.~Edelsteine~. - Ankou's Journal by Zero Dream

[Zero Dream]

The Night Everything Broke Down

Fate would have it that Ankou's newfound information would not find it's intended recipient... at least for quite a while. Adrian indeed went to the goddess's home, but no one answered - he waited some, but eventually had to give up and head back to the pantheon before it became dark enough to be truly dangerous.

He did not even notice the doors to the throne room, which always seemed to be open, were now closed... And even if he had noticed, he probably would have thought nothing of it. The plan was to go back to his rooms on top and settle in bed. Maybe chatter with Lyra some, now that he was feeling less antisocial. Find some way to enjoy himself, now that the situation seemed a bit less doomworthy.

The pyromancer had managed just that... and that was exactly why the wave hit. It was unlike anything he's ever felt before - like if somehow his insides wanted to crawl out of his body. The initial shock made him buckle out and scream in pure agony, eyes narrowing as if to stop the tears from falling.

Lyra was latching to his right arm, losing control of her own powers as screeched and writhed in pain. It wasn't long before his forearm was covered in a thin layer of ice. As for Jinx, she had latched on his other arm, claws extended without her own knowledge or control and sinking in the tender flesh, drawing out blood, calling out her master's name, calling out for his comfort and protection. Things that he could not give. She acted almost identically to a feral cat - wanting to desperately to be held that she lashed on and hurt in the process.

Both those things, those hurts, chain reactions from the cause were nothing compared to what was going on within. If it was possible to feel yourself erode from the inside out, it would probably be what exactly was happening. As far as Adrian knew, it might as well be real - his mind too disconnected from reality to understand what was truly happening.

Unseen and unsought about by most of the trio, a fourth being suffered as well. Ankou struggled to retain his capacity to think and what little capacity to act that he processed. His own pain was magnified by his host's mental lashings, the initial wave rushing in for what seemed to be hours instead of seconds. It was all too evident to him - if he did not do -something-, Adrian, who seemed worse off than his companions, would either lose his mind, or not survive. Neither scenarios sat well with the god, who, in despite wanting to do nothing but scream, reacted. Ankou reached for the surface and promptly shoved Adrian's consciousness as far down their shared psyche as he could manage - toward the relative sanctity of his own gem, and he bore the rest of the damage himself.

Hopefully... hopefully it wouldn't be too late. It was his last thought before the darkness came.

The initial wave finally let go of All That Was - there were only ripples left. Lyra felt on the ground, completely still beside a telltale twitch of her tail. Adrian's body did much the same as both host and deity lost grip over their shared body and passed out. Jinx was barely awake, mewling like a lost, wounded kitten as she curled into a tight ball.

It was over, and yet... it was only the beginning.

[Zero Dream]

Awakening
Week of Sloth

The redhead would not realize it just yet, but he had remained unconscious for days. Even so, he would be the first to awaken. For an instant, he dared thing this had all been a dream... but then saw Lyra nested against him, to his side. She seemed to be breathing, at least... in the post traumatic haze, it did not occur to Adrian that he should probably have checked on her in more details. Or that fact that Jinx was absent, probably gone to investigate what was going on in her own daze.

Then pain was the next thing to hit. To his left was caked blood, everywhere - on the sheets, on the floor. His arm strung, and while it was bandaged (probably Jinx's doing), he could see some blood stains on it. That blood had came out of him, somehow..

On the flipside, the lack of sensation was the worrying thing as far as his right arm was concerned. It quite literally seemed to be numb, still covered with a thin layer of frost in despite the time that had passed, and a rather worrying color underneath. The area was wet from the ice that had melted, as did the bandages put there, which were much less effective than those on his left arm, and probably put on in panic as the aoide had no idea what to do.

What the hell...

What happened ?

There was no answer. In despite the fog holding his mind in what seemed to be inaction, panic started to take hold.

Ankou, stop ******** with me, what the hell happened ?!

Nothing at all. No thoughts, no sensation from the other within. Nothing.

s**t.

He needed to get the heck out of here. Sensation was slowly returning to his frozen arm and it felt like a b***h. But he needed to get away, as far away as possible, before something worse happened.... !

But.... What about Lyra ? She did not seem to show any signs of awakening, but it was dangerous here, his mind kept on telling him, he could not leave her here.

Lyra was pretty much unsubstantial, so nesting her on his shoulders wasn't hard, at least. Once she awoke, she could simply hide in his shadow and be mostly safe.

Outoutoutoutout....

Panic had seized his mind, and would only seize it more after he saw exactly what went on downstairs. Even the familiar sitting of the god's awakening within his own mind could not call him back to reality, at least not yet.

[Zero Dream]

Desperation
Week of Sloth

midnight_medea

Five thousand three hundred and fifty five.

Counting steps was the only thing Cosine could do to keep herself focused, her mind and body just wanted to sleep. There was a weight crushing down on her that made even the smallest step like running a marathon. What was the point if there was no reason to move.

Motivation was non existant.

"There's no point." She muttered, flopping down to the floor by what had once been a fountain. Now it was an ash filled stone tub, even the moss had withered and died leaving the stone stained black.

The large black bird circled and swooped down to land on the stone of the fountain. If anyone had been watching them they would have seen the bird shoot the goddess a distincly motherly glare.

"No, I mean, whose to say there's even a Pantheon there." She muttered, shifting to sit cross legged and not caring that she looked a total mess. The simple dress she wore covered in black as well as her face and hands. "And what use am I going to be? No, I'm staying right here until it's all over."

The goddess stiffled a yawn and made to swat at Infinity as she attempted to peck her into action.

Zero Dream

Adrian still had little to no damn idea of what happened. Some part of him was still under shock, but on the flipside, he had no will to do much of anything beside b***h and moan.

Maybe, if there were no gods, none of this s**t would have happened. He half-expected this to get him a mental lashing, but Ankou did not react. Hm. Well, good thing.

Yet he had simply had to get out of that wretched place, in despite wanting to do nothing more than lie down and waste away. No matter what happened, he would die - this was a complete lose/lose situation no matter how he wanted to look at it. Either he would be lost, replaced, as if he had never existed, or just waste away, decaying as the world did. It was easy to see for his bitter mind, even now.

The half-flayed, cocooned thing that had given him enough motivation to hightail it out of the pantheon in blind panic was also quite a good hint. What was left to discern had looked too much like Destruction to mean anything good.

He had eventually stopped running, the adrenaline worn off and the apathy returning, and perched on top of the fountain. What was left of the small dome topping it seemed to be steady enough to support him, and if he didn't.... hell, he already looked like a mummy, with both his arms bandaged up - one clawed down and the other frostbitten. Some more battle wounds would meant nothing much at this point.

He'd seen Cosine sit sometime ago, and watched her. She wasn't half-bad, really - tiny and cute. Good things in small packages. Kinda dirty, but hey, what the hell wasn't covered in some kind of gunk right now ? She was clearly talking to the bird, it seemed, which was somewhat amusing. Not much, just a little.

His yellow gaze broke off from her when he noticed a black shape in the corner of his vision. There was a crow there, too. A lone one. They no longer flocked to him. There probably wasn't enough left to flock. Just when he had started to like the little featherbutts, too. He rose one arm and let out a low whistle, not even bothering to wince as the crow's talons sunk through the bandages and straight into his frostbitten arm, cawing a bit.

"Yeah, I know." Of course, he had no idea what the thing was going on about. One finger started to ruffle it's chest feathers. "We're all ********]

midnight_medea

"I said no Fin, and really, since when were you one to comment. Where the hell were you whilst I was being abused by my host?" She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, leaning forwards so her elbows touched her knees.

The low whistle made its way to her ears though she did not look up. That would have taken effort. Sure, it could be danger but there was no real point in fighting was there? She shifted and leaned her back against the stone of the fountain, giving a snort of laughter at the male voice.
"********?" She said to whoever it was. That word felt strange on her lips, adopted from her host maybe. The Cosine of before would never have uttered such a vulgar word. Just the thought of it. "We were ******** when Destruction appeared, we're so far beyond ******** it hurts."

There was some kind of power with this voice. Faint but there, she watched Infinity take off and followed her with her eyes until they met the someone perched above her.
"It can't be comfortable up there." She said as she watched Infinity circle him.

Zero ******** with a 10 foot long baseball bat, then. Any better ?" He glanced down at her, idly. Not bad, clearly. Some gorgeous eyes on that little lady. And an attitude he could agree with.

"So ?" He shrugged. "No reason to come down. No matter where ill'd be, the clock will keep ticking out."[/c

sxxysywj:11="Zero ******** with a 10 foot long baseball bat, then. Any better ?" He glanced down at her, idly. Not bad, clearly. Some gorgeous eyes on that little lady. And an attitude he could agree with.

"So ?" He shrugged. "No reason to come down. No matter where ill'd be, the clock will keep ticking out."[/color]

midnight_medea

"Only 10 foot?" She smirked a little and pulled her knees up to hug them, her chin resting up top. Infinity swooped her again and she ignored it of course. Couldn't the stupid ball of feathers take a hint.

She thought a moment and realised he had not questioned her like the others she had met. He knew what was going on.
"You're a host?" She asked, letting go of her knees and tilting her head back so she could look up at him. "Or at least you know who Destruction is."

Zero Dream

"Hm-m. You could say mine is 20 foot long instead of 10, then." Caution was thrown in the wind. Why should it matter, then ? What could she do to him that was worse than this ?

"And where do you fit in all this, then ?" The crow that had taken refuge on his arm had quited down, and instead watched Infinity closely. Kin.. So little kin left, now, and their lord was all but silent.

Of course, this was a pointless question. Those wings, those gorgeous eyes, all those features and the low sense of power practically screamed reborn deity - but he wanted to hear her say it. She had a very pleasant voice.

midnight_medea

Another snort of laughter at his innuendo. She rolled her eyes a little, males. Just like bloody Ishum and his messing around with her host. What was worse she had actually fallen for it. Not Cosine, though. Oh no. She was better than that s**t.
"You wish, though gods only know why."

She sat back up, bending your neck back was rather painful.
"Into all this? I have no idea, I don't even know what on earth is going on. Just that it is bad and Infinity here seems desperate for me to get to the Pantheon." She shook her head and sighed. "I am Cosine by the way. Goddess of numbers, what a joke."

Zero Dream

"Honestly. Got no idea why you would wanna go there. That cocoon thing is freaking me the hell out." He muttered. "No matter what happens, im a dead man, anyway."

Well, gods did have a realm of everything, it seemed, no matter how abstract. "Cosine, hm. My name's Adrian, and while I could say I used to be something..." The pyromancer shrugged. "Doesn't feel like much anymore."

He flopped down, closer to her, peering down as he still held the crow. "Everything's dying so much faster than it used to. Ill'd like a time machine to go kick myself everytime I said that s**t couldn't get any worse, but that ain't gonna change anything anymore."

midnight_medea

"Cacoon thing?" She asked, glancing up at him. her eyes followed him as he flopped down closer. Interesting, she thought randomly to herself as she noticed the crow. Infinity was still pretending to be productive.
She nodded and looked around, everything was dying ... even them.
"Echo said that something was wrong with Harmodius. I was trying to get back to her but I got lost ... and, well there doesn't seem like a point any more. What can I do? Provide the end of the world count down?"

