Stohnz
Stohnz, as I know her, is an odd one. Not that she wasn’t ever not odd, but… wait no, I’m starting this all wrong. I should be dramatic, emphatic, and enthusiastic perhaps. I was that once. Anyway…
Once upon a time a girl was born with hair as red as rubies and eyes as silver as the moon. Now other girls are lucky girls, they get fairy godmothers, or wishes or princes. Stohnz had none of these and the world was cold and cruel, everyone wanted to eat that little girl because they were monsters and she was the only thing that moved with life in the Doldrums. It was a scary place and Stohnz would have been lost, but Stohnz was special. Stohnz had a sister.
Contents
THE SISTER
Styx was a sister all girls need, strong and determined and she gave the best of hugs. She always had patience for that girl as she grew and looked after her, even against the monsters. Stohnz knew her sister would always look after her. Styx protected her at first, then taught her to hide, taught her to fight and loved her unconditionally. Stohnz was special in more ways than her sister and not all ways were good. The darkness was scary and her mind wasn’t always a happy place. Filled with stories and memories that didn’t make sense… and a darkness that stole so much. It made Stohnz very unhappy and even Styx didn’t know what to do, because who can fight a nothing? Though perhaps even strange girls in strange lands have their own protectors because that’s when the music came.
The sister of Stohnz is the Behemoth Styx . Created together in the lands of the Doldrums they formed a fast and lasting bond that was both the making of their individuality and what set them apart from others of their kind from the start. The larger of the two people often mistake Styx for being the overbearing older sister, but it is Stohnz that is often the less patient of the two. Throughout their time together Styx has kept Stohnz safe through all hardships, even at the cost of power and safety for herself.
If pride and anger are the great forces that move her it is because those forces were what helped keep herself and her sister safe. They are driving forces from more than just her nature but have been nurtured through time and are a product and symptom of her love. For love it is between Stohnz and her sister. An odd thing amongst Devils and so often spoken of but rarely true. For them it is the greatest truth that they have and because of that to summon one and not both is a travesty a crime in and of itself. A crime that even Mages had shirked from.
It is not a bond to be tested.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
The girl who fought, the girl who cried, the girl who hid so much inside… learnt to dance. Music drowned out the fighting and the tears and lit something within that little figure that chased some of the darkness away. It made her happy and it made her special sister so happy too.
If there is one thing you will always see with Stohnz that is not her sister it is her headphones. She is rarely without them and if she is without them no doubt she is searching for the person who took them and to fix the situation, permanently. Few do touch them though and perhaps that is because they seem so... unnatural. For they are not store bought creation and even if they look new, they are not. The headphones are a part of her, as any item can be a part of anyone, created by the most unlikely of benefactors to bring some light into the darkness of her days. It was the only way they knew how, or could help.
Music brought Stohnz a comfort she had never known she realised and it is more than a hobby for her, it is a need. The music those headphones provided, and still do, smooths away the bad memories that plague her day to day and provide a peaceful center for her mind. It allowed her an escape that was all her. Something that was terribly important when the workings of mages had left you in doubt of even that. They are her lifeline, they are her life.
They're part of her.
SUMMONINGS
It wasn’t all the monsters of their world though, sometimes the monsters of the world you know called on them. Brief forays of light and colour and sudden activity… not all of it nice. Though often Stohnz would remember good times and things that didn’t always want to hurt you. Learnt that sometimes people could be nice like her sister, but you had to fight for it sometimes. Memories like this, that were hers, made the darkness that bit better and we both know the darkness is often worst before dawn.
And it was.
Poor Stohnz had to fight a lot in that place. The older she became the older she looked, the older she looked the more mature her soul became and, the more mature her soul the more that wanted to eat her. It was time to put to use all her sister had taught her so well. But it did not last.
It is part of the life of a demon to be summoned. For Styx and Stohnz it can be as simple as rhyme. The pair of Devil's are significant magical entities and as such cannot remain in the Human world of their own account; they need an anchor of sorts, a power to keep them here other than their own. This power can take many forms; the power of a magical place, somewhere effected by curse or breach to else-where. Magical items which they might keep with them, such as ancient artefacts or cursed items-- pieces with a little story to them. More commonly however, the pair are called and bound by an individual who keeps them here in the Human world.
It rarely ends well.
The mages of this world are greedy individuals and through such greed, such lust for power, such avarice Stohnz herself had been born. Her birth a fraught time of pain to another, murder and invasion of the self in ways no person should ever have to endure. Stohnz did survive and was thrown away as a broken shell with broken mind and a spirit not her own. She would have died within hours had she not been found by her sister. A sister that, against all the stories of her kind, chose to look after her and protect her. Fighting that urge to eat that human soul within sister day to passing day.
Their arrival in this world this time began much like any other, but not entirely. The summons went wrong and they were given the blessed opportunity to take it, so they did. Who wouldn't jump at such a chance for freedom?
