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This thread is reserved for Youkochylde to RP with, and maintain a diary for, his Silva Regia Fey, Astra. Thank you to Anya! for her permission to use her diary concept. DO NOT POST HERE UNLESS YOU ARE SPECIFICALLY INVITED TO BY YOUKO! Violators will be reported to a moderator.

Background: The daughter of the Moon Court's former bard, Vates, and his lovely wife, the harpist Fidicina, Astra has all the strengths of her parents when it comes to music, and she knows it. She was not their only child, but was the youngest of two. Her elder brother, Meliodora, was seemingly cursed with having no talent for any music which wasn't utterly discordant, and rather than making others feel good, he could literally encourage anger or even war. Astra was the opposite, her beautiful voice and dextrous fingers could make even the most banal of songs seem like a sweet symphony. Even as a child she was able to compose songs which could cast even the most wretched being in a grand light. She was studying under both parents when the curse struck. Recently freed from the window, her future is unknown. Astra became a a beautiful teen whose charm and beauty were increasing daily. But her abandonment by her Kithain began to weaken her, leaving her ill at ease and distracted. In an attempt to correct the problem, Majestrix Nox attempted a spell from the Grimmerie, an ancient tome she only somewhat comprehends. The spell was a success...sort of...Astra's life force is no longer dependent on the renewing presence of her kithain, but she has also regress back to childhood with no memory of anything after the moments after she was freed from the window.

Personality: Astra is what could only be termed a medieval diva. She lives and breathes music, and loves to be in the spotlight, the center of attention. She loves to bring herself into favor with others through flattery via her music, and employs her beauty and charisma to strong effect in this. She is also one who loves to root out secrets by making herself present to eavesdrop on conversations.

~*About Astra*~

List format used with permission by Karma_K

• Name: Astra
  
• Nicknames: Diva
  
• Date of Emergence: February 2, 2005
  
• Parents: Vates (Father), Fidicina (Mother)
  
• Skin Tone: Neutral
  
• Markings: Pale violet tattooing on her wrist and cheek.
  
• Hair Color: Pale blue
  
• Eye Color: Pale blue
  
• Talents: A nearly perfect voice, Astra can sing at perfect pitch.
  
• Mate: None
  
• Children: None
  
• Weapon Of Choice: None
  
  
• Attire: Whatever will garnish the most attention. Astra hates to be ignored, and will use whatever means necessary to gain the adoration she believes she deserves.
  
  
• Favorite Colors: Blues, violets, black, white.
  
• Favorite Foods: Honey cakes, strawberries.
  
• Favorite Sound: Her own voice.
  
• Favorite Weather: Clear, calm and warm.
  
• Favorite Scents: Candle wax, fresh strawberries.
  
  
• Superstitions: None.
  
  
• Dislikes: Being dismissed as a child, those who can't hold a tune, salty foods.
  
  
• Fears: Losing her voice or her beauty.
  
  

~*About Youko*~

• Name: Youkochylde Gingitsune
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Age: 30 (Dammit >_<)
  
• Height: 5'4
  
• Weight: 140
  
• Eyes: Gold
  
• Hair: Silver
  
• Species: Demon Fox (youko)
  
• Marital Status: Lifemated to Envy Fairchylde
  
• Special Abilities: Teleportation (Line of sight), Shapeshifting (Fox form), rational thinking, mediation. Has a temper, once riled up.
  
• Likes: Wiggling his toes in the grass, being outside, summer breezes, wearing very little, iced tea and wireless computers.
  
• Dislikes: Stupid people, humid muggy weather, closed-minded people, bees, wintertime, rabbits.

Youko's beginnings and youth are pretty much up in the air. What that means is that he doesn't remember them, either. When Youko first came to Gaia, it was with a chip on his shoulder and an innate distrust of everything and everyone. No one's quite sure WHY he was that way, and he's not talking.

It took a rather quiet and caring soul... Envy Fairchylde, to get through the fox's shell, finally coaxing him out and began to teach him how to be relatively human. After he started letting others near, he met Karma and the others who quickly became friends. This was when Youko's protective streak showed through, and it became apparent that he wouldn't stand for his friends being stepped on.

~*Possessions*~

~*Permissions*~

• ALL Silva Regia have open permission to post here, provided that the posts are made In Character.
  
