enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

you can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. it's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle


With the missions under way and her leadership obtained... Everything had begun to blur together. The stag coming to disturb the waters of her home-- and the news of the Dragon. Now that she had finally gotten a moments peace... It was time to confront Dark.

The bird hardly ever showed up for meetings. This was strike one against Calypso. She had half a mind to give him a stern talking to, but Enna pulled her back. Held off her furious temper. The bird fluttered over to Dark, catching his attention with a short, "Dark?"

She was so worried about him. Was he okay? He had "seen" and done do much. She wanted to hear all about it and check to make sure his feathers were straight-- but already she had realized he was an adult now. He towered over her, his blind eyes huge and intimidating. Not to a mother, of course, she only loved and saw her handsome baby bird... But when had he grown up? When had her child become so strong, able to fly away and get into such a mess? She knew she should have gone after him.

Cancer's disappearance had shaken her. She wanted to-- no, she had to apologize to him. She had got so caught up in protecting and helping Leon that she had forgone her own kin. "Dark--" "Don't you go apolgizing to him!" Her words were sheared off by that sharp, cutting tone.

"Where were you, Dark? Hm? You missed the election. You're hardly a member of Maji Walezi--"

"That's not true, how dare you!" She squawked, afraid of what was happening. Her head spun as she struggled with her internal thoughts, Calypso fighting talon for talon with her over control. "Dark, don't listen to her."

.Enna vs .Calypso

@Dark

Dark bristled, feathers ruffling up with an alarmed, defensive thrill, and he took a swift and taloned step backward as Bevy began to chitter and jabber, shrieking at herself and at him in two different voices. Fear stabbed at him, and the urge to flee mixed with concern that drew him to stay, leaving him trembling a few feet away, staring at her with his side turned half toward her as if prepared to fly away.

When did she go crazy?!

"...Bevy?" he asked softly, voice quiet with that same fear and concern. "W-what's wrong? Why do you have two voices?"

He stared at her with unseeing eyes, only able to listen as the only safe anchor he had in this world dissolved into madness, leaving him cut adrift and alone, everything feeling cold and empty and suddenly dangerous.

________________

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

you can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. it's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle


Bevy's heart dropped as Dark, understandably, panicked at her two different voices. Enna had never not been the one fronting when she spoke to Dark... Aside from when Anan... She didn't really know how to breach the topic with the little owlet, either. It had never come up, and now she found herself freaking out.

"It's alright," she cooed softly, trying to hold herself together. She could feel Calypso looming, bubbling and frustrated. "I... Well, I have-- multiple spirits in my body, Dark. It's not a bad thing. We all work together, I, um..." It had always been this way, and the last few cycles she had really come to peace with the whole affair but...

... But now, her childhood nightmare was becoming a reality. She shivered, holding her ground. "We all have names-- I'm Enna-Bevy, I'm your Bevy. And the others are our friends, okay?" Would he believe her? Would he be okay with this? The small pitohui missed her leader, Cancer. He understood. He'd be able to explain it. Even Giggle would be better to explain it. She was just one, tiny little bird, who barely understood it. She tried so hard, but now everything was falling into shambles. She just hoped, beyond hope, that Dark wouldn't hate her for this. For everything.

"Remember that fun time with the little bug? Anan-Bevy was there. She was nice, right?"

.Enna vs .Calypso

@Dark

For all his larger size, the owl remained frightened, leaning away with wide blind gem eyes. For the longest time, he was silent, like a child not knowing how to react to bad news--which, in essence, he still was. Despite his adult body, his mind remained childishly simplistic.

At long last, he spoke only a few words, and those very quietly.

"...Enna-Bevy? ...Why is your friend mean?"

He was trying on the concept of multiple personalities--of many spirits within one bird body--carefully. He thought he could picture it--he was blind, after all, so two voices almost always meant two people. But it was disorienting, to him--the sharper voice had come from precisely the same location as the gentle one, so it was as if both were sharing the same space. Which... they were, but he was having trouble comprehending this. For one who made his way by sound, it was jarring, to say the least.

And then there was the idea of it! Two Bevys? If she hadn't described it as "your Bevy," he might have flown into utter terror and grief, wondering where his bird-mother had gone. But she was still there, she was Enna-Bevy, and the others were--were what? Within her? Another, brief jolt of fear washed through him as he wondered if other spirits would fill him, would burst forth in sharp-tongued hatred.

