Elegy for a Star Ch. 131-140

Chapter 131 - Trickery

"Who's Eventide?" Tess asked, startled by Miri's show of panic, "What is it? Do we need to worry? Should I tell the others?"

"Yes and yes, we are in trouble, Tess," Miri replied, "I've been able to make deals and keep him away so far, but that's not going to work anymore."

"I don't understand," Tess said once more, shaking her head, "Miri--Krahe, whatever--you need to slow down and start from the beginning."

Miri pinched her nose and nodded her head. She took a deep breath, but was interrupted by a gust of wind that blanketed the area in flurries, whipping snow about them in a frenzy.

Finding it unnatural, the both of them looked toward its source, but found only a short woman, roughly Tess' age, dressed in a white robe that was a size too large. She had chin-length white hair, formed into a little bob with messy bangs that reached just beyond her brow. Heavy lashes contrasted her unnaturally bright blue eyes, colder than the snow around her. She was pale, but rosy around the cheeks, with plump lips painted red.

More noticeable than that were her dark fox's ears poking up from beneath her hair and the fluffy white tail that flicked back and forth behind her. Thin lines marked her cheeks like whiskers.

"Oh, fuck-...!" Miri began to say before she was cut off and frozen in place with a wave of the woman's hand. Miri wasn't moving, wasn't speaking. She looked frozen in time, which may very well be exactly what she was.

With the ease by which Miri was subdued, and the fact that she didn't have her knives on her, Tess thought to run.

"Don't," the young woman replied, "This is only going to hurt worse if you run."

For whatever reason, Tess felt compelled to obey. She nodded her head slowly and asked, "Who are you? What did you do to Miri?"

"She'll be fine. She and I go way back," the woman said, her eyes never failing to stare deep into Tess, "My name is Yna."

Tess felt like she couldn't move her legs. Was Yna doing that, or was she just that afraid.

"Are you ready to die, sweetling?" Her words were as cold as ice, and so must be her breath, as it didn't form a fog in the cold air when she spoke. Was this a true demon? Was this one like Molu'zhar?

Tess couldn't move. She couldn't sign. She didn't know what to do. There was nothing that she could do. "Gwen," she thought, "Gwen will show up at the last minute and save me. I know she will."

The closer that Yna got though, the less that Tess believed it.

"Just one. Little. Touch." Yna raised up a finger, bringing it close to Tess, "And it'll all be over."

"Stop! Stop!" Tess shouted, trying to turn her head away but being too afraid to not have sight of Yna's finger. Was she a demon? Was this Eventide; the thing Miri warned her about? She was going to die, she was sure of it now, "Please don't!"

Tess let out a scream of panic, just as Yna poked her nose with a fingertip.

"Boop."

Tess was gasping for breath, looking at Yna like the woman was utterly insane. The fox-lady began to giggle out loud, clutching her stomach and doubling over. "Holy shit, your face!" Yna was almost crying with laughter, "I got you so good! Oh my, oh me, you really thought you were going to die, didn't you? You didn't pee yourself, did ya?"

Truth be told, Tess had to check herself, but she felt dry, thankfully. "Who..." she managed, unable to find the rest of the words of that question.

"Wasn't lyin', my name's Yna. Pleasure to meet ya!" She held out a hand, white-painted nails trimmed neatly just beyond her fingertips, "Well, pleasure to meet ya again, I mean. You know how it goes."

Tess didn't think she did know "how it goes," but she wasn't about to argue, still finding the woman terrifying even if all she did was boop Tess' nose, rather than kill her. Yna was frightening in a way that Tess couldn't explain.

"You like my gloves?" Yna asked, "You aren't wearin' 'em. I'm insulted."

Tess had to put two and two together before she replied, "The gloves with the coins? They're yours?"

"A fox gave 'em to you, right? Foxes on the coins?" Yna replied with a chuckle, blowing some air on her fingernails before polishing them off on her robe, "Yeah, that's kinda my thing."

"Thank you," Tess replied a bit dumbly, unsure of what else to say, "I don't know who or.. I don't know you, Yna. Can you fill in the blanks for me? I lost-..."

"Your memory?" Yna asked, "Yeah, I know. So, hey, I'm Yna, goddess of trickery and all things mischievous."

"A goddess?"

"Not really," Yna replied, "But people usually think I am. Doesn't matter." She waved a hand dismissively.

"Why are you here?" Tess asked, dumbfounded. Gods, just who was Tess standing in front of? Oh. Right. Gods. Why was all of this happening now? It was too much. She wished for the days where she didn't remember anything. Those days were simpler. Was that why Miri was trying to keep her secrets?

