The Warlock(s) In The Room ~ GG

GHOSTLIGHTS PLOT CENTER

Acorn Count: 32/707

 Characters Depicted:

    -   Black Swan (Grimsby Grove Deep One)

    -   Eclipse (MinTea-Leaves)

    -   Grey (Written (LiteralCryptid))

    -   He Who Sounds Hollow (Grimsby Grove Deep One)

    -   Icelos “Icy” Sombers (Written (MinTea-Leaves))

    -   Lasagna Cat (Grimsby Grove Deep One)

    -   Muirín “Myr” (twooost)

    -   Seelie Hollow (justspillingcoldtea)

    -   Sífora (Written (twooost))

    -   THE SHADE WHICH SPAWNS ALL (Grimsby Grove Deep One) 

    -   Trixie Treet (Written (LiteralCryptid))

    -   Whisper of Shadows (Grimsby Grove Deep One)

 Word Count: 3136

---

Oh boy, this has been one hell of a project. I started this during the Wyld Hunt back in October/November. I knew it would be a large project, but it certainly took a lot longer than I thought to get it done. But now it’s done, and we can finally share it!

 Unlike other selections, the Ghostlights didn’t get picked up in their sleep. Theirs was a tad more… murderous. It couldn’t be easily ignored, and we decided that the characters would want to talk about it before half of them left back to the Grove. I offered to write this piece for that exact conversation!

 It turns out it takes a while to explain how the entire universe, as you know it, is a lie– especially when some of them are diving deep into denial. They were going to be here for a while…

 But now, everyone’s finally on the same page! Lore-wise, this happened before the Onslaught– before the Grove had even left. Afterward, while Myr’s still in denial, Trixie & Icy head back to the Grove, gather information for the Warlocks left back at the Cove, and watch for the missing shard piece.

 I hope Trixie doesn’t have a heart attack when they find it in their little sibling’s possession!

 Anyways, the moral of this story is that He Who Sounds Hollow can suck it. Sure, he may have figured out how to force an interaction, but he forgot an all-important step in that plan— calling dibs.

 I hope you all enjoy it!

---

 Seelie swept their thumb along the long side of their glass shard, the pale surface as smooth as silk under their fingers. They lifted their thumb, watching the golden flecks shimmer before settling within the shard again.

 After a moment, the shard began humming in Seelie’s hand.

 They glanced up, watching Myr as he nervously shuffled into the small clearing with his newly sharpened ears pricked for the slightest noise. Seelie didn’t blame him for the hesitation as he shuffled around the charred remains of the false soul, its hollow carapace long burned in the fire.

 Sitting beside Seelie, Icy huffed. “...Did– did we really have to come back here?”

 “Oh, Icy,” Trixie snorted with a roll of her eyes. “Of course we did– there’s not exactly a surplus of eldritch clearings for us to hold secret meetings in.”

 Myr paused midstep with a sharp inhale before he shook it off, sinking to sit next to Eclipse. The shorter yellow folk didn’t react as strongly as he glared into the muck at his feet. It wasn’t much, but nothing got past Sí’s keen eye.

 “...What is this?” Sí hissed, her eye narrowing at Seelie.

 Unlike the other two, Seelie kept their head high, meeting Sí’s gaze. The two folks glared at each other— and likely would’ve just kept doing so until the heat death of the universe– when Grey stepped in.

 “I thought we already talked about people staying,” he grumbled as he glanced between Seelie and the rest of the group, his brow furrowing. “You’re not flaking, are you?”

    “No,” Seelie answered without hesitation, though it didn’t relieve the tension. “No, I’m staying, but we must talk before people leave. We need to talk about this– and what it caused.” And Seelie turned their hand skyward, watching the sunset-red gold within the glass shard dance to the light.

 Myr sucked in a sharp breath, ducking his head to stare at his hands when the Ghostlights looked at him.