Zero Dream

"Yeah. Destruction almost flayed open and cocooned up." He gave a shudder. "......If you do go there, don't go in the throne room. Not a pretty sight. I think ill'd have lost my lunch if I had one."

He suddenly perked a little. "s**t, you're not serious ?" Echo want THERE ? "If anything's happened to her, Ankou's gonna flay me open." He hadn't seen a thing. Hadn't seen a damn thing, in his rush of panic to leave.

"To be completely, utterly and bitchingly honest... I don't care much. No matter what happens, im dead. Whatever comes quickest sounds good to me right now. Im sick of dealing with this s**t."

There was silence, but then, another voice - different, foreign, less bitter. "I remember you. I remember you and my brother, recording the dead. The how, when, their mindset... It was always useful when one tried to escape. Would have been so useful, to gather them all again. But will there even be an Underworld anymore to pull them back into ?"

Would there even be a world, soon ?

midnight_medea

Cosine gave him a look.
"I do not joke ... or I did not joke." She shrugged, it was strange, to be herself once more but not at the same time.
Ankou ... there was familiarity in that name. She glanced to the crow on his arm and smiled a little. Someone who understood a good bird for a companion.
"I am sure there are plenty there to protect her." Echo would never have trouble there.

The new voice ... the god. She turned to face him, out of respect and found more familiarity in her mind.
Counting dead, brother, underworld. Nergal. he had mentioned a brother.

"You are Nergal's brother?" She asked with a broad smile. "There are so many dead." She reached for her notebook, almost full of scribbling. "I have been keeping count, but numbers are all I know. The Death Toll." She sighed and nodded. "I hope our fears are not realised."

Zero Dream

The lady is right... Echo would not have gone alone. She will be fine. But yet, he did not mention going after her. Or after Nergal. While less obvious than his host, it was also obvious that something was also wrong with Ankou.

Adrian felt some control slip away from him, but did not seem to care. This puzzled the god for a moment, as their shared face softened a bit. "Yes. ....I dare not ask how many. I cannot see them, or hear them, not yet... ...This might just be a blessing."

I cannot do a thing for them. I cannot do a thing for even my kin, let alone mortals. Useless. Useless

"It felt horrible." Adrian whinnied. "Like thousand needles piercing my skin, like my inside exploding like a bomb. Yeah, I can believe you that some probably died from... Whatever the s**t that was."

midnight_medea

Infinity, realising that they were going nowhere swooped down and landed on her mistress's shoulder. She watched the young man seemingly deciding whether to trust him. There was something familiar with his power and her kin on her arm, yet something that made her protective.

Cosine winced as the bird landed on her shoulder and reached up to run her fingers over the smooth black feathers. It amused her, the sensible voice emerging from the rather wild host. Much as she had been.

"A blessing." She nodded, not sure she would want to be bothered by the dead either at a time like this." Adrian began to moan and the calming tones of the god disappeared. "yes, it was terrible. I felt as though I was fading over again." She murmured and flipped her notes to a blank page so she could scribble some more numbers.

"I am sorry Lord Ankou, I do not remember you. It seems I knew few and those I did I did not know well. Are you much like your brother?" The goddess slipped the pencil she carried behind her ear and flipped the notepad shut. "I feel we could be doing something more productive than sitting and waiting for death." She laughed. "Maybe we should make a list. Things to do before you die."

Zero Dream

There was a low laugh - not mocking, but seeming oddly warm, keeping in mind his relations and how the god usually carried himself. Almost like it was too much effort to keep up his distance for once. "I fear neither my host nor I are skilled at following lists to the letter, dear lady. We always are putting in our little grain of salt..."

There was a pause, for a moment. What kind of question was that ? But more importantly, he wasn't quite sure how to answer it. Of his current actions... which was truly him, and what was what he thought should be him ?

"Similar in some ways, radically different in others, I suppose. Memories are few and far in between - it is rather hard to judge from this alone." They had met but once, in this new life. When he was still too weak to do much of anything, unable to even talk without.... help.

The expression the body held while the god spoke was oddly inquisitive, but it took a bit before the question came. "But if you make a list.... And then, in the end, one can't do everything they wanted to do... Won't that just remind you of what you didn't manage to do ? Create more regrets ? I've promised myself I wouldn't add more regrets. I will have enough when the time come."

midnight_medea

Cosine looked down at her closed note book and smiled a little. A pinch of salt ... wasn't that what she was supposed to be doing.

Live

Her host's words echoed around her mind for a few moments and caused a small smile to grace her lips.
"Maybe that should be a pinch of spice? Salt is so bland." A sigh of frustration left her lips. This was all so unlike her. There were always things to be done, always.

"Regrets?" She smiled, looking to the host. "Mine had many too, though ... I think she learned that they are not important. You cannot go back and change things so it is better to move on." She shrugged a little. "And the list is just for fun. Nothing written in stone and witnessed by a judge."

Zero Dream

There was another low chuckle. "Yes.... You would be right. Spice, then. Just a bit of randomness to keep things interesting."

How many headaches he must gave given her... if they had ever worked together in the past, that is. There was no way to tell, no way to remember.

One eyebrow rose in curiosity. It did look like it would amuse her... Her, it probably came with the territory. "Yeah, well.... What do you think I should do before I die, then ?"

Hey, she wasn't scary, or a complete b***h. He liked her enough so far.

midnight_medea

Now it was her turn to laugh a little. What a funny pair. She thought with a smile. Though it seemed there was something more to the god within. He sounded calm like Nergal, his voice smooth and even. Though, there was something a little more ... well, colourful about him. Spice? A death god who knew what fun was ... not that she was an expert in that realm.

"Me, tell you?" The smile turned to a smirk. "I am not you, I cannot make that decision. What do you want to do? I, personally would like to die with a smile. I think smiles are a new thing to me." She shrugged. "Or, maybe ...maybe I would like to not give up so easily." Her smirk faded. "I think I should like to be less pathetic and helpless."

Zero Dream

A frown drew itself on their shared face, but to which did it truly belong ? There was no way to tell.

"You're not pathetic." The host spoke first, however. "Honestly. Not much of the world around us would exist if it wasn't for you, wouldn't it ? If we didn't have a mean to count things, list things, keep records of what surround us ?"

He paused for a moment. ".......Dying with a smile... doesn't sound like a bad idea. I want to kiss her once last time, just before. Kiss her goodbye." He sighed.

midnight_medea

Cosine smiled and looked up at him. That meant a lot to her. She was sure most of the other gods thought she was some kind of joke. Though it was true, there were few influences the realms of numbers did not touch in some way.
"Thank you." She said softly picking at the fabric of the silly dress she was wearing.

Cosine listened to him and looked up.It was hard for her to imagine something so soft coming from one who had been so hard when he had made himself known. Though Lien used to surprise her in that way too. The way she took such pleasure in simple things.
"A kiss before dying. That sounds nice too." She said softly. "Her? ... is this your regret?"

Zero Dream

"Part of it. One of many. She's... my everything. My fiancé." The pyromancer sighed. "It's.... very complicated. She was murdered, with my parents. That's how this whole mess started. I didn't want to live anymore. Maybe that's why Ankou chose me..."

There was no confirmation or denial from the god within. Just as he had expected.

"I am not quite sure exactly what happened to my parents... but Lyra followed me. She couldn't let me go. And, the first deity I met - Shadow - well, she wanted to make me a gift, but something happened and Lyra took the place of whatever was supposed to be the shadow creature's soul, I guess. So she's reborn of sort, and now im the one that's dying. Leaving her behind."

Shadow. He hadn't seen her since he left. Maybe she didn't care anymore, now that she could not keep him as a follower. Maybe.

midnight_medea

Okay, that was incredibly sweet. His everything. When people put it like that it made it seem that she had most definitely been missing something. Cosine sat and listened as he spoke, saying nothing, just listened.

What could she say to that?

"I ... I do not know such feelings. Nor do I know loss like that. But, I know those who do and maybe you are not leaving her behind as such. Maybe you gave her a new life. That's a pretty powerful thing."

She smiled a little and breathed deeply.
"You got to love each other for a time ... I think that is better than nothing at all."

Zero Dream

"Yeah, I guess it's better than knowing her to just be a roaming spirit.... you know ? Ankou's promised me he would watch over her, but... ...Ill'd rather be here, you know ? Be here with her. I can't imagine how hard it is for her to watch all this happen."

And yet, he was there, bitching about it like he was the only party that mattered. He felt like such an a*****e.

midnight_medea

Cosine nodded and looked down at her hands for a moment. God she was a mess. Ah well, if the gods were dying there would be no one to look good for on the other side.
"My ... my host, she had something with someone before I changed. Not love, though maybe it could have been. I think more, understanding and friendship. She showed me what it is to feel tenderness I suppose, though ... still i was just a witness." She paused, realising she was babbling and being very vague. "Anyway. I'm nervous to face him, heh, all of them even. Nergal, my hosts friends. I think ... She will be sad maybe, but ... those strong feelings only make people stronger."

Zero Dream

"Losing someone you care about is never easy.... But I think they'll understand. Especially if they knew it would happen before. Even if they react badly.... it is possible that most of that reaction might come from grief and then things will be fine later."

The redhead shifted, letting the crow fly off as he landed on the ground not far from the goddess, eventually sitting near her.

"When I lost Lyra, and my parents... I was angry, bitter. I didn't want to live anymore. Kind of how I feel now, I guess.... Only I think that was even worse. They were killed by a gang of thieves while I was gone looking for work. When I came home, it was too late, they were all dead and I had nothing left... beside this."

He looped something out of his belt, a ornamental mace adorned with feathers. "But even that isn't really mine.... It's Ankou's. It took me a while to figure it out."

midnight_medea

Cos watched him as he moved to sit near her and looked downat the ash covered floor. Humanity amazed her, it could be such a beautiful thing ... yet also so cruel and destructive.
"I am sorry." She said, giving a warm smile and looking up at him. "I know that is not helpful and I wish I were some goddess of time or fate, so I could make things better for you. But ... would that really solve anything?"

The goddess smiled and watched as he produced the ornamental mace. His god's.
"My host had nothing too. She was a ... she was a prostitute. Sold into the trade, abused to hell and back by so many. She had this." She touched a serpantine pendant that hung at her neck. "You have memories though. And, about dying ... you are giving your life to one who might be able to make a difference. You could just as easily step outside of your door and be hit by a car." She shrugged. "At least this way you are giving life to someone. Well, providing we're not all ******** by a 20 ft baseball bat." She added with a side glance and a cheeky smirk.

Zero Dream

"Yeah, I guess...." At her last sentence, he couldn't help himself - he laughed.

"Well, I guess that'll be for you guys to make it happen, hm ?"

midnight_medea

Cosine smiled as he laughed. She wondered if she was able to make people laugh before. Probably not unless they were laughing at her.
"Us guys?" She laughed, giving him a look. "You think you are exempt from all this do you?"

