looking back at the career of The Beatles, it surprises me that they were together as a band for only just about a decade. It feels like it should be more, given their impact on rock & roll music. Maybe that's because their sound evolved with each new album. Their constant innovation had to be an inspiration to bands that followed.
Cassie’s story continues; you can find Part One here and Part Two here. When you find yourself being faced with the impossible, you have two choices: either you give up and turn away or you …
Get Your Act Together
By TeraS
Cassie had been standing beside the old desk, the clock on the far side of the office ticking quietly, as she tried to make sense of the undeniable truth she held in her hands. It still didn’t make any sense to her. It was so far out of the possibility of being reality that she couldn’t understand how it was possible.
The silver frame was real, she couldn’t deny that. This wasn’t a dream. The photo looked like it was very old, the edges turning colour slightly from time passing. It was Keith, no horns or tail, appearing very much a human. Beside him, holding his hand, resting her head on his shoulder was … Cassie. Her silver tail and horns not being there, his red tail and horns not being visible, looked odd.
Cassie picked up the red frame and saw Keith and Tera together, on the same park bench, in the same pose, no horns or tails. Cassie recognized Tera’s long red jacket, the ensemble that was her friend’s trademark. There was no question it was Tera: she’d know her anywhere.
Keith looked the same in both photos. The thought that she had when she first saw him haunted her again. He looked … right. The silver-tailed temptress just managed a smile; still, none of this made sense. She couldn’t remember meeting him in such a place, nor did she have a memory of something like this happening.
Setting the red frame on the desk, she waved the silver one at Simone: “Explain this.”
Cassie had never seen the older red-tail being lost, and her answer only troubled the silver-tail more: “I can’t.” It was clear that wasn’t good enough: “Keith can.” She started to walk past the Receptionist, but came to an abrupt stop when her tail twined with Cassie’s own: “I didn’t show you that so you’d go off and attack Keith. Don’t do that, Cassiopeia. You’ll never forgive yourself if you lose him.”
Clutching the frame to her chest, the silver-tail’s eyes narrowed: “What did you expect I’d do? I want to know … everything. I want to know how this could have happened, I want to know why, exactly, we’re together in that picture and why … why …” The tears came, unbidden from the hurt inside: “… I want to know why he didn’t tell me.”
As their tails untwined, Simone held Cassie as she cried, bemoaning losing Keith, him not telling her about this. Why would he do this? Her heart sank as she realized that she couldn’t go on like this. This was the end of their relationship, or whatever it was.
Her eyes returned to the frame, taking in the moment, committing it to her memories. The lipstick she wore, the silver bracelet on her wrist, her blonde hair …
The bracelet? Her hair? “Goddess!”
Cassie realized she’d overlooked something: she had long blonde hair in the picture! She’d had short blue hair before she met Keith! The bracelet was the one that Keith had given her on the day he became King; she hadn’t had it before. The realization hit her like a brick. Those of the Realm could travel through time and space, such things were mere illusions to them in other worlds. While the photo was old, it held an image of Cassie in the here and now, but present with Keith in the past.
The moment in the frame had happened for Keith. It hadn’t happened for her …
… yet.
It explained why he was so happy when she’d accepted the bracelet from him. It explained the shock in his eyes when she changed her hair colour and style on the day he first appeared as King. It explained why he seemed to know so much about her long before they’d been intimate together. It explained why he never told her about this: because he couldn’t.
Cassie wasn’t stupid. She understood the concept of time, understood how things happened in a certain way to make something else be. The two frames made it perfectly clear to her: she had loved Keith before … she would again.
Tera would love him in the past and the here and now.
She’d find out what came next when it was time to know.
Simone was surprised at the smile that appeared, more so when Cassie giggled in delight and hugged her tightly. “Oh Simone. I understand now. He’s amazing.”
The Receptionist’s voice was concerned nonetheless: “Are you okay?”
Rushing out the door, Cassie called out: “Better than you know.”
Tera made it very clear to everyone in the Realm that she had an open door to any and all that wanted to visit her or her Eternal. But she also made it clear that it would be nice if they knocked before barging in.
You never knew what Tera might be up to, after all.
She’d been reading by the fireplace, rather engrossed in a tale that bemused her, when the knocking came. Whoever it was seemed to be in a rush. The knocking didn’t stop until she opened the door to invite them in.
The royal red-tail was surprised at who had been knocking on the door: “Cassie?”
Her silver-tailed best friend sheepishly handed a photo frame to her Queen: “We need to talk.”
The confusion that Cassie had felt before was mirrored in her friend’s expression as she looked at the picture she’d been given. “What? How?”
Cassie felt relief in that moment: he hadn’t told Tera. Her next words would be fateful: “I want you to tell me every single thing you remember when you first met Keith.”
“What’s going on, Cassie?”
The silver-tail hugged her dearest friend tightly: “Taking a left turn at Albuquerque.”
