CRONE .

——    but   had  she   then   grown   taller   since   her   malady  ?   shrinking   from   my   touch  ,   she   let   fall   from   her   head  ,   unloosened  ,   the   ghastly   cerements   which   had   confined   it  ,   and   there   streamed   forth  ,   into   the   rushing   atmosphere   of   the   chamber  ,   huge   masses   of   long   and   dishevelled   hair  ;   𝔦𝔱   𝔴𝔞𝔰   𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔢𝔯   𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫   𝔱𝔥𝔢   𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫   𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰   𝔬𝔣   𝔱𝔥𝔢   𝔪𝔦𝔡𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱  !!   and   now   slowly   opened   the   eyes   of   the   figure   which   stood   before   me  .     “    𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎   𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗  ,   𝚊𝚝   𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝  ,    ”     i   shrieked   aloud  ,     “    can   i   never   —   can   i   never   be   mistaken   —   these   are   the   full  ,   and   the   black  ,   and   the   wild   eyes   —   of   my   lost love   —   of   the   lady   —   of   the   lady  ligeia  !!    ”

     𝚈𝙾𝚄  𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙾𝚃  𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴  𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃  𝙰  𝙳𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙼  𝚂𝙷𝙴  𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙺𝙴𝙳  .

❛  I dislike the feel of these woods.  ❜

❛  Unicorns? I thought they only existed in fairytales.  ❜

❛  This is a forest like any other. Isn’t it ?  ❜

❛  Let’s turn around. Hunt somewhere else.  ❜

❛  This is no world for you.  ❜

❛  Good luck to you, for you are the last.  ❜

❛  What do men know ?  ❜

❛  We are as old as the sky, old as the moon.  ❜

❛  We can be hunted, we can be trapped, we can even be killed but we do not vanish !  ❜

❛  Have you traveled very far ?  ❜

❛  Be a little respectful, do you know who I am ?  ❜

❛  Your name is a golden bell, hung in my heart.  ❜

❛  I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name.  ❜

❛  In all your wanderings, have you seen others like me ?  ❜

❛  Have you seen the others? Where have they gone? Tell me which way I must go to find them.  ❜

❛  No, no, listen ! Don’t listen to me, listen !  ❜

❛  You can find the others if you are brave.  ❜

❛  What if they’re waiting for me ? In need of my help ?  ❜

❛  Well hello there little one !  ❜

❛  And just who might you belong to ? a pretty little thing like you ?  ❜

❛  In my heart I carry such a heavy load.  ❜

❛  And here I thought I’d seen the last of them !  ❜

❛  I know you. If I were blind I would know what you are.  ❜

❛  You wouldn’t have heard of me.  ❜

❛  It’s not much of a job for a real magician, but I’ve had worse.  ❜

❛  You’re mine. If you kill me, you’re still mine.  ❜

❛  Your death sits in that cage and she hears you.  ❜

❛  She’ll kill me one day or another, but she will remember forever that I caught her, that I held her prisoner. So there’s my immortality.  ❜

❛  You were out on the road hunting for your own death !  ❜

❛  He’ll not have you ! You belong to me.  ❜

❛  We are two sides of the same magic.  ❜

❛  You are safer here. You should thank me for protecting you.  ❜

❛  There has never been a spell on me before.  ❜

❛  It’s a very rare person who is taken for what he truly is.  ❜

❛  Will you help me ?  ❜

❛  You’re my last chance.  ❜

❛  Can you truly set me free ?  ❜

❛  I asked him a riddle and it always takes that lout all night to solve riddles.  ❜

❛  the spell was wrong but there was true magic in it ! try again.  ❜

❛  My dear you deserve the services of a great wizard but I’m afraid you’ll have to be glad of the aide of a second rate pickpocket.  ❜

