Chapter Text
He had started out as a human, in a time just before the Medieval Age, but in a town that was practically in that age already. A town that hated him and his orphaned roots.
His mother, a beautiful perfectly English woman had died giving birth, and the father having been long gone with the caravanners that passed through, the child that had come from their bond was darker skinned, an almost ochre hue, ugly in their eyes. The village itself barely lifted a finger to raise him but he managed to survive and learn some things as he grew, from observation, and from things not a part of the village.
He was taller than most people, lanky, skinny, lighter but still pretty tanned by the time he was starting to reach adulthood. Large nose, expressive brown eyes, dark tightly curled hair, and practically wore rags. Everyone cursed or spit, or at the least sneered when he bothered to show his face to the village, so he had started working for a blacksmith, that didn't hardly ever pay him despite him being pretty damned good with the forge and tools. Any other time he had was spent moving between the abandoned houses of those in the village that have passed, mostly to dodge the taxmen when they came. Last time they caught him they beat him for being a foreigner, a lesson well learnt. Not even the country he grew up in wanted him.
He grew to despise the village, the people, the very country he lived in, he was different and he liked it that way. But if this is how "more civilized" people treated others, he wanted no part of that cruelty. He wanted to be more different. He needed to be, for civility's sake he'd change everything about himself. Even if it meant joining the resident Fae in the woods nearby to do so.
--
One year a caravan had stopped near the village to squeeze them all of coin. It was at this point Eneris was a very much still awkward-looking human adult, who was exposed to many differences due to his reclusive nature. Namely, the fact magic existed, and so did magical creatures, who despite being different, he got along with very well. He learned what he could from those friends, and kept their company, and the fact they were not the things he hated only made him happier. Maybe if he learned enough of their magic or read enough legends and stories, he could get out of this horrid skin, change into something new and beautiful, or even ugly, he's not picky, he just doesn't want to be human anymore. It only earned him scorn from other humans and even some other non-human creatures.
He had snuck his way to the caravan at night, as stealthily as possible, and knocked. Waiting for an answer. When he had gotten one, he wasn't expecting to see a small glimmer and the form of a cat to change to that of a human. He had uttered a sentence that put everyone in that carriage at visible ease "Ah, you're like my Fae friend, Sländor."
They had ushered him into their carts at night to talk, making merry or sharing knowledge.
From then on he had kept contact with the caravan and the "Fae Friend" who was revealed to later be not a Fae but rather something else entirely, which lead to Eneris getting a very much prized book from the caravan one day. One that could help him with his human problem.
--
On a hotter day than most about a year or so after he had gotten that book, his dearest friend had disappeared one day, and he found him screaming in the village-turned-town center as his long time friend died before his eyes as an oddly shaped bone was smashed to dust. He saw the body shimmer, and the beautiful visage of the once considered to be Fae faded to an unthinkable horror that he found himself envious of, before it- no, HE had burst into an all-consuming ball of blue and green flame and his body to ash after the towns people smashed and crushed that bone. He hated humans. He hated himself. He hated being human. He had lost one of his dearest and most trusted friends, one of the few that stuck around and bothered to teach him, the one that had helped him survive in all senses of the word.
He read the book he got from that caravan with more fervor than ever before, and unlocked just what sorts of things his friends had, what sort of things he could accomplish with just a little blood and true devotion. Now Eneris was not a religious man, but he certainly was going to be very very soon.
Barely a few years had passed before people from town started going missing, they didn't know who or how, and they blamed their woes on Eneris, wolves, plague, and Fae as per usual. Eneris had gotten sick of it, tired of it, he found a purpose, he found a way to make himself non-human, to make himself better, to cure himself of this wretched humanity. He wanted rid if it all, and his god would get the blood they so rightfully deserve, and Eneris would punish the people that have tortured him all throughout life.
--
One day, about a year after his friends death, Eneris had finally been changed by his god, the sacrifice being, that entire town. Every. Single. Person. Man, child, woman, pregnant woman, any animal he could get his hands on, his mind didn't care back then, all it wanted was souls, physical mass, bloodshed. He was Life and he was Death, and that day was the day these people died.