• Kithain of Silva Regia are permitted to post In Character - Provided that they have PM'd me first!
  
• Sajhiri and Nox have full permission to post at any time.
  
• Any OOC posts, gifts, etc, please PM them to me. I will make sure they have their place.
  
  

Astra's Regression

Nox drew the heavy drapes over her window so that no light, or prying eyes, could enter her chambers. She looked back over her shoulder at Astra, and the constellations in her eyes seemed to glitter with a combination of amusement and menace.

"What I am about to show you, you must not speak of, to anyone, Astra," she purred as she glided over to a large tapestry on an inner wall. It depicted a stone archway floating in a starry night sky. "Do you understand?" She asked the teenager in a tone of chill seriousness.

Astra had been rather bored up until that moment... but as soon as the hint of secrecy came into it, the pale blue eyes lit up with thinly veiled interest. "I understand," she agreed, walking on finely slippered feet towards the tapestry as well. Another day... or perhaps another month or so ago, Astra would have been nearly vibrating with the anticipation of learning something that no one else knew.

Unfortunately, the months had taken their toll on her. It wasn't until she found herself unwilling to make the effort to even perform that she came to Nox, begging her to either find her damned wayward kithain... or to find a way to break the hold over her.

Nox dipped her head, acknowledging the girl's promise. She murmured some strange, arcane words, and the arch in the tapestry began to glow. She looked back at Astra once more and extended her hand. "Do not let go until we are safely on the other side."

Then she stepped into the tapestry and vanished.

Taking Nox's hand, Astra attempted to still the trembling that came with the mix of anticipation and nervousness that flooded her. She'd never quite seen magic like this before, but didn't want to embarrass herself in the Majestrix's eyes. Still, she couldn't help but take a deep breath and hold it a moment before the took that final step through the tapestry, her hand tightening on Nox's involuntarily.

Nox had no intention of letting the bard know that this magic was not of her doing. In fact, it was still well beyond her. The tapestry had been there since the days of her own ancestors, and she'd been shocked to find it still in pristine condition upon her escape from the window the curse placed her in. She had, as a child, seen her mother pass through it once.

It was only in recent weeks, however, that she'd realized the trigger to pass through it was a reverse recitation of the words inscribed on the arch itself. It had been calling to her...not the arch, but what lay beyond it.

Passing through the tapestry was a disorienting experience. It felt as if one were compressed to 2 dimensions, like the image itself, then pushed forward and out through a reverse of the image on the other side, swelling back to 3 dimensions.

Nox stepped out into a small, dim and dusty chamber that looked like a library and wizard's laboratory were mingled. Though there were thousands of interesting books and items to look at, one thing stood out above all others. A pedestal in the center of the room held a thick, ancient-looking tome, with metal clasps and multiple locks holding it closed, and jewels set in metal rings in the aged leather cover. It seemed to radiate a faint purplish light.

Astra was visibly trembling by the time she emerged into the room, her legs feeling weak beneath her. DAMN this irritating and unnecessary (in her eyes) need for that blasted human she called kin. "Forgive me," she mumbled, taking the opportunity to lean against the wall for a moment and regain her composure. "This grows more and more unbearable by the day... I can do NOTHING without needing to stop and rest. Your kithain could have picked better caretakers for us if this is how we react upon being seperated from them!" Of course it was Sajhiri's fault. It had to be her fault. Astra would have blamed her own kithain, but that would be pointless, seeing that the aforementioned kithain was never around.

"Not that I would not enjoy placing blame on my Kithain for the deficiencies of yours, I'm afraid you've only your ancestors rutting habits to blame for producing irresponsible descendants." Nox sniffed disdainfully as she moved towards the book. She gestured with a flick of her wrist and a blood red nail towards a spot nearby.

"Sit there, Astra. I have spent a few weeks studying the Grimmerie for a solution to your problem, and I think I may have it. The pages shift and change so...so I cannot be certain of the outcome, but it speaks to me of sundering of blood bonds and freedom from dependence on them."

The Majestrix opened the cover, the unholy purple light licking up her wrists like incorporeal flames. "Show me the spell I seek..." she murmured to the book. The pages began flipping of their own volition and came to a stop after a few moments.

