Update

Sorry guys!  I know I've been MIA lately - but there's a good reason (I promise!)

I've already alluded to the fact on multiple occasions that busy season is coming up for me, and looks like (form the way things have been going lately) that it's arrived a bit early.  This is the first chance I've had in over a week to update you guys on this. :(

In addition to work, the rest of my life's been pretty busy lately - what with my sister moving back to my side of the country and getting my home ready for her, her husband, and two cats to move into for a bit until they can find a place of their own.  Pretty much any spare moment has been devoted to that and to spending time with her, since this is the first time I've seen her in 2 1/2 years.  (She had moved cross-country to be with her fiance`, now husband, after my wedding.  They're married, he's out of the military, and she wants to move back closer to family.  We had room, hubby-dear and I discussed it, and now we have house guests. ^^)

I do plan on having one final tale for Zaida before signing off for the summer.  I want to wrap up this story line that I've got going on with her and the brands that have been popping up.  Zaida's guilt has pretty much been eating her alive - I'll be writing it in story form and posting it here in its entirety, the chopped up 140-character twitter-style HL-text-box version will be available in Z's castle, the Shadow Enclave.

I'll try not to make it as simple as "Rocks fall, everyone dies."  XD

<3 -Z

400!

So - yesterday was the 100th day of the year, and I was able to achieve my 100th VE since the start of the new year.

I was able to close out 2012 with 300 VEs and set a few goals for myself.

1 - Good) I wanted to get 1 VE a day at least through my birthday (yesterday, by the way)... GOAL ACHIEVED!  It marked VE #400!

2 - Better)  I want to get at least 200 total VEs before 2013 is out - to reach 500 and the title Death Deity.

3 - Best!)  I know this is a long shot, seeing how I'll be signing off for a few months for busy season with my job.  (Yes, my busy season lasts from Memorial Day/Late May to Labor Day/Early September...)  I would like to continue the 1 VE per day and get 365 (or at least 300) VEs... At least to hit 600 (can't remember what the title would be at the moment, though ^^')

With the first goal met, it's time for me to keep working toward goal #2.  I hope you'll keep cheering on my progress and keep checking back for more of Z's adventures!

-Z

04.09.13 - Chained

 <HUF> Zaida couldn't put it off any longer - there was only so many times one could cast a SCOURGIFY spell before one began to miss the feeling of a genuine shower. She stood in front of the full length mirror 

 <HUF> Zaida --in her "mini museum" in the basement of her Shadow Enclave. Zaida swallowed, bracing herself for the inevitable... and began to disrobe. Her breath began to come in shaky, shallow gulps as she --

 <HUF> Zaida --took in the horrific sight - the brand on her thigh wasn't the only one she carried... Now, it resembled more a lock than anything else. The burning around her waist a month ago was a chain.

 <HUF> Zaida Each link a different name - she counted... there were fifty of them. One for each thief she killed on that bloody afternoon, the last time she even came close to using her full abilities. The new-

 <HUF> Zaida --brands wrapped around and connected into the lock - the original brand redesigned into a lock. She slipped into her favorite white satin lounging set - the brands still mostly visible through --

 <HUF> Zaida --the material. [Erik was right,] she thought dejectedly, [I'll never be free.] This one thought was enough to break her. "That's right, love," Erik's voice taunted her, "Now you're--

 <HUF> Zaida --gettin' it." She cried and looked up at herself in the mirror... She saw her face - red and stained with tears, and Erik standing next to her. "Forgive me," she cried, "I only wanted --

 <HUF> Zaida --to separate from the guild. All you had to do was let me go, Erik." "I wanted things, too, Z," Erik spat back at her, "I wanted our leader back. I never had designs to run the guild, you-

 <HUF> Zaida --know that. You were the rightful heir to the guild, it was your responsibility... and you walked out on us. What did you expect us to do?!" "I turned the guild over to you, Erik, because I --

 <HUF> Zaida --knew you would be the best choice. I wanted a life away from all of that... I found something worth living for, rather than killing for. For once in my miserable, godforsaken life ---

 <HUF> Zaida I was HAPPY," Zaida howled in grief, "I wanted a life away from killing, thieving. I wanted an honest-to-god place to call home and someone who would love me!" "*I* loved you, Z!" Erik --

 <HUF> Zaida --screamed at her, "*I* wanted you! Hell, I even *PROPOSED* to you!! Did I HONESTLY mean so little to you, little deva?!" Zaida covered her face with her hands, "Yes, Erik... I never, ---

 <HUF> Zaida --honestly, cared for you. I'm sorry... Master Amal thought it would be a good match, so I pretended to love you to make him happy." Erik's face contorted in rage, "You... It was all...---

 <HUF> Zaida pretend?" Zaida could see his body shaking in the mirror's reflection - even without his physical body there, Zaida could still feel the anger coming off of him in waves. "That's why you ---

 <HUF> Zaida --were trying to target Arius," she asked, "because you wanted me to love you, instead?" His barely contained rage was evident as his words came, short and clipped, "I would have done---

 <HUF> Zaida anything to have you. Even kill him." Realization hit Zaida like a ton of bricks, she stood, looking in to the reflection's eyes, "He wasn't your first target, was he? You were going to kill-

 <HUF> Zaida --Salazar first, weren't you?" "Yes," he replied, bitterly, "Until your attentions turned to his brother, yes, I was going to try to kill him." Zaida had him right where she wanted him, 

 <HUF> Zaida --now... "You would have just met your ending a lot sooner, Erik. Salazar would have killed you, just like Arius would have." Her words preyed on his biggest insecurity - that the man---

 <HUF> Zaida --Zaida fell in love with would be better than him. His next words cut Zaida as deeply as her words cut him, "Looks like neither of us are gonna get what they want... sweetheart. Besdies, they're

 <HUF> Zaida --not the ones who killed me in the end, are they?" A flash of silver - Erik drew a dagger and held it in plain view for Zaida to see... "You've hurt me, honey, in ways that only a woman can-

 <HUF> Zaida --hurt a man... and now, you're going to feel it for yourself." Zaida could only watch the reflections in the mirror, helplessly, as Erik put Zaida into a choke hold and slid the dagger into---

 <HUF> Zaida --her back until it hit home in her heart. Zaida flailed, attempting to strike out at the ghost but catching nothing but air - Erik used his arms to pin Zaida's to her body and clamped a hand over-

 <HUF> Zaida --her mouth to mute her screams. Weak and fading, Zaida fell to her knees. Erik laughed, "Looks like you'll be joining me soon, angel wings." Erik let go and faded away, Zaida's body falling---

 <HUF> Zaida --forward until it crashed into the floor - the dagger's polished hilt still gleaming. Her breath was ragged, but she managed to shift into her deva form - her body incased itself in a soft, golden

 <HUF> Zaida --light. The dagger slipped from the wound it created and clattered to the floor as that golden energy was pushed through her body - healing the damage. Much to her dismay, the brands remained.

 <HUF> Zaida Healed and severely weakened, she collapsed on the floor - unable to avoid sleep any longer. (end.)