A hundred mild radius, that's how much was taken out when he had awoken as a Lich, trees, grass, birds, bugs, humans, cats, dogs, rats, even fleas weren't safe from the absolutely void of death. It was all instantaneous, life there one minute, all dead the next, all to soak into Eneris's new form as magic. Enough to help him solidify, but not enough to sate his new-found endless hunger.
For a hundred years the human-turned-Lich roamed Europe and beyond, eating away towns, tearing them and their people apart, eating anything and anyone he could find in order to sate himself, to get some semblance of sanity back in the times of Dying as they called it. He eventually regained his mind in a sense, and all he could do was laugh in accomplishment, in victory, in happiness, and then in gleeful anticipation. He can kill more if he wanted, he had all the power to do so. But instead, he chose to run with the caravan after re-finding his lost phylactery and hiding it thoroughly. After all, if no one's around to see it, how in the hell can anyone tell anything's even buried there, no paper to keep track, no hint, nothing to tell of where his phylactery lays. He learned from the book that that was what the bone the townsfolk had smashed was. His friend had been forced to his true death. He'd never reincarnate, never come back, even his friend's soul was lost to the void that day.
--
When he travelled he studied everything he could now, whether it be humans, monsters, fae, dragons, all of them. He also sacrificed regularly to his god, being extremely mindful and careful in everything he did for him, he even sent thoughtful things along with his sacrifices, fruits he finds, new types of souls he'd find, foods of all sorts, coins so they could see the currency of places he's been, he even sent books he writes himself about things he learns and comes across, or copies so he doesn't destroy the original piece. Despite being a Lich, there was most definitely good in his heart, just as there was chaos in his being. He had no idea just how appreciative his god was for him, and had no idea what his extra niceties would gift him in the future. Cthulhu of that age, was extremely pleased, they also found out eyes and oranges were pretty good tasting and something very fun to eat in texture. A new favorite food. Eel was also good, and reading kept them from being too bored since they were stuck in their realm the minute magic started being drained by the growth of human-kind, not wanting to die like the other gods and eldritch beings that stayed on Earth, they hid away in a pocket dimension of sorts. The Christian God, the Aztec ones, and more that a few African and Asian gods also managed to stay. A separate realm, but they stayed in the sense of watching over their people.
Eneris was always polite to gods and goddesses he'd meet on his travels. They often threatened him until they witnessed his good acts, they doubted that he belonged to Cthulhu if he did good. They very rarely realized that having their humans saved or given gifts by a large furred and scaled thing in a loincloth with a six-eyed skull for a head puts plenty of chaos in that human's life to please Cthulhu. Even if that thing is disguised half the time, his words and gestures usually impact so profoundly that person's life changes almost completely, setting off ripples of change. Change can be chaos, whether it be for the best or worst, and Cthulhu doesn't see the reason his tentacle-chosen Lich has to be an evil douche all his life and causing misery and strife all the time, that's not nearly as entertaining as watching some poor soul go insane because a monster healed them and their family and fed them for no reason other than to do so and then simply left. It was hilarious that humans go crazy even on an act of goodwill.
Eneris was a very much free Lich, pleased to do as he wants, and over many a years of learning and growing, becoming more and more powerful, he started dipping into other pots in a way. Other types of magic, chanting, enchanting, music, voodoo, whoodoo, taming wild magics, prayer magic and offerings that Cthulhu let him tamper with, blood magic, light magic, holy magic that hurt to use but felt good to be able to slightly wield, he learned runes, nature magic, fae magics, dwarves ones, draconic to, even the more demonic magics. He loved to summon a few certain demons and Christo's son Lucifer and his Ancient wife Ghe'hadre to converse with on occasion, he never had need for a contract with anyone so it really was just for some company. He never did realize just how much time passes when he does these things.
