"Isn't it wonderful?" Lunae smiled, coursing her soft hand through a series of racked clothing. "Human culture."
Sonera had nothing to say, providing but a cold stare. Even though she performed a ritual dance herself and wore clothing inspired by the ancient past, she felt no connection to her history. More than anything, it was the raw feelings evoked throughout her life that clung so tightly.
She, of course, saw no connection between the two.
Lunae unhooked a nightgown from the rack, feeling its fabric with her tail as she stared intensely at the finer details. In her mind, the history of other races was addictingly fascinating. Though not every species deserved such attention from her.
The Consortium, for instance, felt far too brutalistic and simple for her tastes. She hated the bitterness of a nihilist empire, seeing her own people within its hungry jaws. A portion of her even felt a bit of dissapointment witnessing Sonera's lack of interest in the topic.
"Individualism." Lunae sighed. "That's what I see in their craft. You possess that quality as well, Sonera, though I'm not sure you realize it."
"I'm not sure I understand." Sonera shrugged.
She was content enough watching Lunae play around. The girl was safe. Her family was intact.
"When it rains, you look not up at the sky, wondering why it falls on you. No, you gaze downwards, smelling the air, feeling its wet touch." Lunae explained calmly. "You are a very broody person, Sonera, yes, but I beleive that tendency is rooted in something visceral and intense."
The assassin didn't even deny it. "I am what I am."
"Indeed." Lunae's eyes lowered. "I must admit, I'm a bit jealous of that. Accepting what you are. You can wear this nightgown, allowing it to shape you, yet still retaining your identity."
Sonera caught on quickly enough. She held Lunae's hand, her radiant eyes glimmering as she spoke.
"So can you."
"I'm afraid that's just not true. My people possess no such agency. It's...just my mother."
"The queen?" Sonera squinted, proving she was sharp enough to decipher Lunae's meaning.
"Our Goddess. Many she influences outright, but for those few who possess a mind of their own...she always gets what she wants from them." Lunae grimaced.
"I beleive you can make your own fate. As a Psion. Yrix wouldn't have chosen you otherwise."
It was rare for Sonera to give the Arch-Flayer that kind of credit. But she couldn't deny the truth. Every student of the Aerie was selected deliberately.
"You underestimate my mother."
Sonera gripped Lunae's hand tightly. "We are surrounded on all sides by enemies of impossible magnitude. Yet still, we will face them. Togethor."
Lunae sniffled. "You'll fight them alone if you have to. Endlessly."
"I'm sure your mother will be thrilled by that." Sonera jested, replicating Lila's smirk.
Lunae breathed in deeply, quivering as she looked up at her partner. The assassin's high heels gave her an elegant yet imposing presence, regardless of her frail figure. It made Lunae feel safe.
"No." She giggled. "She'd tease you for it. She's a wheelbreaker, my mother. People stuck in the mud are her enemy, regardless of how mighty they may be."
Sonera gritted her teeth, showing a smidgen of vulnerability.
"You...are all I have left, Lunae. I will fight for that."
Lunae shifted, bringing her legs closer togethor as her tail tucked itself in.
"That's not true. You have family here. Ivy, Lila."
"Not what I meant." Sonera shook her head.
Lunae whinced, brushing her hair aside with her free hand. She didn't wish to discuss the matter Sonera referred to. But then again, looking back at Ivy and Lila, it seemed dates were made for that sort of thing.
Three.
"There's love." The assassin continued. "And then...there's Love. My heart is vacant and I...I will fight for the chance to-."
Lunae placed a finger on her partner's lips, allowing her tail to wrap around her waist. She stared deep into Sonera's soul, her pupils becoming eerily narrow. Her breath, once labored and uneasy, became as silent as the tomb.
"You saw yourself in him. Only, you felt it was what you could have been. Strong, firm, but gentle and content." Lunae whispered the words into Sonera's mind, keeping her mouth shut. "Sonera...I don't know if I can give you that."
"It doesn't matter," Sonera growled, tears welling up in her eyes. "He's gone. I refuse to hope I will ever find him again."
