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 Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:06 pm
Whatever Max saw or did not see, whatever he could or should have done was his own. All Max actually did was sit, and watch the events unfold.
A dissatisfied downward turn stretched across his face as he watched not only as Verdandi did not catch the items but let Odin in turn destroy them. Where or not the god would notice that both creatures possessing both fangs must have had the absolute worse case of tooth decay ever as the insides of both teeth were black...well that was another story. The Reaper could not say he was surprised, but he was disappointed to see his assumptions about the witch were true. All talk and desperation.
None the less, he breathed a deep breath on his golden apple and then polished it on his soft sleeve before casually reaching into his pocket and pulling out his pocketwatch.
The Shadow didnt even seem to hear Thor begging for his life to be ended. He only seemed to regain focus when the thunder god's hand raised to the sky. And then he spoke, in a tone much like a man watching a movie who suddenly had a question about a hole in its plot.
"Actually, Odin. I have a couple of questions. Its the end of the world, indulge me if you will." Max didnt stand, he just clicked open the watch keeping his thumb pressed down on the button to open it. Strangely, he seemed to take no interest in its face, or the time, just in having it open and in his hand. "Who was it, who even gave you the Ragnarok prophecy? And how did you escape Fenrir unharmed?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:22 pm
Maximos' refusal to bend enough to work around the rules made Verðandi throw up her hands with a frustrated growl... The man was so very powerful, so very intelligent, and so very... perfectly infuriating!
He was out of reach.. and it had nothing to do with him being a reaper, it had everything to do with him being prejudiced against anyone who was stuck as a 'higher' being... but before she could call him a prejudiced b*****d he took the path that she had through was least likely and tossed the weapons at her... she would have asked what he expected her to do with them.. seeing as how she had never handled anything more dangerous than an eating knife.
But the All Father was standing directly in front of her, in a form that blazed so badly to her magical sight that she was truly blind....
Verðandi stumbled back, tripped on another bloody apple as more of them were scattered to the ground and she fell with a cry of true anguish... it wasn't that the fall hurt, not more than her pride at any rate... it was that all those golden threads that were wrapped around her were suddenly stretched tight enough to truly snap as Thor called for Maximos to kill him... that would really not be a good thing from all the potential futures that were still calling to her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 1:25 am
The whole room was tremlbing hard, Thor standing like a despondent statue with his head bowed and his arm outstretched to the ceiling so high, calling his weapon so he could use it to destroy the world. The All-Father stood by his side, impassive and patient, as he had for countless milenia, and Fate herself seemed quite distressed...
...And the Godslayer seemed to wish for answers to questions?
A silver glare was leveled at Maximos, watching him as he reclined relaxingly against the tree and check the time, as if he had an important date he was missing out on by being there.For a moment, the silver glare narrowed, seemingly perturbed by the Godslayer's own arrogant and conceited nature, and it seemed quite possible that he would smite the dark man from the base of the tree with but a move of his hand or a twist of his lips, like a mortal would brush a piece of dirt from his pristine workbench...
....But then he smiled. It was a warm smile, much like a proud father would give to an inquistive son who wished to know more about his dad's life.
He moved then, stepping up to Thor to look the man over. As they were, Odin was bigger then Thor in his current body, both in height and bredth. He cast his eye down upon the nakedness of his son and shook his head a little, before lifting the helm he held in his hand to place it gently upon Thor's head, masking his face slightly with the nose and cheek guards. "When the Worlds were created, I went to the Well of Wisdom, Mirmir, and traded my eye to its guardian for a single drink of its waters. I placed my eye within the well, and drank from the well, and saw all that was, is and shall be."
Looking down to the remaining clothes and the wolfskin cloak discarded by Thor, Odin waved his now empty hand over them, the clothes seeming to slip over the ground to cover Thor's body, the wolfskin covering his feet, his leather pants shrinking down to a comfortable size, and a combination of the two to combine into a leather shoulder bracer, strapped tightly to his outstretched shoulder, and a leather bracer which wrapped around his wrist and forearm. He seemed wholly comfortable with exposing his back to Maximos now, stepping on the ruined shards of Fenrir's fang as if it was absolutely nothing...
"I understood the world I had created, and when the time came I made to accept my fate. Ragnarok came. I fought amongst my brothers and sons. The Fenrir wolf swallowed me whole." He sighed a little irritably at the man standing before him, his smile fading as he spoke, looking at the man with his one good eye. "...Then my strongest son undid it all. The Fenrir did not die during Ragnarok - therefore neither did I. By the time I realised something was wrong, Thor had destroyed the Bilfrost and made his escape."