    Icy blinked his big, owlish eyes, worriedly glancing between Myr and Seelie. His tail curled around Seelie’s feet even as he shied away from the shard, whispering, “...Is everything alright?–”

 “Did you dream, too?” Myr cut in, his gaze no longer fixed on the mud but staring straight at Seelie. After a pause, he chuckled awkwardly. “Well… uh– I guess it’s sorta standard in near-death experiences… You know, ‘brain firing off in weird patterns and–”

    “‘Death experiences,” Seelie corrected with a quick sign before folding their hands back into their lap to let Myr finish.

 Neither Myr nor any of the other Ghostlights said a thing.

 “...Respectfully, what the fuck?” Eclipse hissed, his sharp words cutting the tense silence.

 “Well, by all intensive purposes, you, Myr, and I died. Our phlyakardias shattered. We’re only alive because our deaths didn’t ‘stick,’ as you’d say.”

 There came a sharp chorus of gasps or huffs as each Ghostlight stared at Seelie in horror or disbelief. That was, everyone except Eclipse and Sí, who mostly furrowed their brows in confusion. Eclipse glanced over at Grey, who snorted.

 “‘Kardias are the weird gems that Folk have in their chests– replaces their heart– the reason you don’t have a heartbeat. You have a rock instead.

    “Which is why that’s bullshit,” Grey growled, ignoring the frown Icy sent his way at his tone. “Folk don’t die without people noticing, and they don’t come back from it. You– we explode when we die. ‘Pretty obvious and pretty hard to shake off.”

    “Hey! Listen, Seelie hasn’t lied to us before– they don’t lie ever,” Icy said, his tone a touch sharper than usual as he fixed Grey with a look. “You shouldn’t just dismiss them like that… even if you don’t understand it. I mean, weird things can happen– and do happen.

 “Why don’t you start from the beginning, Seelie?”

 Seelie hummed, looking around at their team members’ expressions– from Grey’s and Trixie’s disbelief, Eclipse’s confusion, Myr’s straight denial, to, most dangerously, Sí and Icy’s tempered curiosity.

 Their claws twisted around each other in knots before they nodded.

 “I suppose it started the same as the rest of you, though we haven’t compared experiences before. I saw that shard, and, for a moment, I…” Seelie trailed off, brushing a hand against their dark eye. “It wasn’t the same, but it was close to the music that gave me my Music.

    “‘It was the thing that changed me, and suddenly, I remembered,” Seelie explained, looking up to meet Sí’s eye. “And there you were, poking at it, not knowing how dangerous it was. I wanted to warn you, but the Music drowned out my words and reason.”

 “And then you tried to drown me,” Sí hissed, utterly unsympathetic.

 “And then I tried to drown you, yes,” they sighed with a nod of their head, though they muttered under their breath. “I mean, you tried to drown me first.”

 Icy coughed, lightly smacking Seelie with his tail. “What happened next?”

 “Well, the next thing I remember is waking up,” Seelie replied with a shrug as they fiddled with their wrist.

 Trixie squinted, looking Seelie up and down. “…And where does the whole ‘dying’ part come in then? Because as far as I can tell, you just took a nice murder nap— same as the rest of us.”

 There was a moment when all there was was silence. Icy’s brow furrowed as he glanced over at Seelie and their blank mask expression. His wings twitched on his spine before he reached out, brushing one against Seelie’s side.

 It earned him a tilt of their head before Seelie paused and smiled– though it wasn’t a happy one.

 “...I didn’t wake up in the hospital,” Seelie finally answered. “I woke up when the shard stabbed into my chest. I was awake for my entire dream, and I felt it…”

 Again, they trailed off, looking up to meet Trixie’s doubtful gaze before they nodded. They folded their hands primly in their lap and spoke.

 “Whatever you believe about what I say, the information does not leave this group. I need you all to swear that to me as you swore yourselves to your shovels.”

 Icy blinked, his ears pinning back at Seelie’s tone. It was a cold thing, something he rarely heard out of Seelie– usually only when Seelie believed their namesake, the fey, was involved. “Seelie, you’re scaring me,” he whispered, his tail curling around Seelie’s own.

