((Just one request... Please... Please stop altering the text color... It's nifty, yes, but it burns my eyes! My eyes! They burn!
Also, welcome to the RP section of the forum. Please, don't let the insane ravings of the regulars frighten you off.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Now sit for a moment, and let me tell you a story. Long ago, before cars and pollution and factories and people by the billions, when the world was a little more unknown, the lands were a bit more connected to, well, the supernatural. All origins of people have stories, and undoubtedly some of them were mere hearsay and superstition, but there was a stitch of truth to each of them, and together, they wove a rich tapestry of things we would only scoff at today: Magic.
urple]Aurem's[/color] true mother too played a part in holding the Changeling to the world. But it was tenuous and strange, and held only ill for her. She grew weaker and weaker, until she eventually fell into a sleep from which she could not wake. Yet she lived, as the Changeling knew that it needed her to survive, until he could find a way to hold himself to the real world permanently. He enjoyed the riches of the true world, its spoils, and wanted them eternally. As years, decades and even centuries passed, he sought out the Old knowledge, which brought him eventually to the city known as Paragon. There the Changeling learned the dark rituals that would bind him to this world. And so he turned those magics unto Aurem's mother. The pain tortured her into consciousness, and in her last moments, as her soul was pulled from her, into the real world, she saw the Changeling for what it was, and screamed out, "You are no child of mine, demon!"
Yes, yes, I know, cell phones and cars replaced these stories of old, this is true. The world became tortured as we carved it out in search of precious minerals. It was choked by the smog we belched out, and it was laid barren by the hungry mouths we kept creating. But it was real! Real as you or me! But you still don't believe me, do you?
Well then, why don't I tell you a story about some magic right here in the city? Tell me, have you ever heard of a "changeling"? No? Well, in the olden days, the Gaelic tribes of northern Europe believed in the Fey Folk, the people of the magical realms that infused our own. They lived with us, protected us, hurt us and tricked us, just like we do to ourselves. But in all, they were innately enamored by us, these mortals who died so quickly, who had no magics other than their minds. And they were envious of our souls, more than anything else! The human soul, capable of the greatest of sins and the truest of virtues, the Fey Folk couldn't connect on that level. They didn't have such empathy, or lack thereof. There were no such extremes. And so occasionally, whether through malice, jealously or even simple misguided curiosity, a fey folk would try to lure a human to the faerie realms. But crossing into the Fey realms is dangerous, for one is quickly and easily lost, and once infused with its essence, the human becomes a part of it, and begins to lose their connection to the mortal world. They become one of the Fey folk themselves. And the mortals were cunning, they saw through many of the tricks of the faeries, much to their frustration. But one method held a way for them: An innocent infant. What a marvelous experience that could be for a faerie! To raise a human child for their own, to be their servant, or perhaps to just be loved by them! And so, when an infant was born, sometimes a faerie would try to steal them away. Some cunning folk would protect their child by "grounding" them - base metals and such things, anchors of the real world, repulsed the Fey folk, and so some parents would put an iron rod or pair of scissors in a baby's crib. But not all knew the stories, and occasionally a faerie would steal such a child away!
In its place, the faerie would leave a changeling, an offspring of the supernatural realms. Now, if a faerie had managed to get away, it was still possible to get them back, before the child became trapped. Changelings were old beings, even for looking like babes, and they were more often than not cruel and capricious too. If a parent could discover the nature of a changeling before too long, they would disappear! And the day after, they'd find their child safe and sound. One story holds that a mother who suspected her baby of being replaced had the idea of absurdly brewing beer in an acorn. As changelings are much wiser than human infants, the "baby" burst out, "Now I am as old as an oak in the woods but I have never seen beer brewed in an acorn." And *POOF*! It was gone.
Unfortunately, as I said, not all children and parents are so lucky. One day, a dear mother who loved her dear newborn fell ill, and could barely care for her child. A beautiful old faerie woman, despairing and lonely, sought the child for her own, wanting to experience the love of a parent. She stole the child away, leaving a Fey infant in its stead. The mother, delirious with illness, never found out the truth. The new faerie mother, going then by Danu, named her new child Aurem. She was kindly and fair, showing Aurem all the love that she know of. But she and he were different creatures, and despite all the mimicking that Danu performed, learned from the mortals, it was a shadow of a true parent's heart, and Aurem felt it, deep with his still human soul. Still, his soul too was old and wise, and though he knew not where his mother was, or what exactly Danu was, he held no malice toward her ministrations. And so the Otherworld infused him, changed him, into one of the Fey Folk. Danu showed Aurem the magics and miracles of the Otherworld, how to work them in the real world. She taught him of fairness and equality, showed him balance. And so he enjoyed his existence, for he was truly neither alive nor dead, but a being of the magic and chaos of life itself, if you get my meaning. But in his heart of hearts, of his soul, he felt the pull of the real world each time he entered it, whether to warn an unwary traveler or work mischief on a mischief maker. For though the Fey can change a human into a faerie in body and even mind, the soul of a human is much stronger stuff, perhaps stronger than the Otherworld itself. Some say that the real world is bereft of the magics of the Otherworld because the souls of humans ate it all away at the beginning of time. The Otherworld is a balance of mundane and magic, but the real world is one of extremes. In any case, the human soul is impervious to such altering magics, and this Danu saw too, to her dismay. She saw the love that Aurem held for her, sincere and real, but she knew it was not a *true* connection, and she knew the pull it held for him. Yet she could not bear to lose her child, and perhaps that was the magics of the human soul working its works on her in this case. Still, she knew that one day he would leave her, most likely forever, as the Fey folk have eyes that see into the mists of the future.
In the real world however, many workings were happening. Societies rose and fell, and the old superstitions died, science and reasoning replacing them. Skyscrapers arose, and countries, nations. Wars were fought, and slowly the modern societies we know of today rose from the ashes of the past. And as the real world was torn asunder by humanity's machinations, the unknowable fabric that held the Otherworld and this one together began to grow weak. The stories of the faeries began to die out, and their presence too diminished. Soon they too were one of the many superstitions of the world. But there were still faeries about, and one of them was Aurem's Changeling. Being unreal to our world, he did not truly age, though his physical body did, and from time to time required "rejuvenation" from the bodies of others. For unlike [/color:brown]Danu[/color], Aurem's Changeling, whose true name is unknown, was one of the Unseelie Court, the malicious Fey who hated and envied humanity. And strangely, [/color
The world, ripped from a griefed and despairing mother, somehow crossed the damaged fabric holding the worlds together, and pulled at Aurem's soul. Its pain held the knowledge of how to cross his way back, and his humanity demanded the action. But he had to know the "why" of it. He sought out his mother Danu. He confronted her, and the truth was given air and space, even though she resisted it. His humanity, his soul, had changed her in a way that only a parent could understand, when a true parent could not hide the truth without destroying the maternal bond. And so the words were ripped from her, of her actions. And despairing and frustrated, Aurem fled his home, leaving Danu weeping for him, calling his name. He regretted his actions, leaving the only mother he had ever known behind, and the home he had grown into so well, but a purpose was in his mind, and his human anger too held a space, a small burning coal, that needed to cool before he could ask her the "why" of her actions. He had to set things aright, and bring rest to his own damaged soul, and restore the balance destroyed by the Changeling. Some say he is still here, in Paragon City, trying to do just that!
Don't believe me?
"Well...Perhaps I'll tell you more of THAT story a little later...
End Chapter 1
(So this is my first attempt at fanfiction. Opinions and whatnot are welcome! And thanks for reading)