Cassie left the home of the Royal Eternals several hours later, having learned everything she could and making Tera promise she would not say a word to Keith about what they’d figured out together. She’d been responsible for Tera leaving the Realm after confronting her. Cassie knew that much. Now understanding just what had happened on Earth, the blonde seductress had put many of the pieces together.
She returned to Keith’s office, returning the silver frame to its place of honour. She’d made up her mind: she had to go, and what would be, or was, would be. There was nothing else for it. Outside of the office, she heard footsteps, and then the outer office door opening. There was no time left. She was sure he’d never hear: “Love you.”
She remembered the date Tera told her, the day when she’d met Keith. A flick of her left hand, the silver bracelet flashing in the light of the portal that opened to the past as she passed through leaving only the scent of chocolate and cherry in the air as the portal vanished. Keith opened the door, calling her name as it did.
Thank goodness for my husband, who, with just an offhand remark, can inspire me to make an entire thing out of a simple idea! (Like the whole Chickens thing…)
This is one of such things – a model of the three main Greek Column orders, that can sit on your desk, or provide an afternoon of fun in a classroom. Print in colour or black and white to colour in yourself!
This year has been difficult, and making comics and things while in lockdown and maternity leave has kept me sane. As a thank you for all your support, I am offering this new kit as a pay-what-you-want download, which means you can pay nothing for it at all if you like!
However, if you do want to pay something for it, all sales from the first 24 hours will go to Sportula Europe, a mutual aid network offering microgrants to students, postgraduates and early career researchers in classics, ancient world studies and adjacent academic disciplines, whose ability to contribute to and flourish within academia would otherwise be restricted by financial need.
We continue the mission started by The Sportula in the US in 2018, but with a focus on students and scholars in Europe (including the UK). We offer financial support, with no questions asked, on the basis of solidarity, not charity.
Cassie’s story continues this time on the Tale … You can find Part One, Caught in the Act here. Perhaps the hardest thing to do is actually say what’s in one’s thoughts to someone else; to say the things one never really wanted to admit to oneself. They say that bearing one’s soul can be a release, but sometimes one is …
Lost in the Act
By TeraS
“Talk to me.”
Three little words, but so often the hardest thing to do. Where do you start? Where does telling that story take you? Most of all, and the one thing that Cassie feared the most, would it really make any difference?
She found herself curled with Simone on the leather couch in Keith’s office. For the longest time, neither said anything, the red-tail not wanting to push the younger silver-tail, and the silver-tail just being lost as to where to start.
For the first time, Cassie really looked around Keith’s office. She’d never really taken the time to see what he’d chosen as important to him. It was … odd. A telescope stood over in one corner, a series of shelves along another wall held a series of cameras, some of them so very old. Bookcases filled to overflowing with writing that held some sort of meaning to him. On his old maple desk, marked with the passage of time and space from where it came from, she could clearly see a two picture frames. The one she could see was in a red frame, of course: a picture of him with Tera. It wasn’t what she expected, however. Not an image of the Queen and her King, not even that of two red-tails in each other’s arms. Just two of them, sitting together on a park bench, no horns, no tails, nothing more than two apparently mortal souls in love.
Perhaps that was the place to start.
“I’ve always loved Tera you know. When I met her, I didn’t have a clue that she was going to be the Queen. She was just Tera, that’s all. She could look right through me, I know; there’s no question of that. Oh, I didn’t admit that I loved her for a long time, but she knew. I’d do anything for her, let her do anything she wanted. But she was never anything other than herself.”
She felt Simone’s fingers brushing through her blonde hair. “It was obvious you were. I knew it, my sister knew it. But we weren’t going to tell either of you want to do. That was something you’d both have to figure out for yourselves when the time came.”
Cassie’s sigh was aching. “I never told her until the morning of her being crowned as Queen. Centuries holding it in, and then it all came out in a rush. I begged her to collar me, turn me into a pet, to worship her. She wouldn’t do it and … I couldn’t understand why..”
The somewhat more mature red-tail considered her words carefully. “Because she loves you, Cassie. She wanted you to be yourself. You wanted the old ways, and Tera wasn’t going to do that.”
“It hurt, I thought she was rejecting me, telling me to go away. It’s what I needed and … I think that pushed me to challenge her. It didn’t matter to her, she called me her dearest friend, that she loved me throughout.”
Putting her silver glasses on the end table, Simone mused. “She’d be unhappy if I said this to her, but that is our Queen. Her love is for always and she doesn’t take it back.”
“I thought, when Keith appeared, that Tera would forget about me. She found her Eternal, after all. But she didn’t. If anything, Tera was closer to me, telling me about him, talking about how Keith wasn’t like the other incubi. I didn’t get that, not really.”
Simone laughed softly. “Oh, he isn’t like them at all.”