 Seelie didn’t reply, their eyes still locked on Trixie.

 “You did swear to your shovels, yes?”

    “I took my pledge to Azalhai, yes. I—” Trixie hissed, squirming under the intensity of Seelie’s mismatched gaze before she froze. Seelie’s eyes continued to watch her as she sat up ramrod straight,“… No. No, you did not see him.”

 Finally, Seelie averted their gaze, shaking their head. “No. I did not see Azalhai.”

 Trixie huffed, slumping down on her burnt log with relief.

 It didn’t last long.

    “I did not see Azalhai, and that is the problem,” Seelie said, their voice as soft and calm as if the words meant nothing to them (even as their tail tightened around Icys).

 This time, Trixie just straight choked.

 As Grey slapped Trixie’s back, he looked up with utter confusion, trying to find some explanation for her response– only to see the same looks of horror on Icy and Myr’s faces. Myr’s tail lashed behind him as he curled in on himself and around his backpack.

 The shard in Seelie’s lap thrummed as if they’d smacked a glass with a stick.

 “Seelie,” Icy whispered, glancing around the clearing nervously before leaning in. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

 “Well, I have no clue what you’re thinking– your mind is your own. However, you are correct if you think I said I’m a warlock to a patron other than Azalhai.”

 Again, the clearing went silent. Icy froze, staring at Seelie’s unrelentingly neutral expression. Usually, that neutrality was the calm rock in the storm, but now, it was all Icy could do not to be dashed against it.

 He gulped. “Why–”

 “Why are you telling us this, you dingus!?” Trixie hissed, a wild, almost pained look in her slitted eyes as she stalked forward, nearly grabbing Seelie’s shoulders before the other folk finally flinched. She stepped back, raising her hands to yank at her hair.

 “Better question– what are you telling us?”

    The three folks blinked and turned to Eclipse. The yellow folk lounged against the stump, only his twitching tail revealing his agitation. He snorted with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, ‘still here. ‘Mind looping the travellers in, or is this a grove-only conversation?”

 Beside him, Myr wordlessly whined, curling further in on himself.

 “...Well, grove-minus Myr.”

 Seelie’s tongue clicked, their cheeks glittering with a soft blush. “Ah. My apologies; I didn’t mean to leave you in the dark.”

 “No, yeah, that part was clear,” Eclipse huffed. “None of the rest of it was, but that part, I got. Can we clear up the definitions before you three run off on some new argument?”

 “Azalhai is a god, right?” Grey asked, his tongue thoughtfully worrying at his tusks. “The one the Gravekeepers serve?”

 “‘Oh damn it, did we join some religious cult?” Eclipse swore, glaring down at his shovel.

 Sí had been quiet for most of the conversation, watching Seelie intently. Only now did she straighten, her lip curling with disgust. “No cults.”

 Trixie huffed. “No cults, don’t worry. To spare you the history lecture, Azalhai was the folk who freed us from enslavement– long story, don’t ask– and led us to the first Elder Tree. ‘Ascended to godhood along the way and speaks to Jarls and Gravekeeper Matrons to help protect colonies– plus, the odd ordinary folk.

    “Azalhai’s chosen are warlocks– people who’ve made a deal with a god.”

 Eclipse blinked, sitting up. “Oh, like me then?”

    Trixie sputtered, staring at Eclipse in horror. “...If you’d let me finish– Azalhai’s chosen are the only warlocks allowed to exist. People put the others to death.”

 “...Well, does Azalhai happen to go by the name The Shade Which Spawns All?”

 The Ghostlights could watch the hope in Trixie’s eyes die in real time.

    Icy coughed. “Uh, not to my knowledge, no. Sorry.”

 “‘S fine,” Eclipse groaned. “‘Always knew some religious nutters would try and kill me one of these days.”

 Trixie stood there, staring at the sky, intently Not Listening to the conversation despite standing in the middle of it. Behind her, Grey stood up, pushing past her to look at Seelie. “Well– that answers ours. ‘Doesn’t answer her’s– why are you telling us this?”

