Full Circle

August 28, 2009 at 2:13 am (Bewitchments, Cal, Challenge, Enchantments, Fallsend, Fulfilments, Gelaming, Immanion, Pell, Persephone)

Challenge SubmissionFull Circle
by Persephone100 (persephone10034@yahoo.com)

Characters: Mainly Cal and Pellaz, also Astarth  [Cal’s POV]

Beta: thrihyrne  (Thanks, Luv! <3)  Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Rating: PG  Aruna is alluded to and mentioned.  Nothing explicit.

Spoilers: Enchantments, Bewitchments, Fulfillments

Synopsis: Cal embarks on a quest to rediscover his past and goes to Fallsend.

Disclaimer: All the characters, their world, and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.

Full Circle

A sudden cool and welcome evening breeze blew in from the open balcony, causing the candles on the ornate wooden dining table to flicker and almost go out.  It brought me out of my stupor.  I’d enjoyed a typical dinner at Phaonica, like I did most nights.  There was excellent food, the best drink, pleasant and beautiful company: all the necessary elements to a perfect evening for perfect Gelaming hara.  I had my chesnari and soul mate, Pellaz, at my side, giving me his secret smiles and touching me meaningfully and often throughout the evening.  I relished all of this to an extent.  I’d been through rough times, rougher than most hara I knew and this, I told myself, was my reward for it all.  Not that I deserved it– I knew I didn’t.  All the more reason to cherish every moment.

Suddenly an unbidden memory assailed me as I regarded Ashmael, our illustrious General, as he sipped his drink and spoke with a tribal leader he was trying to woo over to the Gelaming’s Federation of Tribes.  I remembered an unsettling dream I’d had about him after my stint as a kanene.  I’d taken aruna with him in the dream, but I didn’t know who I was.  I didn’t feel like I was me.  I only remembered the dream because it was disturbing.  I physically shook the thoughts away with a shiver.

“Cal?  Are you okay?” It was  my beloved’s voice.

“Yes, my love.”

That night as my one and only and I lay together in post-coital bliss, I pondered.  What had brought that memory of my dream creeping back into my psyche?   It was years ago.  Why now?  I remembered I’d been with Panthera when I’d awoken in a cold sweat from my aberrant dream. He’d been the one to comfort me and I’d forced myself to stay awake for a while so the dream wouldn’t continue.  After that my thoughts wandered to of all places, Piristil.  Thaine, Fallsend, Piristil– the place I’d been a kanene, the place I think of as the rock bottom time in my life.  However, my next thought was that if I hadn’t hit bottom, would I ever have risen to the top?  I remembered when I was there, I swore I’d leave.  I’d vowed to become somehar, that I’d return to the higher status I’d had and wanted back.  Notice that I didn’t say the status I deserved.

Well, here I am at Phaonica of all places, and a joint Tigron to boot!  How the once mighty have fallen and come back stronger.  Although I do for the most part think our “royal” status a joke, I also realize that my position allows me to help hara– for real.  Maybe I think I can make up for all the wrong I’ve done, I don’t know.  But this position I’m now in sometimes makes me feel like a fake, a poser.  I’m not royal material, I know that.  Sometimes I’d like to forget that, but then I feel alienated from myself so I have to do something– usually something completely inappropriate– to remind myself of who I really am.  Lately I’ve been inundated with just those very thoughts.  It’s easy to become complacent in such a place as Immanion, especially when you consider yourself one of the highest-ranking hara in all of Wraeththu society.  Sometimes I even get an evil thrill out of lording it over hara.  I hate myself for it, but it happens.  Lately I’ve been feeling out of myself, like I don’t even know who Calanthe is anymore.  Why do I care?  I’ve always liked things to be easy.  Why do I fight it when things are going well?

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Saltrock Odyssey

August 11, 2009 at 3:55 pm (Aruna, Cal, Conception, Enchantments, Flick, Long, Major OC, Persephone, Romance, Saltrock)

Thevina Editor's Pick

Saltrock Odyssey

Beta: Thevina/Thrihyrne    Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit
Synopsis: This is a story of four hara, their journey to Saltrock and their life there.  It is set in the time of Saltrock just before and while Cal and Pellaz are there.   It’s also a story of their journey to self-discovery.
Disclaimer: All the characters, their world and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.

It was another beautiful desert sunset.  We sat, as had become our custom of late, on a shelf of an outcropping of rock, gazing westward to view the sun making its descent, splashing in sequence its yellows, oranges, reds, blues and purples until at last the colorful display was replaced by the deepening hues of an indigo then black sky, dotted with bright stars in myriad number.  It was a dome of sparkling points, so infinite, yet seeming close enough to touch.

We sat there, night after night, my friends and I, with a bottle or two of liquor, taking in the desert night‘s splendor.  There was laughter, camaraderie and maybe even love in our conversation and banter.  We had come here by our own volition, to this dry and desolate place.  There were four of us in our little group; my best friend, Nyala, our other two friends, Sola and Lon, and me, Taj. We’d grown up together as humans and had been incepted together close to a year ago.  We’d lived in a city, so we had no tribe.