--
Next time he saw a human settlement it was metal and stone brick, and wood. His head tilted at the structure, then he looked at the people. Some in rags just as he once was, some dressed in so many layers, and only once in a while would he observe jewel-covered overly large dressed females, corsets on them, and a sort of tunic or suit on the males. He snorted a little. Why would they make distinctions like this? He could just kill them even easier now, especially the woman, no woman mean no young, no young means no humans. He looked at the corsets covering some, and even he could see the struggle some of them had for breathing and he almost wanted to put those poor souls out of their misery.
He observed in disguise, often using his magic to hide as a human beggar, or on occasion someone of middle class. It wasn't until one day that he felt a sudden shift, and he growled, low deep bellowing. His hair raised as he felt another shift, he had to start running, and he did it after the third shift of the dirt over his phylactery.
He didn't realize he'd be teleported the minute a hand touched the bone, he gasped at the sensation and he found himself gazing down bewildered at a child. He panted, slightly panicked, but he felt the comfort of his god caress his skull, and he calmed, and as did the child. It seems his emotions affected theirs. He tilted his head at them, and they tilted back. He sat down, he's not sure why, but soon found out it was the child's doing. It struck new fear into him, he was bound to the child, under their will and command, a middle-class, almost higher class one at that. A set of his glowing purple eyes watched the child, while the other two looked at the environment, he noted the large-ish house, it was built rather tall, surrounded by a tall stone and wrought iron fencing. He inhaled, exhaled, and by the gentle willing of Cthulhu he calmed and laid down. He never much received touch, but the petting of a hand through his mane was a bit comforting.
He gained the trust of the family in the house over time, and when they were gone, and the child-now-adult took over, they passed his phylactery to their children before they passed, and the cycle continued for a few generations, until one generation saw fit to get rid of him, they treated him as a slave instead of an advisor or help, the male of the house subservient to the nasty horrid woman he married, kicked him out, throwing his phylactery in a chest upstairs and telling him to leave. He did just that.
It wasn't until a generation was skipped that he felt the touch again, and when he was in an all too familiar house, he looked down at the black-haired child, their eyes showed fear but also burning curiosity. He laid in front of them, eyes looking up at them, and watched their hand with one pair of eyes as they almost reluctantly pet him. The other set was watching their eyes, and the last set was pinned on his phylactery that they held over their heart, he could feel their heartbeat, the blood rushing through them. It felt very personal. Close.
Their witch of a grandmother was gone but she certainly left their mark on almost every adult in the house, and the children to, they feared him, but wanted to see what his uses were. They taught him etiquette, politics, things about how to dress as good as possible, the woman of the house taught him how to tailor clothing, a common trade amongst women of that age. The man taught him about money a lot more in depth, and both taught him law, believing him to uphold it in efforts to put some sort of fear in him. He politely reminded them he was no man and what he did was whatever they wanted to do, outside of that he was free. They had to begrudgingly accept that fact whenever they attempted to dispute law with him.
He went out in disguise often, he was their "at-home lawyer and accountant", them flaunting a wealth they didn't actually have and just his presence made a difference in that sense, other houses were looking at them with interest. Political interest.
Admist the political games he had to play for the family, including deaths and miracle healings or births for others, he also had to help raise the children. He definitely helped them both in that regard, and in the process taught them both basic magics and how other species were like, in other words, creating a much less xenophobic household.
It was actually a decent stretch of time, before something unexpected happened to both Eneris and the now-adult-woman that had picked up his phylactery. She had touched his phylactery, summoning him to her quarters, the touch a bit odd this time around. It had his hair raising a bit.
When he entered that day, a proclamation of love was made, one that he admitted he understood but did not understand love itself and wished to experience. It opened and shut quite a few doors. Over the years of courting and wooing, and comforts though, he had near completely secured himself a mate. He never expected it but he was happy, the first time they bedded something wonderful and forever untarnished in their eyes, even if it was forbidden. He had exposed many a secret and wonder to her, all the vulnerabilities, the power her holding his phylactery held over him, everything. She always said her life seemed a little boring in turn but he always found such things fascinating. He was time-blinded for hundreds of years, being in the moment, actually remembering the day-to-day, making each day a memory worth keeping. She instilled the importance of that to him whether she had meant to or not.
