Matters of the Heart [Closed]

[Rhapsody]

Azami

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Brooding; that probably described her best at the moment. Thoughts of Boaz and her family swirled in her brain, clouding it and making a regular mess of her mind. It was almost impossible, she felt, to discern what exactly Boaz's role was in her life. He was her lead, to be sure, but was she to say he was her father? He had helped her to finish maturing, had in a sense raised her through her final year of adolescence and into her first year of adulthood. But that did not a father make.... did it? Slamming her eyes shut and stomping a hoof, the mare snorted in frustration as she tried to sort through her own mixed feelings. Finally, in a fit of rage she reared, hooves slicing through the air like hot knives through butter. "Curse you who call yourselves gods! Why did you have to make me suffer? For your own pathetic entertainment? You could not let me lead my own life? You had to make him steal me, had to make me feel this wretched confusion?" She growled lowly, though every fiber of her longed to scream the words. But she refrained; for Boaz's sake, she refrained.

Crashing back down to the earth heavily, the mare's breathing came in ragged, rage filled breaths. Despite her unwillingness to think of her, memories of her conversation with her aunt, Erren, came unbidden to her. 'We stumble for a reason, niece. We fall so that we might pick ourselves up once more'. Those had been the mare's words. And now all Azami could do was replay them in her head. What if she had been stolen for a reason? What if Boaz was meant to steal her? Azami wasn't one to believe in the gods or a greater power, but it certainly seemed a more poetic option. That she was meant to be with him. If that was the case, then her own, less innocent feelings for him were perfectly admissible, right? Black eyes widening, the mare tried to slow the hammering of her heart. Her feelings were allowable. She was not wrong to feel as she did for him. Whirling in the loose rocks, she sent pebbles flying as she turned, eyes wide. She had to tell him. She had to tell him what she had learned by dissecting her own emotions.

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[Acheron]

If you do not know of me, you will soon enough. I do not allow ignorance of my person and those who are foolish enough to wish me away have often enough fallen under the weight of my punishment. Yet there are still those who think of me as a mere foal's tale and for them my anger burns all the more. There are those who cast me aside as the lesser of the three deities, but I assure you that there is none you should fear more. There are few that I find favor in and fewer still who encounter me in a positive light. More often than not I take what I please, caring not about what they think or do. You may say that my younger sister Aylette is the one to be feared, for she holds the life of the equine race in her hooves. You must be very foolish to believe such a statement, for she is kind and caring; I am neither. I care for none but myself. You may also say that Adrastea is the most dangerous, but that again is not true. She cannot keep me from my tyrannical ways, and often enough she calls me to her side to wreak havoc on innocent lives. I am the monster, the beast and the thief. I take what pleases me, and I punish those who do not. Or is it the other way around...

You must be wise and learn from the unfortunate examples that put themselves in my path. Azami, the mare who stubbornly refuses to believe that I am real, is one such. I was watching, one such day, when she was stomping around and creating a terrible noise. She cursed me and I laughed. I laughed and thunder rolled through the skies. I laughed and lightning flashed. I laughed and chose to reveal myself to this example.

I appeared before her, unmistakable as to who I was. There is not one equine in this land who does not know of me when they see me. I stood there, deadly as a venomous snake poised to strike. My coat was a deep, rich red that colored my mane as well. I had nothing but thick black brindles that streaked across my barrel. All what a normal equine might have. Yet there was something about me that no other living or dead equine could have.

My eyes.

My eyes are not brown, nor are they black or blue or amber or green. They are not grey or violet or yellow. My eyes are, in fact, not eyes at all. In the sockets where eyes should be are only blazing fires of glowing red death. The flames should burn, but they do not. They should extinguish, but they do not. They only burn incessantly. With one look into my eyes, an equine cannot have any doubt as to who I am.

I stood before her with a smirk on my face. She was so small, so insignificant to me. She was worth nothing to me, but she had insulted the gods. Insulted me. I opened my mouth so that she could hear my words, the screaming, whispering, torturous voice that I possess. "You have not yet suffered Azami," I said to her. "You have not yet felt my wrath. But you have defied the gods long enough. You must pay for your indifference."

[Rhapsody]

Azami

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She drew away from the creature (for she could not describe him as a 'horse' despite his horse-like frame) as if she had been struck by him. There was a distinctly predatory air to him, as if he could will her dead and make it happen with a mere flick of his tail. And he could. For despite her vehement objections, her doubts and mockery, Azami's lack of belief, her defiance, had now caught up to her. Cold dread spread through her like a tidal wave, making her blood run colder than an arctic current. His words buzzed through her veins, eliciting the utmost of terror. Her eyes wide with fear, her nostrils flared and her mouth hung agape as she scrambled backward, ears pressed back and body a tremble. She had been in a vulnerable enough mood before his appearance and now that the god of all that was terrifying had descended on her, Azami was a good measure beyond distressed.

