Branden Navedo | Updates

Excerpt from Student Body Sonata

Branden Navedo — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 08:17:58 -0500

Despina sat here, on all fours, and no-longer-mother Nell played The Swan by Saint-Saëns with her no-longer-daughter’s teeth. She didn’t play Flight of The Bumble Bee anymore. The smile on her face wasn’t one that enjoyed her suffering, but rather was unaware of it. In an elegant and gentle recital, she helped no one except herself to her music, and Despina sat here, on all fours, with the desire to scream as her muscles were stretched to play a beautiful song. She was a tad off-key.

A mysterious cloaked figure walked in, but she recognized him immediately.

“This must be the piano you’d like taken away. Is that right?” asked Death.

“Yes,” said Nell, the only word she had the strength to utter. She must not know she just gave her no-longer-daughter away to a God of Death. Somehow it was far lonelier for her no-longer-daughter not to see no-longer-mother enjoy her torture. At least, before, she acknowledged her. What is wrong with no-longer-mother?

“Alright, Despina, once you send out your invites, the marriage may begin,” said Death.

“Are you sure you want to marry an out-of-tune piano? I think Nell would make for much better company. She’s got her hands back and everything,” said Despina Her bone legs left streaks on the floor.

“I could have Nell, I could even have Belfree if I wanted. But you ruined Nell, and I have seen such delicious evils in your heart. I want a taste,” said Death. A woman with luxurious red hair walked by Despina and Death with a smile on her face. She carried a cane and wore a caped hood. Despina recognized her by the formal attire she sported; a dark crimson blazer with a bow tie. The way was claustrophobic; she shimmied her way past as the piano took up her walking space. “Good day, Corwyn,”

“Good day, Death,” she said. Death showed no discomfort that she saw the scrawniness of his fingers with how all his flesh was torn and mangled as though ravens made a constant meal of him. Death was grotesque, yes, but beautiful in the way that healing was beautiful; in the way that grief teaches to appreciate what we have and remember what we lost.

“She’s still alive? And she knows you? How?” asked Despina.

“Well, yes. Because you never took your mother’s hands, Corwyn never burned, Gawain never died, Angela was never born. And we’ve always been close. She’s a descendant of Sylwen, after all.” said Death.

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Excerpt from Student Body Sonata - Belfree and Gawain

Branden Navedo — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 09:57:20 -0400

Born again from the pianoman, I escaped from below his enveloping shroud with the help of my half sibling. Stella embraced me.

I spent years in a dark haze gathering the EverPass. Belfree wouldn’t tell me what he wanted it for or why he chose me.

I just knew that, as a changeling, I was bound to his word.

And every movement I made was in accordance with his will. He wanted me to squeeze harder. To take the breath out of her.

I didn’t have the strength to.

‘I’m nothing but bone, remember?’

It’s been ten years since I’ve seen Stella.

But time hadn’t given us equal treatment.

The brown mark in her brown eyes had darkened, while I saw in the reflection in them that my own burned brighter.

‘You think you can escape this?’ asked Belfree.

She was losing herself. Now it was less likely she’d fulfill her Deal.

I placed my hands on her gray face and my hair turned black. That same darkness wanted to place me in the shade, under the gray clouds.

‘And another darkness places you six feet underground.’

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Excerpt from The Plague of Howling Red: Student Body Sonata

Branden Navedo — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:29:47 -0400

I remember now.

Isabel wore a white dress with a blue corset; her voice like the friction of turning pages to the next beautiful word.

“Do you think Sol'Mano and the rest only fear loss?” asked Isabel. Corwyn threw herself over her partner’s arm.

Corwyn enjoyed showing skin: a black ruffled blouse trimmed to reveal her navel. The sound from her lips was as if the ears learned the experience of taste; impossible and begging the listener’s attention: the smoothness of sweetest vanilla.

“It’s as if his followers have made monsters of us," said Corwyn. Isabel held her for a moment, then returned her to her feet.

“And the rest are jealous they cannot have this.” And the two, together, were the resurrection, the animation of the Bound Solace. But bound to that curse they were: their company providing no relief from their fate.

