#code f&d

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s prompt: FFF54 Rainbow Kisses! Set in Code F&D universe. Italics are Fae-speak and the translations are in the notes. Enjoy!)

Seko.

 Darkness

 Diro.

 Scored walls and black scars along off-white walls. Lightning-sharp scarring pain soaring through her chest.

 Kana.

 Fire burning and particles of dust and ash in her mouth and nose.

 Lira.

 Crumbling floors and despair like the sea-salt pervading her mind.

 Teksi.

 Falling.

 If this had been a book, Aster would have woken at this point. She would have remembered the sudden fall and then darkness and then she would have remembered what happened next. Instead, she wakes up in an unknown bed that smelled of a scent that should have been familiar but wasn’t.

 Saying that she woke up is also incorrect, because Aster doesn’t actually wake. What happens is that she opens her eyes and her entire body starts screaming with the pain of it, and she desperately wishes to go back to sleep but her body, having noticed that she is no longer asleep, is having none of it. She doesn’t wake up as much as she gets dragged into the land of the living against her will. At least she got the time to count to five first.

 The only thing she registers once she’s gotten over the initial shock is that wow, the light is bright and her eyes are not used to this. It’s not so much bright as Aster doesn’t know how long she’s been in the darkness. She sends tendrils of her magic out, but there doesn’t seem to be any active danger.

 There’s a soft scratching sound, rather like the one a pen makes against paper. Aster tries to make words come out of her mouth but can’t quite get them to come out. Her throat feels like someone had force-fed her sand and not the good and soft sand from a beach either. The hard and grainy type from the harbour.

 “Where am I?” She asks, once she manages to get words out.

           “Rather further from home than you ought to be, travoksa.” A voice returns. The scratching stops and there’s the sound of a chair being pushed back. The air shifts around her as someone approaches.

             “Who are you?” Aster does actually realise that if the person before her --wait, no, being before her—is any danger, she isn’t exactly in a position to defend herself, but the question bears asking anyway.

           “Syoko no visokami.” Aster registers and understands the language, even if it isn’t a dialect she’s ever heard before or is familiar with. Okay, so this is at least a faerie. Or, if not a faerie, not someone who’s going to do her harm.

             Aster doesn’t know how she knows that. She doesn’t speak that language actually. It sounds like the language of the faerie, but not the one she’s familiar with. It’s too early for her to be doing deductions so she’s going to trust her instincts here.

             “Syoril! Kivo na mi haeri. Ka vyokso no mi haem?”

           “Ko raesa.”

           She hears a door open and footsteps as someone else enters the room. The footsteps aren’t human; they’re not the taps of human feet, there’s slight scratching and the rustle of scales?

             Aster opens her eyes.

             It’s a dragon.

             Aster would scream if she had the energy. The faerie seems to know it because she looks at Aster as if she can tell. The slightly raised eyebrow is signal enough and translates well enough. Aster can’t help feeling like she’s being slightly scolded.

             Oh lightning, it feels like Ro is doing it at her.

             Oh. Oh shit. Ro.

             “Relax, travoksa, your konira should receive my letter soon. You’re safe for now.”

           Aster thinks she should probably sit up. It is a little bit undignified to be talking while lying down on a bed.

             “How do you know Ro?”

           The faerie’s amused. Aster doesn’t know how she knows, until she extends her magic again and realises that the faerie is using the lattices to show her emotions, even as her face doesn’t change.

             “You’re faerie.”

             Aster doesn’t say anything else for a moment while she tries to remember what happened. Obviously, something’s gone wrong but what exactly has gone wrong is a different matter for Aster to figure out.

             “You broke two ribs and have severe to moderate burns damage around your legs, arms and back. You had an infection in your left leg which is going to leave a scar but has otherwise been treated. I would not advise moving your upper body yet.” The faerie says.

             “I would advise not moving your head either. While the lacerations on your head have been treated, the blunt force trauma of your fall resulted in a concussion. Your senses are still recovering so I would not advise attempting any large degree of magic for at least a moon cycle. This is the second time you’ve woken from your induced coma, so you’ll still be experiencing mild nausea and some pain.”

