Information


Qiu has a minion!

Tay the Baihu




Qiu
Legacy Name: Qiu


The Chibi Noktoa
Owner: Vii

Age: 9 years, 2 months, 1 week

Born: January 17th, 2015

Adopted: 9 years, 2 months, 1 week ago

Adopted: January 17th, 2015


Pet Spotlight Winner
April 3rd, 2018

Statistics


  • Level: 20
     
  • Strength: 46
     
  • Defense: 42
     
  • Speed: 43
     
  • Health: 42
     
  • HP: 10/42
     
  • Intelligence: 42
     
  • Books Read: 42
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Job: Veterinary Technician


i.
Qiu knew an automaton when he saw one, even a particularly well-disguised one. Therefore, he knew exactly what Zevi was the moment they met - a minor collision of bodies in one of the many dusty alleyways of Aliere's Clay District. Automata had been hunting Qiu for many years and he was no stranger to both detecting and avoiding them. He was incredibly cautious with his identity, so they never recognized him and simply moved on. He had a hard time comprehending how they managed to blend in as well as they did, how the rest of the populace paid them no heed. Then again, he had always seen the world a little differently. He was the Keeper of Souls, after all.

The world Qiu saw was one full of color. His vision alternated between what everyone else saw and his own private world. With just a glance, he could see into the very depths of someone's soul, the way wisps of colors intertwined to form a unique, prismatic cloud in the exact location as the heart. The tendrils of emotion released from them threaded through the air around him, weaving a one-of-a-kind, ever-changing tapestry. Sometimes, he liked to reach out to them, to watch them wrap around his fingers without ever truly touching him. The world was vibrant and beautiful, and it was his own.

But automata weren't colorful. They were empty, save for the small threads of emotion originating from those who created them. The colors within them were few and often unpleasant, barely enough to form an illusion of a personality, let alone a true soul. And yet, this one automaton, built in the image of a child... he was different. The wisps of color within him were by no means plentiful, but they were far more variable in hue than he had ever seen in an automaton before. They snaked around tumultuously, as if they were emotions that couldn't be controlled. As if they truly belonged to him and he had no idea what to do with them. Qiu had never, in his multitude of years, seen anything quite like it.

And so, despite himself and his instincts, he wiped his hands - his too, forever those of a child's - on his trousers and offered one to the unique creature before him. The automaton looked at him with a scowl, but took his hand anyway.

ii.
"You don't remember your birthday?" Zevi asked, tilting his head to the side. It was a rather hominine habit he had picked up without realizing. Dark brown strands of hair - was it hair, or some kind of artificial fibers? - fell in front of startling brass-hued eyes.

Qiu tried to think back, truly he did. But memories fade with time, and he had so very much time to forget them.

His gaze must have turned distant, because the automaton sitting before him let out a small huff. It was fascinating, how he had so many different subtle mannerisms shockingly similar to those born with souls. Whomever had created him had done so with painstaking detail. Or perhaps it was the emotions swirling around within him that made him seem so alive, borrowed from the organic creatures around him. "All right. Then... how about the day we met? Do you remember what day it was?"

Qiu smiled. It had been cold that day, when they quite literally crashed into each others' lives. It had been winter, the seventeenth day into the new year. He hadn't known it then, but it was the day he had truly begun to live.

iii.
Zevi was growing a soul. As absurd as the idea sounded and seemed, that was the only way Qiu could describe it. He watched these changes day by day. Emotion was energy, Qiu knew. He witnessed it swirling around in the air every single day. When someone feels a strong emotion, they always leave a trace of it behind. When they are happy, the air feels lighter. When they are angry, there is tension in the air. When they are sad, the air feels heavy. Even those not experiencing the emotion can feel it surrounding them.

Every emotion the automaton witnessed, his soul took some of the energy for itself. It was the most active soul Qiu had ever seen, like a newborn child rapidly learning from the world around them in order to shape themselves. Zevi felt the emotions around him, and absorbed them into himself piece by piece. The tendrils of emotion inside of him connected with each other in a patchwork mass of ever-shifting energy. The automaton never had a soul of his own, had never been given one, and so he was unconsciously creating his own. It was like nothing Qiu had ever seen.

And as his soul grew, so too did Zevi. Certainly not physically, as that was as much an impossibility for an automaton as it was for the Keeper of Souls. But with every day that passed more light sparked in his eyes, more laughter escaped his lips, and even his body language became distinctly more hominine. The whirling mass of emotion within his clockwork heart became more beautiful by the day. It moved like waves in the ocean, in lazy pulls or terrifying surges. It shimmered like opalescence, in the brilliance of sunlight catching a crystal. Qiu watched as it became something simultaneously like a natural soul while still being something entirely different.

If a soul was something born from nature, like a flower made of leaves and petals, then Zevi's soul was like a flower made of glass. The two shared the same shape, but they were innately different from one another. In a way, it was more beautiful because it had been created artificially, that it was not something that could be found anywhere else. It had been made in the image of something natural. A delicate mimicry more beautiful than its inspiration because it could not be recreated.

He found himself inexplicably drawn to this new form of soul, to Zevi. Drawn in a way he hadn't experienced in so long that he had forgotten how the emotion felt, despite seeing it every day. He had forgotten many things over the myriad of years he had been alive. Seeing emotion was a far cry from experiencing them. And as Zevi experienced them for the first time, it was as if Qiu did too. In all his time, of all the souls he had met, it had taken the patchwork soul of an automaton to change him. It had taken a creature constructed of clockwork, designed for death and terror and espionage, to return joy and love to him. It had taken a machine to teach Qiu how to truly live.