The family turned as much of a blind-eye as they could to their love, marrying off the boy instead, and though suitors tried to court her, she would not have it. It angered many a high noble and middle classman, to the point that a few had sent spies.
What the spies found horrified everyone, that the beautiful illustrious woman lay with a horrible mangled ungodly beast of death. They called for retribution, their deaths, the family was forced to kick them out, make them run away in order to preserve both themselves and them. Edith Rosehearth Clentavins had run away with one Sir Eneris Clentavins. When questioned they said it must have been glamour, or some kind of magic that controlled their mind, a curse that only lifted once others saw into the home while the beast is unguarded and unsuspecting. In secret they mourned the loss of their daughter and most trusted accountant.
--
Eneris had made a home for her in a far off town, not knowing of the mob and news of their flight that very slowly followed them. Cobblestone base, a wooden structure. A town where neither of them were known and neither was his disguised self. He made love to her and her to him countless times in the merriment that they were both released from that life. They had rehidden his phylactery together, no longer would one have complete sway over the other in that way. They loved each other. Despite the maddening knowledge that so much power grew around him, that there was a bloodbath to be had in this town where no one knew, he stayed his claws and jaws to stay with his wife. The black-haired beauty that touched upon his very soul, and mended the small cracks on it from the abuse of the years he's lived. They loved to dance together, especially out in the woods where he can be his normal self, she did oh so very much love every part of him. She had given him a soft-spot for humanity that he hadn't had before.
They danced and frolicked, and at one point in time Eneris could sense the beginnings of a new soul developing. She was ecstatic at the news and told him to go to the market to get supplies and prepare for a baby. Unknowing of who has spied them both while he left the house.
By the time he had come back, it was to the smell of fire, alcohol, fine perfumes, and an angry mob, torches, pitchforks, and even some hunters with bows and arrows alight in flame.
He dropped everything and immediately went on the attack, but one loose arrow stopped him in his tracks. For his love was hit, in the heart by an arrow, and next in head by another foolish bowman. His grief was felt by that town and the city they homed at, and news spread of the mournful Lich whose heart was now frozen due to the actions of a few.
He cradled her body, the now two dead and slowly disappearing souls, he dare not take them, he wishes for a reincarnation. Instead he called upon her given god, in a grief-filled roar to take them away lest he go insane from their utter decimation. That was granted swiftly to him in fear of incurring a Lich's wrath, and with their souls secured in the grasp of her given god's grasp, with swift vengeance he killed the town and the city folk, and a little beyond, keeping very few alive to tell the tale of his frozen heart. He took his phylactery, asked Cthulhu to take it before he ever accepts it into himself or has it found again, and Cthulhu took his phylactery and hid it elsewhere out of that continent completely.
--
Eneris Rosehearth Clentavins. Alone once more, no longer a slave to anything, and smarter than ever, chose to go into hiding as magic kept dying, he could disguise himself no longer with the constant drain, so he found the most remote place he could, and built a replica of the home he had with his late wife. Enchanted this time, even if the magic to do so may kill him. It thankfully didn't. The house could withstand a dragon attacking if one dropped out of the sky.
He lived alone. Not sure if his love would ever return to him reincarnated, if he would ever find such a wonderful thing again. So he would throw himself into working for his god, harder than ever, knowing now that things are dying off from lack of magic, that he would take everything with him if he didn't make sure his god was not only entertained, but also in good health while the magic goes from an ocean to a barely there puddle in the desert.
What little friends he's kept know him as a now romantic sort, some see past it and simply see their friend and other see just how hurt he still is, that even trying to fill that void was hurting him. It was Eneris's way. Eneris nearly despised humans, he could talk, be polite and cordial, he could hope that one may be his lost love one day, but he would still hate them, just slightly less than how he used to. Why he doesn't go on a killing spree? Return the magical balance? Too little magic, and too much risk. With every false death a Lich suffers they lose a part of themselves, he didn't want to lose his sanity, lose his memories, become feral, be tempted in anyway to take his phylactery and become mortal for a simple power boost. So he simply kept a territory cleared of any human life.