He looked back to Maximos, peering at him with that silver gaze. "The Wolf may have swallowed me, but it did not *kill* me - hence I live."
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 4:07 am
Maximos listened, nodding along the way. It sounded so very much like the legends. Until the very end, at the very end the Reaper chuckled and said. " Thats what I thought. So, this isnt even my mess." And with that, Maximos closed his pocketwatch, still pressing the button atop it with his thumb. It was very much like hitting the send button. -|- All at once, the color literally bled out of the world. Maximos watched Thor's hurried breaths slow until he stopped cold like a statue, he watched Odin's eye turn away disinterested and then freeze. He saw an apple fall from the tree passing through his vision and then suddenly halt in mid air. Its golden shimmer turned to liveless gray, as did everything else in the room. All the colors and life bleeding away to one point across the room, where Maximos' eyes fell, his brow furrowed. For Thor, Odin, and everyone in assembly, nothing changed. Time flowed as easily as ever. The events that followed simply took place outside of time, in the span of an instant. " All of my messes, are your messes, boy." A voice said, as old as it was cantankerous. It carried all the charm of a teacher when that same annoying student raised his hand. Maximos jabbed an accusing finger forward from across the room. " First off, its Maximos. Second, how could you let an elder god escape. You know they need to be cy--" There was a grumble, the annoyed sort of sound between a cough and a grunt that only a really old person could make when being bothered to get out of their chair for something terribly stupid. And then it replied, " Dont quote the rules to me, I made the rules. It was a Wednesday." Maximos' eyes snapped open in utter disbelief. He was standing before the All Father, holding an apple that granted immortality and seconds from the end of the world, but that shocked him. " So you let an elder god escape because it was your day off?!", He replied, with no small measure of incredulity. " Dont get snippy with me, boy. Do your job." The voice immediately snapped back, biting the end off his sentence. Maximos immediately lurched back, as if dodging a blow and very quietly said. " Its Maximos. And I will. And when I die. The war he's going to start will make absolutely sure you dont get another day off for a very, very long time." -|- And then scene continued, exactly from the moment his watch clicked shut, with all the players and pieces in the same place they left off and not a second gone by. Three things things happened simultaneously. A boom, a sudden deafening silence, a rattling set of clinks. An explosion shook the room as the massive doors John and Maximos slaved to move, exploded open. A small yet ancient hammer had simply smashed into them and flung them open as if they were made of cardboard, crashing them into walls on opposite sides as it lanced forward not slowed in the slightest. Its leather thong flapping in the wind, tracing lightning from every edge and corner as it zoomed straight for Thor's waiting hand. And then it stopped. Dead. The explosion, the boom, the sound of the apocalypse racing toward them was all replaced by a dead silence, so thick it was nearly maddening. There was a rattling sound, like dice being tossed on a floor, or even like a ice spilling out from a tray across the ground. And then a long drawn out, and very annoyed sigh. A figure stood in the doorway now, its hand extended forward from where it had casually reached it out and laced stained yellow bone finger through the hammer's thong, stopping it in its tracks and leaving the weapon to hang from its hand like a childs toy. In his opposite hand was a piece of common farm equipment. A gnarled brown staff, bent with an almost S shaped curved and topped with a long slightly curved blade meant for threshing wheat. A scythe, one that looked absolutely ordinary, positively ancient, and completely useless in all fashions except for its blade which seemed to glimmer with an impossibly sharp edge. The figure was approximately six feet tall, wearing a black robe which looked older than dirt itself, torn and tattered at all of its edges and yet a pristine shade of pitch black. It hung limply on his skeleton, over the crown of his head, down his shoulders, and drug along the floor behind him. And indeed, he was a skeleton. As made evident by the way he steppepd forward and the various bones of his feet made that same 'dice-on-stone' clinking sound heard seconds before. It shook its head and sighed. Its face did not move, no air escaped its lungless form. It was grinning, not as if its lipless face had a choice, as it most certainly did not appear happy. It appeared exceedingly grim, actually. And it looked square at Odin, Master of the Universe. Only he wasnt. Nothing was. And it new that very well. The thing staring at Odin through an empty skull, was not a being. It was not a creature. It was not a skeleton holding a scythe. It was a force of nature. A part of existence as old as existence itself. And every being that ever lived, could die, killed, or had seen a life end was part of its system. Life ends. And this was its ending, in a visible form. Had it actually been a god, the raw amount of worship it would recieve from every being that acknowledges death, suffers under loss caused by death, has killed, will kill, believes in killing, believes in dying...would likely make it the most powerful God in existence, seconded or maybe equalled by Life, its opposite. Thankfully, it was not a god. It needed no power, it was quite literally just a simple undeniable fact. And this fact was annoyed. Its skeletal jaw moved to speak, without lips to articulate letters making the entire motion seem unnatural, its voice came out echoing, annoyed, and factual. " I know we talked about this. Your sons, the snake, the wolf, lots of fighting, rainbows, and a big finish. Instead your making a whole lot of trouble. You know what has to happen now, dont you boy?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:30 am
As soon as the pocketwatch was shut, time sped back up. The hammer came, Thor's hand came down to catch it - then everything slowed to a halt.