"Don't get all sentimental on me, Keeper," Zevi said flatly, though his eyes and soul were brimming with tenderness as he lifted Qiu's hand and placed a feather-light kiss on his knuckles.

"I would never," Qiu responded with a smile, his breath stolen away once more by the sight of that beautiful soul. It had been a long time since the emotions filling him had been his own.

iv.
If he hadn't met Zevi, then he would have never met Briette - at least, not until her death, when her soul left her body and returned to him, transferring her memories and emotions to him before finding a new body to inhabit, a new life to build. He had known her for years, really. Had known her from her first incarnation, and throughout the course of her soul's many lives.

But knowing someone's life and memories wasn't the same as truly knowing someone. He had always known her the way he knew the sun in the sky, the wind in the leaves. Only in passing, the knowledge barely holding his attention for more than a moment. Zevi had reminded him - and how could he have forgotten? - that knowing someone's soul in death paled in comparison to knowing their soul in life.

How had he never paid her any attention before, in the myriad of years she had lived and died and lived again? How many times had he missed out on building such a beautiful friendship? How many souls had he passed by that he could have truly met, truly known? He had been alive for so many years, too many years... how much of that time had he wasted ignoring the very souls he was created to keep in balance?

If he had only known her in death, he would never have seen the true beauty within her, how her soul danced and shimmered in tune to the melodies she created on the stage. He would never have known the lullabies she created just for him, to help him rest when the souls returning to him were too strong, too enraged, too despondent for his body to handle. He would have never known that the harshest of words could hide the gentlest of souls.

He had been alive for so very long, and there was still so much for him to learn.

"I don't particularly understand this complicated Keeper business," Briette said, waving her hand lazily in the air between them, "but it sounds terrible. You should quit immediately."

He laughed in genuine mirth for what felt like the first time. Perhaps it was.

v.
"How long has he been like this?" The words were spoken by a familiar voice. Briette. She sounded so far away, and just trying to open his eyes to find her was an impossible feat with the way his head was spinning.

"It's been three days," replied an even more familiar voice. Zevi. Yes, Zevi had been by his side the entire time. Qiu tried to roll onto his side to face in their direction, but even the slightest of movements sent pain shooting through his every nerve, assaulting his body with shudders and stealing his breath from his lungs.

He heard the rustle of paper. "It's a civil war," Briette said. "In one of our neighboring countries."

This was only news to Zevi. Qiu had known when it started three days prior, when he was suddenly overwhelmed by an influx of souls of the recently departed. Battlefields were breeding grounds for fury, despair, regret. And pain. So much pain. So many souls returning to him at once, filling him with their anguish. Some died quickly, some died slowly, but all died in agony. Their strongest memories were gruesome images of fire, blades, blood, corpses. Images of those most important to them, flashing through their minds as their souls were overwhelmed by despair in their last moments.

"The papers claim the battle should end soon, but..." She trailed off, and he managed to force his eyelids open, meeting her golden gaze for a fraction of a second. Her eyes swam with concern. They matched the emotion churning within her soul.

Zevi's voice was low and dangerous when he responded, as if he was seriously contemplating methods in which he could march to the battlefield and end the war himself. "I don't know how much longer he can handle this," he said.

Qiu couldn't help but laugh at that statement - he always wondered which distant war would be the one to finally kill him. But the sound that escaped him was less a laugh as it was a pathetic whimper. He curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his body as if the action could stop the pure agony from ripping him to shreds. Pain that wasn't his.

He felt the mattress dip beside him before he was gently, carefully pulled into Zevi's arms. The movement was more than enough to send his mind reeling, bile rising in the back of his throat. But he wouldn't complain even if he was capable, because the warmth of another was far more comforting than the sweat-soaked sheets he had been wrapped in. He buried his face in the crook of Zevi's neck, inhaling the familiar metallic scent of him. He dug his fingers into the automaton's shirt as a new wave of pain - a freshly slaughtered soul - attempted to tear him apart.

Zevi murmured platitudes, the words lost beneath memories of screams but the tone soft and lilting. Qiu had rarely heard his voice so gentle, and he wasn't sure if the tears that left him had already been in his eyes before he heard it. Zevi settled an arm around his waist and pulled him closer, bringing his other hand to softly card his fingers through Qiu's hair.

He knew that the flesh he burrowed his face into was false, some wax concoction that felt alarmingly like skin. He knew that the warmth beneath it was the product of the technology that moved him. He knew that the soft beats he had to strain to hear were emitted by a clockwork heart. He knew the hot air that whispered through his hair was the excess steam from the furnace within him, designed to both expel heat and mimic breathing. He knew all of that, and he had never felt safer in any arms other than Zevi's.

Qiu had spent a copious amount of years dealing with this kind of pain alone, and yet he could not remember how he had ever survived it without Zevi. Who had gently cupped the back of his neck and pressed a glass of water to his lips when he was unable to do so himself? Who had placed cloths damp with cool water to his forehead? Who had gently brushed the sweat-clumped hair from his eyes? Who had wiped away his tears and placed soft kisses where they had fallen? Who held his hand as he writhed and trembled and cried? Who had kept him grounded when the memories of the dead threatened to swallow him whole? How in the world had he ever survived this on his own?