For the first time, Cassie’s lips had the smallest of smiles. “It might have been easier if he was.”
“Why would you say that?”
Green eyes met green eyes. “I told Tera I wanted to know him better. Any other incubi would have taken me and done what he wanted.”
They both said the same thing: “He’d never do that.”
Simone’s fingers cupped Cassie’s cheek. “I would rather have my morning breakfast with him, enjoy his cookies, and the talks we have. I prefer the King we have, the one that cares about all of us, rather than anyone else.”
Cassie closed her eyes, still smiling. “You know I fell in love with him. Not lust, not infatuation. Oh, I admit that my schemes look like that, but he wasn’t going to be anything other than an honourable soul, he’d never take advantage of me. I really wish that more of my plans would succeed.”
“You do know he really doesn’t mind you chasing him.”
“I know. He’s told me that.”
“Did you know that his pet name for you is Temptress?”
Cassie’s eyes opened and she laughed, “I should hope so! It’s a lot of work!”
The hug was warm as the red-tail continued. “Cassie, have you ever just come right out and told Keith you love him?”
“No.” Simone paused at that, then Cassie continued. “How can I tell him that I love him when he loves Tera more than life itself? I know there’s a place for me in Tera’s soul, I hope there’s one in Keith’s. But I also know that he can’t love me like he loves Tera and … that’s where it all goes wrong.”
“I think …”
“No Simone, don’t go there. Keith loves Tera and that’s it. I just need to accept that and love him as I do: from afar. I’ll cherish the rare moments with him and that’s it.” Sitting up, the silver-tail brushed her hair back into place and stood up. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry for waking you.”
Cassie had managed exactly three steps before Simone’s voice stopped her cold. It was a command from The Receptionist, not from Tera’s Aunt. It was a tone she’d heard only once before, and that was from the Headmistress of the Realm’s Finishing School, a tone that brooked no choice. You would do what you were told or there would be consequences. “Before you leave, take a look at the other picture on his desk.”
Cassie turned back. “What’s the point? It’s just another picture of Tera.”
“Take one look before you leave.”
She crossed the room in three strides, all she wanted to do was look and then leave. It would just be something else to mock her love of Keith, anyway. Her left hand, the silver bracelet from Keith shining, reached out for the frame, pausing as she touched it.
Cassie realized it was a silver frame, matching the red one on the other side of the desk. Turning it around, she didn’t know what to think as the picture confronted her.
It was her and Keith sitting together at a park bench, no horns, no tails, nothing more than seemingly two mortal souls in love.
There’s an idea that has been mulling about in my thoughts for a while now. Thanks to my heart, who’s advice and considerations have always made my ponderings become something more than they otherwise would be, I’ve had a story idea bemuse me. So, a story about a certain silver tail, a certain red-tailed aunt, and the problem one has when one is …
Caught in the Act
By TeraS
The Receptionist of the Realm was known for many things, not the least of which was her ability to know, without question, when someone had intruded on her domain. Whether that was someone pushing at the portals to the Realm and being denied, or, as on this particular morning, someone who dared to step into her gateway within the palace, guarding the entrance to the offices of the Queen and the King.
Even if the Eternals had issues with those titles, they couldn’t do anything about what the offices themselves were named, of course. Nor would they even think of trying to alter the bureaucratic domain of the Receptionist.
Simone would not have been at all amused. Not even breakfast with Keith could change that. Being woken up with a start well before dawn didn’t do much for the red-tail, and she wasn’t at all pleased. Tossing the covers away, she seethed, “This time she’s gone too far.”
Meanwhile at the Palace, a door was opened to admit someone who shouldn’t have been poking her tail where it was. Mind you, Cassiopeia didn’t really concern herself about that issue. She had far more important things on her mind. The silver-tailed temptress had been … well, stalking wasn’t exactly right. There was something about Keith that kept drawing her to him. As she looked around Simone’s office, she nervously fingered the silver bracelet on her left wrist and remembered …
Long ago, she’d challenged Tera for the throne … and lost. To be honest, it wasn’t really about her taking the throne from her closest friend; for Cassie, the point was to push Tera into being herself and shaping the Realm to her desires. Yes, to many in the court in that moment, it was seen as a betrayal of the Queen, but she’d never want to cause harm to Tera. If she had won, then Tera would be free to do whatever she wanted. In that, she believed, Tera would thank her … eventually.
That Tera left immediately after their confrontation was a shock, Cassie could not believe that Tera would just abandon the throne without a word. It was more of a surprise when the court was summoned and Tera was on the throne alone.
But she wasn’t for long. Her first glimpse of Keith was him appearing beside Tera. He just … looked right: blue eyes, red tail exactly the same shade as Tera’s own. He wasn’t a movie star, wasn’t like the other incubi who kept flaunting themselves. Revealing his name and taking Tera’s hand in his own, it was clear that, while he was the King, he was there as an Eternal not as a Monarch, and that realization made Cassie’s heart flutter.
