#~From Innaius He Appeared LERA~

[soulsxng]

I know Lera and Joey have like 10,000 kids but like....what if they had another

@sansloii | If they had a kid... | Accepting!

Name: Aela (left), and Siora (right)!

Gender: Both are girls!

General Appearance: Both have dark hair, though Aela's is naturally curlier than Siora's is. Aela has Joseph's hazel eyes, while Siora's are closer to Lera's. Either way, both have the green ring around their irises that Joseph has! I feel like they would also have some of the crystals growing from them, similar to Lera. Both are also fairly small right now, similar to how Ber was when he was a baby...though I have a feeling that at least one of them will end up getting pretty tall, all things considering!

Personality: Aela is a kind of shy little kid. Very quiet, and though curious, she likes to hang close to Lera and Joey most of the time! Siora, on the other hand, is far more outgoing and wants to run off to investigate every new thing she sees. Both girls, regardless, tend to be wary of strangers, and if someone they don't know tries to talk to them, they're apt to zoom over to Lerato and/or Joseph to try to gauge if the stranger is the good kind, or the bad kind. With family and friends though, they're both very bright and playful, if not a tiny bit mischievous!

Special Talents: I feel like both of them would be really good at reading people, looking at both Joey and Lera. Aside from that, Aela is very magically talented, even at a young age (probably the equivalent of 7 or 8-ish here, though I kind of feel they'll grow pretty quick in the first 3-ish years of their lives, before slowing down to a more normal rate? *big fuckin shrug*), and I feel like Lera and Joey probably never had to worry about her losing control. Siora is struggling a little to figure her own magic out, but seems to learn other things really easily. Picking up knowledge about all kinds of things after only hearing or reading about it once.

Who they like better: Aela -> Lera, Siora -> Joey. Though I also feel like Aela is just really clingy with her dads either way. I also feel like both of them probably learned from Ber how to kind of play sides a little bit, when they really want something aslkdfna

Who they take after more: Aela tends to take after Joey more (though she probably has a few of Lera's more obvious mannerisms, too), while Siora seems quite a bit different from both at first glance-- probably because of her cheerier, more excitable demeanor. She just takes after Lera when he was younger, tbh. I honestly feel a little bit like she might end up reminding both Lera and Joey of Dakota as she gets older. ;u;

Personal Head canon: My immediate thought was "Oh, at least one of these girlies are gonna have a ghost.", but the more I thought about it, the more I was like "What if, because they were most likely born from Innaius itself, and their soul is probably either the same, or literally just half of each other's?", so now I'm thinking they might either share one ghost, or have some cool, connected dual ghost type thing. Pops up when one of them is having a tantrum when they're little, and both Joey and Lera are over here like "...shit.", only for one of them to go to grab the one not having a tantrum, so they don't get hurt. Immediately notice that the ghost is actually starting to manifest from both of the girls, and the one that's calm is the only thing keeping the ghost from absolutely wilding out with the other's tantrum.

Face Claim:

[soulsxng--a]

“Don’t look so down, my Lerato...you are more ready for this that I could ever have hoped. You can do this, my soul song...” Innaius spoke softly to her son, floating upwards so that she could tuck a stray dreadlock back into the style she’d worked Lera’s hair into earlier that day. 

They were well into the succession by now-- far too late to go back now. His mother seeming to grow weaker and weaker by the second. Withering away. Had the procedure that Sivel had done before not worked? 

It was painful, to see his Mae like this...and yet he couldn’t let himself grow distracted by his emotions right now. If he didn’t complete the succession, and his mother did die...that would be enough to cause major imbalances throughout existence.

So he would do what he needed to. Whether she did live, or whether she was called into the Void...he would make her proud. 

Nearby, he could feel familiar souls clashing-- Saphre, Voliph, and...Benion, and Nuro? But he didn’t look back. He didn’t break his focus when he could feel his true form breaking free, or feel souls of all kinds joining in the steadily growing melody that only he, and Innaius, and Ber could hear.

A connection was made...or...changed, rather. Strengthened. First to the soul of Jaspern...no-- to Rarik. Then Jawyr. Next to Cirisa, and Aris, and Liuri. Ahnia’s royal family, that had sworn themselves to Innaius long ago. Then one by one, more were made. More were drawn in. And as they were, everything slowly faded into the background.

There was only the song. And it felt...right. For maybe the first time he could remember, he felt as though he truly fit here. He felt complete.

The succession was drawing to a close. The Pillar Innaius-- along with Lassis, Bralis, and Nereius-- a beacon that could be seen from each and every realm. It lasted no longer than a few minutes before fading. Before each of the Pillars of Creation began to close themselves out...and force out anyone else inside them.