Zevi placed a tender kiss on the top of his head, slowly rocking Qiu back and forth even as his body shook uncontrollably in his arms. For one fleeting moment, Qiu felt nothing but comfort, relief, and love. It was overwhelming in an entirely different way than the souls of the dead were.

"I'll play a song," Briette said in a near-whisper.

The soft, sweet notes of a violin filled his ears, amidst the deafening screams and explosions that occurred far in the distance, yet right before him. He didn't try to steal a glance in Briette's direction this time, keeping his face buried in the cloth of Zevi's shirt. He shakily inhaled the scent of him, straining his ears for the sound of a song created just for him, reminders that the memories and emotions he was drowning in were not his own. Reminders that after all of his years, he finally had something to live for.

vi.
Qiu had known many souls in pain. He experienced it all upon their deaths. Until just recently, whenever he passed a living soul in torment, he would ignore it. The next life, perhaps, would be less painful. But that was how the old Qiu reacted. Now... he felt his own heart, his own soul, twist at the sight. Cirus was far too young to know such deep, dark pain. His soul was murky, shifting like sand and shimmering like oil. Most of the souls that looked like his were those of soldiers, ones who had survived the battlefield but never truly left it.

Their families were arranging a union for Briette and Cirus. He had been attending her concerts since the discussions began, and the only time Qiu had seen his soul calm was during her songs. He sat beside them in the theater, his eyes fixed on the beautiful girl on stage, losing himself and his pain in the momentary serenity her melodies gave him. And when her music ceased, reality returned to him and his soul churned, his tranquility leaving his body with a sigh.

This time, he had approached them, to introduce himself to his prospective bride's dearest friends. It was the first time Qiu had seen him up close. On the outside, Cirus was collected, polite but distant. Inside, his soul was screaming. The sight of it nearly brought tears to Qiu's eyes, his fingernails biting into the polished wooden arms of his theater seat. Zevi, ever attentive, noticed the change in his expression and wordlessly took his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. And when Qiu couldn't speak past the lump that had formed in his throat, Zevi introduced the two of them, too taken aback by Qiu's reticence to inject his words with the usual dose of snark.

Cirus accompanied them to the reception in the Great Hall, a formal affair full of snobbish, perpetually dissatisfied wealthy patrons. Briette had sent them to a tailor and had them outfitted in splendid finery, a drastic shift from their usual threadbare common clothes. The difference in social class didn't bother him in the least - he had spent his life on both sides, the affluent and the disparate. And yet, there was far more happiness to be found in the souls of the disadvantaged. The souls filling the hall were all, in different ways and to varying degrees, miserable. And out of all of them, Cirus's was the darkest.

A couple approached them, and Qiu recognized them from Cirus's features as his parents. Their souls were gray and murky, dark like their son's, but far less violent and turbulent. The only word he could use to describe them, despite being clearly alive, was "dead." They were polite, if a bit curt, in their introductions.

His mother smiled, and it was one of the coldest smiles he had seen in recent memory. "Friends of my future daughter-in-law, I hope you will treat my son well."

Qiu opened his mouth to respond just as formally, but he caught sight of Cirus in the corner of his eye and his words were stolen from his throat. Cirus's eyes were on his parents, his face blank, but his soul had turned black, surging and bubbling dangerously, like the slow yet terrifying spill of lava from split earth. He was so close beside him that his emotions assaulted Qiu's every sense, wrapping around him in shadowy tendrils, filling his lungs and drowning him. Terror, rage, despair, and hatred mixed together to form a dense fog of sheer anguish.

He was vaguely aware of his heartbeat, loud and quick and pulsing in his ears. His breath was clipped and short and his head was spinning. Warm hands reached through the darkness and gently gripped his arms, sitting him in a chair just as his legs gave out beneath him. Those hands traveled upward, tenderly resting on the sides of his face. "Qiu," Zevi said, his voice soft but urgent. "You need to breathe. Take a deep breath for me."

He did as the automaton asked, but the action flooded his insides with more of the foul emotions in the air, and his breath turned to wheezing. The edges of his vision turned black, and sparks danced in front of his eyes.

"Oh dear," the noblewoman was saying. "Is he quite all right? He appears rather ill."

"This happens sometimes," Zevi responded, though his brass eyes were fixed on Qiu. "It will pass, as long as..."

The automaton was no fool, and knew that the couple standing nearby had been the trigger. Before he could conjure an excuse to dismiss them, Briette appeared in Qiu's vision. She searched his face for a fraction of a second before turning to the parents of her potential suitor, picking up on the situation swiftly. When she spoke, her voice was muffled by the pounding in his ears. "My lord and lady, please do not concern yourselves. This is a mere fit and shall pass quickly. I do believe my parents were looking for you, so please worry not and join them. I believe they have brought a vintage wine you may be interested in?"

It didn't take long after their departure for Cirus's soul to calm, gathering his tumultuous emotions and locking them away inside of him. As he did so, Qiu's thundering heart quieted and his breathing evened, his vision clearing. A deep exhaustion settled itself within his bones, reminding him that negative emotions, just like positive ones, were far more powerful when produced within a living soul.

Zevi's touch pulled away from his face and found his hand, lacing their fingers together. "All right?" he asked. Qiu was far too tired to speak, so he responded with a light squeeze to the automaton's hand.

