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 Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:55 pm
Zero Dream  It was the sensation of movement that finally had her slip into consciousness again, the ground shaking under her. A sudden panic that overtook her senses as she darted upward. The sleep seemed to have done her much good, as her body did not ache as much, but... what was happening ? There was... the odd sensation of pain lingering in the air, different than her own leftover aches.
"Nergal ?"
There was no answer. She frowned, and slowly worked herself fully to her feet. The world around her... had changed. The grass seemed more real, and... her eyes went wide. There was something to see for as far as her eyes could - mountain, rocks... even a lone tree that seemed to have seen much, much better days.
And right there, the grass was wet... water ?
She called out his name again. There was still no answer. For a moment, she was torn. Perhaps... she should let her love be. Let him sleep, if that was what she was doing. He certainly needed it.
But if she did...
If she did, would he sleep then, for years, centuries, just as he had said he would, had she not come ? Did the gate work, now ? He had not told her a thing about it. She had not seen her children for so long, and it made her heart ache. But if she left now... Then she risked having to do it all over again, to awaken him once more.
For what ? For this... movement, growing her mind wanted to say, but it sounded absurd... to happen again, and so forth ?
She could not leave him behind. Not like this. She would not have him sleep for centuries, only to awaken to see children that had became adults, and that he had barely seen but the start of this journey. She would not allow it. He would not want it, and even if he was wanted it, she certainly would not had allowed it to happen.
There was this odd sensation of him being right there, all around her, but oddly enough... slipping. Sliding away, further and further. She had not come this far, not left her three little treasures behind, only to simply allow it to happen. The wisps slowly were starting to peek out of their hiding places, apparently very spooked indeed.
How could she anchor his sense of self and his attention ? As soon as the question came, the answer seemed evident. There was only one way she could potentially do this.
The goddess closed her eyes, and she sang, soothing yet powerful.Thabara He had not heard her when she'd called for him at first – 'Nergal' was a name he'd become attached to, but it was one among many.
Her song, however, it was like calling his Name, helping him to hold onto the fact that he was not only a realm, but also a person. It was like a siren song, similar to when she'd made her voice known on the haunted battlefield back in Brilsworth, only even more powerful than back then.
It was impossible for him to ignore, and he latched onto it gratefully, using it as his beacon and guide to not become lost in the vast sea of … himself..
There was a distinct surge of power answering hers, and for a short time the mists around her gathered, thickened, struggling to take on the shape of two very huge wings before they seemed to collapse under their own weigth and dissippated once more. Yet still the atmosphere seemed thick with his mana, in a manner that could only be called stubborn, and moments later the water began to flow again.
He was still there, the air felt … weighty with his presence.
Thank you … He was grateful indeed. If he drifted off like that every time he'd accomplished something this was going to take forever. He couldn't afford it, not with so many dead, not with the promises he'd given--
How much time had passed, anyway? Zero Dream She felt it, of course. Felt it, and saw it all unfolding in front of her eyes, heard things that most likely no one else would have heard - whispers gathering in her ear for a moment before they were gone, as quickly as they had come, with the sudden rush of his presence. Even with that, though, it took her a moment to truly understand and decode what she had seen. Heard. Felt.
...It seemed like a good thing to keep in mind. Something was missing, but almost, almost....
But for now...
"Are you alright ?" That... had been rather scary. The earthquake and him not answering her, at least. Suddenly however, there was the sensation of something wet licking at her bare toes and she glanced down to see that... she had chosen to stand where the river had been running previously, in all appearances. She stared down and wriggled her toes, must like a curious child. In fact, her face looked a whole lot similar to their youngest son's in the seconds where he had found that stream... and realized he had been standing in it. Similar in expression, at the very least. Thabara I am alright, he replied, not without a certain amount of embarrassment. But this will keep happening, I fear, until equilibrium is reached and no further growth required. It … makes it very hard to remain focused on just here.
Echo's expression of puzzlement and surprise, when the cold water first licked against her bare feet, was reminescent of Kios' – back then, that night he had taught the little princeling his first letters. Though in retrospect much of it had been spent exploring the changed pantheon grounds together, and his look when he'd 'found' the small stream running through the grounds now by stepping right into it …
The children, how are they? he asked gently, wistfully. He was beginning to miss them now, severely, now that he'd been reminded of them. They are not being too much trouble, I hope? What other news are there? Has the sky been restored? What of the Crown, and his consort? Zero Dream That seemed to confirm what she had feared - it certainly looked like she would need to remain here... else that her love lose himself in... himself.
But how long ? At least, she had not promised that she would be back soon... Yet her heart seemed torn. Both, lover and children, needed her for different reasons, and she could only remain in the presence of one. The questions she had expected came, one following the other like a volley, and she did her best to answer them without forgetting anything.
"They are fine." It was too evident, in her voice, how much she missed her children. "They tended to behave... Sotiris is... well.... Sotiris." Was there any other way to describe her eldest, honestly ? "Though he seems to be respecting the rules I set forth." Or she had not noticed the rule breaking. Either or. "Lacrymosa seems to be discovering more and more things everyday, and she is getting better at locating herself in unknown places everyday." She remembered her, quiet and solemn, listening as her uncle tended to burrying those who had lost their lives in the clearing of the catacombs. She probably ought to address that, ask if he knew if they had found their ways... but could he be able to tell an handful of souls from the many that were now here ? "Akakios... is learning quickly. Very quickly. He writes and count without needing much help now." Not to mention his speech, having gone from childish to something a little more... serious.
"There hasn't been much in term of news... though that may have changed. I traveled though the tree for quite a long time... Things are improving and life is continuing to spread, but there is still no sky. I have heard nothing of the consort, either. Thabara Echo's inner turmoil was blatantly visible on her face, and Nergal could all too easily guess what it was about from her pained expression. To leave the children behind, even though the Pantheon was the safest place possible for them, and many capable hands available to care for the precious young godlings – it couldn't have been easy for her. He said nothing about it, not yet, waiting quietly for her to finish her report first.
It is good to hear the children are doing well. I miss them dearly, but to bring them here … No. His realm was still too unstable, things shifting and dislocating every time the borders expanded to make room for more. Not to mention the long and hazardous path. It would be fine if it weren't for his family – his domain wasn't meant to be reached quickly and comfortably, not even by the divine. But for Echo, and the children, he'd have to figure something out. If only Ankou had ascended further, he would easily be able to bring them, he felt.
So. There was nothing new. Or, in fact there might be news but he had to deal with the usual lag for them to reach him. Not that the thought of having the dead report to him had actually crossed his mind until just now – he had been too focused on just hosting them, keeping them subdued so that he could take in even more, to take at least some of the strain from the mortal realms …
Suddenly he found himself wanting to take care of at least a dozen things at once, and it took significant effort to remain here, with his beloved.
I can see you are troubled about having left the children behind … I would not want for you to be parted from them for too long, but … if you would stay with me for just a little longer? I … Just until I get used to being like this. That was part of the problem, he felt, that there was so much more now demanding his focus now than just five senses, and four limbs. So. Much. More.
Zero Dream "I would not dare being them there..." At least, it seemed, they agreed upon something. "Not just yet." Which did mean that it was a possibility in the future. But for this time... The goddess had no idea just what both the trip though the world tree and just what the realm would even be like, when she had left. In retrospect, she did honestly feel like it had been the right choices, in between that beast, and the free falling... Among other things. They would come and see for themselves eventually, but that time wasn't now, no matter how big her desire to have her children with her was. Their safety came before her wants and comfort. As it should be.
To think about all this was one thing, but to have him actually voice the request out loud was another one entirely. It still fell odd to feel... so needed. Her fear had always been the opposite, that she may end up forgotten, with duty taking all the space and leaving her cast aside for the future to come. Try as she might... It was still there. She could not shake it off completely, though she had managed to let go of most of it.
Just like the fact that the children had mostly behaved because she had been a sad, pathetic mess, this was one thing she was not quite ready to admit.
"I... can do that."
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:56 pm
Meanwhile, On The Surface... It has been quite a long time ever since the small group of survivors last saw sight of the goddess that they loved so much. How long exactly ? It was hard for her to remember. The days just seemed to blur into each other, especially with no cycle of day or night to remind her of the passing of time. Last she had bothered to check some of the surviving means to observe the passing of days, it had been almost a month. And even that had been some time ago... Allysia sighed, the half-elf pushing her glasses upward with one finger again, as they had the tendency to slide down her nose when she was looking downward. Some part had broken, long ago, so long ago that the very world she walked in had still been in danger, at the same time so many things eroded and broke down. In retrospect, she was pretty lucky they were still in one piece, if only barely holding together by a generous amount of tape. She had not brought them to anyone to be fixed. This was, after all, such a silly matter in the grand scheme of things. It would have been an annoyance if the world had been like it had before, before everything started it's slow, and then sharper decline into wrong. She remembered such a time – it was not so long ago, when she thought about it. What... Five years ? Perhaps even six. And yet, somehow, it seemed like it had been so much longer. But now everything was green again. The world was recovering. The rebuilding went on slowly but surely. Efficiency was one thing that had been drilled in the halfling very early on in her college and university classes, so long ago. Allysia had learned to prioritize and juggle multiple projects early on. These skills were now proving to be indispensable in this reality she was now living in. After all, there were much more important things to fix in this world that was hers than broken glasses. The city around the pantheon was starting to come back into true shape – small building, true, but enough for the survivors nearby to safely inhabit with their friends and families. And more could go up, if needed. Didn't huge cities once start out as tiny gatherings, after all ? Most of the buildings she had came up with would be easy to expend with little or no adjustments required beforehand. The return of life meant the return of source of material like rock, tree and sand to create glass, but the half-elf would rather re-use everything that possibly could from the ruins of their old world before tapping into these new resources. She had come to consider it this way – the old world and the new world. Technically it was the same place, but it felt completely different, so mentally it felt like the best way to identify it. Currently, however, her focus was not on the new inner 'city', but on the catacombs themselves. After spending time and even losing some lives in the process, it seemed like a waste to simply leave it at that. They had started, so they might as well finish. Xing had seemed to agree with her, as did most of every one else. Those who did not, she let go – she had neither the time or inclination to argue her point. Time was better spend elsewhere, as did her attention. Like with drawing floor plans. These could be used as a map later on, and it helped her calculate everything she needed to calculate. The half-elf's first goal was to have every path way stable – from there, she could start thinking about possible restoration of the murals and the front gates. The cathedral around the site would get it's turn as well, but later. Much later. She had to find resources that knew more about those kind of buildings than she did. Like... other architects. She couldn't have been the only one left, after all. Though suddenly, teaching her art to others had been something that entered her mind. She would never have though of teaching before... before what had happened. Many things had, indeed, changed. And many things would never be the same again. Allysia shook her head, pushing her glasses up one more time to look from her vantage point, her makeshift table, to where the others were working jobs more physical and dangerous than her own. Things where going nicely – with one path stable, it had lessened the chance of cave in considerably, though there were still a few scares every now and then. Such were the realities of working underground, she figured. The halfling had not done much of that in her time. Maybe one or two projects, but little more. Still, she hoped Echo would be happy with the work that had been done at her return. Because she would return. Allysia doubted none of this. She would return when the time was right. The lack of news... there had to be a reason, perhaps the same reason the goddess herself had no news from the Underworld. Music would not want them to sit idly and worry, doing nothing at all while not in her focus. She would return, and she would be proud of what had been accomplished in her absence. Perhaps even the stern Underworld would be pleased as well... But who was she to know the whims and fancies of gods ? Gods. All those years ago, she would not have given the concept another thought - everything had a logical explanation. At least it was how she felt. But now... now it could not be denied. Not after all she had seen. Still... she wanted it to be true. The architect put care into every one of her projects, almost as if they were her own sons and daughters. If her work could be up to the standards of deities...This was both a near unbelievable and exciting prospect, which pushed her further and further. As if she had needed the motivation. There was so much to be done, and never any shortage of work. She had stopped counting the time where she had probably spent days on end awake, with a cup of coffee and only remembering to eat due to Xing's intervention. But she did not mind. Like this, she did not have the time to truly worry. She heaved another sigh, wordlessly cupping both hands in prayer. Please... Come back to us soon.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:58 pm
Reunion Days passed in the realm of the dead. She did not know how many of them, and perhaps it had been better that way. She had stopped counting, given up on the task. It seemed rather meaningless to do so right now. Time... seemed to mean so little here. Of course, how would such a thing matter for the dead ? There was little for her to do here, the sole living being in this place. Doubtless, she was not alone, far from it – there were many here, so many at there had already been many other earthquakes – no, growing – to make space from them all. At first these sudden happening had a similar effect on her love than the first one she witnessed, with her having to step in and pull him out less he loses himself once more. But as time went on... this happened less and less. She was not alone, but to her sight and her hearing, she was. It was hard to convince herself otherwise, and the loneliness was starting to get to her. At least there were more and more things around her, that popped up as Nergal experimented. Rivers, grass, lakes, the steam of muted colors in the sky that reminded her of an aurora borealis – the latter had managed to get a smile out of her that had been becoming more rare as time passed, though the goddess herself did not seem to notice the melancholy and worry that held a tight hold on her heart. There was little more than a landscape, but she never complained. He had more important things to worry about, after all. She was not exactly sure how all of this would end. She wanted to go back so badly, and yet she refused to leave him alone like this. Not now. Not yet. He still needed her, even if his absence was becoming one of retrospective and diverted attention rather than losing grip. She was thorn in between wanting to be with both haves at once and only being able to chose one at the time... a choice which a lover and a mother should never have to be presented with. Yet a choice that was her reality. Would he not be lonely if she left ? She knew that, somehow, he would. She could hear the half-faded words of old memories confirming the thought, though there was no imagery to accompany it. A voice she would never forget. A single voice that, perhaps even now, she owed many things to. Kore. The reminder of her lost sister and friend only served to make her heart ache even more. She knew what the truly ought to have been, but her heart refused to listen. Not yet. Not now. There had to be a way. A way for him to manifest outside of himself again. It would not be the same as how things had been before – that was impossible – but it would be the closest thing to that. There had to be a way. And she would find it.Was it selfish to want both ? ... Somewhere, in the jumble of her thought, she had managed to fall asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 'Echo....'One ear twitched in answer to the call, though she did not awaken right away. The slightest sound, especially here since it was normally so silent, was all that was needed to awaken the goddess. Music shifted to sit, one hand reaching to comb her long, loose hair away from her eyes as best as she could. There was no other sound that followed, no other words. For an instant she wondered if she had simply imagined it... But then there was a very clear path in front of her, carefully placed rocks where there had been grass just a second ago. Echo blinked – once, twice. And, just as Nergal had expected, curiosity did all the work for him. It was not long before she was on her bare feet and following it. As she walked, the stones faded out, replaced once more by grass. Once more, her expression basically mirrored the one of their youngest son when he saw something that puzzled him. ”What... ?”There was no answer. But he was right there. She could very well tell. She could pretty much hear an amused chuckle and visualize the look on his face right about now. She gave a pout, then turned again, continuing on her way. Fine. She would figure this out on her own, then. It was not long before she indeed did, ending up where the rocky path stopped, her last step making it look like it had never existed at all. In front of her... was a building. No, more like a palace, white walls elaborately carved, and curtains billowing slightly at the slight breeze. Thankfully, it never occurred to her to look in greater detail just what the materials were, though she likely would not have cared. Purple lips parted to allow her to speak, but no words had the time to come out. Something... something happened, a sensation so foreign came upon her that she did not know the words to describe it. It never occurred her to try to resist it, to try to pit her own power against whatever had happened. Her vision went blurry... Then, suddenly, sharp again. And that was someone sitting on the pale white steps of the palace, a form so tiny one could have likely mistaken her for a child had it not been for her womanly figure, long-sleeved arms resting on her knees and small wings folding against her arms, mouse tail curled up in front of her, giving a twitch or two. Looking right at her with deep pink eyes. Silent. Smiling. Waiting for the first sign of recognition before she spoke. "Miss Echo."Melody. The goddess took one step, then another, still somewhat confused... But then all reserve was thrown to the wind and she basically threw herself at the little mouse girl. ”Melody !” There were so many conflicting emotions in her heart right now – happiness, sadness, shame, fear... ”I am... I am so...” The words did not want to come out. But the tears did. "Shhh." She said, softly, raising one hand to wipe the tears – clear like crystal – away. "It's okay, miss Echo. Im here now. Im safe." Now she was. Beforehand... It was like being carried away by a flood, a tsunami, screaming and screaming yet no matter how much she did just that, her voice was drowned out by the flood – the other souls rushing in, dragging her along, small and confused. Like drowning yet being unable to die and black out because that had already been done. ”I was not there... I was not...”"That wouldn't have changed a thing." Melody said, softly, cupping the goddess' chin in one hand to tilt her head upward. "You know it. You felt it too... Everyone felt it." Like being thorn apart by a thousand invisible claws, very slowly and very painfully. "There's no need to explain anything. I already know. Your children are beautiful." She smiled. ”I... Thank you.” She was still crying... but that was okay. At least she was not blaming herself anymore. ”I am glad you made it. You will be safe here, I know.” There was no doubt in the goddess' voice. No place safer for a tiny little mouse soul, after all. "Yes." She did not mention that she would leave again soon, whenever Underworld ordered her to do so – to warn the ones the goddess back home had left behind that both deities were well, and that she would return soon. But the order had not come yet. And she could not help but hope that it would not come too soon. And that the way out would not be as chaotic as the way in. Echo was emotional enough at the moment – there was no need to add to it. ”...Melody ?” The goddess asked, tears still spilling out of her eyes, yet seemingly slowing down. "Miss Echo ?"”...Sing for me. While I can hear you.” The please was unsaid, but definitively present in Music's voice. And to that, Melody smiled. "Gladly."
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:59 pm
A Lost Soul Thabara A Mortal.
Nergal gazed upon the gaunt form of the youth who'd come over with a mix of annoyance, admiration and honest surprise.
She was here, in his realm, and yet she clearly was alive.
Had he been capable to do so, he would have tried to poke her.
As he wasn't, he was rather frantic in how to deal with her. Alive people, as it were, didn't belong here, and thus, didn't come here. The few who'd made it, as he'd gathered, were Hero material – like Aristogeiton – and the bony teen certainly didn't seem to be the thing.
He was, quite frankly, at a loss as to what to do with her.
Echo, he thought, almost immediately. She was so much more attuned to the woes and needs of the mortals as he was.
Echo! This time, the thought was clearly directed at her, aimed to get her attention. Zero Dream  She had been sleeping, as she often tended to do. Ultimately, there wasn't much to do here, at least for her, and as so she spent much of her time doing just that, if she was not walking around idly. Or busying herself with making up melodies within her mind.
There was, unfortunately, nothing she could use to write with here...
It was his second call of her name that awoke her, her keen hearing picking up onto the more focused sound almost immediately. "Yes... ?" This was odd, he rarely ever woke her... Had something happened ?Thabara Sleeping again? It was starting to get him somewhat worried. His love seemed to require so much rest here … He hoped it was simply boredom causing it – which, by itself, was bad enough – rather than … something else.
'There is someone here,' he explained urgently. 'A mortal. A girl.' Zero Dream "A mortal ?" Well... That was unusual. Another deity she could have understood, had one tried to follow into her footsteps, but.. a mortal ? Well, the reason she had been called upon seemed evident, and she reached for her coat before stepping out of her palace.
"Where is she ? Can you guide me ?" She could only barely make heads or tail of this place, raw and unshaped as it was, and it wasn't rare for her to get lost if she stepped too far away in exploration. Thabara 'A mortal,' he confirmed, and added, because it might not be completely obvious: 'She is still alive. She made it here by accident, I believe.' Which was rather upsetting by itself. If his borders were breached easily like that …
'Follow me.' Just as previously, a path formed in front of her feet, guiding her way.
