Kesha
Legacy Name: Kesha

Before this story, there was another. Of a clever young girl who was a little too careless with her tongue, of the short-tempered spell caster who cursed her to eternal misery. Let's save that for another time, shall we?

Deep in her underwater cavern, she sat, crooning at her new pet, her amethyst eyes gleaming. If only they could see her now; the ones who thought she was nothing more than the subject of a misconception. Fools! They had dared to send another to try and take her treasure and their naivety had helped her add to her own pile of treasure. The irony was more than amusing. They had referred to her as an urban legend, a myth, but she has never been more present, more alive. A soft whimper broke her train of thought.
"Hush, love, the more you flitter, the faster you will fall.."

She placed a crooked finger on his lips, scratching it ever so slightly with her claw-like fingernail. The young man's eyes widened, but he looked tired. His strength was fading away and he could almost see the thin white tendrils connecting him and her. Slowly ebbing away from her and flowing towards him. As his weariness grew, his eyes began to droop and his last few moments came to him as a blur, a reverie...

He had set out on his journey in a flamboyant ship, sails hoisted, mast standing tall with numerous intricate net-like patterns made by the ropes that connected the two. He could still smell the fresh paint and varnished wood. The wind-powered vessel was majestic in every way. Surely, he would not settle for less. He was, after all, the Chief warrior of his clan. A crew of twenty able men had agreed to embark on the journey with him and so far, had proven their worth by hanging on loyally to his every word. He knew it was because they respected him for going on this perilous journey.

Apparently, no man had ever gone on this particular quest and had lived to tell the tale; which was why he was even more curious about it. He felt as though fate was tempting him but he liked to think he was not choosing. He was chosen It had come to him because clearly, he was the only one capable of completing the quest.

His quest was to find the "Cavern of Despair". He knew vaguely where it was located and he had heard it was guarded by dangerous, dagger-like rocks protruding from the choppy waters so that no ship could dock near it and below the sea, it was even more dangerous. It were believed to be home to mysterious creatures that were "ten times larger than the Lochness monster and ten times more dangerous than the Kraken" - to put it in the exact way it was explained to him. However, that was exactly the point! There was no such thing as a Lochness monster or the Kraken! He was sure the travellers and town folk were not reliable sources and had a tendency of exaggerating and spinning stories; no old wives' tale was going to put a damper on his excitement!

He knew the treasure was not just a story, oh no. He did not think for a second it was a fallacy. For every year, a thick-billed raven flew to different lands, reciting the same poem, an invitation. An allure, almost. This ensured the story had credibility, irrespective of how it was told by a bird.

And this year, it had come to him.

At first he thought it was an eagle or a larger bird of prey. It perched on a tree branch outside his window. It was pitch black except for the concentric rings of white and grey that were it's eyeballs. The raven was completely blind. It cocked it's head, as if checking if he was really there. Then, it opened it's thick beak and began to sing:

O come, ye brave,
On a voyage so bold.
To find jewels and gold,
In this undersea abode
Of no man's hold
And you will be crowned:
Mightier than the mightiest king!
"You are our hero"
The People will sing!
And amongst the chests heavily laden,
You will find a suave, fair maiden,
The most beautiful treasure of all.
With ebony hair and coral-red lips,
And skin of a porcelain doll.
But beware the sea-witch, as she
will be the cause of your fall!

Even before the raven finished singing, he had decided he wanted it all. He was promised gold, jewels of every colour and shape, rare artifacts, historical monuments and what not! The best of all, to find a fair maiden, the most beautiful girl anyone had ever laid eyes on. Any man would be a fool not to embark on this quest. He had even laughed at the name. Cavern of Despair? Why, it should have been called the Cavern of Dreams! Oh, yes, there was a myth about an evil sea-witch called Kesha. However, no mythical old hag would hinder his wish now, he was a dignified warrior of a superior clan. He would not stand down on a challenge! He would bring glory to his clan and his name would be cried in praise for ages to come.

The following week, the young man, with his crew, set sail. Most of the ship was empty to make enough room for the vast load of treasure and loot they were expecting to take back to their city. The voyage was expected to be short and bare minimum of supplies were loaded. The raven flew overhead, like an ominous sign. Despite being blind, it helped them navigate to the exact location.

