#interactions: seth

[ladydiaval]

monsters make monsters | tavia & seth

@dvmoninthedrk​

She was having a lovely time and that was something she’d never expected.

Dancing with Seth had put the icing on the cake, but all good things inevitably come to fall apart and often the breaking came immediately after happiness. When she and the prince went separate ways, returning to their respective families (and hoping they haven’t been seen by any of them), she felt that buzz in the air, like a creature drawing in a deep breath before it would let out a growl.

And the growl followed.

Tavia’s eyes widened in, what must’ve been true horror, when the first figure appeared. She’d recognised Ophelia’s handiwork anywhere and when the growls of the monsters accompanied the dead figures, she understood what had happened. Her debts to the necromancer had finally come to be paid and when lady Nessa requested the service of her select few monsters, Tavia agreed to serve as their commander.

She didn’t command them to appear tonight, not unlike those other nights, when she’d personally led them to occupy and wear down the generals and captains of the Five kingdoms. She didn’t ask for this and she didn’t sign up for this, but that was exactly what’s happened. Her promise to Ophelia that no price was too steep to pay, for the lives of her beloved creatures, had been a reckless promise. But now she couldn’t back down and the pressure of the promise began to claw at her.

She closed her eyes in acceptance and the monsters howled again.

Tavia didn’t wait for the end of it. She’d heard enough and she’d done enough, and so she turned on her heel without a word to Heloise and bolted into a full sprint and out of the room.

No no no no no no.

No.

This was all her fault, all her doing. If she hadn’t made all those deals with Ophelia, if she hadn’t been so darn weak to see her monsters die and let them go, none of this would’ve happened. Tavia felt like she was about to choke and in vain she’d tried to loosen the strings of her corset. There was no air and panic had started to settle in and -

She was blind. Blind even to her friends’ deceit. Was there no one she could trust, no one but Heloise? The shapeshifter was unaware of the presence behind her as the first panicked breath, shakily hiccuped from her, the sound a hybrid of laughter and a sob.

[ladydiaval]

no light | tavia & seth

@dvmoninthedrk​

Loneliness.

It seemed to be the recurring sentiment in her life. Loneliness and solitude and sadness. Everything was a lot better when she was detached from the world, surrounded only and solely by her animals, the only creatures that loved her without lies, without agendas. After... after Heloise’s revelation, Tavia didn’t want to spend another minute in her presence. The walls of Darkshadow had started to close in around her and she needed air. She needed a respite from everyone, in that moment she especially needed a break from her sister, who’d been nothing but a constant and a light in her life.

She needed to run.

Morphing for the second time that night, Tavia took the form of a black cat and bolted through the window, paws landing effortlessly and gracefully to the soft grass beneath the window and, purposely deaf to her sister’s calls, dashed away towards the only place that’s been a haven and a familiarity to her - the dark forest. With her ears pinned close to her furry head, the black cat panted, small heart racing to the brink of rupture as she caught her breath. Shifting back into the human was a necessary evil.

But, she wondered if forgetting everything was ultimately the wisest option.

Tavia was sitting in a small clearing in the dark forest, far away from Darkshadow and her sister (and anyone else who might’ve been foolish enough to enter the forest at this hour). There was nothing but silence in the air, but it was a tensed sort of silence, which cackled and promised something; what it promised, she didn’t know. Spending roughly about an hour in total as two different animals, Tavia had felt less hurt by her sister’s betrayal, mainly because she felt less. She was empty, the kind of void that remains after a heart’s been shattered into too many pieces to count.

Heartbreak.

It was one of the things which made her resolve to stay human melting to almost nothing. She was happier as an animal, more free and unburdened by lies and deceit, and heartbreak. Alone in the night, Tavia leaned her head against the nearby tree, resting from the weariness of both shifting and the arguments she’s had during the night’s course. Seth had seen her transform and it was... well, she’s had a feeling she’d have to stay away from him for a while. But, cruel irony and crueler gods had had different plans for her. She felt him before she saw him stepping out into the clearing and, for a moment, she’d wanted to morph into a stick insect and just vanish. But, it was too late - he’d seen her. When she spoke, her voice was strained and hollow.

“How did you find me?”