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All Alinua could remember was anger.
Anger and grief, overpowering in a way that she had never felt before. Pain was there as well, restricting her from acting on the emotion that consumed her as she felt her magic boil and die in her veins. She was desperate. She would do anything.
As a cry from the doctor (from the enemy) and her magic was free. Her magic was free. And it consumed her, all vines and leaves winding around her, in her, through her, until the line between Life and Alinua was blurred beyond recognition.
She couldn’t feel her body anymore— all there was was anger and magic and horrible, aching grief in her chest weighing her down that she couldn’t move from where… where was she?
Alinua tried to open her eyes, but found that they had already been opened without her input. Two different realities overlaid themselves in her vision, a forest with herself towering above, and a void that felt familiar, like home.
But that didn’t make sense, Alinua had no memory of ever being here before. And yet, that wasn’t right either, she knew she had. Though, it was not Alinua who was here before.
Their senses of self and identity blurred together in a horrible amalgam of God and human, body and vessel willing. The parts of Life that couldn’t fit without tearing the body to shreds spilled through the cracks in her blood(and there were so many of those parts, so much of Life that could never even touch Alinua). A slight stinging pain that Alinua had previously ignored in favor of anger and grief came to attention once again, before the Life flowing through her made short work of the decay.
There was so much here, if Alinua took her attention away from forests and doctors and horrible creations. The “void” that she (She?) had thought wherever she was contained, was shockingly full. Full of… not life. There was none to be found in this place.
But their footprints remained. Traces of Life going all the way down, fallen trees and dead roots and bones and everything that carried Life was there in the void.
Not in person but in spirit, in Life.
There was something she felt she had to do, something that Alinua-Life wanted to remember. There was a person, a person who was blue— not green— and wrong and right and she loved him, and there was another, purple-black that made the part that was Her recoil in fear-disgust-horror, and yet another still, humanity warped but still green and living all the same.
Another green soul, this one recognised faintly. The faint consciousness of Alinua recognised it, knew it as the one who made the creature. The horrible, pained, twisted thing was the product of him.
Alinua knew his name, though Life did not care to learn. He had done too much harm for Her to care about him.
Roots ripped and pulled themselves out of the earth, A mockery of Alinua’s form was created. No, a mockery was not right, for Life loved her as She loved all of Her creations. An imitation was what it was, similar to how they were thinking now— as two, not one and the same but in tandem nonetheless. The hand cupped the creature and its maker. Life would be kinder to one of them.
Another arm rose out of the ground, more Life than life as it pushed to make itself free. Alinua’s own arms were still suspended above the ground, useless to fight, but as more and more of the behemoth emerged the difference became negligent. Life was an extension of Alinua as much as Alinua was an extension of life. She went limp in Her grip, more vines curling around her as finally, finally, Life was given a chance to speak.
“You TWISTED me.”
Her anger was unmatched. This imbecile, this insignificant green dot thought it could mutate and contort her beings into something miserable. The blight upon existence yelled in her grasp, though the roar of foliage and life almost shielded her ears too. Life, however, found it much easier to focus on the small scale inside Her vessel.
With just as much rage as before, She replied:
“You warped these creatures against my nature!”
More noise erupted, from the comforting blue and the other green. The blue tried to come near, and something about the movement was familiar to her (not Her, she didn’t think outside Her vessel), but the vines interfered. She knew that he needed rest, they all did. Life did not rest. Alinua could not rest until this was followed through.
“I am not so easily misused. I will deal with him” She placated the little beings. Adorable, how much they wanted to help, but annoying nonetheless. It was getting harder to separate herself from Her. She might as well have given up trying, the tangles of vines having long since imprinted themselves onto Alinua’s body, onto Life’s Vessel.
He spoke, and she could feel his intent more than she could hear it. “Pardon me, my lady, but he has been harming MY forest. I would prefer it if you allowed me to render judgement.” How cute, that this godling thought he could punish in a way suitable for what he had done.
Truly, there were few greater crimes than this, the creation of a chimera.
“So, this is your domain?”
“Yes. I am the spirit of this forest.”
A new presence. Familiar, yes, in the way that all living things were familiar to Life. This was one of Hers, a minor god residing over this patch of land. Pitiful. He was on such a small scale compared to Her. And such a large one compared to her.
“I see. He has used my power to corrupt your realm,”
It was strange, referring to this place as “his” realm. Wasn’t it all Hers? Wasn’t everything, down to the hearts buried deep in the earth, Hers? No, something told Her. Someone, deep inside her own consciousness, tried to reach out. She failed.
“I am afraid so.”
This corrupting power has done too much damage. The threat, cupped in Her hand, was, at all points, Hers. These were Her creations, both the twisted and the twister.