On this part of the sea, the blue-green water slowly turned colour to a deep purple, almost black. The clouds were dark overhead. It made the water look like a potion of thick, black sludge. Onyx-coloured shards of rock pierced through the water with their sharp edges preventing the ship from moving forward. The man saw the hesitation in his men's faces and decided to proceed onward by himself.

"Don't worry, men. I'll be back soon!" He assured them, following his feathered friend. He had decided to take just one leather bag with him and after he had found the exact location of the treasure, he would go back to the ship and bring his men to obtain the rest of the loot. He swam right below the raven, careful to avoid any of the sharp rocks. Sometimes, he could feel them beneath his feet and had to step carefully. The raven perched on one of the larger slate-like rocks jutting out of the ocean and stared blankly ahead. This was where he had to submerge himself.

"How am I going to breathe under water?"
The raven answered him promptly in his sing-song voice.
"They say the cavern is full of magic and humans can breathe even when they are under water. One can simply walk on the floor of the ocean as if they were walking on land!"

How odd! A blind, talking bird was about to completely change his life. Laughing at the notion, he took a deep breath and plunged under the murky water. At first, everything was a blur but his eyes adjusted to the scene soon after. It was dark and he could see darker shadows of huge sea creatures swimming at a distance. They looked like whales but some of them had strange outgrowths on their backs and under them. He did not want to stick around trying to find out what they were especially since they seemed to be getting closer and bigger. He squinted, swimming deeper, trying to find the cavern.

There was a whole different region below the sea. He soon realized that the dagger-like rocks that showed above the water were just the tips of tall rock structures that went on for leagues beneath the sea. Several of these underwater buildings looked like they even had rooms, yards and balconies. He wondered if anyone lived there and wished he had more time to explore. He felt like he had already made a great discovery.

The man passed several of these black structures but one of them had a dull purple glow. It was a crystalline rock formation, but much smoother, when compared to the others, almost like purple glass. He had been under water for almost two minutes and was starting to feel uncomfortable. He had to find the treasure fast because he was running out of breath. He followed his intuition and quickly swam towards a gaping hole in the crystal formation, which he assumed was the entrance. As he tried to swim through it, he felt a resistance and placed his palms against the invisible barrier. It felt wobbly, almost like a bubble. He pushed his head through and at the same time, took in a deep breath. Sure enough, he was able to breathe.

This was it! He was inside the Cavern of Despair. The floor and the walls looked like reflecting glass. He walked through a small corridor and entered a grand hall. The same purple glass formed the ceilings, arches, stairs and everything in between. It spread out for miles on every side. The young man could only imagine how much treasure he would find. He took a moment to gather himself. He saw several crystalline statues carved onto the walls.

A pretty girl. The same girl throwing stones at an old lady. The lady cursing her. The girl transforming into a grotesque creature. The creature feeding on humans. The creature surrounded by pearls.

The young man thought it was strange, perhaps some kind of tribal ritual. Suddenly, the atmosphere around him felt foreboding. He felt the hair on his forearms and the back of his neck stand. He looked around. Nothing. Nobody.

He shrugged it off, following the story on the wall and entering through a grand arch that lead to a majestic and endless room. He stopped dead in his tracks as he came across the most astounding sight: mountains and mountains of gold, silver, jewellery, gemstones of every colour and shape, shiny weapons, intricately designed lightweight armour and other precious relics. He immediately forgot about the uneasiness he felt and started calculating. One ship was insufficient. Ten ships would still be insufficient! They would have to take several trips down here, it would take more than a week to load everything onto their ships. He knew, at that moment, that he would be the most celebrated man in the country. His people would never go hungry again and the King would reward him with the highest honour.

He did not take his eyes of the treasure even for a second. He could not decide what was more valuable, what he should take first, what would be so magnificent that it would convince his men to come down as quickly as possible. He took his time picking and choosing several trinkets, a sapphire necklace for his future bride, a ruby-encrusted ring for his mother, coins, blocks of gold and a handsome breastplate for himself.