             Aster realises that the scratchy feeling she noticed when she woke up but dismissed was probably bandages.

             “Thank you.”

           The faerie nods. “Your guardians have been alerted and should be hear within a day. Syoril has already gone to guide them through the Pathways.”

             The faerie smirks. “I daresay your human parent will find travelling along the Rainbow Path a fascinating experience. Hex has informed me that they used to be a physics professor.”

             Aster wants to say something but feels herself drifting to sleep.

             When she next wakes, it’s to Ro pressing a kiss to her forehead. Robin’s there too, but they’re talking to the faerie. The faerie’s voice is slightly accented, now that she’s noticing properly.

             “-yes. Should expect full recovery within two moon cycles-“

           “-you. When letter-“

             “You okay?” Aster pulls away from trying to listen to the conversation between Robin and the faerie with the sudden urge to throw up.

             “’m sorry.” Ro just shakes their head.

           “You’re very lucky that the Guardian found you, you know. You could have died. I still can’t believe that you lucked yourself into getting the actual Guardian of the Pathways to find you.”

             “She called me travoksa, Ro.” Aster remembers.

(Written for this weeks @flashfictionfridayofficial​ prompt: FFF48: Cold Object. Set in Code F&D universe again. Enjoy!)

“Believe that I love my sister, like you love yours, if nothing else.”

             “You loved Fae too. And you let that blind you.”

 Castore finally looks at her. In response, Nyx fiddles with her knife blade and then pulls it out. The blade is black and the length of Castore’s forearm. Castore tenses her grip on her own staff, even as Nyx bows her head. When she raises her head again, the blade is glinting with shining tears, the same tears shining in Nyx’s eyes.

             “You’re right. I did.” Nyx extends the blade to Castore, hilt first.

             “Take the blade. I will stay and take care of Hecate while you’re gone. Take the knife, because I do not deserve it.” Nyx’s fingers tensed for a moment and her eyes turned pure black and Castore saw what Nyx’s enemies saw on the battlefield. “Use it to defend yourself because I did not come for my sister or the one she loved in time. And if you get the chance, if you run into the fools which attempted this-“

             Nyx’s smile split into a feral grin. “Slit their throats for me.”

             “Isn’t that-“ The dragon began.

           “Koschei venom.” Castore whispers, holding the hilt and staring at the knife.

             “It comes into contact with their blood. It will kill immediately. Which is more than they deserve but either way.” Nyx shrugs, closing her eyes again. “You’re right, Guardian of the Pathways. I have made a mistake and the cost affects more than myself and dearly so.”

             Nyx knelt and opened her eyes, having changed them back again. “I do not deserve a blade that represents my family and I would be honoured if you used the blade in the pursuit of justice for those that have wronged you and your loved ones.”

             “You’ll stay with Hecate?” Castore’s voice is small and shaking.

             “Yes. I will stay as long as she needs me and longer, if she wants me.” Nyx shrugs, forcing a smile on her face. “I ought to catch up with her and make up for all that I have failed to do.”

             Castore is quiet for a moment, and then tucks the knife away and extends a hand to Nyx. Nyx accepts it, and when she’s helped up, Castore pulls her into a hug.

             “You’re a better being than either of my sisters.” Castore whispers, voice breaking.

           “I’m sorry.” Nyx says, hugging Castore back.

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s FFF49: Mesmerizing Blade. The Dance as mentioned could be either Code F&D or Dreamverse so either works. Enjoy!)

“There are three things you need to keep sharp.” Kosir sings as she swings the blade down. Song-En, who is desperately trying to keep her balance and keep the focus on her heartbeat, dodges, only to trip over the Reso’s sweeping foot and land on her back.

             There’s a sword tip at her neck and it’s cold. Song-En’s entirely covered in sweat by this point and just lies on the ground panting. She can feel her heartbeat again and it’s faster and she can hear the rhythmic thumping. Song-En feels the blade leave her neck and hears more than sees Reso and Kosir sit down on either side of her body.

