poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
Elizabeth checked over her files one more time searching for the name of that angel. "Arciea, Arciea..." she muttered making sure that she was indeed the angel she thought she was. She tapped her pen against her desk when a knocking finally came at the door. "We've secured her, Lady Elizabeth. Shall I bring her in?" A fellow colleague of hers spoke through the door. "Yeah. Bring her in," Elizabeth replied resting her chin on her fist. The angel was sat before The Grand Witch by the girl escorting her inside the office. Elizabeth reached for Arciea's blindfold promptly and spoke, "The anesthetic will wear off in a couple of seconds. Don't worry; it's just a special type of magick to trick your senses." She quickly thrust her hand forward and then towards her heart ending the gesture in a snap. "Some people trying to come here are exceptionally gifted and can find their ways back here even with a blindfold on. Excuse the inconvenience." Elizabeth pushed a warm cup of coffee towards the angel giving a half-hearted smile. "Urella has told me about you. You are Arciea, the wandering angel. I am Elizabeth, The Grand Witch. A pleasure. You're the first angel I've seen in a long time," she recalled, "well, the first one who has known me by name. I heard you are interested old knowledge. Are you a scribe? What is your purpose?" Her words she delivered in monotone, not realizing how overbearing they were likely becoming Arciea.
"... Miss Grand Witch, my honour to meet you." Although she was still confused at where she was at, Arciea still tried to lower her head to express her respect; she almost lost her balance due to the strange feeling she expereinced after getting drugged.
"Thank you, Miss Grand Witch, for your kind hospitality." After getting drugged, Arciea wished not to experience it another time, so she merely smiled and did not take any sip at the coffer; she instead tried to use her angelic power to stabilize herself.
"It is as Miss Great Witch said; I'm really just a wandering angel. My purpose is nothing more than my morbid curiosity." Although the presence of Grand Witch was overbearing and sofficating, Arciea still answered with a faint smile on her face; she had nothing to hide, so she felt at ease, knowing that the Grand Witch would not do anything to her.
Arciea started to wonder: 'Is it because of her race, or is it just the Grand Witch's curiosity?'— Maybe the her final destination might be the same as the Grand and Great Witches, getting banished into another prison for searching for the truth?
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
The Grand Witch's gaze flickered between the coffee and Arciea's eyes as she spoke. "Looks like Urella has trained you a bit too well," she sighed, grabbing it and drinking it herself. "I wouldn't consider what I did to you very hospitable. Maybe I'm wrong?" She caught herself steering off topic and quickly reigned the conversation back in. "So you wander just to discover. That's exactly what I thought. your thirst for knowledge is inspiring, angel," she turned away for a brief moment hardly a single inflection in her stagnant voice. She actually wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say next. "If it's knowledge you seek, I am surprised we haven't been in contact earlier. What kind of knowledge are you after and why? No one does such a thing without a purpose." Her tone seemed now more forceful as she stared off behind Arciea at nothing in particular.
"... Miss Grand Witch, is the lack of purpose in itself a purpose?" Arciea smiled as she voiced her thought; she really had no overaching plans or majestic end-goals. She just searched for her purposes, just to know about why she was here, and just for that boy.
"I just wander around, trying to find whatever I could find; it is the past that interested me, and it is also the future that intrigued me." Arciea looked somewhat passionate as she spoke of her pursuit; although it sounded childish and small, she took pride in her curiosity.
"If you could tell me, then this angel will be eternally grateful; of course, the history of the High Council or the nature of the Goddesses are among the greatest knowledge I could ever hope for." Although Arciea did not witness the past herself, she still knew that the Witches did not like the Goddesses or revered them; it was the Goddesses that trapped them here, after all.
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
"I've never liked your kind very much," she admitted, "you tend to be invested in a past that is never returning. You believe personal purpose is equivalent to objective purpose. It's why you make terrible scientists. You fall too easily into your biases and desires, especially for humans." Her musings were not aimed at Arciea, but at Upper Pavane as a whole. She moved to address her point.
"I suppose I could share a little bit with you. Did you know I met the goddesses once? Perhaps the only witch to ever meet them in person. Though I was a human at the time." She finished the coffee in front of her and leaned forward in her chair. "But first, let's hear your point of view. What do you think of the goddesses? what 'power' do they hold? Do they exist at all?" She was curious to what Arciea has learned over the years.
