valkrya. art deco buildings. jazz bands playing in hidden speakeasies. the glint of gun metal. fresh heartbreak. fur coats and high heels. coming of age. a belief in true love. the grey between good and bad. sky blue eyes. running across empty fields. snowfall on a winter’s night. fast cars and motorbikes.
cursed queen. dark forests filled with secrets. escaping from your past. finding a magic within yourself. beauty in wisdom. thoughtful eyes watching the world go by. learning to be loved. light winning over dark. recovering from a wound in your past. rushing rivers and mountain ranges. true tranquillity.
deus. hidden magic. thunderstorms and lightning. the love of a family. loyalty above all. the power of youth. discovering your destiny. prayers to dead gods. blooming roses in the winter. safety among friends. defiance of the odds. a wicked smile. mysterious dreams. everything is clearer in the eye of the storm.
where foxes say goodnight. ancient cities. grey skies and rainy days. an obsession with times long gone. the mystery of the past. being a part of something greater than yourself. refusing to take orders. science on the mind. dark masks and unbreathable air. the freedom in being lost. quick and cunning.
the second death of sorrow fair. angels and demons. broken halos. difficult choices for the right reasons. searching for freedom. the balance of order and chaos. leaving behind what you know. us against the world. meeting your soulmate. forging a new path. sarcasm and snark. a cause worth fighting for.
An absolutely massive and unending thank you to my amazing friend Eff (@eff-draws ) for creating this gorgeous artwork of my OC Helen, I love it beyond words! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect representation of one of my favourite characters of mine and it takes my breath away just to look at it!
Everyone who hasn’t seen her around before, meet Helen! She’s a flamboyant and fun-loving seventeen-year-old with a secret to keep. Alongside her boyfriend Noël and tutor Avery, Hel searches for answers that will change the fate of the world forever. Why did her brother run away? Why does she have magic? And if god’s dead, who will protect them from the dark days to come?
As I haven’t actually established a year system in my world yet, I’ve used the birthdate of one of my main OCs, Angelica, as the year “0″ in this timeline. The position of my three main WIPs - Valkrya, Cursed Queen and Deus - are shown in relation to the events of Angelica’s lifetime. Deus follows the next generation of characters including some of the children from Valkrya, while Cursed Queen connects the two works by expanding the world and setting up the overarching plot. Below you can learn about all these WIPs and read excerpts from them.
Thanks Raven for tagging me back! This is a sequel to the excerpt here.
It had started with achy limbs and neck, and he couldn’t stop sweating. The fever had set in a day or so later and hadn’t stopped since. Half the time the pain in his head was so severe he could barely think. On the third day, he’d left his small cabin and approached one of the ship’s crew for help. Horrified, the woman had tied a cloth around her own mouth and shown Aleks back to his cabin, where he was now confined. Whatever he had, it was highly contagious, and probably about to kill him.
Poor Aleks has his world’s version of typhoid, but fortunately he will soon run into Eve who can fix that for him :)
About: So this basically turned into the first half of the first chapter of Deus? Oh well, I’ll take it. Meet Eve, the Terran healer gifted with magic powers. And welcome to Melford! totally not based on my home city melbourne whoops
Eve stepped into the light of the streetlamp, brushing her pale hair out of her face and gazing out into the darkness. At the end of the street she saw the warm glow of the night market, alive and bustling with people despite the late hour. It was a strange flicker of life in a quiet, sleeping city. She felt its inviting light drawing her in, but doubt kept her back. Even in the peaceful market, there could be people looking to cause trouble.
“‘Ey, love!” called a drunk man from across the street. “Fancy a drink?”
I swear to Deus, can’t I get a moment of peace? “Not likely!” she replied over her shoulder, heading down the street towards the market. Thanks for making my mind up for me. She pulled her hood up as she walked, covering her silvery-grey hair beneath her cloak. It made her stick out too much, and tonight she especially wanted to fly under the radar. For years she’d considered changing her hair colour, but hadn’t really ever mustered up the courage to dye it. It was too much of her to get rid of, even temporarily.
The market was filled with sellers, tourists and intoxicated young men waving their arms around like they thought they were professional dancers. She wound her way through the crowds of people, avoiding eye contact.
“Good evening,” she said politely, stopping at a falafel stand. “Could I have three please?”
“‘Course, dear,” the woman behind the stand replied in a slight accent, smiling. She passed over three of the falafels, wrapped in paper. “Three specks.”
