Liquid Darkness

°Trigger warning: graphic violence and SA. Please skip the section in parentheses if you're sensitive to these topics.°

*Spring, Year 225, Luminous Calendar*

Iris sniffed quietly as tears seeped through her closed eyes. She hadn't been able to eat or drink, much less sleep well in the past five nights.

(( Her dreams were turned to nightmares fill with horrid images of dead people, the elderly, men, women and children alike. The acrid smell of metal and burning flesh filled her nostrils. Thick smoke clouded and stung her eyes and throat. No matter how much she coughed, the smell wouldn't go away. If anything, every time she took in another gulping breath the smell would hit her even harder. It was suffocating her, burning her lungs from the inside out. The smoke twisted and turned sharply through her lungs as she inhaled it, its black gassy substance ripping her flesh apart with every breath. The agonizing screams of people she couldn't see penetrated her very soul. Their pleas for mercy going unheard, gurgling sounds replacing the screams of those that were gutted or beheaded. The helpless screams and cries of women and young girls who were being beaten or tortured while fighting off their abusers resounded around her in wave after sickening wave.
'No! No! Please! Please someone! Help me!' She screamed with all her might but no sound came, so no one came.))

"Lady Iris. Lady Iris. Please wake up. Lady Iris, it's me, Sister Bertha. Please, wake up." Iris suddenly awoke, her eyes wide with fear. Her lungs burned while her brain screamed for her to breath but her body didn't respond. "Lady Iris, breath. Please breath!" Sister Bertha pleaded, tears forming in her terrified gray eyes. "She's having a panic attack. Wait no, her body is going into shock. Move!" A man's deep voice sounded by her doorway before he appeared in Iris's fading line of sight. She laid awkwardly on her side. Her body convulsing and her sight becoming darker and darker with every passing second. "Here, move these sheets ma'am. Thank you. I'm going to pull her onto the ground now." The same deep voice said as a pair of strong arms pulled her as gently as possible to the floor. "Oh no..." there was a brief silence before she heard Sister Bertha's frantic voice, "Oh no? What does that mean? What does oh no mean!? Sir, please.." Sister Bertha's voice broke in a loud sob. "Ma'am, please calm down. Just give me a moment..." Iris could feel a large hand hover just above her chest before she saw a pair of ice blue eyes looking straight at her's.
Beautiful thick black eyelashes lined the icy orbs that looked straight into her soul and Iris couldn't help but think of how fortunate she was to be able to look so closely at this wonderful sight. The more she looked at those icy blue orbs the brighter and wider they became untill the black pupils in the center were so small they were no more then a pair of tiny black dots.
Without a warning those tiny dots expanded outwards so rapidly that she felt if she blinked she would miss something crucial. The expanding black dots became so large they overcame the bright icy blue orbs and all the white area around these. "Breath!" An unearthly voice commanded her and her body finally allowed her to suck in a merciful gulp of air, however that merciful breath only lasted a couple of seconds before her body began convulsing again, her throat closed up once again and her lungs began to burn with more pain than before.
The strong hands quickly pulled her to a sitting position before she felt a hard thump on her back. A cold electric shock ran through her body which, in turn began to instinctively cough with long growing breaths. Black oozing liquid poured from her mouth in heaps. It poured all over her chest, her lap and down around her. She heaved over and over again until finally, she was able to breath. She took in large amounts of air before starting to heave again, more oozing black liquid pouring out of her mouth.
Time passed as Iris repeated this process a few more times. Large amounts of air in, larger amounts of black liquid out. By the time she was done, all of her gown was absolutely covered in black liquid but at least she was breathing normally now. "Feeling better?" A calm deep voice asked from behind her as Sister Bertha rushed towards her, a large damp towel in her hands. "Wait! Allow me ma'am." The voice said in a rush before something like tight leather snapping against skin sounded behind her.
Iris closed her eyes exhausted and stayed silent as she felt the warm damp towel being passed over her face and around her neck. "Ma'am, I think you should take her somewhere where she can take a hot bath. Just don't touch her directly..." The deep voice whispered and Iris heard Sister Bertha's shaky voice answer with a low, "aye Sire....umm...how do I do that?" There was another pause of silence before the man answered, "Good question.....maybe we should bring the High Priestess in."

Iris sighed deeply as she felt a large hand rubbing her back in small gentle circles. "It's ok. Everything is going to be ok. The chubby lady went to get help. We'll have you up and cleaned in a few minutes." The man's voice sounded a bit worried and what it said sounded more like reassurance for himself then for her. "Bertha." Iris said in a hoarse whisper. "Pardon me?" The man asked, a tone of surprise underlying his question. "Sister Bertha. That's her name, kind Sir." She answered with another hoarse whisper. The man was about to say something else but was interrupted by the sound of several people coming into the room. Iris still sat with her eyes closed, she was too exhausted to open them. "Sweet Goddess of Mercy, what happened here?" A women's screeching voice asked in horror. Iris could pin point that voice a mile away. It was High Priestess Heathlan. "Sister Bertha,
what happened?" Ah, High Priestess Asterwood, Iris thought in relief. "My dear sisters, take a closer look at this." That younger but slightly deeper voice, oh no, High Priestess Ruth, the strictest of the five High Priestess. "Is that...Sire is that..."
Iris wasn't sure what was asked as exhaustion over took her and she passed out.