"With you?" Yna replied, "We're best buds! You're my favorite little human, Krahe." Yna rolled a hand in the air, "Or Yna. Or Tura. Nairos? Or Tess, whatever. Ugh, you change your name too much. And Nairos? A little on the nose, don't you think." Yna laughed, "You like your little knife tricks?"

Tess pondered a moment and said, "I thought I got those from-..."

"Krahe, right, which is you, aaannd...?" Yna said with a roll of her eyes, "Ugh, Me's, I never get any credit, I swear. I gave them to Krahe in the first place. Taught, really." She shook her head, "No respect. You know I'm the reason magic exists in the first place, right?"

"You are?"

"No, that was a lie," Yna said with a sigh, "I can't help it sometimes, but that's what people used to think, y'know! I miss those days; I got so much praise for it. Before they figured out about the stars. Yuck."

"What do you want from me?" Tess asked, wanting to get to the root of the problem. This was starting to give her a headache.

"I can't just come by to say hello?" Yna asked.

Tess just stared dubiously, "You don't seem like the type."

Yna rolled her eyes, "Fine. Look, Miri didn't want me to spoil the surprise for you about who you were, and I gave her a promise 'cause I owed her, but hey, I heard she told you the truth."

"Yeah, like... two minutes ago," Tess said with a dull expression on her face.

"Right. Two minutes ago. So here I am! Surprise!"

"You didn't wait very long," Tess replied with a blank stare.

Yna laughed, "Well, cause I was just so excited to talk to you again!"

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly a joyous occasion for me," Tess said softly, looking over the frozen Miri.

"Why not?" Yna asked, "You just found out you're a badass hero from centuries ago. I mean, sure, you fucked everything up for everyone, but that's neither here nor there."

"What?" Tess asked, "What did I do?"

"Oh," Yna said, her face full of mock surprise as she covered her mouth with both hands like that was a slip of the tongue, "Oh, my, no. I shouldn't! Miri would be so upset with me!"

"Yna, please. Please tell me," Tess begged.

Yna brought the back of her hand to her forehead and dramatically exclaimed, "No! I mustn't!"

"Yna, please!" Why were these people from her past--Miri and Yna--such a pain in the ass to talk to?

The foxy one rolled her eyes, "Fine. You used to have a much better sense of humor, you know." She let out a sigh and explained, "That Trial you went into back in Catland? Cute place, by the way. Well, Eventide interrupted it and sent you somewhere you weren't supposed to be, so you never really went to your Third Trial. You just went where he wanted you to go. That tower, if what you told me is true."

"What I told you?"

"Well, yeah, you don't remember?" Yna said with an evil cackle.

It was clear that Yna was aware that Tess couldn't remember anything. Tess tried to not give her the benefit of even looking annoyed, but she couldn't hide it that well.

"So how did I fuck things up?" She asked, "I couldn't stop whoever that is from doing whatever he did."

"Beats me," Yna shrugged, "But you changed things on your little trip. You're never supposed to change things when you time travel."

"How was I supposed to know?" Tess asked.

Yna sighed wearily, "It's like the first rule of time travel, dumbass."

"But all I did was save Henry," Tess replied, shaking her head, "And-..."

"And you killed Molu'zhar, right?" Yna added.

Tess nodded.

Yna added again, "And you made Krahe, Maeros and Henry come to your rescue. That didn't happen last time. Took ten years for Krahe to find Henry, but I guess Krahe had a better sense of where you were so she could find the place faster."

"Oh..." Tess blurted.

"You know, cause..."

"Wait..." Tess shook her head.

"...You're the same person, and all."

"Why does any of that matter? They still beat Arlen, right? Otherwise none of us would be here. Do people remember things differently now?" Tess asked, "How much did I change?"

Yna shrugged, "Somethin' about butterflies. Look, yeah, they still beat Arlen, and that's all well and good, but shit's not right. Not how it's supposed to be, and it's your fault."

"Is there a way to fix it?"

"Probably not, you dunce," Yna laughed, "But we can figure out what went wrong and deal with the consequences before they become big consequences that we can't deal with."

"Are you going to help us?" Tess asked.

"What? No, I'm retired!"

Tess let out a sigh, "Figures."

Yna grunted, "I'm just joking, of course I'm going to help. I don't want to die either." She reached out to boop Tess' nose again, but the blonde pushed her hand aside. "I gave you those gloves, didn't I? But I can't do everything for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Yna hummed, "I can't go into the Black Sun obviously."

This was not obvious to Tess.

Yna must've sensed that, "Or else I'll get corrupted?"

"Right."

