#they awaken from their dirt nap and begin to wander

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

That nosleep post about the lady who killed her husband who came back six months later is making me think things

[pixs-pinings]

The Moths

In my awakening insert’s... theoretical fic, Pix actually doesn’t get too close to the main story until the time... around the timeskip. She actually joins up with a group called the Shadow Moths (otherwise known as Alicia’s Moths), and just kinda. recruits all the future kids to it.

Anyway here’s how they started off <3

When Alicia looked back, her brother and mother were gone.

She can still hear shouting. She can still feel the way the magic rumbles in her soul whenever their pursuers try to summon Risen; even if she was an unsuccessful attempt at holding Grima, her brother was the successful attempt, so she could still feel that dark magic. She grit her teeth and looked back forward, watching her surroundings as she continued to run.

Her mother was likely dead.

She stumbled. She didn't feel any magic in the air around her. She kept running anyway. Her pink hair whipped rapidly behind her.

Her brother... they'd want to keep him alive. He was the result of a long line of cult breeding, a mark on his hand showing him perfect to house the soul of a demonic dragon.

She hoped he escaped. She hoped that their pursuers only claimed their mother. Alicia couldn't go back to check. She just had to hope. Hope was the best way to combat the despair that being Grimleal caused, her mother had always told her.

She stumbled through some town gates, and realized that she no longer had pursuers. Her hair was a mess, her outfit— the only thing she had left from her time as a Grimleal— was torn to shreds, and she probably didn't look the prettiest. 

She pulled out her money purse, checking what she had in it. Alicia frowned as she counted her gold. This was enough to get one night at the Inn, maybe enough to get another set of clothes... Where could she go from here?

-

"Young Siban..." August's face twisted, and the merchant— Josh— put his hands up in the air and waved it back and forth. "I-I mean, August! Young August! Are you quite sure about this?"

August held the bow in one hand, and held the quiver in the other. It was intricately designed, both matched each other perfectly, it was easy to pull back on the bowstring... Just like she had wanted.

August stared at him, slinging the quiver over her shoulder. "I've spent a lot of gold on this, Josh." She ran a hand through her hair. "If I wasn't sure, I would've backed out at the price."

Josh stared at his hands. "... Are you sure you must go?"

August scoffed, turning around. "My parents decided that for me."

She would miss him. But she wouldn't say that. She had learned better. Keep her heart under lock and key, and she wouldn't be hurt like that again.

August remembered seeing a lone mercenary wandering around, doing tasks that nobody else wished to do. Her parents had recruited her once, for the honor of fighting for their honor or something August didn't pay much attention to at the time. August thought that mercenary would be the perfect one.

August never learned how to fight. That was how she was raised. That lone mercenary, though? She knew how to use her sword to terrifying effect. August had a feeling that she could learn how to use a bow from that mercenary.

Now she would begin her search. 

-

"There we go!"

Rosa backed away from her horse, who lifted up his head and snorted. She slid the horse brush off of her hand, giggling at his attitude. "Don't be like that, Sain! You know I need to do it!" The white-haired girl dropped her brush into a bucket that she had labeled the horse care bucket. She picked it up off the floor and slid it onto the shelf, then made her way back to Sain. 

Rosa brushed her hand down his side, her smile growing wistful. "You and I are similar, you know." Her fingers traced the start of one of his front legs, feeling the natural power behind it. "You're not meant to be a noble steed. You're meant to be out there—" She tossed her free hand in the direction of the exit of the stables, where beams of sunlight were starting to emerge, "—running around, feeling air through your mane..." She brushed her hand over his dark brown mane, twisting it between her fingers. "...But you're stuck in here, just used to deliver messages."

Sain huffed again, and Rosa laughed to herself. "Oh, right, I shouldn't mess up your noble mane, not after I just brushed it." She moved her pale hand back to his body, rubbing her fingers in a circle.

Her face returned to melancholy. "... I want to be outside, too. I wish I could run around out there, I wish that my skin and eyes didn't draw so much attention..." Rosa pressed her face against Sain's neck, and he lowered his head on her shoulder. Her smile lifted. "My parents care so much for how I'll be perceived. If only I could just..."

Her hand stopped on Sain's side, and Rosa drew away from her horse. Sain lifted his head, staring at her in confusion.