             “How do you feel?” Reso asks, in the same musical, sing-song tone that she uses during fighting. Kosir spins the sword once in her hand and lets it land back in the form of a short blade, before tucking it back in her pocket.

             Song-En breathes once, taking stock of her body, before raising a thumbs up.

             Kosir smiles at her, sliding her arm under Song-En to support her to sitting up. “There are three things you need to keep sharp in order to survive the Dance. You keep your eyes sharp, your tongue sharp and your blade sharp.”

             Kosir pulls out the knife and lets it become a sword again, before pulling out a stone and rubbing it along the blade. “You failed because you didn’t keep your eyes sharp and notice that there was an attack from the side when you dropped to avoid my knife.” She’s let her voice drop out of the normal song before letting it resume.

             “By the time you’re done here, you will be able to tell any attack from any side and avoid it, if not use it for your own purposes. The Dance is a beautiful and dangerous test, yes.” Reso says, pulling out a ribbon from her pocket and swirling it.

             “To be clever; to be wise.” She sings, voice softening.

           “To be crafty; to be kind.” Kosir joins.

             “To fly with the wind.”

           “To sing with the sea.”

           “To spin in the shadows and balance on Time.”

             Song-En lets the melody wash over her and listens to it along with the accompaniment of the stone on the blade and the beating of her heart. One of the few things she had to get used to but now loved was that Cloudian was never spoken but sung. The cadence of the words, the rhymes you chose, they all contributed to the meaning of what was being sung. There was always music here and there was music in everything that was done.

             She breathed out and stood up.

“Tongue sharp and song-fluent.” Song-En sang, voice hesitant.

“Respond to a part as more than a part.” Kosir sang back, standing up and grinning at her.

“Body-song flowing soft.” Reso chimed, going louder and spinning up with a breath.

“Dewdrop movements in a night sky.” Song-En’s voice grew louder as she picked up her staff again and swung it at Reso.

           “Amber flowing through star-eyes.” Kosir responded, knife flowing through the air to cut down, only for Song-En to sidestep and raise her staff to sweep Kosir’s arm away in the same movement as she trips Reso. Reso leaps nimbly over, even as she sings back.

             “Starlight drops on frozen books.” Her voice is teasing even as Song-En jabs her staff in towards her and jumps over Kosir’s attempt to trip her.

           “Summertime comes when spring ends.” Song-En riffs, thinking of a tradition from her previous home. “Sunlight shining through pollen windows.”

             She steps forward and balances her spin by using her staff and focuses on a spot in the distance to keep her distance, avoiding both Kosir and Reso’s attacks. Kosir catches on unfortunately and moves to grab her torso but Song-En just leans backward and lets the momentum from the spin keep her away from Kosir. Reso catches her wrist so Song-En listens to her heartbeat and drops her entire body downwards into the ground.

             She misjudges and lands heavier than she intended to.

             Song-En feels the lance of pain through her arm as she tries to roll back up. Breathing heavily, she suddenly feels all her bruises come back and her entire body aches dully and sharply in places. She inhales and tries to check by letting the air flow through her body.

             She’s so focused on herself for a moment that she nearly misses Kosir and Reso coming to clap a hand to her shoulder and help her down.

             “Sleep comes for the weary.” Kosir’s voice is teasing even as Reso lifts Song-En up.

           “Victory has not settled.” Song-En protests weakly.

           “Wing-rest from bird journey allows for completion.” Reso sings, even as Song-En listens to the hummingbird beat of Reso’s heart and is forced to relax.

             “You’ve done enough for today, but you need to rest and work on your balance.” Kosir lets her voice drop out of song and Song-En can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed. She thought she had been doing good.

             “You need to heal up from today and you will get better with time and you’ll get more used to Dancing.” Reso adds, and her voice is lower now that she’s not singing. Though it might also just be that Song-En is closer to her chest. “Your Cloudian is improving but you’re not quite song-fluent yet.”

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s prompt: FFF47: Don’t Take My Heart. Set in Code F&D. Enjoy!!)