    “Because it matters who tells us,” Sí said, her gaze still fixed on Seelie, ignoring everyone else. “Because someone will tell us, and you want it to be you. You want to control the story.”

    It took a minute, but Seelie nodded, lifting the glass shard from their lap. The shard hummed as they set it on the ground before them. “Whatever we may think about this, we can agree that our group was in and out of the medical tent for much of the Hunt. With this ‘situation,’ our blights, and the ether draw, it’s to be expected, yes?”

 Everyone nodded, some slower than others.

 Seelie hummed, cocking their head to the side. “Of course, I’m glad we’re on the same page.

 “Interesting that our pages are missing, however.”

 Myr blinked, his fangs worrying at his lips as he looked up at Seelie. “Wa–Wait… What?”

 “Our medical records are missing,” Seelie signed. “Unfortunately, they burned in the fire.”

 “...Uh, the medical tent didn’t burn, though?”

 Seelie’s tongue clicked against their teeth. “Why, yes, it didn’t. Interesting, that.”

 “Oh, that’s not the most suspicious thing ever,” Eclipse hissed.

 Sí nodded with him, her ether-burned claws curling around her shovel’s handle. “Why? ‘Protecting us– or hurting us?”

 “I don’t know,” Seelie said with a shrug. “But someone knew this meant something and didn’t want it in the public record. It’s a stopgap solution. Someone will notice the discrepancy.

 “That is why I’m telling you this.”

 Across from Seelie, Sí hummed before leaning back against her log. “Alright.”

 “Alright?” Seelie echoed.

 The dark blue traveller scoffed, fixing Seelie with a look. “Yes. All–right,” Sí enuciated, smirking at the annoyance on Seelie’s face. “I believe you. So. Now what?”

 Seelie glanced around at the circle of Ghostlights, watching them all nod along and lean forward, their apprehension replaced with a focus on what would come next. Even Myr had perked up, looking nervously between everyone, but no longer curled in on himself.

 “Well,” Seelie hummed, looking back down at the shard at their feet. “I suppose we talk to one another. We’re in this situation together– it’s best to keep each other ‘in the loop.’

 “May I see the other pieces of the shard?”

    Myr blinked before nodding, digging through his bag before producing a lump of rags, which he unwrapped to reveal the knife-like shard. Eclipse shrugged, quickly flipping his out of one of his coat’s pockets while snorting to himself, ‘Can’t believe they let us keep these.’ The two unceremoniously set them on the ground next to Seelies.

    “...Huh,” Trixie said as she leaned forward.

 The three shards sat together, forming an almost heart shape, not the original oval of the glass scale. It was missing a piece; that much was clear.

 But that wasn’t the only notable difference from the original.

 Seelie’s shard was white and smooth, opaque like a piece of sea glass. It shimmered summer gold in the light, but other than that, it looked like a thin slice of marble.

 Eclipse’s was noticeably thicker and rounded, and it was a purple so deep it became black in the centre. It appeared more gem-like, faceted and nearly glowing from within. The little autumn light made it dance, creating strange shapes and patterns inside.

 Meanwhile, Myr’s was sharp enough to be a weapon, the dark turquoise stone cut to look almost wet when you moved it. Its edges were serrated and sharp, going from the deep green to a brilliant white at the tips.

 None of them were that terrible brighter-than-the-sky blue.

 And, as they were set next to each other, they hummed like tuning forks– each in a different pitch.

    “Huh,” Trixie said again, crossing her arms across her chest. “That’s pretty bonkers, to be honest.”

 “But– where did the fourth piece go?” Icy asked, frowning at everyone’s shrugs or shakes of the head. “It couldn’t have just disappeared.”

    “Mate. It disappearing is the least weird thing it could have done,” Eclipse snorted, rolling his eyes. “Given what this thing’s capable of, we’d better hope it just disappeared.”

 “...You think if we stabbed someone with these, they’d become a warlock?” Grey mused, cocking his head to stare at it.