Ber gasped as he staggered back, just barely managing to catch his grandmother as she fell unconscious. Falling back as the ground rumbled unsteadily beneath him, eyes wide. Starting to reach out for his father as he was thrown from Innaius. 

Lerato’s mouth didn’t move, but Ber could still hear his voice, soul deep, as the Ancient looked back over his shoulder at him.

“I’m sorry...but don’t be afraid. This is only good night...”

[soulsxng--a]

“Hmph...~ Stubborn right to the end, mm? That’s so like you.” He mutters under his breath as he watches Gaea’s form recede with Tartarus’. A pang of something resembling sadness in his chest as he gives the slightest incline of his head at her back before they’re gone.

“Farewell, Gaea. Rest well.”

When he turns his head, Ber is there with a little shake of his head.

“The Underworld is sealed off. If I really tried, I could probably break through, but it would effect the ascension even more, I’m sure. Not to mention how many people would probably come around to attack me...”

“I was starting to get the feeling that might be the case. It’s alright...I actually called you back here for a favor. Let’s go over what we know first, though.”

[soulsxng--a]

“Lerato...it’s almost time, my soul song...”

“Almost time...? What are you talking about, Mae...?” 

“...”

[soulsxng--a]

The ancient just heaves a sigh as Ber’s voice cuts off. He can sense that his son is unharmed at least, which allows him to focus more on the matter Ber had warned him of.

“...Lovely. What did I tell you, Gaea? It’s a bad idea to take their memories and wash their souls in that damned river, and what do you do anyway? For Creation’s sake...alright, Avelan. Time to wake up.”

A quick swipe of his hand, and a barrier was forming around the entire island that Avelan’s tree was rooted into. Allisae would still be able to teleport to them, but it would keep anybody that might be nearby from being able to interfere.

This was going to be...complicated. He could already tell.

[soulsxng--a]

🤔 Lera \o/

“...It’s already today, huh...we’ve done everything that we can. I guess all that’s left is to see if what Sivel did was enough to keep them alive. Creation...when was the last time I felt like this...? I can’t remember...but I hate it just as much as I did before, I know that much.”

“I should probably bring Joey, and Hayden, Seth, and Ber to see her today...just in case. I’m sure she’d like to sing, and dance with everyone before the succession starts.”

[soulsxng--a]

“...Then what about what happened with Cynna? One of them tried to kill my friend’s child.”

“Er...m-mostly harmless. They...th-that was...”

“Spit it out, already. We don’t have all day.”

They stiffen immediately in response to Lera’s harsh tone, body twisting for a moment to try to get themself further away from the ancient. “H-hungry! I mean...they get hungry, and that’s when they’re prone to attacking people. That one, they only went after that boy because they wanted to play, and then when he got close enough for them to smell his soul, they just...they can’t help it! They’re like malevolent spirits now, and...and if they don’t eat...and they...it--”

“I have to take care of them, so I told them that it was okay! So they would feel better...!”

“...You’re one of the Higher Spirits that help Lesser Spirits pass on or ascend, then. The children were Lessers that you were taking care of until they could pass on. And then that...parasite, you called it? Absorbed them, latched onto you, and as you said when we first came in here, made you steal the God Seals and sacred items, before running off when it got what it needed from you. Does that sound right?”

“It...it latched onto me before it absorbed them. It passed right through the kids when it attached itself to me...like it wasn’t able to touch them at all.”

Aro frowns, looking between Lerato and the Higher Spirit critically. “You don’t actually believe them, do you?”

“I’m not sure. What I sensed was definitely an Anguished Spirit, and it’s also what I sense on them. However...Anguished Spirits destroy any souls that they touch almost instantaneously. For this one to have had enough contact with this spirit to leave a trace this large...they should be dead. I’m going to have Ber and Sef look into the beings that they claim were Lesser Spirits. See if they might be able to find something out there, while I go track down the Anguished and get rid of it.”

Aro doesn’t seem to be too thrilled over Lerato’s words, leveling him with a long, hard stare before finally giving a stiff little nod in agreement.

“But first...it made you steal those things...how so? It took control of you?”

“Ah...it...it did sometimes. But not often, and not for long. Mostly, it just...threatened to destroy my soul. And every time it reached for my soul, I...I could feel that it wasn’t lying when it said that it could. That it would be easy. I don’t want to die, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone! I just want to be home with the kids, and the other Lesser Spirits I help care for...that’s all!”

[soulsxng--a]

“Sef and Ber weren’t wrong about there having been an Anguished around, but that spirit definitely isn’t it. They were around it, though...for quite some time, by the feel of it. You said you saw something fleeing the area before you caught this one, right?”

“I did, but I don’t know exactly what it was that I saw...it was something like a shadow. Not of anything humanoid, but...it looked like it had five...I believe they were eyes. Probably about as tall, or a few inches shorter than the Higher Spirit is, but that was even with it hunched over pretty severely. And it had little...they looked like worms, or something similar trying to crawl out of it--”

“...Spirits. They’re Lesser Spirits.”