"What just happened?" Cirus asked, entirely unaware that he had been the source of Qiu's distress. His eyes traveled between their group and the backs of his parents disappearing into the crowd, narrowing as he tried to find the connection between them and Qiu's suffering. He was sharp, and already on the right track.

"Qiu suffers attacks like these on occasion," Briette stated. "Cirus, would you mind terribly if I asked you to fetch a glass of water for my dear friend?"

There. Amidst the dark, heavy tendrils of his soul, was a small glimmer. It fought to emerge as Cirus's eyes met Briette's, like a single pearl struggling to shine from beneath thick layers of silt. It was faint and weak, but it was enough to convince Qiu that there was still hope. "Of course not," he responded, those glassy eyes softening for a just a second. "I won't be but a moment."

When he was a safe distance away, Briette and Zevi huddled closer to Qiu, their voices hushed. "I knew his parents were unpleasant, but I didn't think..." Briette said, looking at Qiu and holding his other hand. "I'm so sorry. I never would have asked you to come if I had known."

Qiu had to gather his strength in order to speak. "This is not your fault. And it wasn't them," he said, before amending his words. "They were the catalyst, but not the source."

"Cirus?" Zevi asked, his brow furrowed. He looked across the room with narrowed eyes, as if debating whether Cirus's soul would hurt Qiu less if its owner was dead.

"It isn't his fault," Qiu tried to explain, a migraine building behind his eyes. "He is suffering. He is screaming. He is tormented... such terrible pain."

"And they... they are causing it?" Briette asked, and Qiu watched her soul twist in concern. "To distress him like that... I can't even imagine..."

"He's coming back," Zevi warned. Qiu's gaze slid to find the boy, that poor tortured soul, picking his way back through the crowd.

Qiu didn't interfere. It wasn't a rule of being a Keeper, but one he had taken to practicing regardless. He had always believed that words couldn't ease suffering, that love couldn't spare a soul from pain. But he had been wrong, so very mistaken for so very long. It had taken Zevi, and Briette, to save him. He glanced between the two, pausing on brass and gold. The words left him before he could convince himself not to say them. "He needs to be saved."

Briette's soul ceased its concerned twisting and solidified with a wordless determination. Zevi instinctively rolled his eyes, as if he would be inconvenienced by this new venture, but his soul leapt in agreement. Qiu found himself staring at them, wondering what he had done to deserve such beautiful souls in his life.

And then Cirus joined them, kneeling down to look at Qiu. The Keeper saw a flicker of relief in his hardened eyes as Cirus carefully placed a crystal tumbler in his hand. "You look much better now," he said, and the small smile he wore briefly shattered the mask he forced his features to shape. The sight of it felt like a small victory to Qiu, further proof that the soul before him was inherently good despite his suffering. Qiu smiled back and nodded in thanks, sipping from the glass.

"Why don't we relocate to a side parlor?" Briette suggested. "Qiu can rest, and we can converse away from the celebration."

"That sounds wonderful," Cirus responded, helping Qiu to his feet opposite of Zevi, a hand on his arm to keep him steady. Qiu was embarrassed to admit, even just internally, that he needed the help.

As Briette led them away from the reception and into the hall, Qiu watched her soul flutter. He realized, with mild amusement, that she was nervous. He couldn't recall ever seeing her nervous before, and couldn't suppress a small smile as she spoke. "So, Cirus... would you... I mean, if you were interested... would you like me to teach you the violin?"

A single pearl emerged from the silt, shining brightly amidst the darkness. Qiu smiled, and wondered how many more pearls were hiding within Cirus's soul.

vii.
He had gotten complacent. He had gotten too comfortable, had surrendered himself too willingly to his happiness. Happiness was always a temporary thing, filling his heart like cupping water in his hands, only to have it slowly slip through his fingers. He should not have allowed himself to open up at all, because holding onto something always meant that it could be ripped from his arms. And it very nearly was. He could have lost them all - Zevi, Briette, Cirus. He had eluded his enemies for so long that he had forgotten the danger they posed. And his carelessness had put the few souls truly important to him in danger.

He stood in the alleyway, the only light that of the moon, with his hands balled so tightly that his nails pierced through skin. Cirus sat in a heap against the wall, blood trailing down the side of his face. His eyes were glazed and his pupils blown, sure signs of a concussion. Briette knelt at his side, wiping away the blood from his eyes with a torn piece of fabric from her bustle and murmuring reassurances. The amount of love swirling within her soul would have warmed Qiu's heart if he wasn't busy trying to keep his wildly flaring emotions in check.

Zevi should have returned already. He had been gone for far too long. The seconds passed slowly, and Qiu had never been more conscious of the passage of time before. Zevi's body might not be capable of aging, but it could be destroyed. He could still die, and Qiu didn't know if his soul, patched together with pieces of those around him, would be able to reincarnate. Even if it could, he would no longer be Zevi. He would no longer be Qiu's. The idea was more unbearable than any pain he had experienced. Blood dripped from his palms to the stones at his feet.

"All clear," a voice said from above them.

Qiu's head snapped upward with an audible crack. At the sight of familiar brass eyes peeking at them over the edge of the roof, Qiu released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Zevi flashed a crooked grin and hopped down, landing expertly on his feet. Qiu couldn't keep himself from stepping forward, placing his hands on the sides of Zevi's face and pressing their foreheads together. The metallic scent filling his lungs did wonders to calm the furious beating of his heart. Zevi indulged him, placing his hands atop Qiu's.