She’d told Tera, very clearly, that she intended to know her Eternal better, and that set Cassie a new goal. It was a short time later, as the assembled court was paying their respects to the Queen that Cassie had found herself watching from afar, being pleased with Tera and with all that her being Queen would hold for the Realm when his voice startled her.
“Cassiopeia, may I have a moment please?”
Oh Goddess, it was Keith. She turned away from Tera to find a pair of so-blue eyes waiting for her. Brushing her short blue hair behind one ear, Cassie demurred, “Yes my King?”
She didn’t expect him to take her hand and hold it gently. Succubi have the ability to know exactly the souls of others, to see within them and look into their desires. What Cassie found was the never-ending love for Tera, and that brought tears to her eyes. But what caught her breath were the next words Keith said: “Tera explained that you are her dearest friend. I’d like for us to be as close, if you’d be willing.”
The silver-tail found herself being drawn into his embrace, her green eyes meeting his blue. She’d never been comfortable with anyone, save for Tera. There wasn’t any sort of connection she’d felt with anyone else in the Realm. In that moment, being the focus of Keith’s attention, the thought that she’d had when he first appeared came back. He just … looked right.
Wetting her lips, Cassie whispered, “Only if you call me Cassie.”
His smile delighted her: “Only if you call me Keith.”
The enchanted silver-tail nodded, her voice escaping her. What he did next was unexpected. Allowing her hand to slip free of his own, he drew a small silver case from a jacket pocket and offered it to her. “This is for you Cassie, I hope you’ll like it. I’ve been told that silver-tails are very particular about this sort of thing.”
Jewelry was indeed something that silver-tails were very picky about, especially silver jewelry. Opening the clasp, Cassie caught her breath at the simple silver bracelet that rested within, three fingers wide, with ornate patterns drawn throughout. Her eyes returned to Keith. “It’s beautiful.”
Keith coming close and kissing her cheek made her melt. She knew he wasn’t using any of the powers of the Incubi, wasn’t trying to influence her. He genuinely sought her approval and friendship. From that moment onwards, the bracelet never left her left wrist.
But a gift given required a gift in return. Cassie’s thoughts focused on this as Keith offered his hand and they returned to the court, where Tera awaited. The smile of her dearest friend drew her into a needed embrace, and a naughty thought that Cassie couldn’t shake.
As Keith watched, the blue of Cassie’s hair faded away, turning blonde, while at the same time it lengthened, becoming almost as long as Tera’s own. Tera giggled as she drew Cassie’s hair over her right shoulder, “Tease.”
Cassie shared a naughty smile with Tera, “I did say I intend to know your Eternal better.” Then she looked directly to Keith, “We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
Keith really didn’t know what he’d unleashed within the now blonde silver-tailed temptress then onwards.
Returning from her memories, Cassie looked at the bracelet and made up her mind. She opened the inner door to Keith’s office and came to a stop. There, in the middle of the room, Simone stood. tapping a finger against the sleeve of her jacket and peering at the silver-tail over the rims of her glasses. “What, exactly, are you doing?”
For once, Cassie didn’t tease or skirt around the issue. She didn’t have a good answer other than the truth. Still fingering the silver bracelet, her eyes met Simone’s. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
That admission hung in the air between the two Succubi for countless seconds before the older red-tail embraced the young lost silver-tail. “Talk to me.”
There are some stories in which the succubus or incubus isn’t the focus. When that happens, what I like to see is that they appear with a purpose and aren’t part of the story for the sake of something erotic or stereotypical. It’s the connections made within the framework of the story that matter.
The creation of a mystery, when done well, can lead the reader into a story that has depth, emotions and, at the right time, revelations to the characters in the work. It’s far more delightful for characters to be who they are than being simply within the story.
Boringville is a quiet, peaceful town in the woods of central Pennsylvania. It has a small but thriving artistic community scattered in small shops around the town. It’s interesting to look at the quaint architecture and the partly rebuilt fort from the French and Indian War. Despite the rumors, the fort probably isn’t haunted. There is a large, courteous police force to make sure everyone is safe. The hospital, while small, is state of the art. There are nice places to eat. The hunting and fishing near the town are excellent. The cemetery is a bit unusual and picturesque. A bright, cheery town inhabited by friendly people, Boringville is a relaxing place to spend the day. You might not want to spend the night.
It’s been a rough time for Drew and finding himself approaching a small town called Boringville peaks his curiosity. But there’s something odd about the town and those that call it home. Still, a short visit seems like a good idea at first until a mystery begins to nag at him. Drew can’t let go of what’s bothering him and when he meets Meridiana, his sense of honour might become his undoing.
