Agsilved had one personal rule. Never sleep in the form given to her by the skull pin. It was, for all intents and purposes, unnatural. Fake. If she could avoid slumber in that form, she would. As of yet, she had no issues complying to this personal rule. When she would settle in for the night in her dorm, the pin would come off. Pale flesh would be exchanged for glistening, ink-consumed scales. Petite limbs would shed away in favor of muscle bound legs that ended in curling daggers for claws. Horns curved from her cheeks, fangs extended and multiplied. Her height and width would increase, but with it did her comfort. She was growing more used to the... other form, yes. But her true self... nothing could alter the freedom she felt in the state of an ink dragon.

Did she dream? Sometimes. Pieces of thought processes that were incomplete would swim through her skull, images flashing before fading away into nothing. Now and then she might relieve some of her memories, but those were almost painfully few and far between. She rarely dreamed of people though. Actions of her own, objects around her.... those were most common. Places were even rare. She usually could not give physical placement to any of her dreams upon waking recollection.

Never was she in her humanoid state.

This dream shattered all of her normalities.

The dragon stood on two legs, grey cloth wrapped and bound to her body by black cord. She could not see the skull pin anywhere. Beneath her feet, cracked stone stretched upward in a sort of path. Cracked buildings, decaying walls. Ruins. Above her, stalactites could scarcely be seen through a violet haze. A river slithered past her a little ways from the path she stood on, yet no sound of running water reached her. No sounds reached her at all, beyond that of her own breath and heartbeat. Dreams were... odd. But this was just plain bizarre.

Barely a step was taken before Agsilved stiffened, noting a figure coming across the crest of the hill above her. A gateway stood behind them, black iron fastened tight. Against her? Useless. Her wings would easily grant her access...

The figure stretched its limbs, wings, a tail swaying behind them. She rose a brow, uncertain where her mind was leading her. The one who walked towards her did not make a sound. Through the violet light the dragon was able to make out the familiar shape of the wings, the curve of horns, the mass of dark hair... what was the last thing she ate, again? Was something not settling with her properly?

Be it a product of unfriendly dinner or not, it was clear enough whom paced towards her.

"What jest is this?"

The purple eyes she knew only from the mirror's gaze or glint off gold crinkled as her doppelganger came to a halt paces ahead of her. A corset held tight to the other's body a swathe of dark cloth. Silver bangles glistened from one wrist, and from one... a purple ribbon? She could not see more of the figure. The violet light from the river could only do so much.

"I ask again: what jest is my mind playing?" This was no normal dream. It had beauty, yes, a landscape she might have liked to explore. But there was now an annoyance standing in her way.

Agsilved was not sure the image would respond. The smile remained, and she might have called the figure's expression soft, almost tender. A concept that repulsed her. The other stared onward to her, and in the dim lighting she could see those eyes moving, taking her in. It was disturbing. Her mouth opened, body straightening as her wings began to fan out behind her. If this thing would not answer her-- "Calm down." The sound alone startled her. Her voice... "I only wish to see you upright, not as my reflection. Well, I suppose that is the improper way to put it, but from my perspective at the time..." Her voice trailed off into a sigh, clawed and ink stained hand coming to rest on her hip as it cocked to the side. Agsilved did not attempt to hide her distrust--and disgust--from her features.

Agsil for a moment... her face faltered. Unease, awkwardness, disinterest, longing--anger--sorrow--sympathy--defeat... it was difficult to keep up with the speed in which they altered and flashed, but in the same breath there was no mistaking the body language and muscle ticks. A dry laugh puffed out from between her lips. "I do not think you can comprehend how much I envy you."

While the urge to spit out a catty, egotistical remark was... immensely tempting... "You share my looks. Should that not be enough?" Perhaps a bit too tempting. Her voice was kept light however, laughing. Taunting.

Agsil gave another humorless laugh, eyes moving towards the silent river. "If that were all it took..." Her tail flicked and brushed against the ground, brow knitting. "As it is... my appearance has only brought me...." Her mouth moved as if she were trying to get more words out, but no sound emerged. Instead, her lips pressed together, lids lowering to allow only slivers of purple to stare out towards the water. Muscles tensed, wings quivered. Anger.