Sain could take her anywhere. The only worry she had was that she drew attention when outside, and if she just covered that up... Sain could run free. She could get him saddled up, cover herself, and... go. Sain wasn't meant to be a messenger horse, he was meant to carry soldiers for long battles.

She could do that.

Rosa ran her hand down his neck again, then stepped away. "Hold on for a second." She grinned, heading for the door of Sain's enclosure. "I think I know how to solve both of our problems."

-

How long had it been since she slept?

Ninu curled her flame red wings around her shoulders, disguising it as a cloak like her mother had told her to so long ago. Her long, pale blue dress trailed at her feet, snagging on bushes and branches as she pushed onward.

The trees were different. Their branches and leaves were different from how she had remembered them, before her slumber. Above the trees, she could see the tops of buildings from a city that didn't exist before.

Her dress snagged on another branch. Ninu continued to walk, not minding the holes being torn into the bottom of her dress.

It seemed like the anger that had been building up inside of her had been quelled after her nap, like her mother had said it would.

Waking up and not seeing her face had stung. Not seeing her siblings or father had stung, as well. Were her siblings still alive? Her parents weren't, not if a large time had passed, but her siblings were only barely older than her. Where had they gone?

Her steps slowed when she heard the sound of people talking. It seemed that the language changed, but not enough that she could not understand their conversation.

"That's the reason we have arm guards." A light, yet scolding voice rung out from the clearing ahead. "Go and put it on. Now..." There was a sigh, and the sound of boots turning on dirt. "...Rosa. You have your armor?"

"Yep!" A perky voice responded. 

Ninu thought she could hear the slight grumbling of another voice. Was that who got scolded by the first voice? She couldn't identify the words of that one. She drifted closer, blue eyes gazing over the clearing she had stumbled upon.

Three humans were on one side of the clearing, and three training dummies were set up on the other. A human with light pink hair tied up in a low ponytail was walking around the deep black horse the unnaturally pale human with white hair was sitting on, tracing her hands on... whatever was hanging off of the horse's backside. The third human was digging through a bag with dark brown hands, curly black hair pulled tight into a high bun.

The human with light pink hair nodded, patting the pale human on the leg. "You're ready." She stepped away from the human on the horse, lips curled to a frown. "... You're sure about this?"

"Y-Yeah!" The pale human clutched onto the wooden lance in her hands. "Mercenaries travel, right? And if you train me, even better!"

Ninu was not sure what the pale human was wearing counted as armor. Even disregarding the strangely patterned cloak she wore over her head, the armor seemed too close to the skin to be armor. Ninu remembered bulky iron chainmail, not... whatever she was wearing.

"Okay." The pink-haired human nodded, crossing her arms. "Show me what you got down."

The dark-skinned human pulled on a glove, turning from the bag she had been digging through. The human's hazel eyes met Ninu's, and, judging by the sudden tensing of her shoulders, Ninu had been seen.

"Alicia," The dark-skinned human hissed towards the other two, sharply pointing in Ninu's direction, "we're being watched."

The human on the horse tensed, and the horse neighed with irritation as it turned around. The pink-haired human's reaction was to sharply turn in Ninu's direction, pulling out— that was an actual iron sword.

Sure, it looked different from what Ninu remembered, but the sharpness and general shape echoed in her mind from when her mother showed Ninu her backup weapon.

"Show yourself," The pink-haired human barked, "Before I make you face my blade."

Ninu pulled herself out of the shadows of the trees, stretching out her dragon wings. The anger and tension lessened considerably, in exchange for confused glances being swapped between the three humans.

"Pardon my intrusion." Ninu spoke, bowing. Her wings stretched out to their full length as she bowed, returning to their spot on her shoulders as she returned to standing upright. Surprisingly, the dark-skinned human was a little bit taller than Ninu. "I have awakened from my lengthy slumber, and your gathering caught my eye." Ninu's ears twitched. "My name is Ninu. Might I ask what your business is here?"

The dark-skinned human and the unnaturally pale human both looked at the pink-haired human. The pink-haired human looked over to the two of them, sighed, then stepped forward, looking up to meet eyes with Ninu.

