Envy was nestled in a small crack in a crumbled wall, holding a glowing pebble between their front paws. they played with it in quick taps that sent the glow undulating as it rolled from paw to paw. Their gaze, however, stared past the glowing object and watched the stream as it rippled, gaze resting on the small stream that trickled by. To them it appeared almost as a rushing river in its enormity, but their lingering gaze showed not awe, but bitterness.

They looked at the insect-infested remains of small fish strewn by the water's edge, and their scowl only deepened. The scent made them nauseous, but their stomach was so empty that it rumbled regardless. Having long since digested their last physical meal, now they were unable to force themselves to eat, and their thin, long body showed all their bones.

They couldn't bring themselves to leave in case their mother returned, regardless of how betrayed their heart felt. And yet it was excruciating to stay, watching with morbid fascination as the insects feasted on the prey that Envy had managed to kill.

Envy had not yet managed to draw anything from their environment except water; real sustenance had long since evaded them. They knew that it was at least possible to draw sustenance into themselves without having to swallow it. It was just a matter of figuring out how to tap into that form of magic.

Resting their chin on their shining river pebble, Envy evened their breaths and focused, drawing on everything they'd learned about foreign elements from Amras and Khloros, and the feeling that they had experienced before through the spell that shrouded their body in darkness. the unusual feeling of taking what water they needed, something that was second nature to them by now. Surely it wouldn't be too much different. They just had to have the verve, the desperation, the dire need.

Power rushed through Envy, sending a rush of pins and needles from their gem to the tips of each limb and the very end of their tail. They gave a shudder of pleasure at the feeling, opening their jaws wide to suck at air. Their eyes were closed, but several of the fish carcasses beyond them began to melt as though rotting in quick-motion, crumbling to mere bones. Envy felt strength flowing into their limbs, fullness into their belly, and elation turning them giddy.

They'd done it.

A savage grin spread over the weasel's tiny face, and as the power surge subsided they once again felt like they could do anything. They arched their spine and, pushing the glowing pebble into the back of their shelter, slunk out with a newfound swagger.

Envy didn't need anyone now.


"Speech"

He was in a place of stars, where the ceiling looked not unlike his own hide. With six eyes shut-- three on each shoulder --the other six were working overtime to drink in his surroundings. The beautiful, dark-but-faintly-glowing ceiling, the crumbling walls, and the winding valley brought an emotion to his chest that he did not quite understand, like warmth without heat. He could feel his own heart fluttering against his ribcage.

He approached a half-crumbled building with a long stride, pausing before it. Admiration, perhaps, this feeling was. He was not entirely sure. A gnarled claw lifted to delicately trace a black nail against a crack in the ancient wall, carefully, as though afraid he might break it further, before his attention was taken elsewhere.

One of his ever-watching eyes-- on the left side, specifically --had spotted a little glowing something not-so-far away, within another wall. As the creature's body turned, every open eye on his left side snapped towards it, curiously, then looked elsewhere as Veil began to quietly focus, staring meanwhile at the thing-within-the-wall.

There was a flicker of light at the creature's throat as his gem glittered in the darkness, and then nothing. The staring eyes faded into blackness and, one by one, the stars across his body went out. As his body slipped into darkness, his glowing markings completely hidden, he began to slink across directly towards the thing-within-the-wall.

The only thing that could announce its presence now was the gentle click, click, click of long nails tapping against the cave floor. As he got closer to the weasel, he eased out of their direct line of sight and pressed against the wall they were within, winding and slithering along it curiously.

He hissed quietly, but not aggressively. He moved so that his eyes could see within the wall, if briefly, his tail sliding slowly across the floor. The thing-within-the-wall was a curious thing-- a bearer of light, it seemed --and it was...


...leaving.

He was quick to move out of the thing-within-the wall's way, who was no longer within the wall at all. Veil's massive head lifted, as though staring after it without actually having eyes in his skull, before he moved after the weasel, half-crawling and half-skittering along.

"It has left the light behind," Veil hissed quietly, nothing more than a disembodied voice in the darkness, speaking more to itself than anything else. "Why? What does it seek to do? Does it wish to find, or eat, or drink, or sleep? What does it do?"

Envy at first trotted out with a spring in their step and body winding, but their pace quickly slowed as they began to hear noises. Scraping, scratching, maybe here and there a slither- never quite close enough to warrant bolting, never quite far away to feel truly safe. The young weasel's movements became slinking, their gaze darting around towards the source of the sounds. The darkness was all-enclosing, andthe weasel couldn't help but wish they'd brought their light.

