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The Dark Urge expects someone to wait for him when he returns, but to be fair, he thought it would be Orin.
Instead, as he steps down the stairs of his Father's temple, he finds his other little sister sitting on the bloodstained altar, petting her displacer beast.
Elegys, a half-drow, even though she looks more like the real deal, blue eyes as cold as the winter sky, face scarred by her own blade in honor of their Father, black and white hair woven into an intricate braid that takes her hours to perfect each day.
"Brother," she greets him, her voice about as filled with feeling as the stone skull of their God above her.
He snarls in response. He knows exactly why she exists, why she was sent to the Bhaal temple ten years ago. An example of just how replaceable he truly is, a warning from their Father that there exists a backup that could step in anytime if he fails.
And, by all intents and purposes, she is Bhaal's poster child. Her grasp on her storm sorcery is impeccable; she is trying hard to sire the army of heirs that their Father demands, and she does everything she is told, kills every target she is pointed at.
The Dark Urge wants to hate her; he truly does. But he can't, because while she is Bhaal's perfect daughter, she's also a better sister to him than Orin could ever try to be.
"Came to lecture me on my late night?" he asks, dropping next to the altar, his tail thumping into a puddle of blood behind him.
"Not exactly," she says, voice cold and unfeeling. But it's the contents of her message that show she truly cares.
"Just warning you," she shrugs. "The others are talking; they don't like that you spend so much time with Gortash."
"Let them talk," the Dark Urge laughs, leaning back and reaching out to Shadow, scratching her between the ears. The beast purrs, pushing her head more into his clawed hand. "I am the leader of this cult."
"Not even you are immune to Father's ire, you know that," she reminds him.
A shudder runs through the big tiefling; he remembers other punishments he narrowly survived, and the fact that Elegys exists only cements the fact that he may not be as untouchable as he thinks. But he can't show weakness, not even in front of her.
"Keep your sage advice to yourself, sister," he answers instead. "I know what I'm doing. And it's all going according to plan."
The half-drow sighs, stretching languidly on the altar before hopping off.
"For your sake, I hope you're right," she says, the hint of a smile on her face. "You are my favorite sibling after all."
With that, she calls Shadow to her side and walks off, leaving him pinching the bridge of his nose as his bloodstained tail wraps around his leg.
She's right, in a way, but he's too deep in this scheme to stop now.
The world will bow to the Absolute.
And then he will drown it in blood.
In Bhaal's name.
~ Two years later ~
Darius has time to waste, and so, naturally, his legs carry him to the Sharess' Caress. He's become a regular customer after the whole Absolutist shit went down, and he's a hero now, too. He still can't believe it, him, a former Bhaalspawn, and not just any Bhaalspawn, THE Bhaalspawn. Regarded as a hero of the city for felling a giant brain.
It's also why he gets a discount at the Sharess' whenever he shows up.
Smiling, he greets Mam'zell and asks her the polite questions, how business is going, if she's got any new gossip for him, the likes.
"Oh, yes!" Amira claps her hands together. "I've finally found a replacement for dear Ffion, gods rest her soul. Her name is Elegys."
"Oh?" Darius chuckles. "Anyone I'd be interested in?" he asks.
"I'm afraid not," Amira chuckles. "She's a half-drow, but looks just like the real deal. People are already flocking to her chamber of penance."
"I see," he nods. "Might just give her a warm welcome then before I look for other company."
Grinning about Amira's mock-scandalized chuckle, he saunters off, tail swaying behind him, on the hunt for the newbie.
He finds her bored out of her mind—well, at least she looks the part—playing with the ice cubes in her glass of whiskey. Her hair is a stunning black-and-white, woven like the pattern on a lanceboard; her skin is a dark blueish grey, and she has facial scars that look more like art than accident.
Her head rests in her palm, elbow propped on the table as she watches the dancer on stage.
Something about her stirs something within Darius. There's a gentle tug on his heart, like he's seeing someone he's been missing for a long time. She looks familiar, too, but he can't put his finger on it.
"Elegys?" he calls out, and she turns.
For a moment, time seems to stand still as her eyes widen, and then she tears up, jumps off the chair, and practically burrows into his chest, her arms wrapping around him in a tight hug.
"Brother!" she calls him, and Darius can feel hot, wet tears seep through the fabric of his shirt.
To say he's perplexed would be a grievous understatement. But he awkwardly hugs her back anyway.