A Skeletal hand gripped the thong of Mjolnir, and yet when he released it, it did not stop. It simply continued to move, very, very slowly, as if on an invisible conveyor belt directed towards Thor's hand. You could argue it kept moving because it had been forged by the mightest dwarves in all of Asgard, and embued with magics so powerful it could make universes crumble. You could argue that it's enchantments were so cosmic, so awesome, that death itself could not stop it.
...And this last arguement was partly true. Once Mjolnir was unleashed with the intention to destroy, nothing could stop it. Like death itself, it was a force unto itself, and causing it to stop moving was like halting an avalanche in full swing. It was the sole reason why Odin had given it to the one son who, for all his faults, was eternally good at heart, for only he would use it for good.
As for the All-Father, well...Maximos' little time-skip had not gone unnoticed. As Death entered the room, the All-Father was standing directly before the frozen Godslayer, turning his little watch over and over in his hand. It was an interesting item, and Odin snorted derisively as he figured out its purpose. He tucked it back into Maximos' hand before turning to face his eternal adversary. "...Not quite as pretty and voluptuous as a Valkyrie...but it is acceptable."
"I know we talked about this. Your sons, the snake, the wolf, lots of fighting, rainbows, and a big finish. Instead your making a whole lot of trouble. You know what has to happen now, dont you boy?"
"Aye, I remember...And I am trying to hold up my side of the bargin." Odin said soloumnly, clasping his staff tightly as he began to walk, pacing casually around the persons surrounding them, talking as he walked. "When your other half formed me from the Ether and asked me to form the worlds with my brothers, I did. Nine worlds, as agreed. I formed the Runes, as agreed, I brought forth my sons and my sons sons, as agreed, and I drank from the Well, as agreed."
He paused for a moment, almost as if for effect, his single eye glinting in the hushed tones of timelessness as he walked past Verandi, still trying to get up from where she had fallen. "You both told me of the rules, that it was Asgards time, and that we should be cleansed of the earth once the signs came clear. I watched, dilligently, patiently, moving pieces here and there, forging alliances and condemning brothers, as agreed...and when the time came, you got what you wanted, yet...your other half had other plans."
"I fulfilled my purpose. I caused Ragnarok, I rode out with my brothers and sons, I watched them die, and Fenrir swallowed me, as we agreed. My part of the bargain was fulfilled as we agreed."
He spread his arms wide, holding his staff out, looking about the room. "Look around you. Look at what the chaos your other half has wrought. This world is a bubbling crockpot, a cesspool of power, of life grown wild, like vines choking a grand hall. A *child* could tell that this was not supposed to occur." He lowered his arms and approached Thor, the mighty Asgardian having lowered his arm to the hammer, now outstretched as if to catch it. "This child, my son....your other half chose the moment of my death to make him it's champion. And even now, his bloodkin works to be it's champion. 'Tomorrow'....even his name signifies hope, the future."
He looked back over Thor's shoulder to Inevitablity, walking around the Aesir warrior to stand in the center of the opening. "I am finishing what we started, all those milenia ago. That is what is supposed to happen. The natural way of things. As you decreed. As you both decreed. I am duty-bound, by the Universe itself, to follow it through. The prospect of the deaths of my sons and my sons sons did not sway my decisions. The ruin of the worlds would not faze me. The fact that The Beginning tried to thwart me holds no merit. This. Must. Be. Done."
His jaw clenched and the grip on his staff tightened. "And yet you do not agree. The sheer notion that you have arrived here, by yourself at the summons of your minion, signifies this. You have grown attached to this world and its inhabitants...your other half convinced you of it's actions, didn't it?
