at the student. She noticed the odd look on the student’s face and let out another sigh. “Different universes! It's not the same for me, so no, I don’t already know the answer to that question.”

    “It sounds like you’re making this up as you go along.” The student rolled her eyes. “We had English 101 together my freshman year. She needed help with a paper, so I helped her out. We hung out some while working on it and she was pretty cool. After she turned in the paper and passed though I figured she’d probably not talk to me all that much, but then she invited me to some party.”

    “You party?” Elsie looked at the student weirdly. She was doing her best to try and find the differences between the two.

    “Oh fuck no.” The student laughed and shook her head. “I went to one party in high school. It was the birthday party of one of the choir members, and I showed up early because I didn’t realize that seven really meant nine. I went to the one Kana invited me to anyway though because.... I dunno, I wanted to hang out with Kana. She seemed like she could be a cool friend in this city where I don’t have any. She was so sweet at the party too. She made sure I was comfortable. I wasn’t enjoying being inside around all those dancing drunk theatre students, so we went outside and sat on the porch and just talked.”

    “That… sounds like her.” Elsie smiled at the student. “And like me, come to think of it. So was that it? You two started dating after that?”

    “Well, we kissed, but we didn’t start dating for months, because I panicked and didn’t understand my sexuality and all sorts of bullshit. We eventually agreed on just doing what felt right regardless of title.” The student smiled warmly as she thought back on it. “After that, it wasn’t long before we were a couple.”

    “We did the same thing in my universe. The no titles thing. We were both a bit nervous about it.” Elsie turned her head so that she could look up at the ceiling while she talked.

    “So, it happened the same for you?” The student tilted her head slightly at Elsie.

    “Similar. We met differently. I was practicing lute when we met. Then she told me she wanted me to hold her the way I held the lute and she ran off.” Elsie giggled as she remembered their first encounter. “The nervousness and slowness initially, that is pretty much the same.”

    The student looked Elsie over for a moment, tapping her chin for a moment. She finally spoke up after a bit of deliberation within herself. “Do your parents know?”

    Elsie nodded. “They did. Fel, apparently my mom knew long before I did. Do yours not?”

    The student shrugged lightly as she turned her gaze away from Elsie. “No… I’m scared of how they’ll react. They aren’t the most understanding when it comes to most things. How did they react for you?”

    Elsie nodded in agreement. Her mother was not known for her understanding nature. “It didn’t bother them. I mean, they were mostly just happy to see me again. Long story, before you ask.”

    The student shrugged as she slumped a bit in her chair. “That makes sense. Though maybe views on that kind of thing are different in your universe or something.” She let out a small sigh. “The only person in my family who knows right now is Vadel.”

    “Vadel?” Elsie raised her eyebrows at the student. “So, you two are close then?”

    “Oh yeah. I’m closer to her than I was my mom. I mean, it wasn’t always that way. We used to fight so much as kids, mom and Quentin would have to separate us. Now we’re best friends though.” The student smiled.

    “That's good. In my timeline we are still at the childish fighting phase, but thats probably because we didn’t grow up together.” Elsie noticed the student’s look of confusion and she just shook her head. “It's a long story.”

    Elsie then pushed herself up off the bed and walked over to the student, looking her over closely before smiling warmly at her. “You know, I guess we aren’t all that different. I mean, I was looking for what was different between us, but it's mostly just the… background surrounding us I guess.” Elsie gestured to the room around them.

    “Yeah, maybe all that shit kind of transcends universes or something.” The student grinned at Elsie as she hopped up from her desk.

    “Yeah, sometimes.” Elsie smiled as she patted the student on the shoulder. Much to Elsie’s surprise, a portal once again opened to suck her back through the multiverse. Before it could suck her through, she looked at the student and nodded. “You should tell them. What's the worst that could happen?” 

    Before the student could respond, Elsie was gone. She stood motionless for a moment, looking at the place where Elsie had once stood. She then shrugged softly as she walked over to her bed. “Maybe I will.”

[elsylynneverbright]

Mirror Season Part 1: Divergent Paths

The writing prompts for this series of posts are by @velerodra-valesinger and can be found here!

Elsie was aware of the coming storm that ushered in this “mirror season.” She had little interest in it herself, as it was difficult enough dealing with one version of herself at the time. To her, it seemed like an interesting concept that perhaps Vadel and Kana might have a bit of fun exploring, assuming it was safe. She had not yet heard of anyone falling victim to some sort of accident involving the season in the past though and she had little intention of trying to prevent either Vadel or Kana if they so desired.

    Vadel definitely desired to explore this phenomenon herself. She was overcome with some sense of adventure and overwhelming curiosity at the thought. Elsie decided to at the very least join Vadel outside just in case something were to happen. She figured that the mirror would simply pop up and Vadel could interact with it at her leisure. Much to Elsie’s surprise though, the mirror seemed to have a different target in mind.

    As the two were standing outside, awaiting this magic mirror, there was a crack of lightning and suddenly the mirror that they had been searching for appeared directly in front of Elsie. She had little time to react before she was sucked in, thrust through the multiverse to a destination unknown.

    “Mom, I already told you not to teleport into my dressing roo-” The familiar sounding voice cut herself off as she turned around to see Elsie steadying herself on the wall.

    Before Elsie could fully comprehend what was going on, she held up a single finger and quickly stumbled over to the nearest trash can. Multiverse travel was not particularly easy on her stomach. She took a moment to empty the contents of her stomach into the trash can before looking up and wiping off her mouth. 