❛  Okay, (name), I give up. Why is a raven like a writing desk ?  ❜

❛  She’ll kill you if you set her free !  ❜

❛  Don’t look back, and don’t run.  ❜

❛  You must never run from anything immortal, it attracts their attention.  ❜

❛  She chose her death long ago. It was the fate she wanted.  ❜

❛  You have no regrets as I do ?  ❜

❛  I’ve never seen anyone like you. Not while I was awake, anyway.  ❜

❛  I’m going where they are, to learn whatever they know.  ❜

❛  Take me with you ! for luck, for laughs, for the unknown.  ❜

❛  You could never have granted my true wish.  ❜

❛  I cannot turn you into something you are not.  ❜

❛  Hide yourself ! We’ll find each other later.  ❜

❛  Mind your heads now, it’s raining ninnies !  ❜

❛  Put me down you fool !  ❜

❛  I don’t like the look of him.  ❜

❛  That’s only (name)’s way, but she has a good heart.  ❜

❛  This is not happening.  ❜

❛  We’ll both be gentlemen of leisure in a months time.  ❜

❛  Oh, I love you.  ❜

❛  She shall never have you !  ❜

❛  We will perish together.  ❜

❛  Did you see me ? Were you watching ?  ❜

❛  Did you see what I made ?  ❜

❛  It’s gone now, but I had it !  ❜

❛  Where have you been ? Where have you been ! ?  ❜

❛  Where were you when I was new ?  ❜

❛  How dare you come to me now when I am this !  ❜

❛  It’s alright, I forgive you.  ❜

❛  You can’t come with us ! we’re on a quest !  ❜

❛  Well, you’re going the wrong way.  ❜

❛  You have all the power you need if you dare to look for it.  ❜

❛  What have you done ! ?  ❜

❛  The power will come to me whenever I need it, and one day! One day it will come to me when I call !  ❜

❛  You are an idiot !  ❜

❛  Don’t ! Don’t you hurt yourself !  ❜

❛  I can feel this body dying all around me !  ❜

❛  You are losing my interest, and that is very dangerous.  ❜

❛  I will keep nothing near me that does not make me happy.  ❜

❛  How would you know ?  ❜

❛  Well, just look at you !  ❜

❛  Come on, I’ll write you a reference.  ❜

❛  You have let your doom in by the front door !  ❜

❛  What are you looking at ?  ❜

❛  What is the matter with your eyes ?  ❜

❛  You may come and go as you please.  ❜

❛  My secrets guard themselves, may yours do the same.  ❜

❛  Please, let me help you. What can I do for you ?  ❜

❛  And then she looked at me and I was sorry I had killed the thing.  ❜

❛  For her sake I’ve become a hero but my great deeds mean nothing to her !  ❜

❛  I wish to be whatever she has most need of.  ❜

❛  You are cruel to him.  ❜

❛  He only wishes you to think of him.  ❜

❛  Who am I ? Why am I here ?  ❜

❛  I knew a moment ago, but I have forgotten.  ❜

❛  I was innocent and wise and full of pain.  ❜

❛  Now that I’m a woman, everything has changed.  ❜

❛  Why won’t you help me ? Why must you always speak in riddles ?  ❜

❛  I would tell you what you want to know if I could.  ❜

❛  I am always dreaming, even when I am awake. It is never finished.  ❜

❛  I would court you with more grace if I knew how.  ❜

❛  Drown out my dreams. Keep me from remembering whatever wants me to remember it.  ❜

❛  Words are always getting in my way.  ❜

❛  That’s all I have to tell you. That’s all I’ve got to say.  ❜

❛  I’m not a man of poetry. Music isn’t one with me.  ❜

❛  As if I didn’t have enough troubles.  ❜

❛  Well of course you’re of noble birth, anyone could see that.  ❜

❛  Love is slowing you down, my lady.  ❜

❛  It was pleasant enough at first, but it died quickly.  ❜

❛  There is nothing of yours that I desire.  ❜

❛  There is no movement of yours that has not betrayed you.  ❜

❛  I like to watch them. They fill me with joy.  ❜

❛  The first time I felt it, I thought I was going to die.  ❜

❛  Do you dare still pretend to be human ?  ❜

❛  It makes no difference. The end will be the same. I can wait.  ❜

❛  Shut up you pretentious kneecap !  ❜

❛  How would you like a punch in the eye ?  ❜

❛  It’s so nice to have someone to play with.  ❜

❛  Try me tomorrow. Maybe I’ll tell you tomorrow.  ❜

❛  Give it to me if you don’t want it but don’t throw it away !  ❜

❛  Give me the wine !  ❜

❛  You would have gone without me ?  ❜

❛  No name you could give her would surprise or frighten me.  ❜

❛  I love whom I love.  ❜

❛  I will go no further.  ❜

❛  Everything dies. I want to die when you die.  ❜

❛  Yes, that is my wish.  ❜

❛  I am a hero, and heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen.  ❜