His silver eye narrowed as it glared into those empty sockets, his voice a small snarl, considering the company he kept. "Since when did Life ever overcome Death?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 12:18 pm
Maximos -|- The explosion, the boom, the sound of the apocalypse racing toward them was all replaced by a dead silence, so thick it was nearly maddening. There was a rattling sound, like dice being tossed on a floor, or even like a ice spilling out from a tray across the ground. And then a long drawn out, and very annoyed sigh. A figure stood in the doorway now, its hand extended forward from where it had casually reached it out and laced stained yellow bone finger through the hammer's thong, stopping it in its tracks and leaving the weapon to hang from its hand like a childs toy. In his opposite hand was a piece of common farm equipment. A gnarled brown staff, bent with an almost S shaped curved and topped with a long slightly curved blade meant for threshing wheat. A scythe, one that looked absolutely ordinary, positively ancient, and completely useless in all fashions except for its blade which seemed to glimmer with an impossibly sharp edge. The figure was approximately six feet tall, wearing a black robe which looked older than dirt itself, torn and tattered at all of its edges and yet a pristine shade of pitch black. It hung limply on his skeleton, over the crown of his head, down his shoulders, and drug along the floor behind him. And indeed, he was a skeleton. As made evident by the way he steppepd forward and the various bones of his feet made that same 'dice-on-stone' clinking sound heard seconds before. It shook its head and sighed. Its face did not move, no air escaped its lungless form. It was grinning, not as if its lipless face had a choice, as it most certainly did not appear happy. It appeared exceedingly grim, actually. And it looked square at Odin, Master of the Universe. Only he wasnt. Nothing was. And it new that very well. The thing staring at Odin through an empty skull, was not a being. It was not a creature. It was not a skeleton holding a scythe. It was a force of nature. A part of existence as old as existence itself. And every being that ever lived, could die, killed, or had seen a life end was part of its system. Life ends. And this was its ending, in a visible form. Had it actually been a god, the raw amount of worship it would recieve from every being that acknowledges death, suffers under loss caused by death, has killed, will kill, believes in killing, believes in dying...would likely make it the most powerful God in existence, seconded or maybe equalled by Life, its opposite. Thankfully, it was not a god. It needed no power, it was quite literally just a simple undeniable fact. And this fact was annoyed. Its skeletal jaw moved to speak, without lips to articulate letters making the entire motion seem unnatural, its voice came out echoing, annoyed, and factual. " I know we talked about this. Your sons, the snake, the wolf, lots of fighting, rainbows, and a big finish. Instead your making a whole lot of trouble. You know what has to happen now, dont you boy?" Verðandi sat on the floor with her hands over her bandaged eyes as if that could stop her from seeing what was happening all around her! It had taken a moment, but the new little incarnation of Fate had come to the realization that she had been very lucky over the last few centuries to have never run into any of the true elder powers of the univers... because not only was Odin's presence nearly blinding, but as the Great Old Grim entered the room she found her head spinning and her ability to visualize the room by seeing the nearest potential future and then navigating it by memory totally useless... because he shone, he shone like a white hot phosphorus bomb, a light that gave no heat at all and left her feeling cold to her core with fear! She was just a kid playing in the big pool now, and oh how that was every so demoralizing sweatdrop Tomorrow He paused for a moment, almost as if for effect, his single eye glinting in the hushed tones of timelessness as he walked past Verandi, still trying to get up from where she had fallen. "You both told me of the rules, that it was Asgards time, and that we should be cleansed of the earth once the signs came clear. I watched, diligently, patiently, moving pieces here and there, forging alliances and condemning brothers, as agreed...and when the time came, you got what you wanted, yet...your other half had other plans.""I fulfilled my purpose. I caused Ragnarok, I rode out with my brothers and sons, I watched them die, and Fenrir swallowed me, as we agreed. My part of the bargain was fulfilled as we agreed." He spread his arms wide, holding his staff out, looking about the room. "Look around you. Look at what the chaos your other half has wrought. This world is a bubbling crock-pot, a cesspool of power, of life grown wild, like vines choking a grand hall. A *child* could tell that this was not supposed to occur." He lowered his arms and approached Thor, the mighty Asgardian having lowered his arm to the hammer, now outstretched as if to catch it. "This child, my son....your other half chose the moment of my death to make him it's champion. And even now, his bloodkin works to be it's champion. 'Tomorrow'....even his name signifies hope, the future."Throughout this all Verðandi had quietly gathered herself, Odin's words up to this point had only steadied her, had been all with the plan she had been working at for years now... She agreed with everything Odin had said, he was supposed to have died, hell she was supposed to have died as any mortal oracle in Asgard would have when Ragnarok reigned down on them... It had been her own stupid hope in a better future for the people on Gaia that had trapped her into her current place instead of letting her die with her sisters... but what Odin said next changed it all. Tomorrow He looked back over Thor's shoulder to Inevitability, walking around the Aesir warrior to stand in the center of the opening. "I am finishing what we started, all those milenia ago. That is what is supposed to happen. The natural way of things. As you decreed. As you both decreed. I am duty-bound, by the Universe itself, to follow it through. The prospect of the deaths of my sons and my sons sons did not sway my decisions. The ruin of the worlds would not faze me. The fact that The Beginning tried to thwart me holds no merit. This. Must. Be. Done."No, no that wasn't right at all! Ragnarok had been meant to tear down Asgard, to end all the lives of the old gods who dwelt there... the implication was that all the nine worlds would be destroyed true, but that had never been a certainty! The fact that life had gone on, had in its own way, been the affirmation that only Asgard was meant to be destroyed in whole by Ragnarok... Tomorrow His silver eye narrowed as it glared into those empty sockets, his voice a small snarl, considering the company he kept. "Since when did Life ever overcome Death?"And that was the last straw... Old Grim in the room or not... Verðandi was pissed! ***A man falls asleep behind the wheel of his truck causing a car crash that kills everyone, including himself and his wife... except the tiny baby, buckled into the back seat of the mini-van going in the other direction, in it's plastic safety seat... a miracle of sorts in the midst of so much death and pain
