X’lantah Kett: blissful torment
X'lantah slumped down against the ancient oak tree overlooking the playground below. The bark had the carvings of many names, symbols and even obscenities. In the playground, collective laughter of children could be heard, followed by the scolding voice of their chaperone. The Miqo'te dragged an Ul'dah #5 cigarillo and a match out of a small pouch she hidden under the base of her top.
She lazily stuffed the cigarillo between her pursed lips before snapping the end of the match against the dry oaken tree bark. The hiss of the match filled the immediate area and flame begged to be fed as it danced about erratically. The Miqo'te held the tip of the bright flame against the end of the tightly packed cigarillo. A low crackling sound could be heard as that heat taunted the end of that Ul'dah #5. X'lantah sucked on her end several times to encourage the immolation.
When it was finally lit, the Miqo'te laid back and pulled several long drags of smoke into her mouth. She never inhaled though, and believe those that did were slightly touched. As X'lantah lay against the tree her eyelids were growing heavier by every passing moment; though she fought valiantly against the grip of sleep, the Miqo'te was quickly losing the battle.
"I used to watch you play down there. Do you remember that child?" A voice asked.
X'lantah's eyes snapped open and her gaze darted to her right. Before her eyes, an older Miqo'te sat next to her. She rubbed at those weary orbs and squinted at the veteran before they widened.
"X'rang?" Xlantah’s voice cracked.
She knew the answer, but that didn't make it any less confusing. X'rang had passed about a year before X'lantah left the tribe and set forth for Ul'dah. Was this a dream? An illusion? X'lantah's old mentor was unmistakable; he had weathered skin, caused by repeated kisses from the sun, white, wind ravaged hair, and pale blue eyes that had witnessed the best and worst the world had to offer.
The man chuckled and nodded in response, "Of course it is me. But is that you? Is that X'lantah Kett?
Young X'lantah looked confused, "Of course X'rang -- it's me," X'lantah said with confusion in her tone. "Surely you recognize me, twas not that many years since we've spoke, but... you're dead."
"Or perhaps you're dead and I'm among the living," he chuckled. The man had always delivered life lessons to X'lantah in riddles and parables. The wise old man rarely spoke plainly. X'lantah swore up and down that he had a flair for the dramatic.
"I was there X'rang, I wept over your grave, I laid an Azyema rose," she choked up slightly, feeling the sting of death as though it was only last eve. "What is this? Some dream? Wake up -- now," X'lantah shouted, pleading with herself.
"Settle down my child... settle," X'rag said with that all too familiar, comforting voice. "Look at you X'lantah, you've bloomed into a beautiful rose -- insofar as appearances are concerned," he said with a shadowed look. He continued, "...but what about your thorns?"
X'lantah furrowed her brow and felt frustration set in with X'rang's evasive double-speak, "Please, X'rang talk candidly... I haven't the time for this."
He raised a brow, "Hmmm...haven't the time for this? Why is that child? Perhaps you have more depravity to spread?"
X'lantah's mouth went agape as she searched for words to retort with, "You know not of that which you speak."
"The dead see all..." He said flatly, "I've witnessed your transgressions my child." The figure that was X'rang spoke with a overwhelming tone of disappointment, "What have you become X'lantah?"
Those words pierced X'lantah's heart like an arrow fired from an archer's bow. The Miqo'te felt the unforgiving crush of a knot swelling within her throat as tears began to fill her eyes. She cleared her mind, not wanting to address the challenge that X'rag laid before her. it was too painful for the girl. "I... it's me... X'rang... please," the young Miqo'te pleaded with her disappointed mentor, "...please."
"What happened to that sweet little girl who would pick wild-flowers for me? The little Miqo'te that would bury worms so the birds wouldn't whisk them away? What happened to you X'lantah Kett?"
Tears streamed down the tanned cheeks of the Seeker. Reality struck that unforgiving blow. No matter how she struggled to clear her head, truth continued its harassing onslaught. She cried out, "Stop this X'rang! I-- haven't changed, I'm here... mentor, stop this!"
"You began to flirt with darkness as soon as you stepped foot in Ul'dah. You should have kept to your books and studied thaumaturgy like you originally intended. Instead you took the advice of that woman who delivered the first bruise to your heart. You started with petty thievery -- picking purses from patrons in the Quicksand... but that wasn't enough for you... not only did you desire more coin, but you lusted for something that corrupts even the most purest of hearts – you sought power. With that lust in your heart you returned to the darkness, peering into it with more focus, and when the shadows returned their gaze, as they often do, they revealed their true form: Umbra."
X'lantah shrieked with a tearful hiss, "SHUT UP! You don't speak that name to me... ever... don't even of them!"
"Ah, your new family? The ones you bartered your soul for the moment you signed your name?" X'rang questioned.
“They were the best thing that ever happened to me – they saved me X’rang!” she shouted. “My own parents wouldn’t attend my own bonding - they had completely forsaken me...”
“And is this what you conjure up to justify your corruption?” he said with a raised brow “To commit the atrocities that you have? Murder, kidnap, extortion – you are the dead one Lantah, not I. I’ve failed you...”
“All that I’ve done… was done out of love – for family, for others. I didn’t choose this!” X’lantah screamed out, sobbing like a babe.
“Having your lackeys crush a man’s leg on mere suspicion – you claim this as an act of love? X’lantah do you hear yourself? Do you not see this madness? Will you now brutalize others in the interest of ‘protecting’ Kit? You have deceived yourself into a web of lies – you’ve become a monster!” X’rang shouted at her. If anyone could upset a vision, it was X’lantah.
“Go away! GO AWAY!” She shouted, burring her head in her legs before waving her hands at him. With that she heard the wicked snap a tree branch breaking. When she looked up to the falling branch it was too late...
X’lantah jolted at the snap. She blinked several times and looked around the room, slightly disoriented from her daydream. A man lie dead on the ground of the tavern; his eyes were still open with an expressionless look on his face. The deed was done – X’lantah’s ‘heavy’ removed his oversized hands from the man’s chin and back of his head.
X’lantah gazed down at the lifeless body, “All is forgiven...” she said to the corpse with a malevolent smile before blowing out a large plume of cigarillo smoke.