    The room was fairly small and filled with various instruments and clothes thrown all over the place. The woman Elsie had heard speaking before was currently sitting on a sort of swivel chair in front of a mirror that was lined with bright lights. The lights illuminated her face and Elsie could see that this woman was in fact her, but considerably more pretty, at least in Elsie’s opinion. It was also pretty clear that this woman was a full-blown musician. At least, that's what would make the most sense to Elsie anyway.

    “Who the fuck are you,” the musician asked. Her face was filled with equal parts fear and curiosity as she looked Elsie over. 

    “It's complicated.” Elsie shook her head as she stood up straight and walked over to where she had first appeared. She took a moment to look around for any sort of path back, but she quickly found herself empty handed. “Ok maybe it's not that complicated. I’m you but, from a different universe. Or reality. Or something…”

    “That sounds pretty complicated.” The musician crossed her arms and leaned back in her swivel chair. 

    “Yeah, for us, kind of.” Elsie was well aware of her lacking inclination toward magic. “Listen, I don’t want to bother you literally at all. I just need to get the fuck back to where I came from. Do you see any like.. Portal back or something?”

    The musician looked around the room for a moment. She then began to spin her chair around slowly as she leaned back and examined the room entirely, though not very thoroughly. “Nah, I don’t see shit. You just kind of teleported in.”

    Elsie let out a sigh as she turned around and leaned her back against the wall. “Well shit.” She looked at the musician for a moment as she tried to recall what she had been told about the mirrors. “I think I have to… do something then? To get back I mean.” 

    The musician slowly circled back to Elsie and shrugged. “Sure, that makes sense I guess.” The two sat in silence staring at each other for a moment before the musician spoke up again. “You kind of look like shit.” The musician cleared her throat as Elsie glared at her before continuing. “Not like in terms of beauty or anything. I mean, we have the same face, clearly. I mean, like all the scars and shit…. Are those burn marks on your neck?”

    Elsie continued to glare at the musician for a while before letting out a sigh. “A lot has happened. I see none of that seemed to happen to you.”

    The musician turned and looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, running her hands over the places where Elsie’s scars were. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve never been in a fight in my life, other than training with my dad some.”

    Elsie slowly slid her back along the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She leaned her head back a bit as she looked over at the musician out of the corner of her eye. “So your parents… they’re still alive?”

    The musician nodded as she turned back to Elsie.

    “Both of them?”

    “Yeah of course.”

    “And they're together?”

    “Should they not be?”

    Elsie ignored the questions for the time being as she picked her head up and looked around the room at the instruments. “So, you’re a musician then?”

    The musician gave Elsie a weird look as she dropped the subject but then nodded. “Yep. Just got done with a concert before you showed up.”

    “Well damn. Good for you.” Elsie chuckled as she leaned her head back once again and stared up at the ceiling as if some sort of wormhole would open up and suck her back to her own timeline. “I guess that's the difference between us. You chased your dreams and I didn’t.”

    “Well, why didn’t you?” The musician tilted her head slightly as she looked at Elsie. She seemed to almost pity her in a way.

    “I never had the chance.” Elsie let out a loud sigh. “I kind of got fucked over if I’m being honest.”

    “By the world?”

    “By myself.” Elsie chuckled as she picked her head up again. “Just kind of kept making dumb decision after dumb decision.” Elsie stared at the musician for a moment as she attempted to put the pieces together in her head. “You ever deal with Vanlien?”

    “Yeah.” The musician rolled her eyes and Elsie instantly knew that what they went through in that regard was the same. “He was what inspired me to dive into music, in a roundabout sort of way, by being an utter piece of shit.”

    “Good, we can agree there.” Elsie laughed at the musician, who responded with a light chuckle and a smile. “So, I guess that's where our paths sort of… separated. I went to war and you went to music.” Elsie grinned a bit as she thought she had figured it out, but still no path back arrived. The two sat in silence for a while before Elsie spoke up this time. “So, do you have a sister?”

    “No, do you?” The musician gave her an odd look. 

    “Yeah, half sister. Vadel. She is a little shit but… she is secretly kind of sweet. Once you get through the hundreds of walls she has put up.” Elsie smiled up at the ceiling. “What about a girlfriend?”

    “A what now?” The musician gives Elsie an even odder look this time.

    “Oh shit, you don’t even know yet?” Elsie returned the musician’s gaze and attempted to keep a straight face. The poor girl still thought she was straight. ‘You’ll figure it out, I’m sure.”

    “The fel is that supposed to mean?” The musician began to blush just a bit. The sort of blush that Elsie had previously been embarrassed for, but it at least helped her see exactly what was going through this alternate version of herself’s head in this moment.

    “So, it's just you?” Elsie again quickly veered the conversation off the subject at hand.

    “Yeah, pretty much.” The musician shrugged as she turned to look in the mirror again. Elsie walked up behind her and put a hand on her chair, looking into the mirror with her. 

    Elsie stared at herself in the reflection for a moment before directing her gaze to the musician. The look of pity that the musician had previously worn when looking at Elsie now rested on Elsie’s face. At first, she was envious of the musician. She had achieved what Elsie couldn’t after all. But, as Elsie thought on the subject longer, it began to dawn on her what she had that this musician didn’t. She wouldn’t give that up for the world, even to achieve her wildest dreams. 

    The two stared at each other in the mirror in silent contemplation for a while before suddenly a sort of portal opened up behind Elsie, sucking her back in and sending her spiraling through the multiverse once again.

    The portal disappeared and the musician turned around. She slowly looked around the room, but Elsie was gone. The musician then turned back around to the mirror and rested her head on her arms. Once again, she was alone.

