Ascension - (Alarian Warriors)

A frail woman sat up causing chains to clatter. She watched as Aveyon’s ghostly form took form before her. A proud smile spread across her face.

Aveyon took a moment to take in the woman’s features. With her pure white floor-length hair, the purple-rimmed eyes, she looked like an older version of the fates. The woman was dressed in a tattered frock, she’d clearly been in a battle but bore no scars or wounds.

Aveyon knew at once who she was.

“Lady Vexous.” She muttered unbelievingly. “What is this?”

Vexous smiled sadly up at her. “There is much you need to know, and we have very little time.” She told her.

“I have certainly heard that before.” She joked dryly.

“You have met the fates then, good.” She paused for a moment. “That would make sense if I can reach you now.”

Aveyon scanned the darkened room, there was so much to take in. Vexous was sitting in what looked like a large, gilded bird cage. In front of it sat a large throne. Several, almost completely naked women lay sleeping at the foot of the decorated seat, blood covering their bodies as they all appeared to be in ecstasy.

“The fallen...” Vexous muttered snapping Aveyon’s attention back to her.

“Is it true, have you lost your powers?” She asked. There was no point in asking if she was really her mother, that was a given at this point. The resemblance was uncanny.

Vexous nodded. “Ashera...” she sighed. “Let’s just say he caught me off guard, he keeps me alive to fuel his own diminishing power. He needs my blood, luckily for us, it is also what now connects us.”

Aveyon winched; he was using her as a blood bank. “Is he not a god himself?”

“We are not gods, but he is broken. He cast his own misfortune onto the Alarians, his curse is their curse.”

Aveyon’s eyes widened. The Alarian curse was a copy of his? Wait, did she just say that they are not gods? The thought was pushed aside as the Vexous coughed, wiping away a black substance that appeared from her lips.

Aveyon’s eyes followed her every move. “You are unwell...”

She nodded. “I’m dying. I have long been separated from myself.”

Separated from herself? Aveyon’s thoughts went to the fates, could she mean those? She was now getting used to moving in her astral form, she floated down closer to the ground. Her feet touching the ground, she moved and sank to her knees before the woman.

“I am sorry, I could not reach you sooner.” Vexous hung her head.

“The fates, they awakened the ichor only today. I am guessing you did not have a means to.” Aveyon didn’t know why she was defending her words. Something about this woman put her at ease. Just being around her felt uplifting, and though she knew their situation was dire, it was oddly conflicting.

She heard someone shift behind her, her head snapping up. She felt fear rise up as she realized Ashera sat sleeping on the throne, surrounded by his playthings. Vexous grabbed hold of Aveyon’s arm and turned her attention back to her again, she needed to stop getting distracted.

She didn’t know it was possible to grab someone in an astral form. But Vexous was a supposed goddess, it only proved that her fear was justified, these beings could both harm her in this form if they wanted to.

“Aveyon, you are in great peril here. He and I can harm you in this form.” Vexous confirmed her suspicions. “It is correct that I have no powers. If you are to have any hope of prevailing against Ashera, you need to ascend.” She paused and sighed. “Ashera knows this, it's what I had planned for you from the beginning. That is the reason you were targeted, the reason you were banished, he wants to destroy you. You are a threat to him.” Vexous explained.

“You mean you intended for me to become your replacement?” Aveyon stared at her, shocked.

She nodded. “Yes, you are the only one who can.”

Aveyon shook her head, her become a full-fledged goddess? Was she insane?

“You have a very special mind, though you are not trained you are on the right path.” Vexous let go of her ghostly hand.

“This is all too much; I do not know what I am doing. How do I get to you, how do I free you? Heavens, how do I free myself?” Aveyon grew panicked.

“I’m not important, I’ve done all I can. It’s up to you now.”

Aveyon felt that sinking feeling in her stomach again, she didn’t want this responsibility. She unintentionally started shaking her head frantically. “You cannot just expect me to be able to do this, what if I do not want it?” She pleaded.

