Departing Dream [Mana/Calypso]

Calypso had sunk into a momentary status as she slept, as she typically did when she had no need to feed or was pulled into some LSD-tripping crackhead's vision of a nightmare. However, something dredged her from such a state, the sound of whispering for her, to awaken, to rise. The voice was familiar, prodding at such primitive sensations within the young one, her eyes sliding open as this state was interrupted, a dream world forming as the connection between minds was established.

She rested on the liquid floor, head drooping, dark locks splayed over her shoulders as she would stare at her own dark reflection. Red eyes stared back at her as she shut her eyes, knowing exactly who was coming. She didn't possess the bloodlust that she could sense radiating from Algos' very being for her, feeling the figure of her mother creeping on her from behind, before placing her hands upon her back, and spoke her piece.

"Waiting? What could you possibly be waiting for?"

She asked the question in earnest - What was there to wait for? What was left for them? She left, cut the proverbial thread that bound them. What else could her mother possibly want from her that she would intrude upon her territory?

"..What do you want, Mom? Why are you here?"

She accepted the embrace, closing her eyes tightly as her mother would hold her in the space of their shared metaphysical realm. A flushed hand gingerly held one of her mother's pale own, feeling the coolness of her flesh as she dashed any idea to immediately shoo her off.

This likely would be the last time she ever saw her mother.. In this life, at least. She was on her own past this point, so those primal instincts, one of a child to their parent, guided her in allowing her to remain, at least for now. Despite her mother's cold features, the love bleeding from her was unable to be ignored. It was like a radiant star was perched on her shoulders, but instead of the intense, suffocating heat of her crumbling sister's bloodthirst, it was brilliant with love and regard for her.

Her expression hardened as Mana told her such words; She was no longer in denial over her mother's affection for her, but to hear it from her once again, without a thing being asked of her, hit her core. Sometimes she wondered who she would be if her mother never cast her out for her weakness in an attempt to strengthen her. Perhaps she wouldn't be in the precarious situation she found herself in.. But there was no changing the past, or any point in meandering about in it.

"I love you too Mom. The parting hurts, but I have to leave. There is nothing left for me being a part of this family."

Golden tears formed in her eyes, watching the stars go by as she hugged her knees, an ache in her heart. She couldn't do anything - She had remained a part of this festering wound for far too long, and she was suffering the consequences. There was no place she would be welcomed in, she had to forge her own dwelling if she was to survive.

Gently, she pulled one of her mother's hands to touch her wet cheek, leaning against her palm as she would sigh, speaking softly,

"..Maybe in another life, maybe if we aren't twisted creatures worlds upon worlds hate and wish dead in such a life, we can find each other once more. Love each other. Build a better world for demonkind, maybe even beyond."

She laughed softly, "..But such a bond probably wouldn't be of a mother and daughter.. We're long past the point of that being possible. What's done is done, and that's all there is."

A painful breath left her chest, "..The sentiment is lovely, but I don't believe there will be any truly happy days for me now. I'm merely prey waiting to be plucked from the grasses - Be it from Algos' encroaching insanity or those who hate us. I'm sure.. I have nothing but pain awaiting me, but I will do what I can to prevent such a fate... I will, build something."

Tears rolled on down, soon placing a hand on her belly, "..Even if i'm gone, perhaps one of them will be willing to pick up the heavy toll my wishes demand for.. Whoever you become, I hope you find happiness and this curse does not touch you, my children..."

Calypso's eyes were adorned with the light of stars as she looked up into the veil of their shared space, her instincts crying every second they had to imagine her mother releasing her back into the thrall of reality. While their beginning was not a pleasant one, Calypso couldn't lie and say she didn't desire her mother's touch, her love.

Sometimes she had stupid little fantasies where her mother wasn't the queen, where she was born into a happy and healthy household where she could grow and learn normally - One where Pseu got to be an alive and present sibling, where Algos wasn't in the corrupted state she was in, where her family wasn't so disconnected and apathetic towards each other's plight, an ideal world where they got to be alive, happy, and not lost to corruption and madness.

She always woke up from those dreams sobbing, because she knew no such world existed.

Tears only continued to fall down her face as her mother lied back with her, giving her slights of affection as the younger of the two simply lied back and accepted such gestures, a soft somberness to her expression as she kept her eyes shut, embracing the warmth as Mana spoke her intent out loud - That despite everything, she would not abandon Calypso again, that no matter what form she took, she would love her and find her again, for she was her child.

The young one's teeth gritted, as she would let out a pained breath - despite how meaningful her words were, they twisted in her heart like sharpened daggers. She was in such a complex situation by merely breathing and living, so for her mother, the terrifying Queen, to be speaking such things.. Cognitive dissonance didn't begin to cover how she felt, with these two conflicting visions of her mother in her mind.

"... Is it wrong that I wonder what would have happened if Pseu was born instead of me..?"

She uttered the question out... She couldn't help it - The idea burned in her mind like a vicious fire, the one of her existence,

"If... Pseu didn't do what she did... I wouldn't have been born.. So sometimes, I wonder how things would have happened if I didn't exist. Would they have been better? Would they have been worse? My birth was a happy accident - I very easily could have gotten suffocated by my concept's ties and Pseu born like she should have been."

She let out a gentle, sad laugh, ".. I'm speaking nonsense out loud of course... But... I don't feel like you just came here to say goodbye and that you're always here for me.. So... What else are you here for?"

'I don't regret having you'

The sentiment her mother gave her was nice and comforting, but that final remark was what truly rocked her. No matter how she lived, some little part of her always wanted some degree of validation for her existence, so to hear it from her own mother sparked some joy in her, a smile involuntarily forming on her lips as she would open her eyes, looking up at her mother with sweet happiness.

However, her expression would change from joy to worry when she saw that her mother's appearance had suddenly deteriorated, black locks hanging as crumbling horns and an exhausted face peered back at her. She felt her heart sink, only doing so more as her mother finally admitted to her what was happening - Her body was breaking down, and she knew what that meant...

"No.. No no no you can't... You can't die."

Calypso immediately sat up, and put her hands on her mother's shoulders, staring deep into her eyes as her own began tearing up, vigorously shaking her head,

"I... I... Why does this keep happening? Why do people around me keep dying?!"

She roughly pulled her mother in for a strong hug, her eyes wide as golden tears escaped in droves, her fingers nearly digging into her pale skin as she couldn't help but hang onto her for dear life. She knew her mother would just end up reincarnating, as her spirit would always do so, but knowing the end of a life was so near, that death was close, it shook the girl to her core. She had experienced death of those she felt for, whether they told her or not, whether it was sudden or long. Knowing it was coming was perhaps one of the more painful things to know.

"... If you do lose yourself... Summon what little sanity you have left and call me. If you're going to get killed, at least be you when you die... Not a mindless beast drowned in madness."

Her voice was low and strained as she hugged her close and tight, ".. The least I can do is let you die in dignity, and affirm your next life won't be a repeat of pain and madness."