"Um… hi," he chuckles. "I'm sorry, I have amnesia, so… you're going to have to tell me how exactly we're related."
The woman pulls back, staring up at him with a hint of hurt in her eyes. She's expected him to remember her, and he's sorry, he truly is, but there's nothing he can do about those past memories he lost.
"Let's go to my room, so we can talk," she smiles lightly, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
Darius nods, following her upstairs into what used to be called 'Elminster's library,' but now serves as a veritable torture chamber for those who are into that stuff. The tiefling shudders, averting his eyes from the torture rack. Something about it dredges up bad memories.
Elegys leads him to a secluded sitting area, putting the paravent in place so they can sit and have a drink without seeing the rest of the room.
He sits his ass down on one of the big pillows on the ground, crossing his legs at the ankles as his tail wraps around his calf.
"So… you're my sister?" he asks again. "How?"
Elegys pours him some wine, handing it over before taking a sip of her own.
"We're siblings in the truest sense of the word," she begins. "Bhaal created me the same way he created you, lightning in my veins and his darkest urges made manifest."
Darius blinks, taken aback by the revelation. Never in a million years could he have guessed that there exists another just like him.
"How… what?" he asks in confusion.
"I was… created a few years after you," she begins, taking another sip. "As a replacement in case you fucked up."
Darius lets that sink in, frowning as he nods. He did fuck up, didn't he? So then how… why is she here and not back at Bhaal's temple? But before he can ask, Elegys already continues with her story.
"And when Orin told us you were dead, I didn't want to believe it," she frowns. "I was already looking for a way out for—" she cuts herself off, clutching the fabric of her black dress right above her stomach, a heartbroken look sneaks into her eyes before she closes them and draws a deep breath, shaking her head.
"I challenged her to a duel over which one of us was going to succeed you," she explains. "And I won. But my only plans were to use the win to make my way out. Find you and get as far away from Bhaal and the others as possible."
She looks up, their eyes meeting properly now. "But when Bhaal wanted to make me his chosen instead of you, and I refused, he took back his blood, and I was too weak to fend off Orin after the others had healed her."
"How did you end up here then?" he asks now, unconsciously reaching out to touch her hand, his thumb rubbing across the back of it in soothing circles.
"I survived through sheer stubbornness and because Shadow kept bringing me food to eat where the Bhaalists had left me to rot in the sewers," Elegys explains. "And after that, I went to find you. But the shadow curse stopped me. By the time I heard you were back in the city, I was too far away to help when you fought the brain. And afterward, well…" she shrugs. "You were a hero, and I didn't think you'd want to be reminded of those bloodstained beginnings."
Darius blows out a sigh through his nose, smiling fondly at this sister, whom he doesn't remember.
"We had a good relationship?" he asks.
Elegys laughs. "Gods no, you were stubborn and arrogant, and so was I. But we still had a connection unlike any other," she admits. "Perhaps because we are the closest blood relatives any of us has… I sort of liked you," she smiles. "I didn't want to see you fail, but you irked me at the same time. I knew that one day we would be told to battle it out, and I was dreading that day for all my life."
"Of course," Darius chuckles, the sarcasm thick in his voice. "Because why would Bhaal allow his children to have nice things?"
"Right?" Elegys laughs. "I was scared of showing that I genuinely cared for you as my brother, so instead I was just a frigid bitch most of the time."
"Well, it seems we both changed," Darius smiles, cupping her cheek and gently stroking it. His tail has long since unwrapped from his leg and wags contentedly behind him.
Ellie nods, smiling back.
"Did you… did you pick a name by any chance?" she asks him now. "Back then, you only ever went with the Dark Urge," she rolls her eyes. "I thought you were so overly edgy for that."
"Says the one who named herself after her magic!" Darius laughs. He doesn't know where that knowledge comes from, but from the darkening of Ellie's cheeks, he's spot on.
"Hey! I like the name I picked, thankyouverymuch!" She folds her arms, huffing.
"Yes, yes," Darius smiles, taking a big gulp of his wine before answering. "I go by Darius these days."
"Darius, hmm?" Elegys smiles. "I'll remember that. And I do hope to see you around."
"Of course," Darius grins. "Let's get to know our new selves, hmm? Maybe we'll actually get along this time around."
Ellie nods, lifting her goblet. "To new beginnings, I guess?"
"To new beginnings," Darius grins and clinks their glasses.
Written by a human in Ellipsus.