Antlophobia { Ethvae }

[Xue Xui]

The tranquil nature of the Aurora Falls was soothing to all but one Light Fey. His blue black eyes lingered atop the roaring surface, the loudness penetrating all possible thought, all ideas of having ideas and Jacinth was left only with thought on the fate of any fey that could not swim. Surely if there was an Underworld, it would be at the bottom of such roaring waters.

Somehow, however, Jacinth knew that not to be so. In some distant part of his mind, he knew with a certainty that which laid at the bottom of the sea. He wondered why his fear of drowning lingered, he had no recollection of drowning, or of floods, or even of water. Jacinth stared at the roaring surface with the same vigor as someone at a funeral.

He had come here out of obligation to explore his world, feeling that in all of the years he had dwelled in the Light Kingdom, never had he come here. Not much of a social creature, he chosen to do so during the morning hours just before the sun rose, and now a molten glow set fire to the horizon, penetrating the distant waters. Jacinth stared out at the rising sun, unbothered.

Sat on the stone that overlooked the edge of the waters, flirting with his own fears, he leaned back leisurely. What was the nature of man that could not face his fears? Surely he was not a coward. Jacinth smiled slightly, as though finding the thought funny.

[Ethvae Ny'kely]

Near or far, where ever you are, Ethvae will sense those irrational fears. Like a small spider ready to greet the rising sun, she was crawling on all fours, low as though stalking prey. Her dress ripped as she moved her knees, jagged rocks nicking at her knees, despite the thin material between her and the ground. Fingers in the ground, the mud wiggled its way under her clean fingernails. Ethvae’s eyes were wide, unblinking with her movements. She had appeared as though wax in the dim lighting of the atmosphere; as though a corpse crawling from a grave.

When her fragile figure was close enough to the sitting boy, it was then that she raised her head. Her eyes were focused on the curve of his back and on his dark hair, and she saw the humor from the fear. Such bravery. Her teeth were pressed into her bottom lip. There was something off about this Light Fey, other than the fact he was out early. She had been hunting for water, to clean herself off in, refusing to approach the sea. Those damned water creatures had always made her feel unwelcome, and their emotions vibrated through the water.

The water here was different, it was pure, untainted. Her hand reached forward to grasp one of the rocks that was near to the male and pulled her upper body forward so that her head could appear at the corner of the light fey’s eyes. This time of a day, Ethvae had her hair down, tangled everywhere. It was truly a rats nest, and while her face had always been pretty -- she had actually appeared to be an old witch. “Hello, boy, such a fancy to see you here,” and her mouth cracked into an unattractive smile.

Free-hand outward, she held it to the perched male, fingers caked in fresh dirt.

[Xue Xui]

Bodies were the shells that souls crawled out of and Jacinth of Light had long lost his taste for such things. Physical attraction or mortification had gone away with the years and now with the body of a young man, he had the soul of an old one, looking over his shoulder at a girl that looked many years not her age. Her smiled crumbled her red lips, and Jacinth answered with a simple, curious, "A fancy?"

He had peered over his wingless shoulder, seeing the extended hand, he was unsure if she needed help or if it was a simple greeting. Not a man of any certain code of conduct, but of observation, to have a conversation, one must at the same level - and she still looked as though she were beneath him, climbing up the stone. He reached out a strong hand, wrapping it around her's, he pulled her up without a second though, mud covering his ivory clothed sleeve.

He folded one leg under an upturned knee and placed his muddied hand atop it, not giving it a glance, or a lingering thought. He raised a dark brow to her, slightly amused that he was called 'boy'. It was flattering, at least.

"The fancy, you say, is mutual. They call me Jacinth, and you?" He had been in the Light Kingdom for so long, he had forgotten what it was like to be completely mistrustful of outsiders, he even welcomed her upon his perch. So the nature of a Light Fey.

[Ethvae Ny'kely]

Warmth went into her cold, muddy, hand. Flesh covered all the pain she had felt, and it was a dark place to be. She could no longer feel a thing. As though all hope had been lost, she allowed her body to be pulled by the male ahead of her, and her eyes were outward toward the water. As she was brought up to the male’s side, she removed her stained hand from his, dropping it into her lap. She felt heavy sitting here, dead weight to the Earth. When she had not moved, the youth was brought back to her face, still she remained starved.

Emotion hit her abruptly and she had almost tumbled off from where she stood, and she was shaking, noticing that when she came into contact with the boy, that she could feel nothing. Her hands moved to the upper part of her arms, huddling herself, as though trying warm up. “Jacinth,” she murmured, playing with the name, aware that it was unheard of in her brain. She decided she rather did not like the boy physically, and had never wanted to touch him again. Turning her head, she looked again. He was attractive, holding the image of a pure Light fey. All those pretty boys in Light court, a pang of envy crawled over her.