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From The Cottage and The Church

Branden Navedo — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is a synopsis/pitch/or something of the story idea I came up with. It could turn into a short story.

A black, white spotted koi fish appeared in a pond at night to greet the white, black spotted koi fish who appeared by day. As nature’s law dictates, the shadows of mortal beings must fade - the white of your eyes should turn to gray, lest the pond be polluted. But when no creature with sharp whites or lashing fins appeared, an Arbiter, an inhabitant of the pond, swam out of the water to bring an end to the immortal fish before they destroyed his home. He persuaded two beings, hungry from their travels, to compete for the two pond dwellers. One magical being was a warlock. An ink, redwax and venom mage who, as a child, once turned the moon into a massive cobra because someone took a bite out of his last macaron. The other, an enchantress, who most believe to be the mischievous child who committed the heinous act, is rumored to be an immortal shapeshifter and empath who enraged the warlock further only to correct his anger and take the glory for saving the world along with his favorite snack.

He spent the night crying while she laughed outside his window. The two faced each other at opposite ends of the pond and cast their lines, along with spells to aid the bait they threw into the water. I won’t bore you with the details of fishing. It was a lot of waiting. That’s all I can say.

The arbiter threw a heavy sigh. Then, he realized the two koi fish hadn’t moved an inch since the competition began. No one except him could touch them. He knew he would be stuck with these two for an eternity if he didn’t intervene, so he replaced the two intangible creatures with replicas he conjured out of his sleeves.

As he left the two to their fishing, two rivals families confronted the Arbiter, one who represented the warlock, the other the enchantress. They demanded he give one fish to each of them, and since he had cheated them out of their winnings, the families gave nothing in return. The Arbiter, happy to be rid of the fish, gave them away.

The Arbiter took both fish by the tails and intended to throw them into a bag of water. But the second before they entered the bags, they each spat into the Arbiter’s eyes and rendered him blind. Anger rose in the ancient man. He cast a curse upon the two. The two fish would become human over time and never be able to apply the magic they learned so long as they had human hands.

But an even greater anger surfaced from the pond once the warlock and enchantress realized they had been swindled. Limbs extended out of the water and dragged the two magical beings in. Their magic, siphoned from their bodies, fueled the pond as the small body of water turned into an ocean wall. This ocean wall didn’t just separate the world. It split every citizen in two and gave them distinct features: one cottagecore, the other dark academia.

The two wizards would spend the rest of their lives trying to swim out, only for the current to drag them further in. The anger of the pond intertwined with the curse the Arbiter placed on the two fish.

Over time, the two koi fish transformed into two human children. One child grew up in a small wooden cottage filled with charms, living daisies and all the dresses she could ever want. No one knew why she had large eyes as white as pearls, but they accepted her. They called her Lillibeth. The school she went to taught light magic, as everyone on this side of the wall could only learn of the light.

The other lived in a gothic style church with a built-in library of dark tales and all the dresses she could ever want. No one knew why she had buttons for eyes that never moved, but they accepted her. They called her Agatha. The school she went to taught dark magic, as everyone on this side of the wall could only learn of the darkness.

One day, in a shared tradition of fishing both sides took part in, the two girls stared into the ocean for as long as they could. The girl from the cottage marveled at animals made from ink, everyone with long, sharp, black nails and white, scraggly hair and flowing gowns and chains, each with a cross around their necks. The girl from the church saw a poodle with flowers in her mouth, everyone in blouses and corsets

When they placed their faces into the water, both girls screamed as one of each of their eyes popped out of their faces. The families who took them in found the two girls, each with different types of eyes. Lillibeth had one button eye, one pearl eye. Same for Agatha.

And they each saw a world divided. Knowing there was something out there, they sent each other letters through the ocean wall. When the time came for magic lessons, the schools that taught Lillibeth and Agatha were shocked to see a rare mutation.

The two could learn both light and dark magic. But they couldn’t teach the girls anything about bringing the magics together, as it was such an ancient practice the spells were lost to time. The two girls, who couldn’t learn magic thanks to their eyes, came up with their own spells as a game of make believe and tested it on fish they caught from the ocean wall.

