Long forgotten days (Afina)

[Anastasia]

Kascha's in her quarters, sitting at her desk. She turns as you enter, "Afina," she greets, and after the door closes for you alone to enter, "You visited Yggdrasil?" She pats her lap gently, smiling.

[Ebiris]

"I did, I..." Afina begins as she flutters in only to stall and trail off. "Do you want me to sit on your lap?" she asks, faintly confused. She heard all about it from Tepen how pixies foster the same sort of feelings as children do towards big folk, but still...

[Anastasia]

Kascha giggles, "If you want to.  I thought you might like some support after everything that's happened."

[Ebiris]

"Well, alright." There's no real harm in it so she flies over to park her skinny behind on Kascha's lap. "I'm actually okay with everything. If I didn't know, about elves and eladrin, then I'd probably be devastated. But I do - I started out as an outsider that became one of the first fey for whatever reason it was, and now I'm an outsider again. There's a symmetry there I can appreciate.

"I suppose what niggles me most is just how much undeserved arrogance we fey carry. I was so sure I had all the answers, I could just sit back and complacently regard elves and eladrin as thin-blooded offshoots from the pure ideal fey represent. But it was all a lie." She leans back against Kascha's arm and tilts her head back to look up at the ghaele. "Where did the lie come from, I wonder? Was it instilled knowingly into the first fey to give us certitude in our path? Did we simply adopt it over time as the truth of our origin became obscured? I remember pieces from my previous lives, but not enough to have answers to these questions."

[Anastasia]

Kascha pats your shoulder as you settle on, holding you. She murmurs a few words, gentle currents of wind brushing your hair and straightening your clothes. "It's a long story. It's the story of Arborea and the one eladrin that managed to equal Arborea. Her story is the story of the eladrin and the fey, and somewhat distantly the elves as well. Would you like me to tell you about it?"

[Ebiris]

"Please," Afina asks, wriggling around as Kascha freshens up her appearance. It sounds like useful knowledge to have.

[Anastasia]

Kascha settles in and begins to talk.

"At first, Arborea had no sealed layers. The Womb was the deepest level, where life newborn was obtained. You rose to old age, and past that, into the eternal afterlife of the highest layers. Which are the ones that aren't hidden these days, incidentally. Anyway, eladrin traveled these layers, living grand existences and reincarnating when the time was right. This went on for eons unchecked, until Morwel."

A small smile, "Morwel did not reincarnate. Instead she chose to lie in Arborea and dream. A dream of infinite variety and change, a single life that equaled all Arborea could offer in infinite lifetimes. So great did her dreams grow that eladrin abandoned this cycle in favor of joining Morwel's dream. On and on it went, until the day came where Morwel captured a majority of the eladrin. On that day, Arborea itself stirred and confronted Morwel."

Kascha pauses a moment, "They did not do battle. They looked at one another and understood. Morwel's dream had become a perfect representation of Arborea, fulfilling the ultimate purpose of any outsider. She had achieved perfect unison with her source, yet as a perfect representation of liberty and freedom, was unique and independent. Morwel's dream had matched Arborea and Arborea changed to match her. Or did she change to match Arborea? It hardly matters now, for they are one in the same. Arborea is Morwel and Morwel is Arborea."

"Does it seem familiar, Afina? A cycle of eternal rebirth, overlooked by a wise queen?" Kascha looks down to her, magic brushing her hair slowly and soothingly.

[Ebiris]

"Not just that," Afina says, seeing what Kascha means. "The fey tell that once all life followed the same Cycle through Yggdrasil, until the accumulated dreams of mortalkind grew in depth and meaning enough to form the outer planes, the promise of which claimed all the mortal races until only the fey were left to carry on the Cycle. It's like the same story viewed through a distorted lens, its principle player hidden."

[Anastasia]

"Yes, most fey stories are like that," Kascha agrees, "Seelie and Unseelie both, for the Queen of Air and Darkness once served Morwel as an eladrin." A sadder smile shows on her face, a sigh. "Much of fey lore is meant to instill eladrin values, but subtly and with proper distance, so that fey can make their own choices. Over time, the Unseelie spread stories further and further warped. Some of this intermixed as well. Fey arrogance also comes from that."

[Ebiris]

"I was an unseelie a few times," Afina mentions, recalling a few memories that thrust to the forefront when she was at Yggdrasil. Really a lot more than 'a few' given how many times she's been around even if it's not a fifty-fifty split. "I never really hated them though, not like I hate devils. It was always just a job when I killed them."

That's all by the by anyway. "So, that's the truth then, which I can never tell anyone about?"

[Anastasia]

"Yes. The truth is hidden for reasons I told you before. Because one day....one wonderful day...the division will end," Kascha smiles, "The Queen of Air and Darkness will be defeated and all the children will be reunited. A world that is both Arborea and the natural world. A natural world that can't fall to Hell. A natural world where each life is wonderful beyond all measure. A world that has no place for fiends. No demons, no daemons, no devils. Especially no devils. Hell will be wiped out and destroyed for all time, Afina. That is the world the Queen strives to create for her children."

[Ebiris]

"Well, I'll be doing my bit to wipe hell out at least," Afina says. "Maybe once we have a quiet spell I'll re-visit the Court of Stars and see what my place in all this should be." Pushing off Kascha's lap to take flight and turn around to face her, she explains, "We learned about where Lief is being used. Plans are being made to end his torment and end the hold the devils are exercising on Lifasan fey, so I'd best get to work."

[Anastasia]

"Good," Kascha stands, "I'll be ready if you need me, Afina."

Now what, pixie?

[Ebiris]

Lets go hassle Yian!

I'll bring along Queenie in case he needs convincing. In fact we'll just skip straight to the convincing part.

[Anastasia]

By convincing do you mean words or magic?