Her eyes were slits and inhuman and Iridesca tried to suppress her flinch. Castore saw through it and her fingers grew tighter, colder and longer at her wrist.

             “Aurum is too kind to you.” Castore hissed. “Don’t take the heart because frankly speaking, you. Do. Not. Deserve. It.”

             “Now, is that any way to greet your older sister you haven’t seen in centuries?” Iridesca responded haughtily, removing her wrist from Castore’s grip as gracefully as she could. “And Aurum and I are both older than you. Don’t meddle in affairs you know nothing off, little sister.”

             Iridesca brushed her dress off, looking at Castore with feigned curiosity. Castore glared at her. “Now, shall we go off to the laboratory? I assume Aurum told you to come get me.”

             “Stop pretending to be human. It doesn’t suit you.” Castore said, turning away from Iridesca. “I volunteered to come get you. Aurum’s working on the heart you asked for.”

             Castore refused to acknowledge Iridesca for the rest of the way back, darting so that Iridesca had to twist and run to actually keep up with her. The path was forested and the feel of magic in the area was strong and deep. Iridesca had to fix her glamours by the time they reached the laboratory, but Castore just glanced at her and laughed.

             “Don’t bother. No one here is human and the wards will just unravel your glamours anyway.” Castore opened the door and swept in without waiting for Iridesca’s response. True to her word, as soon as Iridesca stepped through the door, the glamours on her faded, unravelling her elaborate braids and her elaborate gown.

             “I don’t recall the wards doing this when I was last here.” Iridesca said, following Castore into the kitchen.

             “So it turns out that not visiting unless you need something from Aurum has its effects.” Castore remarked, pulling a knife out from a drawer and cleaning it.

             “Wasn’t Aurum living with the witch or something?” Iridesca asked, giving up on her glamours and sitting at the table.

             “Hex is out. Which again, you would know if you visited or you know, so much as wrote to Aurum.” Castore tossed the knife back, letting it fly past Iridesca and embed itself into the wall.

             “I’m in the human court, you know that. I have-“

           “Yeah, yeah you have important things that need to be done and important machinations and manipulations and whatnot.” Castore waved off Iridesca’s irritation. “You’re so busy killing faerie and sanctioning magical being’s deaths that you don’t have time to write, yeah I understand that.”

             “Do not speak of things you do not understand.”

           “Oh, you don’t think I understand?” Castore changed her eyes again, turning the whites into the green of the forest and turning one iris pure silver. “I walk the Pathways every day and I hear about you, sister. It’s not like no one knows who you are, dear Iridesca. Beings talk, you know. And even if they didn’t, you’re not subtle at all.”

             Castore leaned in, letting her body become lean and faerie-like. “I know exactly why you want that heart and I’m telling you now that you do not deserve it.”

             “And what do you know, kyosira votschi?” Iridesca slipped into the old dialect by accident as her eyes changed to slits. “You were taken in when you were too young to understand and you never grew up in the faerie world. You don’t understand how the only power is the one that you own, no? You don’t understand how it’s kill or be killed? I control the courts of the humans now. You don’t understand, so do not deign to tell me what I should or should not be doing.”

             “One day, you will regret this, Iridesca-” Castore begins, only to be cut off by Aurum coming in.

             “Oh, Des! I didn’t hear you come in but I’m done with the heart you asked for.” Aurum’s labcoat still bore the stains from her work. The heart itself was in her hands and her hair was a mess.

             The heart was beautiful, covered in silver and gold enchantments to keep it beating and to sustain whoever needed it. It was roughly the size of a human’s closed fist, and it glowed.

             “You mentioned in the letter that you needed something that would save someone on the brink of death, reso? I couldn’t use necromancy per se because that requires access to the actual body but I did the next best thing.”

             “Aurum-“ Castore began, looking between Iridesca and Aurum. In this light, their similarities were clear. With Iridesca’s glamours removed, the fact that they were twins was obvious, what with their face shape, their tendencies, their fingers. Even the way that they began their magic was similar, Castore thought, as Iridesca took the heart and wrapped it softly in her own weaves.