Zero Dream Well, that she had figured. Why would he be making a commotion over a dead mortal, after all ?
She followed that path carefully, and it only took a few minutes for the goddess to get to said mortals. Young, from the looks of it, maybe about as old as her host had been...
What was she doing here... ?
Echo crouched at the teen's side, watching carefully. She seemed to be breathing well, as far as she could tell, which was a good thing as the goddess would have had no idea what to do to reanimate her if she hadn't been breathing. She shed her coat, gently placing it over Minawi's form. She knew, by experience, that it was cold here - and even after being here so long, she had yet to get used to it. Thabara Nergal's path had guided her towards the shore of a river, emerging from the low bow of what seemed to be the entrance to a cave, it's highest point merely a hand's width above the water surface. Carved into the rock of the steep cliff above was a tall figure, four times the height of that of an average human. It was not unlike the statues of boddhisatwas Aislin had come across in her journeys, half-lidded eyes seeming to look down at them from serene features. Both hands of the statue were outstretched, palms up as if to make an offering. The right one holding a golden scale, while upon the left the flames of a bonfire danced. Or rather, the shadow, the echo of it, all the bonfires which had ever been lit there, and died, now tinting the scenery in an unearthly, ghostly blue. Ash seemed to snow down from that lefthand palm continuously.
What more.
There were candles upon the river, spilling from the dark mouth of the cave – it was what had called Nergal's attention to this location in the first place, the droning, monotous chants and prayers of the elders, the little boats bearing souls …
They were still floating underwater, when they first emerged from the cave, but then flipped over and bopped to the surface, releasing its pale flame to float up and join the much mightier river in the sky.
It seemed obvious the girl had taken the exact same path as the candles, her clothes – what little she wore, the climate she came from seemed to be a tropical one – and the ropy dreads of her hair dripping wet. She was naturally dark-skinned, but now there was a palid, unhealthy ashen tone to it.
'She came through the water, I think,' Nergal explained needlessly, while part of him focused on welcoming the new arrivals. The Elders of that girl's tribe had done excellently with their chants and prayers – thanks to them, he knew of their names, and nicknames. Of their deeds, and occupations, and relations. If only more would make an effort like that …
The mortals would need to be taught, but how was he to do that, caught and bound to this place as he was now?
Being this place.
The children, perhaps.
He pushed that aside for now, instead reaching out for the girl.
Her presence intrigued him.
Were his borders that easy to cross, that one could stumble into his realm by accident, or was there more to it?
Was she special somehow, perhaps?
The flames of her belief burned ridiculously low, he registered with utter disappointment. She almost seemed like an … atheist, tsk.
He had no means of touching he girl physically, and the power he wielded over her was little – she was still alive, after all. Yet she seemed to start under his touch, her eyes snapping open as she gasped for air out of reflex. The last thing she remembered, after all, was her conviction to be drowning.
Her eyes focused on Echo for a moment, her chest heaving and sinking rapidly as her lungs screamed for air. Clearly, she was breathing, yet the sensation as if she was still caught in the strong current which had sucked her down refused to let go of her. Something was off, something was wrong.
It was cold.
Nergal looked down upon the child with concern, as her eyes flicked back and forward between Echo, the river which had spawned her, the flames floating up from the guiding boats and the statue hewn into the rock of the cliff above. She tightly drew Echo's coat around her shivering form for warmth, something she would not find here.
The way she seemed to gasp for air was worrying, she seemed to be aware, on some subconscious level, that it wasn't really air she was breathing now. The dead, after all, had no need for it. How long would she be able to withstand the miasma of his realm, he wondered?
It wasn't killing her, not yet. For the time being, her soul seemed to remain tightly bound to the confines of her body.
For now.
'Your Name?' That came out more commandingly than he had intended it to be. Still, she had made it Over, even if only by accident, most likely. So he at least wanted to know this much of her.
„M-m-m-minawi,“ the girl stuttered. If from fear, or cold, or awe, he was unable to tell.
Minawi kept staring at her surroundings wide-eyed. It all … looked so familiar, yet wrong. She was at the river, at the entrance to the spirit cave, no doubt. Yet she'd never seen the statue whole – the outstretched hands had long since broken off as the result of an earthquake tens of years before her birth, and the serene features of the nameless deity had long since eroded to only leave an empty mask behind. There was a strange sense of newness to seeing the statue like this, and at the same time it seemed ancient beyond her comprehension.
That, and you didn't get talked to by bodyless voices any day.
„Am I dead?“ she asked, her gaze returning to the beautiful lady at her side. She'd never seen anyone like that, with skin pale and soft as peaches, eyes like winter-lights, and hair iridescent like the most precious silks. She wasn't human, that much was for sure. She should probably bow, the teen thought, but she was still too busy shivering and holding onto the coat. It was so cold here. Zero Dream "No." Echo answered, her voice low and gentle, yet holding a musical quality to it that was rarely found elsewhere. Almost as if she was singing without actually meaning to do so, almost as if it was such a second nature that she knew nothing else.
Definitively not human, and while she made no effort to show it, she also made no effort to hide it, either. "You should not be here, though." Her tone held concern, rather than sternness. "This is the Underworld... you should go back to where you are from, young one. This place is not meant for you, not yet." Was it unsafe here, for the young girl ? How long would she be able to survive if it was ?
She wasn't dead yet, at least, but she was shivering like an fall leaf about to flutter down from a tree. The cold was getting to Minawi much harder than it was getting to the goddess, for certain. "Did you come from the river... ?" Questions Nergal would want to know the answer of, but asked in a manner that might be less intimidating to the teen, rather than some commanding, unseen entity. She might as well make herself useful while she was here, right ? Thabara The ladies gentle voice was soothing like a mother's lullaby. „I followed the spirit boats,“ the girl confirmed, speaking calmer now, but still through chattering teeth. „Their flames kept burning, even after they got sucked down, that never happened!“ Not in her life time at least. „I wanted to know where they go,“ she admitted sheepishly, „and then, the current … and the water was so cold ...“ Zero Dream Ah, curiosity. It was a very valid explanation, and with the child being so young, the temptation had been too strong to ignore.
But then, she was not really comment about that, couldn't she ?
"The current ?" She pondered aloud, but the dark waters revealed nothing to her. If the current was too strong, then would she be able to swim back out ? "Do you think you will be able to swim back out ?" Thabara „I don't know.“ She shook her head, droplets falling from her dreads. „I-I don't really remember anything much. Only, that suddenly I was out again, and that I somehow had to reach the shore ...“ She hesitated, but as her thin body slowly warmed little by little, she became more daring. „Who are you?“ she finally shot her question, curiosity winning her over. She didn't look like one would imagine a death goddess or -spirit, even though her face bore some semblance to the serene expression of the statue. Zero Dream Ah, there it was, that curiosity. Some might have found it insulting, but Echo found it rather endearing. To be honest, she was kind of glad that she was here, even though she shouldn't - but she had been down in the Underworld for so long, mostly by her lonesome even while surrounded by countless unseen souls. Nergal could not be with her constantly, and it had left her lonely.
"I am Echo." She reached one hand to pull away at a wet dread that clung to her dark-skinned face. "And I am of Music. You may think it odd that I would be in such a place, but that is a long story indeed." One she could not afford to tell without likely endangering the girl.
"Do you know if there is a way out that might be a little less... dangerous for her ?" She was not talking to Minawi now, but to that other voice she had heard, the unseen. Thabara 'Too far away for her to go there without sustenance. Besides, it would likely get her stranded in a world not her own,' came the immediate reply. Either he had checked in the meanwhile, or he simply … knew.
'She will have to go back the path she came through, or not at all. And …' He paused, his voice trailing off.„Who's he?“ Minawi promptly inquired about the bodyless voice. It was strange, how it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere the same. It gave her the creeps. Zero Dream "Hm." This could end up being rather complicated. She would rather the girl lived - for many reasons, some more practical than others.
But mostly emotional ones. All died one day, of course, but... she was still so young. There had to be a way for her to get out before it was too late, there just had to be.
"That is Nergal, the Lord of this realm. This place is his." And he was it, but it seemed better not to startle her more than needed. But the fondness in her voice was a dead giveaway as to what she was doing in such a place. "This is the Underworld, where the soul of the deceased go, but... I think you might have figured this out already." And worry in her voice now. Not a place for someone like her, obviously. Thabara „The judge and host of the ancestors,“ Minawi whispered respectfully. Finally she shifted, from a sitting position onto her knees, bowing low, into the direction of the statue in lack of anything else visible to represent the one to be honored. She had been sceptical before, but … Sadrech's Spear, she had seen the souls of he dead float upwards from the guiding boats into the strange 'sky' of this world. She knew the lady's words to be the truth. „What name?“ She asked. „What name do I call him-- you? The Elders only say that it was feared. That it brought bad luck to utter it aloud, so it was forbidden, and now, forgotten.“ Nergal did not reply, focused too much on something that had caught his attention at the borders once more, just like this child had done before. Much in the same way, from the same place annoyingly enough. Only … 'Child,' he said, his bodiless voice strangely urgent, 'you were not alone, were you?'Zero Dream What... ?
The goddess looked over upward, as if giving in to the rather silly urge to look at her love. Truth to be told she did not need to look at the sky to do so, in a way, but it was a quirk she had aquired early into her stay here. "You do not mean... ?"
More could be disastrous. Minawi has survived the way here, but would others ? Thabara Minawi's eyes widened. Sure, the whole crowd of the tribe's youngsters had been with her, but they couldn't possibly have tried … No, certainly none of them could have been that dumb. They would be crying for the Elders, not try to go after her. „The others were with me,“ she confirmed, unaware those present might be quiete clueless as to who those 'others' were.. „When the candleboats float into the Spirit Cave, that's the only time you can actually see it. It's … pretty.“ 'Was there a child among them,' Nergal insisted, 'of perhaps five summers?'„Pina?!“ Minawi's eyes went wide with shock. She knew the little girl practically worshipped her, but that she would … Maybe she has slipped. The sill is narrow, and always moist.Zero Dream Five summers ?
So young... too young, really. Echo tried to always see the positive in a situation, but to think such a young child could make it though, given how Minawi herself had looked like when she had came upon her...
"You need to go and stop her." She said, her voice turning more and more worried, but holding some kind of authority as well. "If she wanders here... She might not survive it." Even if she had not went to follow... if the current was strong enough to give a teenager trouble... Thabara 'She will not make it here alive,' Nergal clarified quite bluntly. 'She will drown before she makes it.' He could feel that other child's presence at his borders, a faint flutter, like a moth's wings. Her presence was growing weaker with every passing moment, growing stronger for him. If he wholly directed his attention towards her, he could see the runes which bound her soul to her body become undone.
But … time ran differently here. 'You must go back now,' Nergal urged.„But …“ Minawi whimpered. She still was shivering with cold, and she remembered all too well the numbing chill of the water. If she wasn't dead yet, she certainly would die if she went back into it. But … Pina!I How could she have possibly been stupid enough to go after her?! There was a moment of silence, something which would feel like Nergal taking a deep breath, at least to Echo.
'Child,' he boomed, and his 'voice' seeming to fill out Minawi's head completely. 'I am Nergal, the Overseer of Souls, the Receiver of Many, the Judge of the Dead. You will go back now, or else I will hold you responsible for that girl's death, and anyone else's who gets caught up in this passage.' Zero Dream Echo frowned, without really realizing it. Was that really necessary ? ...Perhaps. Though if that didn't get the poor girl to go, she honestly had no idea what would.
"Go You need to hurry. I cannot do a thing for her." Swimming was not something she was especially good at - by the time she would make it, the girl would probably have drowned. Her own tone was stern, however she very well could have been a fluffy little kitten in comparison to Nergal. It just didn't quite carry in the same way than he did, with her sounding more desperate and worried than anything else. "I know this is a lot to ask you... but you need to go back." Part of her did not want the girl to go, did not want that loneliness to return, but it was the way it had to be - if not, two lives would be lost, and the consequences... would be dire indeed. Thabara Both, Nergal's threat and Echo's plea, served well enough to cause Minawi to jump onto her feet, the coat slipping from her shoulders, seemingly ready to dive back into the chilly waters. She stopped short of it though, when she witnessed the last spirit flame leaving its little boat and slowly floating upwards. Her gaze flicked to the left, to the cave entrance, and then – with a look of utter desperation – back over her shoulder at Echo. Within the cave, it would be pitch black. But if she didn't go … 'Move,' Nergal urged, unaware of what the girl's problem was. He could still sense that other presence of a living person at the brink of his awareness, but was continuously growing weaker.Minawi made one step backwards, shivering involuntarily as the ice-cold water touched her bare feet. She was afraid of the dark; but with the tales and bed time stories of the Elders now proven true, she was just as terrified of the consequences she might have to bear if Pina died. Zero Dream Echo had always been the most perceptive of the pair, and so it was not a surprise that she simply seemed to know. One look at those eyes, wide with fear, and back at those dark waters...
Well, she was at least fairly certain she knew.
"Send wisps with her, as far as they are able to go. The waters are too dark, if she cannot see where she is going, she won't make it." Carefully worded, that need, in a way that hopefully would not embarrass the child.
She could do this for Minawi, but the rest of the way would have to be of her own will. Thabara He would have nodded, if he could have.
But of course.
The dark, how foolish of him to forget about it.
Or rather, the primal fear mortals tended to have of it.
The wisps were quickly summoned, their flickering flames tinting the river, and the small lake in front of the spirit cave, in an eerie green-and-blue glow. The waters were crystal clear, and the light was enough to see all the way down to the bottom.
Skulls and bones.
'I shall watch over you, child, for as far as my powers reach. The wisps will light your way, and I shall make sure they will not mislead you.' He paused for a moment, thinking. 'I shall cut the path once you have passed the treshold, so the current and the chill of my domain should not be an issue. But this passage will not remain closed. It will be up to you to make sure no living soul passes over, is that understood?' His tone was quite sharp, and anything but friendly, but he wanted to make sure the girl understood the gravity of what he told her.
She had passed over and would – hopefully – return to the living to speak of what she had seen. Whom better to recruit into his service, even if not entirely out of her free will?Minawi nodded frantically. Oh hell, yesyesyes, she understood. But despite her fright and awe of her current situation, pride tugged at the back of her conscience, demanding to make itself known. „I'm not a child,“ she said with a pout, just barely managing to keep her chattering teeth under control. „I'm almost an adult.“ 'Prove it to me, then,' Nergal sneered. Anything to make her leave and prevent two lives lost before it was the Time.„ Fine!“ Minawi snapped, turning on her heels and diving headfirst into the shimmering waters. It was so cold. Zero Dream Almost an adult, yet still seeming to have much to learn, she had to admit to herself - stubborn pride at the worst moment... Mortals seemed to consider their youths adult when they were yet so young, but in a sense, their lives were short indeed...
The goddess said nothing else, however, watching the child finally get on her way back though the waters, shaking her head slightly. Even her wings had stilled, grown very nearly silent. Was it... would it be too late, or would there still be a chance for that little girl ?
Her lips parted, but no sound escaped her - a silent plea. Thabara Minawi only broke through the surface of the water to gasp for air once inside the cave, and – once gazing upwards – she was in awe. This spirit cave was an exact mirror of its version in the living world, but the unearthly glow of the wisps which accompanied her magnified its by a thousandfold. The crystals, the impressive dripstones … Had she not been so cold, she might have become lost here, gazing at the mesmerizing sight forever and for evermore. 'Go!' Nergal urged her, when he noticed the girl's eyes were losing their focus.That served to snap her back into Here And Now, thankfully, and after taking another deep breath, the girl dived down, eyes wide open to not lose sight of the guiding lights of the wisps. It was hard, so hard to go against the current, her body growing numb in the ice-cold chill of the waters-- 'It is but an illusion,' Nergal told her. 'It is tinged by the miasma of my realm, and thus it feels cold, but it is not, not really.'--but finally things seemed to … reverse, of sorts. There was that strange sense of being turned upside down, of no longer knowing where 'up' was, and where 'down', just as when she'd first got caught in the current. There was a sense of warmth to the water, all of a sudden and … A small body floating limply, lifelessly, just next to her. Pina!!She grabbed her, held onto her and … … all of the sudden the strong current she'd been struggling against was gone, the eerie lights were gone. But there was another light, red-hot, that of a burning torch. She kept holding onto Pina's limp body with one arm, and pushed up, with all her might. 'They are gone,' Nergal finally announced solemnly. 'Beyond my reach, that is,' he clarified after a moment's thought. 'I … think, she made it in time, but I am not certain.'
'And,' he realized a little too late, his disappointment obvious, 'I did not think of telling her that the elders of her tribe performed the rites and prayers of old admirably well, and should continue to do so.'
That last comment might seem cold, heartless, to his beloved, he was much aware of it. But this 'batch' of souls travelling into his realm had been one of the few, too few, being well prepared.Zero Dream "I hope so." She finally spoke, still looking at the wisp-lit water as if it would somehow truly reveal the fate of the two girls, the two children. Of that latter comment she said nothing of, keeping her thoughts to herself as her wings closed around her shoulders and arms, as if somehow seeking warmth they could not give her.
At any rate, there was nothing else that she could do, not from here. Beside hope. Hope that they would be well, and hope that the oldest girl would not be foolish enough to attempt to return here.
But now... now she felt lonely. Again. The only thing alive in a place that was very much not so. Thabara It was heart-rending, to see his love like that, forlorn and miserable. More than ever he felt guilty to keep her here to himself so selfishly, and longed to be able to touch her, truly touch her, and offer her comfort.
***
A week, or some span of time which closely felt like one, had passed before he softly called her name again. He had tried to tend to her as much as he could, but it had been hard to try and split his attention evenly between his love, and those in his care. Zero Dream She had been sleeping, again.
It certainly felt like this was the only thing she ever did, down here... Which was actually not too far from the truth, to be honest. His call was not the urgent one the other one had been, so her awakening was slower, eyes fluttering open.
"Hmmm... ?" She asked, as she slowly moved to sit. Thabara 'There is … something I would like for you to see,' he said, carefully trying to keep his tone neutral, but it was hard to contain his excitement, and some of it bled through. Zero Dream Had it been anyone else, it might have worked.
But Echo knew better, of course. It was that excitement that caught her attention, one pointed ear darting up in sudden interest. It also picked her interest and her own sense of curiosity, and so she was on her feet, and then outside, in a flash. Thabara The path which opened to her, was a familiar one, guiding her steps to a familiar site. A river damned up to a small lake in front of a steep cliff, the low arc of a cave entrance, the statue of the nameless deity high above, its expression serene and emotionless as ever. He still kept wondering if it was supposed to be him. It looked almost feminine.
A dozen wisps or so were dancing and flitting across the water surface, providing enough light for the goddess to allow her to catch sight of a small object floating atop the stream. It was quietly bopping up and down the waves, the candles it carried already extinguished. It was not a spirit boat, but larger, more of a floating basket, skillfully woven from leaves and bark. Zero Dream Ah... ?
So what he had needed this time was a pair of hands. Which was not so bad, compared to the surge of emotions that had happened to her upon seeing Minawi's form washed up on the sore.
Echo walked the few steps that separated her from the river bank with innate grace, crouching and reaching for the basket, and gently pulling it toward the shore. What could be inside... ?
Nergal hadn't said a thing, so she gently opened it, her tail of strings wagging back and forth behind her much like an excited puppy's. Thabara Flowers, berries, sweet bread and smoked fish, such were the gifts of the mortals. There was a set of hemp bracelets too, skillfully woven and … two small clay figures, one bigger than the other, both wearing big smiles.
