Chapter Text
There’s a lot of things that I have learned in this life, but perhaps only four are true.
War cripples everyone…. even those who are foolish enough to believe they have the power
Men are fools and cannot be trusted with valuables
Sex is the highest form of currency the world has to offer.
Love is for fools
Now, the first one I learned at a young age and was forced to witness throughout primary developmental years.
It all started when our small home became a primary hotspot for soldiers on both fronts to lay in wait for the other side. IT was a poor, rural farming community that boasted no richness and therefore little to no resistance. The soldiers could come and go as they pleased and no one could stop them.
So they moved in and out, raped our lands and our people, before going back to their plush surroundings high in tall towers where bombs would never fall.
Unlike how they fell around us. In the dark of the night my mother would wake me and drag me half awake to the safe room down in the basement beneath the main room of our shack. Too many times to count we would resurface to find our walls blown in or utterly destroyed.
But, like the gluttons for punishment we were, instead of moving, in the morning we would rise and spend days repairing the haphazard homes around us and our own.
Those were hard times, and yet, I look back at them fondly despite remembering the nights we went hungry or a stranger waltzed into our home and my mother had to chase him out with her shotgun to keep him out of our beds.
At one point it became far too dangerous to live alone, and since she was a widow, it was even more dangerous. Therefore her best friend who had lost her own husband to the war, came to live with us and my eternal friendship with Prompto Argentum began.
Somehow, someway, the two of us were naturally plump infants which would have left many to think that our parents were wealthy. Both of us knew better, but still we stayed robust and moderately healthy because while our mother’s were not rich, they did know how to cook.
And they knew how to steal.
That’s where my second life lesson came in.
Men were idiots! Absolute and utter idiots! From the age of five to seven, Prompto and I watched these rich soldiers find comfort with our mothers and boy, were they ever robbed blind. What was worse, they didn’t even know it. Our parents had gotten so good at their craft that they could sned even the richest and most glorified warrior to the poor house. And he went happily.
It wasn’t until I was older that I realized what it was our mother’s were doing to provide for us and the rest of the town. It also wasn’t until I was older that those who didn’t agree with their methods opened up our walls to the enemy and made Prompto and I orphans.
That night when the sirens rang and the bombs began to fall over our small patch of Eos, I knew that we would not be the same once everything had come to pass. And we weren’t.
Huddled together in the dark basement without our mothers, Prompto and I waited three days for someone to dig us out, but no one came. When we dug ourselves out after a week of hard work, we found out why.
The place where our town once stood had been razed to the ground. All around us, nothing stood higher than a matchstick, and the only sign of life that we could see for miles were the charred and burned bodies of the fallen. Our mothers were among them, but Prompto and I never went looking because neither of us wanted such a memory to stay with us.
Knowing that survival was paramount and we would not find it here, the two of us packed up bags and headed toward Altissa where there was another small town just before the grand city we had heard about in stories. The resting place of Leviathan, many declared that she had blessed Altissa and even the Niflheim warriors were afraid to tread on the hallowed ground that the Goddess had claimed as hers.
Everyone knew of LEviathan’s wrath and no one, not even those fool hardy Niffs would test it. So inward we went toward the towering capital that struck fear into the hearts of even the most evil fearless creatures. Making sure to travel by night and to sleep by day so that we could avoid soldiers, Prompto and I never did reach Altissa.
Instead, we stopped at the ferry town of Siren, named for the mermaids that supposedly confused weary sailors and steered them away from Altissa’s shores where Leviathan rested, which is where we found our forever home.
And that is where I learned my third lesson in life. Which is that sex will buy you anything. Granted it took a bit of time, even if it was right in front of us day in and day out.
Now, in all technicality, this is a lesson of a lifetime, that many of us are still perfecting, however, it wasn’t a hard concept to consider when it was presented so blatantly in our faces even if our Mistress was trying to shield us from the injustices and ugly parts of the world. Of course she hadn’t been able to, but we loved her for trying.
That night when we found her, had been cold, and we had just run out of food, so when we came upon the little farming village just outside of Siren, we didn’t waste time in hunting down the bare necessities. Eventually, Prompto and I had come upon a rather grand home, or at least it had been in its heyday, with a wrap around porch and tall marble pillars around the entire structure. Normally I would have been petrified out of my mind by such finery, but there was something that promised safety amongst her walls. She, the house, as I Liked to call her because she had her own personality and it felt like a sultry, cunning woman, called us closer to bask in the peace of her large shadow and that night Prompto and I fell asleep in the tomato patch beneath the stars after gorging ourselves on the rich fruit. Despite the chill in the air, we were able to burrow into the soft earth and curl up beneath our tattered blanket that had followed us from our destroyed home.