Nox traced her fingertip over the words on the page, which seemed to shift and move.

"Are you willing to attempt this, child?" she asked one last time.

At the mention of 'child' Astra's eyes narrowed a bit, but she refused to argue the point that she most certainly was NOT a child with Nox. To Nox, she supposed they were all children in one manner or another. Moving to the chair, she swept her skirt neatly around her ankles, sitting in a rather prim pose as she looked towards the book expectantly. "Of course I'm ready, or I'd not have come this far. The sooner I get past this annoying little 'quirk' of the bond, the better."

The book was pretty well Greek to her, from what she could see. But she wasn't worried. She wasn't the caster here, Nox was. "Let's get this over with, I was just putting the finishing touches on a transcript of one of my father's songs. I intend to perform it tonight in the main hall."

Nox's eyes darted back to the teen and the chill in them made the winter wind outside the castle seem like a summer breeze.

"Silence!" she snapped. She had to focus too hard on the Grimmerie's warping pages to bother reprimanding Astra for her insolence. She turned back to the book and closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself.

She began to chant, her voice low and eerie in it's intonation.

"Permissum cruor ut redimio is parvulus haud diutius imperium suus."

The book seemed to pulse as the first words were spoken.

"Permissum suus vita cruor exsisto suus own. Permissum suus ero solvo of suus cruor."

The flame-like purple light began to dance higher and elongate into tendrils, tendrils which wavered like sea grasses in a tidal current.

"Solvo suus ex vox of absentis vinculum."

With the final words of the incantation, the tendrils glowed bright, then snapped out at Astra like some Lovecraftian nightmare, wrapping around her and obscuring her from view, their touch igniting her blood until it felt as if it were literally on fire and burning out of her.

Nox staggered back from the book, watching in horror and awe.

Astra's mouth snapped closed at the reprimand, and she would have said something else... but she DID have a survival instinct, after all. She stayed in the chair, watching the spell weave itself with ever widening eyes...

Until the tendrils latched onto her and she instinctively tried to rise from the chair to get away.

The effort was futile, the spell took hold of her almost before she'd even managed to move. For a brief moment, she was afraid, and reached out towards Nox as if about to beg her to make it stop. Then the pain hit, and the bard let out a piercing scream that would likely have been headache-inducing, had it not been almost immediately muffled by the spell itself.

She felt as though every part of her body was on fire, and if she'd been able to, she would have swatted at the tendrils to break free. Her mind was racing in circles... she had to stop this, had to get away...

Then it seemed as though everything started to bleed away. Her thoughts were gone almost before she could grasp them. Her memories were drifting away like sand, and she couldn't keep hold of them.

Why was she here?

Why was she in such pain?

Why was this happening?!

The scream seemed to rise in pitch, until it went from being the Diva's exquisite soprano to a wailing cry of a child that now lay curled on the floor of the room, shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind.

The tendrils seemed to swell as they drained away Astra's memories, her time, her physical growth. As if they were feeding on it. When at last they drew away to reveal the memory-less child, they circled the room, not yet sated.

Nox's eyes were wide as she mumbled "By the ancestors! What have I done!"

The tendrils snaked towards her, menacingly. Instinctively she grabbed for a weapon and instead came up with a torch from the wall. The indigo appendages licked around the torch, not fearing the fire. Desperate, Nox pushed the torch towards the Grimmerie itself, threateningly.

The tendrils scurried backwards away from her, snapping and hissing in anger and fear. The Grimmerie could not risk damage to itself. But it had to be sated. Instead, the magical tendrils flowed through the very wall of the chamber, out into the night, heading across the lake towards the other castle which lay on it's shore.

Nox put the torch back in it's sconce and scrambled to where the child lay wailing. "Astra, shhhh...are you all right? Are you hurt?" She expected the bard to merely be temporarily trapped in her child body, she did not yet know her mind had also reverted.

Astra was still hiccoughing with the sobs as Nox spoke to her, the girl pushing herself up on shaking hands as she looked to herself in shock and fear. At first, it seemed that she was wondering why she was trapped in this body again... until she looked up at Nox and opened her mouth.