FINDING HOME
Chance is not often nice to people as special as Stohnz, it tests them, it tries to break them, but sometimes just sometimes it gives them something they never expected. It gave Stohnz a master, but not like any they’d had before. This was not a master that would beat her, not a master that would experiment on her as an object, not a master that would only see what he would gain. This was a master who sought to protect and let her be who she needed to be. Her master was Torentus. He had troubles too but he showed her that was okay, that they could be there and still have good things too. He is not prince, but she’s no princess and our special Stohnz has no time for such things, her life has been too difficult to think such people worth having, but he is.
Torentus the Wizened, an unusual figure under any description. A figure of refined tastes, cool logic and a devil may care attitude that applies even to his shadow Edgar and his propensity for shoes. He is a person you might, at first glance, consider unassuming but you would be quite wrong and certainly playing entirely into what he wants you to believe. Beneath that old exterior the mind is still razor sharp and quick both with humour and with thought. For those he deems worthy there is also great kindness and a sense of justice.
Aiding the sisters without any return for himself he quickly stood himself out from the rest of all they met. Simply wishing to learn about them without any sign of greed for their power, his interest simply that of the scholar. It was unusual and it provided something that they had never been given before, a choice. As time passed it was an all too easy choice to make and they bound themselves into his service as his slaves. The bond marked in Dragon hide about their necks.
As with all such arrangements the positions are quite clear; they are his slaves and he the master, but it is not a cruel bond. In return for safety in this world and a place in his home they are to see to his needs before their own, his safety and power above their own. As Stohnz has found this often involves a lot of books, then a lot more books... which if she tires of there will be others books somewhere else too. For a mind that had longed to expand itself and to grow its an embarrassment of riches.
Stohnz also owes him her salvation from the torments of other mages as a soul imprisoned can never truly be a soul owned. A constant fight between body and mind had left Stohnz weak and mentally unstable without the headphones she had come to rely on with every breath. Instead of acting as other mages would and making her become whatever he would require he did the more complex thing, the harder thing... the more caring thing. Over weeks and months that soul was merged with body, becoming as much a part of her as everything else she was. The old and new merging into something different, something more. Rising from beneath that storm to become a mind of great clarity and she owes it all to him.
THE FUTURE
Even I think so and I have never trusted mages and I passed that distrust onto you my Stohnz. I, the devil you once were and now your guide, your teacher. I had thought once that either you or I must die for some life to return but he has given us this chance to learn. We have a chance to grow and a world in which to love that we could never have imagined. So fight for it my girl, fight for it with tooth and claw and become what you need to be to keep all we have gained. This is no fairy tale our special Stohnz. Happy endings must be won in blood. Let it be the world if need be to keep those we love safe.
The future is always uncertain and Stohnz has very little faith in things remaining happy. She knows beyond the immaturity that shields her that there is always darkness on the horizon. It's the way of the world. She'll ignore it for as long as she can with those she loves, but it's a presence she can feel growing day to day. If it is real or imagined she does not know, can't know. Stohnz just knows that they'll be ready, both of her will.
Styx
"What do you mean, what do I think of her? She is Stohnz-- my Sister, and more than capable of protecting herself! Are you some kind of profound moron?.. Just why do you want to know about her? If you upset her, I will have to end you." Styx, 2015.
At first glance, or first perceptions of the pair it might come across that Styx is the oft over-bearing elder Sister to the small Devil Stohnz. This is perhaps accurate in that Styx does feel protective of the smaller Devil, however the reality of this impression ends there. There is very little, perhaps nothing that the towering Styx would not do for her Sister-- be it protect her, take injury in her place or ward off unwanted attentions. She even endeavors to keep her happy and smiling, though these tasks are perhaps not best filled by a Devil like she.
The pair share an intense bond, one created along with them it is indeed remotely reasonable to view them as two sides of one Magical entity, one power. One without the other is an unbalanced, terrible thing. You take them both, or neither at all.
Those that do get on Stohnz's bad side earn Styx's ire rather quickly, and may well find themselves having to contend with more than the Behemoth's venomous words.
Torentus
Elliana
Elotus
Elotus sees Stohnz as generally harmless and honestly good natured for the most part, at least towards him, or if her sister is harmed. He has an understanding that she is the more magical of the two, and respects that fact with a general fear of magic due to its powerful effects. He finds it really funny that she is shorter then him, but since she has yet to actually harm him in any way, she kinda freaks him out, due to not knowing what to expect from her. He knows what Styx will do, no idea on Stohnz.
Please feel free to add here my friends.
MISC
Tropes
Older Than they Look - She's a Devil this has to check out.
The Fake Cutie - Every rose has a thorn, every cutie has its claws.
Little Miss Badass - See The Fake Cutie.
Windows to the Soul - Both old and new Stohnz cover silver eyes uncannily well. I did not plan this. Happiness in Slavery - Could not be more true.
