Three chrysalises sat beneath the shadow of the Spire at the center of the temple. The turquoise towered above the two inky oilstones, though all three of them were of impressive size already. None of them would be a disappointment, this Elayne knew with a cool certainty. The sort of gut feeling that she would say was mere rationality, and this time it stemmed from her pride.

She could not wait to meet them.

Elayne laid in proximity to the Spire, legs stretched out along the stone tile as she awaited their arrival. Atop her head sat her crown, and wrapped around her foreleg was a platinum chain with an oilstone gemstone embedded in one of the links. She had her paw curled in front of her, where she held some gifts for her spawn.

Golden eyes flitted upward to the light that trickled in from the cracked ceiling, watching the dust drift lazily across the otherwise still air. It was only a matter of time.

elayne lounged, waiting, sitting upon the cusp of the Dark Throne like she was a queen. a woman who did not have to raise a finger. she was oft like this, of course, but it was especially irritating on the days leading up to the birth of their child (and her... other children) his heir.

but unlike elayne, ultraviolet could not sit idly by knowing that they would soon be hatching. they would be hungry. all three of them. the proximity to the Spire, the hunger, the chaos-- what would keep them from trying to eat each other if not provided another option? as much as he enjoyed the idea of slaughtering one of the other spawn for his heir, he did not doubt that the ensuing battlefield that would erupt between the young and he and elayne would spiral out of control.

she liked to believe she had everything under control. bah.

frustration clouded his judgement and reasoning. the first lesser he found alerted to his plodding footsteps before he noticed it. a low growl rumbled through his throat. this wouldn't do.

he took greater pains to stalk-- silently, now-- through the shadows of cassiopeia's broken city. the rat or hare or whatever it had been had vanished into a crack too small for him to follow. it would not happen a second time.

but after wandering for what felt like entirely too long, he saw neither hide nor hair of another beast. his own hunger was biting at his stomach, but there was a nagging worry at the back of his mind. if the child hatched before he returned, then elayne would have them all to herself.

that was the last thing he wanted. empty-pawed, he stalked back to the temple. he poked his head into the entrance, large ears sweeping for sounds of hatching.

"... any changes?" he grunted the question, his words soft but easily echoed in the large, hallow amphitheater of the central chamber of the Dark Throne.

Inside the temple, a cracking noise suddenly came from the chrysalis on pink topaz. Then the cracking continued, a ceaseless sound once it had begun. Then, abruptly, the chrysalis completely shattered, leaving only shards and a a child wet with chrysalis fluids.

Heavy wings were weighed down by the chrysalis fluid, a bit overlarge from the form of the child. Without light to show faer iridescence, the new life was simply pastel shades of blue and white with dark, white-speckled wings. It was clear from the on set that this child was heavily armored, with only fur on head and belly. Faer humanoid face was covered with a gemstone shaped like a feline skull.

The first being that this child saw was not faer mother. Rather, it was the other being that felt so familiar. The child stumbled onto clumsy feet, and gave a curious feline mewl that was offset by the size of faer form. Fae was already at least one foot at faer shoulder.

"...Papa?" the child inquired with some uncertainty, dark pink-red-purple eyes with an inner light staring down ultraviolet.

While fae was a child of chaos, of corruption, fae was still undoubtedly a child. And fae wanted to know who this being was for certain. He must be trusted, to have been allowed close.

@ultraviolet

ultraviolet froze as the topaz began to crack. it was not his heir: it was the one that elayne had convinced that stray gembound to give up. the beast that came tumbling free from the stone was an image of pearly white and pastels: a creature that looked like he and elayne painted under the voidlight, colors inverted.

red eyes bore into him from the quiet chapel floor, and then with a stumbling, unsteady step from the oversized kitten, the creature mewled at him.

Papa...?

he was not this creature's father, not truly. not by blood or stone or magic-- unless you considered his magic and elayne's to come from the same... source, so to speak.

but where elayne had never been a kitten, uvie had. indeed, he was born lanky, toddling thing, and a calm furred face of warm grays and browns had spoke soothing words to him. he barely remembered it: too many deaths and rebirths in-between. only a faint whisper of a voice, one that felt more like that of an impression than anything substantial.

it was that faint imprint that guided his actions now. this was not his son, not his heir, not his flesh... but he could be the child's "papa", if it wished. the valkhound stepped forward into the temple, bowing his head to gently sniff at the newborn. with careful consideration, a faint, fuchsia-red glow came from his forehead: a mirror reflecting the skull of a gemstone that the young one wore as a mask.

"hello, young one," he rumbled, craning his neck down to reach and touch his nose to the crown of that mask. "welcome. this is our home," each word was soft, soothing, gentle: he was explaining the way of the world to this new being.