[elsylynneverbright]

Elsylynn’s Daggers

Some mornings the fog over Duskwatch was dense enough to obstruct visibility.   Even as the first rays of the sun began to crawl across the sky, it was like the light just got eaten inside of the haze.     In the morning when the winds were calm, it could be nearly impossible to see a few feet ahead.     Only when the breeze swept through did the morning haze start to lift.    

Such a fog made slipping through the shadows much easier for K.    She’d been taking walks the past few weeks.   Slipping off in the early morning at hours that she normally would never be awake just a month ago.    These little detours were private affairs, a secret she kept to herself.   

Behind the old town hall building was a small training ground.   It wasn’t maintained well, and so far as K could tell it rarely was even used.   It seemed entirely forgotten about.   The wooden practice dummies were covered in vines.   The grounds were overgrown with grass and weeds.    It was private though, which is what K wanted.     

On one such foggy morning K found herself struggling more than usual to squint through the haze to make out the wooden dummy.    Her fists clung tightly around the hilts of blades that once had belonged to Elsylynn.    Blades that Elsylynn had told K to get rid of.     Yet K couldn’t.    She couldn’t just get rid of them.   So she’d taken to trying to teach herself to make use of them.   

Her motions lacked any grace, or fluidity.   There was an erratic nature to her movements that made her attempts at stabbing, slashing or slicing seem uncertain.   Though it was not due to hesitation.    In these quiet and solitary sessions K was swelling with anger that she hadn’t known until recently.    

She’d first tasted it when Elsie had been given a slug.    She’d learned to shoot then.    A skill she did not hold back in making use of that skill not long after.   K never really processed what had happened that night in the bell tower.  It was only when she’d been battered to the point of blind fury that she shot through the shadows to empty the chamber of her revolver point blank at the source of her pain.     She’d passed out not long after.    She had never realized that some of the blood splattered on her wasn’t her own.    She was far from alone in striking out at the target, and so it never really felt like she was a killer to her.    And it was all a blur now.     

With each clumsy motion of the blade though, a similar fury burned inside of her.    A darkness stirred in her now.  Born out of a desire to keep those she loved from harm.     She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Elsie like she saw her before.   All burned up, laying in the dirt, as rain poured onto her.    No.    She wouldn’t allow that to happen.   And if Elsie wasn’t willing to make sure her safety was ensured, she was willing to do it herself.   

With each slash and slice she kept thinking the same sorts of thoughts.  Though for all her anger, it didn’t translate into anything but wild, unfocused strikes.   She didn’t pay attention to how she moved she just stabbed.   And sliced.   And chopped.   Quickly and erratically.   Until with a thud of her hand against wood, one of her strikes landed so sloppily that that blade itself was rattled from her hand and fell into the knee-high grass of the yard.   

“Fuck!”    K grunted as she squinted down, unable to see through the thick fog, let alone the sea of overgrown grass beneath it.      She bent down to blindly reach through the grass for the blade.     Even her keen eyes could not help her navigate the oppressive haze.    As she fumbled in the grass, her ear twitched.   Clear and distinct.   A sound that seemed out of place.   She’d gotten used to the chirping of birds, insects and frogs.    But this was something different.  

Chime.    

K quickly stood up straight and began to try to peer through the fog.      She stepped around to see if she might find a pocket of visibility.    A gust of wind brushed by and stirred the fog around her slightly.   

Chime.   

Then another gust, stronger than the last seemed to sweep the fog directly towards her with a biting chill.    K lifted her hand to cover her eyes and turn away from the onslaught of wind and fog.    

Chime.

The winds suddenly went still and she lowered her hand.  Her eyes opened and a figure stood before her obscured by the fog, standing not but mere inches from her.   She flinched and jumped back.    She whipped around quickly - as if to flee, only to spot the same figure in her path.    She jumped again, stumbling into the tall grass.     

Chime.

K stood back up quickly, and glanced around in front of her.    The fog had lifted slightly, and some sunlight had managed to spill into the dilapidated training yard.   She exhaled in relief.   Only for such relief to be stolen from her quickly.   

A hand gripped her shoulder from behind and a chill ran down her spine.   Her heartbeat quickened and instinct took over.    She was prepared to sprint.    Until she heard the voice.   

“K, you dropped something.”    It was Vel.   Which was a mild relief.    At least she knew who it was, though she had not wanted anyone to spot her out here, or know what she’d been doing.    Vel’shand was firmly on K’s shoulder.    More firm than K realized the monk was capable of squeezing.    She winced and turned around to look at the woman.   Vel was holding the blade K had dropped.    K figured if anyone was capable of navigating a haze of fog and winds - it was likely Vel.   

“What are you doing here?”    K asked quietly as she tried not to show that she’d been rattled by the mistweaver’s antics.    

“I train here from time to time, it is out of the way, as you seem to have discovered.”   

“The sun is barely out.”   K muttered in response.   

“That is when I usually wake up.   And traditionally that is when I train.    Though as surprised as you may be to see me, I am more surprised to see you awake at all at this hour let alone seeing you hack and slash with all the grace of an ogre.”

K glanced away, but Vel’s grip tightened on her shoulder.   K nodded.    She tried to pull back slightly and Vel let up, releasing K from her grip.    K took a breath.   She wasn’t sure what that was all about.    But she didn’t expect to fully understand Vel.    

“I was just messing around.”

Vel tilted her head to the left, then to the right.   

“Conventional wisdom would suggest messing around and daggers do not mix well.”    She paused and eased up on K’s shoulder, “but I am not a conventional creature….   besides, blades are preferable to guns… though may not in -your- hands based on what I’ve observed.”   

