SHOW THEM HOW YOU SMILE - Printable Version

The fun was over, and now Lord Dhracia was bound to the mortal plane for another long spate of watching years. Her pet might have made the mission a little lighter, but she couldn't risk unleashing something so caustic into such a fragile environment. It was important for the place she was going to remain in peace for as long as possible. Besides, Lord Dhracia was used to yearning solitude.

In a wisp of black vapor, dragon feet landed in the plush meadow grass. The menagerie of oily monsters draped across her shoulders churned with hunger for the life they could sense, but Lord Dhracia only beckoned one, Senka, and materialized the feline with a flick of her wrist. “Swiftly. I won't be here long,” said Lord Dhracia. The beast rumbled and evaporated back into a shadow, her leash relinquished, to perform the tasks set before her.

Lord Dhracia waited until Senka had vanished before lowering the creature in her arms to the ground. “Do you remember this place?” she asked, crouching before the true abomination that she was here to return, her latest favorite pet. Not a valkhound, nor a fully corrupted gembound like Senka; but a monster by way of its own insidious mental machinations. Lord Dhracia watched the springbok with keen curiosity.

The sheer vitriol Vedette expressed toward everything and anything made Lord Dhracia twinge her lips. The nature of it was reminiscent of a period in her own life; though Lord Dhracia had long grown out of it, she knew what it was like to hate and hate and hate. She purred with amusement in her throat, watching Vedette destroy the fluttering insect and remaining silent over the springbok's stream of memories. The holographic silver shine in her eyes could be empathy if one could believe Lord Dhracia was capable of it. As Vedette scrambled her way back into Lord Dhracia's arms, she stroked the creature's back and hummed. “What a waste it would be if I were to harness your full potential out there, only to ask you to smother it down here,” she said. “Don't you think?”

Lord Dhracia delivered the springbok into the grass, this time standing back up.

“I expect you to continue your line of work.” Vedette would be no stranger now to the overarching objective of the house of Chaos: it was to keep everything cycling. Creating, destroying, consuming, regenerating. If any of His nests fell into disuse, it was the work of His disciples to break that nest down for resources or kick it back to life. “You are sworn to Vargas' command while you are here, thus your survival depends on your ability to display a modicum of respect for him. But his work is not yours. There remain insurgents that are not conducive to restoring this nest... with faces that are quite edible.”

She pondered it for a second, wondering how far Vedette would get if she were to sic the springbok on Astraea (for his failures) or Tenzin (for his weakness.) Even Nemean was due for a reminder of her place, but she doubted Vedette would ever land a fang on the nymph. No matter. There were plenty of lesser inhabitants Lord Dhracia could sacrifice to keep Him appeased... and out of her business.

“You'll help me return this nest to its destined state, won't you?”

Lord Dhracia chuckled behind her lips as the springbok once more unleashed her chaotic instincts on the world, swearing and lashing up grass in the name of her compulsion. She even chuckled at Vedette's reluctance to defer to Vargas, and she didn't blame the creature; she was created for the purpose of destruction. If Lord Dhracia didn't care about the fate of the little monster in front of her, she probably would have sent Vedette out into existence with the rest of the valkhounds. But as it was, Lord Dhracia was far too fond of Vedette to just let her loose. At least here in the nest, if she did meet her unfortunate end, Lord Dhracia could always recover the stone and try again. It wouldn't be the first time she'd fettered away her favorites.

Totum might know a thing or two about that.

In any case, it wasn't reasoning that Lord Dhracia could openly confess, but she was glad for Vedette's resistance if only as an excuse to use softness that implicated as much. “That's right,” she said, referring to the nest's self-sabotaging political atmosphere that existed in spite of itself. “You're very clever, Vedette. I know you won't let me down.”

She stroked back the venomous quills of her favorite pet, struck by how sentimental she had become. First Mary, and now Vedette. But it didn't last long; a shimmering shadow soon caught her eye. Lord Dhracia gave the little beast a scratch under her chin before standing, welcoming Senka back up onto her shoulders. The feline gurgled and hissed as her body melted back into aether, whispering news into Lord Dhracia's ear.

“Mm,” she said, standing tall again. “It seems I must speak with Master Vargas after all. I'll inform him of your return, then.”

Probably best that Lord Dhracia arrived when she did, given what Senka just told her. She smiled a thin, manipulative smile down at Vedette, but only because her face had forgotten how to craft anything in sincerity.

“Stay away from Draco and Ursa for now, hm?”

Glistening black oil pooled at Lord Dhracia's feet, slowly engulfing her, her image swallowed in the maw of Chaos.

“Have fun, Vedette.”

With a crackle of voidlight, the gleaming pastures shuddered, their pristine expanse insulted by Lord Dhracia's swell of chaotic power. She vanished, leaving Vedette to her new task.