'I daresay this means they made it,' Nergal said, sort of peering over Echo's shoulder. Zero Dream Echo sat then, at the shoreline, carefully handling the contents of the basket, almost as if they were the most fragile thing in the world and the slightest wrong touch would break them.
It was the two figures inside that finally made her smile.
"Yes." She spoke, at last, the word coming out somewhere in between a statement and a sigh of relief.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:02 pm
I don't care about the theory, I just feel it
A special event is happening here
I don't care about the logic, I'm just feeling it
The glimmer of Nebula that envelops everything
There's no end in the expansion
Don't even think about stopping it
Our distance can't be measured but...
If it is beautiful, isn't it alright?
I don't care about the reason, just embrace me
See how it carried onto you, this Entropy
I don't care about the ideal, it's a mere hypothesis
Now it shall begin, the creation of everything
-- "Nebula" - Hatsune Miku One More Song Thabara He had started mulling it over soon after Ankou had left. His brother's layover had been only brief, but what little he had told of his journeys had been enough to conclude that months must have passed by now in the mortal realms.
Months in which their children had not only been without their father, but their mother as well. And without their uncle and godfather, come to think of it, why did he realize that only now? The next time he met Ankou, or Tian Yue even, he would need to have words with them.
But … It was not only the children, it was the mortals as well. It had not escaped him, that – in the relatively short time since their rebirth – she had become quite popular among them, much-loved for her gentleness and the gifts of her Song. She had given them hope, solace, the strength to move on.
How would they fare without her now?
He … He hadn't paid much thought to it until now – had avoided it, to be honest. But throughout the last dozen or so spurts of growth there had been no more need for her intervention, and it was without question that the one reason he yearned for her to be close now was … company.
But Echo wasn't his alone, and it definitely was about high time he put an end to his selfishness. The only trouble was … how to break the news to her, that he thought it was best for her to leave, without inevitably ending up stepping on her toes? He seemed to have quite a talent for that still. Zero Dream Echo had been in her pavilion, unaware of what her love was thinking of - or planning to do. After Minawi had left, things had trailed back into their little routine or sort. The goddess, it seemed, had never noticed the sudden absence of Melody at her side, as the spell woven upon her sight and ears had worn off quite some time ago.
She had been resting for some time, and now Music decided to go - where, she was not sure, but nonetheless, she had gotten up and walked out, bare feet brushing against the grass as she walked along to destination unknown.
As always, it would not be hard for Nergal to find her. Thabara It never was. She was within him, after all, and her wings – beautiful though as they were – were not fit to bear the goddess for flight, so she never went far from her little palace.
Palace?
Wasn't it a golden cage, really, to keep his beloved songbird?
Inwardly, he sighed.
There was a gentle breeze, whispering through the grass, playing with the silken strands of her hair.
'Beloved.' Zero Dream The goddess stopped when she heard his voice, carried to her long ears as if by the wind. The feel of that wind along her blue and purple locks. A smile on those purple lips where they had previously been none, and where there had not been since the last spur had happened, leaving her alone as he went to focus on connections.
"Hello, love." She answered. The goddess did not angle her head, did not attempt to look and see just where he was - that habit had died a long time ago. Thabara 'I …' he hesitated, pondering as to how to go about it best. It seemed he was doomed to fail, no matter what. 'I need to talk with you about something.' It would probably be best to be blunt, and get over with it fast, he decided. 'It ... has no doubt been months since you left the mortal realms. The children, and the mortals who have faith in you, they must be longing for your presence.'
There, he had said it without actually saying it. That he wished for her to leave.
No.
He did not want her to leave. But he knew, all too well, that the best course of action by no means had to be the most popular one. Zero Dream "...It has no doubt been." She said, her brow kneading into a frown. Music knew exactly what her love was saying, indeed. It had been something that occupied her mind often, with the lack of other things to think about or do.
Months. As far as she knew, the travel down Yggdrasil had probably taken that long. Her means of telling time had been extremely skewed, more out of an attempt to keep some order and familiarity in an unfamiliar place than to hold as true reference.
"It had been a long time indeed. Both for you and for me." It was her turn to carry meaning with the unsaid. The children were his as well, and they needed their father. And, even if he did not notice, he also had mortals waiting for him. She knew it. She had seen it.
She paused her light step, angling her head up toward the sky. There had been something else on her mind as well. "...If I could find a way to take you back with me." She started. "...Would you go ? Only for a little while ?"
Music could not ask her love for forever. She knew that. But a little while... Less this place become his cage.
If they were both caged birds, then she would find a way to set him free as well. Thabara He stilled, in the way only he could, all things in his realm coming to a halt temporarily.
'I would,' he said, without hesitation, Ankou's description of the wondrous worlds he had seen still fresh in his memory. And then … there were the children. Suddenly he found himself to be full of yearning.
They could come over Here of course, once they were old enough, once his realm was secure enough.
But …
'I do not think that is possible,' he admitted openly. He had tried. He had never told her of it, but he had tried. But he never had been able to catch more than a glimpse of what lay beyond the threshold, gain some rough idea of the worlds he was bordering to. Zero Dream She frowned a bit more, in a mix of thought and upset. No, it couldn't be impossible. There had to be a way. They simply had not found it yet.
If both Gaia and Universe were and had been persons within themselves... outside themselves, then why should it hold any different for him ?
How would that even be fair...
...She let the thought go.
No, there had to be a way, that much she was certain. Though the first step, in her mind... was a form suited to be able to reach out. Such a form was not one he currently assumed.
The first time he had drifted off in her presence... She had not been able to reproduce it afterward. But she had constantly thought about it. She could not let it go. This was part of this puzzle, and she knew it.
In her thought, she can come to rest against a stone, large with irregular edges. It was only when an all too familiar feeling came over her that she thought to look.
Indeed... that rock was large. Irregular. And a rather unnatural shade of blue, with specks of gray.
The gem... ?
He had kept her... so close to his heart all along, but among that thought... something else occurred to her, at the same time.
This...
This was where. The gem had held their essences all along. It had all began... and would all finish with one. "...Do you really think so ?" Thabara 'I do think so,' he reaffirmed. 'I tried …' But then his voice trailed off, and for a moment he remained quiet, stunned. A little irritated as well. How had she … ? It was such a small thing in the vastness of his realm, unassuming and almost impossible to find. Zero Dream Unassuming and almost impossible to find... and yet, she had indeed found it. On complete accident, but she had indeed found it.
And now, there was a plan forming in her mind. It was easy to see in her expression, her thoughtful frown, the glimmer in her eyes... that had not be seen ever since she had came in here. Her slender fingers trailed on the surface of the gem, idly, before she seemed to have at least a good idea of what she could attempt.
Would it work ? There was no way to be sure. No other way to know than try.
She had to, at least, try. She would not allow herself to leave otherwise, and it was clear in her expression that she would not budge. If it did not work... then Music would have, at least, tried.
"Let me try." The 'please' was unspoken, but clearly evident in her voice. Thabara He had no means of knowing she had come across the gem by complete accident … And if if she had told him, he would likely not have believed.
Oh, he would have believed her for certain, but not that it had been by accident. There was little chance for it, when it came to Gods.
'Very well.' He settled of sorts, his uneasiness thick in the air and easy enough to sense. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he did, completely. But the gem was one of the things where he still remained vulnerable, and things … might go wrong.
Still, her expression was enough for him to stick with what he'd admitted. 'You may have your attempt.' Zero Dream One attempt, then.
She did not seem notice the uneasiness. Or if she did, then she, for the first time, was ignoring it completely, her tail of strings finally coming still behind her.
These were bold words, that she had spoken. And bold thoughts, that she had held close to her heart. Bolder than perhaps anything else she had spoken or felt in this lifetime. It remained to be seen if she could back them, if that plan on her, based only on hutches and gut feeling, could even be strung the way she wanted it to be.
One more song...
Her hand moved to lay flat against the top of the gem in front of her. She could feel it even now, the energy still dwelling in it, stirring as if restless, but clearly his own.
She closed her eyes, and purple lips parted.
Music sang.
Music sang. She sang of him, of gray eyes and pale white skin, of how he always stood straight no matter if he noticed it or not, the taste of black, charred ash lips on her own. Some obvious things, some that no one else would have noticed or ever knew, knowledge that had been hers alone and that she was now sharing with him.
The good things. The bad things. All these things. Everything, all of it, that made him the man she loved. Everything that had her remain here for so long to begin with. She sang her love, her devotion, her loneliness and her hope.
She gave him everything.
Remember... Her voice seemed to say, though she never ushered the words. The words were strong, pulling, compelling, twisting the air like if they where a force like the wind he had often used. Thabara Music sang.
This, by itself, did not come unexpected. However, he had not been anticipating the Power she laid into her Song. The purity and sincerity of Voice, Word and Emotion. It burrowed into his self, his heart, like a myriad of daggers. Blades honed to such perfection, he did not even feel pain as they stabbed him.
There was no turning back now, once he had permitted her to begin weaving her Song.
Of him.
Remember …
He could not deny her, the demand gentle, but unyielding. And remember he did.
What it had been like to be bound to that vulnerable mortal flesh and bone, the suffering it had brought unto him, the fear. The deep satisfaction he had felt, somewhere, sometime, when he had finally consumed the last of his host's mortal flesh, and become impermeable to all that was not wrought of magic, or the power of the gods.
He remembered her touch as well, her fingers caressing his skin ever so gently, soothing balm to the scars that were not even visible after his ascension. Her lips, not moving in Song, but brushing against his, whispering sweet nothings inbetween kisses.
Remember …
Her tune, her melody still tugged at him demandingly, but what else was there?
A different pair of lips, a different voice whispering sweet nothings into his hear. A different set of fingers caressing his cold, cold skin. A quiet, knowing smile. A quick, mischievous glance from brown eyes dotted with golden flecks, and a wink.
Her.
Kore.
The past he'd yearned, the past of his dreams.
But it was the past.
He remained at the threshold, the borderline of what he was and what he'd been, hesitating. Then, for the first time since it had begun, he pitted his own strength against Echo's in resistance
Wait. He seemed to say. This is too much. Zero Dream They did not seem to even need words, anymore, but nonetheless she continued to use them, weave them together, mix their sounds. For this was what her power was - to mix words, sound and emotion, into music and song.
She knew what he meant, even though he had never spoken at all. Even though there still was no face to read the expression of, no movements to try and discern. Nothing that could clue her in, beside the very fact that she was here, within him, so close to him perhaps that it should have been impossible.
She had heard, and her song slowed, slower, slower until it seemed only the lightest whisper passed her lips. Music did not stop, could not stop, afraid that she would lose everything if she did, everything she had accomplished yet so far, and she had no way to be sure she would be able to repeat the feat once more. Thabara Whispers ...
Only whispers now:
Of the Past,
The Present,
And of an unknown Future.
The Past first then, the Foundation. But he had failed back then, his Kingdom crumbled, the dead wandering and lost, his Queen … gone.
To rebuild on that past would not yield a solid foundation, but rather result in the proverbial giant with feet of clay.
He looked at it. He looked at it for what seemed like a long time. His past was like a shimmering gem, with many hidden facets. Tempting. Luring.
He only needed to reach out and touch it.
Instead he turned his back to it, irrevocably.
I … am sorry, Kore.
He would mourn for her in his own way, and make sure she never would be truly forgotten, the one who had once been worthy and dear enough to reign as Queen at his side.
But to remember her could only mean grief. It would yield nothing, but the betrayal of the woman he loved now. The way gods grieved …
He had seen it, in Harmodius.
No, if he chose to remember, his relationship with Echo would never be the same.
So he turned his back to the Past, to Kore, to the ruins of his domain ...
… and instead chose to embrace the Present, new realm, new love.
The past four years since his rebirth would have to be enough of a foundation. It wasn't much, merely the blink of an eye in a god's life – yet he took from it what he could. The places he'd been to, the people he'd met and talked to. What they'd confided to him, what they'd taught him. His host, most specifically. Any trace of her soul was now long since gone, yet he suspected she'd left a gift of her own with him, or two. Something … Hm.
He was humming along with Echo's tune now, his voice quietly intertwining with hers, without ever realizing it.
His memories of Aislin brought him back to that day, when the Technomancers had attempted to drain him of his powers and leave of him only an empty husk, when – in the middle of it – the shockwave had hit, of that Grigori's betrayal. When the walls of self he had built around his host and his very core for their protection, had been shattered.
He looked at the shards now, much as he had previously looked at the shimmering gem of his past. He contemplated them, and then took what he deemed necessary, carefully piecing the walls around his self back together. Perhaps not quite as high, not quite as thick and unyielding as they had been previously.
He would not entomb himself again.
And yet, a certain amount of Stability was needed.
Finally he stepped back mentally, feeling rather accomplished. The walls, the foundations, they felt much the same as they had been previously. After all, he intended to remain himself, thank you very much. But he allowed for leeway, gave room for argument. The possibility to tear down what only lead to dead ends and reconsider. Ultimately, however, the final decisions would be his own.
He was King, Judge and House of the Dead.
Underworld.
Around Echo, the realm seemed first to ripple – a sensation which would make the hair of her neck and arms stand up on its end – and then to set. It was nothing she really could have put her finger on, but things seemed less in a flux now, more stable. It was what was most needed, mayhaps, for her love to be able to take form.
Stability.
It was then, that his hum turned into something more conscious and he Answered her Song.
By no means he was as skilled as she, but it was enough to weave in the missing notes, to fill the gaps. The things she did not know of him.
He gave her everything. Zero Dream She waited, calmly, not even once daring to look at what did or did not happen in front of her, not daring to let anything attempt to distract her from her task. She was also aware that there was a chance that things might go wrong somehow, much like he had thought previously - but instead of letting that fear paralyze her, she used it as fuel. As drive.
Her awareness was completely spent on her task, and to listening, closely, for anything that would signal her fears coming true. But it seemed like it would not be so - when his voice mixed with her's in truth, she knew it would not be so.
He gave her everything, as the world around her rippled and stabilized once more. She had felt it, but not once did she feel fear. He would not allow anything to happen to her here.
Nothing at all.
Her voice picked up again in truth, and she did the same.
She gave him everything.
Everything, even what she would rather not have shown, the parts of her she was not proud of. The parts of her that, before, she had done her best to hide.
Love each other as we are.
But then, the was nothing else to give. It was then that she saw it, felt it, quite clearly. Something she could barely comprehend, as if it threatned to swallow her mind whole. But yet she knew of it. Instinctively, she knew of it.
Likewise, he would know of her's.
The last piece of the puzzle.
She stopped, only for a moment, only for half a breath. Then it left her lips, almost silently, almost as if she had been whispering in his ear. This was meant for his ears alone, and she gave it back to him. Thabara His Name.
It began with his Wings.
They had always been the most ethereal, most ghostly aspect of his appearance, so it seemed only natural that these would form first.
He had had True Wings once, he was certain now. But he himself had torn them from his back once, a sacrifice all too willingly paid to … He didn't know what. But a sense of deep satisfaction was left, that it had been wholly worth it.
What had remained, were the ghosts of his wings, shaped by his mana.
Feather by feather they took form now, as if painted into the air by ghostly hands, the white mists of the Underworld the medium used. They flared widely, once done, proudly, a gust of cold wind roughly brushing through Echo's hair, billowing the fabric of the dress she bore.
Had they truly been this large before?
Betwixt their basis the mists seemed to coalescence, to solidify. There was the Stone, the one Echo still rested her hand against. But it was there as well, and it was The Same. The hollow of his Chest shaped around it, not filled with organs, but with the eternal twilight of his realm, the gentle play of light of the River of Souls, bordered by the mountains of Bone.
It closed from her sight soon enough as more mist seemed to be poured into an invisible casting mould. Yet the stately, kingly sculpture which formed, while familiar, definitely was not the one she recalled from her recent memory.
Taller.
Broader.
A face full of sharp angles and stubborn lines, eyes still closed as he focused.
It was as if all his stubborness, his rigidness had been carved into a block of cold rock and given human shape.
The last was the Hair, thick, matted ropes unravelling and heavily dropping against the length of this back.
He opened his eyes, gray, colorless as the rest of him was.
Raised a hand, flexing his fingers, as if to test them.
Well.
It did not come entirely as a surprise, not to him. While his previous human form had been entirely his, it had simply proven to be too small, too frail to contain all that he was now.
He stepped forward, closing the distance between himself, and her.
It felt … strange. He could feel the soft blades of grass under his bare feet. He could feel himself move about within himself. And yet … it was by no means as dizzying and distracting as he had thought it would be. During the past weeks and months he had learned, bit by bit, to focus on more than one place, but this was different. Echo, it seemed, had called forth more than his memory of how to take shape, much more.
He laid his hands on her shoulders, cold and white, big enough they seemed capable of crushing her. Aware of the soft warmth of her skin.
And at the same time …
He was in each of the Gates.
The Ground they stood on.
The Mountains (Bones) that were his borders.
The River of Souls gently moving Above
And
Within.
It all was his,
And he was
It.
He bent down, far enough to have charred, blackened lips almost touch her ears. He brought forward his wings, sheltering them, shielding them. What she had Sung of herself, still deeply resonated within.
There had been one time, when they had been this close, the mana which shaped their wings filling the other with their essence. But it was nothing, nothing compared to this.
A smile and a whisper, gentle, private, only meant to be heard by her and her alone.
Such a gift.
And then a kiss upon her brow. Zero Dream He touched her. Moved around her. Kissed her.
And yet, it was almost as if she did not dare truly believe it.
At last, however, Music stilled, and went quiet, when he spoke it, eyes at last snapping open to see him.
Her Name.
She smiled, purple-tinted lips parting just barely.
However, it was only when all of this was done, when her singing had stopped that fatigue slid right in. Their strength, once evenly-matched... in the last, it had not been the same anymore, she had known.
The world, his form blurred in front of her. When did that... hap...pen ?
Her legs were the first things to give. Thabara She smiled at him, and then she collapsed, right into his ready arms. He simply held her, for the time being, concern lining his face. She seemed so small, so frail.
It took him some time to realize that there was no real reason to worry, that she had simply spent herself completely. For his sake.
Gently he lifted the goddess from her feet, supporting her slender legs with one arm, her back with the other, careful to not get entangled with her golden strings. Her head was nestled comfortably against his shoulder. She seemed light as a feather.
The pavilion wasn't far, he could carry her there and allow her to rest.
Or ...
Well, at least here he should be able to …
He spread his wings experimentally, the gust caused by the sudden motion forceful enough to raise dust and flatten the grass.
His dark lips curled into a smirk.
A step and a half later, he was soaring into the air of his realm. Zero Dream She offered no resistance at being lifted and carried, indeed light as a feather. Perhaps she was simply not able to do - not that she would have, of course. Not when she was exactly where she wanted to be.
She clung to conciousness, just barely - her lips parting into a soundless expression of wonder as he took flight, and she saw his realm... him... in a way she could never have seen it before.
Her arms rose, to encircle him, hands meeting up once more behind his neck, brushing against the dreads, weakly. So different, but yet definitively the same. Thabara The flight was short – too short he noted, much to his chagrin – with the little palace he'd Made for her so close, more of a large leap rather. He touched down at the lowermost step of the stairs which led to the entrance, and he did so gracefully, perfectly. None was more surprised by this than he himself, and then filled with deep satisfaction. This … was how things ought to be. Going exactly the way he wanted them to.
He ascended the stairs and carried his love over the the threshold, curtains billowing and never touching him, and then lay her to rest on the large bed at the center of the hall.