"I'm Alicia," The pink-haired human placed a hand on her chest, "that's August," Alicia pointed to the dark-skinned human, "and that's Rosa." Alicia pointed to the unnaturally pale human on a horse. August and Rosa both waved. "We're... well." Alicia looked back up to Ninu. "We're a new mercenary group, the Shadow Moths."

"We came up with that name, like... five minutes ago." August sighed.

Ninu nodded. Mercenaries, huh? Some things changed, some things stayed the same.

Alicia hummed, and Ninu refocused to her. "... You wouldn't mind if I asked you to join us, right?"

-

A mage stood in front of them. She clutched a tome close to her body, green eyes unable to stay focused on just one person. Her robes were a mix of pink, purple, and blue, covering her body. It was not a typical mage uniform, but it seemed she was used to it, if her performance in that battle was any indication.

Alicia stepped forward. "You said your name was Pix, yes?"

Pix nodded, smiling nervously. "Yeah."

"Pix..." Alicia looked down to the magic tome in Pix's arms, and her mind was pulled back to when she still traveled on the road with Robin and her mother. Their magical skill being at her back was a comfort, and it was something she had missed on the few missions the Moths had been on so far. "Are you open for working with a mercenary group?"

Pix's eyes widened, and her grip on her book tightened. "You..." She struggled for words for a moment. "You want to recruit me?"

"The Moths... we're lacking in mage power." Alicia explained, watching as Pix failed to fully suppress the glee on her face. "You seem to know how to use magic, and if you jumped into a fight you were not initially a part of, you might not have much to do except wander."

Alicia had found Rosa like that, after all.

"Will you accept?"

Pix flattened her face again, though the edges of her lips were still curving upwards. "Yes!" Pix blinked, then coughed into her palm, going slightly red. "Yes, I'll join."

"Good!" Alicia chirped, her own smile widening. "Follow me. The other three are back at our camp, I'll introduce you there."

(August watched Pix's laughter at one of Alicia's jokes get suppressed by herself, and August wondered why their newest member felt the same need to suppress showing emotions like August did.)

(Rosa watched Pix walk into camp at Alicia's side, and couldn't help her smile at someone new.)

(Ninu's gaze followed Pix as the mage got set up for the night of rest, and wondered why her magical aura felt so achingly similar to that of her mother.)

[endangered-liaison]

A Cruel Awakening

There are flowers.

That's all she knows, so far.

Scarlet sits, in interminable fog, and she just wants to see. To know what has happened to her home since she left. She'd had such a long journey home when she'd heard about the flood of light approaching Voeburt, but it was a road worth taking. Getting caught by a pixie when she was so close to home had been sheer bad luck. Telling it where to go shove its errands had been a mistake.

Judging by the dark, murky nature of the mist, it seems like the Light hasn't yet reached this place. But she can't exactly be sure, with the fog surrounding her as it is. It could be almost dawn, for all she knows. Or barely dusk. Or anywhere in between.

She's under the spell of the Fey - she's worked that part out. She can't see more than a few feet in front of her face, the fog is so thick everywhere she turns. It would be one thing if they would simply face her and tell her what she needs to do to earn her freedom (not that pixies are wont to let their entertainment go without reason), but as it is, she hasn't heard hide or hair of them since she...woke up.

She'd wandered in what she thought was the direction of home, but had only found a pond - Handmirror Lake, most likely, but it felt like it was in the wrong direction. After that bit of directional confusion, she'd chosen to sit down. There's no way to make progress when the pixies have you under their spell. Any old wives tale will tell you that.

She looks at the topiary she's sitting next to. Its strange face stares right back at her in quiet astonishment. Or perhaps a silent scream. Poor bastard, frozen for who knows how long. She supposes it could've been worse. Instead of just making her have a nap, she might've been turned into one of those things. It seems the pixies had been merciful to her. She just wishes they'd appear and tell her what to do.

"Pixies?" She asks, quietly. "I don't know if you're here, and I don't know what I have to do to earn my freedom. So please...speak to me, and I will do whatever is in my power to help you."

She knows she shouldn't speak to them. That words give them power over your soul. But she was so close. She can practically taste the bread of her home, and she refuses to sit here and do nothing, or to try and flee. She's come so far, across Norvrandt, and she isn't giving up now.