Elayne's golden gaze flicked toward the entryway when Ultraviolet approached. "Hm?" She responded idly, as though the answer should have been self-evident. Then, just as though Ultraviolet had summoned a reaction: one of the stones began to crack and splinter.

She rose to her feet, stretching. The first born was a beautiful echo of herself: painted pastels and bloody reds, with a tough hide that presently showed little sign of Chaos. No... This was a fresh mind, an untainted canvas waiting to be painted. Ultraviolet greeted the child in a manner she decided was suitable, and so she did not interrupt. Instead, she walked down the room to meet them, a rumbling purr blossoming from her throat.

"Welcome," she echoed Ultraviolet's sentiment, raising her paw to wrap around fae and draw fae into a warm embrace. "My child. You are the first," she told fae, "a sign of your strength... There will be two others. Will you greet them with us?"

And as if on queue, another resounding crack echoed through the holy chamber.

@Carnevale

The gauntlet of life had begun.

It was an uneasy awakening. A slow moving rise to consciousness that began at first with a distinct sense of discomfort. Oilstone, pressing in on all sides, crushing, constricting, bringing order to what was chaos. He was chaos. Ah, it had a gender now. Yet chaos can not exist in a wholly unrestrained form, and it was in this child who was not quite lion nor human nor octopus that it rose as a merging of two parents who were corrupted themselves. With the realization of being came the realization that he was something. He flexed his limbs, the bone and boneless, but shifted little within the chrysalis holding him in. Holding him back.

Kazimir. Yes, Kazimir! A name! He would not be contained. Flinging his head back, the points of his crest broke through oilstone walls and flinging glinting pieces of his gemstone in an arc around him. He pushed up and out, stumbling finally into freedom.

There were others here, and their size, so much larger and more imposing than the octopus-cub was intimidating. Whereas his sibling- yes, he knew fae to be his sibling- seemed to take a quick liking to one of the large-ones, he stayed standing where he was, cautiously eyeing the two parents before him. His bioluminescent lights flickered on and off, perhaps an expression of fear, or uncertainty.

The child purred, a happy feline rumble, as faer papa acknowledged fae. It appeared fae had guessed right, and that was good, but what mattered more was the affection being displayed. Fae liked the gentle greeting papa gave.

Mama, meanwhile drew fae close, and fae tensed a bit before relaxing, the defensive fine 'furs' on faer body bristling a bit before calming down. Mama wouldn't hurt fae. "Greet, mama!" the purring child agreed happily.

As another cracking noise was heard by all, fae heard something all fae's own. A whisper of words that were not there.

Carnevale... the voice crooned to the child, who relaxed further. This voice was safe and familiar even more so than faer parents. This was the voice that had always been there as fae slept inside the chrysalis. "...Carnevale?" the child repeated aloud, curious, but under faer breath.

It sounded intrinsically important, this word, but what it was, fae knew not, not yet. Fae was so new to the world... Like...

The child refocused on reality, thoughts reminded of faer brother. Why was he so far away still, the child wondered. The eager sibling wandered over, admiring the lights on faer brother's form. "Brother pretty!" fae announced, purring even louder.

@ultraviolet

just beyond the false-child of pastels and elayne, the stone of his heir cracked. dark eyes darted up, pinpointing the stone as it fractured. his heir stood apart, uncertain and afraid: the luminescent lights flashing like warning signs for any that dare approach.

"it's alright," ultraviolet spoke now to his son, his true son, stepping to the side as if to set himself apart from elayne and her child. rather than drawing closer and crowding, he created space. "you are safe." this was an invitation: to join them, if his son chose to accept. if not, it gave the child room to breathe.

his own pelt gave a glow of yellows and reds, but rather than the quick pulsing of the boy, his was a slow, steady glow that rose and fell with his slow, calm breath. soothing, he hoped.

Her suggestion-- and it truly was a suggestion, with no force or will put behind it-- was taken up eagerly by the child. Satisfaction, delight, and pride roiled through her, her own purr rumbling louder as the firstborn scampered toward the second, cheerfully greeting them.

She barely heard Ultraviolet, frankly. He had slunk off to the side, disappearing from her vision, and that was his choice. She would use him if she needed him, but for now, she had more important things to attend to. She approached behind the first of the spawn, her gleaming, golden eyes examining the newest child's flashy pelt.

Was he afraid?

"Your brother is very pretty," Elayne cooed, "Clever you are, to know your family." Her attention settled upon the second born, and she reached out a paw toward the brother.

"Welcome, my child," she greeted him. "I am Elayne, I am your mother. You are of my magic, dear, and that makes you very precious indeed."

@Kazimir