„Sleep now, my love,“ he murmured, sitting down on the edge of the bed and gently stroking a strand of hair from her forehead. He was mesmerized, for a moment, by just how incredibly soft it felt. „Rest. I will watch over you.“
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:14 pm
Just Hold Me, Just For Now Zero Dream Awareness returned to her slowly, like a thousand feathers brushing against her skin - light and soft. Still, it took a few more minutes before her eyes finally opened, and she studied the location around her.
The palace. How had she came back here... ? She did not remember. Could not quite recall. Everything seemed hazy, as if surrounded in fog.
Had it all been a dream... ?
She moved, slowly, to sit, slender legs folding and the tips of her toes touching the bone surface below, and she waited, for a moment, for focus to return to her. Thabara He was still sitting in exactly the same spot he'd been when she'd drifted off into restful sleep, on the other side of the bed, in almost the same position even.
He had remained at her side ever since, holding silent vigil, just as he had promised.
But the gaze of his gray eyes was unfocused, hinting that he was keeping watch not over her alone. Only when he felt her stirr behind himself, he blinked and turned. Zero Dream There was movement to her side - something she was not quite used to perceive anymore, beyond the slow undulation of the grass - and so she looked.
...It had not been a dream.
She said nothing, though she watched, for a moment. Stared, perhaps, even, but the moment seemed over quickly and the goddess literally threw herself at him, burying herself along her chest. Rather different, but it was not a bad different. Not really.
"...Impossible, you said ?" Her very tone was smug, one of the rare times she allowed it to be, and her grin was impish. Thabara „I have yet to leave,“ Nergal reminded her pointedly, her sudden embrace not enough to throw him off balance. „But,“ he added, gently trailing the line of her jaw with one clawed finger, „it may perhaps prove to be less of a problem than I thought it might be. Everything ...“ His voice trailed off, the his gray eyes seeming to turn their gaze at something in the far distance. „Is easier now,“ he finally finished, forcing his focus back to Here and Now.
He had been working on the Bindings, while he silently watched over his beloved's sleep, the ones which would force the dead to return within a day and a night after he'd open the gates for the Day Of The Dead. The progress he'd made during those few hours of Echo's rest had been much, much more than anything he'd achieved in the whole of the past few weeks. It wasn't only his mortal guise which had grown and seemed stronger ... Zero Dream "Not yet." She pointed out herself. Did she have a plan for that ? ...Probably not, but so far things had worked out nicely enough.
Though, it seemed that leaving was not what was immediately on her mind, at least if the way she was idly tracing lines across her chest was to be a proof of what things might come later on.
"What are you working on ?" It was even more easy, now, to see that his presence was not entirely here. She did not begrudge him of it, but in fact she seemed to prefer it this way, rather than the way things had been - it was easier to see that he was focusing elsewhere, rather than it just looking like he was not listening to her.
And he was still right here holding her, so this was a plus. Thabara „The Bindings,“ he patiently explained to her, seeming pleased that she was interested. „For the Day of the Dead. The time is nigh, I can … sense it. And I do intend to stay true to the promise I made, even if I do not feel ready yet. This … Once I am done, it should ensure that the souls will return.“ He hesitated for but a moment, before he added: „Most of them at least.“ Zero Dream "Bindings ?" She asked out loud, before she realized she had cut though and waited for further explanation. Ah, so like... a way to recall them easily. That, indeed, seemed like a good plan. She had not even thought of such thing. Or that it was so close.
And it was that realization that hit her. "...Is the time draws near for that... Then..." She had indeed been gone long. Even longer than she had thought.
And the guilt returned once more. Thabara He nodded. „On a much greater scale than anything I did previously – in this life at least. The return will be the condition of their leave. I think … No, I am certain it will work like that.“ He nodded, more to himself.
He saw the sudden expression of guilt on her face, and even for him it was easy enough to guess where it came from. „Half a year,“ he murmured, pulling her closer, „since I have left at least. It is not all that long of a timespan, not from Our perspective. But still, the mortals' lives are short, and the children grow so very quickly. The Day of the Dead requires stable Gates, stable Pathways. They should work for you as well.“ Zero Dream "It... has not been so long for me." She admitted. It had, indeed, taken her more time than their agreed amount for her to leave, for her to exhaust every other option she could think off before entering her long travel, first to find, then to travel down the length of the world tree.
And yet...
And yet.
It did not change the fact that she had been gone for a long time, at least in the mortal and her children's eyes. Much too long.
"And for you." She reminded him, gently, not moving from her leaning against his chest. Thabara „And for me,“ he agreed, but he couldn't help but add: „Possibly.“ It still seemed … inconceivable. Sure, there was Gaia, and there was … had been Lucius. But both of them had remained within themselves. And not crafted a realm anew so violently from their own physical bodies. He remained sceptical.
Lost in thought, one of his hands trailed her long hair. In a stroking motion at first, then twirling a few strands around his fingers playfully. Hm. A faint smile graced his lips. Zero Dream Echo, on the other hand, seemed rather certain that it would all work out in the end. Or perhaps, was so hopeful that she did not allow place for doubt in her heart.
They had gotten this far - the rest... seemed simpler. Was it not ?
Music seemed to notice the attention her hair was getting, and felt both amusement and slight embarrassment. While still silk soft, the long strands had seen better days, with multiple tangles overtaking it over the course of her travel and her stay here. Her strings only fared slightly better, but they were easier to reach with her fingers and untangle. Thabara He seemed to take notice her embarassment, as his smile certainly grew a little wider just now. „You must be more careful with these,“ he admonished her jokingly, „or else one day they are going to end up like mine. Certainly there must be a comb or somesuch among the things I arranged for you?“ Zero Dream Him pointing it would only seemed to make the goddess even more embarrassed, color overtaking her cheeks in a faint red, leaning just a bit toward purple thank to the splash of color along her cheeks.
"Certainly not. I do not think I would look quite as good as you do." She admitted, sliding her fingers along one herself. "There must be..."
But she was not planning on moving from here, thank you. Thabara He glanced about, actually spotting the item in question on the nightstand after just a moment. Yet his love did not seem inclined to move to fetch it, and she seemed nestled against his new form so comfortably, that he was unable to bring himself to disrupt her rest.
It would be easy to summon one of the dead to bring the comb … which was just barely out of his reach. This was silly, really, and also he rather enjoyed the privacy they had right now. His fingers would do, he decided, beginning to untangle the blue-and-purple strands. Zero Dream He seemed to have decided his fingers would do fine enough, and she was not about to complain. After all, she was not very keen at the idea of letting him move either, after all.
She remained still, beside tilting her head to allow for better access for his fingers, her wings humming gently, the sound a tad softer than usual. She was still worn from her previous feat, that much was evident. Thabara His new claws specifically, did a more than satisfactory job at untangling the strands and undoing the knots. „I wonder,“ he murmured softly after a while, „this shape … It seems unlike any mortal guise I may have worn before. I seem to remember something more … ascetic?“ He paused, momentarily, to flex the fingers of his currently unoccupied hand, wondering what it might mean. If this form truly reflected what he was like, and if it indeed was different from before ... „It does not matter,“ he decided abruptly, just barely a moment later.
The hum of her wings was calming, soothing. He had missed it. Not like it had ever truly stopped ... But in his previous form it had been drowned out by the voices of the dead, most of the time. Now … Now he was here most, though he was still there as well, all around them. The air they breathed, even, or what they thought to be air due to instincts and reflexes left over by their mortal hosts. He did not think he had ever known what it was like to suffocate until Bael … He frowned, tugging at one of the knots furiously, with undue force and apologizing for it the next moment.
„I wonder,“ he mused, after some time had passed in silence, „always have wondered, but never dared to ask, I think – would you allow me to try and play your wings …?“ The sugestion was both, sincere and playful the same. Zero Dream She had been about to answer his question, but he seemed to move on just as her purple lips parted, and so she decided to let it be. Beside, she would not have much to say - as she did not remember much. Her shards of memories came in sound rather than images, most of the time. And even then, they were vague, blurred. She likely would not even be able to tell him if his voice actually sounded the same.
There was a sudden pull at her hair, though, more vivid than the idle pulling there and there that happened on matter how careful one could be in a task like this, and her ears flattened back much like a cat's would have, tail giving an irritated snap as it hit the side of the bed, almost like a whip cracking though the air. His apology was likely what saved him from anything worse, though she had remained silent.
Though at the question her smile returned - full of mischief, impish. "...Maybe." Her wings folded, temptingly out of reach. It seemed he would have to make up for that blunder first. Thabara Nergal quirked a brow. However high the toll was she'd paid to call him back into this form, her brief rest seemed to have restored enough of her strength to be up to playing games again. So he leaned down a little, letting go of her hair for the time being, instead resting his index finger underneath her chin to gently bring her face up to his before he kissed her. There, that ought to do it.
His other hand ran along her wingspan, which had not been completely out of reach. She seemed so petite compared to his massive frame! He touched upon the golden strings ever so lightly, careful to not hurt her by accident with those long, sharp fingernails of his. The tune … was mesmerizing, and Nergal stilled, realizing he had never heard it before.
„It is strange,“ he mused, once their lips parted. „You seem to prefer the instruments crafted by the mortals. Why is that so?“
Part of his mind insisted he should not be sitting here, and make idle conversation with his love. There was so much work left to be done, a realm to be remade and shaped, ages of judging to catch up to, legions of dead still wandering and lost … But her skin was warm and soft against his, her physical closeness the only kind of touch he'd ever welcome. There were things to catch up to here as well.
Zero Dream At the very least, that seemed to provide distraction enough for those wings to spread out once more, allowing more than enough distance for him to reach easily. She had been small next to him even beforehand, but now the difference was even more flagrant, and it looked like the slightest wrong movement would hurt her.
Of course, by now, they both knew better. The bruises and cuts she had acquired on her descent had long since faded, but their memory was a reminder that Music was, perhaps, more resilient than she had even thought.
The question came just as she had been about to reach out and kiss him again, making her pause in mid-movement. "I..." She seemed pensive - as if she had not exactly thought much about it before. "...When you look at a master's instrument, beautifully crafted and tuned to perfection... Is that not the greatest offering ? To me ?" And, perhaps it was leftover mortal influence, but she rather liked the weight of something in her hands, the texture of metal and wood, and how every last one of them sounded different. "Not one of them sound completely alike. Each has a song of it's very own, maybe even reminiscent of their crafter. They do say well-loved objects develop souls of their own..."
That was that, however, and her lips pressed onto his' once more. Thabara „Hm …“ He said pensively, but didn't have a chance to utter more on the matter, as his lips were sealed by hers once more. He did take mental note of this, however, objects with a soul of their own. He stored it far at the back of his mind, where – for now – the matters of his realm that needed tending to remained as well.
He grasped her delicate torso with both hands, as he leaned back, pulling the goddess down with him as he let himself sink into the pillows of her bed.
Yes … this was definitely one of the things he had missed with only the Realm as his body. Zero Dream Which, apparently, happened to suit her just fine. Though, one fact seemed to dawn onto her belatedly.
With him being naked, that meant she would have no fun undressing him.
Oh, bother.
But she would make do. Her slender hand caressed at his cheek, after wriggling free of one sleeve of her coat, a telltale hint. As if the look in her eyes was not hint enough of what was crossing her mind at the moment.
That would be it, though. She couldn't make it too easy for him now, couldn't she ? Thabara He leaned into her caress, eyes half closed, enjoying the touch of her warm soft skin against his cold, stone cold …
There was mirth in her eyes, bright blue flames dancing in rhythm with the quickening sound of her breathing, the hum of her wings. Even for him, it was all too easy to guess what it was that she wanted, demanded of him. Clearly, he had been much neglecting his duties as her husband to be …
Her weight upon him was easily supported, barely noticeable even, so aiding her in getting out of her coat, and the gown underneath, was easily achieved.
Clothes, he thought distractedly. That might be a problem. He didn't mind to be naked around her, but in front of his subjects, or his followers … Offerings, perhaps. Have the mortals craft something fit for a King. And his Queen. His gaze grew distant, distracted for a moment, as he took care of that: Searching and finding a familiar Soul that came from Brilsworth was easily achieved, and he Bound it to ensure its return at the same time he unfastened the straps of Music's bodice. He sent it out, and then turned his full focus onto Echo, resisting the urge to apologize that his attention hadn't been towards her alone.
The time in which he'd been hers alone had been brief, and it was over now. Kore … had always been second to his Realm, he knew that well. Here was hoping Echo and the children would at least be equal. He hoped he had changed that much at least, he thought, as he stripped her of her last item of clothing. He hoped she was willing and ready to share him, with all that he was.
„I love you,“ he whispered, pulling her close.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:16 pm
Matters of Creativity and Lament Echo had come to notice a pattern in the span of the months she had remained here, in the Underworld, with her beloved. And that pattern was that he only seemed to make while she was not paying attention. Which, due to the lack of things for her to do, mostly meant that he only truly shaped the world around them while she was asleep. That fact amused her, deeply, most likely more than it should have. There had been vague disappointment at the start of her stay here that he did so, of course, as her curiosity knew little respite – she had wanted to see for herself, just how Nergal did it. Just how a world was made. But at the same time, she understood. And it made it impossible to be truly upset. The vague concept was not unknown to her. After all, people watching while she wrote, and trying to peek over her shoulder to see what she was writing was such a peeve of her. How many times had she basically swatted her aoidei out of the room when they had tried ? The only exception to the 'do not peek over shoulder' rule had been the cats, way back then, when they had been plentiful as Ishum kept on bringing them to her house, only to have them mysteriously make their home on her side of the house rather than Nergal's. One particular kitten had been fond of perching there, whenever she allowed her to climb her way up. She missed the little ball of fluff, rather suddenly – though it was how things where. But for all she knew, perhaps she was right there, unseen, perched on her shoulder as she walked. A silly thought, but it made her feel better. As time passed, there were more and more landmarks for her to orient herself with, lacking her love's way to simply orient by his location within... himself. The thought came more easily than it had once been, did no longer seem to alien. Music saw the rows of columns in the distance, and the throne where he sat now, and turned to wander along another path. There was still much to do, she knew. For now, she would leave him to whatever it was that he was doing now. It seemed that she was taking much of his time as it was – she certainly could occupy herself for the 'day'. However, she had noticed, before she had turned – he had been looking skyward. It had not been long since his form had been recalled, but Echo had already noticed he did not do so often. He had no need to, not here, within himself. Sure enough, she did the same. Music looked, saw the glimmer of one lone star in the sky... and understood. She had not noticed the vial having been gone from where she had set it for safety back when her little palace had taken shape, but she was certain that if she went back now and looked, it would not be there anymore. How long had he had that vial ? A long time ago, certainly. He had only barely left her sight after he had returned from his captivity, from which she still knew little. Certainly before that. Perhaps it had been in her sight all this time, and she had simply never seen it – perhaps it had never stood out to her before the day where she had found it, carefully placed in the hands of the dead little girl in the catacombs. Or perhaps, he had hidden it from her, and of course she had never looked. To be honest, she was not quite sure why. She had never quite gotten to know Universe – had only seen him once, she refused to count the first time she had seen him as one meeting. But perhaps he had gotten to know him better than she had. After all, she knew of his fascinations of stars, of the open sky. Of the things he could never have thought to have before. Perhaps it had been gifted to him for this specific purpose, a single star among a river of soul. The last remnant of a god now gone, though they likely had not thought it such back then. Even then, she could not understand why he had hidden it from her... if her love actually had done so. It was likely before things got solid in between them, in truth. Had he thought she would see something in such a gift ? Be upset ? Maybe. She would likely never be sure. Even now, after their song, and their sharing, they still had their own secrets. And it was alright that way. But on that train of thought, she could not help but wonder that, if she had been she who had received a similar token, from Desiderio, from Tian Yue, or from anyone else she held dear to her heart, would he find offence in it ? She rather hoped not. Dear to her heart of course, but not as dear as he was. After all that had happened, the good things, the bad things, the hardships and the tears, she was not quite sure just what would be able to change that. Perhaps she was naive, but she was quite sure nothing quite would. She had never seen him mourn, never seem him cry the passing of Lucius. But she knew better. Especially now, she knew better. Their daughter had said he had cried, and she, of all, would know better. She watched that single star for a moment more, before stopping and standing still. She had barely known Lucius. She had never gotten to understand what it had been that had him go to the lengths he had gone. Though, for some things, perhaps ignorance was truly bliss. She very well might never know him now. Underworld had spoken of summons pertaining to the matter of the sky... but had never spoken of a return. If Nergal was keeping attention, she would likely hear her sing, voice low and steady, calling upon her youngest son's influence for one moment – the wailing cries of the banshees mixing in the irresistible emotion of her lament. It was not for her. It was for him. No matter why he had kept her unaware, if he had done such, no matter what had happened, his loss she would respect.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:19 pm
And I Crown Thee Queen Thabara He was seated upon the Throne he'd made, of bone and stone from the houses of the dead, in a rather relaxed fashion. Or so it seemed. One might be sorely tempted to mistake his pose for that of reclining, if it hadn't been for a certain tension in his posture, the focussed expression upon his sharply angled features. As if there was something unseen that had his undivided attention.
There likely was.
He was wearing the garb the mortals had sent to him, several layers of heavy, thick silk. He could make robes of his own, here, but he had a feeling they would not last once he stepped beyond the threshold. Outside. He definitely wasn't willing to try his luck in that matter.
The gowns which had been brought for Echo, he'd left upon a chair next to her bed, for her to find once she woke. A pleasant surprise, he hoped. One more step taken towards their return to the realms of the living.
He did not move, except for the slightest hint of a smile forming upon his lips when he picked up the soft hum of her wings coming closer. Zero Dream She awoke to an empty space beside her in her bed, like the last few 'days' before this, like the months before now, a time that seemed long gone, a far away memory that would never return. This was nothing she was not used to, and so she had thought nothing of it. Just because she chose to rest did not mean she had to lock him in such a pattern, after all.
The growns were, indeed, a pleasant surprise to find, as her coat and pants were definitively looking much past their prime after being worn constantly for months. She examined them, one by one, until she finally seemed to make her choice and put it on, white silk, the touch of the material light on her skin. The goddess spent a few more fussing at her hair (it seemed her love's chiding about the previous state of her long locks of hair had stuck) before she finally left.
She had a good idea where he had to be... and indeed she had been right. She walked past the rows of colums that led to the throne at a leisurely pace, one lone star shining bright in the sky over her head, seeming even brighter when put next to the muted colors of the river of souls in the sky.
The sight never failed to awe her, even now.
"Dare I ask." He knew she was coming. No matter how far away he seemed to be, it was truly impossible to sneak up on him. For multiple reasons. Her voice was light, amused, as she stopped at the last row of columns. "How exactly you pulled this off ?"
In ways, he never ceased to amaze her. It was obvious who the practical half of the pair was. Thabara Nergal's eyes were on his beloved the moment she spoke, and not a second earlier, though there was a sensation of … bookmarks being placed, papers being shuffled into order and then filed away with, threads of mana being secured swiftly, but with utmost care, so they would not unravel while his attention was elsewhere.
With her.
Even though he remained in his seat, shifting only minimally to gaze upon her as she approached, there was no sense of him looking up – on the contrary, somehow he still managed to keep up the impression of towering above her. Above everyone.
The gown she'd chosen suited her well. That she'd picked the white one came as a bit of a surprise to him, it was such an unusual color for her to wear. But the elegant simplicity of the cut served well to emphasize the goddess' inherent grace and beauty. She carried herself with the air of a famed opera singer stepping onto the stage, captivating the audience even before she raised her voice to sing.
