#Till The Light Is Absorbed By The Night || Bianka

[pathomannia]

"I just wanted to know what the fuss was about gingerbread..."

[nostomannia-archive]

[pathomannia]

"Did we really have to fall into the stereotypes of dogs hating cats? Was dropkicking me necessary?"

[pathomannia]

Hit that ♡ for a Bianka starter

[pathomannia]

"I'm not winning any fight I get into..."

[pathomannia]

"Well, I guess thats what you call karma...."

[pathomannia]

I shoot bianka with the Riyo beam

[pathomannia]

Bianka's bodysuit, then her normal attire, and then her 'disguise' because animal ppl arent exactly normal in Idola and she'd rather not out herself as a freak of nature

[pathomannia]

Hallen coming to her home so urgently she nearly kicked down the door was quite a shock. Not because Astryn had never seen Hallen quite so full of energy, but because Hallen was supposed to have died almost three years ago. After making sure she was settled, or at least as much as a teenager in near-hysterics could be, and in the company of Astryn’s family, she went to check on the tower. 

From what she had gotten from Hallen, it had already been a day since she had woken up. The walk from Silas’ tower to her house was rather long, let alone Hallen was probably disoriented. Even with Astryn was sprinting almost the entire way there, it wouldn’t be fast enough. He didn’t. He didn’t. He wouldn’t dare-

Out of breath, she slammed the door to the tower open. “Hey- Silas? Bianka?!” It was eerily quiet. It was usually so warm and comfortable here, but the air just felt cold and heavy now. Astryn took in a shaky breath. 

She knew exactly what happened. She didn’t want to believe it. He wouldn’t be so foolhardy. There’s no way he would do this to his daughters. To Bianka. Stepping lightly through the home, she finally found herself in the hallway to Hallen’s room. The door hanging open. She didn’t want to see. But she had to. She had to make sure Silas and Bianka were okay. Maybe this was just a fluke. Maybe the gods had taken pity on Hallen and allowed her a new chance at life. That he didn’t. The denial racing through her head as she slowly stepped towards the room

He didn’t. He didn’t. He didn’t. He-

Pushing the door open, she was greeted by a heartbreaking scene. Silas looked almost like he could be asleep, but laid out on the floor made it hard to convince herself of that. Bianka slumped over his chest, almost unmoving is what scared her more. She was frozen for a long moment, waiting for her breathing and heart to settle as she soaked in the scene. 

“B…” She moved closer, leaning down to brush hair out of the child’s face. It was obvious she had been crying. The poor thing must have cried herself to the point of exhaustion. “Bianka.” Astryn called out softly again, running her hand gently over her head, disturbing her ears, which caused the child to stir and sit up. 

“...Astryn?” She mumbled, looking up blearily at the woman, before reality hit her. Her eyes shot back to the body of her father. “Dad-.. He-... H-Hallen-” She barely choked own before breaking down in sobs again.

“I know. I know…” Astryn wrapped her arms around the trembling girl, who clung to her and wailed. How could he? She held tightly to Bianka trying to calm her own rage over this. If Silas opened his eyes at this very moment, Astryn could’ve beaten him bloody. She was too angry to even cry right now. What selfish idiot just abandons his own child in such a horrible manner? 

She rested her head on top of Bianka’s. Was it selfish? He gave his life up for the sake of his other daughter. Was he only trying to correct an accident that he blamed himself for? Or was his damned hubris so great he thought he could survive this? There was no way to ask now. He had forsaken himself for Hallen to live. There wasn’t even an afterlife for him now. 

“B?” She quietly called out to the girl now sniveling against her chest. She sounded so tired, even now. Gently stroking her hair, she spoke. “How about you go rest for now. I’ll take care of things.” No reply. 

Astryn let go over her, pushing her far enough away so she could look her in the eyes. Bianka’s face was puffy from crying so much, not to add, she looked utterly exhausted. Her ears drooping, and it almost seemed she couldn’t keep her head up. She wiped away the child’s tears, and tried to fix her hair so it wouldn’t stick to her damp face. “I won’t do anything important without you, alright? You need to rest.” 

Bianka opened her mouth to protest, but Astryn shook her head. “You’ve had a hard day, and sleeping.. Here won’t do you any good.” To allow her to sleep in a room with her fathers corpse, let alone her once-late sister’s room, felt too cruel. 

Astryn stood up, while Bianka stayed sitting, staring at Silas for a long moment. Like she was trying to memorize his face. She held out a hand to the girl. Bianka shakily grabbed her hand, using it as leverage to try and get up. But then she collapsed on the floor with her face twisting in agony. Astryn dropped down, worry clear in her face, trying to figure out what was wrong. One of Bianka’s hands was gripping her leg, clearly in pain. Astryn frowns. 

That fool. When Bianka was much younger, she almost never walked because it was painful. It wasn’t until Silas’ intervention that she could walk with minimal pain. What had he been thinking? Bianka’s nature was already so unstable, to practically abandon her… Was he expecting Hallen to help? Astryn herself? It made her blood boil. 

Astryn wrapped an arm around Bianka’s shoulders, reaching down to hook her arm around her legs. Bianka, understanding what Astryn was looking to do, reached to put her arms around her neck. Picking her up was practically effortless, other than the slight hiss Bianka made at being moved like this. 

Walking Bianka to her room like this only helped breaking her heart. She felt so small. With her head settled against Astryn’s shoulder, the reality of all of this weighed heavy. He really was gone. He’d never see Bianka grow up. She was only twelve now, it felt so unfair.  Helping settle her in bed, the woman brushed a hand over her head. “I’ll bring you something to help.” She murmured as she tucked the girl in. 