But what is magic but an expression of the imagination?

One of the spells Agatha and Lillibeth invented ended up turning a piranha invisible. After a short time of experimenting, they each realized they had erased both the light and dark of the animal. Lillibeth, a fast learner, took the spell and fine tuned it. She could now make anything visible; time, emotion, even ghosts. She could heal souls and bring back memories. Agatha, just as fast, learned how to reveal dark, ancient secrets and reverse blindness.

The two grew famous, but couldn’t use their magic on people. When the Arbiter found out about what they could do to fish, he split himself in two and confronted the girls. He said they must train, grow into sorceresses so powerful that his curse couldn’t hold them back. Once they’re strong enough, they should be able to heal him and he’ll be able to see again.

But he knew that, once he regained his sight, the girls would transform back into koi fish, the ocean wall would fall and everyone’s bodies would merge together. Essentially, the people who split would die as their bodies combined. He didn't tell them.

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The Orpanda, Last Gift of Hephaestus

Branden Navedo — Wed, 9 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. I'll be coming up with ideas for books every two months and posting them here. Enjoy!

Orpanda, The Last Gift of Hephaestus

After Pandora releases all evils into the world, Hephaestus creates the Orpanda, an artificial lifeform and counterpart to his first creation. A tiny creature unable to fight off a single blade of grass, his new pet seemed harmless enough to the gods of Olympus. However, Hephaestus had great plans for this new animal. He wanted his creation to represent all of Olympus, to shine upon a throne of his own, rather than a protector of the overworld as Cerberus is for Hades.

They hid their snickering under their smirks, wanting to show Hephaestus the reaction he intended to elicit. As a show of appreciation, Dionysus threw a banquet for Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Pandora and the Orpanda. Being mortal, the two creations were not allowed to drink such strong wine, but Hephaestus had his fill. Aphrodite, able to persuade the inebriated Hephaestus with much ease, has the man sit on the same throne he built for Hera, his so-called mother. Blind-drunk, he was unable to see what they had done to him. The wine he drank temporarily stripped him of his divinity and trapped him.

Then, just as she did at his birth, Hera threw him off of Mount Olympus. The gods thought Hephaestus would be stuck there for as long as they’d wanted him to be. He’d get bored and they’d free him later when the fumes of his anger died out. Hephaestus then sobered up and forgot everything that happened. He wondered why he was stuck on a throne at the base of Olympus. They assumed the Orpanda was some lowly animal with no real use. At the bottom of a cliff, Hephaestus struggled and Pandora failed in freeing him.

But the Orpanda is not Pandora. Hephaestus orders the creature to consume everything divine. His diminutive creation opens its mouth, wider than Cerberus’ jaws, and eats the throne whole. Aphrodite, having felt sorry for him, arrives and wonders how he freed himself. Pandora confronts her and the goddess of beauty and love feigns cluelessness before tending to any of Hephaestus’ wounds. She sees the seemingly harmless Orpanda, rolling in the grass and staring at her. Aphrodite wonders how he’s gotten so big and why he is now made of gold.

The Orpanda eats the goddess whole. And so begins the massacre of the gods: first Aphrodite, then Dionysus, then Ares, Hera, and finally Zeus. During this time, Pandora helps Hephaestus recover from his hangover as his divinity returns. All of Olympus soon fades in the bottomless pit that is the Orpanda. Pandora’s and Hephaestus’ friendship grows stronger, but so does the god of craftsmanship and his own Achille's heel: the divinity that was taken from him, a punishment that served as his protection from The Orpanda. Having ordered the Orpanda to consume everything divine, Hephaestus would be his final meal. Pandora kept Hephaestus safe for as long as she could.

While the Orpanda was stronger, Pandora was clever. She asked the creature that if the Orpanda must consume all things divine, and he is the result of a god, does that not make him a divine creation? The Orpanda, conflicted, comes to one conclusion.

The Orpanda eats himself whole by turning himself inside out, releasing all of Olympus and vanishing out of existence.

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