Soon after, the long-bodied little creature drew to a halt, their head low to the ground and their fur bristling as they squinted off into the dark. They squinted against the dark, their fur prickling with nerves, but they bared their teeth and with newly-practiced pretentiousness they refused to let any fear trickle through. Trust no-one. Pretend, and then you will be great, they reminded themselves, arching their spine.

They swayed their head like a snake about to strike, nervous energy once more bringing out an instinctive twitch, though their gaze remained trained on the source of the sound, whom they could barely see. That was when they heard the stranger's voice, and somehow, even though Envy now knew it was a sentient creature and not some feral terror of the dark, it chilled them even more. They reached into their gem, nervously, hoping to find a way to cut through the darkness and see their perceived adversary, even though they knew not whether there was a way. Perhaps it was their inborn element providing them the knowledge, or instinct, or even their fear of the unknown- but they knew then that there was a way, and they rose their head back and squinted some more, rattling their smooth gem against their teeth.

The rush of pleasurable power seething through Envy's fur brought them a new confidence.

There was a flash of their eyes in the dark, glinting in the faint light of their glowing river pebble, and then suddenly, the stranger's form loomed out of the dark. They saw their savage spines, their odd, crooked body there, hunched in the shadow, but refused to step back or betray any kind of fear. In a momentary adrenaline thrill brought by the rush of magic through their form, confidence grew and they felt again like they could do anything, and they held their ground. "That's none of your business," Envy growled, raising their chin stiffly as though trying to reach eye level. "Who are you?"



"Speech"

He followed at a distance, two of his six open eyes locked on the weasel. The rest darted elsewhere-- checking his back, his sides, absorbing any and all information he could while he quietly scrambled after Envy.

He had half-forgotten he was trying to hide himself for a moment, the eyes on his neck peering imperiously down at the weasel. "It is Void," came the soft, hissing reply. "It is Shadow. It is a Veil." He quietly assumed that Envy would simply understand the words quietly tumbling out of his maw, or better yet-- he assumed that this should be very obvious information to them.

At length, he paused. A long claw slowly lifted towards Envy but didn't touch, hovering a distance in front of their nose. "It left the Light behind," his voice did not raise a single octave, almost as though he were speaking to himself. "Abandoned it to stroll in darkness. Blinded itself, and yet... it can see."

There was a long, rasping breath as the creature considered, drawing his dimly-glowing hand away to pace around Envy again, inspecting them. His tail motionlessly dragged behind him, slithering across the floor. What thoughts were going through his head were entirely unknown, even to himself.

He did seem to realise, eventually, that they were trying to look at him on eye-level. He shifted, moving slowly in front of the weasel and then gently lowering himself down to his gut, right-side facing Envy. His spell faded in this moment, darkness lifting from an already velvet-black hide. His glowing markings offered some light in the darkness, but not a lot.

Three eyes darted to Envy, staring directly at eye-level. The other three on his shoulder soon opened and within seconds all six ivory eyes on Veil's left side were staring directly at the weasel, expectantly. The creature's head stared blindly ahead, mouth barely moving.

"Mortal Who Sees in Blackness," he whispered. Envy had not given their name, so he promptly bestowed this title unto them. "Who else? How many more, I wonder?" There was a gentle twinge of awe to his voice as he watched Envy.

"What more does it see? What does it seek and what does it wish to find? What will it do, I wonder?"

Envy narrowed their eyes at the strange creature, not quite knowing how to respond to the strange and admittedly quite frightening being. "Sure it is. Suure," they said, as though understanding but not particularly caring, when in actuality they were unsure what the other was going on about. Were they talking about themselves, or Envy? If talking about themselves, was their name Void, Shadow, or Veil? It seemed pointless having three names. "But is it a name?" they asked, and seemed pleased with their own wit, however lackluster.

They seemed to be questioning Envy's choices, now, and Envy narrowed their eyes slightly once again. "Yes, I did. Didn't need it. I can see by myself." Their eyes still reflected a metallic sheen from deep within them. When the strange creature faded from darkness into light, the weasel was forced to squint until their own spell had faded, and then flickered their eyes open with a grunt. "I'm pretty good at magic," they explained, casually taking a seat and folding their small forelimbs against their chest. "Oh yeah, I can do anything. I don't even need to eat and drink any more!"

A toothy grin stretched across its small blunt face, only to fade as Envy caught sight of the eyes that were level with them. For a moment, they looked as though they'd seen a ghost, never in their life had they seen anything like that. They stared, transfixed in morbid fascination, before they violently shook their head, huffed and turned away. Their smile returned, but unlike before it was bitter that something could make it feel like that. It shouln't be afraid, never aver! no! other should be looking at them like that!