His words hung heavy in the air and Azami feared what her pending doom would be. Death? Could the gods be so cruel? Kill her before she could confess herself to Boaz? That seemed a heinous twist, but then again, so had the rest of her life. Nothing was beyond one so terrible as the almighty being before her. Her instincts screamed at her to flee, to beg forgiveness, but her head knew better. Mercy would not be granted her on this day. Lifting her voice to the air, she tried to formulate words, all courage evaporated from her in the span of a single second. "I apologize great one." She intoned shakily, her voice trembling with horror. "Please spare me my life." A living, mortal soul could not help but plead for it's life when faced with such a situation. She knew it would not impact his decision any, but she had to try. Her survival instincts were too strong not to. "A-and I will seek to be a better servant. As my sire is." From what little she remembered of Marek, she knew that he was loyal to at least one besides himself, and Acheron was that one.

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[Acheron]

I watched as fear spread through her body. I did not need to watch her for insight; I know these things. I know all. I watched her and delighted in it. The fire of my eyes burned brightly at my pleasure and I grinned. Foulness and terror are concealed in my smile; the yawning mouth of death is my frown. Only to see her shake more did I stomp my hoof, creating a peal of thunder that was almost – but not quite, I made certain of – deafening. I watched her grovel and plead. I had no intention of sparing her punishment for mocking me. Nothing would take away the desire I had for her screams of pain. I longed to rip her agonizingly limb from limb, tearing her precious skin away from the muscle underneath, and that from bone. I nearly would have, but she mentioned something that struck a chord in my deep memories.

I know of her sire. He is one of my followers, dedicated to me since he was a young colt. I know of the pleas that he has made to me. In the infinite recesses of my mind, I can recall his pain at losing the mare. The pain of losing his daughter. I remember this with a cold, shivering pleasure as the cries replay in my mind. Yet he has been faithful to me still, and perhaps I shall do him this one favor; a token of my appreciation of his fidelity. Of course, this will not profit him so much as it will profit me. I was quite set on a gruesome death for the young mare, but if I keep her alive she will be of much more use to me. Much more… fun. Oh yes…

I laughed. The strains of my laughter ripped through the air, causing leaves to fall off of the surrounding trees and fish to swim in agitation. “I owe you nothing, mare. I owe your father nothing. But he has been a dedicated follower for as long as he can remember, and so I shall do this one thing for him. It will not be pleasant for you, my dear. It will hurt more than anything you have ever experienced. You will wish to die, you will beg me to kill you, but you will not. You will endure my punishment.” I took a step closer, towering over her in my godly majesty. “You will live through the conception, through the waiting, and through the birthing, which may hurt even more than what you are about to experience. You will live through this, and death will not touch you. For living will be more agony than death.” I smiled, not kindly, and nearly closed the gap between her and I.

[Rhapsody]

Azami

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Fear had transformed into the utmost of terror, a paralyzing, physically painful terror. Azami had never shied away from confrontation before, but this was entirely different. A god could inflict all kinds of unknown physical atrocities far worse than anything a mortal being could have done to her. And while Azami fancied herself as having a high threshold for pain, she knew this would be a pain that would make her wish for death. But his words gave her the most miniscule, naïve flicker of hope; she would not die? She would live? Her relief at this news was immense, but even it could not drown out the horror of what his next words made her realize. Conception. No. Azami wasn’t a mother, she was still too young herself. And besides, what of Boaz? What kind of reaction would he have to finding out she’d been raped? She didn’t want this, this couldn’t be happening. Were it not for the physical proof before her that they existed, Azami would have cursed the gods. But that had done her little good so far in life.

Acheron was right; living would be more agonizing than him killing her. Her eyes snapped close and she sucked in a breath that offered no relief, shaking her head in disbelief. "No." Her voice was a soft and insignificant whimper, her pleas useless in the face of his wrath. NO. Not now, not when she’d just realized what she felt for Boaz was allowable and what’s more, that she did in fact feel it! Being the fearful mortal that she was, the mare tried to back up, to flee the wrath of the god before her even though, but her limbs refused to move and the mare knew it was futile. Still, what earthly being would not shirk away from a god coming in such close proximity to them? To stand still and boldly face her oncoming doom would have showed more foolishness than even Azami possessed in this matter. So as he drew nearer, Azami tried to pull away, her body trembling and breathing shallow as his fiery stare and the heat of his unearthly frame drew closer to her.

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[Acheron]

ACHERON
Unfortunately for you, Acheron has now bred with Azami. There are several requirements following this, and you must follow all of them if you wish for her to survive.

Firstly, he demands that you post your mare's statistics beneath his in the breeding thread that he has so thoughtfully created for you. Make sure to fill out the entire form, or Aylette may bring consequences upon her. Secondly, your mare will remember the intense pain of breeding with Acheron. To all mares the experience is different, but make sure it is utterly painful and like nothing she will witness again. She is to forever remember it. Thirdly, your mare will endure exquisite agony upon the birthing of the foal. This must be worse than the pain felt upon conception, and will not be forgotten. Lastly, your mare may not die at any point between the conception and birthing of the foal. If she dies by some mysterious turn of fate, you and your characters will pay for breaking this rule.

Any deviations from these rules will result in consequences from the Chameleon God himself. As you were.