***A man robs a convenience store and kills the clerk, only to be killed a week later in a drive by gang shooting....
***A bus full of kids on a school trip crashes, no survivors.... except the one kid who was home sick that day... the kid who grows up to invent a better braking system for large vehicles so that the tragedy they escaped will never affect another child in the same way...You can't cheat Death... everyone has their time to go, but sometimes you can change Fate so that Death is held at bay a little longer, you can make a decision that changes so much more than your own fate!... And sometimes Fate can speed you along your way to Deaths embrace.... ***The man driving the first truck decided to pull over for a nap at a highway rest stop instead of trying to push on through his blurring vision... no car crash that night, two days later the mans wife tells him she is pregnant, twenty years later the baby that would have lost its entire family meets the child of the driver who almost killed them all and the two are true soul mates, happy for the rest of their lives....
***The man who robs the convenience store, runs away without hurting anyone and is caught three blocks away... he spends months in lock up, but through a community outreach program when he is released, he also finds inner peace and eventually goes on to marry and works to keep his neighborhood from being over run by gangs...
***The driver of the school bus calls back to the bus company when she reaches the school, having felt that the brakes on her bus were a bit squishy and realizing that they hadn't been checked in almost a year, the company sends out a mechanic with a new bus and the children return home safe and sound that night... but the new braking system is set back another 20 years before someone else figures it out, because that lone survivor who was sick the day of the field trip never had the pain of his friends deaths to push him to change things...A lot of people called those things chance, most never looked at the paths not taken, they only fixated on the tragedy of what had happened... but there were still enough people who believed that such things were the preview of Fate, that Verðandi had the power to affect such decisions, to try and let Life overcome Death for a little while longer for some people... There was a balance of course, no matter how many people managed to change fates design there were others who seemed to die for no good reason at all... but you can only tip the scales so far unless you want to overbalance the entire system and watch it all go down in flames! " NO!" At last she had found the strength to stand in the presence of powers so very much older than she was... Verðandi drew herself to her feet and pulled off her veil, locking sightless golden eyes on that one brilliant silver orb as she pointed accusingly at the all father. " That was not what I agreed to help you with! If you want to die then so be it... go embrace Old Grim and I am certain he will be happy to take you away with him, but I will not let you drag my followers down with you!" She had people who believed in her, people who believed that although Blind Fate could be a fickle mistress she was not cruel enough to just let them die for no reason at all... people who prayed to Fate to get them out of a tight spot. She owed them, she owed them so much more than she owed a man who no longer cared about anyone but himself...." You can't Cheat Fate in a bargain, especially when the bargain was mostly implied... it gives me soooo much more room to work with!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 1:48 pm
Thousands on thousands of lives end every second in this world. From insects squashed under foot, to people lost in accidents and murder, to amoebas crawling into the wrong disinfectant spray. This was only multiplied over a multi-verse. And one force, claimed them all. Without delay, or hesitation.
Maximos had not frozen in time, Maximos had been removed from time entirely to go the the place Death went to make his rounds. It was an emergency sort of contact, and it did not leave him frozen or open in reality. This meant, that in the same instant Odin reached for Maximos' single most prized possession, a watch given to him by a dear and close friend to him who just so happened to be a god, the All-Father would find one of Fenrir's fangs at his throat. Max didnt strike, but he held it there and looked up at the old man with a look that seemed to absolutely dare him to try and touch it. How? Well, honestly, did the Grandfather Wolf or the Sea Serpent really have rotted teeth? No. But shadowcrafting could look convincing when it needed to. Max really had no intention of simply throwing away something so unique.
