“Ignis, you know before you were born they told us that on the outside you’d either be pure royalty in appearance or pure drow. Unlike the half breeds with other races the product of two different elven tribes is supposed to be all or nothing.” The silky smooth voice of a drow priestess calls out to a young boy while brushing his hair. The boy is sitting in her lap on a stool, the both of them facing an ornate mirror. To their left is a big stained glass window with shades of blue and green diamonds scattered across the glass. The room lit by the large full moon set out on the horizon.

“But then why do I have silver hair like you used to, mother?” Ignis stops looking at the mirror and glances up at the woman brushing his hair. Her long hair spilling over her shoulders is dull gray, she has bags and wrinkles under her bright red eyes as she smiles down at her son. Her almost obsidian purple skin seemingly glows in the moonlight.

“Like I told your father, it’s a blessing from the Dark Maiden. Every time you find yourself in a strong wind or an enthralling dance you can catch a glimpse of that silver hair and be reminded that She is always with you, and so am I. Come now it’s time for the ritual little starshine.” Ignis climbs off his mothers lap and looks up at her as she stands up and straightens her long white dress that hangs from her shoulders by 2 straps and runs down to just above her knees.

The woman grabs an emerald green elegant longsword with swirling runes running along the blade leaning up against the wall next to the door frame and sheathes it on her waist before grabbing Ignis by the hand and exiting the temple with him. As they stroll across the field and into the nearby forest Ignis looks at the back of his hand and flips it over to his palm, just simply observing his pale light skin tone, a stark contrast to his mothers. “Is father going to be at the ritual? He looked upset this morning before we left the manor.”

She gave him a comforting smile as she looked down at him, “Of course he’ll be there. He had a few meetings this morning, but he’d never forgive himself if he missed this.”

The two slowly walked through the forest as the moon continued to rise further up into the night sky. Eventually, they come across a small circular clearing that seems almost unnaturally bright compared to the rest of the dark woods. There are 6 elves at the edge of the clearing waiting for them. Two of them are also drow women in similar white dresses, next to them is a shorter drow girl, Ignis’ older half sister. The one that stands out is the tall elven man flanked by two slightly shorter men in butler uniforms. The tall man has piercing green eyes and long red hair that almost looks like it's on fire. He has a look on his face that Ignis can’t quite place. Almost like he’s in pain, he offers a sad smile to Ignis and holds out his hand.

“There you are Zarra.” The flame haired elf embraces his wife and gives her a small kiss before looking down and grabbing the boy's hand. “Did you behave for your mother?”

Ignis nods but doesn’t say anything. His eyes furrow in confusion as he tries to figure out what’s happening. His father is being more gentle than normal and the assistants look somber, but the drow women are smiling as they offer their greetings and talk to his mother.

After giving the fellow priestesses hugs and greetings Zarra turns around and squats in front of Ignis. “You’re going to be an excellent bladesinger in the future Ignis.” She purses her lips and with glassy eyes she offers another smile to the boy. “My little miracle….” with a pause she runs her hand along his cheek and gives him a kiss on the forehead, “I love you. I always will.”

Zarra then slowly walks out into the clearing and as she approaches the center she holds out her hand and thinks how beautiful the moonlight is tonight. She unsheathes her emerald longsword and throws the sheath out of the clearing towards the group of elves before grabbing the blade and planting the hilt firmly in the ground. The tip of the blade pointing straight up at the moon.

The other two nameless priestesses, and Ignis sister, walk out into the clearing, each holding 1 candle. As they cross the border of the clearing and enter the bright magical moonlight the candles catch fire and begin to burn. The 3 women crouch and place the candles down forming a triangle around the buried sword. By the time they stand back up a beautiful voice starts to sing in elven. Ignis looks around for the source of the voice but it’s like it’s coming from everywhere all around him.

He looks back towards his mother and sees all 4 women looking up at the moon. After a few seconds the two priestesses each grab a strap off of Zarras shoulder and as she lifts her arms up into the air the two pull up and remove the dress from her. They hand the dress to Ignis’s sister and she neatly folds it up as the three of them walk back towards the main group at the edge of the clearing. Zarra stands fully bare in the clearing, alone.

She holds out her arms and looks up again at the moon with her eyes closed, completely entranced by the song. The singing gets louder and as it does Zarra begins to slowly dance around the blade. Delicately stepping between the candles as she twirls and jumps around. The moonlight seems to narrow, stopping just a few inches from the circle Zarra is dancing.

After a few seconds the swirling runes on the blade of the sword light up bright white as they start to bleed. The blood runs down the sword before suddenly turning and floating off the single edge of the blade. The scars along the naked limbs of Zarra glow a similar white and the blood begins to spread out in the air and slowly float into the glowing scars.

Slowly with each lap she dances her skin begins to tighten up, wrinkles disappearing. More laps and her dull gray hair starts to shine again, a bright silver now. A few more laps and the singing voice is suddenly joined by 3 more and they begin to harmonize beautifully. Zarras husband is wearing a face of pure shock as he gazes upon her. The sword stops bleeding and where once an older looking woman was slowly twirling and stepping there is now a stunning young woman skipping and jumping. Her eyes cleared of bags and crow's feet, her breasts regaining their old perky appearance. Her smile brighter than the religious light she is dancing in.

Ignis doesn’t notice but tears are silently flowing down his fathers face as he tightens his grip on the boy's hand. Suddenly, a 4th voice joins the harmony but this voice is slightly louder and much more familiar to both of them, it’s Zarra. She sings and her entire body begins to shine the same bright white light.

She continues to dance and sing, but slowly her feet and lower legs become translucent. As the dancing continues more of his mothers body becomes translucent and starting from her legs up she begins to scatter like dust, shooting off beams of moonlight in every direction.

Ignis starts to panic, his eyes wide. What’s happening to her? He yells out to her but nothing escapes his mouth, he’s silenced by the overwhelming song. He starts to run out into the clearing but after two steps he’s snatched up by his father who pulls him up into his chest and holds him. He keeps trying to scream at his mother to stop dancing but he can do nothing. His face is covered in tears and his throat is sore, but he continues sobbing as he watches his mother disappear before his eyes.

In her final moments she notices her son being held by her husband. The boy is reaching out towards her with both hands as he silently sobs. Her heart starts to shatter as she watches him try to speak to her. The last thing Ignis sees of his mother is her eyes squeezing shut as they begin to leak tears as well.

But, after she’s completely gone and the light begins to narrow and dim and the song is quietly ending he feels a pair of familiar, invisible, soft hands wrap around his head. He once again feels his mothers lips against his forehead and as the feeling begins to leave him he hears a whisper right up against his ear,

“Ai armiel telere maenen hir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I open my eyes to a blurry night sky, I hear someone sniffling to my left and I sit up to face the source of the sound. I see Luna laying on the ground a few feet from me wiping her eyes and I wipe my own eyes with the back of my hand, but the tears keep flowing against my will.

“At the end, what did that phrase mean Ignis?”

With a bitter smile I look down at the ground and pull my knees into my chest, “You hold my heart forever.”

Author's Note

Short chapter. This entire sequence randomly hit me like a train when I was reviewing the original outline I had for Ignis' backstory from way back when and I felt compelled to stop everything and type this one out before I lost it. Probably not as good as I think it is, but I'm very happy with this chapter. Even if it's one of the shortest ones so far.

Thanks for reading q.q