Both Aro and Lera look over at the Spirit with a frown. Aro’s ears pulling back as he let out a soft growl, while Lera’s eyes simply narrowed; arms crossing over his chest.

“Lesser Spirits don’t look like that. The form they take is the form their soul takes on. A mix of what they looked like in any lives that they took on.”

“Not these ones. The parasite, it...it absorbed them, and--” Their face twists, and a shudder crawls up their spine. “Please don’t kill them. They’re only children. It absorbed them, and when it lets them back out again, they’re...like that. But if you don’t make them fight, then they’re harmless!”

[soulsxng--a]

“We found them; they’re in the Tribeling Territories. We have it narrowed down to a stretch of a few miles.”

“But we can also feel something...big coming. Like...Creation, big. But it isn’t Nuro. It feels closer to Ippuru and Sayek.”

“Creation big...? But you couldn’t tell what it was? What about how close it was? Lera, what about you?”

The silence that hung over them was heavy, and tense. JJ looking between the two before Lerato gave a soft sigh. 

“It reminded me of Benion. The original creationary being that represented balance. Saphre and Voliph’s creator, as well as your mother, and Zerak’s...”

“We couldn’t tell exactly how long it’ll take, but...I can’t imagine it’ll take long.”

“Shit...we have to go, then. Now. We can call some of the others on the way, if they can make it in time...I’ll have Cil meet us there, too. If there’s anything out of place, he’ll know exactly how and where. So we can break our way in as opposed to fumbling around trying to find it ourselves.”

[soulsxng--a]

“Please don’t let anything happen while they’re in Gaea...” She murmurs fretfully to herself, hands clasped tight in front of her as she watches Allisae and Chercia leave with Tahariel. It’ll be Chercia’s first time in the human realm, and while that was fine, she’d heard that three of the Horsemen’s seals for Gaea were still broken.

A little sigh, and she’s leaning slightly against Vayon for support. Decus had been there the past few days...as had Lerato on and off...and recovery efforts were supposedly going alright. So maybe it would be...

“Now, now, what has you looking so down, my little glow~? And Vayon, you don’t look much better! Come here, you two!”

“Hello Heaven, Vayon. Sorry for the lack of notice, but we were hoping to look you both over today.”

“Ah...I was just thinking about the two of you, believe it or not. That’s fine, we have some time to spare. Come on, we can go to the dais for it-- there will be a bit more privacy that way.” 

[soulsxng--a]

“If you have such trouble with your hair when it’s long, then why not cut it? It isn’t too terribly hard to manage” His hair has always been kept long though, so even if it is down around his ass at any given time, he has a system for washing it easily. Plus, Jinnie helps him sometimes.

“I don’t usually have trouble with it, but I’m really particular with my hair, so I don’t mind spending a lot of time making sure it’s well-taken care of and groomed.” I mean, he does almost always have a hairbrush on him. That, and he can just shift to his fox form and bathe like that...or just have someone else help him wash up.

“It was pretty tedious t’ take care of, b’fore I cut it. ‘S a lot easier, now.” His hair is just a bit lower than the middle of his back now, so it’s still long, but compared to how it was, it takes him quite a bit less time.

“...I have control over water. It’s easy for me to take care of my hair.” He says, as if he’s confused as to why everyone doesn’t just use magic for that.

“Oh, taking care of my hair is super tedious! But I can do it pretty quick by now. The worst part is how heavy it gets when it’s wet! I could probably kill somebody by whipping them with it when it’s wet!” It couldn’t, but they would probably hit someone with it just to see what happens.

“Washing it isn’t bad. It’s drying it that tends to get on my nerves. There’s quite a few steps I have to follow to even get them to where they’re just damp...” And he refuses to use a hair dryer, too. Partially because he doesn’t know how to use them well, and partially because Ber told him that using them for too long could damage his hair.

[soulsxng--a]

“...Okay, or maybe the wards and shit aren’t on Ber. Huh.”

“Alteo...you’d better start explaining yourself. Why can you get by them when we can’t?”

“I don’t know why, Lerato. Do you really think that if I’d taken him, that I would come out here to find you, and then fuck around like this? No. I wouldn’t have.”

“We were the ones that found you, not the other way around. Tell me more about this place. What is it, how did you find it--”

“Ah, well...it’s a fort. And because it’s mine. Hey, hey, hey, don’t start that, I didn’t do it, alright?! Creation, this is ending up way more complicated than I would have liked...”

[soulsxng--a]

“He hasn’t been there in quite some time, now. But, there was something else that I found...odd, to say the least. I decided to try to look back into this timeline, to when he disappeared.”

“And?”

“There was nothing.”