"The past is the origin of the present, and through it, the root of the future." Arciea explained her thought as asked by the Grand Witch. It was true that some Angels obsessed over the Humans, herself included; but it was also this obsession that shaped her into what she was, and she would embrace it fully.
"I've never known before that the Grand and Great Witches were once a Human; as expected of the oldest beings within Pavane, truly an ancient piece of treasure." Arciea, no matter how she searched, could not find anything regarding the history of the Great and Grand Witches; maybe if she offered herself under the service of the High Council could she find some.
"To be completely sure, the existence of the Goddesses were not confirmed by anything of substantial value, but it is undeniable that there existed the period before Pavane and the Council; that should be enough to reaffirm the existence of the Goddesses." Recalling her knowledge, Arciea slowly explained her reasoning and speculation.
"In my mind, they were the Creators, the makers of us Angels; however, they were also the one who deserted us... I felt like I should revere them and offered myself to their service, but every time I look, I see nor hear no sight of their presence; it's as if they never exist in the first place." The pair of elegant black wings manifested at the mention of the Goddess; the glowing marks shone faintly as Arciea talked about them; despite not controlling her wings, they flapped lightly, in anticipation for the Goddesses' calling.
Of course, all Arciea received was a silence, a disappointing, heart-breaking silence.
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
"That type of thinking...It's why your kind makes good historians and social workers. If you follow from the root, it creates the same flower. Every time." She didn't elaborate but instead moved on, "but there is merit to your thinking, angel. After all, vampires are impossible to understand without the context of history."
Elizabeth scoffed at her words, "Of course you didn't know we were human. It's a well-kept secret between Urella and I. Pretty sure it's just you and Amy who know it now." She didn't want to push the issue further. Especially not with an angel. After all, she was basically the one who caused humans to stop existing in the first place.
Elizabeth watched her wings flutter, a look of disappointment in her face. "Instinctual," she muttered, "the desire for the Goddesses that have all but abandoned us. It's almost like the enjoy watching those psychopaths in the Council take the power from them." She was pleased with Arciea's acute understanding of the world around them. Perhaps it was okay to speak with her bluntly after all. "Charlotte handing us magick, and Aheira's love for emotion... It's all some sort of petty game to them. A game they think they have control over, but don't really. That's what us witches proved." Elizabeth straightened her glasses and sighed. "I will tell you anything you want to know about them. To my knowledge of course. I have many books that could be of use to you too."
"... For now, I wished to know why both you and the Great Witch decide to choose me of all the angels?." Maybe she had something in common with them; Arciea felt that the current situation was like a dream; she was sitting in front of the oldest Witch, and said witch also told her about their past.
Then, a thought occurred to her; Arciea felt like her mind was playing a trick on her, and that she was going insane. The thought was heresy, unorthodox.
"Are the Goddesses... really absolute? Miss Grand Witch... are you and the Great Witch... their creation?" Arciea was shaken by the words she spelt out; her glowing marks dimmed, revealing a sign of weakness and the shakening of her faith— her belief of the Goddesses.
"... Are there really... humans before the creation of the four races?" The mysterious power of the Great and Grand Witches, the strange potential of humans, the corruption that created the race of Witch— All of these events made Arciea conjured up a heretical theory that flipped her world upside down.
"Please tell me— Are there something outside the domain of the Goddesses?" Arciea's thought wondered into her vivid dream; that boy... if he had the power like the Great and Grand Witches... then maybe there might really be humans after all these years.
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
Elizabeth shrugged. "Dunno. I can't speak for Urella really. Who knows what goes on in that mind of hers. I was just curious how you'd react." She wasn't lying either. Regardless of what Arciea did with the information, it hardly mattered to her. Even if she decided to rat to the Council or something.
"You can call me Elizabeth. Or Miss Elizabeth. 'Miss Grand Witch' is a little gross." She initially avoided the question, but after a moment of pause returned, "Originally, yeah, we were the creation of the goddesses. Just like you. It's what we do after that point that really decides whether or not we are their children. See?" she pointed to her marks. "Those marks are a constant reminder of that fact. Maybe they are absolute, maybe they aren't. I dunno."
"...It's possible humans existed before recorded history. We have some anecdotal evidence towards the fact. I could care less either way. I can't really say either way for certain." She contemplated what 'evidence' someone like Arciea might enjoy reading. Probably an old folk tale or children's book. She made a note to search around for one later.
"Again, I can't tell you for certain what the goddesses can or can't do. What I believe though? I would be dead right now if the goddesses had any say in the matter," Elizabeth knew her sins against the humans well, but especially so hers against the goddesses. "Perhaps I was too forceful earlier. Answer me, Arciea. Who is your master?"