Vel paused, “What are you trying to accomplish?”

Had the monk seen her do this before?   K wasn’t sure.   And she did not want to ask for fear of revealing herself.    She also didn’t know how to respond to Vel’s question.    So she just blurted out the truth.   

“I don’t want anyone to hurt Elsie, and there are still others like Fleuretta.   Elsie says they hate her but she doesn’t want to kill them.”   K cut herself off.  

“And -you- do…?”   

Vel’s eyes felt piercing.   As if she were staring through K’s skull.    She hated the way she asked questions and trailed off towards the end.    She was never sure if she was done or not.    Never sure if it was rhetorical or the start of another thought.     

“You’re not…. made for this kind of thing K.”    Vel stated before K could answer.   “Play to your strengths.”    Vel tossed Elsie’s blade upwards and caught it by the blade, she offered the hilt towards K.    

K couldn’t help but let her irritation show.    The monk sounded so dismissive.   Who was she to tell her what to do.   To tell her what she was good at.   

“I can’t.    I can’t just let it go, there was a void elf that the person at the bar mentioned.   For all I know they could be another Fleuretta.   I need to make sure no one else comes after her over who she used to be.   What do you think they are going to do if they realize she killed Fleuretta?”   

K stared at Vel.   The fog had nearly lifted now, and the sun was starting to actually illuminate the little training yard.   A few flickers of light bounced off the bells in the monks hair making her face impossible to even see let alone read.   Not that K had ever had much luck in trying that.    

“Tell me K.”    She stepped closer and her voice softened.   “What do you think you’re going to do?   For all you know this other creature at the bar has no relation to Elsylynn or her past.   And even if they did, how do you intend to find them?”   

She actually sounded genuinely curious, so K offered up her answer.   She had come to learn that Vel appreciated things that were given thought and K had given this matter some thought.   

“I am going to steal her military records, that way I can see who was in her unit when she was on the Broken Shore.   I will see which ones are still alive, and then…”.   K trailed off.   

“You will hunt them down?   One by one?   Like some assassin that can’t even keep a dagger in her hand when hitting a stationary target?”    Vel didn’t sound mocking in her tone despite the words feeling mocking.

“I can’t let them come for her.   I can’t see her like that again.   What would you do?”    Desperation crept into K’s voice.   

Vel didn’t answer right away, she turned away.    “You will get yourself killed K.    And that would be a massive waste of your actual talents.    Though to answer your question, my plan likely would not differ much from yours.   Getting her military record is a good idea by the way.   In order to identify possible threats.   But it’s presumptive to assume them to all be like Fleuretta.   And even if you were a murderer K, which, I do not think you are, all of those creatures served in the military and all have more training in combat than you do.   They will kill you.    Not the other way around.    And some may understand her situation.   You can’t just assume they are all - problems.   Though, if it were me, I probably would too…”.  Vel trailed off.   

K glanced at Elsie’s blades in her hands.   She couldn’t help but notice just how awkward it felt to hold them.    She tightened her grip on them and shook her head.   “I have too.   I have to do it, to help her.    I will get better at this.”    

Vel sighed and began to drift through the bits of fog that still lingered.    She turned her head back to glance  over her shoulder at K.   Those mismatched hues again seemed to peer straight into K’s skull.    

“I do not want to lose a promising assistant.  But K, you are not an assassin, at least…. not as you are now.   You are not a killer, and that’s fine.    You are sharp, and have good eyes and ears and can get along with most creatures.   You can even understand them, and relate.   There is a warmth in you, that is a rare sort of skill…”.  The monk trailed off and closed her eyes for a moment.   

K waited.   She knew the cadence of Vel’s voice well enough to know more was coming.   

“But I am not going to tell you which path to take.   If you believe this is what you must do, I only ask that you don’t get yourself killed…”.  

Vel opened her eyes again.    K lowered the blades to her sides as she listened.   But Vel only left her with one last bit of advice.   

“And try to make sure that you don’t become so lost in your desire to keep Elsie safe that you become the part of herself that she hates.”    

Chime.

Chime.   

She could hear the monk’s bells chime as she walked back into the town hall.    K was left standing in the little training yard, holding Elsie’s daggers.    Vel’s words weren’t entirely lost on her, but a darkness gnawed at her from within.   Her mind replayed the same moment over and over - where she saw Elsie laying in the mud out in the Wetlands.    She couldn’t live with the idea of having to see that again.     

She could hear Elsie’s request still ringing in her ears from the night she woke up.    ‘Get rid of them’, she’d said of her blades.   K gripped them harder.    She realized she wasn’t good at this, and self-education wasn’t likely the best approach.     She would seek out a tutor if she needed to.   For now though, she slipped the two blades into her pockets. 

@elsylynneverbright

[elsylynneverbright]

An Old Friend Part 2

It was still raining at a steady rate as the two walked. It wasn't enough to be disorienting, but it was definitely enough to leave the two soaking before they reached their destination. Elsylynn hoped to use this to her advantage. She knew Fleuretta's flames were strong and mostly uncontrollable, but perhaps the rain could help lessen the blows a bit, or at the very least minimize the overall environmental damage.

“This place good enough for you? It looks the same as every other stupid fucking clearing we’ve passed.” Fleuretta rolled her eyes as she stepped across from Elsylynn. She cracked her neck as well as her knuckles, flaring the air up around her in preparation for the fight.