Her mind seemed to be moving again, not fast but the fuzz was definitely lifting.
"No, you, me and the other useless gods have to sit back knowing we are useless whilst the big powerful ones gloat in knowing they can do something." She rolled her eyes, unaware of the bitterness colouring her voice.
"And you know, why are we sitting around here like morons. Sure we might not be all high and mighty and helpful, but we could go back to the house and die somewhere with food and sofas."

Zero Dream

Jeez, moodswing much ? At least she could pretend to be useful in all this...

Thankfully, Adrian had enough self-preservation to shut up on that aspect. "We should probably get going, at any rate." If the goddess followed the upward glance he had taken, she too would notice the rather mean-looking clouds that were starting to gather. "I don't especially want to stick around to see how acidic the rain must be now...."

midnight_medea

Cosine nodded in agreement and looked up at the skies. His comment made her smirk a little.
"I suppose melting to death would not be a good way to go." She said softly, trying to lighten the mood again. Her outburst had been quite unlike her. It seemed they were all falling apart. Maybe a subject change.
"My host was a good cook. I wonder if I can cook you up some of her dishes when we get there. Or at least some coffee and muffins."

Zero Dream

"Too painful for my liking, really." He shrugged a bit, got himself on his feet, fighting the urge to just stay right there, consequence be damned. His dislike of rain was enough to help on that regard, it seemed.

"That wouldn't be so bad, if you'lld like. Beside grilling I am not exactly good at cooking." But hey, he was his own portable grill ! That always impressed the ladies.... or at least it did, what felt like eons ago, before everything went wrong. He extended his hand for her to take if she wanted.

midnight_medea

Infinity took off for the skies and Cosine reached out to slip her hand into Adrian's. So he was a gentleman after all. From first glances and words she would not have thought so. Using his weight to pull herself up from where she had been comfortable on the floor.
"Maybe a shower too. If the water still works." She muttered as she looked down at the state she was in. "You grill? I don't think there is one at the house though, and meat is hard to come by." She shrugged and smirked a little. "Unless your partial to cat ... though I think you would have an angry Aoide on your hands if we tried that."

Zero Dream

"Correction." He had a smirk on his face, as he made sure the goddess was stable on her feet before withdrawing. "Two catgirls out to make steaks out of me, I daresay. As I am neither tasty or nutritious, and rather prefer my body parts where they belong, I fear we might have to pass on that." He laughed a bit.

"Heck, it's been so long, I doubt I could do anything better than a rubber sole by now."

midnight_medea

"Catgirls?" She asked with a small smirk,wait she had met a catgirl one, a vague memory from her host. "Ah, well I was talking about animal cats." She smiled and shrugged.
"Come on then. Really don't want to get caught in this rain."

[Zero Dream]

Bitterness
Week of Envy

He did not go back to the pantheon. The image of the thing in the throne room - split open, taken apart, covered with webs, the vision only enhanced with the panic that had held his mind then - was still far too vivid in his mind, far too intense and real. He had no desire to see it again. He's slept in ruins, drove off those who had come too close to him for his liking after the wave of apathy lifted with wild flames - and moved, did nothing but move. And think.

Lyra had awakened some time ago. She had slept for so long that she had feared for her - but she was awake now, clinging to one of his arms as they walked. She was alive - one worry lifted for him. But was it really a good thing, with what was going on with the world ? Apathy had been lifted from him, only to be replaced by darker thoughts that he was doing his best to keep to himself.

There had been dead, many dead after the event... They just might have been the lucky ones - those spared from seeing everything go to complete hell in an handbasket. As odd as it seemed, he envied them - they got the easy way out.

The fire mage honestly wished he would have gotten the same. Yet there he stood, in a world that, to what he could see and understand, was breaking down, knowing he would soon be extinguished, but not knowing when.

He would have honestly preferred the easy way out. It would have been simpler, so much simpler - no pain, no need to see Lyra hurt as he twisted into something else, someone else, no need for last goodbyes, nothing complicated. Something completely unpredictable, no time to think about the past, no regret.

The first dead had gotten the easy way out. He really should have died all those months ago, before he had been tracked down, before he'd gotten that gem stuck in him. There would have been no afterlife, but Lyra would not have been remade. They would have been ghosts, but they would have been together, they just might have had the chance to be happy.

Jinx slinked after him - it had taken her some time to find him again, alarmed that he was not where she had left him, but her sense of tracking had once again led her well, led her right back to him. Turn out she was looking for supplies to do better bandages and balm from the cold sores on his arms - and was pretty freaked out when he was not where she had left him. In fact, she was still in near-hysterics when she finally found him, so scared that she had "lost" her lord.

That fact had been oddly pleasing for the redhead. Ankou was giving him the equivalent of a mental glare for this, but he did not give a s**t. Not so that he hated the catgirl - hate was too strong of a word, honestly, and at this point it did not seem like it should even matter anymore - why hold grudge when he would soon be gone ? But yet she was responsible for all this. He at least did his best to be decent with her, but he did not really have the will to do it anymore. He hadn't said a thing, of course, yet...

Yet watching her squirm was really satisfying. More than it should be at the very least. Yes, let her feel bad, it was all her fault he was there, aching and unwilling to live anymore and -

"Love." Lyra's voice had stirred him from the very dark train of mind he had been following. "Where are we going ?" She knew, of course, he could tell. She knew that all he wanted was to die. His eyes softened. Where were they going ? He had stopped thinking about that some time ago. Shadow's temple ? Too far. The goddess hadn't even sought him out after he left - maybe he had stopped mattering once he had no longer the makings of a worshiper to him. He would probably never know for sure.

The apartment ? This wasn't home anymore. He hadn't came back since that night, did not want to go back. The scene in his mind, parents and lover dead, was almost as distressing as the one in the throne room.

The pantheon ? It was the safest place, if there was still someplace safe in this hellhole of a world. It still scared the crap out of him. Echo's place ? He didn't want to deal with this. Not yet. He'd done nothing but what Ankou wanted for quite awhile - it was time to take some time for himself while he still could.

Where to, then ? He looked at her some more, the face that had remained so much the same in despite losing features and becoming but a shadow of what once was. He reached to run an hand through her hair, soft as silk, still to beautiful. The answer that came to him was not the one he wanted - nothing sounded good right now, after all - but at the same time it was.

"....Back to the pantheon, I guess..."

It was the safest place, as much as he hated to think about it. He would keep her safe, while he could - she was one of the only things left in his mind that mattered.

[Zero Dream]

Seeking Comfort
Week of Lust

Zero Dream

Adrian felt lost, lonely, and confused. Part of him apparently still did not understand how he was still alive, how he was still even there.

Oh well, better make the best of it. Since he was still there, better use that time for... enjoyable things. Why should he give a s**t that the world was apparently going to s**t, anyway ?

No matter the outcome, it would all end the same to him. One day, sooner than later, it would all end.

At least, he knew exactly where to go... and exactly who he wanted to see.

He approached the lake he had met the water god at looking much like an angry ball of fire - he let the fire dissipate once he came into the clearing.

"Kaelin ?"

Please be here, please be here, please be here....

Merci`

Kaelin was curled up just under the surface of the water. The shockwave, and the fact his hosts were missing made him retreat to the one place he felt safe no matter what. His lake. No matter what happened to it, this was as close to a home as he had ever hand. Feelings of lonliness and helplessness and grown steadily over the last weeks. The glowing brand was faded from around his belly, and without the fire it seemed to provide to him, he felt cold.

He thought he heard something across the water, and he stilled. He didn't hear anything, but it couldn't hurt to check. Kaelin rolled and peeked up over the surface of the water. His green hair clung to his face as he turned trying to see what could have made the odd sound.

Thats when he saw Adrian. The god perked and flipped his tail to propel himself across the lake. "Adrian? I didn't expect to see you again." His blue eyes looked puzzled, but inside Kaelin was happy to see him.

Zero Dream

"I didn't expect to be alive long enough." He shook his head. "...But apparently, I am."

There was silence, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do or say. He knew what he wanted, yes, but something in the water god seemed... different.

"....I missed you."

Merci`

Kaelin used his arms and pulled himself up into the shallows of the lake. Mud against his fair skin was quite the contrast. The shining scales caved in the middle and cleaved his tail in two. The sound of tearing tissue paper seemed to accompany the change, and Kaelin pushed himself up onto his newly formed feet.

"I missed you too, and I can't say I am unhappy with you being alive long enough to see me again." The god was obviously not ashamed by his nakedness. He moved closer to Adrian and took his hands. "Is something bothering you? You look less then happy."

Zero Dream

There was a small laugh from the fire mage, bitter at the edge - he leaned against the water god's colder, still wet skin. There was little to be bothered about.

After all, it wasn't like he hadn't seen him naked before.

"It just might be shorter to just ask what's not bothering me." He sighed. "...I don't want to be alive anymore. But Ankou's not doing anything about it. ...Can he even do anything about it ?" He tilted his head to the side at the question, not caring as mud gathered on his cheek. "You and Lyra are only things left that matter anymore."

Merci`

Kaelin smiled gently and stroked a hand against Adrian's face, brushing some of that wildly red hair out of the way. "Your god has been sleeping for quite a long time. Darkness, crushing and deep has been all he's known since he was forgotten. It takes time for us to recover and become powerful again. He needs your strength to become powerful again." He continued to stroke fingers through his hair. "Your life will end fast enough." His voice was sad as he said that. Just weeks before he wouldn't have let it show. He did care, and it was odd. He hadn't cared what happened to someone since Morph, and the fact that he hadn't known Adrian long didn't matter.

Adrian was important to him.

He knew how Cinderfae must have felt finding out Merci was gone. "What." He paused, "What can I do to make you happy?"

Zero Dream

"It's already been a long time... It's hard to keep our thoughts separate sometimes. I can see it coming, but at the same time, it seems so far away... Too far away. Im sick of dealing with this."

The redhead came closer, leaving a small peck on the god's lips before laying down, his head in his lap. "....Stay with me."

The look in his eyes would tell Kaelin all he needed to know. "...I need you."

Merci`

Kaelin smiled a bit and pulled Adrian close, sinking to the ground with him. "Your going to get all muddy again." He teased light heartedly. Holding this boy close, he felt at ease with his station in life. He bent close and brushed his lips over Adrian's eyes, trailing kisses down his cheeks until he found the soft bow of his mouth. Kaelin moved an arm up to cradle the other man's head as he kissed him.

His lips were gentle and pursuasive and first, but it wasn't long before Kaelin bruised his lips with his passion.

It felt so good to not be alone, even if the god knew it wouldn't last very long. Morph had left him, and since he had been searching for someone else to fill the void that had been left behind. It seemed no one was quite the right shape for it however. Adrian was pretty close though, and it gave him a sinking feeling to know that soon he would be swallowed up by another being.

Zero Dream

"So ?"

Adrian offered no resistance, of course. He felt allright now, for the first time since this whole mess started. He felt safe now, in the arms of the water god, like there was nothing else that could hurt him anymore. Nothing else would ever go wrong as long as he stayed here.

If only that was true...

If only this could last forever.