As he carefully filled his bag with various objects of beauty, he heard a soft melody. He cupped his ear, straining to hear. It was a beautiful voice accompanied by a delicate music like the tinkling sound of water flowing down a stream. A celestial voice and a string instrument. The voice was haunting; it intrigued him so much that he found himself forgetting about the treasure for a minute just to see the being behind this beautiful voice. He walked into a different room, a brighter room, the purple walls and floor glowing softly every other moment, leaving him feeling dazed. At the center of the room, he found a young girl sitting on a large block of crystal, strumming a golden harp. The strum of the harp reverberated through the cave and left a humming effect on his body.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on and everything a man could dream of: dark hair, skin so fair, and coral-red lips forming the face of an angel. Her radiance seemed to grow as she sang louder, calling him towards her, her shy eyes barely meeting his. Thin wisps of light beckoned to him and he followed. He was mesmerized by the tranquility that encompassed her as she strung her harp and sang beautifully. She sang a sad song of thousands of warriors who died because of their greed and lust, washing away their sins to attain salvation. As he approached her, her demure seemed lithe, unbound, wild.

Suddenly, she stopped playing and with slow movements caressed his hands and face with her slender fingers, tipped with deep blue nails. She still did not raise her eyes to meet his.

"What is your name?" The young man asked, captivated.

She smiled, playfully beckoning to him with a finger. He moved towards her without a second thought. His eyes widened as it dawned on him that she was the beautiful maiden in the song. She nodded, eagerly, confirming his realization. He had heard that if the maiden was brought above land, her curse would be broken and she would be free to live among people. He felt proud to be the one to accomplish this task. It also went without saying, of course, that she would be grateful to marry him! Who wouldn't? All this treasure and an ethereally beautiful wife? He had to be the luckiest man alive!

She watched him with those mesmerizing amethyst orbs, her lush hair floating, her skin iridescent. Gently, she placed her hands on his face with a delicate touch and drew him closer, her lips barely meeting his. He could feel her warmth, her eyelashes feeling like the soft wings of a butterfly against his cheek. He closed his eyes and parted his lips in response, waiting for the kiss that would engulf him.

Almost immediately, he felt a cool, thin strand of matter touching him, entering his mouth. He opened his eyes to see frail wires of what looked like liquid silver originating from the girl's mouth!

Would you still love me if I looked like this?

The man felt as if he was at the edge of his sanity. He stared wide-eyed in horrified silence, too stunned to speak. Her face had completely contorted to a grotesque picture; a living, breathing nightmare. The amethyst colour from her eyes turned into a clear white. Her skin was torn and decaying, emitting a foul smell that made his eyes water. Her soft pink lips had turned blood-red. She opened her mouth and he could see the uneven rows of teeth, one behind the other and from her long tongue came the substance that was slowly covering him. It was then that he realized: she was eating him alive!

The witch, the story on the wall, it was all true! He had not paid heed to all the warnings and now, he was about to be ingested by a horrible monster. He was still fixated on her, unable to move, unable to cry for help. He looked down at her bony hands that ended in deformed claws. She had not touched him. She had not even made a scratch on him. She wanted him flawless, as a prize, not bloody and messy.

"Hush, love, the more you flitter, the faster you will fall...."

He was choking. By now the silver liquid had begun entering his nose and his ears. He tried to scream but it only resulted in the liquid travelling faster down his throat, spreading quickly inside him. His skin was gleaming white as the saliva covered him, in layers and layers. She was taking over him, peering into his eyes, into his soul, her face showed pure pleasure.

"...and that would not be fun at all.

He succumbed to it; it was inevitable. Completely frozen, her hold on him was spreading, like a poison through his veins until he could barely breathe. And soon, even that ceased. The last thing he saw, before his eyes closed forever was a small, iridescent object: a pearl.
An insidious smile played upon her lips.



They call her 'Nacre' which translated to 'Mother of pearl'. She also goes by another name: Kesha

A deceptive witch, capable of creating illusions to lure her prey into her cavern, rightly named the "Cavern of Despair". What others consider a paradise, she finds a prison. A curse placed on her restrains her so that she cannot leave her desolate cave until she breaks the curse by filling her treasure chest with all the gluttonous souls that came for treasure but wanted more. And so she spins a tale of a bountiful treasure and a fair maiden - two things that no man can resist, allowing her to entrap any man with their one weakness: her.

Morte, fly.

Miles above her, the raven that perched on the onyx rock took off to the next warrior clan to sing his song.

The next time you hear the song of the raven, beware, for it is a sign of death.


Credits
Profile: sonata
Profile Art: Savie
Story: Chii
Overlay: Folara
Pet colour theme: lux