The work is written exceptionally well with fully realized characters, well thought out plot and it stays true to the mystery which Drew has to sort out as things progress. Drew himself, through his internal monologue, remains interesting and a unique character throughout. Similarly the townspeople, in all of their forms and mysteries, make the story that much better as Drew tries to figure things out.
If there’s one thing that bothered me a little bit was one or two phrases that they repeated over and over again. While it made sense in the context of the story, I found it a bit bothersome and took something out of the work. In the same way, the warnings Drew receives get frustrating, and that leads him into some situations that felt a bit forced.
Overall the backgrounds of the townspeople are barely touched upon, there’s an assumption that as they are revealed it’s not necessary to come out and say what they actually are. The thing is, by the end of the story there’s at least two characters which aren’t really explained and I’d have liked them to be.
That brings me to the succubus of the story, Meridiana. She’s simply delightful in her mannerisms, the force of her will and how she holds herself. She isn’t at all a stereotypical succubus, for which I was dearly thankful for. She has a story of her own, which is told to an extent, but leaves a lot not told. That’s not to say she isn’t perfect for the work, because she is. It’s more that given what transpires between Drew and Meridiana, getting to know her better, even fleetingly, I think would have added something more to the story overall.
I do recommend this work very highly, mainly for the storytelling and the mystery that unfolds. Drew is a delightfully intelligent character and that’s a rare thing to find in a lot of stories with succubi appearing. Meridiana is a joy when she appears and the two of them trying to come to terms with each other is wonderful. Good storytelling matters and this work is excellent in that.
Five out of five pitchforks, but with a couple of notes.
The work needs another editing pass for some minor issues such has Drew’s name being changed to another at a couple of points. Similarly, there’s a scattering of spelling and word misuse that needs to be cleaned up a little. That doesn’t take anything away from how much I enjoyed the story, it just would make things that little bit better.
The other thing that I would have liked would be a short epilogue for Drew to reflect on what happened, tell something about his relationship with Meridiana, and close the story with Drew’s soul being settled fully.
The author released a second work set in Boringville called Incubus, and I’m going to hope that, beyond the story itself, the relationship between Meridiana and Drew turns in interesting directions. That review will be… soon.
I’ve just completed colour layers for the Minoan-themed print-and-build sets I made at the end of 2020, so now the Throne Room and Labyrinth are in glorious colour, making completing these kits a bit less work!
To celebrate, you can use the code MATLEAVE to get £2 off any of the sets – Throne Room, Labyrinth, or both combined – until midnight on Sunday June 27th (when my Maternity leave ends!)
Thanks for enjoying the things I make, and please feel free to share your playset builds with me on Twitter or Instagram at @GreekMythComix!
Don’t know about the download-and-print kits?
Build your own Labyrinth and Throne Room of Knossos Palace with this print-your-own kit! TWO stackable structures – the labyrinth with moving wall sections, and a model of the throne room with lustral basin at Knossos Palace, Crete, complete with Minoan characters and objects…and the MINOTAUR.
Each PDF has a colour layer – print a pre-coloured version or turn off the layers to print a black-and-white version to colour yourself!
Available together or as individual kits.
A must for every Greek Mythology or Archaeology fan, student of Classics, or teacher with a classroom to furnish. Just add a printer, paper, scissors and glue!
You can’t trademark a name. That’s not what a trademark is or does. You can trademark a logo or a brand image. Marvel can’t Trademark Thor, the thunder god. Anyone can tell a Thor story. They can absolutely trademark
or
or
though. And if you used them, or things close to them, on your tee shirts or book cover, they could stop you.
Classics Twitter has been so very serious lately, so I am jolly well going to be drawing and sharing more Greek Myth Chickens. (This can be referred to as my ‘Post-Maternity Chicken phase’, don’t care)
One thing though: someone’s going to have to tell me a pun for Zeus…
If she’s not using them, I often forget about Sydney’s orbs until I’m placing them on the page, which I usually do near the end, and sometimes that results in the orbs being shoved off to the side while she eats. They’ll eventually drift back into place if she doesn’t give them a thought now and again.
Everyone at the base thinks Sydney and Frix are a cute couple, even if Fridney isn’t the best couple portmanteau. Some of that is just because of the ridiculous height difference. Cora has a type, and Frix is right at 7′ tall.
If Grrl Power was a different type of comic, I might spend some time on people saying that human/alien relationships are abominations and “against nature” all that jazz, but it’s just so… tired and predictable. I don’t mean predictable as a story trope, but predictable in a “humans suck and have always sucked and will probably continue to suck for the foreseeable future” kind of way.
Claiming things that a person doesn’t like are “against nature” always cracks me up, cause they’re usually doing so online, and we all know how natural computers are. Half of them are wearing eyeglasses, surely freshly picked from the eyeglasses trees. If you’re naked and yelling at a city from a hilltop forest and are riddled with parasites and ringworm and half your teeth are rotted out of your head and you die at 32, then knock your bad self out, otherwise, shut up about shit being natural. Humans are natural, therefore anything we can accomplish is by extension, natural. Unless you’re prepared to make the argument that beehives and beaver dams aren’t natural either.