Eve passed over the bronze coins with a quick thanks, biting into the food gratefully. Yep, right choice, this was worth it. The food in Melford was its best feature, really. There was no one true cuisine on the small island because everyone there had come from somewhere else.
The apothecary stall was her next target. One of her usual haunts - the small store was rarely busy and less hostile towards her. It was a place where she could actually speak openly about her job and sometimes talk to other fey, if they were around.
A sharp hiss to her right drew her attention and she saw a young man jump back from the grill he was working at, clutching his hand. Eve felt the urge to reach out and use her gift to help him. If this wasn’t such a public place, she would. But you could never tell how someone would react to healing. Most were grateful and considered it a bit of a miracle, but some could be afraid or angry. Unless they bore a mark of a magic school or group, it wasn’t safe.
Strangely, Crell wasn’t at his stall. The apothecary was presided over by a twenty-something-year-old man, who was busy drawing in a notebook.
“Hey,” she greeted, removing her hood. Her long silver hair fell into her face, and she brushed it out of the way. She really should cut it.
The man looked up from his work, eyes widening. “Faerie,” he murmured softly, catching sight of her hair and the symbol of her pendant, which had come free from her dress. He looked terrified. “Just uh, take what you need,” he said, gesturing at the wares on the table before him.
Oh Deus. “I’m not a faerie,” Eve said lightly, “I’m fey. And I don’t steal.”
The man opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by someone coming out from behind the drapes at the back of the stall. Crell, thank Deus.
“Ry, what’s going on here?” Crell asked. “Ah, Eve, I’m glad to see you.”
The young man glanced up at the older one, looking slightly bewildered. “Oh, sorry Unc. I didn’t realise you knew her.” He grabbed his notebook and pencil, leaving his post with a confused look at Crell.
“Give you much trouble?” Crell asked, setting down a pack of glass bottles and starting to unpack them.
“Oh no, he’s just rather misinformed,” she said. “Your nephew, I take it?”
Crell nodded. “My sister’s boy Ry. It’s his first night, it’s taking a bit of getting used to. How are you going.”
“Well, you know,” she said around a mouthful of falafel, “it’s alright, I guess. We’re doing well at the hospital. I’ve been feeling okay the past few weeks.”
“That’s good to hear.”
She glanced at the bench, unsure whether she should bring up the reason she was actually here tonight. But Crell knew a lot of fey, so maybe he would have the answers. “Something’s coming, right? We had a patient - another fey - yesterday, who just came from the Eastern Continents. And they were saying how the faeries there were talking about trouble that wasn’t to do with humans or anything, but old magic. I was just wondering if you’ve heard anything about that?”
Crell grimaced. “I heard some chatter, yeah. They reckon it’s to do with whatever went down a few years ago up north, when the passage across the mountains opened up.”
“Hmm.” Eve pretended to browse some of the items on sale.
“You looking for anything?”
Eve glanced up at Crell. “Uh, I’ll take some burn serum, if you’ve got any.”
Crell nodded and went back behind the drapes to find the serum, leaving Eve standing there alone. No one else seemed to be at the stall today, which was a bit unusual. Some other people who looked possibly fey hung around at the end of that row of stands, but she didn’t really feel like approaching them, honestly.
The sound of yelling and police whistles filled the air, coming from the north. The main square, maybe? Eve bit her lip, trying to see through the cramped market to the square. Something was going on.
“Hey, Crell,” she called into the space behind the stall, but he didn’t reply.
She looked back towards the sounds. All of her instincts were telling her to go towards the commotion in case somebody was hurt. Why do I always run head first into danger? She stood there for another few seconds, hoping that maybe it would all die down and she could take her serum and go home. Unfortunately the screaming continued, and Eve knew she was about to do something possibly quite stupid. But everything in her was screaming go, that’s where you’re supposed to be, and Eve new from experience that her instincts were often right.
Tagged by Dana and @raevenlywrites . This is Hel’s POV from Deus.
She approached her desk and retrieved a book titled The Fateful Journey to the Empty East. It had a simple dark blue cover, the name embossed in gold on the front and on the spine. She’d yet to start reading this one after only picking it up from the palace library yesterday at Avery’s recommendation. She flopped onto a sofa and opened the book. On the very first page was a single line:
“Everything is clearer in the eye of the storm.”
That’s the second time that phrase has come up, huh? Must be important...
Here we are, baaack agaaaaiiinnnn~ thanks to @hepiit and @converginglives for tagging me :)
Hel stared into the face of Deus, trying to believe that they gazed back down on her. There was something so… insincere about their stone form.