„Offerings,“ he replied simply, „sent by the way of Brilsworth. As it turned out, Her Royal Highness, Queen Julstecca III, was most grateful I granted her another chance to seek the council of her dead ancestors in these dire times.“ His face remained impassively as he told her this, as if it was perfectly normal, to be expected even, that the queen would send gifts of clothing tailored to fit the exact size of their mortal guises instead of incense. Yet, despite his noncomittal expression, he somehow managed to radiate smugness.
It wasn't the first time mortal gifts made it to his plane since its restoration, but he hadn't been so sure this would work, so he was rather pleased with himself. Zero Dream She had waited, silently, for that shift to happen, that sensation having become familiar over the past few days. It was only then that she resumed her walk, came even closer. The dress hugged her curves as she moved, but was not uncomfortable.
The last thing she wanted was him to lose work... so to speak. There was still so much to do, even she could tell, and the least she could do was to not inadvertently hinder him too much.
"I see..." Of course she did. To anyone else, the non-committal front might have likely worked just fine, and no one else would have thought better of it. But her... her, of course, she could tell very well the under layer of smugness.
"You are certainly the practical one, my dear." It had... never occurred for her to do such. Thabara Nergal noticed the pause in her steps, pleased at her consideration to not needlessly distract him from his tasks, but put to unease the same by how much it reminded him of courtly protocol. „The mortals have, ever since, bestowed the dead with gifts of fine garments, jewelry and such to take along with them upon their last journey,“ he said, rising from his seat and now definitely towering over the lithe goddess. „It seemed … sensible to exploit these customs a little. I asked for garments fit for a King – and his Queen.“
He bent down, brushing her colored lips with a fleeting kiss. Zero Dream "Each different race would each have it's different customs, I assume." There was curiosity in her face, a question worded into a statement. She indeed... knew little of how all this worked, after all. This place she had indeed visited in times long gone, but little remained of those memories of old, and voices told her little.
But that interest seemed to go beyond idle curiosity now. After all, she was now intervened in this world, no matter how distantly. There were still, perhaps, things she ought to know.
She rose her hand to brush at his cheek after their lips had done the same, before he could straighten up again. It was now painfully obvious just how short she was. "Perhaps you should have asked for high heels as well." She said, teasing herself in the process. Thabara „They do. Yet many of them have a great deal in common. The protection of the body, the burial, the funerary gifts ...“ He stopped himself when he noticed he was about to start a lecture. Still, it was reminescent, somehow, to her reply about his own innocent question as to why she preferred the instruments crafted by mortals over her own. It seemed to make sense that they should take interest in each other's domain to some degree. To what extent … Well, he'd already breached the subject, but she'd missed the hint, as per usual. She was about just as terrible at this as he himself was. The thought made him smile. „There are cultures which placed just as much importance on their afterlife as they did on their actual one,“ he couldn't help but elaborate, just a tiny little bit, „if not even more so.“ His smile faded. „Now the grand tombs are the only proof left of their existence ...“
He had been there, in his hunting for gifts to present in his feeble attempts to court her. It had been quite sombering.
„I am amazed,“ he picked up on the lighter topic, „that Julstecca wasn't thoughtful enough to add them on her own. Certainly she must have noticed your lack of height?“ He stepped away from his love, just in case retribution for his teasing was imminent. „She didn't think of adding a crown either, though that certainly would have contributed to your overall height.“ Another step away, though not out of the reach of her strings, he feared. Or her voice, now that he thought about it. Zero Dream Her tail of strings wagged back and forth more slowly, moreso like a metronome than anything else - it was always a sure fire way to know that something had Echo's undivided attention. And there was not much to hold her attention right now beside him. And that only became more apparent when a light frown crossed her features as he cut his elaborate explanation short, only to fade once more when he finally expended it a little.
Only to finally turn into a pout when... well. She had brought this one upon herself, she had to admit, though she remained silent, only observing him for a moment, some sort of scheming look on her face, much like a child plotting to do what she very well knew she ought not to do. But, in the end, she made herself stay put. There was a limit to silliness, and attempting to climb onto his shoulders in retribution was beyond even her.
Even though it looked like she would fit nicely. It was a little ridiculous.
There was another thing that stopped her, however. And while it was indeed true that Music could overlook things, it was hard to do so when he kept presenting it to her. That last crown statement had not gone unnoticed. But... has they not went over this before ? Well, not directly, but... She had already said she did not consider herself fit to be queen.
But... that was a long time ago, had it not ? Many things... had changed. Many things that she had not understood back then, she did now. But... perhaps he did not mean what she thought he meant. It happened often, that they thought similar yet different things.
She could not see herself rule, not a sphere of influence she barely knew, but queens... did not always do so, it finally dawned on her. This... this, she could see herself be comfortable with.
"Perhaps." She tooled her expression into a pensive one. "Though... I am, after all, so tiny." Music winked. "Too heavy a crown and I would surely topple over, hm~ ?"
Hey, if he was being indirect about it... She could play along. Thabara „Hm, not that heavy of a crown, no. I certainly would not want to see you crushed under its weight.“ He wasn't smiling. Zero Dream ...Well, at least they seemed to agree on this.
Maybe. If that had been anything more than teasing. Which it did look like from his reaction now.
"Well, then... It seems we agree on this ?" She said nothing else, and hoped a clarification would follow. Thabara „A lighter crown then, perhaps.“ He remained quiet for a while, thinking, and then decided to finally stop beating around the bush. Hints and innuendo had never worked well for either of them, and only ever brought about misunderstandings, it seemed. „Actually, in a great many of kingdoms – or queendoms, depending – while the ruling couple is generally referred to as king and queen, it is oft the case that only the one who inherited the rank holds true power, not the consort. The latter … has certain privileges, and still possibly wields quite some influence in the court. But any possible duties and obligations would be of representative nature.“ He fell quiet, giving her some time to think it over.
„Queen consort. It certainly is a possibility, what do you think of it? I am well aware you have your own domain to rule, your own followers to care for. And yet … I would like to share, but without burdening you.“ Zero Dream Ah, there. This was better. No room for guessing with something like this. Could he not have come out and said so from the start ?
Oh, well. She had enjoyed the teasing she saw so little of, even if it had been at her expense. After all, what was she worth if she was not worth a laugh ? ...Or something like that. She remembered many mortal sayings from her host, but vaguely. And not all the meanings behind them.
She grew pensive then. This... this she could handle, she felt. Her main focus, of course, had to be elsewhere. It was simply the way it had to be. But she could be involved here, as well. If he wished it.
She certainly wished it. She had much to learn, and she might very well stumble a bit in that foreign role... but he would be here to catch her.
"Then, I accept." Her smile returned, like clouds drifting away to reveal a sunny day. "...My King." Thabara He smiled then – a true sign of mirth, which actually reached his eyes, not his usual act of politeness. There was relief in it: He hadn't been sure at all she would agree to his proposal. Even without the burden of rule and judgment, the prospect still was certainly an intimidating one. He wouldn't have held it against her, had she declined. So it was pride as well, which crept into his smile. Pride that she felt confident enough to brave what he asked of her.
„Sit, then,“ he said, stepping aside and indicating the throne, his throne, with one hand. Zero Dream She watched for a moment, but she complied and did just that - he obviously seemed to have something in mind, after all.
And so she sat, her feet not even reaching the ground as she did so, saving for the very tip of her toes if she stretched it.
Definitively a little ridiculous. She could feel the bone, smooth under her touch as if it had been polished by many unseen hands, but it did not surprise her. That was to be expected, after all. Thabara She looked small on his throne, forlorn, almost like a child. He would have to make another seat, he thought, to reside beside him, for her alone to use. More slender, elegant in form, complementing her appearance and lending to her an air of authority even in his presence--
He was getting ahead of himself, he noticed, quietly stepping behind the expectant goddess, ever careful to not step on any of the golden strings which emerged from her body. Just as quietly he ran his fingers through her hair, expression thoughtful. He … remembered how to do this, but he also remembered that Kore's hair back then had been very different. Echo's blue-and-purple strands certainly would be easier to comb and to braid, but less compliant to remain in the form given to them.
A set of orders was whispered quietly, things to fetch from the goddess' dressing table in the litte palace he'd made for her, sending out a flurry of ghosts basically head over heals trying to get there first, eager to please their lord. It didn't take long, and the requested items (and then some) all were dropped into Echo's lap, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. A comb, a brush, pins and hair sticks and the like. Zero Dream The goddess rose an eyebrow curiously when items suddenly were dropped in her lap (as there was indeed a feeling that they had been placed there by unseen hands rather than created there, or called there per-se) but Nergal did not seem to react like this was odd. Ghosts then, she assumed.
But now, she understood clearly what he meant to do, and it seemed obvious, in retrospect. Nothing she quite remembered, but something that seemed quite evident given how he was, and what he loved to do.
Her crown would not be one of metal and stones.
She remained as still as she could as to not accidentally hinder him, only her wings and the very tips of her strings moving, save for her breathing. Thabara It was a strange and rare thing for his beloved to be so still and quiet. At another time, he would have been concerned if this really was what she wanted for herself, or if she was merely trying to please him. He knew better now.
„The dead,“ he said, picking the comb from the silken fabric in her lap, „shall only ever treat you with the utmost respect. None of them shall ever harm you, that is my Law. They shall aid you, if possible, and guide you. But you will hold no sway over them, Music, no true power but what comes from your own domain. To judge and to rule the dead is not for you.“ His tone was formal, as he spoke, and the air laden with his influence.
He began to comb Echo's hair, carefully removing all the knots and tangles. „Is there … anything I should add?“ he asked, directed only to her, in between. Zero Dream She had to resist the urge to nod her head - that would be rather counter-productive given that he was combing her hair now, and instead gave a wide movement of her strings, going back and forth in front of the throne, sliding though the grass with ease, before settling back to stillness once more.
"I understand." And it seemed best this way, though she kept that part to herself. As with the thought that she would, indeed, make a rather poor judge. "I do not... plan to be present when you judge." She told him. Music had seen him do it once and she could not shake the feeling that she had looked upon something she should not have seen, and it had somehow made her rather uncomfortable. She was not exactly sure why, but she knew how she felt. "Unless you wish me to be." Thabara Her strings slithered through the grass in a wide berth, filling him with unease for a moment. He'd never managed to get used to the fact that they were capable of moving on their own, like, say, a tail or somesuch. But it seemed to be an expression of agreement, so he only gave them a quick glance before he focussed on the task at hand once more.
„That is quite alright,“ he assured her. „I am … act quite a different person as the Judge of the Dead. Even though it seems to occupy a smaller part of me now, of what I am, than it may have before the Fading. Still, I am not certain I would want you to bear witness to it. I told you before, more than once, that I am not kind. Now ...“ He hesitated. „I may have learned some lessons of kindness, of compassion. But the fact remains, that I can also be very, very cruel.“
„Still. I shall call on you if it pertains you directly. Followers of yours, or those who wronged you. Would that be alright?“ Zero Dream She thought about it for a moment, before she answered. "Yes." She decided. For those exceptions... perhaps she could. But at large... no. Nergal was right - she did not especially want to see him as such, even through she knew better than to think it never happened. She knew of it.
Just as he now knew of this more vindictive, more selfish, not 'perfect' side of herself that she had so desperately tried to hide before, that rose when she felt she was being wronged, after her song. Their song. To have him know such things before had frightened her. But now...
Now it did not scare her, not anymore.
If he was cruel, then likely she was too soft, too emotional for such a thing.
But he knew this. Thabara He nodded then. „Very well then. For this, and nothing else, I shall call you to court when I pass my sentence. However, should you wish to be present for one reason or another, I will not hold you back.“ He picked up the first strands, weaving in more as he went. „It is not always punishment I mete out,“ he added, softly. „Though a great many certainly seem to think so.“ Zero Dream "I know." She said, once again fighting the urge to nod. He was weaving now - any wrong movement would undo everything that he had made.
After all, some souls likely did not deserve punishment. And she knew him fair. Just as one extreme existed, the other had to, as well...
Just as there were individuals that were kind and caring... there were those who were dark and twisted. She still rather preferred to think of those she met as the first category until shown otherwise, but... she had been a little ignorant of the fact at first. Perhaps because she had not wanted to think that one would want to hurt another willingly.
But now, in this life, in this rebirth, after so long had passed...
She knew better. Thabara „Hm,“ he said indifferently. „You do know. But who else does – among the ranks of the mortals, specifically?“ It was a rethorical question, one he did expect to be answered. He reached into the goddess' lap once more, to fish for some of the archaic pins of pale white bone which he used to secure the heavy plait. Modern bobby pins would likely do a much better job, he mused, but it seemed no one had ever thought of adding these as funerary gifts.
„I have always been well respected,“ he continued, thoughtfully. „But how much of that respect was – and still is – borne from fear? Fear of my judgment, or perhaps simply … the Unknown.“ Something he very much feared himself, he thought. He paused in his task, contemplating. Was this what had happened back then? Honest offerings becoming meaningless rite and tradition, only to be abandoned altogether, as there was no means of knowing what good it did, of what lay beyond the veil … Because he had rarely ever made himself known to the mortals, too busy, always ever too busy …
He shook his head, slightly. „You were quite right in pointing out that I need to return to the living with you. There is much work to be done here – but what good is it, if the mortals know nothing of it? There is the Day of the Dead, certainly, but that alone will not cut it.“ It required more interacting, he noted, much to his chagrin. With the mortals, with the other gods. New covenants needed to be forged, agreements to be made. Then, and only then, he felt, there would be temples built in his Name once more, not soaring high into the sky, but rather burrowed deep into Gaia's bowels to be close to Him. Only then there would be prayers, and incense, and offerings again.
„No,“ he murmured, his hands working more swiftly now that he'd gotten the hang of it once more. Or perhaps it was because he had finally made up his mind about … things. „There is just as much work waiting to be done Outside, as there is here.“ Already he could see that Echo's crown was turning out very unlike Kore's. Her hair was completely different, after all. Incredibly smooth in its silk-like quality, and a good deal longer as well – long enough, in fact, to cause him to add several looped braids at the back of her head, or else the crown would have become too weighty, too overwhelming considering her petite physique.
He secured the last lose strands, and then – after adding some ornamental hairsticks for good measure – he stepped in front of her and crouched down to eye his own work critically from the point of view of a mortal. There were still her bangs, and some loose locks at her temples, adding a playful quality to it, combined with the loops at the back. And that … was just fine, he decided. It suited her well.
The look of critical examination fated from his face, giving way to satisfaction, and then, a gentle smile filled with love. „Promise me,“ he said, affectionately running the knuckles of his right down her purple colored cheek, „that you will never hide that beauty behind veils. You … are not her. I know that. And I trust you to know it just as well. Promise me that you will always remain wholly yourself, and not try to live up to the shadow of someone who has been long since dead. She cannot possibly be replaced, not ever ...“ His voice was tinged with sadness. „And I can only fathom how much I have made her suffer, in my ignorance.“ A pretty bird, in a gilded cage, that was the impression he got from what remained of his memories. Yet she had always returned to him of her own free will. Love, he figured, had the capacity to be just as cruel as he was.
„Remain yourself, do not attempt to change for me. I do love you, just the way you are. Remember that, always.“ He bowed his head in reverence. „My Queen.“ Zero Dream She had eventually dared to shift, crossing one leg over the other as carefully as possible, while doing her best to keep her upper body still. To be honest, she was not quite sure how to answer that first question, though... it had not seemed that he wished for her to voice one.
Music could not help but be glad.
She had known that she had been right in asking him to return with her, of course, even if most of her reasons were somewhat selfish - though this had dawned her mind, as well.
It was only when he came to crouch in front of her that she allowed herself to move again, experimentally. The braids where more heavy than the way she usually pulled her hair up, but nothing that caused her to strain too much. When his hand reached her face, she cupped her own around his, tenderly. Though his last request... "I... will not."
How could she even try to emulate something she could only barely remember ? Though... that still seemed easier said than done. "I will do my best. For you." Thabara „I would ask no more of you.“ Nergal nodded, slightly. For her, to 'do her best' was more than a phrase. She would stay true to her word, he knew it.
He rose then, his hand shifting to clasp around hers, helping her up. Zero Dream Her hand slipped into his' eagerly, warm against the cold of his skin, and she rose to her feet easily, gracefully even though she had to let herself slide down some of the way in order to get her bare feet on the ground. Her crown seemed to hold solidly in spite of her hair being so different than Kore's.
It seemed like he had something in mind... but she did not ask - it seemed much more fun to figure it out as it came. Her eyes seemed alight with a sparkle that had not be seen for quite awhile. Thabara Such grace … He would never get tired of just watching her, admiring her every move … Not that he'd have much time to spend on such idle pastimes from now on. But … he'd make that time, every now and then, he decided.
He waited until she stood at his side, looking over his realm, such as he did.
„Know your Queen,“ he said then. Simple words, but tinged so heavily with power, that it became quite clear it was an Order. And his realm, every dead soul within, listened and acknowledged.
He could not reach beyond his own borders, unfortunately. But with the mark his affectionate kiss had set upon her forehead earlier on – even 'outside' the dead would recognize her status, he hoped.
„And with that out of the way – how about we go …“ he hesitated, for but a moment, as he thought of their rooms within the Pantheion, „home?“
It wasn't home to him, not truly, not anymore. But, with all that needed to be done weighing down on him, it was starting to feel like a refuge already. The garden, the bedroom with the star painted ceiling, the immense pool in the bathroom … And, much more importantly, his children. Suddenly his desire to finally see them again, to hold them once more in his cold embrace, was almost overwhelming. Zero Dream And as he spoke such, she suddenly could fell hundred, thousand, million of pair of eyes suddenly locked onto her. But... that had to be her imagination. Surely it had to be.
...Was it ?
"If you are ready." Echo answered, giving a gentle squeeze of his hand. She did not wish to rush him... but she was, of course, a bit eager to go home now. And see her children.
Her beloved children.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:25 pm
The Return Of The King
And His Queen, Yo. Thabara „I am ready now,“ Nergal announced, standing at the entrance to the rooms which had been Echo's home in those past weeks and months – if time could even be measured such, down here. His words were spoken softly, as to not to accidentally startle his beloved with his sudden appearance. Her hearing was no doubt excellent, perhaps infallible even, but only where the steps of the living were concerned. She kept missing his, and it wasn't because his bare feet treaded the ground especially softly.
„I still … cannot say if I will be able to come with you,“ he admitted. There was a certain tension in his tall figure, lines upon his face that seemed deeper than they ought to be. „If it severs the bindings, I will have to remain behind.“ He looked … tired, for but a moment. The bindings had almost been done, by the time he had crowned Echo his Queen, and he'd been working on them ceaselessly since then. To grant leave to all dead, and – more importantly – to make sure they would be bound to return within a day; it was unlike any he had ever wrought before, he felt. Zero Dream Indeed, she had not heard him. It was his voice that alerted her of his presence, made her look up from observing one of the many ornament he had not used to weave her crown. Music had kept herself busy as she could until this moment, which had seemed to come quickly enough. Carefully she let it down on the bed and rose to her feet, walking the few steps that separated her from Nergal, raising her hand to carefully brush at the side of his face, as if trying to ease those lines away.
"I understand." She answered, softly. There was no way the goddess would complain if such had to happen, though... she continued to hope. "If you are ready, then... Let us go."
Echo had no idea how they would return, trusting fully that he would know. It had never occurred to her that it might not be the case - her trust in him infallible. Thabara „Hold onto me then,“ Nergal said, gently lifting Echo from her feet to carry her, as he had done previously. „The Gate we need is far from here, at the very outskirts of the realm.“ He kept her protectively cradled against his chest, as he moved down the stairs, already looking ahead and focussing on:
where
he
had
to
go.
