Entry #C1 [Cyvern]

Entry #C1. Hello everyone, N0V4 here again! It seems that you have all been in contact with a Cyno that even AINO hasn’t seen before! As a result, I had to do some quick research on her past and let me tell y’all… You’re in for a (tragic) treat. The story of this Cyno before she turned into Cyvern starts, as all Cyno origin stories do, in space.

 

Cyvern was up there, twinkling bright, and content. Why was she content, you may ask? Wasn’t she lonely? Wasn’t she bored? Well, no. This particular Cyno had convinced herself that she needed nobody else as long as she had me. That’s right. As long as she had her own Nova. Much like the Nova from YOUR universe (for those who need a refresher, Cyno’s official mascot, the wolf-dragon), this Nova was a dragon. Just… No wolf. And much bigger.

 

Cyvern and Nova had a fun time up in space. Although she did sometimes wonder what life would be like away from space, she never acted on those feelings. She never needed to. 

 

Nova, however, being the loyal pet that he was, would catch the brief glimpses of interest Cyvern gave to Earth, the only planet with life within the eyesight of the North Star. He loved Cyvern. A lot. He also loved adventure, and he loved exploring the universe. Because of this, he pleaded for Cyvern to visit earth, just once. 

 

Cyvern said no. He asked again. She said no again. By the 10000001st time, Cyvern’s defenses began to wear off. 

 

“Just for a short while, okay?” Cyvern laid down ground rules, “Just for a short while. No longer than a few days.”

 

Nova nodded. 

 

“You cannot tell anybody who we are.”

 

Nova nodded.

 

“After all is said and done, we’re coming back to space, and you will not ask me again. Okay?” 

 

Nova nodded. Cyvern nodded. With that, she whisked them off to Earth.

 

Once they landed, Cyvern realized that their forms would simply not do. A glowing ball of light and a dragon would surely stick out and reveal their true selves. So Cyvern summoned some magic and changed into a form similar to the Cyno you know from your universe. Her powers, however, were not strong enough to sustain the same human form for Nova. Instead, every night at midnight, Nova would have to return to her as a dragon and have the spell cast once again. 

 

Cyvern spent much of her time building a little house in the woods. She found it calming to feel life all around her, the animals and the trees. She liked it even better that they did not speak to her. Early on, while flying towards Earth, she had witnessed some particularly violent factions at war with each other, and thus had grown mistrustful of the humans. She had intended to, how would you say, “turn the car around” right then and there, but Nova’s incessant whining caused her to forge on.

 

Nova, on the other hand, could not wait to meet civilization. With Cyvern’s hesitant blessing, he practically sprinted to the nearest village. Even within the short amount of time that Nova was given, he had managed to befriend most of the denizens of the small town. When the day to leave dawned upon Cyvern and Nova, Nova pleaded for some more time. He tried everything. Bringing her flowers. Stomping on the ground. Puppy-dog eyes- er- Dragon…dog eyes?

 

Needless to say, nothing worked. Cyvern bid the flowers goodbye, patted the rocks, looked at the river, and got ready to leave. When she began flying up, however, she noticed Nova was uncharacteristically quiet. While he was usually yapping and crowing about the latest idea he had, he had fallen silent. 

 

Cyvern couldn’t take it. She acquiesced to his silent warfare.

 

Nova was overjoyed. Just one more week, he promised, because there was a festival coming up. He implored Cyvern to go. It was his last ditch effort to make Cyvern see what a beautiful place Earth was. There was no way she would want to leave after seeing all the festivities.

 

Cyvern refused, but Nova would not take no as an answer. He gave her an ultimatum. Either she came with him, or he wouldn’t go at all and return back to space. Now from my perspective, and surely Aino’s as well, this sounds like a win-win situation for Cyvern, as she wanted him to go back to space. But I suppose she wanted him to be happy more than she wanted to return to space, so once again, she agreed to go to the party.

 

It was fun. Cyvern had to admit it as she watched the humans dance with each other. She had loved watching the grass grow and the flowers bloom, but that was the thing with nature: it was slow. Peaceful. It reminded her of space. 

 

The way the humans laughed, yelled, spilled drinks, it was clumsy, quick, thoughtless. They weren’t doing it to survive. They were doing it to prove they were alive.

 

It helped that Nova was ecstatic, weaving in and out of conga lines, drinking potions, yelling at the top of his lungs. Cyvern couldn’t help but smile, even if she couldn’t bring herself to partake in the festivities. Maybe she could visit Earth more often if it was so nice.

 

It was during these thoughts that a young Knight approached her from the side.

 

“Fair maiden,” he asked, “are you here alone?” 

 

Cyvern whirled around, taken aback. She had yet to speak to any human, and hadn’t expected to need to speak to anybody. He was tall, with eyes so blue they rivaled hers (well, one of hers), and by waist side was a sleek, beautiful sword. It looked ethereal, incandescent, gleaming like a pearl from the sea. 

 

She must have had a worried look in her eyes as she stared at the sword, as the knight began to backtrack. 

 

“Fair maiden, my apologies, I did not mean to startle you, I simply saw your beautiful eyes from across the fire pit, and I could not help but to approach you. May I ask your name…?” 

