#Zeller Vannyn

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Ah, girl talk.

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Zeller is thrilled that Nancor thought to ask Gliese to give her a pet, Gliese is feeling slightly ill at having done something nice for Zeller

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Seven Swans

Gliese Benral | Benral Hive & Crown Clinic | Present Night

Gliese hissed through gritted teeth, her ears flicking in annoyance. 

“If you don’t fucking hold still this will take longer!” She snapped, holding her pair of scissors at a threatening angle. Unfortunately, they were small manicure ones, which rather diminished the effect.

Zeller, string sticking out of her face, wore an expression like a mournful muppet. It made the blueblood want to kick her.

The pair of them sat in the necromancer’s spacious living room, where she would normally never allow the undead, but its plush old black couch was the most comfortable in the hive to sit on. Zeller’s stupid tall ass sat with her oxfords flat on the floor, while Gliese was cross-legged on the cushions, staring intently at her work. 

“I want my stitches how they are.” The zombie mumbled, for the dozenth damn time that night.

“Well too fucking bad, you’ll attract too much attention. You look like shit anyway, why the fuck do you have these willingly? You regenerate, there’s literally no need.”

Zeller looked down.

“At least this way I don’t look like him.”

Gliese pinched her nose and tried to gather all her patience.

“Okay, I get that your ancestor was like…the worst. I would probably beat him up if he wasn’t already dead. But he is dead, he literally died of plague or whatever. A long time ago. No one’s gonna think you look like him now, no one even knows who he is.”

“It’s not about them.” Said the zombie quietly. 

Gliese threw her hands in the air. 

“You know what? I don’t care. Just hold still.”

Zeller did, and she stopped talking, so that was an improvement.

The blueblood managed to get all the facial stitches out and throw them in the nearby wastebasket, she wasn’t going to bother with the other ones. Her thrall just needed to look vaguely presentable, which was as good as she ever got anyway.

Zeller rubbed her clear face, ears waving up and down.

Damn, she really did look like Tuuya without those. Same face and black markings under the eyes, same ears and teeth, just different eyes and horns. And shorter hair. 

The zombie had caught some sort of internal fungus rot that Gliese didn’t have enough know-how to cure with magic, not that healing was her forte anyway. So time to drag her to Ullane it was, even if she’d probably have to keep the weirdo doctor from cutting Zeller up.

Gliese looked over her outfit with a critical eye. The lanky jadeblood was at least good at dressing herself, sticking almost exclusively to suits. If you didn’t hear her talk or notice her slight chest, you might think she was a boy.

“Do you look that way on purpose?” She said out loud.

Zeller blinked. “You know I did.”

“No, your clothes. You always dress so masc, even though you were a cavern jade.”

Zeller paused.

“It’s not that important, is it?”

“Oh for - you used to never shut up, and these nights you don’t feel like talking?”

The undead shrugged. Gliese decided it wasn’t important, and they had an appointment to get to anyway.

A pity she couldn’t take Haredad, but he didn’t like the scent of undead on him. She didn’t blame her lusus, even though Zeller didn’t smell much at all these nights, thank god.

So, since she also hadn’t learned any teleportation spells yet (god, that would be nice), the normal way it was: walking to the nearest bus route. 

Zeller couldn’t stop looking at everything once they’d reached the stop to wait, and luckily, no one paid her any mind, except the occasional glance from a lowblood clearly wondering what her caste was. The undead didn’t wear a symbol, even a gray one. 

Made her look suspicious as fuck, but whatever, Gliese’s own blue lepus sign and orange psiionic eyes spurred most people give them space.

“You’d think you’d never been outside before.” The necromancer grumbled, pulling the zombie away from goggling at some dandelions growing out of a crack in the pavement.

“Not like this, at night, among people.” Zeller breathed. “Oh, maybe I should have taken the stitches out ages ago…to wait for a bus, all on my own!” She said in a ridiculously chipper voice, then paused. 

“I’m going to get peckish at some point, you know.”

Gliese grunted. “Ullane has stuff for you, I already thought of that.”

You gross freak, she didn’t add, because Zeller already knew how she felt. 

The zombie turned away obligingly, as if sensing that her necromancer was disgusted by her yet again.

At least she’d forced some manners into the fucker. It was like training a dog, probably, except the dog could talk, which was both worse and better. 