There's a giggling next to her. Or above her. Or...within her? It buzzes in her ears like tinnitus, everywhere and nowhere all at once, and Scarlet reaches for the blade on her back.

"Now, now! You asked to speak with me! Drawing your weapon isn't a very nice way to say hello, is it?"

The voice comes from everywhere, just like the giggling, and Scarlet forces herself to take a calming breath. Flying off the handle when a pixie played its games with her was exactly what got her into this fine mess to begin with. She lets go of her sword's hilt and nods.

"That's better, isn't it?" The voice is uncomfortably close to her ear - far too intimate for her liking. "Now. Give me your name, little mortal, and I will tell you mine?"

Give me your name.

A trap, if Scarlet's ever heard one.

"You may call me Scarlet. I am a knight-errant of this land."

A whine of displeasure. "Oh, you're no fun, Scarlet!"

"I believe you promised a trade?" She ignores the jibe, quirking an eyebrow at the thin air to her left where she assumes a pixie to be.

"Over here, silly."

She looks right, and practically bumps her nose into the face of a pixie. She yelps and falls back to the floor, kicking up a cloud of pollen around herself.

The pixie giggles again, clapping their hands together in unrestrained delight. "Oh, I changed my mind! If you're that jumpy all the time, you will be quite a lot of fun after all!"

Scarlet brushes pollen from her armour and scowls, trying to regain her composure after that particular surprise.

"Oh, but where are my manners? I am Oul Uin!" They do a twirl in midair, demonstrating themselves. "A pixie, but you knew that part already."

They lean on their hands in midair, batting their eyes at Scarlet. "So, what is it that had you pleading for our help so earnestly, [idiot mortal]?"

Scarlet decides she isn't going to ask what that last phrase means. "I...I want to go home." She decides that honesty is her only way out of this. She can't trick a pixie - especially not one who's holding all the cards. "I was on the road back, after such a long journey, and I was almost to Voeburt when another pixie - or maybe you, I'm not certain - barred my path and started to play games with me."

"And let me guess - you didn't want to play mean old Thon Sul's games?"

Scarlet nods. Thon Sul. So this pixie she's speaking with knows who put her to sleep.

"Voeburt, you said? Such an ugly, mortal world. We call this place Il Mheg. It's much nicer."

Il Mheg.

She supposes the pixies would have their own word for the town.

"How long do you think you were, ah, asleep, little mortal?"

Scarlet blinks.

She doesn't like something within Oul Uin's tone.

"A few hours? A day, perhaps?"

She doesn't feel hungry or thirsty, so it can't have been that long. And her armour still looks the same as it did before (save for a little extra pollen coating it). No dirt or mess.

Oul Uin's face shifts to something approaching...pity? "Oh, [poor mortal, lost in time]."

The words are elegant. Beautiful. And completely alien to Scarlet's ears. "I didn't understand that, I'm sorry."

"You will, dear mortal."

Scarlet rubs her head, adjusting the circlet there a little to have it sit more comfortably. "What must I do to earn my freedom, Oul Uin?"

The pixie floats close to her face, humming before poking an eyebrow. "You're in luck, dear mortal."

She doesn't exactly feel lucky. And having a pixie say that to her fills her with a sense of deep dread.

"As it happens, we're having a little bit of a celebration at the moment. Most of the Fey are busy having fun everywhere else. I'm the only one who's noticed you bumbling about so far. Thon Sul was bored of having you in their garden and let you go. I don't think they even noticed you wandering off! But their loss--" Oul Uin circles around Scarlet's body rapidly, a high-pitched tinkling sound accompanying the movements as they lift one of Scarlet's arms, poke her cheek, and finally burrow into her hair. "Their loss is my gain, little mortal!"

Scarlet's feeling of dread notches up from horrified to apocalyptic.

"Oh, don't give me that face!" Oul Uin says, despite being burrowed in Scarlet's hair and having no way of looking at the Galdjent's facial expression. "The [Madbloom] has come home. They spent so long out in the world that it changed them! They had so much fun out there, amongst the mortals - and I want to have fun, too! So I'm going to offer you a deal, little mortal. A pact."

A pact with a pixie.