If Echo had thought they'd fly towards the gate, she had been sorely mistaken. Nergal took ONE large step – at least it felt like it – and the landscape around them seemed to leap and blurr. They were in a swamp now, countless little soul flames rising from the murky waters like bubbles, only to slowly float upwards, and eventually join the river in the sky.
TWO. Rolling hills now, high grass moving in a breeze like waves, a seemingly endless sea of pale green. Menhirs, tall as houses, reaching towards the sky like petrified giants.
THREE. The deafening rush of a waterfall, crystal clear waters cascading down into a bottomless pit on a length of miles, where the realm still remained unmade.
FOUR. Zero Dream The goddess was easily lifted off the ground, light as she was, one arm reaching to loop around his neck for hold, the other wandering down to his waist. Her strings coiled around one leg with with obvious affection, but loosely. So loosely that he would barely be able to tell.
Music knew better by now.
She had, of course, expected they would fly, and was rather startled when they did not - ears perking up almost vertically in surprise and the grip of her hands strengthening on reflex. The space around them changed in a blink, then again, and again, and her slight was unable to catch up, making her feel dizzy.
It seemed much easier to simply close her eyes and let the strongest sense - hearing - attempt to keep up. Thabara SEVEN. Floating islands now, empty, barren. These were far from being finished yet.
EIGHT. They were at the outskirts now, a desert wasteland riddled with ruins, mountains arching up in what seemed a gigantic, petrified tsunami wave at first glance. At second glance … the peaks, the surprisingly regular spacing in between – a giant beast's ribcage perhaps, though even the dragons were not that big.
NINE. And this was where he came to a halt and gently set her down. Sheer cliffs, and then Nothing, familiar Void. As this realm had been before he had called the souls of the dead into himself. There was nothing hostile about the utter blackness they faced, it simply wasn't … made yet.
With the sole exception of the Bridge.
Ivory spires rose from the bottomless pit in front of the divine couple, supporting a suspension bridge wrought from bone and ropes of silvery white hair, not unlike Nergal's dreads.
„The Gate is at the other end,“ he spoke quietly. „Its location is fixed, as it is one of the very few old ones that remain. My realm … I … haven't grown far enough yet to reach it, but I was able to make this bridge. The catacombs were cleared, you said?“ Zero Dream And then eventually even her hearing failed her, as the dark nothing gave out no sound. She did not dare open her eyes again - not until the sense of being in motion had stopped, and that she could feel solid ground under her feet. One eye cracked open, her iris moving a little erratically behind - and was closely followed by it's twin.
The sheer sensation of nothingness was somehow less deep than when she looked into the sky - though having it spanning all around her rather than overhead introduced some vertigo of it's own, though nothing she could not handle, this being less pronounced by the dizziness she had felt from the 'steps'.
"Yes." She had only seemed to notice she had been spoken to a few seconds after Underworld had actually spoken. "Only one path, that I know of... but it spans from the gate to outside. And has been reinforced." Everything had seemed extremely solid when she had gone though, at least to the best that could be done with the materials. Allysia did not do things halfway. Thabara He nodded slowly. „Good.“ To have the ceiling of the ancient underground complex come down on them was pretty much the last thing they possibly needed after everything they had gone through. „I am eager to see what your followers have achieved. When I left, the tunnels were in a quite derelict state.“ He smiled, almost mischievously, as he wondered if he could possibly steal some of Echo's worshipers for his own. His expression sobered up quickly, though, when he eyed the bridge once more. He'd made it, and even the bottomless abyss it crossed was part of himself in a sense.
And yet … He didn't quite trust his wings to carry them, not so close to the borders, and some of his fear of heights he'd felt as a morphling still lingered. Zero Dream "They have done the best they could with the tools at their disposition." She said, raising an eyebrow at the micheviousness of that smile, clearly failing to see what seemed to amusing. A challenge, perhaps ?
But, that seemed not to matter much for now, and as his glance was drawn to the bridge, so was her's. It looked sturdy, at the very least, though this was one of those times she wished she had been granted flight - it would make these situations much easier to handle if something unfortunate happened.
"Well... Shall we go, then ?" They were so close, and she was eager now - eager to go back home, to her children, to her family, to her friends. To those others that also held a place in her heart, though different than his'. Thabara He merely nodded, reaching for her hand before he stepped onto the bridge. It was sturdy, never swaying the slightest under their steps, and it was broad. Broad enough to allow the passage of an entire funerary procession – priests and suplicants, pallbearers carrying their heavy load and mourners.
Or broad enough for an army.
„Do not look down,“ he advised; the words, perhaps, directed just as much at himself as they were at her. „It might look back at you ...“
Darkness seemed to creep up upon them, here at the very boundaries, as even the river of souls seemed small and distant. A good thing, perhaps, that the bridge was bone-white, and thus reflected what little light was there. Perhaps their unease was felt, perhaps Nergal had called upon them unconsciously – soon enough the two deities were joined by the flickering lights of the smallest souls, those he hadn't sent on yet.
Because, however many he sent through the roots, towards Gaia, towards Rebirth, still more kept coming in their stead.
Hades Polydectes, the Receiver of Many, that had been one of his many titles. His truest, perhaps, for now. Zero Dream It was so dark here.
His words, though most likely meant in good intention, seemed to spook her somewhat.
If you stare into the Abyss long enough, the abyss stares back at you...
She clutched his hand a little tighter, without really noticing it. The arrival of the tiny light - no, souls, she had to keep that in mind now, more than ever - seemed to reassure her a little. They no longer seemed to be scared of her, perhaps due to her being here for so long, as far as she could tell. Her free hand rose, and one came closer, brushing against it with what could only seem to be like deep affection, much like a kitten would rub it's head against it's owner's face.
They were not alone, even if it seemed so to her.
Another thing she had to remember. Thabara It seemed a little ironic that the little ghosts which had huddled into his wings for protection so often, had now appeared to offer them comfort and company. To Echo especially, as it seemed, though he himself was just as thankful for their presence.
He regretted his words, he had not meant to spook his beloved. Truth was, that he did not know what was down there, only that it too was part of him. His darkest dreams perhaps, his subconscious and instincts, all that was raw of him.
Ah! „The Gate,“ he said, pointing towards a dim shape in the far distance, „do you see it?“
Zero Dream Echo seemed to perk up slightly at his words, as her attention had wandered to the small lights that followed them. "Hm."
She saw nothing at first, only darkness that seemed to stretch on and on. She squinted a little, and sure enough... something vague, in the distance. It seemed he saw though the darkness better than she - but it seemed evident it would be so. "Just barely." Thabara „Not so far now,“ he promised her. While that statement might have been entirely true in relation to the distance they had already passed, or the long way down Echo had taken to get to him in the first place, it still was … relative.
The Gate seemed much closer at first than it actually was, due to its immense size. It definitely was much, much larger on this side than it had appeared to be from the catacombs. Nergal kept holding Echo's hand, and picked his pace careful, as to not rush her. Zero Dream As they walked, the gate became clearer and clearer to her - and definitively bigger than the one of the other side, if her memories held correct... though, she had only seen it once. She may very well be wrong.
Time was relative here - she had no mean to know how long they had walked, King and Queen and Procession even, it seemed - before they finally reached it - made not of wood on this side, but bone, yellowed and ancient, unlike anything else here. The little lights stilled, apparently afraid.
The smallest souls... Children, he had often told her.
"Shh." She whispered, reaching out to plant one kiss on the one that had followed her closest all this time - it tingled, a little. Thabara Even Nergal had to crane his neck to take in all of the gate once he stood right in front of it. Chipped and worn, the surface riddled with deep fissures and browned with age. The delicate high relief carvings broken, their motives no longer recognizable. It was ancient beyond even their comprehension – anyone's, really, with the sole exception of Harmodius. It was one of the very few remainders left from the Age before the Fading. Compared to it, even the ruins found in the desert wastelands of is realm breathed newness.
The doors did not seem like they were meant to ever be opened again, and yet he had stepped through them … how often? Thrice, until he had finally been strong enough to fill the void beyond.
Gingerly he ran his fingers across the surface. It looked like ivory, but he knew better. Still, he wondered whose bone this was. He was, however, interrupted in his contemplations by the soothing sound Echo made, and he turned just in time to see her plant a gentle kiss upon one of the tiny ghost flames. He quirked a brow in amusement, but said nothing to it, the door quickly capturing his attention once more. He'd never opened it consciously, not this one.
He pushed, tentatively.
And that did it, quite nicely. The doors swung open.
The octagonal room beyond was familiar to both of them, but now seemed claustrophobically small compared to the vastness on this side. Zero Dream She recognized the other side indeed - that room in the catacombs, in which both Ishum and Ianthe - ...had she told him about Ianthe ? She could not remember - had attempted to open it from the other side, with no success at all.
It looked different, somehow... but she could not place it.
She did not move just yet, looking sideways to her love for a moment. Suddenly this seemed much more real, and now she was not quite sure what would happen.
If this would work at all.
There was only one way to find out.
She took one step - slowly - toward the other side, though still not quite entering it. If he did not move, she would stop, and wait for him to do so. Even had she wanted to do so, it was impossible for her to physically drag him even if she pulled as hard as she could, after all. Thabara He noticed her hesitation instantly, and he could well guess the reason for it – but he merely shook his head once he caught her glance. „You go first,“ he insisted. „Should anything happen, I do not want you to get caught up in it.“ Zero Dream She did not want this to happen. This, of course, was evident, mostly in her eyes, who once again moved erratically, having not much in term of sound to attune themselves to, but instead truly dictated by her emotions.
It was the safest thing to do, especially as they did not know what was gonna happen. But that was the one point. If something happened, and she went first, who would help him ?!
She looked like she was going to argue, but...
...It was the safest thing to do.
The goddess lingered for a moment longer, before she finally let go of his hand, and stepped forward. A few of the tiny lights followed her, curiously enough. Thabara For a moment he thought she was going to argue, he knew that stubborn look of hers all too well, the way the light seemed to flare up in her strange and beautiful eyes.
But then:
A quiet breath, akin to a sigh, and her hand withdrew from his as she stepped forward. Her gaze was like an unspoken challenge to follow her, as she glanced at him over her shoulder; but he could also clearly see her worry, her concern for him. Some of the unearthly floating lights followed her, like an escort, and that took him by surprise – effectively silencing him the moment he'd opened his mouth to say something reassuring to his love.
But … he hadn't yet …
His gaze dropped, and he curiously took note of the fog, the miasma of the dead, slowly overflowing the threshold.
But of course.
Once the gate had been opened, the passage was fluent. There were no clear borders, but rather an overlap, a point where the planes of the living and the dead blended.
No, co-existed, more like.
The bindings?
There was no strain upon them yet. With the overlap – and it was especially strong with him around – those little ghosts were technically still within his realm.
He took a deep breath – a nervous habit that still remained with him, his days as a mortal not too long past – and took one step beyond the threshold, bare sole touching upon cold stone instead of the smooth bone of the bridge. It was like trying to wade through quicksand. He made another step, entering the sanctuary beyond the gate completely. It seemed claustrophobically small compared to when he'd last been there.
„It think,“ he said, taking another step, „that went over rather--“ Gray eyes went wide, with surprise rather than true shock, and then he crumbled. Zero Dream She had taken a few steps inside the room, which was mostly as she remembered, though cleared more thoughtfully and seeming a little more.... final.
And then she turned, stilling, her new little 'friends' stilling with her, hovering by the edge of the fog's reach, not daring to go any further.
He followed her, and all seemed well, until...
Until.
Echo said nothing, but the tune of her wings kicked up a notch in panic, and she darted forward to catch him. This was not a very well thought-out plan by any stretch of the imagination - she had indeed managed to catch his arm, but lacked the strength to support him.
Or, apparently to stay upward herself, as she could not stop his falling. Thus, she lost balance and felt herself, with a startled scream. Thabara He felt … too dizzy, too overwhelmed, to be aware of Echo touching him, trying to catch him as he was brought down to his knees. Even her startled outcry went by unnoticed, as he struggled against laws that were not his own – gravity, atmosphere. Life itself. This was Her domain and he did … not feel welcome, to say the least.
What more, what had come to him rather easily within himself – the split attention between being realm, and a person within the realm – now was incredibly distracting as he had stepped …
Outside.
Focus. You still are one and the same.
Like an outstretched limb, a feeler, a tendril, a part of him that extended past the borders of his self--
--yet fully himself as well.
Himself, outside of himself.
He drew a deep breath, trying to do so calmly. The cold, hard stone underneath his palms and soles, the damp air, it's pressure against his skin, against his self … It all felt very, very real, uncomfortably so. He'd never felt comfortable in the living worlds, but now that sensation seemed to have increased tenthousandfold.
He was weak here.
Vulnerable.
Focus, damn it!! The bindings, are they still intact?
There was a promise he made and intended to live up to.
And yet, there was this distracting presence close to him.
The woman he loved.
„Echo,“ he breathed, „I am … fine. I think. But help me … focus. As you did before. The promise I made, I must keep it.“ Zero Dream She refused to let go, almost as if afraid that he might simply... fade away if she even dared to let go of her two-handed grip on his arm.
Such a foolish thought, but not that far-fetched. Panic, after all, knew no logic.
It was only when he finally spoke to her that she seemed to calm down, only slightly. For a moment, Music had been afraid her love had simply... passed out.
But it was no so.
He made a request of her, and she understood immediately. And she remembered what he meant. What she had done so many times before, less he drift away once more.
Echo sang as she had done then, but that was not all - her deathgrip loosened, and she let go, slowly, only to take on in another way, enveloping him the best she could, sliding her arms loosely around his neck and letting his head rest against her side.
She was right here, and she was not going anywhere unless he did as well. Thabara Her song was offering both, guidance and focus at once, allowing him to sort through the onslaught of impressions, and – in the end – come to rest in the center of the storm. Her presence, her scent, her warmth … the soft touch of her skin against his … it all seemed much more real, more prominent, than it ever had in his own realm. Even as they made love with each other.
His domain … it was only a shadow, after all.
He leaned into his lover's embrace, sought the comfort she offered, but did not dare to hold onto her, concerned that he might bring her down and hurt her by sheer accident.
His domain. A shadow, yes. An echo, a shallow immitation of the planes of the living. And yet, it was his. The last stop, the final destination, where judgment was finally met by those who'd escaped it while the blood still ran hot in their veins.
Wholly his, and wholly himself.
His jaw set as he focused on the bindings, ignoring his own nausea. Not a single part of the intricate knotwork had become undone. It would hold, he found, even with the main part of himself being Outside.
The promise.
Not yet. Not yet. He wasn't sure it was time yet, had the festivities already started? He needed to find out first.
Clinging to her song he rose back onto his feet, shuddering slightly. „I am fine, thank you,“ he claimed. Zero Dream Echo only stopped with her song when he finally rose to his feet again... a little wobbingly. She said nothing about that, but did give him The Look - that one that made it known that she was not quite sure about that. She moved, quickly, to position herself as his side again, to try to catch him if he fell again.
As futile as such a thought was, but she could not quite quell the urge in another other way than doing so.
Her ears seemed to dart, standing almost nearly vertically again. She could hear the faintest sounds, far, so far above, but it was too far for even her to identify. Too distant. Too far up.
"Rest." She said, her voice soft yet unwavering. A few minutes wait would do no harm, after all. Thabara He nodded quietly. The distance to the nearby altar was easily closed, and he leaned heavily against the ancient monolith, almost sitting down upon it. He certainly didn't dare to hold onto Echo for support … She was far stronger than she might seem to be at first glance, sure enough, but that strength was not of physical nature.
„I am fine,“ he repeated, a little stubbornly, while inwardly still struggling with the sensation of being in two places at once. To be here, and yet, at he same time, to be aware of the place within without being within, though a part of him actually was? It was irritating, to say the least. It also was a constant drain on whatever little powers he possessed over here, in the realm of the living.„Lord … Nergal?“ The startled voice was unfamiliar, the dark-skinned woman it belonged to just as much. She stared at the divine couple wide-eyed, and then the open Gates in the background. She was clad in some skimpy form of armor, the skull-shaped pauldrons rather peculiar, as was the heavy sickle-sword she held her right. „Then you … must be Lady Echo, certainly.“ Finally the woman seemed to have overcome her initial surprise, and quickly sheathed her sword. She sank onto her knees, like a knight about to pledge their allegiance, and bowed her head reverently. „It is an honor.“ Zero Dream She remained close by, always in arms' reach, fretting as she often tended to do. Motherly. Protective. Those two traits of her had seemed to come out after her last bout of growth, and it seemed these were here to stay.
She had been about to say something when the foreign voice caught her attention and stopped her - she pin-pointed the location of the sound quickly, and had been looking over there before she had came into the room. Nothing was familiar about both the voice and the person it belonged to.
"And you would be ?" She asked, curiosity evident in her voice."Falcatta... ?" Another voice, male this time, called out - though the glowing runes in the distance would reveal just who it was ahead of time. Ianthe had left down there when the mortals had started to come in - even as covered as possible, he still seemed to frighten most of them. Beside, he had work to do here - this was the only Gate he knew of, and such he had to make sure it was well protected...
The aoide stopped dead in his track when he was the two - but, most perticularly, Nergal, his living eye going wide, while it's decayed twin seemed to remain impassible. He knelt, as smoothly as he was able. "Lord... I am rejoiced that you seem well." He seemed to know something the others did not, but remained quiet, save for the relief in his voice. He was different, very much so, even in comparison to his ancient, decayed memories, but there was no doubt that is was, indeed, his lord standing there.
More than anything else, perhaps, it would be the two bone stubs emerging from his back - once wings similar to Ishum's - that would reveal him as aoidei. Thabara „I am Falcatta, honored Lady,“ the woman confirmed, still keeping her gaze to the ground, though to look at the fog that flooded in from beyond the Gate was just as unsettling as it was to look at the two deities directly. She could have sworn there were faces visible in the misty substance for but a moment. „It is my blade-name. I am a Death Knight from the desert-lands of Mot, the last to remain, possibly. I … volunteered to stand guard here, so that your son could join the festivities in your honor.“ Nergal nodded curtly, as if he knew perfectly well what the woman was talking about, even though in truth he didn't have the slightest idea. His form straightened as he moved to stand without support, looking down upon the kneeling mortal and … who was that again? One of the ranks of the Aoidei, that much he was able to discern easily, despite the rotting form. And just before he bowed his head and knelt, he'd caught sight of something akin to recognition in the remaining eye. One of my own, then. Or at least close to my former court. But no name came to him, not a trace of memory but a vague sense of familiarity which … might just be his imagination, really. „Report to me,“ he ordered. „There has been … admittedly a significant lag in the 'news' reaching my realm, and occassions of prayers were rare and few between.“ Or he had been too busy to even notice them. He would have to take care, he realized, to not repeat his past mistakes and meet the same end again. He might have managed to change to some small degree, but his weaknesses – his ignorance first and foremost – still remained. „Have there been any events of importance, since I left?“ Zero Dream "You sound as if you have traveled far indeed." The goddess nodded. She certainly had more appreciation of such journeys, now that she had experienced it for herself. Though... a Death Knight ? She had never heard of such a thing... but she had much to learn about this sphere of influence still. "Be welcome here, then." Music could not say much - after all, she was not the one being sworn allegiance to."Yes, my Lord." Ianthe went silent in thought for a few seconds, then seemed to have sorted his thoughts. "There has not been much happening as far as I do know. There has been no change in the sky in your absence, though your brother and Lord Tian Yue have left and returned on a journey to map the Yggdrasil, by the crown's request. I believe they are still organizing the information that they have gathered in order to present it to Creation. There has been no sign of the Grigori, as far as I have heard. All of these catacombs' halls are cleared now, though not all is finalized just yet, and I have been applying runes to protect the Gate. Was there anything else that you wish to know, Lord ?" In spite of his decayed apparence, the aoide's mind had remained quite sharp. Thabara „Thank you, honored Lady.“ Falcatta kept her gaze glued to the floor, but it was wandering, just a little. Enough to peek upon Lord Nergal's … naked toes?! She blinked. How curious! „I knew of my brother's quest. It is good to know he and the Worldshield both returned safely and were successful in their endeavour.“ So the sky had still not been restored? It made sense, considering the information the Spirit Guide and his companion had gathered was needed for the endeavour. And still no sign of the Grigori either. He did not know if he should feel glad about it or not, but decided to let the matter rest.