Suddenly she was self-conscious of her own appearance. Releasing her arms she moved her hands to her hair and began clawing at the matted hair, trying to brush it. As she tried to fumble with herself, a dark spot sitting on white was noticed. Had she dirtied him? “Ethvae, my dear empty one,” she fumed over her own name and seemed to twitch a few times.

“I want to be beautiful,” she said, her voice twisted in the deepest of woes. “I want to shine like you do.”

[Xue Xui]

Jacinth took in movements that faltered her features and taught her face to be listless. It was something he had seen before, though did not understand what he had just been done. The spirit left her body to lay there like a doll, glassy eyed and staring, and Jacinth could not help but think he liked her better before, with her cryptic hellos and strange movements. Analytically, he knew he had done this to her. His fingers curled atop his knee. He did not let this thought touch his face, some far off training, a million years ago, had taught him that hiding emotions was better than so clearly displaying them to her.

Even if he had done this.

And her volition returned, feeling his own air in his lungs come with it. Jac had not breathed in her minutes of quietness. Ethvae, her name, sounded strange, as though it did not belong with such a creature. Though he could not think of a better name himself, he pondered it. And her words, who was empty, he wondered?

He let her fester, watching her movements, Jacinth seemed apathetic. Not because he was better than her, but because he did not understand what she meant, not at all. Beauty did not make sense to him, nor did her reaction to him. Did she hate him? What was this?

He let the curiosity burn in him a moment, trying to understand by simple observation, he felt the meaning lost. He felt just as empty as she did moments before. His dark eyes grew blacker, a flicker of his image, it faulted him. Whatever she envied in him, he knew he hated about himself. Jacinh had deceived her somehow, and above all else, he felt like taking her by the arms, stopping the picking of her hair and assure her that she was wrong.

"..Why would you ever want to be like anyone else but yourself?" He asked, withdrawn, now reaching up his other hand to lay atop the other. Lathering the mud in his skin, as though to stop himself from reaching out to her. The emotion hidden beneath.

[Ethvae Ny'kely]

Racking fingers stopped, for it was useless anyways. She felt suddenly submerged, as though she couldn’t breathe. The girl moved over on the perch, now on all fours so that she was staring up at the male. Ethvae had no idea what a personal bubble meant, for she was raised to be close to her animals, plants and Kingdoms. She stretched her torso over Jacinth, to see eye-level with this peculiar Light Fey. He was feeling so many emotions: curiosity, blankness, and he was hiding. There she spot dark eyes; eyes untouched with color and yet present with color at the same time.

Her pink tongue flicked out and she trailed it over her dry, lower lips. Once she was done she moved the tongue back in. Closer she came to the male, as though she would eat him whole. A beautiful question, and she leaned in even more, as though her proximity wasn’t enough. She sniffed slowly, as though she could smell the invisible layer of pollen on his clothes. And it had been an intoxicating smell at that.

“Your question is not for me,” she purred, her eyes fluttering to look upon the boy’s neatly constructed flesh. Ethvae wouldn’t have put it past her to stroke his cheek with her dirty hand, but he had been an empty creature; an empty vessel. Or it had been a power blocking her out, either one, she did not appreciate the darkness it brought. “The question you ask is for a child, for you see, who does not have role models?”

Breathing in the air around her, as though she could drink the boy in from these close distances -- she had also inhaled a sense of fear. Water. “I simply not myself these days.”

[Xue Xui]

Jacinth's eyes traced her features as he did his, letting her become close, he smelled the wet earth in her hair, and some distant scent of flowers he did not recognize. For what reason, he felt very exposed to this woman, like an open wound, she was staring at it, staring at this mask that was his face, this visage he knew, even deep within wasn't his. A man akin to facing that which he was uncomfortable with was immobile, turning his head into her's to peer right back. Deep down, perhaps this was his hubris, knowing that even if she did touch his face with her soil crusted fingernails, she would feel Jacinth's face and not another man's.

Blinking slowly, he drank her features. Her heavily lidded eyes, and the strange nature of jade irises being set aflame by topaz, as though the color was trying to consume. He was reminded strangely of a forest fire, and in a way, he couldn't find himself looking away or blinking for even a long moment. Somehow, in her eyes, he felt like he could grasp something, something he wasn't sure was quite there...

And then, his senses were overcome with the sound of the falls, her words making his aware of the audio in this place. Fear gripped him for a moment, and he felt he couldn't inhale steadily, his conditioned facade faltering a moment. Jacinth the fey let his gaze peer past her ear and downcast.

He knew they were close to the edge, and suddenly he was so aware of where they were. "I don't think," he spoke, thinking of her abstractly as a sort of anchor, "I could ever meet the same Ethvae twice even if I would like to. So perhaps, today, this Ethvae should do something that would surprise the her of yesterday." And he noticed, with curiosity, why he could not see her wings.