“You’re not really there, are you?” she asked.
“No, they’re not,” said a cool voice from behind her.
I did this for a fictober prompt but didn’t finish it. Anyway, here’s Hel on the day she makes the connection between the strange absence of Deus and arrival of magic in the world.
About: This prompt sounds super serious but I turned it into something kind of light-hearted. The thing Hel reads is actually sort of another WIP of mine? Anyway, I adore Hel and Avery’s relationship, it’s absolutely just the berries :)
“Are you going to try to explain yourself?” Avery asked dryly.
Hel rolled her eyes. “Look, Jules was telling me about this new club that was absolutely just the berries, but my aunt said I couldn’t go if I hadn’t done my Terran homework. So I-”
“Decided to cheat and ask a Terran to give you all the answers.”
“Yes well-”
Avery interrupted again, holding up a hand to silence her. “You know what, I’ve heard enough, this ends now.” They picked up a book from their desk, flicking open to a marked section. “You will read, tell me what you think, and then maybe you can go with your friend Julie to this new club.” They held out the book, tapping a page.
Hel took the volume in confusion. “Okay… Wait, this isn’t anything to do Terran.”
“No, it isn’t. Now silence. Read.”
With a sigh, Hel looked down at the page and did as she was instructed.
...Liana Chalet arrived in the capital on the twenty-fourth of March, poor and hungry. Although the doors of her family would be open to her, she chose to stay in a local inn while in search of work. The innkeeper decided to allow her to stay and eat for free so long as she worked the nights behind the bar. It was on one of these nights that Chalet encountered Moremi for the first time when he came to the inn for a drink.
The nature of Chalet and Moremi’s relationship has been debated throughout history. Although it ended in a romantic connection, the initial feeling between them is often considered to be mutual dislike, born out of differing opinions on political matters. However, it is also assumed that this dislike was often humorous and Chalet had always considered Moremi a friend, and vice versa. Nametso Tale, who quickly became a close acquaintance of Chalet after their introduction, described their relationship as “always positive, even when they argue. They differ in approach rather than specific opinion, and I think if they can learn to work together, they will find great success.”, and repeatedly stressed her belief that Chalet and Moremi were likely to be romantically involved.
While Chalet’s greatest flaw was her hot temper, Moremi’s was his indecisiveness and desire to fly below the radar. This was shown in their very first interaction when Chalet got into an altercation with an unidentified male patron at the inn while working. The fight was started over politics - the customer had been arguing for the continued influence of Greymark, which Chalet took issue with and refused to back down. Moremi attempted to quieten her, but eventually became a part of the argument and was set upon by the man. He was rescued by Chalet, who fought him off and proceeded to talk the man down from any further violence. This event was what first cemented their friendship despite their differences.
She went to turn the page, but Avery stopped her.
“Well?” they asked.
Hel tilted her head. “Who was she?”
“Liana Chalet?” Avery leaned back in their chair, smiling. “She was a great political leader, over a hundred years ago on the Eastern Continents. She fought for Greymark to get back inside its own borders and brought her country independence. It’s a great story.”
“This book is about her?”
Avery nodded. “Now, what can you tell me about what you just read?”
“Could I ask, Chalet and Moremi, they were…?”
“Married, eventually, but not for quite a few years after the events detailed here. They lived and worked together for the rest of their lives.”
Hel thought it over for a moment, running her hand down the edge of the page. “Well, I suppose it was Chalet’s temper that got her into trouble. But then again, Moremi still became involved despite his attempts not to. And it was both of those attributes combined that saved them.”
“So…?”
“They are complimentary. They help each other, even though they’re very different. They give each other… temperance.”
Avery smiled. “Which is what I want you to understand. The virtue of temperance. Temperance means balance and moderation, in all respects. It means feeling strongly, but acting wisely.”
Hel laughed softly. “I understand.”
“I’m glad,” said Avery. “Now, you can run along with your friends and have a good time.”
“Oh, thank you,” she said. She’d quite forgotten why she was even there in the first place. Standing, she tucked a loose curl of hair behind her ear and offered Avery a meaningful smile. “If you’re done with it, could you leave that book on my bedside? I’d love to read it properly.”
“Of course,” they replied. “I look forward to discussing it with you.”
She looked over her shoulder as she left the room. “You’re the best, Ave. Absolutely just the berries.”
Avery watched her go, adjusting their glasses. “I know, Hel. It’s how I got here.”
Hel felt an extra lightness in her step as she walked away.