„You mentioned festivities in my honor. The day of the dead, has it already started?“ As if on cue, he could sense the dead stirr restlessly within. He'd hoped they'd arrived early. That he would have a little more time to prepare.Zero Dream "The festivities have started not too long ago, my Lord." Ianthe's gaze was also held respectively low. There had not seemed to be recognition so far in his Lord's voice, but perhaps that was an hidden blessing. He had, after all, disobeyed an order by staying behind... Remembrance or not, his loyalty would remain. "Under the careful eye of your youngest son, actually. I have come here to continue applying runes and in hope I would not accidentally scare anyone by remaining here.""Akakios ?" Echo asked, one eyebrow rising in surprise. That he would have taken it upon himself to do something like this... no, not on his own, of course not... but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like something he would indeed do. "He is not alone, I hope ?""Do not fet, my Lady - Ishum has not left his side ever since I have." Thabara „Akakios has …?“ Nergal seemed about just as stunned as Echo at first, but then he allowed himself a tiny, but nonetheless proud, smile. His son~!
„Well then, in that case we should make haste. Everyone will be waiting.“
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:30 pm
Ascent and Descent Echo had watched, as silently as she was able without straining herself, as the last preparations were taken care off. There was little she could do about that, for the bindings were under his control alone – and so she settled for being the least distracting possible. They were so close now, and she was home, a relief all of it's own for the goddess. Not that the Underworld was a bad place in itself... but there had been something about it, that she could not have explained, and had never mentioned less he felt guilt. Something that she had not noticed until she had returned here, until they had passed the gate. It was as if the air down there had been heavier, slowly sapping at her in some unexplainable way, as if she had became a wilting flower. Little did the goddess know that what she had considered air had not been air at all, and that the realm itself had a similar effect on almost every living being. She could not have remained there forever, she now realized. Not that she had planned to, and not like he would have allowed her, either. Not without becoming something she was not meant to be. They had scaled their way upward not so long ago, and the tunnels were much different than she had remembered them being. More stable, more... complete. There were also more of them cleared out than she remembered. It seemed that the restoration of the catacombs had not stopped with her leaving, which brought her pride. It was good to know she did not need to be constantly around for things to get done. Nergal had stopped a few steps away from the exit toward the festival grounds to finish whatever it was that he needed to, but she had taken a few steps forward to peer curiously ahead. The first thing the goddess looked for was the sky – and it was the same inky, unnatural blackness that answered her gaze. Nothing had seemed to change on this front, even with how long she had been gone. Many months, she had come to realize, if it was already time for the day of the dead. The sounds and the music she had heard clearly a long time ago, about halfway though their ascent, so there was no surprise when she saw the mortals gathered in the distance. So many of them, even now... more than last year, it looked like. From this distance, however, she could not see any familiar face... and none of her children. Where were they ? Most likely right there, but lost within the crowd. She wanted, no, needed to see them so badly, like an ache that threatened to split her soul in two. It was then that the wisps darted past her, returning her attention fully to the here and now. Nergal was not far behind, holding his hand for her to take. In front of them, the wisps shifted, into the forms they had once held. It was time, and her hand, so small compared to his, slid into place, peach and white fingers interlocking. This was not simply a return, she knew, but a procession. The descent of a king. And his queen. His steps were bigger than hers, and more assured, but Echo did her best to keep up. And within a second, the music had stopped. And all attention were on them. Still, she moved with grace and elegance, like an opera singer emerging from behind the curtain, her steps guided by confidence and determination. For once, her inner feelings were actually in sync with what she projected. There was still uncertainty, but the goddess pushed that away for now. She would grow within her role of queen. Eventually. The smallest wisps, the souls of the children, never strayed far from the pair, and they had not seemed to materialize into proper bodies. Some had settled against her hair, looking like shimmering jewels in the darkness. The eyes of those present seemed locked onto the pair, and as they came closer she recognized a few faces – Allysia there, with most of her troupe, so to speak. Some energies that felt immortal, like the black cat that was trying to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Some felt divine, some of her own brethren having gathered as well. She could only smile in answer. She was home, finally.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:32 pm
Day of the Dead :: A Mother and Her Son Nergal had been rather quick to exit stage left, so to speak. It was hard to be upset when she was so amused about it, to be honest, even if that had left her to deal with the mortals herself. Which had never been something she had minded or even remotely had issues with. So the newly-crowned queen handled it all to the best of her ability – the questions, the greetings, the reunion in between lost ones and their living brethren – and eventually she had a bit of a respite, where most of the mortals finally dispersed to seek out the Lord of the Underworld himself, for what she could not have handled herself. Couldn't let him get out of this scot-free, after all. And so, she was left to look about the crowd for familiar faces. To be honest, she felt much more comfortable here, among the business, sounds and light, than she had felt down in the Underworld, surrounded by so many and yet completely alone for the most part. An odd contradiction. The lack of Allysia was a little worrying, but more so than that... Where were her children ?! Little did Music know, she was about to get a very direct answer to that question in the seconds that followed. ”MOOOOOMYYYYY !!!!” Came the wail from the left, making her ear stand straight on their ends, and sending a particularly thick group of mortals and ghosts scattering for long enough to allow a small figure to dart though, at least. This was not exactly proper, but it certainly was clever, and she was much to happy at the sight of her youngest son to think about scolding him, quickly crouching to the ground and opening her arms wide. ”Akakios !”The boy buried himself in her embrace, her arms closing around the short, warm form of her son, and all was well in the world again. He was just as small as she remembered him to be, which was a relief in itself. She had been gone for such a long time, after all... But that fear had been unfounded. ”Mommy~” Lament smiled, one of his rare, true smile, and then looked around. ”Where did daddy go ?” Ah, there was the question she ultimately expected. Akakios was, after all, very much his father's son, so to speak. ”I am not too sure where he went to hide to this time.” Echo noted, a pensive look sliding onto her fair features. ”But we will find him eventually, I am certain. But oh, can you show me around, my dear ? I am eager to see your hard work in action.” Of course she knew well, very well, that he had not managed all this on his own. It was simply impossible. But Akakios, from what she heard, had been the one to put all this in motion, and that was worth praise in itself. Her little boy gave a prideful grin, and wriggled out of her embrace, waiting for her to rise to stand again, and holding out his hand for her to take – not the other way around. “I'll show you, mommy. Come~”She slipped her hand into his as best as she could due to the side difference, and he let her take the lead – which pretty much ended with him taking off and her having to run after him to keep up. She was not spending her day with a king, but rather with a little prince, and there was nothing wrong with that at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The cathedral had been finally brought down. She had heard Allysia talk about it, the half-elf stating that the structure was much too worn down to be able to be re-inforced and saved – but to hear about it and see it with her own eyes had been two different things, and it had made her heart sink a little. She could only hope that they had kept the bell, at the very least... After that, her son has dragged her back toward the festivities proper, toward the sounds, the music and the lights. The mortals bowed when she passed in front of them, as did the ghosts, whom she could only barely differentiate from the living. They did not look like stereotypical ghosts, not in the last – but she could tell, by their clothing, some still bore the wounds that killed them. There were a few booths set up, mostly of food items, some traditional and some not, and Akakios stopped for the candies, which came as no surprise for his mother, who instead used the time to have a better look around. The orchestra held her attention most of all, of course, and she had to resist the urge to just run up and involve herself – no, this day she owed fully to her children, if she could figure out where the other two where. It was surprising that she had not heard Sotiris by now, and she could only hope that there was someone with Lacrymosa. She could not see her daughter being able to orient herself very well with such a crowd. But Akakios did not seem worried in the least, so she figured she should not. ”Moooommmmmmyyyy~” Her son's voice dragged her attention back to the present, and he was indeed right beside her, holding up some sort of odd contraption to her. ”Try this !”It was only thanks to her host's experiences that she recognized it for what it was – a caramel apple. An oddly fitting choice, given how much her youngest son was fond of fruits. ”Ah, what is this ?” She still asked him, doing her best to look perfectly confused. ”Candy apple.” Lament explained, taking a bite of his own apple-on-a-stick, causing Echo to follow suit. ”Oh, yes, won't you look at that ? A perfect choice, my dear. It is very delicious.” It was an odd mix, the sweetness of the caramel and the sweetness of the fruit, but it was not unpleasant. Akakios was silent at first, taking the time to swallow his bite before speaking. ”Yeah. Come, mommy !” Taking her hand, he led her away from the stands... and right toward the orchestra. Her son knew her well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ She did not even need to try to take over the orchestra. It seemed to let itself be taken over the second she had stepped onto the stage, every instrument growing silent, from the violins to the trumpets to the... conch shells. Echo smiled. The conductor saw her, and knelt – holding her wand up to her. And she knew what it meant. What she had to do. She took it, eagerly, and turned to face the orchestra, taking place in front and scanning the sheets in front of her... ah, yes. This. She knew this piece very well. There was no doubt that she could handle this, none at all. Music rose the wand, and the music started anew, under the careful eye of it's goddess – Akakios sitting at the edge of the small scene to listen. Such a gift, that her younger son had given her. She would not move from that spot until this event was over, too absorbed in her own element, and the youngest son never minded.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:34 pm
Day of the Dead :: Last Kiss “...It's almost time.” Allysia had spend her day and night away from most of the festivities, most of the people – she was rather seclusive by nature, never having liked to deal with crowds much, and quietly avoided them as much as it could... which was easy when you line of work mostly required being into an office drawing plans. At least, it used to be this way... a long time ago. Even the return of the two deities had not rooted her from her spot, perched up a tree with the comfortable ease inherited from half her lineage, and it had not been long after that when two figures had joined her... covered in cuts and scratches, marks of the stone that had caved over and killed them. One man and one woman, too eerily similar to not have been twins. Her heart had lifted, but quickly crushed again. This would not last. Could not last. “He is right.” Reina sighed, already seeing the landscape change to her vision, toward a different kind of darkness that she had gotten used to. That there was still no sky, even here, had saddened her. She moved along the branch, unafraid to fall – what would a fall do to her when she was already dead, after all ? - coming closer to plant a kiss onto Allysia's forehead. “I miss you, big sister.” And then she was gone, letting herself 'fade' back into the Underworld. Close as she was to her twin, she knew Arastor and Allysia needed to be alone now. There was no one else she had wanted to see, so she had simply allowed herself to slip back early. ”I don't want you to go.” The half-elf muttered, already feeling tears sting at the corner of her eyes, blurring her vision. “I don't have a choice.” Arastor sighed, moving toward the dark-skinned woman in turn. Gods, he still loved her so much. ”I know... But that doesn't change anything.” She looked ahead, stubbornly, but he cupped his hand around her chin and forced her to look at him. “You're strong, Allysia.” He said, his voice soft. “Stronger than most people I've known. I knew I would die before your time, but not... not like this. You're needed, now, so don't even think...” Don't even think about joining me, he wanted to say, but could not find it in him. He watched her again, silently, for the longest time, as if wanting to take in every strand of hair, her beautiful blue eyes, everything else about her less he could possibly forget. “I don't want you to mourn me forever.” He said softly. “I want you to be happy... You deserve to be happy.” ”I can't do that, Arastor.” Allysia could not hold her tears in, now. He was growing more and more transparent... she would lose him soon. Again. ”You know I can't.”“Im not saying right this second but... Eventually, you'll be able to let me go. You'll have to.” He did not want her to suffer. Never wanted to. And then, at last, he kissed her, their lips locking together for what was probably the last time. Her last kiss. And then he was gone, as if he had never been there at all, and the half-elf was left alone to cry and wail. She knew what she had to do, but she did not want to do it.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:35 pm
Promise Me A Feather It was quiet here, in the gardens, which by all appearances had been taken care of carefully by the aoidei, and maybe even Adrienne for all she knew. The plants here thrived, even with the lack of sunlight coming in – Creation's magic, no doubt – and it proved to be a peaceful place to linger and rest. Music had sat at one of the marble tables there, fingers dancing over her flute, not to bring sound to life, but to carefully detach the pieces, cleaning the various parts and making small repairs where it was needed. Echo had noticed, before her departure, that each instrument started to show signs of accelerated wear and tear, and it had occurred to her that had likely grew too powerful for man-made instruments such as these. Even when holding back, she often ended up damaging them somewhat. Instruments made from a godly hand would require no such care, but... she had heard of Forge only briefly, and so long ago that she had almost forgotten. Had other of similar talents, the makers and craftsmen, been reborn yet ? She knew how to make, somewhat, but it was not within her skill to turn metal and wood into completely different things. Music had the knowledge, certainly, but not the skill. Her fingers settled into the task of undoing and cleaning, the action so ingrained into her mind that she did not even need to look down to perform it. And therefore, her mind wandered, unbound by the current task. It was certainly good to be back here, to be home, and to be with her children again. Her beloved children, who seemed no worse the wear from her long absence. They were certainly more resourceful than others gave them credit for, able to adapt to the situation around them with... well, some kind of ease at least. It went without saying that her darlings were also affected with the situation that had led to her departure, and her departure in itself. She had awoken alone this morning, but she had not been surprised. It was how things had to be from them on, with her and Nergal mostly walking different paths that would twist and meet in places. He had to take care of the dead, and she... she had to take care of the living. In her own way. And now, at last, she felt fine with it. She had not been awake when Nergal had spoken to her, explained that he would go now, worn as he was, and visit again soon. Yet she had indeed been aware, in a way, as if she had only been half-asleep, because she could recall those words, or at least the meaning behind them. The goddess rarely slept deeply, now. There had been no dread as she awoke only to a barely visible feather on the empty pillow next to hers, no worry that something might happen. Things were stable now. She had felt it herself. There was no need to worry for the well being of her love- It was the soft thud of an object falling on the grass that returned her to the here and now, made long, pointed ears stand horizontal in surprise. She looked down to see one of the keys had fallen from the table, and the incoming sound of pawsteps warned her that she had to act quickly – Music picked up the piece just as few curious kittens scrambled by to claim their new toy. Chuckling a bit to herself, she offered the little beasts her tailstrings instead, and that seemed to suffice, the strings keeping the kittens occupied as she finished cleaning her instrument, put it back together, then back in it's case. She could still admire them all, in a way. Each instrument was as unique as it's craftsmen, after all. Maybe she could even collect them, in a way, still treasure them ? That was worth a thought. Music lingered there some more, distracting herself with imitating the felines' purring before finally rising, and going to put the instrument back with the other inside the room that had been made for this purpose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The feather was still there. It was the first thing that she saw upon entering the bedroom, later in the day. She had expected it might simply fade away – after all, she had never actually seen Nergal shed feathers at all, and the thought seemed silly. But it was there, one ghostly feather, standing out slightly against the black fabric of the pillow, shimmering slightly under the light. The goddess sat on the bed and picked it up, gently, as if afraid it might crumble under her touch. It did not. It felt just the slightest bit cold, and the realization made her smile. It seemed solid enough, and come to think of it... Little Grace had a similar feather, didn't she ? Then they had to be long-lasting, even if apart from the god. This gave her an idea... Slender fingers wandered down to pinch one golden string away from her tail, twirling the length of golden string around the shaft of the feather, knotting carefully as she went. There was definitively more than enough length left to wind a few times around her neck and tie into a bow shape to have it hold. Maybe Ankou would be able to find some sort of clasp from one of her broken chains to act as more solid closure for the improvised pendant. She had many precious things, but there were none she would rather wear other than this. With that done, though... she had much to know, and was not quite sure where exactly she had to start.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:36 pm
Musings and Music Tsunake It had been a slow, but somehow soothing journey back to the Pantheon. The tempered soldier hadn't realized how much he appreciated the gift of company until it had slipped effortlessly from his metal fingers. James had his right to explore the place, but there was now a new weight on his shoulders even as he found himself mindlessly wandering, at a loss of what to do now. You feel responsible if he winds up in a less than fortunate situation? You never thought to consider that beforehand? The god was cynical, as always, deeply amused with his host's unease. To protect and serve indeed. Concern yourself with your own fate, rather than his.The marine stonily shifted his jaw, refusing to take the bait as he'd done back upon the downed ship. Physical activity had always helped to ease his mind in the past, though he'd never before had a mocking entity sharing mental space with him. It was why he paced now, wandering the Pantheon with no true destination in mind. He wanted to think, but it was difficult, knowing that the bony fingers of Famine were constantly trying to rustle through his thoughts. With selfish luck, James would return soon. It was easier, pitting himself against his fate when there was another to confide into. Arden soon found himself standing within the moss gardens, lingering there for a moment with a tired, almost bitter expression pulling at the corners of his eyes. How much more of this could he endure? Zero Dream ...And then there was the sound of a flute, it's melody filling the air.
It came from some paces away, from a small woman sitting near one of the tea houses - blue hair shifting to purple under the faint light of lanterns, strange wings folded against her sides and eyes closed as her fingers all but danced along the slender, silver-colored instrument that she had brought to purple lips, long sleeves much like a kimono's folded back at her elbows to allow her freedom of movement. Her fingers moved almost as if she had been playing for centuries - as if she had been the one to have invented the flute itself, and knew of all it's secrets. The tune was intense, unlike anything Arden would have heard in his life, and yet there was somehow a sense that the woman was holding back, that if she hadn't been, the instrument just might have shattered under sheer power.
That woman, while petite and delicate, somehow gave the sense of being much more than just that. She had not seemed to outwardly notice Arden, beside one long, pointed ear had tilted in his direction. Tsunake His life had been filled with the chatter of weapon fire, the scream of the damned and dying and the harsh bark of orders in his ears. That had been his music, his lullabies, and the burly man found his footsteps beginning to slow, dragged down with confusion. A high, piping note; it cut straight through his thoughts and simultaneously muddled them, wrapped around his mind until he found himself simply staring. It was beyond him to think that it might be rude as he tried to understand the woman he was seeing, her lithe, somehow alien features both unworldly and comforting. He knew little about the finer details of music, had heard some in his time, but found himself captivated now as the sound seemed to thrum through his very body. There was power in what she was doing, a strange and foreign sensation that failed to shock him as it should have. It was simply too easy to stand there, wondering. Quite a display. But Bazyli, too, was musing, somehow relaxed within the presence of a Sister so far along. Arden's lips were moving without his consent, but he allowed it this time, the bone dry whisper swallowed up instantly by the radiating melody. "You honor me with your song, oh Siren."The soldier stiffened at last, forcefully untangling the fingers that had woven about his vocals while his guard was down. That was enough. If the god could not even say us, then the man felt no shame in silencing him yet again. Only a chuckle drifted through his mind. Zero Dream Swallowed up perhaps, but not lost to the woman who sat there. Her tune slowly died down to nothing, finished - and it was then proven that it had not all been the flute play - some of the tune had come from her wings, and even now, it continued on.
