Sweet as the Grape

Absinth’s expression darkened, and her gaze became distant as Sericea questioned what her grandfather was, her mind reaching back to those early days. "Setekh was… something else. I heard his tale once before, from an elder sister. Born a prince, claimed to be divinity itself. I think they actually called him a fucking gift from the heavens, with ivory fur and eyes like fire. But there was nothing heavenly about him. He was a monster, crafted from cruelty and grandiosity, and he took—takes his pleasure in bending others to his will. When he finally learned of my existence, his gaze turned to me, and I became his new object of affection."

Her voice took on an edge of bitter amusement, though it was devoid of humor. "Because that’s what he does. He loves. He started by calling it 'bonding.' He’d plan little outings, lessons in survival, but they were nothing more than sick tests disguised as family time. I can’t count the number of times he did something fucked up and told me he did it for my sake, for me. He thought he was teaching me, showing me how to embrace the world he believed we both belonged to. That I could see it his way."

Absinth’s claws pressed firmly into the earth, grounding herself as her voice dropped to a low murmur. “He’d tend to my wounds, licking them clean—the very wounds he had inflicted himself. That lonely god, always grasping for something to make himself feel alive. But he’s hollow, empty, and nothing will ever fill that void.”

Her tone darkened further, voice edged with a haunted intensity, like she was living through the memories themselves once again. “In his twisted mind, he believed we shared something profound, convinced that I understood him in a way no one else did. Perhaps I believed it, once… when his teachings brought some strange form of comfort, when his twisted affection was the only care I’d ever known. As a father, he taught me all I know to survive. But, he is also the curse that will never stop following me.” And for that she still carried the surname of that twisted man, for the sake of reminding herself how she could always turn something torturous into strength.

She locked her gaze with Sericea’s, her expression steel, something flickering in the depths of her eyes, raw but well contained. “But he left, slipping away like smoke the moment some new obsession crossed his path. I wasn’t about to wait for his return. And I certainly wasn’t going to stay just to let my mother finally sell me off. My options were limited, and more than anything I wanted to be able to be freely, me.”

Absinth exhaled, releasing the tension she hadn’t realized had gathered in her body. After a long pause, her gaze softened as she looked at Sericea. "Questions?"




"Absinth Artemisia Inferos"