[PRP] That Deathless Death (Temperance & Melany)

[shibrogane]

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Melany, "What are you talking about? Who's calling me?"

She got up, her attention drawn away from Temperance, gray eyes unfocused on something in the far distance.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

In one smooth motion, she stood as well. "Melany, I don't hear anything." She laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Are you saying you don't remember the court? Adoelle, the things you did to Shiloh, none of it?"

And this was damn interesting, indeed.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"If you keep touching me, I will personally take those mixing sticks and pin your hand to the table with them," said Melany, "One between each knuckle. Then I will use the cup-covers to rip your nails off."

The vagueness had vanished. The woman looking at Temperance now had eyes like chips of ice. She didn't look human anymore, didn't look harmless--and they were no longer standing in the real world--time had greyed out and gone frozen around them. Still and cold and lifeless, except for Temperance and Melany, their little tableau. "I will not tell you again."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"That," she said, her smile twitching up at the corners into something a little more real. "-is more like it." Temperance raised her hand off of Melany's shoulder, feeling a shiver roll down her spine.

"That's some kind of magic for someone who isn't a noble and doesn't know what court is."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany sneered. "The Court of the Sorrowful One is mine. And why shouldn't it be? It was built on my back."

She looked up at Temperance. Was it just imagination, or was Melany getting taller?... "Watch your tone, corpse," she said. "Your continued existence is at my whim. I'd have you act like it."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yes, lady," she said, a shiver of a different sort going down her spine. "Why were you hiding here instead of presiding at court?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"There was a great disruption in the magic of the otherworld," said Melany, whose attention had now gone elsewhere. Her eyes were half-closed now as she reached out a hand for the magic inherent in the otherworld. It came to her like a kitten, brushed lovingly around her sleeves and inside them. "I believe that it may have cause me to lose track of myself, for a time. As if I were bound away." She smiled at the coalescing glow around her outstretched hand. "This moment of clarity may be just that, a moment. I thank you for this gift."

That had the sound of ritual to it.

"To whom are you bound, fetch? Who is the one undergoing their trial?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I am glad you've returned to us, lady. Perhaps it was the... the reset that caused the disruption?" Temperance watched as the magic coalesced around Melany's hand, knowing she could have something similar if she prevailed. A part of her hoped the tithe died somewhere in the otherland, though more than likely, it would not be the case.

She opened her mouth to speak, surprised that she could even do so. "Temperance Clark, tithed to Lord Rabbit. From her memories, it seems as though she attempted to rescue you during a sacrificial ball." Her body language spoke of deference to Melany, although she vibrated.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Hm," said Melany. "Yes. I remember that. The girl who wanted to be tithed. How funny..." She shook her hand, dispersing the magic. "A reset?... Likely from the deaths of the earlier principals, and good riddance, too."

She looked over to Temperance. "How did you bring me back to myself?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I mentioned Adoelle, the Court, and Shiloh. Your bound form would go hazy and distant at the mention of the Court, so I pressed." She hesitated for a moment. "There is a new sigil now, Lady."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"What can you tell me about it? This new sigil?" Melany's stare returned to Temperance, keener this time, as if she thought she could see into the fetch's soul if she just looked hard enough.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She was a fetch, sure. Melany was hot as ******** and intimidating and everything, sure. But she still had an ounce of survival instinct. As in - if she completed this trial, then presumably she could take Temperance's place as a principal. So it would probably be best never to mention that. Ever.

"I know that the symbols are a key, tree, and knot. There are new principals, but I do not have their names. Sunny exists still, but different." She paused, gathering her thoughts.Or rather, Temperance's thoughts. "It seems as though visitors were pulled through time to re-write the sigil. Someone named Sunday - I think - was involved. I'm sorry, lady, some of the memories are fuzzy as they are not fully mine."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Sunday?" Melany smiled. "Ah, I see. Thank you, little corpse."

She fell silent, staring at the frozen coffee shop around them.

"When this time ends, I will likely be bound again," she said. "Do not awaken me again. Let my human self go about her business. I'll call for you when I require you again. Do this, and you will be rewarded. I'm sure you can imagine the rewards I can offer?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yes, lady, I understand." She looked up at Melany. "Would you like me to cultivate an acquaintanceship with your bound self or do you prefer I do not?" It seemed best to ask, rather than just go about it willy-nilly and get ******** later on.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"That would be useful," mused Melany. "Yes. Please do. Keep her away from undue influences if you can. I shouldn't like to be surprised by being pulled out like this again."

The Semblance of Unity