❛  A quest may not simply be abandoned.  ❜

❛  A happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.  ❜

❛  What if there isn’t a happy ending at all ?  ❜

❛  There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.  ❜

❛  Do something ! You have the power ! I will kill you if you don’t do something !  ❜

❛  That’s what heroes are for.  ❜

❛  I’ve never had any friends before.  ❜

❛  Men don’t always know when they’re happy.  ❜

❛  I’m sorry. I have done you evil and I cannot undo it.  ❜

You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast.

You are going to break your promise. I understand.

You’re lonely too.

It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be.

I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable.

I am your servant.

I crawl at your feet; for before your love, your kisses, I am debased.

For you alone I will be weak.

I belong here, and you will not deny me.

I say these things, and the world listens.

I do not tolerate a world emptied of you. I have tried.

In the dark, I have pored over the loss of you like pale gold.

I will not let her speak because I love her, and when you love someone, you do not make them tell war stories.

I moved the earth and the water for you.

You will always run away with her.

You will always lose her.

You will always be a fool.

You will always be dead, in a city of ice, snow falling into your ear.

You have already done all of this and will do it again.

No one should be judged for loving more than they ought, only for loving not enough.

We look terrible to you, and severe, and you see our blood flying.

What we carry between us is hard-won, and we made it just as we wished it to be, just the color, just the shape.

There need never be any rules between us.

Let us be greedy together; let us hoard.

Do not leave me, swear that you will never leave me.

I am selfish. I am cruel. My mate cannot be less than I.

Sleep with fists closed and shoot straight.

I can’t abide a poor liar.

You look like a winter’s night. I could sleep inside the cold of you.

Oh, quit that. Blushing is for virgins and Christians.

Scold me; deny me. Tell me you want what you want and damn me forever. But don’t leave me.

Bad luck relies on absolutely perfect timing.

In his own country, Death can be kind.

What is the world but a boxing ring where fools and devils put up their fists?

Men die. It’s practically what they’re for.

I am no one; I am nothing.

Nothing in me was not made by you.

A revelation is always the end of something. It might even be cause for grief.

Just tell yourself a story that’ll satisfy you and pretend he told it.

Forever isn’t bright; it isn’t like that. Forever is cold and hard and final.

I savor bitterness - it is born of experience. It is the privilege of one who has truly lived.

If you want to kill yourself, do not use us as your knife.

What did I do wrong? Was I boring? Did I ignore you?

Don’t you dare speak to me like that.

I have worn nothing but blood and death for years.

I have fought all your battles for you, just as you asked me.

I have learned not to cry when I strangle a man.

I have learned to watch everything die.

I am not a little girl anymore, dazzled by your magic. It is my magic, now, too.

Are we not devils?

No one is now what they were before the war.

I have not seen you without your skin on.

Close up your head; your brain is getting loose.

We obsess. It’s in our nature.

I’ve a devil of a habit for being right.

In war you must always choose sides.

If you try to be a bridge laid down between them, they will tear you in half.

We are all dead. All equal. Broken and aimless and believing we are alive.

My old bones will follow yours soon enough.

It is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair.

I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love.

After love, no one is what they were before.

I have survived, but I have not been spared.

In the space of one heartbeat to another I loved you and I was lost to you.

Frighten me, make me cry, only come back.

It’s not so bad, my darling. Being dead. It’s like being alive, only colder.

You’ll think it’s love, while he dines on your heart.

You will be so beautiful when you are old.

I cannot keep you and I cannot let you go.

You will live as you live in any world…with difficulty, and grief.

I look at you and it is like my throat being cut.

She said you’d come and I swore to eat your heart.

I still want to kiss you.

My heart is being cut in two. I cannot bear it.

What happens to anything beautiful?