For the first time in all of our travels, we were safe. Our gentle spector was protecting us and sent her mistress the next morning to retrieve us from the cold ground that had been the most comfortable bed we had ever known. Being woken up by a stranger had terrified poor Prompto, and when he screamed, I jolted from the earth, covered in dirt and went to defend my best friend. I’ll never forget the look on Mistress’ face. Her massive brown eyes went wide as she caught me and I had been expecting the fight of my life, but she wrapped me up in her wirey arms and soft floral scent and the fight in me faltered. Something was promising me that I was safe…
And both Prompto and I have been. That knowledge had been further solidified the moment I stepped inside of, Ophella’s walls, why her name is Ophella I do not know, it's just what spoke to me, I knew that I was home. Perhaps it was my mother’s spirit leading us there? Or one of the Gods took pity on two innocent children, but whatever the case was, I have never begrudged the blessing.
In those early days, I could only hope that our stay would be for longer than the seven years I called our small village home. Prompto adapted rather quickly, but didn’t go far from my side because he was not always a fan of new things or people. A Lot of soldiers had taken interest in him because he was soft, and terribly naive, but here, our new Mistress, wouldn’t allow him to be taken advantage of.
Having that knowledge made this home even safer in my eyes and over the next several years, I lived with a new set of rules and outlook about life. Hard work, hospitality and loyalty were key. These were the foundations of what Mistress taught us. We worked the land and the house hard, we were loyal to those in the house, and our hospitality was extended only so far as to serve those of us who called Ophella home.
This had been enough for me, it gave me purpose and direction. Over the years, hardwork and loyalty took on a new meaning, and the concept of hospitality never infringed on that unless we brought someone new into the fold. It wasn’t until I was fifteen that I realized what was happening inside of Ophella’s walls, and the fact that I had already witnessed my mother doing these things.
You see, our Mistress really wanted to keep us as pure as she could, but who was she kidding? We had already seen plenty that a normal kid shouldn’t see. We had learned things that a normal child shouldn’t learn.
Taking from gentleman callers when they were passed out or ‘passed out’. Passed out was her nice term for saying that they had been drugged and therefore were easy to take advantage of because they never remembered what happened after their dose and were dropped out in one of the ditches along the main road.
There were of course the schemes we ran, Prompto and I, where we would go see the soldiers moving through the area. All of the kids would get together, creating elaborate stories and tales to entertain them with, while the others slipped through the ranks and picked them clean. Not of everything, just enough that they wouldn’t be suspicious. It had been such a lucrative endeavor until I was caught.
That’s when I first met her. A gorgeous young woman of fifteen, schooled in the ways of the world, and who had spent her childhood traveling it. Aranea Highwind. To my young, ten year old eyes, she was a vision cloaked in black with bright jade green eyes and long silver hair. An ethereal Goddess born of pure starlight, and oh how I worshipped her. Even when she cursed me and kicked me into the mud for daring to trifle with her, I was completely smitten.
And that interest didn’t taper off like I had hoped, because how could it have when she grew up in front of my eyes and broke free from the wounded shell of a wanderer who owns nothing and belongs to no one. Now she belonged to Ophella.
And me.
Gods! She was gorgeous and I was the fool who thought foolishly that I could tame such a wild spirit, but it was all fun while it lasted. Especially when I worked up the nerve to approach her and bare my heart. And my lust. The things I learned that summer…
The memories I will forever cherish even now that I am grown and married off to the man I adore above all else. Aranea had always been my first love, and greatest teacher.
It was in my fifteenth year that she finally gave in to all of my flirting and insistence, much to my surprise. Now, I had known that she would turn me away because Mistress said that Prompto and I were off limits, so I was prepared for a knock down drag out fight when she surprised me entirely by welcoming me into her private chambers on a warm, lazy summer evening. She dragged me into her room through her will alone, shut that door, and taught me the ways of men in the dark of night. Taught me about my body and how glorious letting go could feel...
She was also the first one to let me open my eyes to the world around me. Through her, I finally was able to understand the past fifteen years of my life and what I had been seeing.
Rape, sex, and stealing were just normal scenarios that one could encounter in every day life, most of which Ihad been fortunate to avoid. But Aranea took all of the danger out of the world and made it seem like she could control everything with but a single crook of her fingertip.
And heavens could she.
I was absolutely enamored with her and jealous of the men she would lead into her room, draped in silk with that long, flowing silver hair of hers caressing the curve of her breasts. She was smooth from neck to toe, nothing out of place on her sculpted musculature and women and men alike took notice. When I was in the midst of those precarious teen years, she was already nearing twenty and was the most popular girl in all of the house. She was a woman and I wanted to be just like her.