"I'm fine," he said. "It will take better machines than that to decommission me."

Qiu pulled back at last, taking in his partner's disheveled appearance. Despite his words, he looked as if his victory had been hard fought. His clothing was shredded and coated in dust. There was a gash across his bicep, visible through a ripped sleeve. Beneath the torn false flesh, Qiu caught a glimmer of metal catching the moonlight. They would have to cauterize it closed and Qiu was thankful, not for the first time, that Zevi did not feel physical pain. He tore his eyes away from the wound and settled on the automaton's face. "Are you certain you destroyed all of them? They've seen your faces. We can't let a single one escape."

Zevi waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm a professional. You forget that this is what I was made for. I did not let a single one escape. Our identities are safe."

Looking at the automaton he loved, Qiu should have felt guilty. He had been so sure that automata were incapable of harboring souls before he met Zevi, and now their destruction brought him a twinge of sadness, not for them as they were, but for what they could have been. However, the pained whimper Cirus emitted quickly chased away the guilt and replaced it with a cold, hard feeling of justification. Qiu vaguely wondered how ugly his soul looked with that feeling inside of it, but found himself startlingly unable to care.

"We should take Cirus to the doctor," Briette said, just as Qiu opened his mouth to state something similar. The words had barely left her lips before Zevi displayed the physical strength of an automaton by effortlessly gathering Cirus in his arms. The reminder of his true strength made his gentle touches all the more impressive, as it likely took a considerable amount of control. Exhibiting no signs of strain whatsoever, Zevi led the small group through the labyrinthine streets.

The next morning was cool and foggy, and it arrived far too soon. They had spent most of their night at the doctor's office above the bar, waiting as Cirus was attended to by a half-drunk yet startlingly adept physician, one who didn't bat a single eyelash when he happened to glimpse the clockwork inside Zevi's arm. Eventually, they had returned to Briette's home, where Cirus was resting with her by his side. It hadn't been long since she had convinced both Qiu and Zevi to live in the sprawling manor with her, and it had quickly been revealed as a mistake. He had gotten too close to these souls, and they had been used against him. Hurt because of him.

Qiu shrugged his bag on over his shoulder, pausing to place a hand atop the baby grand piano in his room. It was a beautiful instrument, a soft off-white inlaid with impossibly ornate silver embellishments. It had been a gift from Briette, when he had offhandedly mentioned playing the piano a century or two ago. When he had first received it, he feared that he wouldn't remember how to play it. His apprehension proved unfounded, as playing was more of a muscle memory than anything else. After some initial mistakes, he had fallen pretty quickly into the routine of his former skills. His eyes softened as he remembered the grin plastered on Briette's face, the softer smile of Cirus beside her, and Zevi's blank facade, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as his eyes stared at Qiu as if he had never seen him before.

He had good memories here. No matter how much his time passed, he would be sure to never forget them.

viii.
"You're leaving," Briette said, her voice reaching him as he closed the door to his bedroom.

At some point during the night, she had changed into her night dress. She looked tired, which was surprising to see on the face of someone who always looked so lively despite nightly battles with insomnia.

He smiled at her, neither acknowledging or denying her assessment. "How is Cirus?"

"He sleeps still," she said. "I think it will be a while yet before he is coherent."

"A shame," Qiu said sadly. "I would have liked to say goodbye."

Briette crossed the distance between the two, her lavender hair loose and shimmering in the pale light of morning. She gathered his hand in hers. She had grown taller, he realized suddenly, in the years he had known her. When she looked at him, it was with an inclined gaze and a heavy heart. "I do not wish for you to leave."

"You know I must," he said. "If they found me here once, they can do it again. I won't put you in danger."

She squeezed his hands gently, her soul twisting tumultuously. "We will be more careful," she said. "And we can hire bodyguards, post them about the estate and have them escort us when we leave."

"I won't do that to you," he said, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have to live in fear of an enemy that isn't yours. Not you, whom so boldly snuck from this very estate and wandered through the streets at night to meet an automaton and an Earthborn. You can't possibly want to be surrounded by bodyguards at all times. I do not wish to kill your freedom, the one thing you wish for the most."

"I would endure," she said. Her grip on his hands was shaking, her soul writhing. "For you, I would give up my freedom. You saved me."

Qiu shook his head sadly, pulling his hand from hers and placing them on her shoulders. She had always felt indebted to him, but he had never thought she owed him anything. She had given him far more than he had ever given her. "If you truly feel that way, then you know that the last thing I desire for your soul is to see it caged once more."

Tears spilled from the edges of beautiful, piercing golden eyes. Her soul darkened with despair, stilled its twisting in resignation. "I..." She had to swallow past her grief before she could gather herself. "I was truly blessed to have met you. You reminded me that even my soul desires love."

When he took her hands this time, she gripped back not with desperation, but with fondness. "Do not despair," he said. "We share a bond that cannot be weakened by time or distance."

"Isn't there anything I can do?" She asked.

He smiled then, genuinely and full of love. "There is. You can live. Live your life without regrets. Do what you want to do, be who you want to be. And finally, in the end, know that your soul will find its way safely to me once more."