Envy felt bitter tears bubbling in their eyes but they forced them back. No! they couldn't revert back to being a stupid kid again like they had been... maybe a few hours ago. It didn't seem to cross the weasel's mind that they were still just a baby, and acting their age. They felt very grown up. They'd done things that most babies could never dream of! The thought brought them some satisfaction, and they turned back towards the reptilian creature as they spoke again, shuddering only slightly at the eyes facing them.

The title the strange creature bestowed did bring back some of Envy's lost pride, and their little chest puffed out. They surely showed their feelings, and it was as easy to read them as a book. "O-others? Other what?" Envy asked in confusion, blinking. They thought hard. "Others who can see in the dark? I don't think there are any," Envy grumbled, growing jealously possessive at the thought of someone else possessing similar talents. "At least, not as good as me."

Envy then shrugged at their questions, dropping back onto all fours although their head was still raised. "Was gonna go find a nice place. I don't need the stream any more, 'cause I don't need to eat or drink. So I can go out and do things on m own, and become great! ...-er than I am already, that is..." they hastily corrected themselves and coiled in discomfort at their stumble.

"What about you? What do you do?"


"Speech"

Veil was silent for a moment, thoughtful. A third eye flicked to watch Envy. They had asked who he is, and he had answered, but now they were questioning if that was truly who they were. Is it a name? "It is not a name," he answered slowly, just as quietly as ever. "It is Void, and Shadow, and a Veil. They are not names. A veil has no name." He nodded his massive, glowing head, as if this all made sense.

He slowly slid forward, claws dragging himself across the floor, a fourth eye flicking to stare at Envy now as well. It listened, for a moment, then all twelve eyes were suddenly open and watching the weasel with abrupt, unexplained interest. "Pride," he whispered, more to himself but still definitely audible, and he slowly lifted a glowing, black-nailed claw out towards the weasel.

His nails got close, and closer, but stopped mere inches in front of their face. The creature took a few, rasping breaths, watching with unblinking eyes. There was a slight twinge of awe to his voice, admiration almost. "What is it? What does it see?" He whispered, still, almost reverently, but his hand slowly moved to the floor again in front of the weasel.

"It is unique," he crooned. "One-of-a-kind. Tell the Void, little Mortal Who Sees in Blackness, tell it how it seeks to achieve greatness beyond what it has grasped already."

And then he was silent again, except for the soft, rasping breathing. He watched with a dozen eyes, staring expectantly, waiting for whatever wisdom would tumble out of the weasel's maw.

Envy blinked, their eyes once again narrowing. "Sure, no name, then..." Envy said gruffly, with little grasp on what this ... thing... wanted from them. Or what it meant. or what it was trying to accomplish. But they pretended that they understood, feeling that that route would not only be the easiest but make them look the best. "I'm Envy," the weasel said eventually, unsure of what else to say, whether the strange one would accept it or reject the name. "The feeling is bound to me. It makes me, me." Did that make sense? Envy wasn't sure, but it sure sounded clever.

The small one slowly leaned away as first, they scuttled closer, then their enormous claw was slowly lowered towards them. "Yes... pride. There's nothing wrong with pride," they said, voice rising in pitch in uncertainty. Their fur, which had only just smoothed, began to fluff out again, and they dropped to all fours and skittered several steps away. "Stop that!" they yelled in a moment of reversion that made them immediately shake themselves and narrow their eyes, trying to look sure and not afraid. "...That was... rude." Envy finally said, voice small.

"What do I see?" Envy didn't know how they were expected to answer that one. They sighed, blinking slowly. "I see a lot of eyes..." their gaze veered towards the creature's head, as transfixed as they had been by the eyes. They were suddenly painfully aware that if it had wanted to, the beast could snap down and swallow them in a moment's notice. Thet gulped, backing away one more step.

The strange one's voice continued to stroke their ego, soothing them, but only barely, guiding them just a couple of steps closer to the future they so desperately craved. "I'll learn from the ones greater than I am and take what they know, and then I'll get better at it. Better than they ever were," Envy said, and their voice was filled with certainty. Like a little leech, they'd take what they wanted from those who had more, and use it to better themselves. They'd thought about it before, but never had they been more certain that this was the path that would lead them to greatness. "Then when I can do anything that they can do and more, I'll surpass everything and everyone. I'll be a thousand times greater."

In every way, they were the very definition of their name.


"Speech"

"Envy," he said just as soon as the word left the weasel's mouth, eyes wide. "The Thing That Sees in Darkness is Envy, a thing of rivalry and maliciousness."

