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.

Because I took so long to reply to this thread, we decided that @Vedette had been taken by Lord Dhracia to the surface. Now she's back :D

Vedette had fallen into her role of 'pocket monster' perfectly well. Chaos followed in her wake, her voice shrill as she cussed out those Dhracia disliked. Claws had rended and her tongue had tasted fresh blood often, and even better were the hands that carded through her venomous quills afterward, praising her for her work.

Upon being set down she snapped at the grass, hissing as it tickled her belly. Immediately she wanted back into Dhracia's arms, where she would lay in the perfect position to sneer down at everything beneath her.

"I remember," she said instead, her tail flicking as she caught sight of a butterfly, the little thing fluttering along as if it hadn't just spelled its own doom.

A snap of jaws and she'd eaten it, her sharp, needle-like teeth crunching down happily on the pathetic little insect. She hadn't been here for some time, but she remembered this place, and her eyes slowly turned in the direction of Draco, upon the valkhound who's life she'd introduce true madness into.

"I remember the grape," she hissed, her wings fluffing up as her quills rose, "I remember he struck me. ME! That stupid, stupid Vargas- shithead!! Fuck him and all his stupid, ugly creations!"

Vedette turned to peer up at Dhracia, quills lowering as she paced in a circle, glowering at the ground, "This place is stupid and small- it's a shithole! I want to go back, I want to eat faces again."

She made for Dhracia's skirts, the spoiled little thing trying to curl up on them and cling, her ears pinned as she hissed at the grass as if it had pissed on her mother's grave. She hated it here already, but even she knew that Dhracia was not going to take her back.

"I don't need some stupid daycare," she said, "What will I even do here? That stupid grape will assume I am his and call me after my stone again! Stupid, STUPID grape!"

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?”

Vedette eagerly snuggled into Dhracia's arms, burying her head as if to hide her eyes from the wretched surroundings of Pegasus, to pretend like she was with her beloved Lord somewhere far away from here. Somewhere free.

"It would be a waste," she agreed, a wretched smile crossing her face as she was set down again.

She looked up at her Lord, her tail twitching in the grass, her excitement apparent as she let out a horrible giggle, "I will wreck havoc upon the stupid, pitiful gembound that fester this nest! Any who threaten it will be fucking DESTROYED!!"

She wiggled in glee, teeth gnashing at the prospect of blood flecking her quills, her blood-thirst quenched by the number of bodies she'd decimate in her warpath. No one would be safe the instant they threatened her Lord's work- the Creator's work. But as for... respect... ugh, she hated the very word...

"I will... refrain from calling him shithead," he growled reluctantly, "As long as he keeps his fucking hands away from me. If he touches me I will rip off his fucking arm! That fucking fat, stupid, BITCH!!"

Vedette seethed, her red eyes glowing brightly as she attacked the first thing she saw, hatred running rampant as she mauled a poor clump of grass, tearing up dirt and sending it flying as her sudden burst of rage consumed her. It didn't last long and it ended with her spitting clumps of stringy sod out onto the ground, but it was effective in allowing her coherency among the whispers and the violent urges.

"... I still want to go with you," she grumbled softly, digging her claws into the dirt, "But if Vargas is just going to make fucking babies all the damn time, someone has to deal with the politics of the beings who live here. I will not let you down, my Lord."

The honorary valkhound crept towards Dhracia, standing on her hind legs to butt her head against Dhracia's leg, begging for one last touch of her hand before she had to leave her behind. But someday she'd return and collect her again, and someday Vedette would return to freedom.

But for now... Chaos.

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.

Exit Lord Dhracia!

Vedette's quills rose with pleasure as Dhracia stoked her gently, such dangerous hands giving such a delicate, gentle touch. All for her. There was no one as special as her. No one who had gained the affection of the Lord as she had.

"I will eagerly await your return," she said, eyelids drooping at the gentle scritches under her chin, a low hum resonating in her chest, "I hope that fucker acts up so you can pull an eye out or something."

She dropped back to all fours and shook her quills out, stepping back so as to not disrupt her Lord's coalescing disappearance. She watched her be engulfed, unaware of how such a thing had happened to Vedette before, in a previous life, only a bit more violent.

"I will have so much fucking fun," she promised darkly, a grin spreading across her face once more.

Vedette took off running once Dhracia was gone, cackling like mad as she took off into the sky, off to wreak havoc and cause as much grief and mayhem as one her size possibly could. As a servant, pet, and favorite of Dhracia, she had to ensure that the gift of corruption bestowed upon her wasn't wasted.

"BE FUCKING SCARED YOU PITIFUL LITTLE SHITS!", she screamed, swooping down to spook a herd of deer, "GO FUCK YOURSELVES!"

A good start, but her awful deeds would only continue.

Exit Vedette