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 Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:55 pm
(wc: 693)
Fairy tales have a certain power to them that normal stories, "true" stories do not. Fantastical elements are a given, illogical events occur in whatever order they please, and lessons are imparted at their conclusion. A wolf could become a swan with one wing if they were cursed as such, and no-one would bat an eye. Pups lost in the woods leave behind a trail of bright flower petals until they discover the edible den of a witch, unable to return home as the petals had wilted, been eaten, and been crushed underfoot by wildlife as they traveled. Paws crafted of glass and eyes of the ugly sisters pecked out as punishment. Sea foam one day washing a half canid, half fish dreamer without a voice, only to take her back at day's end when the prince's eye wanders.
But Irithyll was in and of itself already a fairy tale land. What do they call the stories there, then, if they are true? If they are not? And did the distinction matter if the story was a good one? Hecate once pondered this, before she took the black.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:15 pm
What is the opposite of a fairy tale?
A truth? A memoir, a biography, a fact? These were all definitions of the life Hecate and her sisters lived with the one called Dauphin, the Black, true, but that did not negate that it had begun as many fairy tales had: with a nobleman, a rare evil, and magic abound.
Then, a lie? But these were not lies. B̷u̷t̶ ̸s̷h̴e̷ ̵h̷a̶d̸ ̴l̶i̷e̷d̵ ̸t̴o̶ ̶h̵e̴r̵s̴e̸l̵f̷ ̵t̴o̴ ̵g̴e̸t̸ ̸b̷y̷.̸. These had been the days she spent with The Black, whether she remembered or acknowledged them all or not.
Perhaps these were the wrong aspects to be focusing on. How, after all, did one define what a story meant? Its truth and its falsehoods did not matter if the experience meant something to the listener, if it left a mark on them afterwards for better or worse. Let her try another tack, then.
What is the opposite of learning a lesson?
Repeating the same mistakes in the hope of gleaning a new response. This was also, however, called insanity. S̸h̴e̶ ̸c̵o̷u̴l̴d̷n̸'̸t̸ ̷b̷r̸e̶a̵k̶ ̶t̴h̵e̵ ̴c̴y̶c̷l̶e̴.̶
Thus was Hecate's conundrum. What she lived had happened, and yet it tried its best to become a black hole within her when she escaped. Perhaps that was the truth of her powers, rather than Ombra. Perhaps The Black had taken of her so much that what was left sought succor in darkness. How did you define it when it defied definition at all? When it was neither fairy tale nor nightmare, real and yet full of the fantastic?
She would eventually come to view her early past in the same way she viewed herself: in the same way you can denote a silhouette of what once was by the negative space left behind.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 4:33 pm
How many? How many was enough?
How many days did she spend in the cavern halls The Black had said were hers as well? How often had she traversed the stone floors? Had she worn her paths, or were they the marks of those that had come before? Hecate was not sure anymore. The home was familiar physically, but spiritually it infected her: like the sight of shadows on the backs of petals in the light. G̵͓̞̔ǒ̷̻ ̷̭̫̼́b̵̞̦̰̳͂̽̉a̵̠̬̓̽̐ĉ̶̱̙̥͔̑k̵̇́̋͘ͅ.
How many sisters had been there with her? The Mother T̴͎̎h̸̗̒ē̴͍ ̴̡̉T̸͕̐y̴͇͌ř̴̢a̵͓͘n̶̒ͅt, The Fatale T̸̼̅ḥ̷͐e̸̝͛ ̸͍̄Ș̶̽l̴͙̄u̵͕͛t̶̗̉, The Virgin T̷̝̐ȟ̴̼ȅ̵̞ ̸̨̈́I̵̤̚d̵̲́i̴̠̎o̷̩͝t̷̻̔, The Animus T̶̨͖͆͂h̵̖̋̾͜e̴͓̿͐ ̶̪͕͆̈́B̵͓͊ḙ̵͉̔a̷̡͇̎͋s̵̫̜̋t̸̘̀̀, and The Witch Ţ̵̯̤̏h̶͈͆̔ë̴̛͕͕̭́͋ ̷͍̾̾̕Ḅ̴͍̼͆i̵͈̝̜͗̋t̴̛̖͉̆͂ć̶̝͂͝h̵̹̱̿ͅ. Or were they simply from Hecate herself, conjurations of company to keep her from being lonely?
S̵h̶e̵ ̶d̷i̵d̴ ̸n̵o̸t̴ ̴b̷e̷c̴o̶m̷e̶ ̵p̶a̵r̸t̵ ̴o̶f̶ ̴t̵h̵e̴ ̷c̸y̴c̴l̴e̵,̵ ̷n̸o̷r̵ ̵d̴i̵d̷ ̵s̴h̵e̸ ̷b̶r̷e̵a̶k̸ ̵i̵t̵.̷ ̶S̶h̸e̵ ̴s̴i̶m̶p̶l̴y̴ ̴t̵o̶o̴k̶ ̸i̶t̸ ̶w̴i̷t̵h̷ ̷h̵e̴r̵.̵
It was said that The Black always killed his mates. That they disappeared mysteriously or contracted off diseases that saw them shut within his domain for her safety. That there was fulfillment in being faithful and no escape for the disloyal. But if she was neither--if she chose no stance except that which kept her alive, if she chose survival over anything else--then what was she?
S̸h̶a̷t̵t̶e̷r̵e̴d̴,̵ ̶d̵e̷a̷r̷ ̸g̷i̶r̴l̴.̵
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