But perhaps, in her deepest dreams, she could aspire to continue his legacy. Such fragile ambition was made known to Lunae upon the very moment she laid eyes on Sonera. That, above all else, compelled her to seek the broken girl.
To hope for a transformation.
An alien thing.
As unreachable as the stars.
Lunae pulled Sonera closer, giving the girl a tight hug. Her hands wrapped around her back, allowing for an uncharacteristically wholesome expression. She didn't want lust or romance, only the comfort Sonera deserved.
Awash in her pain, Lunae stood firm. Her partner sobbed, allowing her weakness to pour out. But as she continued to break apart, she felt the air shift, her surroundings transformed by a Psionic trance.
Lunae's mindscape flickered with her light, drowning the girls' crackling fire with its soothing breeze. There they stood, embracing the moment. And for the briefest moment, Sonera grew dim.
How ironic.
A radiant sun.
Dim as an ember.
She wasn't the only one to transform, however, as the cloudy void above Lunae began to scatter, revealing a starry sky above. Deep within the glimmering night rested a silver moon, scarred and ruined beyond repair. Yet the celestial body remained strong, gleaming and shimmering with an azure light.
The sun and the moon.
"So long as I stand by your side," Lunae spoke softly. "They can't have you. None of them."
Not even the voice in the deep.
Her mother's ambition reflected through Lunae's eyes, her pupils widening into a new shape. Through their pinkish slits, she saw through her mindscape, glaring at the face from beyond.
Lovatte.
There stood her Goddess, unbeknownst to Sonera, silently judging her daughter from afar.
"I told you," Lunae growled, silently projecting her words to avoid alerting the girl who cried in her arms. "I TOLD you."
"Mm?" Lovatte wagged her finger as a shadowy smoke swirled around her. "I haven't the slightest clue as to what you mean, dear child. All I know for certain is how proud I am."
It took Lunae all she had not to tighten her grip. "Don't patronize me. I beat you. This isn't another one of your traps."
"Isn't it?" Lovatte wheezed. "Poor thing. Still so slow."
"I can help her."
"Your bait. I'll show you. Make you see, maybe before it's too late."
"She's mine. Not yours." Lunae's upper lip trembled. "MINE."
Lovatte nearly keeled over, muting her laugh with a playful gesture.
"I'm not the only monster out there, sweetie. The first Psion has his eye on her. You can't change that."
Lunae tried reaching for a retort, falling short as her mind raced for answers. The words escaped her mouth soon enough.
"Who?"
"The phantom of the mindscape, the herald of agony, the devourer of dreams. Call him what you want. But I've walked the path few ever dared to. He has one true name."
Neirophen
Lunae gasped, feeling a tremor from within Sonera's chest. Her partner didn't seem to notice at all, maintaining her vulnerable state regardless of the fire that raged within. But Lunae could sense it, gritting her teeth as the refracted tendrils of the first Psion writhed about.
"Noodle on that one, honey." Lovatte smiled before dissapearing in a puff of smoke.
The pair stood in silence, each feeling an entirely different emotion. Sonera had opened up, letting her tears flow as her bond with Lunae increased. Yet her partner was frozen in fear, dread seeping into her soul.
She had sensed it before, witnessing its power in Rena's dream. But Lunae never once dared to think how dangerous Sonera's condition truly was. Worst of all, the assassin seemed entirely collected even as the phantom grew.
Sonera lived with it now, her flames becoming one with the entity Lunae hardly understood. Its presence, unimaginably powerful now that Lovatte had spoken its name, felt right at home. Yet still, cornered by an evil equal in magnitude to her mother, Lunae stood firm.
She knew deep in her heart that Sonera bore the illness from birth. It was no meager parasite that had found its way into her at some fateful moment. Sonera was the infliction.
And so fate was sealed. Lunae had fallen for a shadow. Throughout flashes of flame and the echoes of screams, she would face it all for the girl she loved.
"Sonera," Lunae whispered, acting like nothing had happened. "My radiant sun."
And to think, she once felt shame for her heritage. Indeed, the Infestare were nothing to smile at. Yet neither was Sonera.