[A z z y]

A r t e m i s i a

_{my mother was of the sky,
my father of the earth,
but i am of the universe}

She moved with an eerie grace, crossing through the realms of the middle earth with ease. Her task had been set, deliver the gnarled, blood stained branch to the Utopians, offer them a way to speed up the war they had started before all hell well and truly broke loose. At least, without their knowledge. It was not a peace offering, it was not a metaphorical branch from an Olive tree. No, this was a warning, a pledge from the Underworld that they would be quick to lose another Lord should they remain so blasé about the situation. Whilst Rasa and her cretins may be against harming their prisoners, the Underworld certainly was not. Cadence had already been torn apart, shredded by demons as a nod to his own savage acts against Everest. Leviathan remained on borrowed time, whilst he was so far unscathed by the Underworld, should Rasa ignore this invitation, it would be his head Artemisia carried with her next time. Around her nape, bound on a length of rope fashioned from ligaments and sinews, was a collection of feathers. Several belonging to the fallen lord Nehemiah, stained with his blood, a trio of obsidian feathers belonging to Rasa’s dear son, and those of a bluish hue, belonging to Cadence. Whilst no claret marred the plumage of Leviathan, deep blue streaks across Cadence's indicated the presence of blood once more.

Her abyssal and ivory wings were clasped neatly to her barrel, her own dense feathers rustled in the cool breeze that rolled through Eden. Had she been on a more personal visit, perhaps she would have lingered in this midgard a while longer, to truly absorb the world she was a part of. Yet alas, this was no personal endeavour. With a vicious snort, the daeva curled her nape inwards, the apex of her crest arching as she thundered forwards, several strides of a lofty thrice beat offered before her wings extended and she was airborne. The hefty appendages forced her through the ether, her cornflower optics two set gems in her skull as she sought the gates of the enemy territory. It did not take long, a few minutes through the clouds and she was there. Whilst not so foolish as to copy Leviathan in venturing deep into enemy territory and risk capture, Artemisia still brazenly moved through the entry point, her skin blistering and healing instantly, the same experience felt as she did in the Underworld. Neither were her home, but particularly not Utopia. With no one to greet nor stop her from venturing further, the daeva paced the point of entry with a predatory gait.

Rasaaaaaa, she hissed into the land of the pure, her tones snake like in their delivery. Would she see her father? Or her foolish mother, did Rasa even know she had been conceived within this very realm? Artemisia would soon find out. No doubt the goddess would be aware of her presence already, no doubt she would be making her way hastily to see which denizen of the Underworld would be so brazen, so brash, to stride into her home unannounced and uninvited. Still, Artemisia paced, her gaze almost maniacal as she scoured the realms, her impatience growing with every lingering second that slipped by. Afterall, every moment Rasa kept her waiting was another tumbling grain of sand moving against Leviathan and Cadence's time line… would the Utopian lead finally swallow her pride and concede? Or would she leave the rest to rot in the depths of the Underworld?

"Others speech"
Artemisia's speech

fleabittengray as mentioned, will be posting her briefly in the Levi & Xerxes thread to collect the feathers, but wanted to get this going whilst it's in my mind

link to ref

[fleabittengray]

Broke away but you're starving for closure
Seam together but you know that I know ya
Know this is real, this is real

The war was not going well. Where were her angels? Doing nothing, as usual? She had half a mind to just give up and actually make Akroma the Lady of Utopia - one reason being just to see the look on Xerxes face, the other because she was just so tired. Nothing she did, after all of these years, inspired the majority of the angels to do much of anything. She'd had a faint hope that war might inspire them, give them something to fight for. She was wrong. She had seen more angels at her war cry meeting than actually out doing anything. They had all pledged themselves to her, that small little group, and what had they done? Not enough. Not even close to enough. And she was being painted the monster yet again. After all she had suffered through, after all she had overcome, she was the monster. She was in the wrong. How messed up was that? All she wanted was peace for all, regardless of alliance. She wanted the mortals to be able to walk the realm freely without fear of attack or manipulation. She wanted to abolish slavery. She wanted to free everyone that was being help captive. She hated having captives herself. Venari, Everest, Akroma... what was the use? Nothing was happening. They were being treated fairly, yet still she was the monster. Ain't that some shit.

She knew immediately when someone came through the Gates. She had been flying at the other edge of Utopia when she felt the presence of a Daeva... one that she didn't know. Fury filled her. What Daeva had the Underworld been hiding? Rasaaaaaa, The hiss of a voice made the Lady want to drag this Daeva into the cells of Utopia. There would be hell to pay for whatever angel had allowed a creation of a Daeva and then hid it's conception. The ultimate betrayal. No wonder her angels were so inactive. Apparently, they'd rather support Hell. Well, so be it. They wanted to support the demons - they could go become one.

She landed several feet away from the Daeva, her face carefully schooled into a cold but neutral expression. Her wings folded against her sides and she walked up to the entity. She saw the feathers, recognizing them easily, but she kept her expression unchanging even as her eyes scanned the collection of feathers. Finally, her eyes settled on the girl's face. "What?" she question, scarily calm, given the situation. Perhaps not the reaction the Daeva would be expecting. But Rasa did not care. All she cared about was finding out whatever angel had played part in creating this Daeva, and getting them out of her sight.

Rasa | 451 | A z z y w/ Artemisia
notes | angry angel 
timeline | 20 years 9 months, early spring, while Cadence is stolen, after exchanging Hymn for Sly's soul, after her thread with Saniyya, after thread with Akroma
"Speech"

ARTWORK BY ANI2AD