Merci`

Kaelin didn't need more prodding. He pressed soft kisses over Adrian's eyes, down his cheeks, and across his jaw to get to the soft skin of his neck. The god knew that Adrian was fading, and would likely be gone sooner rather then later, but at least he could make his last while a little more pleasurable.

Kaelin scooped up the other man and moved him toward the water. "I don't want to get you muddy after all...." His voice was soft against Adrian's ear as he sunk down to his knees to lay him out in the shallow water. So yeah, it was still muddy, but there was more water and the dirt didn't stick as much. That had to count for something right?

Water moved his body over Adrian, and pressed a knee between the other mans. "I could have loved you..." He sighed quietly as he moved to fulfill his partners needs.

Zero Dream

He let himself be carried, showing no outward unease or resistance. He was willing to put up with his disdain of water if it could mean that he could stay here, with the water god. Adrian didn't care one lick about dirt right now, but was quite happy to let Kaelin do as he wished.

When the god spoke, one hand rose to touch his cheek, his smile sad and ethereal at the same time.

"I think it's already too late for me."

Adrian had many lovers in the last few years of his life, but only a few that he had truly loved beyond physical attraction. Already, it seemed, that Kaelin was one of those.

He left it at that, and instead breached the distance to kiss him once more.

Merci`

Kaelin returned the kiss. It was so nice to want, and actually feel wanted in return. Most of the time he and his partners had a need, and once that need was fulfilled things ended. Adrian made him feel different, and it was a feeling Kaelin hadn't felt for a very long time. Beryl and Morph were the only other people who elicited this kind of response from him. It wasn't long before Kaelin had divested Adrian of what he was wearing. He tossed them carelessly, and the clothing ended up a wet pile in the shallows.

He allowed himself to find pleasure in Adrian's body, pushing him to the heights passion would allow. The cool water of the lake lapped at their sides as Kaelin curled Adrian against him, spooning and contented. "While yes, the sex is fun." Water murmured into his lover's ear huskily, "I don't know that it will solve your problems..."

Zero Dream

He just went with the flow, and enjoyed every damn second of it. A few years ago, the idea of not being in control of everything would have probably ruined the experience, made him uneasy. But now, it was anything but that. He was glad he didn't have to think of way to pleasure a god.

Kaelin could do whatever the hell he wanted with him right now, and he loved every second of it.

"That's okay. Im not quite sure if my problems can be solved, anyway."

Merci`

The god kept his arms around the man next to him and shut his eyes. "Nothing should be so horrible that you no longer wish to have an existence." He nuzzled the back of Adrian's neck and nibbled at his skin gently. His teeth barely brushed the skin. "Tell me what it is that is wrong, it can't simply be that your god is not taking you quickly enough. Something else has you spooked doesn't it?"

Kaelin wasn't sure if the brand fading was a good or bad thing. With it he would simply have let the subject drop. He got what he wanted from the boy and that was good enough. With a conscious and a moral compass came uncomfortable questions and pain. However as with all things, it was time for the god to come to grips with the different sides of himself and reconcile them.

Zero Dream

"There's something horrible going on... You must have felt it ? The wave ?" He leaned against the god's slightly damp chest, not minding as strand of red hair clung. "It feels like something in me is twisting and writhing... Like I am not completely myself anymore. There are things that I do, things that I think, and I don't even know why..."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the water god about what he had seen. Harmodius, flayed open, twisted into a cocoon into the throne room... the thing that had sent his mind reeling and him running.

"It feels like there's something horrible going on, and I... I don't want to be here to see it happen."

Merci`

Kaelin propped himself up on an elbow so Adrian could be comfortable and still look at him. "I did feel it. I was away at my friends temple until I felt it. It brought me back here." He hadn't known what it was, and had known that he would have to go to the pantheon to likely find out what the hell the rest of them were doing. "I will protect you." Kaelin was not the most offensive god, but he could see to the safety of a single mortal. "I don't want you to fear. I will keep you safe."

Kaelin trailed a finger down his face, and knew that he couldn't promise that if Destruction decided to rampage out of control. He was not strong enough to face down the Creator and Destroyer, but he could hold him off long enough that Adrian could get to safety. As long as Kaelin and the world existed he wouldn't allow anything to hurt this boy. "As long as there is a world to stand on, I will be sure you are safe."

Zero Dream

He nodded, content with the closeness, and with where he was at the moment. He bit his lip in worry, but managed to repress it.

"I know you'll do that." A small smile drew itself on his face, tiny, but there. "...Thank you."

[Zero Dream]

Following The Lights
Week of Lust

Here

[Zero Dream]

Siblings...
Week of Lust

Thabara

Nergal sat down on the edge of the couch, quietly working to store the scepter into its protective wrapping of silk and brocade, nimble fingers fastening the ornamental knots of its bindings. Illumin had left a little while ago, Echo had excused herself not much later, apparently having picked up on the siblings' need for some privacy. There'd been a strange look upon her face when she'd left the room, almost as if she was about to burst into tears any second now. Nergal sighed. The evening had started out so well, so pleasant..

Until Illumin had showed up.

"So," he finally said, quietly. "How have you been?" It should have been the other way around, after all he was the one who had been gone without a trace for months. But he needed something to talk about, something to distract him from the irrational anger he felt arise whenever his thoughts touched upon Light's untimely arrival.

Besides, attack was the best form of defense. Perhaps he'd be able to avoid inquiries about his fate during his absence..

Zero Dream

There was silence, at first, for a long time. He had tried to reach out for Adrian, but there was no answer. Apparently the young man, in a complete contradiction of what his looking trough memories had told me, was feeling much too good being away, separated from everything else.

This was another odd contradiction. Adrian seemed to be ready, but he was not. It was ironic, if he took the time to think about it. Too bad he had no idea what to do. It would probably be something he would only know when it was time.

His eyes had drifted closed sometime during the period of silence. There was a feeling in the air, so familiar and soothing, something that felt like home. He was just about to drift into sleep....

...Until Nergal spoke. His eyes snapped open once more. His vision was fuzzy still, but the world had stopped spinning. "Wandering. Is there anything else that I do ?" There was an undertone, quite clear - looking for you.

"Been there and there. Made sure she didn't do anything too stupid."

Thabara

"So you took care of her while I could not." Why did that have such a familiar ring to it? "Thank you." He finished his work on the wrappings and put the scepter aside - one thing less to pack now - leaning back slightly to look at his brother's face.

"I.. am sorry," he apologized, "I should have let you rest. You need it. So foolish to strain your powers like that at this early stage of your rebirth." Ankou's sharp undertone, if he even had taken notice of it at all, was ignored. "I could, perhaps, share some of my mana with you again. Like I did before, at Shadow's temple."

Zero Dream

"No, no. Ill be fine." As long as he didn't try to do anything too stupid again, that is. "...To be completely truthful, I hadn't expected it to work." But he had needed to at least try. Apparently the stars had aligned or something.

"...Just don't ask me to do that again." He had to bite back his own laugh. "That'll be a good enough apology." Oh, he had the mother of all headaches now.

Thabara

"I wont," Nergal assured him with a small smile on his lips, though he was wise enough to not make it a promise. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved, however, that his offer had been declined. He had no idea what Ankou might have been able to pick up through a connection as close as this. That, and.. he hadn't really used his powers ever since his return, at least nothing that went beyond his passive abilities. See the dead. Hear the dead.

They had been bound for such a long time, warped, drained, abused and, in the end, almost broken - just like his physical body. I should not have declined Destruction's offer, he thought bitterly, I should not have been so afraid. Then, perhaps, he would not have been forced to deal with all of this.

He blinked, not having noticed that he had been absently staring into thin air. Not for too long he hoped.

"Headache?" he asked, taking note of Ankou's grimace. "I could get you something. A damp cloth.. I think we even have aspirin, though I never had use for it." The corners of his mouth twitched up a little. "Also, as you may or may not recall, my hands are quite cool.."

Zero Dream

He was just about to mention something to get the other back to reality, but thankfully there had been no need to. He seemed almost... scatterbrained. A smirk drew itself on his face.

"Shouldn't you be saving that for Echo ?" There was something odd there. Almost familiar. Almost as if they hadn't been dead for ages and only now met... ...re-met.

He turned serious, then. "That would probably be a good idea. Adrian's not going to be pleased to find his body a wreck once he comes back out again." Whenever that would be. He could not hold out like this for eons, the other soul would need to take back the forefront sooner or later. There was no shame in his voice as he spoke, however.

Thabara

"Mh.." Underworld's reluctant smile pulled a little wider. "Actually, Light has had an exceptionally bad timing with his arrival and demand to speak with me. Well, given, it could have been worse, if he had arrived earlier, but still.." He rose from his place, taking a moment to glance at his brother's bewildered face, before he exited the room. The first aid kit and medications, if he remembered right, were stored somewhere in the kitchen..

Zero Dream

Ankou did indeed look like a deer in the proverbial headlights for a moment. Now THAT induced mental images that were probably mind breaking. Prim, proper Underworld.... in bed with a woman.

Now that was something.

Unfortunately, this didn't keep him distracted long enough.

"What." He spoke, just a bit higher, just enough to make sure he would hear him from the other room. "You mean you actually do know how to pleasure a woman ? Well ! That must be new !"

He probably should have been ducking behind something right about now, some ancient memory told him - too bad he lacked the energy, focus, and muscle control for THAT.

Thabara

He would have laughed if he could have seen his brother's face. For a moment, Nergal stopped dead in his tracks, trying to come up with some sort of witty reply, but inevitably failing at the attempt. So he merely rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the kitchen, almost tripping over a pair of cats quite busy doing 'it' in the dim light of the stairway. He held onto the wooden banister for balance, muttering a quiet curse under his breath while the beasts hissed at him, their tails puffed up, and then fled his presence. Damn it, has the whole world gone mad?

He returned little later, somehow having managed to avoid every single creaking floorboard in the old house until he was back in the living room and stood right before his resting brother. He hadn't been doing this consciously, that eerie quiet had always been a part of him, but now that Ankou didn't seem to have noticed him yet.. He dropped the cold damp washcloth he'd brought onto his brother's face, the act silly, but nonetheless strangely satisfying. "And quite pleased she was," he muttered, his unusually ruffled appearance certainly making sense now. "You may or may not remember this as well.. I have been married before."

He nested on the edge of the couch, offering a glass of water and a small bottle of aspirin. There'd been a strange inflection to his words, as if he was indeed planning on marrying again.

Zero Dream

When there was no answer, he simply grinned to himself, thinking he had of course won. But he realized quite quickly this was no the case when he got a faceful of damp cloth, and grumbled a bit. How the heck did he move without anything creaking, anyway ?!

"That's true." The teasing was gone from his voice as he moved the cloth away from his face and took what was offered. This was odd - he had known, yet not remembered.

What an odd mix of things.

He settled the cloth on his forehead and laid back down before he felt over, making a face the whole time. That pill had been horribly bitter, how did that help things ? Silly mortals.

Something must have happened to her, he couldn't help but think. For Nergal to move on.... "What happened to her ?" He couldn't help but ask.