"Then, Miss Elizabeth, isn't both yours and Miss Great Witch's existence the proof that the Goddesses are not absolute?" Arciea slowly let the words flowed out of her; she had gone too far to go back, and so she intended to find the answer for everything; even if she might regret it.
"... Like I've said before. Miss Elizabeth; I am the master of my own thoughts, and the servant of my own conviction. It might be better if I have a real master who can point me to the right direction, or a human whom I could guide." Somehow, Arciea felt that, despite being the oldest being in Pavane, the Grand and Great Witches seemed to also be... most humane out of everyone she knew.
They were chaotic, stubborn, and somewhat air-head; maybe, they were like this because they were the only one who were once humans. No matter how much they changed, at the core, still humans.
"Miss Elizabeth, have you ever had a Guardian Angel? Do you still need the guidance of an angel?" Arciea, in midts of her comtemplation, absent-mindedly asked a silly question; for the oldest being to need a Guardian Angel?
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
Elizabeth closed her eyes taking note of the mess she had made. Perhaps it would have been easier to just avoid the conversation all together, for Arciea's sake. She had just noticed her nervousness, as if she was looking for some sort of relief from her. "It's been awhile since I have seen a creature with such an emotion," she thought to herself, "desperation. But she is in equally part curious, so..."
She spoke. "Evidence is not necessarily proof. For all I know, they could be absolute for all intents and purposes. We might just be exceptions," she reasoned.
She nodded deciding to trust the words of the angel after all. It wasn't exactly that she didn't believe her; she just wanted to hear it again to be sure.
"A guardian angel huh?" she thought for a minute. "Thanks, but those sort of things are only for humans. I can handle my own anyways." A small awkward silence. "But if you ever desire anything from me, don't be afraid to ask. Find an Arisa Amane and she will bring you to me whenever you need. Any other questions?" she was already getting up from her seat as she spoke.
"Absoluteness prevented exceptions, Miss Elizabeth." Arciea spoke once again to confirm her thought; she felt slightly out-of-the-world by her newly expanded point of view.
"Before we go, Miss Elizabeth; could you tell me... what are the humans like?" Arciea gazed at the Grand Witch, trying to see her for what she really was; a human, a non-human; she had no idea how to preceive this strange notion.
"Maybe you're still a human... after all." A mutter slipped past her lips as Arciea quickly lowered her head to express her farewell; she was absent-minded, and felt a need to rest to recollect herself.
poison lingers in her veins as the clock hits midnight
"I'm not what you say I am." She spoke quickly, rejecting the notion that she was still human in some way, but it was too late it seemed. "I don't deserve to be called something like that anymore." No, not a single witch did. As good a time as ever, Elizabeth called in her assistant.
"We are done here. She gave us some valuable data," she noted, "Bring her back to her home in Upper Pavane. Avoid detection when leaving, as usual. And, uh...leave a cup of coffee for her at her bedside," she asserted walking to a bookshelf behind her. 'The Tale of the Cruel Witch,' an old folktale from her time. "Leave this with her too," she threw the book at her assistant haphazardly as she made her way quickly to the window.
"This is, uh... a little much don't you think?" her assistant scratched her head, "Coffee, a book, and an entire angel at the same time?"
"Shut up, you dumbass ninja," Elizabeth sighed, "The coffee was just hyperbole. Take the girl and go. And the book too."
Her assistant rolled her eyes reaching to put the blindfold back on Arciea. "How was I supposed to know that..." Arisa muttered under her breath as she headed out the door again. "You're welcome by the way!" she yelled as she slammed the door behind her.
Living in a dystopian society, seven mystic races are trapped due to their own selfishness. Tensions rise between the races and the different social classes, leading up to the constant struggle for power, with no end in sight.
News
4/11 - With the Ghoul Purge complete, Pavane's fear shifts from the goddesses towards the Council. Check out the aftermath here to get an understanding of the current situation in the plot.
MYSTICAL SOULS belongs to YUMEKUI, DYLZOE AND LUNARIS. This is an original plot created by staff members.. The skin "Midnight Madness" was created by Dorothia. This includes Board Mod, Mini-Profile Mod and such. Thread list was made by Kagney. User Profile mod was made by Pharaoh Leap. Graphics belong to their rightful owner. Plagiarism is not appreciated and will not be tolerated.