Agsilved was more than aware of how one of her clan looked when they wished to restrain a powerful emotion. The discomfort she felt came only at seeing it from a humanoid form, and from herself...

"If you are so dishearten by my appearance--" There was no mistaking the seething glare the other gave her for that. "Then I shall awaken, and you can dissipate into nothing. Is that not what dreams do?" Cold, yes. But this was a product of her mind. Imagination, nothing more. She saw no reason to be polite, or show care for the distress the other so clearly displayed when she'd spoken the words, dissipate into nothing. To be honest, the amount of distress she displayed... the other took a step back, eyes wide, lip curled back slightly.

Had this been the real world, Agsilved likely would have tired to comfort the girl. Alas...

Agsil took a breath, steadying herself before taking a step towards Agsilved. Her eyes searched the other. Seeking... some answer. "Do you... do you have any concept of... who I am?" Her voice was pleading. An unspoken beg for... reassurance? The dragon stared on disbelieving.

"Should I? I presume you are a fragment of this dream, created by my mind. Though I have never had such a dream as this before--"

"It is a dream to you?" This knowledge almost seemed to burn her. Agsilved could only nod as she stared at this creation of her mind. Was it common for dreams to form such... wills of their own? Crestfallen, the other's arms crossed below her chest, staring out again to the river. As if expecting a sign to emerge from the water, she stood that way for a spell. The dragon followed her gaze, wondering if there was some significance to the violet water. "It... makes sense. That this is a dream to you. I assure you, it is not such to me." Her mouth opened to retort of how to a creation of a dream, the dream would be reasonably their only reality, but the other continued. "You were correct in one thing. I am a fragment of you.

"I was born of a memory of you, given memories of my own that were created by... well, I knew it as the Voice. I had a family once, a clan, a purpose. I fought... even after death. We all did..."

Her mind was swimming. A fragment? Of... her? How was that possible? This sounded like a story she might read, not... "This is ridiculous. I am waking up, this nonsense--"

The other's voice cut through the air. "When did you last walk the world awake?"

Agsilved's eyes rolled, hip cocking. Just earlier, of course. Mouth opened, her tongue readied a snap in response to the ridiculous question. Just that morning. She'd been awaken just... Her lips parted but no words came from them. She'd been awake... that day.... hadn't she? When had she gone to bed? Gone to her dorm, taken off that Jack damn pin.... hadn't she? Her eyes wandered, seeing nothing of the world around her. When had she gone to sleep? How long had she been asleep?

"You cannot recall, can you?"

The sympathy in those words set ink aflame within her veins. "What game is this?" Her feet slammed into the stone as she started forward, scarcely aware of the ink she left in her wake. More dripped and flowed from her hands. Unbeknownst to her, the whites of her eyes began to darken. "What have you done to me? Release me from this place!" If this thing spoke true, was her fragment... was she what kept her here? Bound her? A snarl rippled through her chest. It would be easy enough to rectify the situation...

Agsil laughed, a sound light and genuine. It brought only a darker look and deeper sound from deep within the approaching dragon. "We really are so alike--"

"Like hell we are." The fragment's smile faded, lips parting slightly as she took in the lashing growl in which the other spoke. She watched as Agsilved's arm slashed through the air, ink splattering across the ground from the harsh motion. She came to a stop but a handful of steps away from the other, easily within arm's reach. Agsil could see the ink that flowed and pooled within her eyes, throbbed just beneath the skin of her face, making more prominent the veins under the pale flesh. "We are nothing alike. By your own words, should they hold true, you admit it. Even as I see you before me, I can see it. You are feeble, weak; a shadow of reality. Of me.

"I live, while you shall soon be nothing."

It was now the Grecian dressed dragon who stepped forward, wings fanning behind her in a show of aggression typical of both. But it was not a snarl on her face, no barred fangs. Instead, she looked delighted, excited and, really, haughty. "One's existence is judged by how many lives you have touched, is it not? For only those who know you can ever remember you." Her arms spread, open and welcoming for rebut.

"Please, tell me. Which of us is the true reality? How many people here would notice your passing? Or would you simply be nothing but a breath on the wind."