Elsylynn stepped across from Fleuretta as well, unsheathing her daggers and getting into a fighting stance. “It's a decent distance from people, so someone getting in the crossfire is unlikely.” “Knock off the noble act, you stupid bitch.” Fleuretta muttered an incantation and prepared a fireball in her hands. “We both know you don’t actually give a shit who you’ve hurt.” “I’ve changed.” Elsylynn remained ready, eying Fleuretta closely. She wasn’t going to throw the first punch, but she sure as hell was going to be ready to counter.

“Yeah, right. You’ve changed about as much as I have.” Fleuretta laughed as she finally chucked the fireball at Elsylynn. Elsylynn immediately broke into a sprint toward Fleuretta, easily ducking under the fireball and closing the distance. She then began to assault Fleuretta with a flurry of slices, directed at key weak points on her body.

Fleuretta easily dodged each of Elsylynn’s strikes as well, laughing all the while. Elsylynn knew it wouldn’t be so easy, however. She watched Fleuretta’s movements as she dodged each of her attacks, quickly identifying the pattern. As she attempted a slice at one area, she quickly kicked Fleuretta’s leg out from under her, just as she was lifting it to step backwards. Knowing Fleuretta was now off balance, Elsylynn struck her in the chest with the hilt of her blade, and then she quickly sliced upwards as Fleuretta was falling to the ground, finally landing a shallow laceration on the side of Fleuretta’s stomach.

As Fleuretta fell back, and felt the blade cut her side, she let out an angry scream and shot a jet of fire up from her hands directly into Elsylynn’s face, causing Elsylynn to let out a scream of pain and back up, covering her face with her hands. Luckily, Elsylynn’s helmet and hood blocked most of the attack, but the sudden heat was enough to catch her off guard.

Noticing that Elsylynn was now off guard and clearly unstable, she took the opportunity to kick Elsylynn’s legs out from under her. As Elsylynn falls, Fleuretta quickly jumped back onto her feet and positioned herself over Elsylynn. She then heated up her fists and tried to slam them down onto Elsylynn. Elsylynn saw the fire engulf Fleuretta’s fists, and she quickly rolled out of the way, forcing Fleuretta to merely slam them onto the ground. Elsylynn then took the moment to pivot to her feet and lunge at Fleuretta, tackling her to the ground. Elsylynn positioned herself on top of Fleuretta and tried to plunge her dagger into Fleuretta’s heart. Fleuretta, however, quickly caught Elsylynn’s hand and kept it from plunging all the way.

The two struggled against each other for a while, pushing back and forth. Elsylynn refused to give up on her efforts though, and continued to push down upon Fleuretta with all of her might. Elsylynn’s dagger slowly descended upon Fleuretta as the tiny elf’s strength was too much for the pyromancer. Fleuretta’s hands begin to heat up around Elsylynn’s wrist as she manages to pull Elsylynn’s dagger up a bit, causing it to sink into her shoulder rather than her heart. Fleuretta let out a scream of pain as the heat surrounding her hands turned into a burning inferno. Elsylynn returned the scream of pain as she fell back. Fleuretta slapped the dagger away from Elsylynn as she fell back. Fleuretta stood up and placed her hand on the wound Elsylynn had just given her. Elsylynn backed up a bit from Fleuretta, still prone and clutching her now burned wrists. “All these new friends of yours. The second they know what you are, they’ll hate you just like the rest.” Fleuretta spit at Elsylynn as she took the chance to kick her face, knocking her to the floor.

Elsylynn rolled over and spit onto the ground as she shook her head. “You’re wrong. That won’t happen again. I’ve changed.”

Fleuretta laughed as she created a fireball in her hands. “Right, right. Says the bitch who came all this way just to fucking murder me.” Fleuretta then chucked the fireball at Elsylynn. Elsylynn side-eyed Fleuretta and waited for the moment she threw the fireball, at which point she immediately disappeared in a puff of shadowy smoke. She instantly reappeared above Fleuretta, falling down on top of her and wrapping her arms around her neck. Fleuretta gasped for air as Elsylynn began choking her. She flailed about fruitlessly for a moment before turning her back to a tree. She then backed into the tree as hard as she could, knocking the breath out of Elsylynn and forcing her to release the grip she had on Fleuretta.

The two both cough and sputter for a moment, trying to regain their breath. Fleuretta then began to create another fireball. “You little shit.” She threw the fireball at Elsylynn once again, and once again Elsylynn saw it coming and rolled out of the way. The fireball hit the tree, engulfing it for a moment before the rain slowly quelled the flames.

Elsylynn was still out of breath, falling to the ground on her knees after rolling off the tree. Fleuretta walked up to her and slammed her foot into Elsylynn’s face once again, knocking her fully to the ground. Fleuretta then positioned herself on Elsylynn’s back and wrapped her arms around her neck, beginning to choke Elsylynn just as Elsylynn had choked her. Fleuretta, however, had an added advantage. She began to heat up her arms and burned Elsylynn’s neck as she choked her.

Elsylynn struggled against Fleuretta futilely due to her position on the ground. There was no way she could get Fleuretta off with sheer strength. Instead, she started reaching for her dagger that she had dropped earlier, which was nearby her current position, but was just a few inches out of reach. Elsylynn continued to struggle and reach for the dagger as Fleuretta choked her out. Elsylynn’s vision began to fade as her fingers slowly grazed the dagger and moved it just a bit closer to her. She finally managed to wrap her fingers around it, just as she was close to passing out. She then quickly plunged the dagger into Fleuretta’s side.