Thabara

"Kore?" Nergal looked down upon the folded hands in his laps, his face showing melancholy more than true sadness, or mourning. "I.. do not know, not really. I spoke to Our Lord a while ago. Until then I did not even know if the queen at my side had been wife, sister, or other. I did not know she was aoide. She is gone, Harmodius said, dead and gone. Even if she was to be reborn, she would not remember, would be someone wholly different. Given these bad times, I hope she found rest long ago."

He paused, lost in thought for a while. "It is strange.. I shared bed and throne with her, and yet I remember so very little. Her hair. Her laughter. But not enough to even be able to truly mourn her. Yet still.." He raised his head, the gaze of his gray eyes lingering on the wrapped shape of the scepter, filled with bitterness and - to a certain extent - with envy. "If someone were to search for her, such as we search for the Twin Crown's consort.. I wonder what I would do."

Zero Dream

"We have gone though a whole lot." He started, letting his eyes drift closed again. It was easier to focus then. "Death, raw mana, reformed... Things are lost in the process." He already knew he had forgotten crucial things - how many more were there ? "We... are lucky to be alive as is. I honestly doubt we will all get this chance."

Just as he had said to Echo and Tian Yue - there must be some that would simply be too far gone.

"Even if someone did that, even if she was reformed and remade... would that give her back her past ? Memory ? We would still be strangers to her. I think... I think I would let her rebuild her life anew, if I were you and this was to happen. Let things happen as they must."

Thabara

"It would not," Nergal admitted. "But there would be the chance to get to know her anew, to court her anew, to fall in love all over again.. But, yes, I would likely leave her be. I do not really remember but.. I think in the end I may have brought her more grief than joy. And now.. now there is Echo." He paused. "Do you think she would approve?"

That was a stupid question, really. If at all, Ankou remembered even less than he did. But then again, him being his brother, he might actually be asking for his approval.

Zero Dream

"And you are asking me this.... Why ?" There was a small, knowing smile on his face, still free of their previous, borderline childish teasing of earlier.

"I think.... she would want you to be happy, I guess. That is what is the most important, no ? No one wants to see anyone they care about completely miserable, after all."

Weither it was his opinion, or what he could recall of her's, was left unsaid.

Thabara

"Absolution, perhaps," Nergal said quietly. He shifted slightly, one cold hand moving to brush a strand of red hair off his brother's face. "Rest now," he said, "recover your strength. I shall do the same. We can still talk.. later."

Quite a few seconds ticked away in silence before he quietly added: "Thank you."

Zero Dream

"I..."

No, he was right. He was definitively right. He'd honestly overdone it, and his control on the body was slipping, anyway.

"Yes... You're right. I should rest." This was so hard, so hard to keep himself in control, so hard...

He slipped away, deeper within, sending the sleeping host back into the forefront as he himself retreated to regain his strength.

[Zero Dream]

Preparations
Week of Greed

Coffee.

He. needed. coffee.

And an opportunity to smack Ankou square in the face for... whatever the god had done to summon this.... this monster of an headache that left him barely able to walk in a straight line.

There was coffee's on Echo's half. Echo seemed much less likely to kick his a** for existing that Nergal was. Sounded like a deal.

It did not take him long to navigate his way out, then back in - the layout of the houses were identical, but reverted - found the kitchen, found the coffee. Life was good.

The fire mage caught sight of Echo coming down the stairs from the corner of his eyes - and had to double-take to make sure it was really her, she'd changed so much (and somehow became even hotter, god damn Nergal was a lucky b*****d) and returned most of his attention to the cup of hot, liquid wakethehellup in his hands.

Or would have, if he hadn't heard the mental equivalent of Ankou choking on something and then started to laugh hysterically - which caused the redhead to make a face somewhere in between surprise and pain.

Stop that, you're going to murder whatever brainpower I have left.

That didn't work. And now the goddess was staring at him like he had grown another head.

"I think he finally lost it." was his oh-so-helpful explanation, as he let the cup down to rub his temples. "What the hell's so funny, anyway ?!" He grumbled.

The goddess proceeded to look a rather interesting shade of red. Uh. There was something that eluded him here.

All was silent (outwardly, anyway) until Ankou managed to stop laughing. Oh, dear. She looked like she had a good idea of what was going on, at least. That skipped a rather awkward, and second-hand explanation. Adrian... She is pregnant.

Oh, ok- WAIT, WHAT ? The mage's eyes widened - the goddess looked about ready to sink to the floor. "Haaa, uh, well... Congratulations ?" How in hell could Ankou tell, anyway ? He blinked...

...And the next second, there was a tiny little wisp a mere few centimeters away from his face. He looked at it cross-eyed for a moment, and he could hear Echo break down into giggles. It looked like a little flame, but it wasn't warm enough. It looked like those little things that followed the somber underworld god around, but somehow they were different.

They are alive, not dead. Ankou answered the unspoken question.

So... THESE are the kids... And that was where he began to actually count them. JEEZ. No more sex for these two.

Echo glanced at him, sheepish, her bag strapped on her shoulder. "Yeah, we.... didn't really see it coming. And so many of them..."

Not as much as you're thinking. Many of them are too similar - looks like they'll merge together as they grow stronger. Lifeflames tend to do that.

"Yeah, well uh. Ankou said some might merge together when they get... older ? Stronger ? Something like that." God babble. Yipes. He did a double take. "Wait just a second. You're not seriously thinking about going world-hopping while..."

The little thing's curiosity seemed sated, and he retreated back with its siblings near their mother's wings. The goddess sighed, her ears drooping slightly. "I know... It's dangerous. But... Staying here won't make me any safer. And... I worry. About him."

She had a point - there was nowhere left that was safe anymore, even less so for children. Childrens... with the world looking so close to ending.

We will not let it. came Ankou's voice, low and most of all determined. These little flames would live, no matter what he had to do to make it so.

The goddess seemed to turn a little more self-concious. "How long... do you think we have ? Before they are born ?"

...There isn't really a way to tell, honestly. They're much too weak to do much yet, but...

"He can't really tell - not yet, anyway." The redhead answered, eyes softs. Children... He was still young, but he had wanted children, once. It all seemed light years away, back in happier times filled with cocky innocence he had long since lost.

"You... will both be coming with us, right ? When we leave ?"

Adrian didn't even wait for the god to reply - he nodded. "Yeah. Ankou needs to tell you all how the doors work." Suddenly, he winced. "...I think I need some more painkillers." The redhead whined.

"Come with me - it seems we have some time before Nergal is ready..."

[Zero Dream]

Wellhaven :: Departure
Week of Greed

Sosiqui

The Pantheon was an uneasy place to be. Illumin had elected to enter the building through the window, bypassing the entrance hall completely. He knew it was willful ignorance, but he simply did not want to see whatever was down there.

Perhaps when they had returned, then he would look. Perhaps.

Light's chambers were still a mess. Fallen lanterns littered the floor, and here and there were piles of ashes when the paper had become too hot to bear. He did not bother to clean those, either. He did not intend to be here long. Only just enough to meet with the others and find the door.

Perri Indiya

Ea had come with Illumin to the seat of all hell breaking loose, wishing he could have stayed outside as opposed to entering it again. Even coming to Light's old quarters made him queasy, but damned if he was going to go down to throne room again. He didn't need to see any reminder of Kish's blood pooling on the floor.

"Did you leave this place in a hurry?"

Sosiqui

"Yes," Illumin replied, offering nothing else. He had fled like a coward, and he knew it. Ea could figure that much out on his own, he was sure, but it made him feel better to not just come out and say it.

Much like it made him feel better to take care of the people of Solde-on-Palecliff. But they would be fine, or as well as they could be, with Eliam. He had left a light globe over the village, so they would have that much, at least.

And now, supposedly, it will make me feel better to finish this thing. But his stomach was all in knots. If nothing else, he was resolved that nothing, nothing would come back with them save the fragments they sought. Even if it begged.

Zero Dream

They had entered by normal means, if only because of the mostly total lack of flight. Both goddess and the redhead avoided the sight of the throne room, for different yet similar reasons, wanting to do nothing but skitter upstairs as far as possible - it was Nergal's hesitation and sudden breaking off from the group that held them back. Echo's worried gaze followed him until he was out of view, then she turned back to look at Adrian, sighing. She had packed lightly - a small leather backpack rested on her shoulders, containing the bare necessities and her flute, just in case. All jewelry was home, there was none visible even her person - not only this was no time for vanity, but she had noticed the looks of the passerby as she came. And what little she had that actually still fitted her changed form was hers, damnit.

"Let's hurry." Adrian broke her off her thoughts - the boy already halfway up the stairs. He did not like this place anymore, and there was no knowing what else would happen, and he could NOT get out of there soon enough.

Echo followed him, knowing full well his reasoning - and pretty much agreeing to it. After all, she had been unable to live here ever since her rebirth - she could not blame him.

She stopped in front of one door, recognizing it as the one Illumin had described to them. Should they just... wait here ? No, it probably would do good to at least get inside and start preparing things. Adrian leaned against the wall and she knocked, softly. "Illumin ?" Hopefully her voice would be recognizable enough.

Sosiqui

Illumin jumped a bit at the sudden voice from outside, but it was a welcome distraction. He hurried over to the door, his wings trailing light, unconsciously over-bright to hide his own discomfiture. At first he opened it just a peep, in case it was someone come to scream at him or worse over the state of things.

It was a relief to see Echo and Adrian, and he opened the door all the way with a soft sigh. "Echo, Ankou. Welcome." He glanced behind them. "Where is Nergal?"

Zero Dream]"He wanted to check something in the throne room." She did not even bother to hide her worry. "He said it should not be long."

Adrian followed past, head low in respect of the two deities present. "I don't think Ankou recovered enough strength to speak yet, but he wanted me to come to show you how to use the Doors. And to assist with whatever might be needed afterward."

One of the wisps, clearly the boldest of the little bunch that had gathered about her wings, slid toward Illumin, clearly attracted by the light pooling around his wings.[/color:sxxysyw

sxxysywj:18="Zero Dream][color=dodgerblue]"He wanted to check something in the throne room." She did not even bother to hide her worry. "He said it should not be long."[/color]

[color=red]Adrian followed past, head low in respect of the two deities present. "I don't think Ankou recovered enough strength to speak yet, but he wanted me to come to show you how to use the Doors. And to assist with whatever might be needed afterward."[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]One of the wisps, clearly the boldest of the little bunch that had gathered about her wings, slid toward Illumin, clearly attracted by the light pooling around his wings.

Sosiqui

Bemused, Illumin held out one finger to the wisp and gathered light around it. "Odd little things, they are. Well..." He straightened up, and nodded at Adrian. "Please, lead on. We can at least find the correct portal while we wait." Why had Nergal paused? What was more important than moving? It rankled, just a little.

Zero Dream

The little wisp seemed completely delighted by this turn of events - flicking and pulsing and overall pretty pleased by the attention. When Echo turned to leave, however, it darted back from the light god to the relative safety of her wings.

Adrian did much the same, but seemed distracted as he walked ahead - listening to a voice none of the others gathered could hear. "It isn't really a matter of finding the correct door or portal, per se. Any door that isn't linked to a deity's quarters will do the trick - the issue mostly is in knowing where you want to go and not getting lost in the process." The flame-haired youth chewed on his lip. "We're not gonna be able to help much about that, but Ankou can at least let you know how it's done... ? It doesn't sound... too complicated or anything, but I can't say im familiar with these things...