"What does it envy? What does it seek? What do other things have that it doesn't?" Although still audible, the creature's ever-whispering voice grew more distant and thoughtful, as though he were truly talking to himself despite his eyes bearing into Envy. He moved to approach further until Envy skittered back.

He stared, silent for several moments. His claw lifted, and then lowered again, but he didn't approach further. Instead, he half-pushed himself up again. His crooked body remained low to the ground-- low enough to watch --but he was beginning to pace slowly around the weasel now.

"Rude," he echoed, and then immediately forgot about the word. "There is nothing wrong with pride, Envious Thing That Sees in Darkness. Pride is a reward. It will feel it again."


A long pause. There was a rasping breath. "In time."

Veil did not explain what he meant by this, eyes staring intently at Envy. He listened, a glowing white tongue briefly flicking out of his maw, snake-like. They saw eyes, they said, but they did not speak of what else they saw. The creature turned again, facing them. "It knows it sees eyes," he rasped urgently. "What else? Thing That Sees in Darkness? It sees things unseen? What does it see that it cannot tell the Veil? What secrets does it hold, I wonder? What must it do to pry them out, to learn, to See like it Sees?"

He took another step forward as Envy took another step back, spines on his back bristling. His mouth moved-- barely, but it moved --to form words unheard. It watched intently for a moment, rasping, then turned away again.

"What will happen, Little Envious Thing, when one day, others begin to leech from it? What will happen when another thing not unlike it comes and does the same? How will it stop it, I wonder?" He rasped, briefly, though his eyes finally looked away from Envy as the creature began to pace again. Six of them shut again, five looking elsewhere, leaving only one to lazily watch Envy's movements. "The Veil was wrong, perhaps. How can it be unique when it steals and takes for itself?"

His massive, blind head turned to Envy, staring through them. "How can it be great if a thousand others do the same thing?"

Envy felt the corner of their lip twitch slightly as the odd being spoke of their name. Rivalry and maliciousness, huh? Rivalry, Envy certainly felt that resonating with them, but they didn't know about maliciousness. They had never before sought to outright harm another for the sake of it. never just for fun. Had they? The weasel didn't think so. "Well, one of those works..." Envy said, with a small baring of sharp milk teeth. They then opened their jaws for a moment to retort that they were fine. But they knew their name betrayed them and they'd never thought about how else to answer this one. Was it even possible for others to think you were strong, but also to know that you wee in pain? So instead they gave a bitter smirk, as though their feelings really didn't matter. As though it was all fine. When they spoke, they tried to make their voice fierce, resolute, and angry. "Others can eat and drink and don't need to use magic to do it... They don't spend their lives sick or starving or parched. They don't risk death every time they take in water. They can feel full, they can feel quenched and they can feel content." Envy tried to keep the quake from their voice, the shiver from their sides which, even now, showed every rib. They tried to look as though they were used to it. "I think I deserve it. Don't you?"

They snickered, but it was more like a half-choked sob.

They fell silent, regret searing into anger in the pit of their chest. They narrowed their eyes once more but didn't respond for a time when the creature spoke of pride. "Yes, I suppose it is," they grumbled, bitterness showing through. and then they fell silent. This strange creature was starting to grate on them. The eyes were ugly, but Envy saw the stars smattering their form and their delicate glow and thought that it was very pretty. It reminded them slightly of the spell that allowed them to fade away into the dark, and the young one wondered if they could branch out from there and somehow get it for themselves. Now that the creature was used to the other's disarming appearance, they wanted what it had.

Envy shied away slightly from the volley of questions the reptilian fired their way, arching their spine and hissing quietly. "I see potential in pain. Knowledge comes to save me when I'm at death's door, but my secrets are mine. I'm not telling you how to do them, because I found them, so they're mine," they said, in direct irony of their plans for the future.

They once again raised and puffed out their chest, trying not to be intimidated as the beast moved closer and closer. "I'll protect what I own, and what I know. Protect them until I die. Because they're mine," Envy repeated jealously what was already said. They bristled even further when the creature seemed to have the nerve to insult them. Envy's body started to fidget, dropping to all fours and bouncing their front end up and down, tail writhing and thrashing at that. Finally, they turned to the side and arched their spine. "I'll make it better," they hissed. "A king is still great, even if there have been more kings before them. They're not the same as the last king, they just take a crown that wasn't always theirs and make it their own. But if there was no crown there would be no king."

Envy settled, seemingly rather pleased with their metaphor, and sat back on their haunches, though their tail still whisked and flickered. They watched the creature expectantly.

"I will be great one day, I know it!" Their voice seemed almost pleading.

"Speech"