"Woah there!" Prince Regan exclaimed as he took hold of the unconscious woman's shoulders before her body smacked the floor. "Oh no! Oh no! Lady Iris!" The chubby woman, no, Sister Bertha the unconscious woman had called her, screamed. "Please! No!" She continued to cry hysterically. "Sister Bertha! Get a hold of yourself." The tall woman with short brown haired said in a cold voice. What had his father called her? High Priestess Bruth? Puth? Ruth..Yes! That was it. High Priestess Ruth. She was younger than the other two but she had a no nonsense air about her. She kind of reminded him of his old nanny, may the Goddesses hold her soul in their grace. "She's ok Sister Bertha. She's just unconscious." The oldest woman said in a calm motherly voice. High Priestess Asterwood, he remembered her. She was the one who received and attended to them since their arrival. "Thank the Goddesses. Thank the Goddesses" Sister Bertha cried in relief.
"Sire, is that extracted Darkness?" The woman with the screechy voice leaned closer to asked him with a worried whisper, completely ignoring the Sister. Prince Regan looked at her and nodded solemnly. "Dear Goddesses of Peace and Mercy." The screechy voiced High Priestess said as she looked upwards and closed her eyes.
"Is there a bathroom around here where I can take her? We really should get her cleaned up before anything else. She doesn't look very presentable at this moment." Prince Regan said uncomfortably as he looked at the poor woman's once white and golden gown now covered in smelly oozing liquid Darkness.
The smell in itself didn't make him uncomfortable since it was somewhat tolerable, like a mixture of rotting fruits, moldy sea grass and burnt candle wax. It was the way the liquid Darkness oozed and bubble over the woman's exposed skin that made him itchy just by looking at it. The women gave him a scandalized look as they stared at him silently. He looked at them awkwardly before realization hit him like a steel hammer and he responded with embarrassment, "Sweet God of Purity, my dear High Priestesses, please forgive the way I foolishly worded my sentence. What I meant to say was that every and any questions can be asked and answered later. What is important at this moment is to get your disciple cleaned and in bed so she can rest, don't you reckon?" The High Priestesses came to a quick realization and their faces shone a bright shade of red. The oldest one cleared her throat and answered, "Please forgive us your Majesty, we misunderstood the meaning of your statement. You are correct, we should get our disciple cleaned and in bed."


Iris slowly began to regain conscience as several voices angerily whispered around her. At first she wasn't sure what they were saying, only that they seemed to be arguing. Slowly the whispered words began to take a meaning.
"All of this was a mistake dear sister, all of it! This is a clear reason to why we don't envolve ourselves, our temple or our pupils in topics of politics or war! You should never have allowed that man or his men inside our sacred walls!" One voice whispered with a hiss. "Heathlan, you need to calm down. You're not thinking rationally." Another voice whispered in a firm tone. "No Ruth! I will not calm down. If there was ever a moment to not be calm, this is it!" High Priestess Heathlan whispered again as a gentle wave of heat radiated from where her voice seemed to be coming from. "Heathlan, we had no other choice! With the overwhelming possibility of war breaking out...we had to accept the help of one of the Kingdoms. We couldn't keep denying them while desperately praying for war not to reach our doorstep." A harsh whisper answered as a soft gust of cold air radiated from the opposite side. "Are you serious? Look at what they've done Asterwood! One of ours has already been tainted by Darkness! She could have died! The fact that she's still alive is a miracle handed to us by the very Goddesses themselves." High Priestess Heathlan whispered back, her wave of heat growing. "Heathlan, Asterwood calm down. You are both losing control." High Priestess Ruth's calm voice whispered firmly again. "Oh, shut it Ruth. You know she's right. We should have been attending closely to our pupils instead of playing happy hostess maids to that arrogant man and his witless men!" A different voice whispered. This voice sounded older and wiser but tired and almost angry. "Sisters, that's enough. You all know you shouldn't be debating such a serious conversation in front of one of our pupils. "A strong womenly voice said as a door opened and shut. "You should also avoid getting so emotional over these matters that you start to lose control over yourselves." It ended with a disappointed tone. "Antoinette. Forgive us." High Priestess Asterwood responded shamefully. 'Oh my, High Priestess Antoinette' Iris thought surprised. Iris had never actually met the Head High Priestess herself. She had just seen her from afar. Those who had, always said she was a force to be reckoned with. The woman was of average height, unlike High Priestesses Asterwood and Ruth, who were almost as tall as Sister Nattie, but she was taller than High Priestesses Heathlan and Silvia. She had beautiful long chocolate brown hair that matched perfectly with her tanned skin and complemented the wine red gowns the High Priestess wore. "Tell me Miss Iris, how are you feeling?" Head High Priestess Antoinette asked as she came closer to where Iris laid. She opened her eyes slowly and tried to speak but her throat stung painfully and she ended up coughing weakly, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Shhh. I understand, I understand. Don't worry my dear, we will have Priestess Vera come take a look at you. Untill then just rest." She said before turning around and walking past the other High Priestesses. She nodded her head and walked out, the rest silently following after her.