The lady Vexous stilled herself a grim look crossing her features. “I am asking a lot of you, yes. But think about it this way. You can use the powers that will be bestowed upon you as you deem necessary. Shut Alarious down, and let the Earth realm’s fate play out by itself. It is still your choice.”

“You would abandon us?” Aveyon asked.

“I am of no help to anyone now, and I am not long for the world as it is.” Vexous retorted. "You are all that remains, only you."

“How can you go on like this? When so much has been taken from you... How can I?” Aveyon’s voice was but a whisper.

“Because I have faith in this world. I helped to build it, to shape it. I have faith that all will work out in the end.” The goddess responded. “I have faith in you.”

Aveyon thought about her goals and her desires. She wanted to get to Alarious to find her father. “I can use what has been given to me for my own desires... but what is your goal?” She asked the goddess curious.

Vexous’s eyes drifted to the sleeping Ashera. “To return him from wince he came. I tried and I failed, in doing so I fractured my very being.”

That made both some and no sense all at the same time, and she wasn’t about to open that book of tales anytime soon.

“We don’t have much time; the sleeping serum will wear off soon.” Vexous changed the direction of the conversation.

“You said I could set myself free, how?” She asked, she didn’t know what powers she possessed or how to use them. Now was her one chance, she knew it would be too dangerous for her to contact the goddess again like this.

“A wise question. Your birth mother was a good choice for you.” Vexous nodded. “Our kind has an ability in which you infuse your blood with essence, it is dangerous and very draining. Use too much blood and you will likely pass out or worse, die from the blood loss, but use not enough and it won’t work.”

Aveyon’s eyes widened, listening intently. She was grateful to Emerald in that moment for teaching her some basics, she understood more about what she needed to do now than she would have before.

“Most beings have an affinity for an element; you are slightly different.” Vexous continued. “You can infuse elements into your blood. Water is the easiest to infuse with blood, water is already a part of our makeup. Infuse your essence with the water and freeze it, in turn freezing your blood. To escape the bindings, you will need to go well past the freezing point, once there you can shatter your bindings.” she instructed. “You can work on the other elements when you have time.”

“Is that truly possible?” Aveyon was trying her best to take in the information. She’d never worked with elements before; she didn’t even know if she could.

“I’ve been connected to you all along, I know what you are capable of, you could just never hear or feel me, until now.” She responded sadly.

A groan was heard from outside the cage, Vexous gasped her gaze shooting across to the sleeping demon king and then back to Aveyon. “You need to leave, now! He can’t catch you like this!”

“But I still need to know how to get to Alarious?” She protested.

A pained expression appeared on Lady Vexous’s face as she looked between the Princess and the waking Lord again. “There is no time.”

Aveyon pushed herself up and spun in the air, she drifted through the bars to float before Ashera.

“What are you doing?!” Hissed Vexous.

Aveyon ignored her. She wanted this chance to truly see him for who he was. He was a well-muscled broad-shouldered man with spiky silver hair. He had piercings on his nose and brow and wore a loosely fitted shirt that had slipped from his shoulders revealing a peculiar-looking scar. It ran from his collarbone down his chest. He had black pants that were unbuttoned and wore large boots. His silver eyes shot open locking with her golden orbs, she smirked. He snarled as she waved at him and vanished, returning to her body.

Ashera growled deep; the sound monstrous as he witnessed the mocking image of the Princess vanish before his eyes. He slammed his fist into the throne, jolting a wake some of the women at his feet.

“WHAT DID YOU TELL HER!” he demanded, spinning around to look at the goddess he held prisoner.

Vexous smirked and straightened her posture, a show of defiance. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

She knew what was to come, a section of torture, a lifetime of pain, but she didn’t care. She had been able to keep the ball rolling on her plans, finally. Deep down, she only wished for a little more time, as she knew the next time she was to see the Alarian Princess, it could very well be her last.