Ophella’s Manor was the name of the brothel, which Mistress had gotten from me when she decided to officially open and take in ‘stray’ women and men who had nowhere to go. Beneath Mistress’ roof, we created a haphazard family and somehow it worked.
Even when people overstepped their boundaries.
Considering the fact that Prompto and I were basically replacement children for Mistress’ lost twins, we were off limits to everyone in the house. But I knew that Aranea wouldn’t be able to resist me, especially if I put out the signals that I was interested.
And I did. As innocently as I could, because she loved to take innocent little creatures and mold them into her personal pets. I wanted to be one of those pets she kept in her bed and petted all through the night. To lose myself in her kisses and the softness of her curves until I was writhing in blissful agony from her touch alone. I had fallen asleep listening to the sounds of her with her lovers and always begged the question, what would it feel like to know such pleasure?
The night she taught me I knew that I would never be the same. I also knew that she was not my destined love from LEviathan, and while it hurt, I did have the satisfaction of knowing that for a time, she was mine. And I was hers.
I had snuck into her room in the middle of the night when the house was quiet and the only light glowing were the small flames of our walking candles, mine in hand and hers on her bedside table. Naked as the day she was born save for a few of her favorite baubles that her lovers had given her with a slip of lace draped over her shoulders for what, I had no idea? To me anything that graced Aaranea’s silky skin was a decoration and nothing more. Nothing made her more beautiful…
Absolutely nothing could.
“I was wondering what was taking so long.” A statement from her painted red lips and nothing more, because she was the puppet master, and my strings were in her hands to be pulled. She knew why I had taken my time.
“You know I had to wait until Mistress was gone.” I snarked back, trying to sound unaffected by her beauty, but it was futile. I was beyond eager to rub up against her and try to uncover her secrets.
Uncrossing her legs to give me a full view of her luscious expanse, my eyes widened and I came immediately to her invitation, sliding up through the part of her legs to rest against her. She was softer than I could have imagined, and I let my eyes roll back in my head to enjoy her.
“Show me what you’ve got kid.” Her words woke up something in me that I had no idea was there. A beast of lust…
“Really?” I gazed down into her twinkling green orbs and when she pulled me down to offer me a kiss, I was a goner.
The tip of her taunting tongue lavished all around my lips before she slid it deep within the recesses of my mouth and trailed it all around. Not once did her mouth close around mine as I lay suspended above her, letting her paint the moist cavern of my mouth with naughty brush strokes. I groaned when she coaxed my own tongue into her mouth and slowly began to suck.
That was all it took. That simple, easy action, and I was at her mercy. Breaking free of her mouth, I pressed open mouthed kisses around all that I could reach, nipping and sucking to find the right range of pressure she enjoyed but it was as I reached her bountiful breasts and closed my teeth around a dark dusky nipple, that she rewarded me with a firm hair pull.
“That’s it sweet girl… such a good mouth. So soft and good for me…” She groaned out as I switched nipples and began to suck with long languid pulls. She also enjoyed this immensely. “Got me all hot and bothered already…”
What an honor and a privelage to hear such praise! “You are pleased?” I murmured around the perked bud in my mouth, releasing her from the prison to taste the rest of the pillowed orb she sat perched upon.
“Very pleased.” Aranea’s eyes lit with desire and it was all for me.
Encouraged to continue despite my naivety, the exuberance I felt from her kind words made up for any lacking talent, and when I reached the gates of her bare womanhood, I approached her with like a warrior going off to battle.
She was soft and pink here, curved and full in a way the rest of her lacked, and Gods above I finally understood why all of her lovers kept coming back. I was also determined to make my mark upon her gates and leave them wishing for me when someone else came to pay their respects.
Taking what I knew, I trailed my lips lightly against the swollen flesh and just when she grunted a command, did I part my lips and slide my tongue through her wet heat. Honeydew at the peak of ripeness coated my tongue and I gorged myself on it. Her legs looped over my shoulders and her screams filled the night air as she came unglued beneath me.
It was in the aftermath where I expected to be tossed from her bed and was going to beat her to the order, when she drew me up into her arms and kissed my forehead. “That was incredible my sweet. You shall have your reward soon…”
And did I ever.
All that summer I met her for late night rendezvous’, snuck kisses in the hallways, and volunteered for each and every trip Mistress required of us just so I could be lavished with Aranea’s presence.
I felt like a woman at long last, and she treated me as one. I was no child in her eyes and even when she had to punish men as an adult would be punished, I appreciated her through the anger.
ARanea did not coddle me, and I never asked her to.
Though she always made up for it.
IT was shortly after harvest when one of her regulars had gone after a week in her bed, that she came calling to my private chambers that were shared with Prompto. She gave him one look that clearly demanded privacy before uttering, “Out.”
“No. Stay Prompto.” I bit off with venom on my tongue, glaring at the audacity she had to waltz into my room and order someone out of it. This was my domain. Not hers.
