He would arrive by night. The world shimmering around him. It could almost be considered beautiful, if not for the aura of hate that followed him closely. Renozuri is a seething presence that demands attention. A bellowing call causes the energy around him to shift, his form slipping out of the shadows like silk, out into the open as he sought out the company of his heir and the one who had murdered him.

Renozuri wanted to know, what had he done? Where was his family at now? What were his plans. While the devil had not been an ambitious man, his sense of power was not derived from the strength of a crown. No, he sought power elsewhere. Control in other aspects of his life. The once X'uekai Patriarch did not need a crown to exert himself, so he wasn't expecting such from @Cassius ♔ either.

But he was expecting...something.

 

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Irreverence is my disease

For it having turned Spring, the nights were still chilled. Yet this particular night stung like Winter. And the silence. Yawning on and on. As if the wind and the crickets were unwilling to utter a single breath.

Then came the bellow. Both far away and right beside. Both a whisper and a scream. Cassius pauses midstep, ears swiveling and eyes piercing through the darkness. It was a voice slowly being lost to time, yet still familiar.

Well. It'll be harder to plead my case if I have to kill you a second time. The Darkling muses, more in awe of the specter than afraid.

@Renozuri

code by loki | art by wogh

The boy arrives and it seems he's only gotten larger. More confident. There is something particularly vile about him that causes a slow curve of Renozuri's lips. Renozuri moves but makes no sound, his footsteps more for show than actual movement. He practically glides toward the other with what seems to be malicious intent.

The words that slip past Cassius lips prompt a low, echoing snarl - the devil seemingly amused. "What has happened since you took my life, and my position?" He questions, wanting to get right to business. Renozuri did not play games when it came to things like this. The land of the living still intrigued him, and he wanted the truth.

He would have it one way or another.

 

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Irreverence is my disease

The apparition comes closer and Cassius does not flinch or shy away. Instead his head cocks to the side, gaze filled with curious wonder. Heard of ghosts. Thought them a boring tale. A paw rises to touch, to feel, yet it passes through the misty male; leaving behind but ice cold electricity.

Interesting. He hums while withdrawing back to himself.

Ooohh.. The Darkling half sings, eyes rolling. Icefang did not take the news well. None of them did. Still don't. As placid as the family seemed to be now, Cassius could easily guess they still clung to their resentment. She wants to keep her power. And they all let her. Clearly meaning the ghost's wife. Or, once wife.

Long story short, I offered her a piece of you and she gave me her claws. So I took her ear. Now I am Heir of a rather disrespectful bunch. Not that he minded. Tearing into Nazara's tongue had been quite entertaining.

@Renozuri

code by loki | art by wogh

"We exist. Unfortunately." He snorts, annoyance evident in his tones. Despite this, he was glad to have some tether to the living world, rather than being lost in the ether. Shoulders shift, though the action is done more out of habit than necessity. He felt nothing, no ache in his bones as he had while he was alive.

He hears the news and it disappoints him. A sneer graces his devilish features; a low growl echoed outward into the air. "How disappointing. Icefang is only X'uekai at my behest - I can rip the name from her just as quickly as it was blessed." He snaps, his teeth coming together with what would be force, but there is no sound that accompanies it.

"Heir, but not Sovereign?" He scowls, his features twisting into a malicious expression. Sightless eyes glint with disgust. Renozuri had always been content to remain a secondary leader, or Heir during his time with Nikiri and Icefang, but he had learned his lesson there. Too many women in power gave them the illusion they were in charge. "That must change."

 

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Irreverence is my disease

Then again he had seen a man die and come back to life so perhaps ghosts shouldn't be too far fetched. But it was another thing that got Cassius's gears turning.
How close could the Darkling claw his way to immortality in this land? A rather wonderful card to have considering how things were soon to pan out.
He were no fool. He was well aware where he was headed given his choices in intimate partners.

Thus any opportunity to defy death was worth investigating..

She is the sole reason the name X'uekai remains. According to her. The family trusts her over a stranger who they believed murdered you in cold blood. It wasn't like Cassius had been around back then to know whether or not she in fact did keep the family from extinction. She had hardly had any children. Velasco had gone so long without children. So what was it that had preserved? The old ways? Hardly if what Renozuri said now was true. If she wasn't meant to be in charge then she had failed.