Briette returned his smile, tears staining her cheeks and love coloring her soul. She gently took his face in her hands and placed a kiss upon his forehead. "Of course I will. You are the one who gave me the chance to, and I won't let my life go to waste. I will live the life that I choose."

He smiled, fighting back tears of his own. "That is all I wish for you."

ix.
Qiu was somehow unsurprised to find Zevi waiting for him, perched atop one of the stone pillars connected to the wrought-iron gate. "You are awfully predictable," the automaton said, casually landing on his feet as he dropped to the ground. He had a bag strung across his shoulder, his saxophone case carefully tied to it. Qiu narrowed his eyes at the sight.

"My presence invites danger - for all of you," he said.

"So you're going to walk away?" The automaton asked. There was no anger in his voice or his soul, just a swirl of cool sadness.

"It is what I have always done," Qiu said, shifting his eyes away from that beautiful, patchwork soul he had grown to love. "What I should have done a long time ago."

He heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel pathway before a pair of brass-inlaid leather boots entered his vision. A pair of hands cupped the sides of his face, turning his gaze upward. "You have a soul too," Zevi said. "You have things you desire, things you need, and people you love. Being Earthborn, or a Keeper, doesn't change that. Every soul deserves some happiness. Isn't that what you taught me?"

Qiu smiled sadly, leaning into Zevi's touch. "I've experienced great happiness here. I can and will not deny it. But there is only one thing that will make my soul the happiest - your survival. Cirus and Briette's survival."

Zevi's hand fell from his face, and his countenance and soul both reflected his inner turmoil. Emotions were still so new to him sometimes, and he had a hard time sorting through them. "What about our happiness?" He asked.

"Briette and Cirus have each other. They are not alone anymore. And you-"

Zevi's arms wrapped around him, pulling Qiu into an embrace with just enough force to halt his words. He closed his eyes and breathed in the metallic scent, relishing in what would be his last time in Zevi's arms. He was about to pull away when he realized, with startling abruptness, that Zevi was shaking. His entire body was trembling, and Qiu could feel his emotions, pressed against him as he was. Emotions that Qiu had caused. It was enough to freeze him in place, any words of farewell dying on his lips.

Zevi took one step back, resting his hands on Qiu's arms, his eyes swimming with pain and desperation. "I have you," he said, his voice thick. "You are all that I have, and all that I want. I... I was made to find you, but it is my own will to stay with you. Without you, I have nothing. Don't you see?"

"Don't you see?" Qiu had told him once. "You have a soul." He had been so frantic in that moment, willing and praying with all of his might that Zevi would just understand. He saw that same intensity he had felt reflected in Zevi's eyes.

"I love you," Zevi said. It wasn't a revelation - Qiu had seen it in his action, in his eyes when he thought Qiu wasn't looking, in his soul. But it was the first time Zevi had said it so plainly. Qiu had never seen him so open, so vulnerable. "I love you, and you are my life. Without you, I am nothing. Without you, I'm just a carcass made of metal and clockwork, drifting aimlessly among the living. Can't you see? Can't you see it within me?"

Qiu could, of course he could. He blinked back tears, tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. "But still... you could die."

"I could," Zevi said. "I could die. Even if I regularly maintain or replace my mechanics, someone or something could damage me beyond fixing. My soul might not be capable of rebirth. I could die, but that fact doesn't change regardless of where I am or who I am with. I could die living without you. Or I could die living with you. You know which I want - you can see it."

"Zevi..."

The automaton leaned close, pressing their foreheads together. "If you can only take one risk, let it be this one," he said softly, exhaling warm steam between them. "Let me love you. Let me live with you as long as I am able. Allow yourself this one thing, someone to love you. Allow your own soul to be saved."

Qiu couldn't hold back his tears any longer, burying his face in Zevi's collar. "My life is long."

"Yes," Zevi said, wrapping his arms around him once more. "It means that I'll have plenty of time with you."

"It is dangerous," Qiu said, his voice muffled.

"I would certainly be bored if it wasn't," the automaton said, tracing gentle patterns on Qiu's back with slow fingers.

"It is lonely," the Keeper said, one final attempt at deterrence.

Zevi smiled, burying his face in Qiu's hair. "Perhaps it was. But it won't be, not anymore."

x.
They entered the theater just before the performance began, stepping through the quickly emptying halls with tickets in hand. Zevi muttered in irritation about having to arrive so late, despite having private balcony seats, which only caused Qiu to laugh. He was about to tease him for his complaining when something collided with him at full force, knocking him off-balance, but he miraculously stayed on his feet. He peered around for the offending object, only to find his eyes traveling lower than he would have thought.

A small girl, no older than six years of age, peered up at him from where she had landed rather unceremoniously in a pile of lace and frills. He bent down and offered her a hand, which she politely accepted, and pulled her to her feet.

The girl peered up at him then, through what was once likely a beautiful coiffure but had become a tangled mess of mocha waves. Her eyes were enormous, bright and sparkling in a familiar golden hue. She cleared her throat and gathered her skirt in one hand, curtsying. "My apologies, good sir," she said in what was obviously forced formality.

He laughed then, getting to his knees before her and taking her (one) gloved hand in his. "You are quite forgiven, my lady," he said. "Are you perhaps in a rush to see the performance?"

She beamed, all pretense of formality disappearing as her grin formed. "Yeah!" she said. "My mama is the best, you know!"