Prompto on the other hand didn’t know what to do and was absolutely paralyzed with fear. Aranea made the decision for him. Grabbing his upper arm, she dragged the poor blond to the door and slammed it in his face before turning to me. “You dare to defy me?” Her tone was dangerous but I was looking for the fight.
“I dare whatever I please.” Clambering to my feet and pushing out my chest in challenge, I stalked right up to her and took the hard slap she gave me. Cheek stinging and turned on beyond belief, I all but melted as she wrapped her hands into my hair and drew my ear up to her mouth.
“He was a job. Nothing more. It does not suit you to pout. Do I not always return to your bed? Do I not always take care of you? Would you deny me licking that beautiful pussy after having missed her for nearly a week? Do you truly think that I prefer him to your soft, robust body?” Aranea didn’t believe in love, but affection was something else entirely. Sex was her profession, but the tenderness she shared with me was something precious and just between us two.
“Nea…” I gasped as she latched onto my ear and bit down hard on the lobe before I was released and pushed to my bedding.
“Don’t beg. Tell me what you want. I have wronged you and I will earn my way back into your arms. Make me earn it.” her lips curved into the most debauched smile I had ever seen and every inch of my body stood at attention just thinking about the possibilities she was giving me permission for.
I started out slow. “Are you sorry?” I asked, trying to feign interest.
“Very.” She murmured, letting her robe slide to the floor. Naked save for the arm and thigh bands made of pure gold that I had saved all summer for, she slid to her knees and licked my bent knee. “You know I miss you. You know I dream of you when their mouths are buried between my thighs. No one gets me off the way you do…”
“Appealing to my vanity?” How lewd. How utterly delicious.
Her grey brow twitched upward in jest, “Offering you worship. I’ve missed that mouth, sweet girl. I want it upon me. I want to put mine upon you and make you come until you can’t take anymore. Allow me to please you…”
The Gods knew I wanted to drag out the play, but I was still a girl playing a kept woman, and I stood no chance against Aranea’s seduction. So my legs fell open and her mouth found my folds in a full mouthed kiss just as her fingertips reached and pinched at my bare nipples that had slid free of the nightgown draped over me. “Nea…” I whimpered, rolling into her face and already on edge because how could I not be when her torture was so perfect.
“That’s it my girl.. Feel good for me. Let me lick you until you come… keep saying my name.”
And I did. I did until my mouth couldn’t form words and I was a mere mass of trembling nerves in her arms. Once more she came to me, kissing my forehead and holding me close as I nuzzled into her warmth. “I have a gift for you?”
“Really?” Something pretty? Suddenly very alert, I sat up when she left to retrieve her robe and pulled out a beautiful box where, cushioned inside upon a bed of velvet, laid a set of tools and two gorgeous sea diamond studs. Sea diamonds were a perfect blue black like the deepest depths of the sea, but when they were struck by sun or moonlight, they turned clear with light blue tones rippling through their surface. Some said that these were Leviathan’s tears.
Whatever was the truth of their origin, they were a precious stone to the people of Accordo and very very rare. Meaning they were expensive. Aranea beamed with pride as I gazed at them in wonder. “For my sweet girl. I spent my whole week’s wage with my client on them.”
“For me!” That was a show of love if I had ever seen one.
But Aranea acted like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Of course for you. I had to get my girl something as gorgeous as she was.” Motioning for me to lay down, she bent over my breasts and began to lightly suck on one of my nipples. “I have to leave you something to remember me by always.”
“And what about you?”
Wicked jade peered up at me as she prepared her sterilized needle teeming with magic, holding me in thrall through the pain that came next and lingered even after one thick post made a new home within me. She licked lightly and sucked away the tenderness before replying. “You gave me your first time. That is all the gift I need.”
I would find out later that Aranea had not been given the choice to give her innocence away and therefore, it was very precious to her. She knew that I would not stop until I had her, so instead of fighting it, she met me head on and took my offering with grace. To this day it is something she looks back upon as one of her best moments in this life. As do I.
The second nipple was pierced and tended to and once more we were swept up in our lust as we touched and kissed the night away until early morning sent us to sleep.
She might not have been my forever love, but she was the one that claimed my heart first and prepared it for the next to come.
If Aranea was the storm that wreaked havoc on my life…
Then Ignis Scientia was the mighty Leviathan herself coming to claim me.
And claim me he did.
Between Aranea and Ignis I learned that love was for fools, and by the Gods I was as foolhardy as one could get. But I never apologized for it because they never wanted me to. My family never wanted it...
The year Ignis found me I was twenty years old and still so young but the love he evoked in me was aged by the Gods and molded by starlight to last for an eternity.
I was now and forever his fool.