Agsilved did not recoil physically. Her clan would notice. But... who else, indeed? Her rage did not minimize from this question, focused solely on the creature in front of her. "I do not require others to remember. My ink stains countless pages. I will continue on." Words that did nothing but stir an icy feeling within her veins. "I am dragon. I do not require the companionship of--"

Agsil shook her head, brows raised and expression silently screaming how baffled and amused she was by this display. "We can fly onward to the stars, hide ourselves away within our pages, and strike fear into the souls of many. But that does not negate the clans and comrades we come home to."

Dark eyes widened, taken aback by such a statement. "I possess a home. My clan--"

"Do you?" Again the fragment's voice was begging, pushing for something Agsilved could not understand. "I wonder of that. My memories... my false memories. I was slain by a thief. An Outsider who shamed the Keeper and took from us tomes of immense knowledge. He was easy enough to best in combat, but he was smart. I had only small wounds, the largest across my chest." As she spoke, her claws traced violet alloy that filled wounds. Had those always been there..? "I was confident. I was dragon. I would overcome, surpass, and win. But he knew of the lake." Her voice lost its power, a cold look coming over her. Remembering. "I was unaware he possessed a netting charm. A simple magical trinket, really. But in his hands, a powerful weapon. He cast it upon me, tangled me within rope I could not break, bound my wings and legs to my body. I fell into the water." Agsilved shuttered, recoiling from the fragment and her tale. Her eyes shot to the injuries the other bore. Small, yes, but... "I could not move." The voice broke, lips moving soundlessly for a moment. Trembling. "I could not get free. I could only watch as my ink was pulled from my body by the water. First from my scales, then... then... from my veins. It was not deep water, but it was enough."

Her voice was barely a whisper. Yet for Agsilved, it thundered and screeched, drilling into her images and thoughts that tore at her soul. "I died knowing I could not redeem the Keeper. My mother." Agsilved stared at her. The Keeper was her mother..? Agsil looked at her, the distant mist fading as she returned to the present. A dusty laugh met her as she took in the other's expression. "Ah. So your mother is Keeper, too. As I said... I wondered of that. I left my home, I had nothing to return to. Honor... was not enough. But." It was now Agsil stepped forward again, hand tentatively coming to rest on Agsilved's shoulder. Both knew the contact was enough to spark conflict. Both knew either was close enough for the other to make a potentially fatal blow.

The ink began to fade from Agsilved's face, her temper coiling back into place. "But what? Why tell me this, fragment? Warn me against picking fights with a spell caster?" The joke sounded particularly hollow to her own ears. It was difficult to make jabs at someone who spoke a story that was the fuel of nightmares for her kind. Even a race so powerful could be brought down so quickly, and by something as simple as water. Wits had to be kept in place when in combat, categorizing wounds, and too often did they hear of members who had miscalculated...

Agsil squeezed her shoulder, bits of her dark hair swinging in front of her face as she shook her head. "We both should know that lesson... no. I tell you this because my end was only the beginning of my story." Her body turned, arm gesturing to the water. Agsilved followed the motion and frowned. What was once a river, now before them stood a lake. Violet light softly illuminated a very different landscape than they'd previously stood within, though she could determine they remained within the great cavern. Beside her, the fragment looked... different. Human, save her eyes and the violet alloy. "I awoke here. Dead. I lost my memories of life, but was given a new existence, a new life here."

"And where exactly is here..?"

((*)) "The Violet Kingdom. My home." Agsil looked back towards the other, her appearance having returned to its... normal state. Her wings settled at her back, tail curling towards her legs. Taking a step back from Agsilved, she gave a small smile before striding forward towards the lake. Her bare feet barely made any ripples in the water as she entered, though did not go far. A hand was outstretched back towards the other. "If you would grant me the chance, I would like to show you the rest of my story."