No more gross flirting, she’d made her cut that out real quick. No more killing to eat, no more calling Gliese anything but her name. No bothering anyone who came to visit, no popping up at random to chatter like a pest, no trying to “help” in the greenhives. 

All that nonsense aside, Zeller was useful, the blueblood would admit, as they got on the bus together.

She had undead strength, speed, and resilience, she could regenerate, and she was really good at construction, for some damn reason. Girl loved her power tools.

When Gliese had asked why, Zeller had fallen silent. She did that more and more often, which was nice in most ways, but annoying when Gliese wanted her questions answered.

She could have forced her to speak…but whatever, it wasn’t that important. She had better things to do.

The zombie was more for work than conversation, when it came down to it. If she wasn’t tightly controlled she’d be a ravening monster again. 

She wasn’t a higher sort of undead like Emerel had been, or that brownblood Ullane had working for her. She was only a few steps above the gem revenants of Hanhai, slipping in and out of consciousness as they did. 

Huh, where did Tuuya fall on the scale, Gliese pondered as she stared out of the bus window. Maybe she’d ask Ullane, the yellowblood was the expert.

She looked out the window, watching people go by as they rumbled toward the clinic. 

—

Zeller was clearly vibrating in excitement as they walked into the clinic, and she took out the little wooden fidget spinner Gliese had given her to cope with it. Good, much better than her bothering people. 

She couldn’t stop looking at the wrigglers and their lusii, the receptionist’s desk, at the -

-the mannequin standing in the corner.

The zombie froze at the same moment Gliese did, but the blueblood tugged on her arm and took a few steps so neither of them would stand in the flow of door traffic.

Gliese steadied her breathing. Maybe it was a coincidence. 

Sure, yeah, maybe a fucking medical clinic of all places happened to have a random mannequin hanging around, yeah, that seemed likely. Fucking brilliant shout, there.

What was even weirder was how hardly anyone else seemed to pay it mind. The staff walked by like it wasn’t there, and it even had a beanie on.

Now the hare troll had yet more questions for Ullane.

Meanwhile, she had to slap Zeller’s hand away from trying to pet the weird surgeonhiliator’s beefly lusus, but relented when he cuddled up against her anyway as the jade made cooing noises and snuggled him in a frankly disgusting and wrigglerish display.

“What?” Said the undead, sounding hurt. “I don’t have a lusus anymore, and this one actually likes me.”

“Fine, whatever.” The blueblood muttered. “I just hope that yellowblood girl doesn’t mind her dad being squished by a zombie.”

“Gliese Benral.” Called the rather depressed-looking maroon receptionist, and the psiionic got up sharply, tugging her thrall with her.

They walked down a hallway together, going to the appointment room, where the clinic’s administrator waited for them.

Zeller let out a small squeak as she saw Ullane looking, Gliese would admit, a little intimidating in her medical mask and goggles, protective horn sheaths and gloves, plus her usual lab coat. Her yellow eyes were as even as ever.

Then she looked at the undead’s face and realized it wasn’t just intimidation. She immediately felt tired.

“Please excuse dumbass here, she doesn’t know how to act around women.” Said Gliese dryly. “But don’t worry, she knows better than to say shit.”

Zeller swallowed, and nodded.

Ullane raised her eyebrows.

“Fungus infection?” Said the lowblood. “Don’t see any visible signs.”

“It’s in my abdomen.” Admitted Zeller. “Hasn’t affected me too much yet, that’s why we came early, miss.”

Ullane’s eyes glowed reddish pink, and Zeller flinched. Ullane stopped, and from the way her eyebrows knit, she was frowning underneath her medical mask.

“Does that hurt?” She asked the jadeblood.

“Ah - no! Not at all, miss, it’s just…” she trailed off, then looked at Gliese, who stared back with her own glowing orange gaze, uncomprehending.

Ullane looked between the two of them, then at the blueblood.

“What have you done to her?”

She said in a low tone.

Gliese looked at the mediculler in utter befuddlement.

“What the fuck do you mean, what have I done? I told you she was wild before I got a handle on her. You should be fucking thanking me she’s not ripping people open with her mouth anymore.”

She stepped closer to the jade, and jabbed a bony finger in the direction of the aforementioned maw.

“Open up, Zeller, let Ullane see.”