Which is all my long winded way of saying yeah, there are people in the Grrl-verse that are against supers and humans dating supers and are against aliens and people dating them and allowing them on Earth (even though the only jobs aliens have stolen thus far is “tourist” – not including Dabbler, I suppose), there’s enough of that depressing stuff in the real world and the PR team does a pretty good job of keeping that sort of stuff out of the faces of Archon personnel.
Daniel Schinhofen’s third Luck’s Voice book came out last week. Breaking the Bank. I’m not a fan of wild west stuff at all, but this is wild west LitRPG (lite) with magic and elves and dwarves and the like, and Schinhofen has a pretty good track record IMO, so I gave it a shot. The audiobook for the first book in the series recently began recording as well, so keep an eye out for that as well once it gets through Amazon’s capricious submission gauntlet.
The new vote incentive is up! Welcome to Dabbler’s Damsel in Distress University.
Worried that you’ll end up in a deathtrap, precariously balancing a bomb with a mercury switch (or a canister full of tickle powder) while you struggle to escape? Then sign up now and you can practice your death (or tickle powder) defying escapes in the safety of the classroom!
Courses include Deathtrap 101-401, Tying up the Supervillain’s Henchwoman once you Escape Leaving her in the Very Same Precarious Deathtrap 101-201, Having Dinner with the Supervillian While he’s Holding the City Hostage 101-401, Holding Your Breath for Fun and Profit 101, Lockpicking 101-301, Ropework 101-406, Labyrinth Navigation 101, Blind Fighting, Oil Wrestling, Seducing the Guards 101-403, and many more!
My heart, for whose advice, thoughts, and most of all compassion in reading my story messes and guiding my thoughts often makes something more than they first appeared, pondered a thought the other evening. I found myself rather taken by it in many ways. It makes sense in the Realm; it does mesh nicely with the mythos and all. But the question remains as to what happens at the …
Loveseat
By TeraS
It is well known that Tera doesn’t particularly like pomp and ceremony. There’s just something about it that rubs her, and her tail, the wrong way. This has, on many occasions, led to discusses with one particular red-tail with the whitest hair Tera had ever seen. That is, of course, her uncle.
At one point he had suggested that the throne of the Realm was wherever Tera happened to rest, be that an actual throne, lawn chair, or, as his niece suggested with a bemused smile, an inflatable pool chair. His niece was, after all, not exactly a stereotypical Queen of the Realm—not that she would ever want to be.
This discussion had gone on for some time between them when an invitation arrived from the Realm Museum for the opening of a new exhibit. The parchment note bid Her Majesty to see a collection of thrones that had been of use to the rulers of the Realm in ages past.
This, Tera decided, was something she would have to attend. Her uncle, however, would not be able to. After all, his favourite hockey team was in the playoffs. This bemused the ebon-maned Queen of the Realm, as she knew her Uncle would be making notes to punctuate his rant that evening when he called.
The Museum was, as always, a place of delight for the red-tail’s senses. This wasn’t a place where the past was sealed behind glass, roped off, set far away from those attending. One could, if one wished, touch the pitchfork of an ancestor, feel the material of a formal gown, and, if one was very careful, perhaps even be able to see if that gown or that suit of armour would fit them—assuming, of course, the guardian of the museum thought they might be the right size.
The director was Joseph, a green-tailed incubi who greeted Tera’s arrival on the steps leading to the main entrance. He had assumed that she would be informal as Tera was wont to do. He didn’t expect the bemused Queen of the Realm to arrive wearing her dress of legend.
She teased him with a smile, “Hello Joseph, I must apologize for being a bit tardy. I hope you don’t mind.”
He had to admit to himself that, while Tera was delightful in more ways than he could count, he still held hopes that, someday, there would be one entire museum to her name, with that dress at the centre of it all. But he also knew that Tera would pitchfork him if she knew. Yet, as her smile turned ever so much more bemused, he realized she probably knew his hopes just by looking at him.
“Your Majesty … I mean … Tera?”
Brushing her gloved hands over her thighs, she explained: “It is my understanding that your new exhibit contains every throne of the Realm there has been.”
His reply was a bit guarded, “There is one major omission, of course.”
She smiled, “I’m sure you’ll have what’s missing at some point.” Of course she knew.
Stepping closer to him, the red-tailed Monarch continued, her eyes sparkling, “I have it in mind to … closely examine every one of them. I would like to see what … might be the best fit for my tail.”
He did his very best not to make the obvious comment about her tail, “Of course.” Held by so-green eyes, the mesmerized one with a similar-coloured tail just nodded as the Queen continued: “You won’t mind, of course?”