Qiu laughed again, and pretended not to notice the snicker that Zevi released beside him. "She most certainly is," he said. "We are quite enamored with her music, aren't we?"

Zevi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, ignoring the question. "Hurry along now, kid. The show is about to start."

Qiu nodded in agreement. "Yes, and your papa must be frantic."

The little girl's eyes widened and she bolted, screeching to a halt just before the corner. "Thanks misters!" she exclaimed happily before disappearing from sight.

"Misters," Zevi repeated, the corners of his lips quirking upward in amusement. "That is certainly new. That child is quite... dynamic."

Qiu smiled. "Just like her mother."

They reached their seats right as the curtains were drawn, revealing a beautiful young woman clothed in an intricate, glistening seafoam gown. Her lavender hair was pulled up in a formal bun wrapped by a braid, stray wavy locks stylishly loosened to fall over her shoulder. She raised her violin and placed it beneath her chin, lifting her bow and taking a deep breath. Qiu watched her soul calm and steady as she exhaled, dragging the bow across the strings of her violin.

The woman's soul danced and shimmered in tune to the music, shining like the rainbow of colors reflecting off of a crystal prism. Qiu smiled and closed his eyes, intertwining his fingers with Zevi's beside him, losing himself in reverie to the lilting tune of a familiar lullaby.

xi.
It took Qiu a moment to realize what he was hearing. When he did, he smiled fondly and locked eyes with Zevi, who turned his head away sheepishly.

"I thought I'd try it," the automaton mumbled. "But its different on the saxophone. It sounds much better on the violin."

Qiu laughed. "It sounds wonderful. It's been such a long since I last heard it."

"She only retired five years ago," Zevi said, grimacing. "Tough old broad."

Qiu laughed again, the fondness dancing in Zevi's soul completely betraying his true emotions. "What made you want to play it?" He asked with a smile.

"I don't know," the automaton said. "Just felt like it, I suppose."

"Try it again," Qiu requested. "I know you can do it."

Zevi mumbled something inaudible under his breath, but his soul sparked as he brought the instrument to his lips. Qiu closed his eyes as he listened to the melody, his favorite piece of music that had been written just for him, so many years ago. It seemed fitting then, in that moment, when Qiu was lost in Briette's song, that he felt a soul return to him.

Zevi kept playing for a long moment before he stopped abruptly, placing his instrument to the side and crossing the room. He knelt before Qiu and raised his hands, wiping the tears that were freely falling away with his thumbs. "Qiu? What's wrong?" He asked, his voice and soul full of concern.

Qiu smiled shakily and shook his head, resting his hands atop Zevi's. The newly returned soul swirled within him, full of memories of love, music, rowdy children, and tender glances. There was no lingering sadness, no hopeless regrets, no enduring pain. The soul filled him to the brim with warmth, with love and joy and a feeling of belonging. In all of his years, all of the lifetimes he had drifted through, all of the souls he had seen and experienced, he had never before received a soul filled with so much love. The affection and contentedness within it overtook his every sense, and the tears could not stop falling.

"Qiu?" the automaton asked, his voice soft.

It took a moment for Qiu to speak, overcome with emotions, a combination of the soul's and his own. "Nothing is wrong," he whispered, before repeating himself in a louder tone. "Nothing is wrong."

Zevi looked at him, confusion apparent in his features. Qiu could only smile as he leaned forward, joy singing through his veins.

"It's Briette," he said, placing his forehead against Zevi's. "She's come home."

Title: Qiu'lay of the Bygone Era
Name: Qiu
Gender: Male
Race: Eule*/human hybrid
Inception: Earthborn*
Age: Unknown
Occupation: Keeper* of Souls
Partner: Zevi
Abilities: Excellent eyesight, long-range weaponry expert, strategist
Weaknesses: Short reach, little physical strength, easily distracted
Likes: Archery, tea, picnics, mini sandwiches, appetizers, piano, music, books, theater
Dislikes: Confrontation, large meals, alcohol, avocados, small rooms/spaces

Personality: Calm and composed, there is little about the world and its inhabitant that can surprise Qiu anymore. To others, he comes off as otherwordly, whimsical, and unapproachable, and is often avoided by children who appear to be the same age as him. He is polite and kind, but keeps everyone at a distance.

Due to his incredible lifespan, he has experienced everything and finds himself simply drifting through life, feeling detached and numb, until he meets Zevi. Despite his many years and experiences, he can be naive. Because he can literally see the good within a person, as no one is inherently evil, he is easily disarmed when others do bad things. Qiu is patient with others and direct with his own emotions, preferring to avoid any emotional song and dance.

Qiu has taken up and discarded several different hobbies in his years. Some of the hobbies he continues, even if sporadically, are reading, keeping journals, and playing the piano. He is often tired, as recieving souls both takes a lot of energy and serves to keep him from deep sleep. He never seems to get hungry as opposed to peckish, and will pick at small food items all day. This is why he enjoys hor d'oeuvres and appetizers rather than full meals. On particularly tiring days, he often forgets to eat at all, and Zevi is forced to keep an eye on his dietary habits.

Appearance: Qiu has lived for centuries, and yet he is forced to live in the body of a child. As a Keeper, the domain he governs is powerful and he has few abilities related to it that can help him defend himself. Therefore, he believes he exists in the form of a child in order to mask what he is, for others to underestimate or ignore him.