Sosiqui

Illumin shook his head. "All this time, I could have gone anywhere I liked, if I'd only known..." Or remembered, perhaps. How infuriating. Perhaps if he'd remembered that, he would have remembered more important things, like not to let Grigori into All That Be. He eyed the doors as they passed. Had there always been this many?

Zero Dream

Adrian hesitated for a moment, but then turned to head down the hall. "We need a door that doesn't have any markings on it..." Something blank, something not linked to anything, the god had said to him. "When they're blank, it means they can be used for world travel. When they're not, they're obviously linked to chambers already."

It was hard, so hard for the goddess to resist the urge to dart downstairs, to go to the throne room, to see what was going on. Being separated from Nergal was much, much harder that it usually was, that it should have been, as if something that was hers had been stolen away from her.

....Wait... what ? The thought was upsetting - her ears pinned backward ever so slightly before she could stop the motion. He was not an object, something one could simply claim and something to be owned - he was her lover, now even more so that even before - by his own will and her.

Her left hand fiddled with something hidden under her sleeve. The bead felt cold and heavy, but touching it was somehow reassuring.

Sosiqui

Illumin looked at the doors carefully as he went past. There were more with markings on them than he remembered - though, to be fair, it had been quite a long time since he'd been in the Pantheon and cared to wander, had the luxury to look at the decor. How many godlings had come back into existence while he and Ea had been in the Ashlands? "Any blank door..."

Thabara

"We will need to make haste." Nergal approached the small group quietly, like a pale ghost, the steps of his bare feet causing no sound whatsoever. "You probably heard it all, the sound of a trumpet, the shattering of glass.. The shift in All that Is afterwards."

He looked them over, expression grim, his gaze resting longest on Echo. "Each time a window shatters, another of Destruction's influences is allowed to ascend to the Throne, to rule for one week. Greed sits upon it now, I spoke to her. Before, she said, the right was Sloth's, Envy's and Lust's, but none of them appeared to take it. Famine, War and Plague remain, though I cannot be sure in what order. And after that.." He paused, shook his head.

"Four windows are broken, ten remain, I counted them. When the last shatters.. it hails the End."

Zero Dream

Somehow, she resisted the urge to just go straight to him when she saw him, and when her lover spoke, the goddess all but froze. 10 weeks... With almost half of them already gone.

"We...." He gaze locked on Adrian. "We must hurry."

A similar kind of shock overtook both the redhead and the god within. Ankou prodded and Adrian listened. "Right." Damnit, if he screwed this up...

....If he screwed this up, Lyra would die. And what about Kaelin.... ?

He moved, swiftly, to one unmarked door. "Ankou says that there are probably different ways to do it depending on each and everyone of you - so he's not really sure how much explanations will help. He says you all need to focus your mana and keep in mind exactly where you are going... and try to stay together at the same pace, or else it's very likely you're all gonna pop up in different locations." Which meant time lost, the god stressed in his mind. "....We're probably not gonna be able to follow. It's up to you guys."

Sosiqui

So it... it really was... the end.

He had set the End of Days in motion.

No. Samyaza did that. Samyaza. She did it. Not me. Not me.

I just helped-

Illumin shook his head sharply and looked up at the others with barely-restrained anger in his eyes. "Let us go, then. Let us go, and move, and damned to those who would get in our way." He gathered light in his hands, then split it up into four orbs, sending one to each of his compatriots on the journey. "To guide us, light our path. I can sense them. It may help."

Thabara

"Let me try this then, as I am the one who holds the scepter.." Nergal stepped up to the blank door, removing the wrappings of the ancient artifact as he walked. Wellhaven. Was that a plane, a country, a town? He laid a hand against the smooth surface of the door, focusing on the flow of mana, as he had back then, when he had shared it with his brother to strengthen him. But at the same time he kept half an eye on the black orb that crowned the wand.

Wellhaven, he thought again and he felt something click into place, a connection made. He could sense paths upon paths stretching out beyond the door, quite similar to that dark place he'd wandered in his delirium when he had escaped..

They were dividing into planets, many of them, and many of them dead ends - which was fortunate, in a way, as it narrowed down his search. Continents, countries..

The orb remained dark. Back to planets then. For a moment he wondered what would happen if he'd ask the doorway to bring him to the Underworld. No, no, do not let yourself get distracted..

He started his search anew, slower this time. At least he'd almost immediately found the correct plane, it was just a question of narrowing it down.. There, hadn't the orb faintly lit up just now? He moved back one path, keeping a close eye on the artifact. Yes, there it was..

It would be easier, he figured, if he knew more. A town, a temple, something like that. Perhaps he should have asked Ankou to open the door, he surely was the one more experienced in using them. But he was still exhausted from last night's deed..

Slowly, gradually, the scepter's guiding light began to brighten, and at the same time runes lit up on the door frame, one after another. Again there was the sensation of something clicking into place, unlocking this time. "There," he breathed, hand sliding down to rest upon the knob, ready to turn it. "I think that is about as close as I can get us." With that, he pushed open the Door.

Zero Dream

She stayed completely still, her left hand still curled around the black bead - her right cradling the light orb that had been given to her. She had no idea how to do this. She had no idea what to do. What a great start, she was already holding them ba-

No, don't think about time. No time for self-pity. She was there and she needed to act now. Close your eyes. Think. Listen.

Listen. Concentrate.

She could see it... almost touch it, it was how detailed it seemed to be - blackness, stars... A trail of light, representing the path the scepter had traced for them.

How odd... every star, every planet seemed to have their own... distinct sound to them. A different hum. Some were similar, but to her trained ear, they were all different. Had any of them noticed ? Probably not.

The wisps moved, mingling even closer with her wings, as if they had a an idea what was about to happen and where clinging to her.

"Ready." She finally let go of the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, her eyes still closed. As ready as she could be, anyway.

Sosiqui

Illumin closed his eyes and concentrated - and even despite that, in Illumin's awareness the scepter's beam lanced into the darkness like a firey path, laying out something so clear, so bright that it seemed impossible to ever, ever lose. It outshone everything except Illumin's own glory. How could they not see it?

Perhaps it was reserved for Light alone to see the true brilliance. He poured his own light into it, sending his power dancing along the path, illuminating the blackness and revealing the way he should go.

The beam sizzled through the spaces between worlds, found an answer, and Illumin stared into the heart of suns as the mana connected and flared around the door. Ready, yes, how could it be anything but? "We must go. Now!"

Thabara

Nergal felt the other gods' powers mingle, meddle with his own, the moment he pushed open the Door. Illumin's, Echo's, Eamnonn's. Some of the runes flickered and shifted the very last moment, causing Underworld to crease his forehead. What the Hell had that been for? Wasn't he the one to hold the scepter which guided the way?

But no harm seemed to be done, the destination seemingly remaining unchanged. The scepter's light still glimmered brightly, a steady beam pointing straight into the hallway the Door had opened into.

"We should be alright, I think," he said, peering down the dimly lit path which had opened for them. It started as a boring, bland hallway - bare of any decorations - but seemed to shift into a forest path further on. "As long as the door is not closed in between." He stepped half into the door frame, holding the gateway open for the others to pass through.

"Ankou," he spoke, his gaze resting on the redhead that was his brother's host. "Brother. You may speak for me in my absence, make decisions in my stead. There are letters left on my desk, to Fire's host, and to the Worldshield. Please see to it that they are delivered. I would have given the task to my aoidei, but.." Lust, eh? He had a good idea now why he hadn't seen Priya, and especially Ishum, around.

He peered down the opened corridor again, slightly irritated. It had been a forest path before, but now it was a hallway all along? He could see braziers, torches lit in the distance. How strange.

Zero Dream

Adrian nodded at what had been told to him - well, not really to him... but hell, he was used to be a relay by now. "It will be done."

Echo stepped off to follow Nergal, then stopped, finally opening her eyes again to look at the redhead. "Stay safe."

"You all do that, too. Expecially you." Yellow eyes were locked on the goddess herself, and it was evident he knew something the others might not. Too much was at stake with this, and Ankou wasn't keen on losing his potential nephews and/or nieces before they could even be born.

Thabara

"I will see to it that no harm comes to her," Nergal promised, but he wasn't quite able to hide his concern. He had no idea what would be expecting them on the other end of the pathway which had been opened, save that at least one fragment of the Crown's consort might be found there, hopefully.

"You, take care as well." The threat posed by the grigori, the End looming over everything like the sword of Damocles.. Wherever they went, it might - for a while at least - be safer than here. Ankou, however, would be in the eye of the storm. "We just found each other again, and.." He shook his head, not sure how to put into words what he felt. "Take care," he repeated simply, as if doing so might be a charm to protect his brother from harm somehow. Then he motioned impatiently for everyone to step through the door, letting it click shut behind himself once the last deity had passed by.

[Zero Dream]

The Golden Court
Week of Greed

Sosiqui

The Golden Court, she would call it; so she would have Malh'reth write into the annals of history. (That alone was enough reason to repair the mess that had been made of things; she wanted far more time for her reign to awe historians. Centuries. Millennia.) It was a fitting name, even if not many of the mortals she called actually had any gold or precious things to bring.

But so short. She had to make the most of it, and collect as much of both treasure, fame, and power as she could with her now-vast resources. Knowledge, too. And yet she had to remain here. She had already learned that to leave the vicinity of Throne and Form was to lose what she had gained.

She was, effectively, trapped, even if she could send her senses flying far and wide. She had to know what to look for.

So Phaedra sat on the Throne, and accepted offering and obeisance, and brooded.

Zero Dream

They were gone, now - and that left him alone. It had been easy enough to ignore the odd feeling that had been nagging at the back of his mind when he had the set of deities to focus on, as well as the task of retelling Ankou's instructions from the doors. But now ? The god was quiet, still resting and slowly recovering from his little stunt - he still had the linger of an headache, he wanted out of here and go bum off someone's bed for a nice long nap...

But something kept graping at him. Pulling him. In despite all common sense speaking against it, he ventured into the throne room - it was full of people... maybe it was what had drawn the underworld's attentions. He mingled at the back of the crowd and froze when he saw just who was sitting on the throne.

What the hell...

She was different, of course. Peacock feathers, a single blue eye when it used to be red. Still that errie golden gem. At least, the host was free... hopefully. It was the first time that he could see the differences - and errie similarities in between host and freshly reborn deities.

Would Ankou look that much like him ? Would he have the same face ? Lyra...

Everything, all his instinct screamed for him to turn and leave before she noticed him - but, he noticed all the late that he could not move, as if entranced.

He was frozen.

Sosiqui

A flash of red caught her eye, even as Underworld's pale flesh had drawn her attention earlier.
Was that-

It was.

A sharp smile spread across Phaedra's face. "Why hello, Adrian. You're a week late, you know."

Zero Dream

Yellow eyes narrowed at that one comment. "Oh, trust me, I am not late for anything - who knows where you've been after all." He muttered, still trying to will his body to move. It would not listen.