We had drifted until we’d found a place where we felt comfortable staying.  It was an outpost of sorts of the Kakkahaar tribe.  We were located close enough to an area where provisions could be procured and then sent on to the large tent city where the Kakkahaar leader, Lianvis, dwelt.  Because of this, and I assumed other outposts, Lianvis and his elite hara never had to leave their tent city unless they chose to, and they were still able to have all the necessities and luxuries they desired.

Lianvis and his entourage had deigned to visit our humble, and I do mean humble, outpost, Solarumn, once, since we’d been here.  Though he was very beautiful, he’d impressed me as being self-involved and dismissive of anyhar he thought beneath him; and he seemed to think most hara beneath him.   I remember there was much running around and many short tempers just before his arrival.  He came with his own luxurious tent which his servants set up at the highest point in the camp.  We couldn’t resist sneaking a peek inside one time when we thought no one was there.  It was lavish with beautiful materials of colors I didn’t even know the names of.  It was full of large pillows and ornate rugs.  There were flowing curtains,  shimmering fabrics and tassels everywhere. Nyala said it looked like the inside of a genie bottle.

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Terzian’s Dilemma

January 2, 2009 at 12:20 am (AU, Aruna, Cal, Challenge, Cobweb, Enchantments, Forever, Galhea, Megalithica, Pell, Persephone, Terzian, Varr)

Challenge Submission - January 2009Terzian’s Dilemma
by Persephone

Characters: Cal, Terzian, Pellaz & Cobweb

Beta: Thevina/Thrihyrne Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Rating: NC17

Spoilers: The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit

Synopsis: Cal presents Terzian with a challenging situation in the fateful night they spend together at Forever.

Disclaimer: All the characters, their world and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.

Terzian’s Dilemma

It was an awkward, tension filled dinner at Forever, the four of us at the table playing our roles. Cobweb poked at his food, shooting daggers at me with his eyes, Pellaz tried to eat as quickly as possible, and Terzian made small talk about his military endeavors and how many horses had recently foaled, pretending everything was fine. I seemed to be the only one having a good time. Why did I enjoy seeing these hara squirm? One of them I was very fond of, one I fantasized about rooning and the other, we all seemed to know, was having intense arunic thoughts about me. It may or may not have been obvious that I returned those feelings, albeit with a certain degree of trepidation attached. Terzian, trying to dissipate some of the stress, addressed a question to me.

“Have you been to the stables yet, Cal?”

“No,” I answered smiling. “I don’t do much riding in the winter. I prefer to engage in indoor exercise.” I winked at him.

Terzian cleared his throat, Cobweb slashed at his meat with his knife screeching it across his plate, which made everyone jump. Pell seemed to be wishing he was invisible.

“Maybe I should check out the horses,” I remarked. “An invigorating winter ride after this lovely meal might do me some good. You like to ride, Cobweb. Care to join me?”

He stared at me, swallowed and said calmly, “I’d rather be tied to a tree and gutted.”

“Well,” I said good-naturedly. “Maybe some other time then.”

Two house hara came in and refilled the wine glasses, leaving very hurriedly. The taut atmosphere must have been palpable, even to them. After we’d finished and they were clearing up, Cobweb swept haughtily from the room, Pell close on his heels. It only took a terse look and the speaking of his name from Terzian to send Pell quickly out of the room. It seemed they couldn’t get away fast enough. Cobweb, I assumed would head to his rooms to sulk in private and possibly busy himself with plans for my demise, while Pellaz would make himself as scarce as possible. That left Terzian and me alone at the table.

“Well! Another delicious and congenial dinner at Forever, eh Terzian?”

He didn’t look amused. He lit two cigarettes and passed one to me. I didn’t care for the way he made the decision for me. I would have preferred him to ask if I cared for a smoke. A small thing, but it made me want to say, “No thanks, I don’t care for one.” But I was tired of playing games, so I took it.

“Why do you want to antagonize Cobweb?” Terzian asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I want to see how far I can go. Maybe just because it’s fun. I like lively exchanges at dinner, don’t you?”

Terzian took a deep drag on his cigarette and sighed.

“I wouldn’t push him too far.”

I laughed.

Changing the subject, I asked, “What shall we do tonight? Chess? A good book? Or maybe torrid aruna in your room. What’ll it be?”

I could tell he didn’t appreciate my attitude, but he gave me a bit of a smirk and replied, “What do you think?”

“Probably the aruna.”

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Mine

June 29, 2008 at 6:40 pm (Aruna, Azriel, Bewitchments, Challenge, Enchantments, Forever, Fulfilments, Galhea, Megalithica, Parasiel, Persephone, Seel, Short, Swift, Wraiths)

Monthly Challenge SubmissionMine
By Persephone

Story Notes

Author:  Persephone100

Author’s email: persephone10034@yahoo.com

Characters:  Seel and Swift

Beta:  Thevina/thrihyrne Special thanks!  All remaining mistakes are mine.