Astryn had promised that, but she found herself wandering back to Silas. While the house was filled with remnants of his magic, it was especially prevalent in Hallen’s room. Why hadn’t it occurred to her? The door was locked and heavily magicked to stay shut by him. He preserved Hallen here in her room. She hadn’t been present for his eldest child’s burial, did he ever bury her at all? What did Bianka see? 

She scanned the floor, covered in books and the near unhinged notes made by Silas. How had he kept this secret? She picked up a stack of papers to shuffle through them and couldn’t help but scoff. He really was stubborn, wasn’t he? When Hallen had died during an unexpected scuffle, he had been overcome with grief. At the time she thought the comment of bringing her back was just an offhanded one, even if she near beat the stuffing out of him for even thinking of it. Obviously it didn’t help knock the sense into him, only taught him to keep secrets. 

She dropped the notes on the floor rather uncaringly. She didn’t want to read her best friend’s descent into madness. 

He always thought he knew better than everyone else, didn’t he? He didn’t learn from his mistakes when he got kicked from the Spagkos. If anything it only strengthened his resolve and his arrogance only seemed to grow.  

She took a deep breath, kneeling beside his body. It was all so surreal, looking at him now. She placed a hand over his cold hand and pursed her lips. It was real. He was gone. She couldn’t keep quietly convincing herself he was only passed out. 

“You damn fool.” The woman whispers. If she talked any louder, she would break. She couldn’t. Not now. She could hear Bianka’s sobbing faintly. Astryn brushed some hair away, leaning over to place a soft kiss on his forehead. Then, stood up. 

 She had to keep herself together. For Bianka and Hallen.

[pathomannia]

reading a manga and this witch character looks like Bianka, and also she would TOTALLY do this

[pathomannia]

@lykaiia ♡'d for a starter

"Hmmm." She smelled different. Bianka had seen a fair share of unique individuals finding their way to these woods, but outside of the occasional deity, most of them smelled human. This woman smelled distinctly canine.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you, but uhm.. Are you lost or anything?" Was the rather meek question. "People don't usually come out to these woods, it's pretty infamously dangerous."

[pathomannia]

Random facts about Bianka? The tower she lives in is much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.

She often has piles of blankets and pillows strewn across the floor because she tends to prefer sitting or laying on the floor instead of in furniture.

Bianka is incredibly lonely. Living in a forest thats often perceived as dangerous, she doesn't get a lot of visitors outside of a pseudo-mother figure who doesn't live with her, but delivers materials and food as needed. Most of the meddling in Idola that Bianka does is her doing magic from long distances, and she only really views people's lives by scrying the world outside. Mainly what stops her from traveling is having to travel alone and the limits of her own body. Having trouble moving on her own two feet puts a damper on travel. Traveling with her nephew does help with her anxiety, but the hurdles of what she's physically capable of, and what she is, still add difficulty.

[pathomannia]

Idola is basically made up of all strings. From people native to this world, to the magic they use, it's all basically invisible lines that connect everything.

Any effective magic user can feel the strings out to use them, some who may descend from those outside of Idola, have the chance of being able to see them. While those who are from outside Idola are more likely to see them, it's only someone who is from Idola who's able to use those strings or interact with them.

The only real exception is if someone from the outside is brought back. Now technically being made up of the same stuff as everyone else.

Bianka is unique, just a bunch of knotted-up pieces of magic that piled up for generations and generations, as well as the bonds from being passed through many hands.

Magic is done through pulling or knotting up the strings, depending on the intent of the user. Bigger spells require more complicated knots, but they'll linger as long as someone isn't able to reach in and pull it loose.

Right now, there's really only three people in my situated lore that are able to see strings? There's Hallen and Bianka's dad, Silas, who's dad was pulled into Idola. Hallen, who was an unfortunate victim to being pulled in at a young age, and only was able to assimilate and use magic herself because of her father's actions of bringing her back to life. And then there's Hallen's son, who is also Silas. Named after his grandfather, he inherited his mother's ability to see strings, which is what nurtured his fascination for magic. (As well as occasional stories about his grandfather)

I go back and forth whether or not B can see them, since she was created by those strings, not by people. But she is also a product of Idola, with no outside influence.

[pathomannia]

Bianka is smart but almost completely socially inept, she just does her best to emulate what her dad did. Once she doesn't know how to handle a situation she becomes rather shy, and if she ever were travelling with someone else she'd probably just let the other person talk for her.

[pathomannia]

@dethqveen ♡'d for a starter

She thought she had heard someone. "Are you looking for something?" Bianka placed down the bucket she had been carrying to approach the stranger. "The forest can be a bit treacherous, I wouldn't recommend walking through it alone."

There was another reason for someone to be here, but maybe a casual approach would be more comfortable. They looked angry from her perspective. The last thing the witch wanted to do was have ire directed her way.

[pathomannia]

Bianka hasn't spoken to her sister, Hallen, since their father died. Both sisters feel guilty for his death, as well as some other baggage on Bianka's side.

Later on, Hallen notices her son take an interest in magic. And as a start to bridging their relationship, Hallen reaches out to ask if Bianka can mentor Silas, and Bianka ends up agreeing.

Canonically, I wouldn't say the relationship ever fully heals. They have a few awkward encounters when Bianka accompanies Silas back to his home to visit Hallen. After that, Bianka will eventually die before the two truly can make up.

Hallen doesn't blame her sister, and doesn't have hard feelings. She's just glad at least Bianka and Silas could form a bond before anything happened.