littleshroomclan:

The First Coming

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Pings!!: @fusefr @eldritchfeline @deadlanddisciple @murdoch-fr @clockworktophat-fr @unkorea @kattafr @avalonianrising @jadedragons​ @majestyrising (sorry if I missed anyone!! Please let me know so I can ping you in the future!!!)

Warnings: none! 

          “It’s not me, before you ask.” Sicily spoke as Kava entered the hut, before she could say a word. They were in one of the communal witch huts scattered throughout the swamp. While there were more secluded hutches deeper in the swamp, this one was in the main village set up in one of the drier spots in the bog.

          “What’s not you?” Kava sat in a nearby chair, pulling her cloak tighter around her. Sicily smirked, tossing his knee-length hair behind him.

          “The prophecy, the one delivered by Manto? I’m definitely not a gift from Decay.”

          Kava peered at him intently. Sicily was an odd bird, powerful beyond belief, with the arrogance and pride to match. He was cool and relaxed, despite the situation the clan was under, he even found the time to rim his eyes with bright scarlet liner.

         She admired that about him, even in grim times, he had the ability to continue life as normal. As if his eyeliner and his cool attitude were in direct defiance of the Tyrant King.

         “And what makes you so sure of that? What about your sister?”

         “It’s not me either.” Adronica stepped out of the shadows, standing next to her younger brother, who towered over her.

          The older Decayspawn had changed drastically in the past few months. Her eyes were vacant, but always watching, she’d thinned out considerably. She seemed gaunt, a shell of who she used to be.

         “Months ago I wrote Decay, asking for help. She never responded, but I think that has something to do with the prophecy.” Her voice was monotone, “I thought perhaps it was Destine, or maybe Wound.

         But we all know what happened to them.” The three of them all averted eyes, Sicily wrapped his arm tightly around his sister.

        Wound had been known for publicly insulting the king, Betsalel, and her father, Aseneth. She hadn’t been publicly killed, but she hadn’t been seen or heard from in several months. Their brother Destine had been chased out of the clan by Aseneth, who considered him a disgrace for not sharing his brutal nature.

       “Then of course Sicily came, and while he is strong, he’s not Aseneth’s son.” Sicily smiled to himself, proud to be Luminance’s son instead, and  slightly relieved that he wasn’t the child of prophecy.

        Kava rubbed her temples, exhausted. “What does his paternity have to do with any of this?”  The edges of Adronica’s mouth twitched up, the closest thing to a smile that she’d had in months.

       “I know Decay. This is Shade business, to her it’s personal. What better way to help rid our clan of the Shade King, than to send the child of his closest advisor to destroy him. Decay doesn’t often chose battles, or decide to aid her spawn, but when she does it’s almost… petty. I do admire that about her.”

       “The point is,” Sicily began, picking at his polished nails indifferently, “Aseneth has been leaving the clan every month, with Destine being such a “disappointment”, there’s no doubt that he’ll want another imperial child.”  

       Kava’s eyes widened slightly as she began to understand, “I see, he wants an imperial child to be his… prodigy.” Sicily nodded, partially in disgust.

      “Adronica! Aseneth has returned!” Aeshma slammed through the hanging lichen door, almost tripping over himself. Adronica’s head snapped up.

      “Anything to report?” He shook his head up and down furiously.

      “He’s come back with a child.”

—

       He strode into the clan with a small girl, about age five, she barely came up to his knee. Her hands were folded behind her back and she stared at the ground solemnly, as if she had been instructed to do so.

       Vivid orange locks framed her chubby face, spilling messily down her back. She wore a simple dress that was only inches above the ground, revealing her sandaled feet. Everything about her was deliberate, she looked exactly how Aseneth wanted her.

       Adronica and her brother watched from a distance, with morbid curiosity and fascination.

      “Gods she’s so small, so young, how could she possibly fulfil the prophecy?” Her brother’s words mirrored her thoughts.

      “I knew that she would be young, but she’s no more than a child. We couldn’t possibly ask her to fight, Nikki.” Adronica shook her head.

      “We can’t fight fate Sicily, it’s her destiny.

      She’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”

I would like to be pinged, please.