Fleuretta let out a howl of pain as she released Elsylynn and fell backwards. Elsylynn coughed loudly as she struggled to fill her lungs with much needed air. Both of them took a moment to merely lay there in pain, before Elsylynn very slowly pushed herself up and located her other dagger. She stumbled a bit as she straightened herself out, glaring at Fleuretta who was clutching her side which was now bleeding profusely.

Elsylynn took in a few deep breaths before starting to spin her blades around. She gracefully, or at least as gracefully as she could at that point, moves her feet and her body in an almost dance sort of way. Fleuretta merely scoffed as she stood up, still clutching her side. “Ohh, NOW you finally show me what you’ve got. Come on then, speedy. Lets see that shadowdance.” Just as Fleuretta said the words, Elsylynn disappeared from sight. She then suddenly reappeared for less than a second, striking Fleuretta with her daggers as if it was a step in the dance she was performing. She then disappeared just as soon as she had appeared, appearing once again on the other side of Fleuretta and striking her in the same manner. Elsylynn continued this pattern of dancing in and out of the shadows, striking Fleuretta with each appearance.

Fleuretta let out yelps of pain as Elsylynn’s daggers found their mark each time. None of the strikes were lethal, but each of them hurt like hell. Fleuretta’s anger welled up as Elsylynn continued her dance, until she finally screamed. “Fuck OFF!” Fleuretta sent out a wave of flames in all directions in anger. Elsylynn was instantly thrown out of her dance as the wave connected with her, scorching her chest as it sent her flying back.

Fleureta fell to her knees as she released the wave. She held herself up with her hands as she spit out blood onto the ground. She was covered in cuts and stab wounds, to the point that the ground around her had begun to stain red. The fact that she was even still standing at this point was a testament to the unbelievable stubbornness she shared with Elsylynn. Elsylynn laid on the ground clutching her stomach as the pain had grown to be almost too much for her. She was not looking much better than Fleuretta at this point. She was covered in far less blood, or at least far less of her own blood, but that was merely due to the nature of Fleuretta’s attacks. She was covered in burns of varying degrees. After that last blast, even her armor had melted in some areas, some of it even fusing with her skin. Elsylynn very slowly stood up and recovered her daggers, staggering uncontrollable as she limps over to Fleuretta, who was still on her knees. She then pressed her dagger to Fleuretta’s neck. “It's over.”

“Good. Kill me then” Fleuretta chuckled as she spit out more blood. “Show me exactly who you are.” Elsylynn looked at Fleuretta for a moment, glaring at her as she contemplated. She pushed the dagger even closer to Fleuretta’s neck before finally removing it. “I don’t ever want to see you again.” She said as she dropped her daggers. 

Fleuretta looked at Elsylynn with anger as she spit at her. “Are you fucking kidding me? Too much of a fucking coward to finish the job?” Elsylynn shook her head as she turned around and began to slowly limp off, clutching her abdomen and wincing with each step. How far she could actually make it at this point with the injuries she had sustained was unclear, but she was sure as hell gonna try to do it herself. “You said it yourself…. If I kill you, I haven’t changed at all.” Fleuretta continued to glare at Elsylynn as she walked off. She then finally just smiled as she slowly stands up, clutching her side. “Good. I wasn’t quite done yet. If I understand correctly, I missed one, right?” Elsylynn stopped in her tracks as Fleuretta spoke. “I’ll make sure your sister joins your parents soon.”

Elsylynn let out a little sigh before turning around and running, or at least limping quickly, at Fleuretta. Fleuretta was prepared for it though, and attempted to slam it into Elsylynn, but Elsylynn shadowstepped at the last second, appearing behind Fleuretta and wrapping her arms around her neck once again. This time, Elsylynn kicked Fleuretta’s legs, and sent her falling to the ground on top of Elsylynn.

Fleuretta wasn’t going out so easily though. She put her hands on Elsylynn’s arms and started to heat them up, burning Elsylynn’s arms as she choked her. Elsylynn let out a scream of pain, but she continued to choke Fleuretta. The pain didn’t matter anymore. Elsylynn then began to grab for one of her daggers she had dropped nearby.

The two struggled for a while, both nearing the very end of how much they could take. Elsylynn finally got the dagger in her hand though, and she plunged it into Fleuretta’s carotid artery. 

The second the dagger entered and exited Fleuretta’s neck, the burning on Elsylynn’s arm stopped. Fleuretta’s blood began gushing from her neck uncontrollably as the life finally left her. Elsylynn continued to plunge the dagger into her, though. Stabbing her over and over again, covering herself in more and more of her blood. 

Once she was finally satisfied, Elsylynn dropped her dagger and pushed Fleuretta’s lifeless body off of her. She laid on the ground motionless for a moment, staring up into the sky. She then finally called out for help over the seal.

“I need help… Wetlands… Northeast of Menethil Harbor…” That was the most she could manage to get out. She then continued to lay there, motionless, waiting for whatever help may arrive. She was only conscious for a few minutes longer before her body finally couldn’t take it anymore.