             “Castore, kyosira, would you mind helping me with dinner? Hex should be coming back soon and I just realised we still don’t have anything to eat today. Des, would you care to stay? We can catch up.” Aurum’s eyes were smiling, shining their normal soft gold. Her skin was still gleaming from her metalwork. “We haven’t talked in so long.”

             Castore very carefully did not laugh at that.

             “I didn’t realise that you had a ward for removing glamours now.” Iridesca responded. “It’s a bit impolite if you have faerie, isn’t it, kosi?”

             Aurum shrugged. “Hecate figured out how to do it. Since so much of our work relies on the exact nature of magic, stripping off extraneous magic that isn’t absolutely necessary is just good practice.”

             “I’m afraid I must decline then. I should get back to the palace soon.” Iridesca said, gripping the heart and walking out the door. “I assume you coded and wove it the way you normally do.”

             The door closed behind Iridesca. Aurum turned to her younger sister, expression quietly, bitterly sad. “It’s okay. Iridesca has always loved power and been vicious about getting it. It’s how we survived our childhood, so I can’t really blame her.”

             Castore did not say anything but began looking for food.

(my response to @flashfictionfridayofficial​ prompt: Blooming Blossoms. Set in Code F&D universe)

“-once every couple of centuries- the RIGHT- I’m LEAVING!”

 The door slams shut, sending up a wave of sound that rattles through the set-up Hecate was working with. Hecate carefully adjusts the small bubbling beaker away from the edge of the table and leans out the window just in time to watch Castore storm out of the house and walk into the forest. She glances down at her own ink-stained hands from organising her logs from her field work and then makes a decision.

 Closing her journal, Hecate pins her braids back up and goes downstairs. Aurum’s out today but she still leaves a note on their kitchen table, just in case Aurum comes back before she and Castore do. Fae is sitting there, still in her clothing from her last stint in army when she comes in, sulking about Castore’s argument.

 Hecate, having watched Aurum helping her younger sister for ages, is suddenly reminded of how grateful she is to have been raised by demons instead of faerie. At least Nyx bothers to check in with her every couple of years.

 She pulls on her black outercoat, tucks a couple of knives and vials in there and walks out the door.

 Castore isn’t too far into the forest when Hecate catches up to her and Hecate inwardly snorts at how much like Aurum Castore is. They literally chose the same sulking spot.

 It’s a nice meadow, though you wouldn’t think it. There are small clusters of luminescent flowers here and nice spots to sit and think. The tree cover is pretty comprehensive too, which makes it easy when Hecate pre-emptively sends up a ward to prevent the rain from coming in. The ward makes a nice clinking sound when it melds with her previous ward, from the last time she went after Aurum when Aurum came here.

 “You want to talk about it?” Hecate asks. Castore startles a little, nearly ripping her skin where she had been rubbing her own knife. Hecate picks up a couple of flowers upon remembering that the Ryutsoki is coming soon, and she does want to give Aurum a gift, even as she watches Castore.

             Castore doesn’t say anything for a moment so Hecate picks out the flowers that remind her most of Aurum. Once she has enough of a bundle, she wraps them gently and hangs on to them before going to sit next to Castore.

             They sit together in silence, and Hecate starts weaving the flower crown she plans to make. She pulls out a fine knife and starts making the little cuts in the stems to pull them together.

             “… I didn’t know you knew how to make flower crowns.” Hecate doesn’t look up when Castore finally speaks quietly. “Can you teach me?”

             Hecate beckons Castore over and Castore sits on a patch of slightly raised grass, and watches Hecate. Hecate slows her movements, so Castore can see how to make the stem cuts and how to thread them together. Hecate then moves some of her flowers over to Castore so she can try too.

             Castore struggles for a while, tearing the soft stems, before Hecate puts down her own work and takes Castore’s hands in hers. Castore’s cuts are too big and she uses too much force when trying to fit them in, so Hecate helps her make her first few cuts.

             Castore seems to get the hang of it after a few tries, so Hecate leaves her to work in peace while she goes back to the flower crown she was making.