 

Cyvern did not know what a name was. She was never given one, and so she could not provide one. Unhindered, however, the Knight gracefully bowed and told her his name. Then he proceeded to lead her around the fair, talking nonstop about the festivities. This Knight was a yapper.

 

Although this may have gone poorly with any other Cynos (considering they usually cannot stop talking- OW, DON’T HIT ME AINO, YOU KNOW YOU’RE THE SAME), Cyvern was different enough to not mind the talking, and, in fact, enjoy it. She liked the way his mouth moved, the way his eyes sparkled as he tried to show her the best pies, the way his hand was soft as he guided her through the crowds. She felt a light rosy colour her cheeks.

 

Eventually, they ran out of places to go, and ended up in a beautiful clearing with a nice view of the river. The moon was high in the sky, and both Cyvern and the Knight knew that soon, they would have to part. Despite spending the night together, Cyvern could not promise she would still be there in the morning. Knowing this, as they sat down on the log, and after a few unmarked potions that Cyvern had ventured to drink, she finally spoke to him.

 

Cyvern told him of her long journey to this village, and how she came from a distant and lonely place. She made sure not to tell him too much information, keeping the story vague and believable, but eventually, maybe it was the drinks, maybe it was the night air, maybe it was his earnest gaze, but she let one crucial piece of information slip.

 

“You know,” she mused, “I wasn’t going to come tonight. I would have regretted it. I’m thankful for Nova.” 

 

At the sound of his name, the Knight suddenly grew pale. Before he could respond, there was a distant sound of explosions and screams. Cyvern was still very much intoxicated and struggled to understand what was going on. The Knight tried to pull her away from the village, but even in her stupor, she knew she had to find Nova. She tore her grip away from the Knight and ran towards the sound. Much to the Knight’s surprise, Cyvern’s speed was hard to keep up with.

 

Eventually, she reached the main plaza where, to her horror, Nova had transformed into his full form: a dragon. Furthermore, there were ropes tied around his legs, arrows sticking out of his hide, and a blade buried in his wing. All around him, soldiers dressed in silver armour screamed at each other to pull Nova down. Someone yelled something, and the Knight who had accompanied her the whole night reacted.

 

“GEORGE!” The Knight’s head snapped up, “AIM FOR THE NECK!” Cyvern slowly turned to look at the Knight, who stared at her. The eyes that had been so genuine earlier seemed to have darkened, hiding his thoughts behind them. 

 

How naive of her to have thought… To have actually believed…

 

No, how naive of her to have listened to Nova, to have gotten them in this situation. She was the mature one, she was the smart one. Nova had trusted her. How naive of her to trust anybody else. She cursed her soft heart.

 

The Knight must have paused for a second too long, as another soldier had soon snatched the glittering sword from his side, the one that had seemed too delicate to cut a feather before, and leaped into battle. Acting only on instinct, Cyvern joined the fray, blocking the killing blow.

 

To her credit, she held the soldiers off for a long time considering that her Starcore had yet to awaken. Unfortunately, the soldiers had reinforcements, and by the third wave, neither Nova or her had the ability to hold on for longer. 

 

Soon, it happened. All it took was a silver arrow, arcing through the sky. The last straw that broke the camel’s back buried itself in Nova’s heart. He screamed, the sound shattering the eardrums of those who were closest to him. Then, he fell silent, slumping over.

 

Cyvern cried, rushing next to him and cradling his head. 

 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear, murmuring it over and over again like a mantra. He shook his head.

 

“I don’t regret it,” he said, his chest heaving, “I hadn’t truly lived before I came down here.”

 

Cyvern held her head to his, the tears hot against her cheeks. 

 

“But I just wish… I could play one more… time…” Nova wheezed, “I’m sorry I… never listened…” 

 

In that moment, all of Cyvern’s emotions aligned, and she knew what to do. Something inside her clicked. Her Starcore awakened.

 

Now I’m not sure how familiar you readers are with the rules of the Starcore, but it’s all kind of hazy, even through the extensive research Aino does. There seem to be unwritten rules in place that curb the power of the Starcore. One rule we know for sure, the golden rule, is that the Starcore cannot resurrect beings that have already ceased to be alive. Whole “balance of life” and whatnot.

 

Unfortunately, when Cyvern made the wish, Nova’s soul had already begun leaving the world. So instead of resurrecting him, she could only do the next best thing: fuse with him.

 

If you ask any survivors of that day what happened, they wouldn’t be able to explain it to you. Because there were no survivors. 

 

The monstrosity that became the Cyvern you knew today was a true, cold-blooded killer. Not a single soldier was spared. I’m not sure if she even noticed it was the Knight from earlier in the night when he was crushed beneath her claws. 

 

She never asked why. She didn’t need to know. 

 

So what was her wish, you may ask? Was it to become the strongest? Was it to exact revenge? 

 

No. It was to have fun. 

 

See, when she merged with Nova, it seems as though some of his personality bled into her serious, quiet demeanour. Thus, Cyvern only had one goal as she made her way to the castle that had sent the soldiers. Create a world where there would be nothing but fun. Using whatever methods necessary.

 

Legends say that she whistles on the battlefield, and that a smile never leaves her face. I pray to any deity that exists, in every universe, that we never see her frown.

 

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