He appears to be somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and is petite in stature and build. He is light on his feet, due to his avian-like hollow bones. He has straight, immaculately-kept creamy platinum hair that he waers neatly combed and parted to the right. His skintone is darker than his hair, and he has large, piercing amber eyes. He often wears clothing that matches his assumed age, such as shorts and high socks, though in muted colors. His visage is mostly serious and distant.

*Eule are an avian species similar to owls. All humanoid species in the world are some combination of human and animal, as combining species' genetics was the only way to guarantee that humanity endured after nearly destroying the planet and themselves. The type of hybrid is important in determining biological compatibility and potential for yielding offspring, as many species are incompatible despite all appearing human.

*Earthborn individuals are those born directly from nature, by will of the planet, rather than through the union of two beings. Those born of the tradition union of two individual are referred to as Natalborn, whom are far more numerous and sometimes regard Earthborns with disdain, due to their mysterious inception, aptitude for mystical arts, and higher birth rates. Others of despicable character regard them as trophies that they like to collect. It is thought that Earthborns are the bodies of the dead and buried, repurposed with new life by the spirit of nature, though this is unproven.

As an Earthborn Eule, Qiu is closer to his avian heritage than most Natalborns would be to theirs. This means that he has excellent eyesight, but also that certain foods act as poison to him, such as avocadoes.

*Keepers are very rare and very special Earthborn individuals. They exist to keep some aspect of the world in balance, as Qiu does with souls, and they usually have some kind of ability related to whatever they keep in balance. Their existence is widely unknown, as those who do know often try to find way to use these Keepers and their abilities for some form of personal gain. When one Keeper dies, it is said that another existing Earthborn will immediately inherit their role. Keepers can usually identify other Keepers through instinct, and tend to keep far away from each other so as to decrease their chances of being captured.

Qiu was the very first Earthborn individual to be created by the planet. Humanity endured through the splicing of their DNA with other creatures, but such widescale genetic diversity meant the decrease of biological compatibility and a declining birthrate. When those numbers became too low, Earthborns appeared. Keepers became a necessity as well, in order to preserve the balance of natural elements affected by human pollution and war. As the first Earthborn and the first Keeper, Qiu was tasked with the most important of natural properties - the soul of the dead. Every soul that dies returns to him in order to be cleansed of emotion and memories so it may be reborn.

His memories of those days, known as the Bygone Era, are foggy. He was young at the time, and he has had many centuries to forget. What he does remember is awakening at the edge of a lake, one that he would come to know as Lacuna Vitalis, where all Earthborns come into existence. There were fewer souls in that time, and his burden was smaller. As the population grew, so too did the number of cities and souls.

There was a time when Qiu immersed himself completely in society and life, without walls. But with every soul he loved that died, his walls grew taller and his heart grew distant. He has lived since the beginning, but his own soul was drifting as if dead. The advent of automata, created by "purebred" humans or the remnants of non-hybrid species, helped to keep him further from life, as loving someone could mean having them killed because of him. Eventually, and oddly, it takes a very hominine automaton to break him from his trance and show him what it means to live again.

Zevi was created specifically to search for and capture Qiu, as the knowledge that the Keeper of Souls was disguised as a child was unearthed by a specific scientist. Non-hybrid humans believe that he has the power to control souls, and that he can forcefully place a soul into a mechanical body or even raise the dead by keeping a soul tethered to a corpse. Qiu doesn't believe he has the power to do either, and he certainly does not wish to try, as the aftereffects could be disastrous and go against the very balance he exists to keep. Despite that, he is hunted by every generation.

When Zevi discovers who Qiu really is, the automaton keeps it to himself. He has long since gathered a soul of his own and doesn't wish to see the most important person to him used in such a way. He devotes himself instead to being Qiu's protector, and vows to live his own long life beside him. Eventually, the two develop feelings for each other and enter into a pure, non-physical romance that is based entirely on their emotions for each other. They travel together, through countries and eras, keeping one another's loneliness at bay and reminding each other every day how to feel, how to live.

Click for larger versions, if a larger version is available.


all above artwork, profile design/coding, and story created by Vii
profile quotes from the song "i was king" by one ok rock
profile design resources from 9-liters-of-art and subtlepatterns

Pet Treasure


Shinwas Bow

Triple Arrow

Lavender Oil Diffuser

White Grand Piano

Music Sheet

Swan Feather Quill Pen

Plain Ribbon Journal

Tattered Old Book

Tea Book

The Hard Facts About Endeavors

Book of Life

Honey Scented Perfume

Lovely Spring Tea Tray

Porcelain Lace Teapot

Porcelain Lace Teacup

Porcelain Lace Sugar Bowl

Sweet Petal Tea

Tea Party Treat Tray

Charity Picnic Basket

Ham Cheese and Butternut on Wheat Toast

Fried Egg on Whole Grain Toast

Roast Beef and Feta on Pumpernickel Toast

Herbed Snack Skewers

Cheese

Artisan Ciabatta Bread

Buttercream Rose Vanilla Cake

Fancy Coffee Cake

Pet Friends


Zevi
"I never thought that I would find someone willing and able to spend eternity with me. You are truly the most precious gift."

Briette
"Live your life to its fullest, brimming with happiness and free of regrets. And when death comes, do not fear, for you will simply be coming home."

Cirus
"There is no soul in this world that hasn't experienced pain. You can allow it to change you, or you can change it into something better."