With extreme reluctance, the zombie displayed her long needle-like teeth (except for the two little buckteeth on her upper jaw) and Ullane took a quick step back.

“No…but how…a Vannyn?”

“Ding ding, we have a winner.” Said Gliese with dry, slightly smug amusement. “Yeah, didn’t mention that over the phone, thought I’d save it for a surprise. She’s actually older than our wormy pal, but she was asleep for a long time after she died. Failed prototype, apparently, that’s why she’s not all wiggly.”

“Let her speak.” Said Ullane in a tone that was not harsh, but expected complete obedience.

Gliese’s face twisted in an offended snarl, ears lowered, but she reluctantly kept quiet.

Then the lowblood looked at the jade, and her voice became softer.

“May I use my psiionics on you? To learn more of the infection?”

Zeller fidgeted, slender dark gray fingers looping around and around each other.

“Ah…I think so, miss, you aren’t going to hurt me, right?”

Ullane shook her head.

The zombie smiled nervously. 

“Yes, go ahead, thank you.”

Ullane’s eyes glowed again as Gliese felt discomfort and resentment well within her.

How dare Ullane, historic loather of anything that had dared die and come back, fucking lecture her? Especially when Zeller was dangerous and a creep. 

About thirty seconds later the yellowblood’s psi faded and she shook her head.

“Will need to operate, sterilize your system. Will need to cut you open to take a sample, for analysis and determining the best method.”

Zeller looked scared, her ears pinned back.

“I…you wouldn’t have anesthetic that worked on my sort, would you…?”

“Yes.” Said Ullane softly, and the relief that washed over the jade was palpable.

“I know I…I know it wouldn’t kill me without, but…” she looked haggard. “My…my ancestor…”

“Lifeweaver did much to his bloodline, it seems.” Ullane murmured. “Tuuya was willing…but you weren’t, yes?”

Zeller went quiet for a moment.

“I tried…it was expected of me. I tried, but it hurt…I was the first, you see. My genetics weren’t right, the integration didn’t take, and I…”

She shook her head.

“Ah, is it all right if I have…something to eat?”

The zombie tried not to look too hopeful.

Ullane paused, but then nodded.

“Stay here, please. Will fetch it for you. Gliese, please walk with me.”

“Planned on it.” Grunted the blueblood, who followed with no hesitation.

The two strode next to each other in silence at first as Ullane led the way down the wooden halls, and when they were far enough away, the blueblood couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why the fuck are you sympathizing with her?” Hissed the shorter woman. “She’s everything you hate! Not to mention she fucking stalked me at first.”

“You don’t know me.” Said the medic calmly. “If she stalked you, why keep her?”

“Because she’s useful, duh. I’m having her investigate some mannequins, who happen to be exactly like the one you had in your waiting room. Care to explain?”

“Can’t tell you much.” Replied the lowblood, shaking her head. “They came here with our former prosthetist, and he remains as a patient. He doesn’t know much of them either, and you shouldn’t talk to him, it would go badly.”

The cerulean gritted her teeth, ears flicking in annoyance.

“Then who the hell am I supposed to talk to? Zeller has barely found anything new, and these fucks show up outside my hive and won’t go away. I need a lead.”

“I could help you.”

An even, slightly amused voice came and both women turned around to see an oliveblood holding a wrench, leaning against a wall.

“And who are you, chickie?” Said Gliese, brusque but curious.

“Priori Poster. You’re Gliese Benral, the Immolate, the girl who set Hanhai’s zombies ablaze to burn herself out, all so fleet would let her go. Except it changed you instead, made you control not the living, but the dead.”

The blueblood gaped in shock and a bit of fear.

“How…how the fuck…”

The midblood woman smiled a strange little smile.

“I know things.”

She nodded.

“So, ask.”

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Pathetic Wet Beasts (Evil)

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I’m sure they’ll get along great.

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Gliese: I don’t keep servants, just one annoying gross zombie who lives in a shed

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Tuuya is very wary of making anyone uncomfortable with their feelings because while they do love to be creepy on purpose to scare and unsettle people they are utterly disgusted by the thought of accidentally coming across as creepy in that way.

It’s why they’re really not gonna like Zeller when they meet her, though Gliese putting her on a leash has dampened that tendency of hers somewhat.