[elsylynneverbright]

An Old Friend Part 1

A human woman with short red hair sat at the bar in Menethil Harbor, drinking and listening disinterestedly to the flirtatious ramblings of the male dwarf next to her. She was right where Elsylynn thought she would be. The second Elsylynn heard of the deaths of her mother and step father in a fire, she was suspicious of her old acquaintance. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed when she visited the tavern in Hearthglen and asked around, only to find that the woman didn’t even care enough to hide the fact that she was there, or at the very least hide her name. “Fleuretta.” Elsylynn walked up behind the woman and set a hand down on the bar next to her. Fleuretta smiled and raised her glass without fully turning to Elsylynn. “Elsylynn! Fancy seeing you here. Come, sit, save me from this idiot.” The dwarf started to angrily protest, but he was immediately cut off by Fleuretta flicking her fingers at him and setting his beard on fire. The man let out a scream and panicked, quickly running out of the tavern. “Was that necessary?” Elsylynn sat down next to Fleuretta, avoiding her gaze for the time being. “He was annoying me. So, yes.” Fleuretta grinned as she took a sip from her glass of wine. “Is your old armor really necessary? Or do you still wear that to sleep every night.” Elsylynn looked down at her purple, shadowy armor and her sheathed daggers for a moment. She had little intention of playing a song, so the armor seemed appropriate. She then looked up at Fleuretta and furrowed her brow. “Cut the shit. You know why I’m here.” “Light, always so damn serious. What, we can’t play that fun game of going back and forth, acting oblivious until you inevitably get me to confess by outsmarting me in some grand sort of manner? I was looking forward to that part. I’ve been practicing too!” Fleuretta grinned before placing a hand on her forehead and making a dramatic sort of look at Elsie. “Oh, Speedy, I’m so sorry I killed your parents! Please forgive me, I wasn’t myself,” she said all too dramatically. Elsie winced at the mention of her old nickname. She looked at Fleuretta with a look of rising anger as she rested one hand on the hilt of one of her daggers. “Why? Tell me why.”

"And why the fuck would I do that? As if you don't already know." Fleuretta just laughed as she took another small sip from her glass of wine.

"But why now? After all of these years, it had to be now? How did you even know where they were? I didn't until just two months ago." Elsylynn tightly gripped her dagger as she glared at Fleuretta.

"For the record, I'm telling you this because it amuses me. I care very little for your thinly veiled threats." Fleuretta pointed to Elsylynn's dagger as she grinned. "It was all coincidence. I was in the area, you see. Your mother had something I wanted. A book. Now I know, I know. Why would I waste my time hunting down a book? Well it was a magical book of sorts. One your mother stole, that I had also intended to steal, but found out it was already stolen and blah blah blah this and that. One thing led to another and I was there, in your own mother's house. You see, my plan was just to get the book and leave, really. I know you know that isn't my style, but making a mess would make me easier to track." Fleuretta laughed as she took another sip of her wine. She swirled the glass around for a moment before setting it down on the bar and just glaring at Elsylynn, giving her an unsettling grin. "Then I saw that beautiful painting of you and your dear old mother. I had heard a little bit about her from the barkeep in town, but I had no idea that she was YOUR mother. Then I just don't know what came over me. Perhaps I was compelled by a pursuit of justice for once. Regardless," Fleuretta leaned in close to Elsylynn before whispering in her ear, "I burned the place to the ground."

"You knew I would track you down." Elsylynn said angrily, not taking her hands off her daggers.

"And you took so fucking long too! Light, I've been in this shithole for ages." Fleuretta laughed as she leaned back onto her stool.

"I'm going to kill you." Elsylynn said simply, her angry gaze unfaltering. “Oh? You wanna fucking bet?” Fleuretta quickly stood up and held one hand out as a flame crackled to life just above her palm. “Because, unless I am remembering this incorrectly, last time we fought I kicked your ass.” Elsylynn stood up to match Fleuretta, resting both of her hands on her daggers now, but she didn’t lash out yet. She merely kept an aggressive stance in front of Fleuretta. By this point, all the patrons in the bar had turned to see what all the commotion was about. “Not here. Out of the city.” “I don’t think you are in any place to bargain, bitch. Why the fel would I give a shit about burning this whole place to the ground?” “Because you want to fight me,” Elsie responded plainly. “You don’t just want to kill me, you want to fight me. And I’m not going to fight you here.” Fleuretta furrowed her brow and leaned forward into Elsie as she held the flame closer to Elsie’s face. She could feel the intense heat of the flame threatening to burn her cheek as Fleuretta merely scowled at her. Finally, Fleuretta waved her hand and the flame dissipated. “Fine. Lead the way, Speedy."

Elsylynn continued to glare at Fleuretta, once again unsettled by the use of her old nickname. Fleuretta was very clearly using it to mock her. She then took her hands off her daggers, nodding and walking out of the tavern. Fleuretta followed close behind. Elsylynn wasn't entirely sure her assumption would work, due to the unpredictability of Fleuretta. She merely trusts that Fleuretta wanted more out of this than a simple execution. Defeating Elsylynn in battle once again would have been far more satisfying, at least that is what Elsylynn hoped. Luckily, her theory proved correct as Fleuretta didn't throw a single cheap shot at Elsylynn throughout their entire arduous walk out of Menethil Harbor and through the Wetlands.

[elsylynneverbright]