"Anyway, I should be off," Yna replied, "I'll come by with more presents sometime. Your birthday's coming up, after all! Didn't you know?" Even with the mean remark, she looked about, eyes settling on Miri.

Tess watched as Yna walked over to Miri, reached down, and took hold of the woman's black, smoky wrappings that kept her somewhat decent. Yna pulled on them like a pair of pants, dropping them down to Miri's ankles until the woman was completely naked. Yna was cackling the whole time as she waved to Tess and vanished.

Miri came out of her frozen state, completing what she was saying before, "...ooooofff~!" She immediately gasped, looking down at her naked body. She sighed an swirled her finger, all of that black, leathery smoke creeping up to embrace her form once again.

Fists clenched, Miri stomped her foot and shouted, "Gods, I hate that fucking woman!"

Chapter 132 - Processing

"You mean I've been making out with Krahe all this time? The Krahe?" Gwen asked, equal parts surprised and excited. Tess had returned from the outdoors, shivering as she doffed her cloak and cold clothing. She and Gwendolyn now cuddled beneath the blanket, stripped down to their underclothes, for warmth and comfort.

Tess shook her head firmly, "No, you've been making out with me. I'm not Krahe. I'm just me. Besides, Krahe was Miri and I together, and-... I'm just not that person anymore, anyway!"

"What, you and Miri like... fuse together, or something?" Gwen chuckled with a good humored expression, her face buried against the back of Tess' neck.

"No, I think it's just-... just when she's in my head, you know?" Tess tapped her temple, "But I was different back then. I don't remember things anymore, but apparently that was a part of our plan."

Gwen's voice soured a little, "What plan?"

"I don't know, Miri said that she and I decided to do this, to remove my memories," Tess shook her head, "I told Miri I need a minute to process all of this. I wanted to hear more, but it was just so much. And I'm so angry at her." Tess shook her head in disbelief, "I don't want to believe her. She's lied before. She's lied so many times. I just can't understand why she'd lie now though, so I have to assume she's telling the truth."

Gwen took a deep breath of Tess' hair. She smelled like jasmine. How does she keep such good care of her hair under these conditions? She gave her a peck of a kiss on the back of the head, "It doesn't change anything. You're you. I like you. That's it."

"Thanks," Tess replied. From the tone, it didn't seem like her words helped all that much.

Gwen hugged Tess about the midsection, giving her a comforting squeeze, "I know that this is hard, but we'll get through it. Besides, you wanted to be special. To be useful in the Void. It doesn't get much more useful than this, does it?" Gwen buried her face in Tess' hair, breathing deeply.

"You're right," Tess nodded, turning her head to just barely peek at Gwen out of the corner of her eye, "Are you sniffing my hair?"

"You smell nice," Gwen replied with a little chuckle.

Tess joined in the laughter, "Weirdo." The blonde took a deep breath, "Then there was this woman that showed up. She had fox ears. Little markings on her cheeks. She said her name was Yna."

"You're fucking with me now," Gwen said, smirking once again.

Tess shook her head, "No, why do you say that?"

"Goddess of Trickery, Tess." Was she actually telling the truth? She hadn't talked to Tess about the Pantheon much, and she only recently learned about the moons. Did she know about Yna or not? Tess wouldn't joke for more than a couple seconds though.

"She said she wasn't actually a goddess," Tess corrected.

Gwen raised a brow, "Pretty sure she is." She shrugged, "Might as well be, in any case. People pray to her to keep their secrets."

"She doesn't seem like the 'keep your secrets' sort," Tess said with a thoughtful glance toward the headboard, "She was a bit goofy."

"Oh, shit, is that the fox you met? The fox coins on your gloves?" Gwen asked, feeling a "eureka" moment as she asked the question, "Did she give you a fucking gift back then?"

"Yeah, think so," Tess said with a soft nod, "That's what she said. Said she was the one to teach Krahe how to fight, too. Said I was her 'favorite human.'"

"That's only 'cause she hasn't met Joyona," Gwen mused with a little smirk.

Tess laughed and nodded her head, "I love our big giantess."

"Me too," Gwen said, her voice softening, "I'm glad she's okay."

"Joyona's probably too honest and straightforward for a trickster goddess, though," Tess replied, "But I don't think I'm much of a liar, and she likes me."

"Well, does she like you or does she like Krahe, because Krahe is you and Miri. Miri seems to lie enough for ten people, let alone two," Gwen responded with a little frown, "You're right that you and Krahe are very different, even from what I've heard. You're, like... all of the good parts. The heroic parts."