             “Are you making that for Aurum?” Hecate looks up at Castore when she asks the question. Castore has stopped again and is looking at her. Hecate shrugs a little, feeling a little pang in her heart. Yes, it is for Aurum because who else would she give a flower crown on Ryutsoki?

             “Yes.” Castore just nods a little and makes a little aborted motion to continue her own.

             “Is that for Ryutsoki?” Hecate freezes, but honestly Castore spends a lot of time out at the crossroads. She would understand the implication.

             “Yes.”

           “Are you in love with Aurum?”

           Hecate’s ‘yes’ this time is a lot quieter and a lot more painful. It’s not like she expects Aurum to love her back or give her anything in return, but she doesn’t really want to admit to Aurum’s younger sister that yes, she’s been in love with Aurum for centuries and she knows it’s unrequited because Aurum is. Well, Aurum is.

             But Castore is also someone who knows both her and Aurum with all the knowledge children have of the beings who raise them and would probably see through her denial.

             Thankfully, Castore doesn’t comment on it but goes back to her own flower crown weaving. When she starts talking again, Hecate feels grateful that she’s changed the subject.

             “Did Aurum ever tell you about… our other siblings?” Hecate shrugs. Aurum doesn’t like talking about her family and she knows that Aurum’s got a complex relationship with them.

             “I know they exist.”

           “You know about Des and Fae and Soren right?”

           “Vaguely.”

             Castore looks at her flower crown. “You’re very good at weaving.”

           “Thank you.”

             Castore pauses and she halts at times when she continues speaking.

             “You know how Fae and Nyx go into the human armies. And how Des, Aurum’s twin is in the human court, right- it’s. Okay tell me if I’m being ridiculous about this but. I hate it. I wish they didn’t but oh, what do I know I’m just the youngest right? And like obviously it’s okay with Soren because he helps them when they get themselves into trouble. And like. They just. Come to the lab when they want things and just leave after and like. I know Aurum can’t reject them, but I kind of want to?”

Iridesca - ‘Des’ faerie

Des is determined and ambitious, and has a deep seated interest in gaining power and influence, in the faerie court when she’s there and later when she enters the human royal court.

Aurum - the Gold Fay faerie

Aurum’s defining feature is her curiosity, and her interest in understanding the world around her. She and her twin sister Des were adopted by Soren as wildlings. Aurum’s lab partner and best friend, Hecate, share a lab and room together.

Soren - The Healer faerie

Soren’s driven by an overwhelming need to heal. After the death of their community from a disease from a human invasion, Soren swore to not let anyone they could prevent from dying die. (At first is no one dies, but Soren learnt that you can’t save everyone after their entire family died.) Soren cares deeply about their family, but also spends long periods away helping to heal affected communities of magical beings.

Feyren - ‘Fae/ Code F’ faerie

Fae was adopted by Soren after her family abandoned her. She was named after Soren’s healing mentor, Feyren, and enjoys fighting and protecting the beings around her. As Code F, she and Nyx entered the army and use magical influence secretly to protect and fight for those around her. She spends a lot of her time with the army but winds down in hiding, often going to either Des or Aurum or returning to her home forest if Soren is around.

Nyx - ‘Code D’ demon

Nyx met Fae because of her aunt and guardian, Noctern. From their first meeting, they hit it off. As a Koschei demon, Nyx is gifted with the ability to manipulate the speed of time, slowing it down and speeding it up to help her in fights. Code D, as she’s known in the army, uses that ability to defend and attack in equal measure. Nyx is fond of her adopted witch sister, Hecate, and asks after her often. Fae often calls Nyx her impulse control.

Hecate- the First Witch unknown/witch

So I saw this on @ratracechronicler‘s post and I’m doing this hehe!

Summarize your WIP in one (possibly teaser-y) question

Black Cat of Hearts: How do you thrive in a world that hates you when your only power is bad luck?

Code F&D: What would you give to protect those you love from humans?

A Guide to Magic: Why choose between stage magic and real magic when you can do both and fight prejudice and evil while you’re at it?