Finding himself now hand in hand with the Queen, the green tail wondered how many of his kin would be grilling him for the events of the evening. “Might I take pictures?”
The Monarch’s soft giggle as her subject led the way to the exhibit was promising.
As the sun rose above the horizon marking the dawn of a new day, Tera was brooding over what she had seen, and how disappointed she was in it all. So many different thrones of so many varying shapes, textures, and usefulness, and not one of them seemed to fit her exactly right. It had taken all night to examine them all, twice over to be sure she hadn’t been making assumptions, before the audience came to a close and the revelation was clear. Not one of them would do.
Now returned home, Tera reclined and mulled over everything, still ensconced in the dress of legend. This is how her Eternal discovered her. He recognized the expression, the tapping of a finger on her lovely red lips and the turning over of thoughts that came when she was slightly miffed. He knew something was making her tail itch, and that wasn’t a good thing. Tera came out of her musing with a start when he offered a mug of hot chocolate. His expression showed his concern and she smiled in that way that only one Eternal can for another.
Cupping his ebon-maned love’s chin, he lightly kissed her and then asked, “Can I help?”
A pat of a gloved hand beside her bade him welcome and so one Eternal settled in with another.
Sipping from her mug, Tera began, “You know, every ruler of our world has had a throne. I’ve settled into every one of them, looked out from the perch they had. Imagined what they would have been, said, or proclaimed.”
Keith had laced the fingers of one hand with Tera’s free one as he offered, “Not one of them was right, was it?”
The mug placed on the end table, she nodded: “Some too hard, some too soft, nothing was just right.”
Her red-tailed soulmate kissed her fingers, “If you’re trying to be Goldilocks, you haven’t the hair for it.”
Tossing her hair to the side, she considered him with a naughty look. “I’m pickier.”
“Ah, but you are just right for me.”
Sighing, the red-tail curled into his embrace, closing her eyes, “You know we’ll have to figure out a throne sometime. There’s not enough room at the museum for all of the things that we’ve rested on.”
Keith was silent for a time, his tail twining with Tera’s own before he spoke.
“I have a suggestion.”
Tera opened her eyes. “Oh?”
“Are you comfortable?”
Her purr was temptation, “Yes.”
“Are you happy?”
So-green eyes glistened with love, “I’m with you.”
“There’s your answer. This is our official throne, always has been.”
A red loveseat, trimmed in silver, just big enough for two in love to be intimate and entwined. A simple thing, most would say, seen on its own, but for two Eternals in love, it was the expression of their love and what they had, together, built the Realm upon. The Eternals drew together, their passions christening the loveseat into the symbol of their reign.
For love was the throne upon which the Realm was built …
This day is a … difficult one for my Eternal and me, a day that, in more ways than can be put into words, weighs on our thoughts and emotions. In spite of the tears, the wishes, and the wants of what should have been, and not was, there is always a …
Ray of Light
By TeraS
It wasn’t what you would expect the beginning of June to be: a bit cold. The clouds were grey and stood between the warmth of the sun and the earth below. The chill in the morning air warned that things weren’t quite summer-like as yet, and one shouldn’t take them to be so for a bit longer, either.
It had been another year since she’d passed, another year when he’d had to come to terms with receiving the call, answering quietly, and then doing all of the things he was expected to do as her son.
It had been well past another year since she’d left this world, another year when her daughter remembered sitting in her room, holding her only friend—a stuffed teddy bear—and listening to her father try to explain that mommy wasn’t coming home.
The cold of the day didn’t quite match the cold they both felt in those moments. The frozen part inside just remained there, year after year, ebbing away ever so slightly before coming back so painfully again on this day. Something malevolent remained there, on the edge of their thoughts, whispering that they hadn’t done everything they could have done.
Neither of their mothers would have told them any such thing. In another part of their thoughts, they understood this. There was some comfort in knowing that the love was there for always. There was more comfort in being able to look into each other’s eyes on the day that came and understand just what they were going through.
He’d always been there for her on that day. The drive to her resting place wasn’t a burden. The first visit he’d remained by the car, given her the space she needed to talk, to remember, to share what she needed to. That’s how it had been for many years before the two Eternals had come to find each other. She still stood there alone for a time, as was her way, before looking over her shoulder and offering her hand. Some years the rain mixed with the tears, others the sun peeked out through the clouds to offer what comfort it could. But, really, nothing could match the comfort she felt in holding his hand and listening to him talking to Mom.
She’s been with him throughout his journey. From the first moment they’d known, his Eternal would not leave him alone. The journey was a shorter one, not to a field of grass with markers placed at regular intervals. Rather, it was to a home loved, a mother’s favourite place there, a red urn surrounded by flowers marking her residence. It was near the loveseat placed by the picture window showing the gloomy weather outside which could only look from afar. He didn’t enjoy tea or coffee—what you would expect, perhaps, when visiting the home of your parents with your love. That didn’t mean they couldn’t accept a cup of coffee, place it near her memorial for her. They talked about things, recalled her cooking, her love of family, and most of all just stories about his mother and her adopted mother.