She could tell Tess was smiling. It warmed Gwen's heart to know she could make the woman happy. Her heart was fluttering. For a moment, it dawned on Gwen that this might be considerably more than simply liking one another. Now wasn't the time, though. Both of them had enough going on. Maybe it was something to bring up later, though. She was pretty sure that Tess felt the same way toward her.

Gwen was relieved to feel like this relationship was just easy and natural. It wasn't a struggle. It wasn't dramatic. It was simple and sweet and comfortable.

After a bit of a pause--a silence in which the two women could simply enjoy one another's company and the pleasure of physical touch--Tess whispered, "Do you mind if we change subjects?"

"Of course not," Gwen replied, giving Tess a little kiss on the bare shoulder and pulling the blanket up over them a little more, "What do you want to talk about?"

"How about the Corpsman's Ball? What is it like?"

"Beats me," Gwen replied, "It's my first one, too."

"What do you think it'll be like? Do I need a dress or is there some uniform, or something?" Tess asked softly. The preference of a dress was clear in her tone.

Gwen answered confidently, "The Captain said we can wear whatever we like, so long as it's appropriate for a high class gathering. Dresses or surcoats and cotehardie, you know? If you don't have anything, you're supposed to wear the dress uniform. It's basically the same thing, anyway. Did you get the pants or the skirt?"

"The skirt," Tess replied, "More comfortable with the-..."

"Right," Gwen caught her with a little laugh, "The giant dick of yours."

"Yes," Tess gave a little giggle, "That's the one."

Gwen's hand slid up Tess' tummy until she felt the swell of a breast filling her hand. She cupped Tess' breast, stroking a thumb over the nipple.

"Horny?" Tess asked.

"Mmhm," Gwen replied, "Want to finish what we started earlier? I don't think I'm so nervous anymore."

"Me neither," Tess replied, arching her back and pressing her chest into Gwen's palm, "But I think we should wait."

The excitement building up in Gwen's chest drained like a stonekin wine barrel, "Oh. Did I do something?"

"No!" Tess replied, rolling over to face Gwen, "No, of course not. What we did was amazing, and what we'll do will be even more amazing."

This brought some relief to Gwen, but she still had some lingering worry.

Thankfully, Tess continued, "But I want it to be special. We've fooled around obviously, but we've never had sex. Like... sex sex."

"Right," Gwen nodded, beginning to understand where Tess was going with this.

"How about the night of the Ball?" Tess asked with a soft smile, "Is that okay?"

Truth be told, Gwendolyn loved the idea, even if it meant her latest flare of arousal may go unattended tonight. "Yeah," she replied with an equally kind smile, "I'd like that a lot. You're special to me."

The acceptance brought a big smile to Tess' face. That fluttering in Gwen's heart built again. "I made her happy," she thought with growing joy, "And it was so easy for me. So effortless. Does that mean we're good together?"

"I'm excited to go with you," Tess said softly.

Gwen embraced Tess tightly, "I'm excited to go with you too. Do you think Mairaela and Joyona will go together?"

"I think so," Tess replied, "Do you think Miren will go with someone?"

"Who'd go with her?" Gwen said, putting some venom in her voice.

"We should work on forgiving her," Tess replied softly.

Gwen ground her teeth a little, countering, "I don't know how to forgive a murderer, Tess."

"I want to find a way," Tess responded, "You don't have to; I know that." She let out a little sigh and said, "But I want to. If I made a mistake like that..."

"You wouldn't, though," Gwen huffed sternly, "That's the difference."

Tess bit her lip in thought, but didn't come back with anything. Instead, she just nodded.

Perhaps it was that submission that made Gwen start to think that she was wrong.

Chapter 133 - Good Morning

"We didn't," Miren insisted, "I would never..."

"What do you mean you would never?" Mairaela shot back, "Like I'm so hideous and gross."

Miren sighed, "I didn't mean it that way and you know it." Miren pinched the blanket underneath each arm to keep it held above her chest. Hands held out to the side, she proposed, "It's simple. We never talk about it again."

"Right," Mairaela said with a nod of her head, "Plenty of people get a little slutty when they're drunk."

"How about you rephrase that," Miren narrowed her eyes, "I do not get 'slutty.'"

Mairaela snickered, "A little loose?"

"Somehow you only made it worse."

"Gods, Miren, there's nothing wrong with it," Mairaela sighed, "Sex isn't some taboo-... it's no big deal, you know? Lighten up."

"Right," Miren said with all of the excitement a rock could muster, "So I can tell Joyona?"

"No!" Mairaela hissed, leaning in and speaking quietly as though the Evigkin may be listening outside the door, "I'm going to tell her, just... under the right conditions, so don't you dare!"