Ankou, what the hell are you...

Nothing !

The small edge of panic in the god's voice was enough to know it wasn't his doing. If it wasn't Ankou, and if it wasn't HIM...

Why the hell couldn't he turn and leave, why couldn't he stop looking at her, at the eye and gem ?

Most importantly, why was he feeling drawn to her ?! He had to constantly resist the urge to move... toward her.

Sosiqui

Phaedra's brow furrowed, and she arched one delicate eyebrow at him. "Who knows where I've been? Surely you can think of something better than that. What's important isn't where I've been, but where I am."

She gestured for him to come closer, with one claw-tipped finger.

Zero Dream

She beckoned him closer and something inside him tugged, shifted, spirally out of his own control. It was almost like Ankou taking over, but yet that was even worse than his own vivid fears since he was still at the forefront, seeing it all unfold.

I don't want this, I don't want to, don't...

One step. Then another. The more steps he took, the smoother his walk became, the harder resistance became.

"Let me... go...."

He stopped right in front of the throne.

Sosiqui

Good, good. She hadn't been sure that would work on a host. "I thought you'd like to see my rainbow." Phaedra cupped her hands and called power into them; jewels dripped out from between her fingers, a golden curl of chain supporting them, growing like a living vine. "So much more valuable than mere water and light. So much more permanent. A thanks, payment for services rendered." She put a soft but unmistakable emphasis on the word payment.

Zero Dream

He shivered, when she spoke. With her so close, even his thoughts became muddled, hazy - he could register Ankou screaming at him, trying to snap him out of it, but not what words were spoken. With not enough energy to take control of the body itself, it was the only thing the god could do, all but trapped inside his own gemstone.

Beautiful tinted want to leave want to stay...

...Want.

He lowered his head. "...Beautiful." The word came out before he could even stop it.

SkieBorne

The Aurion stood to the side of the throne, out of immediate eyesight but as another person approached the throne, he stepped forward to watch and record. His little sketchbook was in hand as he idly wrote down the person's name and then sketched the scene.

Adrian was it...? Well, Adrian seemed to have a problem with Phaedra. And Malh'reth knew it was pointless to fight her call... it enveloped and overwhelmed. Curiously, he glanced up at the goddess and blinked at the strong of priceless baubles. He had a fondness for gems... all Aurion did. The bigger and shinier the better....

Generous, she was.

Sosiqui

She purred, her tail-tip delicately tapping on Adrian's leg. Oh, the god inside would probably dislike her for a while, but that particular bridge had been burned on their first encounter. May as well make the most of it. "So much friendlier than your brother." Phaedra reached out with her free and actually patted Adrian on the head. All that marvelous red hair. "You can keep that," she added, jingling the chain of rainbowed jewels in the other hand, waiting for him to take it. She had no idea if it would stick around after her time Enthroned was over, but she didn't care that much.

Zero Dream

It was probably a good thing that Ankou could not break out, as the headpat would probably have resulted into a few projectiles flying in her direction. The god was seething, fuming under the surface - almost as angry as he had been after knowing his brother had gone missing. If this got to Nergal's ears, he would never hear the end of this.

But, try as he might, he simply could not break through both his host's resistances and the glamour Phaedra apparently held over him. He had simply lost too much strength following the soulines - and while he was regaining it much faster than he had initially, this was not enough. That, and he had never taken Adrian over by sheer force - even with his will mostly broken, this was harder than he expected.

There was nothing he could do. Yet, at least.

"I shall." He warped his wrist around the chain - slow, deliberate movements, like a jeweled bracelet covering half his forearm loosely. He stopped but a touch away from her hand, as if teasing.

Sosiqui

"Now..." She took a moment to revel in her control. He was so close... but there were better uses for him than that. She hadn't obtained the riches and success of her past by giving in to her hedonistic urges at every opportunity, after all. There was a time for play, and a time for other priorities.

"The other gods will listen to you, I think. Such a well-mannered young man." Her hand trailed down from the top of his head along his cheekbone. "I need those who have seen the Grigori. Samyaza." She spat the name. "The Empress, perhaps. Knowledge. Anyone who was there. Find them." Surely there had been others besides, but Underworld's second-hand information was doubtlessly incomplete. "I must know more so I can stretch out My hand."

Zero Dream

What is she... ?

As with earlier, Adrian did not hear him. He only heard her, and leaned into her touch. This would be complicated - the ones he knew with such information were long gone by now.

"I shall be on guard."

[Zero Dream]

Confusion
Week of Greed

Phaedra had sent him off, and he had listened - turned and left the throne room, and started going through the pantheon, looking for those Phaedra had named to him. Thankfully he recovered some of his spirits before he could start knocking madly onto doors. The goddess' geas wore off slightly and he was left standing there and... very confused. What... What had he been doing ?

She took control over you. Came a grumping reply from within. Ankou was not happy with the situation at all. He had been unable to do anything to stop this, and that upsetting. While that explained nicely why Nergal had went to the throne room before leaving - the whole thing was still upsetting, and given this was Greed, he would probably never hear the end of it.

"Uh..." The events had kind of jumbled into a fog for him - resistance, said resistance getting more and more difficult until all became a muddle of very different, extremely conflicting emotions and thoughts that seemed almost impossible to short out. There was also the chain of rainbow colored gemstones wound around his arm - she must have given them to him, but he couldn't honestly recall how, or more importantly why. She was greed - did not seem likely for her to give out gifts.

Hopefully he hadn't agreed to anything stupid.

Wait... It was starting to make sense now. He's been searching... for deities. Deities that could give her information... ? Clearly the goddess was under the influence of something, her powers magnified - not even a month or so ago she was a gem, and now leaps of powers like this... ? "She... might be trying to help ?"

As much as I hate to admit it... She could have done anything, anything she could have wanted with them both - one under the spell and the other unable to break through to try to cancel it. She could have done anything, yet she had sent him off on this little search. Perhaps she was not a foolish as he thought - even if she still left a sour taste in his non-existent mouth.

The world was at stake - he could swallow what pride he actually had. We might as well search. It's not like they had anything else to do beside sitting down and waiting for the inevitable. They'd been left behind where most of his known circle had embarked on something potentially dangerous. This did not feel right to him. At all. But he knew arguing with Nergal, especially after the little stunt he had pulled, would simply lead him nowhere.

On his half of things, Adrian was simply glad he did not need to be the one to think about things. If anything, this had made his seemingly never-ending headache even worse. Thing is, the only one he knew with a clue had hopped off to another world. It just might be a matter of catching people at random, or listening in to things.

He finally started to move again, reaching for Ankou's door and sliding inside. First things first - he was sleeping this bloody headache off.

[Zero Dream]

When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest

-- "Leave Out All The Rest" - Linkin Park

Final Goodbyes
Week of Greed

He had fallen asleep the second his head had hit the pillow - a deep, dark sleep, and thankfully for him, dreamless unlike the nightmares that had been reoccurring ever since things had gone from Wrong to Even More Wrong. Adrian slept, unbothered, but it was not the same for the god.

Ankou watched, closely. Something was up, he could feel it - things were shifting, rearranging, oh so very quickly in despite his own weakness, until there was more mist than fire, more of him than the host.

Time, then. It was time. Would it still be what the redhead so badly wanted ?

Adrian.

The presence, the fire part of his mind stirred. What ?

....It is time. There was no need to dance around the issue, to sugarcoat the fact, it was.... familiar. Had that been what he had said, ages ago, to mortals past their time ? Three words, three simple words that, while so simple for him, weighted heavily to those who heard them.

The mage was quiet, for a moment. There were many thoughts rushing his mind - a new sense of finality now that those three words had been spoken. It was over - would be over soon, so soon, yet - Just one moment, Ankou. Just a moment longer.

Hurry. There was no snapping, no impatience or anger in his voice. This also felt familiar. One last wish. Had he done that, too ? He could wait. He had always been patient with important things, things that mattered.

His voice betrayed one thing, however - that he did not know how long he would be able to hold all of this together, still slightly weakened by tracing down the soul-shards of the emperor's consort in despite rapidly gaining strength in a completely different way.

I will

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And just as suddenly he was awake and sitting, instead of laying down, feeling oh so cold and shivering. Lyra was right beside him, eyes filled with worry. "Another nightmare... ?"

"No... Not really." He was so calm. He had expected panic, something, or regrets, but they did not seem to come. Not yet. "Love... Come here."

The small shadow slid over his shoulder, turning to face him. "I want you..." He looked to the side, where the black catgirl was standing. "And Jinx... To go somewhere. I don't care where. Just go, for a few hours."

She understood. Her purple eyes where starting to pool with water - he lifted a shaking hand to push them away. "I know, baby." He sighed. "Listen to me. Ankou has promised me a few things... one of these things would be that he would watch over you. But... he can't do that, if you don't let him."

"B-But..."

"I know... it's hard. I know how hard this is." He whispered, bending forward to kiss her on her forehead. "But I am at peace with it. Mostly. He's not... horrible, Lyra. He sees things differently, can be unsettling maybe, but this is not malice. This is not ill intent. If you give him a chance... Promise me to at least try it."

She was actually crying now, and it was like claws sinking in his heart. "I-Don't k-know if im strong e-enough..."

"You are. I know you are. " He leaned against her, pressing his nose where hers should have been. "But I don't want you to see this." I don't want you to see me die. "Please..."

She clung to him, for a moment - his temperature had dropped, she noticed, to something that would have been considered normal for a human - no wonder why he was shaking - but finally let go, turning to follow Jinx out the door. Just before crossing it, she turned to look at him... one last time. He did look so peaceful, so majestic and calm for someone who knew their death was incoming. It was beautiful, but at the same time, it showed exactly how much the current state of the world had broken him. "I love you."

"I love you too. Ill watch over you." He doubted he could fulfill that - but he said it, all the same. To make her feel better. One last lie...

The blue shadow slid off, closing the door behind her. The sobs still echoed in his mind until she was far away enough to be able to project them. The fire mage sighed. He wanted to see Kaelin, too... but there was no time.

Ankou had been completely silent, and it startled him when he spoke, after what seemed like an eternity of pure silence. Is that all ? His voice was strained - as if he was trying to contain a flood.

"....Yeah. Do your thing." He had barely stopped talking that he felt himself slipping away - slipping within. What...

This is not your pain to bear. And just like that, he pushed the mage's consciousness as far below as he could, while clawing his way to the top. When he was sure his control was stable enough... he let it all flow out.

He felt something push out from within - incredibly uncomfortable and painful, right below his shoulderblades. He had a good idea what was coming, and he braced himself for it.

No amount of knowing what was coming could have prepared him for this. The tip of the first bones, razor sharp, pushed through the skin and he screamed - fingers gripping the side of the old mattress like if it was a lifeline. Each push meant another wave of pain, and muscle and skin formed of the newly emerged appendages, from the tip to where it finally melded with the original skin. The god caught his breath, laying on his stomach on the bed - he had knocked most of the sheets off in his trashing around. Compared to the sheer pain he had just felt, the small, constant pinprick of the feathers sprouting on the newly formed limbs was nothing.