Every lesson she's ever heard tells her how bad of an idea that is. That pacts with pixies end with death, despair, and anatomically impossible unpleasantness.

But she's so close. Her home needs her. She's been away for too long already.

"What sort of pact?" she asks.

"A pact for the world!!!" Oul Uin fights their way out of Scarlet's hair, beaming and bouncing with energy.

Yep. Awful idea.

"The [Madbloom] left here and came back with the best mortals to play with I've ever seen, and then became the King! The King!! I want all of that! Well, not the king part, ruling with benevolence sounds terribly boring, but all the rest! I want to see what they saw, I want to see things they never dreamed of seeing! I want to have fun that no-one here could ever dream of having!" They float forwards and poke Scarlet's cheek. "And you are my ticket to that. A roaming knight! It's so romantic and old-fashioned!"

Old-fashioned? Rude. But...the idea doesn't sound awful. It doesn't sound like she'd be forced into anything she isn't doing already.

"Make a pact with me, mortal, and I will give you your eyes, that you might see the path laid out before you."

Scarlet takes a slow breath.

Is she really considering this?

"...You won't interfere?"

"I'll be as quiet as a stealthy mouse."

Somehow, Scarlet doubts that. "...I'll agree, on one condition."

"You need but name what you desire, Scarlet." Oul Uin smiles beatifically.

She holds up a finger. "I want to stay in Voeburt and help it, at least for a little while. I'll resume my quest, in time, but I must see to my city first."

Oul Uin's expression flickers to what it was before, when Scarlet had said she'd been asleep for a day. But, after a moment, they bounce a little again, shaking off whatever mood had overtaken them. "I solemnly swear to give you as much time as the people of Voeburt require."

Oh.

They agreed to that...rather readily. Scarlet hadn't been expecting that.

She supposes that means...

"...Okay."

Oul Uin makes a scoffing noise of deep dissatisfaction. "What sort of pact is that? Okay?! I thought you were a knight! You're supposed to be good at oaths and things, aren't you?"

Is this pixie seriously asking her to swear an oath?

Judging from the serious expression on their face, the answer to that rhetorical question is yes.

She reaches for her blade, drawing it from her back.

Oul Uin flitters backwards, alarmed.

Scarlet drops to one knee. She holds the sword up, resting on both of her hands. Looks down. Closes her eyes. "I pledge my blade to you, Oul Uin. From this day forth, I swear to protect you. By my oath, I shall not allow harm to come to you. In the name of Voeburt, and of my Lady Sauldia, I shall be your shield."

Oul Uin spins and claps, squeaking delightedly. "Oh, very good! Very, very good!!! Oh, is it my turn now?!"

Scarlet nods, just a little, but doesn't move.

"From this moment forth, I shall be your [beautiful branch], and you my [brave sapling]. Like the branch which sprouts the sapling, our bond will flow unbroken from one to the other." Scarlet feels a flow of energy pulsing through her arms, through her body. It feels...strange. "Oh! Oh, I've always wanted to say this part! Arise, Ser Knight!"

Scarlet sheaths her blade and climbs to her feet, opening her eyes to look at Oul Uin. The mist still surrounds them both, at least for the moment.

"'Tis done! We are bound now, my Sapling."

"I still...the world is still hazy."

Oul Uin looks around, crossing their arms and hmph-ing. "Some stubborn soul isn't respecting our bond. Thon Sul, I know you're out there, and when I find you, I'll tear your wings off!!"

Scarlet's eyes widen at the sudden aggression. Okay. Note to self: don't upset Oul Uin.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to find our own solution, won't we? That circlet of yours will do. Hold it out for me, would you?"

Scarlet obliges. She pulls the circlet from her head, holding the silver metal in front of her, next to Oul Uin.

The pixie's hands reach out, pressing against the metal. Another pulse of magic follows, making the circlet glow for a brief moment.

"'Tis done. This shall allow you to see through the illusions of this world. So don't lose it, or I shall be annoyed, my Sapling."

Scarlet lifts the circlet towards herself to put it back on, only for Oul's hand to hook around one of her fingers.

"And for what it's worth, Scarlet?" 

They look at her, sadly. 

"I am so, so sorry."

Scarlet places the circlet on her head.

And she sees the world with eyes unclouded.