ProfetessaOscura
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"Then you answered your own question," Vespyr said, smiling. Children.
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"Of course," Vespyr said, nodding. "To be loved is to cause pain to others and to yourself when the time for parting comes. Most must weigh the benefit of the joy against the pain."
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"Then you will die more fortunate than most," Vespyr commented.
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"It is often the way that life is," Vespyr said, "People die alone, unloved, and despised all the time. Why should anyone expect differently for themselves?"
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"Is that a difficult task?" Vespyr asked.
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"Then you have no home to return to," Vespyr pointed out, in an amiable, compromising way, it thought.
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"Then I am sure your mother would have forgiven you."
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"Some mothers deserve to die," Vespyr said coolly. It felt like the wrong thing to say. It wasn't sure why it felt that way.
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The song faded into wind, and the wind faded into nothing. Vespyr lay still, mind empty, numb.
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Vespyr listened. Was it a religious song, perhaps?
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Vespyr did need sleep. However, it wasn't fool enough to actually sleep. It hadn't slept in at least three days; the nectar sustained it. However, Vespyr did relax, lowering its heart rate. If Janice felt more comfortable around a "sleeping" monster, perhaps the event wouldn't be so traumatizing.
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Vespyr listened, leaning back between two protrusions of rock. It wasn't comfortable, but it was Vespyr's bed.
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Vespyr didn't know the song, but it followed along with the melody after hearing Janice hum the refrain once or twice.
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Coincidence. Coincidence. Coincidence. Vespyr found itself smiling, and quickly suppressed it.
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Vespyr checked the kiddie-leash. It wouldn't do to have Janice toss herself off the edge. Still, it tilted its head, then took another sip of its nectar. The wind picked up, spiraling around the spire. Had it actually touched either of them, it would have been chilling. Picked up were tiny granules of sand and salt. It seemed strange, like looking through a rainbow of light, or glancing at oil on a street at just the right angle. The salt and sand shifted in the air, forming tiny, intricate scenes. A warhorse that Vespyr had seen long, long ago as a child, with eyes that had been able to discern color, to see into the eyes of others and understand. Now, Vespyr was pitifully poor at that, at understanding feelings, thoughts, and other humans. It even thought of other humans as an entirely different species, at this point. It wasn't self-deprecatory. It was honest. Vespyr was a monster of mythical levels of danger and disgust. The wind shifted, the sand losing form and reshaping. It wasn't a show for the child. Vespyr refused to acknowledge that. That would be showing some level of concern that it was not supposed to show. However, Vespyr had often created its own means of entertainment, trapped on this rock over the years. The wind whistled over rocks, the sound split suddenly. It was... music. Of the oddest, most eerie, strange sort. As if the entire spire had turned into a flute, into a woodwind. If it did anything to improve Janice's mood... That was strictly coincidental, Vespyr told itself.
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Vespyr watched the loss of the dagger. It wasn't really a total loss. The Queen likely had more Qhoral. It was... disappointing to see humans keep making the same mistake, over and over again. The same mistakes that Vespyr had made, albeit at a younger age than Janice.
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"You do have a choice," Vespyr agreed. "You can choose to join the Queen in favor, or join the Queen through pain." The creature looked away, over the ocean.
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Siren stared straight at the blanketed child. Such an outburst as a child had resulted in beatings, ins knives carving flesh. The Queen treated Janice with favor. In some regard, that was enviable. "It would have been easier for you," it decided slowly, "had you been raised into the notion from a child, as others were. Nonetheless... there are those who have choices, and then there are those who have none."
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Siren sat silently by Janice, then finally spoke. There was hesitance lacing the creature's words. "You will not be made into a monster. Not like I was. The Queen has chosen you to be... blessed. In your own way. To my knowledge, you will not have your mind crushed or your skin disfigured. You are... special." It turned its face to her. It remembered that the action was supposed to be polite, but was uncertain. After all, it was polite to show the mask. This face... it made others uncomfortable.
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The creature sighed and sat beside the child, who looked now rather much like a gray rock themselves, tented in the blanket. "I do not know where that is, and I cannot take you. There is no comfort in honesty. I apologize for the inconvenience."
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The creature hesitated. Children were fragile, after all. It knew that much, at least. It reached into another cubby and withdrew a single scratchy, wool blanket. This, it draped over Janice. Head and all, as if it didn't quite know how to tuck someone in. "Here." it said.
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Vespyr landed on their spire with Janice. The trip had been long and arduous, without further comment by the Queen. The disfigured creature landed and gently guided Janice to the ground. "We will spend the night here and approach the Queen in the morning." Despite being incredibly powerful, it was difficult to maintain such a fast pace safely while burning away the nectar at an effective rate. Vespyr had often drank from the bottles contained in its bag. Finally, it had virtually run out of the stuff, just as they reached the Spire. It was an odd little... home? If this bare peak of stone protruding from the ocean could be called such a thing. The top was large, studded with spiked stone protrusions. There was no furniture, no comforts to speak of, just a vertical stone slab with hollow cubbies chipped into the side. From one of these, Vespyr restocked their bag with more bottles of the nectar, clearly not trusting Janice enough to leave it in the open. Vespyr pulled Janice along with the tassel that bound her, clearly not wanting her to go exploring. The creature took a sip from one of the bottles with a shaking hand. A moment later, the hand was steady again. "Where would you like to sleep?" it asked, gesturing at the stony ground with its hands, as if offering her a choice between duck or goose down-feather mattresses. This could be an opportunity. It didn't speak... much. But this creature did speak, and it had shown some kind of kindness and reason, in its own way. At least, it wasn't cruel.
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Vespyr was still. It was an odd picture, the creature, a statue that flew like an arrow. The only sound was the thrashing of the wind past Janice's ears as Vespyr awaited any further orders from The Queen.
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Vespyr moved immediately. In the breath of a moment, Vespyr was at Trace's side, and with strong, firm arms bound the girl's arms behind her with one of its tassels, forceful and precise. Janice had chosen poorly. It wasn't Vespyr's fault that Trace had failed astronomically and that humans were mostly composed of those too foolish to fear. Effectively, Janice now had a kiddie-leash.
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Vespyr did not take offense, again. It knew intrinsically that the barbs were intended to invoke some outrage. That was the point. Show some flaw, some discrepancy, some deviation from the Queen's expectations, and when it did, it would be crushed back into the appropriate form and shape. It wasn't a fool. It wasn't mindless. But it knew that it had no action to defend itself, and no thought could ever protect it. Service was the only path to survival. "I shall dispose of the girl on your command," Vespyr said aloud, signaling to Janice that there would be no hesitance regarding obedience.