He hoped not. Before he could think about it too much, the question spilled from his black beak.

"Am I going to have those, too?"

He couldn't keep the fear out of his voice. He didn't even have the presence of mind, right now, to try.

________________

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

you can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. it's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle


Bevy's red and black feathers quivered with terror as her baby leaned away, speaking so softly. She could feel the fear between them, severing them. The distance between them grew so great that she feared she would never be able to bring them back. "Calypso?" She peeped weakly. She had always been the harsh one, with her words so stern and biting. She had none of the mothering gentle touches, and all of the ambitions of a bird desperate to escape a cage.

Enna's eyes met the floor, struggling to come to grips with her situation. That was when Dark asked his second question, and Calypso snatched up the opportunity to speak once more. With a muted, frustrated sigh, she cut back on the edge of her voice. Though she wasn't motherly in the slightest, her tone had a slight, musical touch to its cold edges. "No, Dark." The overgrown baby was useful in some ways, but over all he dragged Enna down. Calypso knew this and quietly resented him for it-- she couldn't help it. They could have been so much more, done so much, if it wasn't for the blind owl... Or Cancer.

"There's not another gembound in the caves like us. As far as we know, it's just something that happened by accident before we were born. It's always been like this, you can't just... catch it." She tried to be patient, but hell, she wasn't Enna. In fact, she did her best to avoid Dark for this very reason... Unfortunately, that wasn't something she could do anymore. She had things to tell this grown-up owlet and she wasn't going to let Enna keep babying him.

"Do you understand?"

.Enna vs .Calypso

@Dark

Dark stared unseeing for several long moments, silent. He thought about this.

She was different, but she was still Bevy, somewhere in there. There were just... other Bevys. The other one was speaking to him now, he thought--he wasn't sure. It was still her voice. The owl finally inhaled, held it, exhaled... and spoke.

"...Okay. I think so. ...Then--ask what you came to ask? The thing that made you mad. Something with those words, again. The ones that don't mean anything. Maji Walezi." Something had made the other-Bevy angry, and while he was still afraid and nervous about the entire thing, that's not what she'd come to speak to him about. He had to focus on one thing at a time--and while it was hard, and his response had come halting and hesitant, it still came. He was frightened, but still capable of talking.

And he was still capable of understanding. Bevy was angry with him--he just didn't know why.

He only knew that he didn't like the feeling. He still winced, still leaned away. He just had to hope that, whatever he'd done, it hadn't been so much that his bird-mother would cast him away.

________________

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

you can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. it's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle


"Don't mean anything?" Calypso repeated dumbly-- though to her relief he seemed to have settled down some what from before. Maybe he actually could think for himself. She fluffed out her feathers and tried to go through things. "Maji Walezi-- our group? Our family or whatever? Do you not even know... Did no one tell you?" This poor bird had no idea that he was part of something bigger!

Calypso stumbled over herself as she tried to wrap her head around the idea that Dark had no idea what Maji Walezi was. That he was a member. Did he even want to be a member? "W-we have these meetings every month and every member is supposed to be there and you weren't there--" "--That's not his fault, Calypso. There was the dragon. Dark, we're not mad at you. It's alright--" "--Right, yeah. I'm just explaining it," Calypso huffed, irritated that she was getting interrupted. Enough babying.

Well, you could be calmer about it, Enna thought sharply, trying to yank back control. The tiny bird shuffled on her feet, feathers fluffing up.

"... Okay, okay, fine. Dark. Did Cancer not explain anything to you?" It was ridiculous. What kind of harebrained, moronic leader didn't even tell their members what it meant to be in their group?! Well, now that she was leader, that would have to change.

.Enna vs .Calypso

@Dark

"Well--they don't mean anything. They're just sounds," Dark explained, calming a little. He shuffled toward her, fear slowly draining, though not altogether gone--not by a long shot. "The other words--I hear them and they echo. I remember what they mean, in time. These ones, they are empty. I remember it is a group."

He thought about it, for a moment. What did he know of Maji Walezi, aside from the fact that the words themselves were nonsense? Something someone had made up, coughed out.