Agsilved hesitated, her eyes taking in the water uneasily. She had no injuries, but to be asked to step into water after hearing that tale... slowly, her feet moved forward. Tiny steps, delaying. Hoping the other would perhaps come out and they could continue on the dry land. But no such luck was hers. The hand was still held aloft for her, patient. Agsil looked content where she stood and the barest hint of a smile could be seen in her cheeks. One step at a time, Agsilved waded into the water. The cold did not bite instead she was surprised by how... comforting it felt. An embrace. The water moved around her knees as she came to stand beside the other, taking the hand in a mix of awe and confusion. How could she show her... her memories? Her answer came swiftly. With her other hand, Agsil pushed ink from under her claws, letting it fall steadily into the water. The substances began to mix, swirl and conjoin. Yet the ink did not spread. Images began to form, the gleam of the violet light bringing forth further detail and clarity in the images. Colors that should not exist were crystal clear within the scenes. Sounds, voices, echoed in her head. No... from Agsil..?

A gathering of people in the cavern they stood within. Presents. A boy with a crown who cheered them on and smiled to each. Thackary. Some conversed, others stood off to the side. Agsil spoke briefly to others--Pawns--and looked... happy. She tried to cheer a girl up--Temes--and it was then Agsilved noticed the keys.

"Please... keep in mind. Our world did not exist as you would know it. We did not know it, for us it was... reality. We believed ourselves dead, and the Violet Kingdom was a second chance for us. We could regain our memories. Move onward to Elysian. All because of the kindness of our king. A king I was happy to fight for."

The tower. Agsil traveled with another. Joachim. Even through her fumbles, she did not hesitate to move onward. They fell. The lake. The chalice. Millie.

"I had friends. I had people to make sure I got back to see. I might have been dead, but I was determined to make the best of my existence."

Returning to the kingdom. The traitors. The mountain of a man attacking the king. Others joining him, yet... more reluctant? Others fought to protect the king. Jove. The king was victorious, but doubt was cast across many. Sacrifices were made to the Voice. Agsil went with others into battle, but not without her hesitation.

"Who would want to believe they who say your life is a lie? That our home was fake? Some did, I suppose... but I had to fight such a concept."

The battlefield. The miasma being sucked from her. Like the ink... Briefly she fought another. Amarus. Falling into the sky. Dissipating. Death. And yet. Awakening within... nothingness. The pillar. The story it told. The reflection. Agsilved started at seeing such a scene. Agsil laughed.

"My reaction was not much different. I thought I had died... again. Now I heard again that everything I was fighting for, everything I'd done... was for nothing. I would cease to be. The whole world would. We would become nothing, for in a sense, that was all we ever were. But I was given another chance. A third shot. One more fight."

Another tower. Endless stairs. Silver and white instead of black and purple, her features mimicking Agsilved's perfectly. First a loss of her hearing. Then her voice. And then... sight. The images in the water were consumed by black for a very long time.

"Huh. Guess they won't even show you... and here I was hoping to cheat the system through this... very well. I fumbled around in the darkness, moving inward towards... I don't even know. A throne. I kept finding this table and a book on it instead though. I still sort of wish I'd taken the chance to rip it up-- don't look at me like that. It wasn't your thigh getting banged up by that table. Now as I was saying... I kept moving inward. Finally I found the throne. I could not see it, I could hear nothing around me... but I could feel it." A smile lit her features for a moment. Sheepish. Embarrassed. "And I could feel it when I stepped on something, and then fell on top of it. It was... someone else." The ink did not move, showing nothing of the events she was referring to. Agsilved could cling only to the words that flowed from the other's lips. "In that darkness, among the nothingness... I found someone. Our hands touched--silly, right? But it meant so... so much." Her other hand lifted as she spoke, and Agsilved could only assume she was mirroring the movements she'd made in those moments. "The world around us began to crumble. Rip and fade apart. We only had each other, and I am not ashamed to say I clung to them. I had fought. I had climbed those damn stairs... and in my last moments, I was not alone."

Caught up in how the other girl smiled as she spoke, at how dark moisture collected at her eyes, Agsilved missed the ink in the water beginning to move at first. New images began to appear. Groups of people. Numerous people. Grouping together, waking up and seeking out others. Agsil stood beside someone. Their hands clasped together. Her eyes opened to look up at him, and they greeted each other with smiles. He even kissed her hand. Agsilved stared. She'd seen him before, that frost demon. He'd been... hardly the friendliest. Now he was kissing her fragment's hand? What..? She could somewhat recall the name he'd introduced himself with. S... S.... S.... Ah! S-

"Spinar."