Blue eyes narrowed, and Lera’s frown deepens. He appears...mostly calm, at least on the surface. The only indication of how much worse those words made his panic being the way he squeezed both Seth and Hayden a little tighter. Something that only they would really notice.

“Nothing as in...you couldn’t see where he went? Was he teleported somewhere, then?”

“No. Nothing as in...quite literally nothing. One moment, he was there, and the next...it was as though the entire timeline around him went blank. I tried skipping to different points, and no matter what I attempted, it was always the same. From that point onward, the timeline is completely blank when I search for him.”

That’s when the panic on Lerato’s face becomes far more evident, and Sivel knows exactly what he’s thinking.

‘He’s dead.’

And as much as he tries not to, he thinks of his daughter. Of Ania. Sivel isn’t typically the type to empathize like that, but...it was difficult not to, at a time like this. Sitting down across from Lera with a sigh, voice softening ever so slightly.

“I doubt that he would be dead. If that were the case, then not only would you have sensed it, but I would have seen something, as well. I believe that someone took him, and know exactly how to cover their tracks. That, at least, narrows down your search substantially-- not many people have ever been able to manipulate the time stream like that. Though...there is also the possibility that he simply left, as well. Ber may know how to censor the stream in that manner...but considering everything happening, I doubt he would have just left.”

[soulsxng--a]

“Ennirem. If you look at some of the things around the room; from the plants and such, to languages...even the architecture, and the...”

“...Bodies. They’re Chivalei and Wind Surfers.”

“Exactly. At least, if the blood is anything to go by. There was ash as well, which makes me think there might even have been a Volcanis or two.”

“Mm...that narrows the area some. Towards the south...I’ll go search there myself, then. The others can search the rest, in case I’m wrong.”

[soulsxng--a]

“Help you. Really? Just like that?” He shakes his head, sighing softly as he gets up from his seat and smooths out his clothes. “...I will. But only because he is important to Seth.”

“...Thank you. How long will it take?”

“No more than an hour or so, but likely sooner. It doesn’t take long to check that sort of thing. Wait around if you prefer, otherwise I’ll find you, I suppose.”

“We’ll wait.”

“I assumed as much. I’ll have Seth to come in here...I’m certain he’ll want to hear about this as well, and you will have plenty of time to tell him.”

And with that, he’s turning to walk off, leaving the two standing in front of the palace as massive doors swing shut behind him.

“I’ll go tell Nuro and the others, and then come back. Is that okay?”

“Mhm. Hurry back...please.”

“...Don’t worry. I will.”

[soulsxng--a]

“A minute, if you would, boy.”

“Ah...m-me? But...I-I don’t--”

“Relax.” Lera cut him off, arms crossing loosely in front of him as he gave Alkaid a once over, blue eyes narrowed. “If I’d intended to hurt you or something, then I would have done it by now. I only wanted to talk to you about your powers. Ever since you were nearby, I’ve felt some odd pulling on my own powers, and it took me a little while to figure out where it was coming from, but...I now see that it’s you. Are you aware that you were doing it? That you’re able do such a thing?”

The way Alkaid’s expression twists further suggests that he at least knows something about it, but his lack of a response tells the ancient that what he does know probably isn’t everything.

“You’re able to siphon the element of death from those around you to supplement your own powers, and turn it into your own energy...I haven’t seen anyone chosen by death with that ability in a long time; let alone one able to effect me with it in even longer. Based on that alone, I would venture to guess that there’s much more you can do, as well.”

“I don’t know. A-and I don’t want to! Death isn’t my element; life is! The only thing I need to use those powers for is work; I can use life for anything else!”

“You’re stunting yourself, to do so. Not to mention only heightening the risk of yourself losing control. These powers you have--”

“I don’t want these powers! I’ve never wanted them, okay?! Death is a filthy, painful, terrifying, greedy element that only knows how to take, and take, and take! Just like it took my family! It tainted me-- corrupted me! A-All I did was try to save my sister...! And now...now everyone...”

One dark brow rose when the Astrecid began to shout at him, smaller frame beginning to quake with both fear and anger at Lerato. But the ancient didn’t pay it much mind. Instead, he simply sighed, and shook his head.

“...They’re wrong to treat you the way that they do, Alkaid. And you’re right-- death is a greedy element. Other than the haze, probably the most greedy out there. But the rest...it isn’t any of those things. Not to those that care to look a bit harder...maybe you should try it, you might be surprised. Especially since, as much as you might try to forsake it, death is your element.”

The little star doesn’t answer, blue-white energy rippling like static over his body as he instead began to cry, still shaking like a leaf.

Lera would leave him alone, for now. Give him time to think it over, and to calm himself down more.

“We’ll be seeing each other again, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to hearing if you try, or not. Don’t let them hold you down, or hold you back.”