Rating: G

Spoilers:  Up to and including Wraiths of Will and Pleasure

Synopsis:  Seel explores his feelings and events since his arranged pairing with Swift.

Disclaimer:  All the characters, their world and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.

Mine

There was a whispering, tranquil quiet pervading the evening as Seel looked upon his infant harling.  Azriel slept soundly, making little noises and looking so peaceful and angelic that Seel’s heart overflowed with love and pride.  He stared at this small, entrancing creature, thinking incredulously, This came out of me. All memories of pain and trauma faded as love and awe replaced them in his heart and mind.

He heard the door open and looked to see Swift enter; Swift, his chesnari. No longer did he think of him as Swift the Varr, as he’d done before. At first, Seel had so opposed Thiede’s plan for him to be Swift’s consort, outraged and believing it to be a personal insult.  After all, he had founded Saltrock.  He was a har to be reckoned with, not some pearl-bearing consort.  He had imagined himself to belong in the Hegemony in Immanion, not in a nursery in Galhea.  Knowing his undeniable, strong attraction to the young lord was contrived by Thiede, he’d felt completely manipulated, making him rebellious, obstinate and angry.

How things had changed.  If left to his own devices, Seel felt he would have found Swift attractive, enchanting and totally desirable.  He was pureborn and there was just… something… about that.  In Swift he saw pure, perfected Wraeththu; a generation further removed from humanity’s frailties and failings.  He appeared young and innocent, yet strangely wise and mature at once. The pureborn were living proof of Wraeththu’s future and potential.  And Swift, himself, Seel found irresistible.   But the fact that Thiede arranged their pairing made Seel resistant.

Seel’s thoughts inevitably then turned to Thiede.  How ridiculous that the first of all Wraeththu would resort to the arcane, even by human standards, practice of arranged pairings.  Even though he’d sweetened the experience by giving them a longing for each other, manipulation and force were still just that.  In his conflicted mind, Seel had thought everything about his chesna bond with Swift a sham.  Thiede had stated in no uncertain terms that Seel was to be Swift’s consort, and that Seel was to host Swift’s pearl. Thiede had told Seel that he’d put him into Swift’s mind and heart before they’d even met, so to Seel, nothing about their relationship was real.  It was all a contrivance of Thiede’s.

Or was it?  It started that way, but was it the same now?  Seel really cared for Swift, at least he now truly believed he did.  He really desired him and wanted him.  Or did he?  Was it still all a trick of Thiede’s?  Seel rubbed his hands over his face, How will I ever know? he fretted, anguished.

“What’s wrong?” Swift asked, his young, lovely face full of concern.

“Nothing,” Seel answered feebly.

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The Dawning

June 23, 2008 at 9:15 pm (AU, Aruna, Bewitchments, Cal, Conception, Enchantments, Fulfilments, Major OC, Persephone, Romance)

The Dawning
by Persephone

Story Notes

Author: Persephone100

Author’s email: persephone10034@yahoo.com

Characters: Cal is featured throughout in flashback, memory and focus of my primary original character. There are also several other originals.

Rating: NC17

Beta: Thevina/thrihyrne. Thank you so much for all your help and hard work! Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Spoilers: Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, Bewitchments of Love and Hate, Fulfillments of Fate and Desire

Synopsis: A har who has had a several month relationship with Cal tries to deal with their inevitable parting and tries to heal his broken heart.

Disclaimer: All the characters, their world and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.

This is the sequel to my first fic, Inception, Inc. You don’t have to read the first one for this one to make sense, but I hope anyone who is interested will read the first one, too. Many thanks to anyone who reads either one! Comments are very welcome!

Ch.1

Ilana sat at the window watching the droplets of rain collect and trickle down the window pane. His thoughts, as usual of late, ran to Calanthe. It had been over a month since he had left; he’d traveled onward following the guide of his heart and soul, continuing his journey to Pellaz, his chesnari and soul mate.

Ilana had so enjoyed his time with Cal, and had tried not to fall in love with him. But as many a har before him had found, it’s hard, if not impossible, not to fall in love with Calanthe. Ilana was no exception. Even though Cal said he’d felt love and had even given part of his heart to Ilana, his heart and soul belonged to his true, forever love, Pellaz. Ilana had known that from the first, for Cal had told him. He’d known that Cal had to find his chesnari and had to go to him and that it was his destiny.

Ilana had decided to take whatever time he could have with Cal and enjoy it to the fullest. They had been lovers, companions, friends and so much more to each other. But now Cal was gone and Ilana felt empty. He wished only good things for Cal and prayed that his dream of reuniting with his soul mate would bring him happiness and an end to his wandering.

Ilana was lost in thoughts of Calanthe when he remembered that he had an appointment. He was going to initiate another newly incepted har into Wraeththudom. He would be his partner for his first aruna; the one to complete the inceptee’s transformation. The har in question wasn’t a friend of Ilana’s. He was a client.

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