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Helixe's existence also makes my impending Vannyn family bullshit plot so much funnier.

Zeller and Larima, looking at Helixe: what do you have there

Tuuya, holding them, since that's their baby: if you say anything mean neither of your remains will ever be found

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Dead Serious will be both depressing and a clown show, since it is kicked off by Tuuya realizing Larima exists, then having to realize Zeller exists, and both of those facts will piss them off.

Meanwhile Zeller still has trauma aplenty from dealing with Rhomox, and Larima couldn’t give less of a fuck about any of that since she grew up not knowing about it but the empire will be targeting her because she is a Vannyn.

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Zeller was originally gonna be an actual threat but she was doomed from the moment I made her a Vannyn (since she wasn't when I originally came up with her a few years ago) and again when I put her in Gliese's tender care.

Not that the Vannyns aren't threats, Tuuya still is a significant one despite being less strong than they were, and Zeller is still a pretty tough zombie, but they are also ridiculous creatures. Then she got manners and the fear of one small angry hare put into her and that evaporated any villain potential she had.

She's just a gross dork now, and thanks to Gliese's binding she can't even kill for herself anymore.

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The two undead Vannyns are ganglescrungle and squishscrungle. At least I don’t have to draw Zeller’s stitches anymore, I hated those.

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I enjoy that Tuuya is undead in three ways.

Most obviously as a rainbowdrinker.

Cestoa, the deadname of their original troll-self, effectively died when Tuuya became worms. They still have several tendencies and memories from trollhood, but they are at a literal biological level not that same person anymore. She's dead, though still part of them, still the pattern the worms know to reform, still the way their subconscious spoke to them when they were possessed by Ozryel.

Then there's Lleios, their mind wiped away by Rhomox and their body taken and altered over hundreds of years, eventually producing the worms that became Tuuya. Another death they wouldn't exist without.

Tuuya should never have existed. There's a trail of eleven dead Vannyns behind them. Zeller is the only one who's still around in any form at all, and look how fucked up she is. All so Rhomox could finally get someone willing, someone who wouldn't struggle and die in the process.

And yet they cheated death twice, once when I spared them from Ullane killing them as I'd originally intended, and once in Children of Ozryel, via love and responsibility IC.

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That’s a Vannyn line trait, actually, sickly lusii. The snail-turtle is not a very stable lusus hybrid, simply because I figure not all of them can be! With all the wacky combos that exist, some are going to be duds.

Rhomox’s lusus was also ill, and Larima’s currently is, which she fears anyone finding out and tends to kill people who get too close to her mom’s pond.

Zeller is the only one who did not have a sickly lusus, but it hardly mattered because she was Rhomox’s first descendant and he pretty much took over raising her as soon as she was three sweeps old. After her and the ten others who came after her, he was a lot more hands off by the time Tuuya popped up about a hundred years later.

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‘Tuuya gives Viltau legal advice’ is not what I expected from this morning but it’s very funny and it does actually tie in to what I’ve been thinking about for what Tuuya had to hash out so they could run Kaningård.

Because technically this whole time they were imperial property, not a citizen, thanks to Rhomox. He made every single Vannyn that came after him legally his for experimentation bullshit, because he was swell that way. Tuuya was like the dozenth one, all the others died or are Zeller.

But luckily for Tuuya, the caverns didn’t actually know about any of their other crimes after they broke out of the caverns a second time, since Tutu isn’t an idiot and can easily disguise their face and voice.

So thanks to Rivali and Daudre arguing their case a what they did for Hanhai cavern, which you know, originally imprisoned them, and convincing them that hey Rhomox was insane and you should maybe just drop his entire bullshit because it’s stupid, Tuuya regained citizenship status, especially after they offered aid to help Hanhai raise their new mother grub since Tuuya is currently raising one as well.

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The Vannyn line meanwhile is terrible at being cis. Rhomox was trans, Tuuya is trans, Zeller isn't trans but she did Not Like having to do femininity the traditional cavern way.

Larima is the only Vannyn out there who hasn't had any gender or presentation issues in hundreds of years. Head only full of hitting things with her hammer.

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I'd say a Vannyn trait is making sad muppet faces but actually it's just the undead ones since they have the silly overly large mouths. Rhomox didn't do that and Larima doesn't, but those two are also of the stoic bent rather than being goofy like Tuuya and Zeller.