“I apologise,” for it was all She could do.
“The damage is extensive. He has inflicted many unhealthy and unsustainable mutations on the creatures who call me home.”
“I understand,” She did. All was Her home, and all was corrupted, be it by Her own design or not.
“They’re just animals! They were never the point!” The speck tried to make himself heard, he threatened and thrashed in Her hold. She would have punished him already, but the godling's offer had Her curious. And so few things made Her curious these days. She would play along in this debate for a while longer.
“He has used me to harm much I hold dear. It is only right that I should cast judgement.”
“I understand your anger, but I suggest your time may be better spent otherwise. I am this forest and nothing more— while I believe you have other priorities that require your attention.”
Gleicann looked over at the other people in this forest, the blue one, the twisting purple that made some part of Life shriek in rage and fear, the one in muted colors, visible by the lacrima making him a magical spotlight. They were all looking at her, at the Vessel. It would do well to return her soon, return herself to the ones she trusted, away from the curling green that never seemed to stop.
“Very well. I will leave his fate to you.”
The vines retracted as she spoke, the all-encompassing life draining from Alinua as she was lowered to the ground. Her injuries were healed, any aches and pains taken with Life. Alinua found her memory faded, vision taken by the overwhelming green that had flooded her magic just minutes before. Everything since the rage and anger that was both hers and Hers was a smeared blur, verdant in its anguish and emerald in its grief. The emotions and the vines obscured her memory until the event was nothing more than a blur, leaving Alinua in its wake, disoriented and confused.
“What?” She tried to blink away the green curling vines from her vision, refocusing as the world shrank from the abundance of life and decay to the forest clearing around her. Kendal and Erin stood side by side, shocked by whatever had happened, with Falst a short ways away. Dr. Jolon was to her side, his chimera falling to the ground with him. Kendal ran to Alinua from where he stood next to Gleciann, and the relief of knowing that he was alright washed over her.
“Alinua!”
It took a moment for her to process the words, still disoriented from… whatever had happened. Once Alinua realized she had been spoken to, she replied, “Oh! Hey.”
“Are you alright? What was that?”
To be honest, Alinua didn’t quite know either. Her best guess was that it had something to do with Life, though her recollection of the event was spotty at best.
“---And could you reproduce it in controlled conditions,” Erin’s input, at least, was familiar in its clinicality.
“What?” Kendal’s [expression/rearing back] was familiar too. Something else here.
“Erin, not now!”
“So you are the one who made me so fearsome. It is only right that I play my role for you,” Gleicann had Jolon wrapped in roots, his bear chimera having since wandered off into the forest. Hopefully, without Jolon’s influence, it would stop being as violent, but if not? Then she had no qualms about Gleciann ‘dealing with’ the bear as he was about to do for Jolon.
“No— wait! We can discuss this—” The doctor stuttered, trying to avoid his fate. An anger boiled within Alinua, not only hers. The emotions of Life still surged through her, though not as strongly as they did when Life was— more strongly than before.
“There’s really no need for this— I could simply relocate, you don’t have to— FALST!” He interrupted his pleas with the name, the ferin in question looking up from where he had been staring at the drained life lacrima. Seeing that Falst’s attention was gained, Jolon let out a grin of satisfaction, “Don’t just let this opportunity slip away! Only I can give you what you want! He’s just a nature spirit— STOP HIM!”
It was clear what he was doing. Trying to convince Falst that he could get the body he wantedif only he helped Jolon. She didn’t know what Falst would pick. All she could hope for was that he had decided to listen to Kendal’s talk. Though some of it was blurred by the neverending green, Alinua knew it could fix things.
“I’m a monster, remember?” With Falst’s sharp (monstrous, a small part of her whispered) grin, Jolon’s face fell as he realized his fate. The roots curled around him tightened, and in one sharp motion buried him in the ground.
There was no trace left of the corrupt doctor.
Alinua, and the piece of Life she carried inside her, sighed together in relief. The doctor was gone, no more horrible mutations would occur at his hands. Though, no more healing would, either…
She turned to see Kendal, still looking at her worriedly, and Erin, lost in thought. Then there was Falst, standing off to the side, upset. She could understand why; his dream, his one hope to be normal, was just disproven. Though, she knew some people would accept him. Kendal, for one, didn’t seem like the type to turn down a person in need, and Alinua knew that she herself would welcome him if he decided to join them. But that seemed like a conversation for later, judging by the terse words Erin and Falst were exchanging at the moment. If anything, Falst looked even more downtrodden than he had before, though maybe it was just her imagination.
Alinua looked back at Kendal, and smiled. He smiled tentatively back at her, and she knew; everything was going to work out eventually.
