Welcome to Gaia! ::

He responded with a nod of his head. With a sigh, he shifted his position slightly. His left leg extended fully outwards, with the right bending at a forty-five degree angle, his right wrist coming to rest at the tip of the knee. His eyes were directed just ahead.

"Not quite."

He laughed slightly and closed his eyes, shaking his head at a sudden realization.

"Didn't expect to get the crap kicked out of me, either."

There was a moment of silence before he reopened his eyes.

"So, if you didn't pick up one of the flyers...what brought you here?"

Lazenca walked around, thumbs hooked into the pockets of his slacks. He was scanning the area, noting all the changes from the last time they'd been there. For the most part, everything was quiet. However, he wanted to make sure that things didn't start randomly blowing up without his knowing that it was about to happen.

"So what happens now?" He fumbled idly with the necklace around his neck, and the bands that replaced his regular ones, which were now around his ankles.

"...Huh?"

Lazenca noticed people, but thought them to be just others in this grand search and battle. Especially with that guy there. But being answered, and with nothing else to do, he hung around.

"Nothing exploded; this can't be the end."

Athan shrugged his shoulders slightly. Whoever this Rafe guy was didn't matter much to him. It obviously touched a soft spot on her part, but he wasn't going to inquire much about him.

When she mentioned the gods, well, it sparked something inside of him. He didn't know what, exactly. Perhaps some sort of racial tension, or just heartburn.

"Sounds strange that they'd put you on the chopping block like that. Heh...guess that's why I'm not a god. Nothing they do makes sense to me."

His head shook.

"So what do you intend to do about this whole 'make you go poof' thing?"

"Yeah...well, the gods haven't liked me for a long time..."

She looked up at Lazenca, then at Athan. She nodded to both of them, figuring she could answer both of their questions at once by starting from the beginning. It wasn't as though she had anything better to do while she was waiting for Flare to finish hauling Allen's a** out of the fire.

"I...used to be a god. A minor one. The most minor, at least at the time. I got...very upset, at my master, for the things he asked me to do. I served the god of death, so it was always stuff like 'This mortal has offended the gods, kill him' or 'This town is committing heresy against us, slaughter it.' Kill this, kill that, massacre the other thing..."

Her eyes sought out Lazenca's, meeting his. "I didn't like it. Not one little bit. I told him as much, rebelled as much as I was able. Made him and everyone around him rather angry at me. Finally they cast me down, giving me a mortal life. That's, all I ever wanted."

Her gaze turned to Athan, now. "But they were still angry at me. They wanted to destroy me, make it so that I had never been. I'm not sure why...but in the moment when all the petals of chaos were gathered together, they had a chance to destroy me. If well-intentioned people gathered the petals, and another number of things lined up well, things would go better for me."

Back to Lazenca. "So my part in all this, was just trying to make sure I stayed alive, and stayed one step ahead of the gods who were trying to destroy me. The moment has passed, and I still exist."

Owle faced Athan again, answering his question. "What I intend to do about it, I'm not sure. I don't have the power to challenge them. So, if it were just that...I'd leave them be. But...someone I care for deeply has been punished for helping me, and I fear I may have to stand against the gods to get him back. So I suppose I'll rage and do whatever's in my power to do against them."

"Well whoever this guy is, he must be worth it."

Athan's fingers toyed with the crystal rose that had fallen into his posession following the previous battle. What the hell was so special about it? Surely there had to be more to it. Angels, demons, gods, there must have been some sort of connection to this 'game'.

Athan looked up, turning his attention back to the emptiness that was the Void.

"But it's possible, I suppose. Even gods fall from time to time. They aren't perfect...just like us mortals."

He didn't even know if he was addressing Owle or talking to himself at that point. Perhaps he had just come to a personal revelation, or was just riding the high that pain often presented.

Whatever the case, he decided that being philosophic was better suited for those who didn't spend their life fighting, and left it at that.

"Well, like I said..." He looked up from Owle after she finished, and after Athan responded. His mind was on his statement, about the imperfections of gods. It was true... even the gods could come crashing down in a lifeless heap, utterly defeated. Infallable, nothing.

"...there hasn't been enough of an explosion for the 'end'. This almost... felt too easy. There's a stillness in the air, the calm before the storm. Can you not feel it? I will remain until I know what is happening... I will ride the storm, while making sure not to drown in it."