"Wh-what happened to my clothes?" she asked, trying to gather up the now too-big pieces of her garb that lay on the floor around her. "What... where am I?" She looked around the room as if she'd never laid eyes on it before in her life... which to her memory, she hadn't. When she turned to Nox again, she was sniffling faintly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to come once more, not from pain this time, but from fear. "Who are you?!? What am I doing here, did the curse finally get broken?"

Astra looked down at her own hands, then to the walls around them as if looking for the window she'd come out of. "The glass... I remember being in the glass. Did you let me out?"

Nox blinked at the little girl in shock. Oh dear, this really wasn't what she'd been hoping to accomplish. But...perhaps it worked. "Something like that," she replied non-committally to the child's question. "Astra, do you feel weak at all? Nervous? Extremely weary?"

Astra focused her mind, frowning as she looked down at herself. "Weak," she answered affirmatively. "I feel like if I try to stand, I'm going to fall over. Was dizzy when I opened my eyes, but that's gone now." She didn't feel nervous at all, and tried to push herself up to stand. She ignored the fact that she didn't have clothes on anymore, they were pooled by her feet where they'd fallen off her now-tiny form. This one was a girl. It wasn't like she had anything Nox hadn't seen before.

She wobbled a moment on her feet, catching hold of the chair before getting herself under control. "Legs feel funny. Like they're wiggling, when they're not." A moment later, however, she took her first tentative steps. "But it's going away too."

Nox gathered the discarded garment and folded it over her arm. "Good, then I think the spell worked properly and freed you from the dependence on your kithain. We shall see if it holds."

She unceremoniously scooped the child up into her arms. "Hold tight to me, Astra, we have to pass through a portal, its our secret, yours and mine, ok?"

She moved towards the tapestry. "And perhaps this...regression is for the best. I think I may have located your brother's Kithain, I might be able to free him soon."

"Our secret," Astra repeated, holding a finger to pursed lips as her other arm held onto Nox's shoulder tightly. She was good at keeping secrets! There were lots of times when she'd tucked herself away in her parents' room, listening to them talk of her and her brother. There were other times when she'd crept into other corners of the castle, catching bits and pieces of information that others really didn't want anyone to know about. Most had been perfectly willing to indulge the child in a trinket or gold to keep her silent.

At the mention of her brother, however, she perked up. "Meliodora??" she asked, a smile starting to move across her lips. "He's going to wake up too?" She would have said more, but she suddenly found herself with the disconcerting experience of being yanked through the eye of a needle. When they reached the other side, she just slumped in Nox's arms, looking more stunned than anything from the journey.

"Yes child...Meliodora. Let's get you to your chambers now so you can rest from your ordeal." She wrapped the garment around Astra like a blanket, glancing over her shoulder at the tapestry and the tug of the Grimmerie which she could always feel now. She needed to grow stronger to master the book, before it mastered her.

She looked away again, and carried Astra into the castle halls to get her settled in...again.

Normally, the girl would have likely thrown a fit, exclaiming that she could walk on her own. Now, however, she found that she WAS weary from this ordeal and yawned as she stayed curled up in Nox's arms. Bed was sounding like a VERY welcome idea at the moment, and her mind was filled with images of silken sheets, warm furs and a roaring fire in the hearth. Before they'd even made it completely down the hall, Astra was asleep in the Majestrix's grasp, her head resting against Nox's shoulder as she dozed.

Creativity in Action

To everyone, certain things come easy. For some, it may be cooking, or drawing, or creating works of art. To another person, it may seem difficult or even impossible, but everyone has their talents. To Astra, that talent was music, in nearly all of its aspects.

Today, however, she was dealing with the one aspect of songmaking that continued to give her troubles. She was trying to write down a song that kept flitting through her mind... but at times, it seemed to flit away just as she was putting the quill to paper. The girl was sitting at her desk, legs dangling from the chair as her chin rested on the desktop itself. Her hands lay on the paper, one holding the quill at the ready position, just in case the words slowed down enough in her mind to write down.

She was humming... the tune that she thought the words would go to nicely. Occasionally, she would write again, smiling a bit, only to frown a second later when the lyrics escaped her once more. Already there was a pile of crumpled paper nearby, where she'd made mistakes she just wasn't happy with.

Why couldn't she write songs as easily as Melidora?? It wasn't FAIR!