And then Death was there. But Death was not there, it was in every being ticking away life. It was at every finale across existence, and all at this same moment. When a memory dies, when a bond is broken, when a sun supernova's they all fell to the same hands. The forces at work here were not truly Life and Death, they were Creation and Destruction in their most humanized forms. Which is to say, that when Death touched something its very end was visited upon it. Dwarves, magics, cosmos's, they all fell eventually. Odin was not even the oldest, what about his father Borr and his mother Bestla? Life existed before him, and so did Death. And everything he did was second.
The theory was correct however, should Death have released the hammer it would have flown straight to Thor revitalized, but...he didnt. His finger curled inward, and let the leather strap rest around his skeletal wrist, leaving the hammer to hang dead.
He let Odin speak, never interrupting him and never even so much as moving an inch to breath or in any way show signs of life. Until the All-Father finished. His greyish white skull rolled slightly to the side and his jaw slowly fell open as he said, "Oh."
There was a soft clack of teeth meeting as his mouth shut and open again and he said. "I see."
His scythe was used somewhat like a walking stick, it fell first and then he shuffled forward behind it, moving slow and ragged. His back hunched as if he suffered arthritis. He simply did not appear very imposing, quite the opposite to the god he was addressing. His jaw, almost as if unhinging, fell open again. "You thought you were special. You thought that was all true. Poor kid."
Bone rasped against bone as he straightened his head. "Do you know how many pantheons there are out there? Do you know how many have a king of gods like you? Do you know how many tell an end of the world story? Have you ever heard the name Zeus? Ra? An? Ki? Indra? Yama? Ame-no-Uzume? Amaterasu? Ataguchu? Your not special."
His scythe turned in his hand so he could pick what honestly appeared to be a thin stalk of wheat from the crook of the blade and staff absentmindedly. "We tell you what we need to tell you, to be what the people need you to be. You exist for them. And then you get old, and it goes to your head. Now...what to do with you...?"
Death's boney hand rose, with Moljinir hanging from it like a large gaudy bracelet, he scratched the side of his skull making a sound like rubbing two sticks together. Funny enough, Death leaned awkward to one side to look at Verðandi before she started talking. But when she did start talking, he didnt say a single word he just lift his finger in a most infamous gesture and pointed directly at her. "Heh, perfect, that ones genius."
"Creation at the beginning, myself at the end, Fate in the middle." His balled fist, moved up to his mouth so that Death, with no lungs could cough. And in a moment, he seemed something entirely more. His robe seemed darker and began to stir of its own accord, his hands moved to an armed position on his scythe ready to swipe. Two pin pricks of blue light, like tiny supernova's filled the empty sockets of his skull and in a voice that positively boomed he said.
"Óðinn, you will be judged as your people have lived. In ritual combat." He gestured to Tomorrow representative of a god of good and fertility, then Maximos a Reaper, and finally Verðandi a fate witch, respectively listing off a title for each as he did. "Creation, Death, and Fate, will stand as your opponents. Defeat them, and live to do as you please, be defeated and fall forever."
The scythe fell, it moved with an impossible speed and practiced fluidity that made any motion Maximos had ever made with a bladed weapon appear akin to a child flailing a stick around randomly. Its tip impaled the ground with a shrieking clink. "By my hand your immortality has been revoked, fight them as they fight you. You shall have no bond to the fate of any other until the issue has been resolved. So that the judgement may be deemed impartial, the battle shall begin when I depart."
In simple turns, much as Maximos' scythe could cut absolutely anything, even intangible things, Tomorrow had just been cut free. Thor was not dead, just removed, and the All Father was left just as flesh and blood as everyone around him. Death arranged their natural deaths, and it was in his pervue to change that arrangement.
With a flick of his bony wrist, Moljinir flew from Death's hand and streaked toward Tomorrow's grip like a loyal pet running home to his master. Death's eyes passed to everyone in the room, and he said. "Fight well."
And the just hiked up his scythe and began to walk off, trailing black and blue ether in his wake.
Maximos however, was not pleased with this verdict. He immediately stood up and jabbed another accusing finger at Death shouting. "Why should we have to fight?! You can just kill him!"
There was a long wheeze as breath filled Deaths non-existent lungs, and then a wet cough that shook his frail looking shoulder but spewed forth no wetness as he had no fluids. When he craned his head back around, his eyes were empty again and his robe flaccid and torn and he very nonchalantly said, "Because, today is Wednesday. Do your job, boy."