--iku. Spinar? Wait what? "That was not the name a boy who looks just like him told me." Agsil rose a brow at her, a curious expression Agsilved returned.

"Try greeting him with both? That is... quite peculiar though. I am unsure if we held different names than... ah.... the others. My name I believe is the same as yours..? Agsilved..?" The dragon nodded, still perplexed by this new information about the frost demon. Agsil shrugged, looking out to the ink images. "He was... sweet. I am sad I could not speak to him more." Agsilved decided to withhold her opinion of his counterpart as she beheld how tender Agsil's smile was. It was disturbing in and of its own right-- she did, however, make a sound of disgust when she saw Agsil hiss him on the cheek what was she thinking.

"Are you crazy?! Why did you do that he's a lesser why in Jack's name would you--"

"I had only a few moments left before I assumed I'd vanish forever. Him being an Outsider did not negate how he'd been the only one to keep me from dying scared and alone in the tower previously." Agsil's voice could not have been more flat, emotionless, and I am so tired of your s**t shut up-full even if she tried. Agsilved in response only whined. "Oh just pay attention."

The ink continued to play the scenes of her memories. Dragging Millie over towards Thackary and the others, watching the last moments of reunions. Gratitude. Purpose. So many smiling faces, so much laughter... and quite a few strange antics. But there was joy and honor following through Agsil. The ink began to vanish among the violet waters, until finally it existed no more. The two girls turned towards one another, hands still clasped. Agsilved's mind bubbled and flourished with the memories she'd witnessed. Not memories of her own, and yet... memories to be cherished.

Agsil said nothing for a while. Only stared at the one from whom she was created. Her lip began to tremble, looking down towards the waters. Ink began to flow from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just... very afraid. I am... not sure what will happen next."

The dragon remained silent for a moment, staring at the fragment. This being who looked like her, was created of her.... who lived a life. Made friends. Fought. Pushed onward. Feared. Lived. Slowly, her grip on the other's hand tightened. She did not know how to comfort this creature, for any words that came to mind were hollow and senseless in this circumstance. "...What do the dead have to fear on the battlefield." Agsil blinked her inky eyes and looked towards Agsilved. "When they are sung as heroes amongst their kind, and their memory given life to live on."

It was all she had to give. A promise, a vow. A dragon's honor to keep alive the story. "Please do not tell me you will sing. I am well aware I at least cannot carry much of a tune."

Well so much for that moment. Agsilved gave a very undignified snort. "Do I look like a bard to you? No. I can, however, write. The story you have told me... would you allow me the chance to scribe it?" It was Agsil's turn to give a start. Gaping mouth, stunned silence.... quickly moved into a bowed head, ink dripping from her eyes down her features. A silent nod. A whispered thanks. Carefully, Agsilved's wings moved, stretching out in front of her before curling inward towards the other girl. "You will not be nothing. You will live on. You have existed... you will be remembered."

Her head nodded, dark hair coming to rest against the other's shoulder. Not quite an embrace, but for a moment, both felt at peace. Kinship. Shared memories. Shared emotions. The world around them began to fade away in a soft violet haze. Bit by bit. Painlessly, soothingly. They stood still within the waters and took in the silence of the world, the beat of Agsilved's heart, their breaths. Agsilved's lids began to grow heavy. Her arms wrapped around the other, more for support than comfort. She could feel herself leaning into Agsil. The water was gone. Her head rested in the other's lap, listening to her breathing. Soothing. Fading. The memory would remain of this dream. This life. This existence. She would remember her vow.

"Please. Tell him... tell him I am glad we were able to meet. Even if for a moment, I... I will always remember him. All of them. Find them? Please. Please. We all lived.




We live."






Agsilved awoke slowly to the world she knew. Humanoid body and all. Unlike her normal dreams, she remembered this one. She would make sure others remember her story as well.


(( * OOC NOTE: You might wanna start listening to Stairway to Heaven right about now. Pandora was kind enough to play it as I wrote. |D~
Followed by Over My Head rofl. I might need to put together a solo playlist later.

I also apologize for not mentioning more people, but these were the ones Agsil mainly took notice of in my posts so.... e.e; I'd be here for days if I had to mention every awesome person shhhh ))