A similar kind of feeling took over his fingers then, going from the tip of the fingers and spreading upward and upward.... washing away color in it's wake, leaving bone white behind. From where he was laying, with his hair sprawled out like a fiery, yet dimming halo around his form, he could see bangs do much the same... fade from vibrant red to silver. The pale mattress was turning red in places, soaking up the blood that flowed from the point where the wings had emerged.

It was the last thing he saw before darkness overcame him.

[Zero Dream]

Below The Conscious

He had found himself suddenly standing in a wide space - things seemed to stretch and stretch, yet were a bit fuzzy around the edge - like an old movie that had been played over and over.

The few details that were actually clear were his immediate surroundings - the hill he was standing on, the rivers below, seemingly reaching through the whole span of the world - their water crystal clear and glistering, so real that it seemed like all he had to do was reach forward and he could have touched them.

The starless sky... There was not a single star under the sky, not even one.

Where was he... ?

"It is all simply a memory."

The sudden voice almost made him jump, and he turned to face in the direction in which it had came from. He had expected to see a stranger wearing his face, but... to his own surprise, it was not quite to. In fact, with how much he seemed to blend in with the surrounding, he had almost missed him completely.

The god was sitting on one large rock further back, faded out as if he was not quite real - snow white hairs framing his face. It looked almost as if the god was made of mist. The wings - large, black like a crow's - would have been impossible to see if not for the tiny charms and strands of silver chain elaborately decorating them. He wore all black - a cloak with a hood, and, while golden eyes were looking at the mage, he was flipping one coin up and down.

_______ Save yourself a penny for the ferryman...

"A simple memory, all of it." Ankou continued, catching the coin and moving from his sitting place, standing next to the host. "Even as things begin anew, there is no way to know if they will return exactly as such." It was clear he was not only referring to the world around them... but even himself.

"...So, none of this is real ? This is.... ?"

The god turned his head to look down at him - it only now occurred the him that he was standing a head or two above him, a teasing smile on his face. "I am not the one to create whole worlds. But I figure I do populate them... ? Or used to, when it once stood. This is home." He turned his attention back to the landscape around them, and pointed at the rivers, one by one, naming them. He realized, belatedly, that some were missing... "Or at least what memories remain of it, what I have uncovered after I initially remembered. A big thing, followed by little ones. I must have come to this specific spot often."

It was... odd, really. Odd to see the god he had spend the last few months of his life with so passionate about something - he had always seemed, for lack of a better word, withdrawn, as if there was nothing he truly held dear - right now.... he could see what he had been wrong.

The redhead wasn't quite sure why he was there, seeing all this - but, for some reason, he was glad he was.

There was a moment where neither spoke, until Ankou finally broke it. "There's only one thing left to do."

To most, these words would have been horrifying, worrying - but for Adrian, they were the opposite. It seemed Ankou wouldn't back down, after all. "Right." He turned his gaze away from the scenery to look at him. "Do you think.... everything will be fine ?" Lyra. Kaelin. Jinx. Echo, Nergal, their children yet to be born. The world...

"We'll have to make it happen." The end of the world was something they had all expected to see happen one day, the god thought. But not so... so soon.

"...Make sure Kaelin is okay. For me." He hesitated, but here, sheltered from the world that had worn him down, some of the mage's true nature rekindled - he smirked. "And, whatever it is... Be what you want to be. I think I honestly prefer the Ankou im seeing right now than the one that's been in my head all this time."

The god looked startled, and for a moment, Adrian feared what might come out of this. After a moment, however, the only answer that was given was a nod. It seemed like he just might have some thinking to do - however, time wasn't really something he was in ample supply of at the moment. He waited, silent.

"....Yeah. That's it. Do your thing." Yellow eyes felt closed. He was at the god's mercy, and completely unsure what to expect. All he heard was the sound of the metal chains and charms as he came, closer and closer...

Some say that, before you die, your whole life plays in front of you. Some say that your mind latches upon everything you could have done but couldn't, all the regrets and things left undone. At least, for him, that wasn't quite true. Everything slipped away - everything slid off, nothing was important or worrying anymore, there was no pain, no tears, no screams. Everything faded away... In the end, the only thing left was peace.

It felt just like he was simply falling asleep...




The limp "body" of the boy was hanging in his arms, the truth much less poetic than his own interpretation of the event had been. There was nothing poetic about what he was doing - something that was probably now beyond him save for this one soul - the one that was used for fuel to his own rebirth. He had known, all along, that he could not do exactly as the boy had wished - he could not destroy him outright, without bringing himself ill in some form or fashion. But this, he could do. It was the closest he could do, and the boy would never know the difference... because he would not have the sentience to be able to do so again. Awareness and thoughts were the first to go - memories were next, unraveling as if he had drank from the Lethe - now unneeded and echoing in the empty memory-realm, the soul losing it's shape, everything superfluous removed and send to nothingness, to void, until there was only one thing left, a lifeflame, almost identical to those nested in the goddess' wings, cupped in his palm. Even now, it looked much more like fire than anything else.

Ankou knew he could not simply leave it there - instead, he brought it to his chest, the last thing remaining of his host, stripped of everything that had been superfluous. He let it sink within, melding with his own soul and mana, affixing itself to him, and was comforted in the fact that he did not feel really different. What he would be for now on would be his choice... but that did not mean the fire mage would not be around in some form.

He would always be, unseen and unknown from everyone else.

The god twirled his coin in between fingers of one hand, and moved to sit back on the rock, listening to the echoes of the memories before he finally let everything slide away, his representation of his own home and his old self return to his mind where it belonged.

He had some thinking to do, after all.

[Zero Dream]

Change,
Everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called
Fights and battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead

Best,
You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And you use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

Don't,
Let yourself down
Don't let yourself go
Your last chance has arrived...

-- "Butterflies and Hurricanes" - Muse

Aftermath
Week of Greed

The freshly reborn god awoke to a tornado unfolding in his own room - in the form of a frenetic catgirl and a somewhat bitter shadow spirit. Everything seemed brighter, more tangible, more real - including, of course, the good and the bad.

The answer came to him, rather bitterly - there was no one to hide behind now... which was partly what he had been doing all this time. For the first time in what he could remember, he would have to do something rather particular.

Deal with the grief he left in his wake.

Oddly there was no sensation in his back howsoever - he had, of course, expected pain. It was really the logical thing to expected, as muscles had pulled out of place and, most importantly, new appendages had been created. He flexed one "wing", a thoughtful expression on his face. Not that he had of course expected something allowing flight, but these... did not honestly even look like wings. More like spider legs or something. It seemed like each "pair" could not work independently from each other. How odd, and somewhat... upsetting.

Jinx told him to stop moving, and he listened. The catgirl busied herself with bandaging the wounds on his back. Lyra was doing circles, back and forth around him, completely silent, overseeing the bandaging, long, slender arms covered in frost and.... blood.

It became rather evident why he wasn't feeling a thing now - but... why had she helped him ?

It took awhile until the bandaging was done, but after it was, he was allowed to actually sit - with the catgirl moving and promptly plopping down in his lap, purring madly. One white hand rose to scritch at one ear absent-mindly, but his attention was elsewhere.

"Lyra. I..." What to say ? He had no idea what he was supposed to say. "...Thank you."

Silence, at first. But then... "Was he..... happy, in the end ?"

He nodded, with no hesitation. He... had been happy, really. There had been no fear and no pain. The fire mage's nightmare had ended. He could have left it at that - he honestly could have - he had done his piece, after all. This was out of his hands. Or was it... ?

The shadow spirit floated an armreach's away from him, eyes watering once more as they were fixed on him. She looked lost, completely lost, and even the god himself did not see what happened next coming.

One arm wound around her waist, pushing the weightless being closer, eventually against him. "Do what you need to do. Grieve. Once that's done, we'll go from there. We'll see what will happen then."

When the spirit started wailing once more, it was enough to make even his own heart sink a little in his chest. There was no reassurance he could give her - no cycle of death and rebirth, of endings and beginning - Adrian was gone, simply, beyond even something like death.

He had nothing to offer to somehow help with this, all he could do is let her cry.

[Zero Dream]

Gathering Information
Week of War

With a window breaking and the sound of another trumpet, the world had shifted once more. Conflict was brewing in the heart of mortals - he could hear gunshots from here. Quite often. The sounds of conflict and fighting.

War.

It had been tempting, oh so extremely tempting, to go down to see Greed now that her reign was over - to rub quite a few things in her face - but honestly, he was better than that. Beyond such childish things, really - there were better things to spend his limited energy on.

He had done his best to make sure neither Jinx or Lyra wandered off too far. This was harder than one could think - the catgirl was rather antsy. She hadn't seen Ishum in awhile... and was deeply worried for him. The only thing that kept her put, he knew, was his authority over her.

Jinx, in despite sometime giving illusions of being otherwise, was quite smart. She knew what orders she could weasel her way around and which orders she actually had to obey. The golden-winged aoide was resourceful - he would be fine.

His only outting so far - which had been quite something for someone barely used to their own body and the quite open war going on in the streets - was to retrieve certain items, mostly the letters Nergal had told him about and... a rather curious document Echo's aoidei gave him - one of her writing spiral books, but what was written on it was far from lyrics or sheet music.

Given the severity of the situation, hopefully she would forgive them for this. These were notes of a different sort - things that had gone unmentioned before, or perhaps had been mentioned before his host stumbling into the little meeting. That, or she had been frazzled enough to forget to mention those facts.

Notes, in Echo's handwriting

The grigori are a group at war with Creation. They wield void. Samyaza is one of them. She is the one that attacked Harmodius.

Void will unmake even Destruction. Without Creation, Destruction cannot exist. With that logic, Creation may not gone as I feared... He had to remain a part of Destruction in order for Destruction to Be.

The grigori were at war with us before even the fading - they can only be wounded more permanently by direct influences of Creation - Gaia, Rebirth, gods related to animals or plants.

During the war there were artifacts made, but only some strong enough to vithstand the void and perhaps survive to this day - Aristogeiton’s sword, Harmodius’ glaive, Gaia’s shears, and Rebirth’s jesses.

Perhaps the search of Aristogeiton will lead them to the sword...

...

That was a thought. If there was some of Creation left in the cocoon...

He bit his lip. Could he even still do this ? To a divine soul, nonetheless ! This was madness, yet... Yet he would keep the idea in mind. If no other solution was found... it would probably be worth a try.

And there were those weapons. They would do little at preventing the chrysalis from developing and... do whatever it would do, but if those grigori would come back...

The Library might a good time to start, but Ankou had never been a scholar, one of those with their noses in books all day long. He had no idea where to even start, how to search in the most efficient way possible in order to lose as little time as he could, and what information to prioritize on.

There had to be a way to stop this... but damned if he knew a thing about it. It didn't help that he was also worried - he had thought the others would be back by now... hopefully they weren't caught in a time flux, or they could get nasty pretty quickly. The urge to follow them now was strong but... he repressed it. He should not worry about them - they were much more experienced in their new bodies and powers that he - expecially the Hunt...

They would be alright. Still, the god sighed, yellow-gold eyes locked on the written notes. What to do about all this... ?