Nephilim's Wager: The Princess and the Witch

Entry 1 (Skye)

I was told to start a journal by the clerics who cleansed my memory after I left the cult, to prevent unwanted side effects. All that was meant to be erased was the memories of my past life and the dark magic I learned, nothing more. I need to make sure everything else stays.

They suggested I write both about my own life and general things about the world. So I guess I should start with our island's entire history? What is this, studying for a test?

We live on an island, in an ocean, not too far away from where humans live, though our island is magical so they can't find us if they're not meant to. Not too many humans journey this far into the ocean, but occasionally from the shore you can see one of their ships sailing on by far away near the horizon. More often it's a faerie ship.

As for us? We're nephilim. Both angels and demons wanted us... out of the way, for their own reasons. So they and the faeries agreed to work together for once. And founded our society on this island, Neph. The reasons... Do I have to write the reasons? I remember it being complicated. Of course it would depend on who you ask, whether it makes the angels or demons seem better.

I'm trying to remember what I was taught growing up, and I have the strangest feeling that there's something off about it. Maybe a remnant of my memories from my time with my real dad's cult. But I can't actually remember what I was told about the reasons there. Was I meant to forget that, or is it a side effect?

Anyway, so the story goes that angels want us to go to Heaven, now that it's open to fleshy beings such as ourselves, and demons want us to go to Hell. Until then, we reincarnate by way of our souls possessing our babies that were cursed to be stillborn after the Flood. Going to Heaven is good, going to Hell is bad. Obviously. The only people who side with the demons are psychos like my parents, who... Yeah, I can't even remember why.

I vaguely remember why I joined the cult though. Oh, I guess this is the start of my story!

Short answer, I found out why I've been shunned all my life, and once I learned who my father really is, I was introduced to a community of people who don't judge me for being a bastard, where I'm accepted and celebrated, where my talents are needed... Or taken advantage of. Whatever I discovered afterwards was clearly not worth that sense of belonging. And that must be saying a lot, because, wow, I miss them so much it physically hurts.

But anyway, long answer...

My name is Skye Viviana Selen. I've been inconsistent about which given name I go by. I was named Skye after my paternal great grandmother, who I am not actually related to. And I do not have air magic, I have fire magic, so it feels kind of misleading. With the cult, I went by my middle name, Viviana. Or sometimes my past life name, which I can't remember, but I think it was similar in meaning. I'm pretty sure my parents knew and my mom insisted on that middle name with that in mind.

Now that I've just left the cult, I honestly have no idea which name I should go by. Both don't represent me. Not that it matters much, since I don't talk to a lot of people, since I was never allowed to debut in high society. Well, other than the villagers and witches who live in the town and woods near my manor, respectively. The villagers call me Lady Skye and the witches call me Viviana. Um, it's balanced I guess.

Yeah so the high society thing. That's important to talk about.

I grew up thinking I'd have air magic once I received my family's talisman at the charism ceremony. One of the applications of air magic is music magic, so that was my dream. Sneaking into the church to play the organ or harp and sing was the only way I was able to vent my frustrations and stay sane before the cult. Channeling anger into music, it sounds so lovely, no one would know the dark sentiments fueling it. But I didn't have air magic yet so I didn't have access to all the skills I'd need to get employed.

My world was shattered when I got the talisman, and in the part of the ceremony where you're supposed to use magic for the first time, I just... couldn't. It wasn't working. It was a quartz talisman, from my false father's lineage, which I have no actual connection to, though I didn't know it at the time. I saw my family's faces twisting in the pews. I started panicking. Princess Penelope, who's a bit older than me and also uses air magic, was nice enough to try and help me. It just embarrassed me more though, as she gently walked me through the steps like I'm a slow child. And it still didn't work.

So she told me, loudly so everyone could hear, that my nerves were interfering with the magic and it'll be fine if I try again later when I'm calmer. Then she whispered that she wasn't sure but I should take the chance to leave with some dignity. I am very grateful to her for that, and I hope she knows that.

I really wanted to believe it. Both for music magic, and because I thought it might finally get my family to not see me as a failure. Instead, I only reinforced that view.

But when I got home, my mother approached me with a different talisman, of obsidian. And told me to try it. And it worked, I did fire magic. So easily. It was such a strange feeling, knowing that something can feel natural. But it's not the right thing, not the thing it was supposed to be.

Then she introduced me to my true father, her true love, who her family forbade her from marrying. And they brought me to the secret meeting place of the cult that he is currently the leader of. The true leader is Empress Tyria, but she's not around, and the even truer leader is a demon prince whose name seems to have been wiped from my memory. I don't recall any details about him, but I shudder when I try to.

It's all fuzzy from there. So I guess that's all I have to write for now.