Raeza: Shut the Door, Turn the Lights Off

     "Aevil," 

     "Mom."

     "Aevil, you'd be--" 

     "Mom!"

     "Better explain all of this! Maeve and Faeris weren't dead? Why on Ae--Why on earth didn't you tell me?" Raeza's face was turning bright red, the anger, a strong emotion like she hadn't felt in a long time, making her start to sweat from the effort.

     "You said you wanted me to leave you alon--"

     "I blamed you for their deaths. If you'd TOLD me they weren't dead, I might have mistaken you for a decent person, if you are a person.

     "Of course I'm still a person! I-"

     "Prove it, then. Explain."

     "Fine." Aevil decided and looked Raeza straight in the eye.

     "I knew about it all beforehand, of course," Aevil confessed. "The fact that Serpine was going to attack you girls."

     "You knew, and you didn't stop it?" Raeza asked, her voice quavering and something inside of her starting to squeeze tight in her chest, like a boa constrictor wrapped around her heart and lungs. "You didn't even warn us!"

     "If I'd done that, Serpine would have done something else. That man always has a plan, a backup plan and a plan for any counter. I had to let him think he'd succeeded."

     "So you let my sisters die."

     "Faeris was never dead. She's about to be, though, if she doesn't do something unexpected at a crossroads."

     "We have to help her!" Raeza's face was red from anger and determination. Her voice was as calm as ever, though. So calm, it spooked even her.

     "Raeza, she's on Mevolent's side."

     "What?"

     "Serpine tricked her into thinking the Sanctuary caused all those boulders to make sure no daughter of Aevil would ever get to turn a tide. She's been...bitter. More bitter than you. After the boulders fell, Maeve was dead and you were beyond healing. After that two-faced Kelley Throckmorton was gone, I captured the last piece of your spirit before it could die, and kept it in a jar for a few days. During that time, I built you a new body, sculpted it from clay and wiring. That's one of the reason's you get on so well with machines. That, and you inherited it from me, of course."

     Raeza felt her heart sink even lower. So she wasn't even really human. That explained more than she would have liked to know. "But-but how...?"

     "I went back to the park, putting your newer, stronger body where your old one had been and releasing your soul into it. 

     "I made two fake graves labeled Maeve and Faeris, so you wouldn't look for your sisters. Maeve's body was gone when I returned, but I knew she was still dead. I could feel it. It wasn't until last year when a group who'd anticipated Mevolent's return decided to bring her back--one of their healers was capable of it. That healer is now dead."

      Aevil didn't mention that Ember wasn't likely to stay that way. She didn't want to give Raeza any false hopes of getting her to help. Especially considering the fact that Ember would probably be the one to kill Faeris.

(A/N--Aevil didn't anticipate Mortis dropping in. She's creepily powerful, but not powerful enough to predict random events like that. Also, she didn't know that Faeris' jacket was crocodile skin. She thought it was alligator.)

     "And you didn't think to tell me any of this sooner?" Raeza's voice was cold, and the look in her eye almost hurt Aevil's feelings.

     "You wanted nothing to do with me, remember?" Aevil didn't bother to hide the bitterness she felt. "Maeve died again, though. Throckmorton killed her, and tried to kill you."

     "Kelley?"

     "The very same. He still thinks you are dangerous, Raeza. He never truly cared for you. He was there that night, there for Serpine."

     Raeza doubled over from the shock. Aevil wanted to laugh at her, comfort her and hurt her, all at once. The more pain she felt, the easier it would be for Aevil to channel her power into the turning tide, to strike when Mevolent and the Sanctuary were both weak, to turn the tide, not to one way or the other, but to make Aevil stronger. She would rise from beneath, with Raeza's help.

     Raeza wouldn't help her mother. Aevil was still clearly hiding details from her, and making Raeza less than human wasn't something she was thankful for. She shook her head vigorously and began walking away. Aevil had told her enough. She was off to...she didn't know, didn't care, either. Aevil didn't follow her. Whether that was because she'd given up on Raeza and was going to try messing with the life of one of her other daughters or because she knew something Raeza didn't...that was uncertain. Either, way, Raeza was glad to be alone.

     She stumbled towards the road, then stopped abruptly when she saw it. The body was unmistakably Maeve's. The dark hair, the brightly-colored T-shirt... Raeza started to cry, and it felt good to be showing some sort of emotion, then guilty for feeling good in the slightest. She stood over her sister's body, her mouth opening and the words flowing out. She only ever sang for Maeve, she hadn't in decades, and this would be the last time, ever. "If we could only share this life for one more day, if we could only turn back time..." Raeza jumped as the voice from behind her joined in.

   I didn't mean to end on a cliffhanger, it just came out that way! Don't kill me! Oh, and sorry about the font color! It was all blue, but I think I changed it... Can't really tell, though. The font has a mind of it own. Of course, though, since I pointed it out, it'll act normal! [laughs]