Max's accusing finger turned into an open palm, and then smacked promptly into his face.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 6:49 pm
Maximos In simple turns, much as Maximos' scythe could cut absolutely anything, even intangible things, Tomorrow had just been cut free. Thor was not dead, just removed, and the All Father was left just as flesh and blood as everyone around him. Death arranged their natural deaths, and it was in his pervue to change that arrangement. With a flick of his bony wrist, Moljinir flew from Death's hand and streaked toward Tomorrow's grip like a loyal pet running home to his master. Death's eyes passed to everyone in the room, and he said. " Fight well." And the just hiked up his scythe and began to walk off, trailing black and blue ether in his wake. Maximos however, was not pleased with this verdict. He immediately stood up and jabbed another accusing finger at Death shouting. " Why should we have to fight?! You can just kill him!" There was a long wheeze as breath filled Deaths non-existent lungs, and then a wet cough that shook his frail looking shoulder but spewed forth no wetness as he had no fluids. When he craned his head back around, his eyes were empty again and his robe flaccid and torn and he very nonchalantly said, " Because, today is Wednesday. Do your job, boy." Max's accusing finger turned into an open palm, and then smacked promptly into his face. Verðandi had worked her hardest not to cringe or look for someplace to hide as the Great Old Grim Reaper decided to take notice of her, and seeing as how she had been born a mortal and as Maximos had always unnerved her his boss made her down right uncomfortable. She knew that she would go to him, she even hoped that it would be willingly to save her grace as best she could... but it still wasn't easy to stand in the presence of the end of all things and smile like the empty headed blond she often pretended to be as a human. Verðandi knew better than most that her role was intertwined with Death, in the end most things that were considered Fate had to deal with Death... If you lived a long happy life you were graced by fate, if you died young it was a cruel fate, but there are still a very many things that are considered a Fate worse than Death by most people. But as the one thing that could have easily ended Odin's existence left it in the hands of the blood brothers and herself she threw her hands in the air with a small cry of astonishment... the b*****d! Shaking her head she turned her sightless gaze towards Maximos and looked more than a little sorry for opening her mouth in the first place. " I'm not a fighter... and despite what new martial arts movies and comic books show, not all blind people are amazing fighters." sweatdrop Fate fought with little tricks and twists, always trying to trip you up with something unexpected or make you take the wrong path... she would lend what aid she could, but Verðandi's only weapon had always been her ability to see what would happen at least a moment or two before it actually happened... and despite the fact that Death had taken away Odin's true immortality, Verðandi wasn't sure that she could see one step ahead of the one eyed man... This was a bad idea xp
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:49 am
As Maximos raised the fang to Odin's throat, he would see the old man's lips curl up into a small smile, as if he knew that the previous two fangs were shadowcrafts, as if he knew Maximos would not have struck then, as if he knew everything that was to unfold. "You will regret this lost oppertunity, little Godslayer. I garuntee it." He said softly, his deep voice almost soothing as he gave Maximos his condolences, his remaining eye flitting shut in what could only be a wink, before turning away to deliver his spiel. When he was done he stood by, his silver gaze leveled to Fate as she cried out her greivences. "I twisted Fate just as I twisted the Fates long ago. This world has softened you, and it hurts more - this is all."As The Inevitable delivered his verdict, the only responce Odin seemed to give was his hand, clenching so tight around his wizened wooden staff his knuckles were white. For a man so lofty, to have once ruled all manners of life and death, to be told he was insignificant and useless, especially when he was only doing what he had been told, was quite painful - but, thus was his life. Serving Death in all its forms. He could argue, but what would be the point? He knew what was coming the moment The End arrived. He felt his line to Thor sever, looking to his son as if he could see the connection fade, and for a small instance, his eye flashed with sorrow as his remaining son was lost to him once more... And then the hammer was released, and it flew true into Tomorrow's hand. John's caught it easily, his fingers curling around the haft as readily as if he had just picked it up from the ground, the hammer slamming into his palm and causing electricity to flash and curl around his forearm, up his shoulder and off his back like a shockwave of power. He blinked in disbeleif as he looked down to it. "What..." He said, thoroughly confused as he realised he was dressed for battle as well, before looking up - and seeing a bony creature with a scythe, dressed in rags which seemed to melt into mist as they flowed towards the ground. He felt the sudden chill of someone walking over his grave, and realised instantly who he was looking at, and felt speechless in his presence. "Fight well.""Why should we have to fight?! You can just kill him!" John turned his head to look to Maximos, his eyes wide within his silver helm. His brother questioned Death itself?! But