It will. He purrs with a growing grin. I've been biding my time. She gave me children. Daughters but still. But another of my pets has given me five strong sons. They are wild. Untamable even by their own dame. They perhaps even outdo myself from when I was their age.

Little monsters would one day become big monsters. And then Cassius would not be so alone in his dreams of domination.

code by loki | art by wogh

Icefang had kept his family from extinction? Is that truly how she felt? How many children had he born that did not come from her loins? Too many. She had been unable to bear him sons for some time, and so he had to rely on others to do her job for her. His fondness for her had kept her in her position, nothing else. "The X'uekai would have died out after my death had I not named you my heir. Icefang is foolish, arrogant even, to think otherwise." And it annoyed him beyond reason. His eerie, ethereal form is still as he thinks - the world growing quiet after Cassius is done speaking. He did not have tethers right now, nor would he for some time yet - at least that's what he felt in his soul.

For now he would remind his family of who was in charge.
Who was his heir.

"Raise them in my way. Do not grow soft on me, Cassius. Women are nothing but things to be used. To be bred. It does not matter who they are, where they come from. Your Father, his parents were my children." Did Cassius know this about himself? That his grandparents were siblings? Would this make him understand the extent of how a X'uekai worked?

"The X'uekai are born with violence in their souls. Feed it." He encouraged, his body finally moving, showing signs of feigned life as he rolled those broad shoulders of his. He could only hope Cassius would not disappoint him, keep the line going until he could return to the mortal realm. He did not know how long that would take, but it was his goal. Renozuri was not meant to remain a memory - one day forgotten.

 

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Irreverence is my disease

A certain indescribable shiver tickles the back of Cassius's skull as Renozuri calls Icefang foolish. Arrogant. True there were times he himself thought the same. But to hear it come from someone else's lips?
Perhaps it simply boiled down to the Heirs own entitlement. I can call her whatever I want but no one else can.

It is most assuredly secured now. The beast muses. My legacy is just beginning. If Faustine hadn't walked away from their last tryst full of his spawn then she would be the next time he got his clawsninto her. The Darkling had no intentions of stopping. Not until his army of demi-gods stood untouchable against the whole of Amaryllis.

Reno moves to speak on Caelum and his parents. Eluding to the fact that his grandparents were close kin before laying with one another. His nose twists up slightly, but not from the idea that he came from an inbred line. No that wasn't the issue. Cassius did not have any type of sibling bonds. With anyone. It was not something he would ever come to know. So to think of himself bedding one of his insufferable sisters made him want to vomit.

Does Icefang know? About the X'uekai mingling between themselves? Was that why she didn't mind producing his offspring when the world thought them related? If anyone suspected the truth of their children's parentage, was it already expected? But this information would serve useful. Especially with Velasco about to have children. Daughters maybe. To give to Freja's sons. Those boys were indeed a wild bunch. Only another X'uekai would be able to survive them. Granted they wouldn't be siblings, but distant cousins.

code by loki | art by wogh

Icefang had most certainly done her part, but if she wasn't ensuring the success of his Heir, the one he'd chosen, then he was only hindering the progression of the X'uekai, regardless of how much she'd done for the family thus far. It wasn't in his nature to trust a woman, but he'd always made some sort of exception for his wife. Not out of love, however, merely out of convenience.

"Icefang knows of all my sins, even those considered unforgivable. Each pet, each victim, each one forced beneath the rip of my claws. Often times she would even bring them to me. In case she attempts to act innocent." He rumbles, a smile curving his lips that made it seem as if he were rather pleased with himself. She had never played that part, however, so Renozuri doubts she would now.

For some time now, the devil had been visible still, aside from the movement of his lips. Suddenly he would shift, inching closer to his Heir with intent, his voice a hollow, haunting whisper, "Never be afraid to take what you wish, Cassius. Be it power, women, or life." It didn't matter. None of it did. The X'uekai were meant to be Gods and they would be, now that Renozuri had ensured their succession with Cassius as his Heir.

The devil hadn't considered his direct children simply because they had been raised differently than he wanted. He hadn't been sure about what they were capable of, Cassius, however -

Oh, he'd been just broken enough.

 

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