Journal Entry: Future Loss

So, a lot has happened the last few days. My emotions are kind of all over the place right now, so might as well write some things down to try and deal with it a little better, I guess. So a few nights ago, I got this future reading thing from my friend. I don’t know exactly what you call it. Like a fortune? Yeah fortune is the word. I’m not going back and marking that last part out. Anyway, it wasn’t good. I would have just brushed it off as not accurate honestly, had it not been for her literally predicting Reveria’s pregnancy in front of me. Not that I do not trust Azura to be capable of accurate predictions, I definitely trust she knows what she was doing. I just… it would have been a bit easier to shrug it off had it not been for that. The first rune said something about losing someone, actually two people, closest to me. It specified a man and a woman. Or, at the very least, a male and a female. That distinction is important. I’ll get to that. That in and of itself immediately sent me on edge though as I tried to figure out exactly who it was referring to. I immediately assumed that it would be a couple. My first thought was either Eilithe and Kurel, or Reveria and An’set. I mean, I don’t really know Kurel or An’set, but I’ve grown to consider Eilithe and Reveria very close friends. Other than that, I can’t honestly think of any other couples I am very close to, or at least I couldn’t at the time. Velerodra and Dianesh are both female, Xavier and Mairdrin are both male, Azura said she didn’t have a partner, I don’t think Zephidra does either, and quite frankly, I just couldn’t think of any other couples I was immediately aware of at the time. So, I prepared myself for the worst, but hoped there was some way I could stop that from happening. I mean, Azura of course told me that the reading weren’t necessarily guaranteed. The second rune also spoke of deception and things not being quite what they seemed, most likely in regard to whatever happens with the first one. Of course, that put me even more on edge. I made sure it was evident I would be there if I was needed, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about the reading. And then Eilonwy was kidnapped. I honestly did not even think of Eilonwy and Silthas, but the second the was kidnapped it sort of clicked in my head that they were also a possibility. I had no idea what was going to happen, all I knew is that there was a high possibility of me losing two people I had come to call close friends. So, I jumped at the chance to help get her back. I’m… going to be honest… I may have gone a bit far in trying to save her. The sort of… old me came out, if that makes sense. I mean, I don’t know if the old me ever really left, but if it did it sure came back when we were on those shores. My mind went blank and all I could think about was getting to Eilonwy and keeping my friends safe. That, and how absolutely livid I was that they took her. I killed a lot of people, and much more brutally than I would like to admit. I even enjoyed it much more than I would like to admit. I just kept pushing forward though, not willing to take the time to actually process what I was doing. I knew that part would come later, and it did. Also the ‘things not being what they seemed’ rune kind of came into play as well, as we sort of walked into a trap. Moonsong’s forces were way too prepared for our arrival, and our ships almost got destroyed in the process. We pushed our way to where Eilonwy was held. Silthas had already rocketed his way there ahead of us, which I thought was probably not good. I was right. We made our way into the room just in time for us to see Silthas get impaled by an arcane spear, and a man about to kill the kid. Naturally, that whole haze of just wanting to save them and also kill whoever the fel hurt them got way stronger in that moment. I ran in as fast as I could and jumped on the mother fucker’s back, along with Eilonwy. With her help, we killed the shit out of that guy. We might have both gone a bit far. Regardless, Silthas was relatively saved. We killed everyone else in the room, and I may or may not have also murdered a guy ontop of Mairdrin, who had very clearly been showing an aversion for killing people. He wasn’t very happy about that. I feel awful about that. I kind of want to make it up to him sometime. Anyway, Eilonwy was saved, Silthas was wounded but breathing, and Eilithe and Kurel were also pretty alive. So all in all, crisis averted, right? Maybe… hopefully. The idea of that being what the runes referred to is more of an educated guess. I also, by no means, think I was solely responsible for stopping that from happening. Fel, I was just there killing people. I didn’t even do most of the work. but , maybe, if I’m lucky, that is what the runes were talking about and a combination of things prevented what the fortune foretold. There was one more rune though, in that particular reading that remains unaccounted for. The last one spoke of family and responsibility, or something like that. I can’t recall Azura’s exact wording. I don’t know exactly what that one means. Like I said, it is still unaccounted for, which worries me. Will something happen to my family that I am responsible for? Will I become responsible for a new member of my family? Light, I hope it isn’t a kid, though I don’t see that would be possible considering the gender of Kana and I. Also, the family aspect. Does it refer to my family of blood? Or perhaps does it refer to these new friends that I’ve grown to love and consider more of a family than my own flesh and blood. I’ll have to remain on the lookout for that one. Though, I should try to not be paranoid. Paranoia will just wear away at my brain and won’t help the situation whatsoever. On the bright side, which is probably the side I should look on, Azura did another reading shortly after, and it was much more positive. One rune spoke of a gift of sorts, and the other spoke of a relationship progressing in some way or something like that. Though I don’t know for sure, both are probably referring to Kana. Kana and I are taking a lazy day today to sort of recuperate from what happened. She is asleep next to me right now while I write this. She is so cute when she is sleeping. I mean she is so cute all the time but… why am i explaining this to myself, I know how I feel about her. Mostly. Anyway, I think that's just about it. At least, it’s all I need to get off my chest currently. Hopefully all is well in the end, and I am probably just overreacting. I suppose we’ll see though.

[elsylynneverbright]

Lifetrap Test

Lifetrap test (tagged by @velerodra-valesinger​)

The emotion most recurring in you is shame. Shame is what you feel when your defects are exposed. You will do almost anything to avoid this shame. Consequently you go to great lengths to keep your defectiveness hidden. You feel that your defectiveness is inside you and not immediately observable. You feel like you have to pretend to be someone you are not to be accepted. You hide your true self to fit in, but that also means that many people in your life will never know the real you.

At your core you feel completely unworthy of love. It is possible that you struggle with feelings of depression – a kind of low-level depression always lurking in the background. You may be drawn to partners who are critical of you and put you down. They generate high chemistry, but reinforce your feelings of defectiveness.

It is likely that you spend a lot of time comparing yourself unfavorably to others and feel inadequate as a result. You feel like an impostor when you are successful. You are anxious that you cannot maintain your success. Your sense of well-being is fragile, and even small setbacks or failures may be enough to make you nervous and stressed. To feel humiliated and inadequate, as if the whole world is about to catch sight of your defectiveness.

You can take test here

[elsylynneverbright]

Resident Bard @elsylynneverbright​