At last, both eyes opened to look at the federation soldier - blue sclera on white and lighter blue pupils that shifted along with the tone of her wings, along with her words. "You flatter me." She took in the sight of the man in front of her, tail strings going back and forth, sliding along the blades of grass, much like a metronome. Power there, but faint. An host, perhaps ?
"I do not believe we have met." She said, smile traced upon her lips - pleasant and kid. "And who might you be ?" There was a sense of duality in her voice, the question addressed to mortal and god both. Ultimately, she had not known which of the two voices had spoken to her. Tsunake The same realization had come to the man when it seemed she'd stop giving voice to the instrument in her hands, and though he could not tell where the sound originated from... Well, no, wasn't it simple? It came from her, her very essence, and Arden could very much believe she, indeed, was a god. Her eyes might have seemed eerie if he hadn't been used to the bizarre, the glowing blue reminded him of Phazon and causing his hidden scars to itch. But there was a kindness to her face, and her glowing gaze was somehow as captivating as her song. He resisted the urge to shake his head, but forced his mind to focus; there would be time later to marvel privately to himself. "Arden Valkov..." It felt incomplete without his introduction as a marine, but the Federation was no more according to Creation. His voice was rougher than the first that had spoken, but gentle. He allowed himself to reflect heavily on that for a moment. Bazyli was pressuring his thoughts now, unable to seize control of his voice when he was so unwilling to give it, and the soldier briefly entertained the thought of withholding it from him. "...Host to Bazyli, the Hollow Mouth." Mutual respect goes a long way. He thought at the god, and it was his turn to suppress a faint smile as he sensed the disdain and irritation. Clearly Famine didn't enjoy being lectured. "Ah. It's nice to meet you, Miss...?" Zero Dream "Echo. I am of Music." She filled in with a smile, one hand going to scoop the side of her wide skirt. "Would you like to sit ?" There was definitively space for the both of them to sit there, mostly aided by her small frame.
Hollow Mouth... Famine ? She remembered well, when that influence had taken over All in it's grasp, for that one week. Perhaps it was what had the man so troubled ? Mortals, after all, had notions of 'good' and 'evil' that were much different than their own. Which did not mean she had to like the influence and it's effect... But the god, however, she would remain cordial to unless given a reason to be otherwise. Tsunake "Miss Echo." He repeated, his own lips twitching awkwardly as he attempted to return her smile. He hadn't smiled much these days. Muttering some quiet semblance of thanks, he slowly took a seat beside her, careful not to crowd her. There was silence for a moment as he tried to think of what to say, his mind blank. He'd never been good at social situations, better at grappling conflict than clever cadences. "...You play... very well." You expected anything less? His mouth pulled itself into a grim line at that. It was meant to be a compliment. Yes, perhaps it was necessary that the goddess of Music was immaculate in all things related to her domain, but... He could sense Bazyli's desire to speak, debated fighting it once more. But, he could also sense the god's tiredness, and knew that whatever conversation occurred would not last long. The soldier relented, and both of them knew that only Arden was allowing this to happen. "He knows little the wonders that Music can bring. It is good to see you so strong, dear Echo, considering the ordeals we've all faced..." There was a dry amusement to the voice that clearly did not belong to Arden, but respect nevertheless. He was not here to pick bones with his brothers and sisters, not after centuries of slumber. Zero Dream Thankfully, she seemed to take it like a compliment. "Thank you. You make a fine audience indeed."
And the voice changed once more, and now at least she knew how to tell host and god apart. "Indeed..." There was melancholy in her voice, and in those blue-on-blue eyes, at the mention of the hardships that had been faced. At least some of those events had to have been more aligned to Famine's taste - such was their nature. "But in the end, we pulled though." Things would have been... rather dire had they not.
"How do you fare so far ?" Again, the question was directed to both god and host. Tsunake There was another awkward attempt to smile, but Arden felt surprisingly pleased at that, relieved that he hadn't offended this strange being as he seemed often prone to doing. Both man and god listened quietly as she spoke, sensing that she'd had her own struggles during the time of the Gehenna. "That was... that ritual, with Creation." Arden ventured cautiously, having pieced it together thanks to his other few encounters with the residents here but never shying from the chance to expand on his knowledge. Yes, he'd witnessed it and understood little, only remembering with shock as the rainbow hued not-man had spilled forth from the pulsing cocoon. The marine would pause at her question, as though seeking whether or not Bazyli wished to speak, but the god of Famine had no words for now. "...Still alive, at least." Came the bland answer, and he'd leave it at that if allowed. Zero Dream "Yes." The goddess answered, voice soft. The marine had been there, then... She could not recall it, but did not doubt it was true. She had been so focused on her own song that she had missed many aspect of the Ritual, and overlooked many faces, after all.
Echo just seemed to know, or at least could tell in some way - she did not press the matter further, even if that left her at a loss of things to talk about. She was not really sure what she could talk about that Arden might appreciate, what subjects he might find pleasant. He looked like some kind of soldier, and Music knew little of war. Her expression had turned thoughtful, lips pursing in thought. "Would you like me to play something else for you ?" Tsunake The chance for company seemed to be enough to sate the marine at this point, and it hadn't dawned on him that there was a chance that his introverted nature was sabotaging any attempt at a decent conversation. He paused then, brows furrowing as though he, too, had recalled what had taken place. He hadn't been able to see much, true, but his ears still worked well enough--if she was Music, had it been her he'd heard...? More than likely. The request had his rough features cracking a little with surprise, clearly taken aback by the offer. Still though, he would nod, armored fingers twitching awkwardly before he simply had them settle in his lap. "...If you aren't opposed, I'd like to hear more." Anything to let him forget this hell, just for a little while. Listening had always been something he was good at. Zero Dream Ah ! This. This she knew how to do. "Very well, then." She said with a smile, eyes alight with some kind of inner fire as she brought the flute to her purple lips again. The tune that resulted was bright and uplifting, pleasant even to the untrained ear, though there were sublities that Arden might not be able to pick up from the rest of the melody. He would still feel them, most likely.
If the lack of sheet music or book nearby was to be of any indication, that melody was also made up on the spot... for him and the god he bore alone, though Famine's taste perhaps preferred darker melodies. She could not know for sure. Tsunake He listened and watched with no little fascination as the goddess again resumed her playing. While Bazyli might need to remind him that staying host to a parasite, no matter how powerful, was an honor by some, he didn't need someone whispering in his ear to understand this was a privilege. The tune was enough to make his lips twitch, feeling... well, better somehow for it. It was a strange concept, but one he could severely appreciate right now. As far as the god was concerned, this was the first time in a long, long while that he'd gotten to indulge in Music's talents. Later, perhaps, there would be time to be finicky. For now, he allowed the man to enjoy in the song, only settling back to quietly listen as well. Zero Dream The melody continued it's course, remaining just as complex as it had started, with the tune of her wings interwoven once more. It started to fade slowly, gently, before it had finally ran it's course and Music lowered her instrument once more, tilting her head to look at the man in front of her.
"Did you like this one ?" She asked, lips perking up into a smile again. She could only hope that it had, and that it had soothed him, somehow. Tsunake Those wings again... His gaze absently swept over them, wondering just how quickly they had to quiver in order to produce such fine, controlled sound. Before he was even aware of it, the tune drifted slowly off until silence gently took its place, and he met her gaze with another, somehow more natural smile. It was shy, too, but pleased, and he did seem more relaxed as he leaned back to tilt his head up towards the sky. "...Yes. ...It sounds hopeful." And what of all the men and women up there still? Mostly decimated now, but if they could somehow come together and regroup... Perhaps the sudden loss of space had taken out a good number of the Space Pirates' fleet as well, and it was a grim consolation. "Your wings... do they make music, as well?" He ventured slowly, unsure of whether it was too personal of a question. Zero Dream "I am glad." Echo answered, with a nod of the head and a smile. If the question was too personal, none of it showed on her face. Truth was, she did not mind. "Yes, they do indeed produce their own melodies, which tends to vary greatly." Mostly according to her inner feelings, she had noticed. With nothing else being played, their light hum was easier to hear for what it was. It was simple, but it was loud enough for most beings to hear.
If the strings of her wings were to be of any sign, though, she was likely able to use them as instruments as well... Tsunake "Are you... capable of flight, with them?" The soldier inquired curiously, feeling slightly reassured that he hadn't offended the woman. Goddess. Surely gender still made a difference between them--the voice in his mind was definitely male. Had he lacked any sort of proper etiquette, he might have reached out to tough one of the gossamer strands, but politely watched them instead as they seemed to tremble and hum simply because they could. More questions ticked away at his mind, and Arden shifted his jaw uncertainly before he decided to hell with it. It couldn't hurt--and if she was displeased, she could send him away and he would apologize and go. "...Miss Echo," He began hoarsely, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "...Your host... How did they react, to all of this?" Zero Dream A very valid question, that, she had to admit. "Unfortunately not. They certainly have their advantage, but they do not carry me into the skies. But there is little use for flight for I, beside idle distraction." Her voice reached well wherever she wished - walls and any other sort of mortal-made material could not hinder it. There was no need to gain vertical distance to be able to project herself best.
His second question was a bit more delicate, she had to admit, and she pondered it carefully. "As well as one could handle such thing, I presume. She had known exactly what would happen, and exactly what she was going to go though... Well, for the most part. I am not Fate, to be able to predict every twists and turns of one's life. You do have to understand that it was a long time ago and things... had been quite different back then." There had been no end of the world on the horizon, back then, and she had stood to see the end of Creation's long reign. She had been one of the firsts to be reborn, as far as she knew - few were those older, and many where those younger than her, at this moment. Maybe it was why Arden thought her fit to handle such question. "We found strength united, in the end - no longer two, but one whole. I will never forget her, for she has made me into what I am now... And everything that I have, I owe to her."
A gentle being, yes, but with the determination and the will to act when such was needed. Tsunake The man seemed somehow satisfied with such an answer, leaning back quietly. So, for their expected use, they could not perform and instead made up for it with a talent that seemed more than fitting for the goddess's domain. Not a fluke, clearly. His shoulders rolled with a shift of metal, quieting almost instantly when he sensed her considering her thoughts, not wishing to cause idle distraction. He wanted to know the answer--and some part of him needed to hear it. "I understand." He offered simply, his reassurance; a long time ago... So her body had been more goddess than woman for who knows how long at this point. Something in his hard-lined face seemed to soften as she spoke of her host, and the gratitude she expressed. He doubted--no, he knew that Bazyli did not share the same sentiments, and it was a sobering thought. "...I see. ...Did she... help you, somehow? Change you, that you know of?" Creation had told him as much, that he could somehow alter the god should his will stay strong. The man exhaled slowly, armored fingers coming to touch at his brow. Anything he could do to lessen the impact of Famine's rebirth... well, that was a reason worth fighting for. Zero Dream "I think we were... very similar in ways, my host and I." Echo answered, her voice soft as she remembered her time with Zero. Similiar in ways, but even in her own soft-spoken way, Zero had been more bold than she had, more willing to step up and do what had to be done. Less afraid, in a sense, than she had felt before they had become one.
Her expression then settled on a thoughtful frown, as if it was hard for her to find the words to explain exactly what she wanted to say. "And with the two of us together now... I feel... stronger than I have been before. More willing to step up and defend what I hold dear. Less... afraid. If that makes sense..." She was not really sure it would, to the mortal man. Tsunake His brows would knot faintly as she started to explain herself, understanding at least the concept, if noting that it was something that he was never going to experience himself. There were no similarities he cared to consider between himself and Bazyli. Cold, cutthroat, and merciless--the soldier found himself shifting wordlessly as though to shake off the thought itself, his attention still held by the goddess. "...Like you have someone at your side, even if she isn't really there." He ventured slowly, seeing if he could understand. "...She's given you strength in other ways." And that was what Creation had been talking about, it made sense. So what was there to offer a god that didn't care for compassion, for defending anything unless it was his and could aid him in some way? "And I am glad that her presence is able to comfort you so." It was the god that seized control to speak now, his voice a little hoarse, if not thoughtful. Yes, sweet, fragile Music. Let her take comfort and rely upon mortals-- it seemed more fitting than watching proud Fire bow her head. "He will learn to accept me." Even if that meant breaking his spirit before it was swallowed up, leaving his body free and willing.Zero Dream Ah, yes ! That was exactly it, and Music gave him a warm smile. "Yes, a bit like that, I figure. It is rather hard to explain... and different for everyone." That much seemed evident, but she mentioned it nonetheless.
Then, the voice changed again, from host to god. She figured it would have to be so. It was not like Arden had choice in the matter, but she figured it was better not to speak of it and accidentally upset the soldier. "I long to make others comfortable... is it what I do." It may look meaningless to others, but she knew better, now. Tsunake He could feel the man struggling against his hold as feebly as a bird beating its wings against the bars of an iron cage, and his expression remained devoid of any real emotion. Sympathy, amusement--none of it mattered, as he was fully focused on the graceful goddess beside him. "They need it now more than ever. It is your gift." And it was likely that her host had sided with her more easily because of it; had she been of a more destructive sphere, well...
"Mortals are quick to split the lines between 'good' and 'evil'. The sense of balance is lost upon them." Arden, though he would say nothing, would rather the worlds be too prosperous and wealthy than suffering from any sort of disease or death. Bazyli mulled on that for a moment before, he reached to take her hand, lifting it so his lips could lightly brush the backs of her fingers. "It is a pleasure to see you again after so long, Music, truly." He'd let her go then, watching her with a slight twist to his lips.
He wouldn't linger here for too much longer. It would be on his terms that this discussion would end--another victory to drive into his rebellious host. Zero Dream That was true - balance was more important than the concepts of good and evil. Too much good could be just as damaging that too much bad, at least in mortal perceptions of such.
She did not get to voice such thoughts, however, as her hand was taken and kissed. She nodded along to the motion, watching at host and god turned to leave, with the goddess unaware of the implications of that sudden departure.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:37 pm
Have You Seen My Parchment ? Today was a calm day, but it was from her own choice and will rather than of lack of things to do. It had been a long time since she had managed to sit down to compose a song. Much too long, and there was a longing inside her to do so, creative energy that pulsed at her fingertips and wanted nothing more but to be let out at last. And so she decided to allow it to. The goddess retreated to her music room, and sat at the desk, with a leather-bound tome open and with many pens at reach. Long, purple-tinted nails made a light scratching sound as she tapped her fingers against the cherrywood of the desk idly, expression thoughtful. There was something coming on, rough concepts that needed polishing, all she had to do was to find them within her mind... Ah, there. Her right hand took one pen and she started to draw symbols, to fill in the lines that were much too clustered together to be an ordinary writing tome. The goddess rarely used sheet music – she had no need for it – and therefore rarely composed it, not for her own reference. But it had occurred to her, when she had followed the foreign score of the conductor during the last Day of the Dead, that while it was not a requirement for her... It could be useful to others. She had seen that interest in the man's eyes, felt his want to direct one of the tunes she had composed herself. He had not dared ask, but she had seen it. Felt it within the very core of her being. A want, almost a need, even, so tangible that she might have been able to reach and touch it, had she wanted to. This she could provide. Maybe lyrics would come to her later on, but for now she busied herself with rough-drafting the instruments. This sheet was for a flute, since it was the tune that had come to her first. There was little thought or logic to her creative process, simply writing down the notes that echoed into her mind for all to be able to see and read. Her pen-hand stilled in mid-stroke when her ears caught sound of a light knock upon the door, and Echo looked sideways toward it. ”Yes ?”The door opened, and closed just a swiftly, revealing a pale, purple haired form stepping in. Ah, her youngest son. Echo turned, a smile on her lips, and stood from her chair to go toward Lament. ”Ah, hello, my dear.””Are you busy, mommy ?” The boy asked her, clutching that one book that rarely left his side. It seemed to be an object of comfort to him, much like a mortal child would carry a stuffed animal, or a blanket. The answer, however, was clear in her mind. ”Of course not.” The notes on the page certainly weren't just going to run away while she was not looking, and she could never be too busy for her children. Of course not. Light steps had her standing in front of her youngest son, and she crouched down to be at eye level. ”I have a question.” The boy asked, peering at her expectantly, and her curiosity was piqued. ”And what would it be, my dear ?” Her children had became rather autonomous in her absence, so to have one come to her for something was heart-warming. A reminder that her children were not quite adults yet, at the very least. ”Do you know where to find some parchment ?” Well. That hadn't quite been what she had expected to hear as a question. Akakios had seemed pretty content with the tools he had so far. ”And what do you need parchment for ?” Apparently, her curiosity would need to be sated first, but the boy's lips curled upward mischievously. ”It's a secret.” A secret, oh ? Well, she would need to figure out in due time what her son was plotting. She could make herself last until then, even as different scenarios went to her mind. A gift for his father, maybe ? Music doubted he would have gone to her if she was the intended recipient. That was much too obvious, at least to her. Or maybe clearly intended to throw her off ? Music could not underestimate the cleverness of her son. ”And secrets certainly require important things.” Echo stated, working herself to stand upright again. ”Unfortunately, I have not seen parchment for a long time. It is rather fragile, you see...” She paused, musing weither or not Akakios would actually recall things that had happened so close to his birth. ”Many things broke before the ritual, do you remember ?””Uh-uh.” Lament answered, his lips pulled in a thoughtful line, and a small frown on his face. Clearly this was not what her son had wanted to hear. ”So it's all gone ?””Ah, no, I would not think so. There has probably been some more made, since things became better again, but I do not have any, and I am unsure who would. Gianfar, maybe ? Or, well...” Echo reached for her son's hand, and he took her's on reflex, and she led him toward the huge bookcase at the back of the room. With Creation's magic here, it had been easy to simply will a bookshelf full of assorted paper products there, from sheet music to tomes to simple notebook and pretty paper for writing letters. Maybe she could even call upon that from some parchment, but it was not her want to tax His power more than necessary – and this provided good lesson to her youngest that one could not always have what they wanted, would have to compromise, or at least look a little deeper for what they needed. ”I might not have any parchment, but I certainly have a lot of pretty paper here. Would that do ?”The child turned pensive again, pondering something about the final use perhaps, before he looked up at her. ”Still want to find some parchment, but... maybe ?”Well, at last her son did not seem beyond compromise. ”If you find something you like here, you can keep it. Even if you do find your parchment, then you can use it for something else.” She pulled one of the piles of loose paper from the top shelf and crouched again so he could have a good look at them. ”Any of these ?”Lament watched each design carefully, pondered them all, but shook his head. ”Don't like those.” To be honest, she hadn't expected him to, but had left the option to him nonetheless, and she returned it to the top shelf. Not knowing the intended use Akakios wanted of the paper did not help her choice any, though.... Ah ! ”Ah, look, Kios.” She held out another stack at him. ”This one is still just paper, but it's patterned like parchment. Would that do ?”Akakios glanced at it, apparently more appreciative of something that came close to what he sought. ”I think so.” He relented. ”You can keep it then.” Echo said, handing him the pile – which her youngest slid over his book and kept tucked under his arm, with his left hand closing on the side of the whole thing to keep both book and pack of paper from tumbling over on the floor. ”I would just write on a normal sheet of ruled paper first.” Music offered some sage advice along with the paper. It was obvious Akakios' secret was about writing, at least. ”To make sure everything is even and you like the shape of the letters. Then just put the patterned paper over and trace the letters onto it. This way you make sure everything is where you want it to be.”Akakios offered her one of his rare smiles for her troubles, and a kiss on the cheek. ”Thanks, mommy !” And with that, Lament was out the door quickly, excitement taking over and making him nearly as fast and active as his older brother was. It was endearing, really, when his enthusiasm took over. Now she was curious, though, and she rather hoped she would be able to see what he had planned soon.
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