    “...Let’s not test that theory.”

 Grey looked up at Seelie’s hiss, snorting at their leader’s thin lips and wide-eyed glare. “Coward,” he teased with a click of his many tongues.

 “I’m guessing yours looks familiar to you?” Eclipse asked, breaking the tension, gesturing to Seelie and Myr’s shards.

 “Well– uh. I guess,” Myr shrugged with a nervous chuckle. “I mean–”

 “Wait,” Seelie interrupted, holding up one of their hands. “Myr.”

 “Yes?”

 “Did you meet the Conductor?”

 Myr blinked owlishly. “I– sorry, who?”

 “The Conductor,” Seelie explained, their brow furrowing as they worried at their lips. “The one who gave me my music during the first Dreamsurge. I didn’t see much of it, but it was a giant thing with bright, glowing white eyes. It spoke as if it was underwater.

 “It… changed me. It’s what changed my eyes.”

 Seelie paused their signing to place a paw over their dark eye, rubbing at it.

 “...I think I saw it before, too,” Myr admitted, his voice small. “It had a tail– like mine. I think. I mean, I had a dream about it during the Dreamsurge, but… I dreamt about it after that, too.”

 Across from him, Seelie hummed before turning around to face Icy. “The other Conductor that I met– the one I pledged myself to, had slits in their legs like you.”

 “...

 “Seelie, are you saying what I think– no, hey, don’t give me that look,” Icy huffed at Seelie’s cocked brow. “Alright, as my mind is my own, what I think you’re saying is that we’ve all… met gods? You think that’s what the Dreamsurge was?”

 “I don’t know what the ‘Dreamsurge’ is, but at least us travellers have met god,” Eclipse chimed in. “I can answer that. It’s a bloody bastard who likes surprise-adopting people from distant universes. But good news, ‘pretty sure you can claim child support.”

 Everyone stared at Eclipse.

    “...What? Tell me that’s not the weirdest thing we’ve talked about today. I dare you.”

 The group muttered but generally nodded along. Grey whistled through his stomach-mouth. “You met the person who brought us here? It’s– The Shade Which Spawns All, right?”

    “Yep, ‘rat bastard, though. ‘Really likes roleplaying as an absentee father–mother– weird eldritch parental figure. ‘Don’t get too attached to the idea of a benevolent god.”

 “Alright, alright,” Trixie said, waving her hands in the air. “Just to recap. You three met god– or different gods, because of the shard. ‘Became Warlocks. One of the shard pieces, which can maybe makes people into warlocks, is missing. Also, Seelie thinks the rest of us have met god before– and Eclipse knows you guys have.”

 “Yes, that’s what we discussed,” Seelie confirmed, nodding. “I’m glad you understand.”

 This didn’t seem to help Trixie. She buried her head in her hands, groaning. “I can’t believe this.”

 Grey snorted. “Mate, your tails can sing show tunes, and, in total disregard to the laws of aviation, Icy can fly with a whole person on his back while weighing a couple of hundred pounds himself. That didn’t tip you off to anything weird?”

 Trixie paused before continuing to whine. “Stap using reason and logic on me. Let me cling to my shattered worldview a little longer~.”

 Seelie huffed, the closest they would come to rolling their eyes. Next to them, Icy hummed, tapping them with his wing. “Uh, hey. Thank you for telling us this.”

 Seelie paused, blinking, before they smiled. “Of course, we’re in this together.”

 In the circle, Grey and Trixie were right back to their typical banter, not helped by Eclipse pushing Trixie’s buttons. Even as Trixie whined and complained, she smiled. Sí had gone quiet again, seemingly disinterested, but she toyed with the ribbon wrapped around her shovel. Even Myr was huffing the jokes while he shied away from discussing how dumb higher powers were.

 “Heck right we are,” Icy chirped with a bright smile. “We’ll figure this out as the Ghostlights.”

 “...Ghostlights, minus Myr.”

 “Yeah. Minus Myr.”