"I think I heard the name Cancer. I don't know for sure. You brought me here--I followed you here. Someone said 'welcome to Maji Walezi.' And then they talked about other things, to other people. I don't really know." The way he said it expressed his utter indifference; he was here because of Bevy. He didn't know about any of the others in Pisces, and truth be told, he didn't care. They were fleeting voices, ones that--bar Quix--had never personally addressed him, not that he could recall.

They'd been wrapped up in their silliness when he'd tried to warn them about the monster nearby. He didn't think himself superior, just... distant. Different. He didn't know what any of them were for, and he didn't particularly care. The owl thought all of this in the space of a few heartbeats, and then spent several more trying to figure out how best to put these thoughts into words.

"They are all voices. They come and go. Some are loud and some are soft but I don't know them. I am here to stay with you. I followed you."

That was the best he could do to explain it. He'd followed Bevy--and he still didn't know where he'd followed her to. What he couldn't put into words was the idea that he'd follow her anywhere. Of course, that was because she was the only thing he knew--and the only one he trusted.

Or had trusted.

He was still a little on edge about this new other-Bevy snapping at him from within her, and he worried that his mother-bird might lose control, and attack him. In his mind, having never touched Bevy nor seen her, she might be enormous--he simply wasn't aware that she was tiny. To him, his "mother" was and would always be a looming, powerful figure, and so her sharp tongue had sent him into an edgy, vague distrust that would take a great deal of time to dispel--if it ever faded at all.

________________

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

you can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. it's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle


No one told this poor bird anything! Calypso was frustrated out of her mind, but at least now she understood why he was so absolutely idiotic. With a slight sigh, she fluffed up her feathers and reached up her talons carefully. "Dark," she peeped softly, holding her foot to him, reaching just enough to touch his feathers, "it's not your fault."

Right then. It was time to start from the beginning. Blinking, she fluttered her wings, trying to keep a delicate balance. It was probably the most empathetic display she had ever tried, and she knew she looked ridiculous. "Cancer, Leon, Makyna and Bevy started this group called Maji Walezi. It's just a name, all it means is "water guardians" or something. It was Cancer's idea... He was the leader. We're the guardians of the water in Pisces. Enna-Bevy brought you here so that you could grow up strong and safe... I suppose she's done a nice job." She wondered if this was helping. He had been here this whole time without figuring it out for himself, so... She tilted her head.

"Many new gembounds have come and gone, joining our group, leaving to spread their wings. If you want, Dark, you can be apart of this, and stay with us. We'll have to get you introduced to everyone proper."

.Enna vs .Calypso

@Dark

Dark listened intently, mind focused wholly on Bevy's words and what they meant--and their meaning to him, in terms of his life. He understood instinctively that this decision would be a big one. That it would impact his daily life from here on out. He had only one concern, and he voiced it softly.

"Can I still explore? I have friends, that I meet, and I wouldn't have known about the fire-monster if I didn't explore. I want to explore. To learn." He paused, then tilted his head, staring through Bevy, briefly lifting his own taloned foot to gently touch her own.

"I knew it was a group. That's why I came back--to warn you all. But nobody listened," he added, his voice sterile and empty. It wasn't harsh, exactly--just null. Nobody had listened to him; they'd been busy with the foolish "trial," with their idea of bringing justice to two juveniles whose tempers had taken them too far. There'd been something so much bigger--and nobody had listened. He didn't care--but he felt that it proved, at least, that he'd had the group's welfare on his mind before... even if nobody had noticed.

"So... I would like to help. If I can. That's why I came back. But I want to explore, too. Even if I'm blind--even if I can't see. I can still see other things," he explained. "I can see things that were. Things in the rock, and in the metal pieces on the ground. I can see things that used to be. And then I can show you--in your mind. Maybe that will help."

It was the longest speech the owl had ever given, and now he watched Bevy quietly, and though he was unseeing his gaze was unerring--guided, perhaps, by some small sounds the pitouhi bird made. Even as he did this, he called upon his power, felt the glimmer of magic surge up in his gem. The deep green of his emerald began to glow, putting off a soft light as he clasped black talons on the stone beneath.

Maybe he could show her what he meant, while they talked.

________________

@Bevy