The cold of the pain began to ebb once more. It couldn’t overcome the love shared by two for their mothers for always. Outside, the clouds parted a little, the sun making itself known now that noon had arrived. The grey clouds began to turn a little white around the edges, the warmth from above making itself known.
The stories had paused, the Eternals with fingers entwined looking away from the window, each in their own thoughts. The world beyond the window turned a bit brighter and then more so as sunlight broke through the clouds to warm the earth below. And, in the path of two rays of light, there was the love remembered, the memories cherished. The souls who loved their mothers, now with the Goddess, were warmed in the light and love forever held in their hearts.
Some might have noticed that over the weekend I posted the 7000th article on the SuccuWiki with an entry on my daughter Branwyn … There’s a bit of information there, but it really doesn’t tell the entire story, of course. The thing is, sometimes the story isn’t as important as what’s …
Gifted
By TeraS
It looks like a simple pendant. Made of silver, shaped into a heart with enough depth to hold what kind of looks like an emerald in the middle. It doesn’t look like much, wouldn’t be something that would be worth a second glance. Some might even say that it’s worthless.
But it’s from my mom. The one who brought me into this world, the one I lost before I was old enough to know her. She gave me the first gift. I’ve never taken it off since the day I found it wrapped around the fingers of my right hand. It’s been there with me through all of the years I was alone, no family, nothing save one not-a-home after the next until I had to stand on my own.
But it wasn’t just a pendant. The true gift wouldn’t make itself known for a while.
The next gift was a letter. Not much more than two sheets of paper, neatly typed, offering me a scholarship to college. It was the only one that came; all of the others said I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t what they were looking for. The gift was to come to this place called Mtech, to discover who I was and what I could do. The one who sent it didn’t realize what she’d begun by sending it to me. But, for a little mouse in a world of cats, it was a way out.
I didn’t know just what door this gift would open, but I’d find out soon enough.
Then came a gift calling herself Rianna. I hadn’t met a single person that cared in the slightest about me. We bumped into each other, me being frightened of everything and everyone there. It was bad enough when I dropped my books all over the ground, worse when I couldn’t keep my tears back. Three words from the strawberry blonde opened her gift: “Let me help.” I didn’t know where that would take us—there was no way either of us could have known what was waiting just around the corner.
Having a friend, someone who accepted me as me, would have been gift enough.
When the following gift appeared, no one really knew it was a gift at the time. A party thrown by a dean looking to cause trouble, me getting caught up in something I didn’t understand or realize was happening. The first gift came back then, connecting lives that would have never been touched otherwise. My first mom was still looking put for me and, when Tera stepped into the picture, mom’s gift made everything that came after possible.
A parting gift from one mom to another.
My mom with the red tail and ebony hair had explained to Rianna and me that she would never be able to have a daughter. It just wasn’t going to be possible. But she didn’t take into account the tenacity of her own mom and mine. Just because someone said something wasn’t possible didn’t mean that they couldn’t make the impossible happen. So, in spite of the universe being against Tera, she was gifted with two daughters.
This gift didn’t become clear until Mom figured out who, exactly, Rianna was. Mom found that she had a daughter, not being born of her, but being from her and Dad. Rianna’s blue tail and horns appeared, and it was a gift that made a difference for Mom and Dad. Then came me. It … just sort of happened one day. Rianna brought Tera to meet me and something changed. I had been gifted with a sliver of Tera’s soul, through the pendant that started the chain, melting into my own. I didn’t see the scared and lost girl in the mirror anymore; I saw both of my mothers there. The smile of my first mom, the sparkling green eyes of my new one. At first I had a silver tail and the same colour of horns in my now ebony hair, just like my mom. I blame my first mom for that happening, but, that would change.
Tera gave me the gift of having a family that loved me, no matter what. She opened herself to me, as did Keith and Rianna, and I knew they all loved me, and I never forgot they did. The gift that I wished for, but never thought would really be. Silver wasn’t me, but blue, like my sister, was. And so the next gift was my devotion to my family and becoming a blue tail.
One small gift connecting to the next and on and on.
This is who I am: Branwyn, daughter of Tera and Keith, older sister to Rianna, gifted from one mother’s love for her daughter to another mother seeking her own, the gift that I’m thankful for every day.
Daniel Schinhofen’s third Luck’s Voice book came out last week. Breaking the Bank. I’m not a fan of wild west stuff at all, but this is wild west LitRPG (lite) with magic and elves and dwarves and the like, and Schinhofen has a pretty good track record IMO, so I gave it a shot. The audiobook for the first book in the series recently began recording as well, so keep an eye out for that as well once it gets through Amazon’s capricious submission gauntlet.