then the answer the Grim Reaper gave back was equally confusing. "Because, today is Wednesday. Do your job, boy." John looked from his brother as he slapped his hand into his face, obviously.... irritated by this turn of events, and turned his gaze quickly to The All-Father, who had not been standing on ceremony. As Maximos had bickered with Death and John had tried to gather his bearings, Odin had been preparing himself. He held his staff out before him vertically with both hands, his eye shut, light bleeding out from beneath the eyelid as he whispered unintelligable words under his breath. The tattered grey robes he wore had begun to burn away from his body like smouldering papyrus, scattering ash-motes around the room as it revealed what was beneath. "Know how to cut them..." The man was adorned in armour, crudely shaped yet thick and sturdy, still nicked and dented from the toiled of Ragnarok. He wore a chainmail shirt of burnished silver and a dirt-smeared breastplate of some strange shining golden metal, a thick red leather battle-skirt adorning his legs, his belt of thick steel covering his entire abdomen, adorned with runes of all shapes and sizes. His armoured boots came up over his calves and covered his knees, and his forearms were covered in bands of steel which covered his wrists and were as long as to reach his elbows. "...Know how to read them..." As his eye opened the ashes swirled around him violently, collecting around his head as he brought the end of the staff down against the ground, the tap sending a shockwave across the ground which blew rotten fruit and ancient snake-skin into the far corners - the single tap has tranformed the staff into something else - it seemed to lengthen by several feet, the gnarled wooden head straightening and flattening into a vicious point of steel, forming into a spear-head a foot long and three-quarters a foot wide at it's base - the mighty spear Gungnir, the All-Father's chief weapon. As its transformation drew to a close, eighteen runes formed along the shaft, smoke wisping from the wood as they seared themselves into the surface with burning white light. "...Know how to prove them..." The ashes swirling around his head collected near his cheeks and collided together, forming from the neck up a helm of shining gold, much like Thor's own but with brilliant white feathers which fanned out from the edges of the visor and around the temple, a band of intricate detail with several small spires forming around the top of his head - a crown of sorts. As the helm was made, another weapon was forged from the ashes - an arming broadsword bound in a wolfskin sheath came to rest upon his hip, its hilt and pommel made of burnished steel, its hand-guard a thick, slightly curved rectangle adorned with runes which smoked openly with power, worn leather binding the hilt. "...Know how to send them." That silver eye regarded the three before him, not breaking his hold upon the mighty Gungnir as he finally spoke up. His entire transformation had taken less time then it took for Maximos to argue with Death and for Death to admonish him, and now he stood before them, the King of Kings, the God of War itself. When he spoke his voice boomed around the chasm they stood in, the very leaves of the Idunn Tree trembling from the sound. "Godslayer....Thorson....Fate...."
His mouth twisted into a wicked sneer within his golden helmet.
"...Prepare thyselves for glory." John didn't know what to do, to be honest - parts of him wanted to run, parts of him wanted to fight, all of him wanted to know just what the hell was going on - but something within him, something that had been locked within, released, then locked away once more, screamed at him to fight, fight as hard as he'd ever fought before, and not just for glory but for the ulitmate purpose. Mjolnir felt heavy in his hand, so he let it slip free, his hand catching the thong easily....and slowly he began to swing it. The hammerhead, as big as his own head, swung around and around freely, the air seeming to sizzle in it's path as it span in his hand, the clutter of bone fragments and rotten fruit beneath the hammer clearing from the cracked stone ground as the hammer began to push the very air away from itself, moaning softly with each spin around within the atmosphere. "Hide girl!" John hissed as he stepped slowly around the All-Father until he was standing before the woman, Mjolnir spinning as his eyes flitted from Odin to Maximos, shielding Verandi from Odin's gaze as he waited for Maximos' first move, Mjolnir now an open blur as he span it. Thus it begun...the fate of the world resting within three diametrically opposed hands. Life, Fate and Death....fighting to rescue this chaotic world from ruin.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:36 pm
Verandi actually stepped towards the new and improved John, placing her right hand on his back as she did the one thing that she really could, " For all the tangled paths of human life, by land and sea, are by the will of Moira (Fate) hid from our eyes, in many and devious tracks are cleft apart, in wandering mazes lost. Along them men by Aisa's (Fortune's) dooming drift like unto leaves that drive before the wind. Oft on an evil path the good man's feet stumble, the brave finds not a prosperous path; and none of earth-born men can shun the Moirai (Fates)." She gave him Fates Blessing. Quote: Fates' Blessing~ Defencive spell - Illusions and mind games are easily broken and the bearer of the Blessing gains enhanced stability, almost as if they can not lose their feet or their chosen path without wanting to... " A man's character is his fate... you have always had a very strong character Mr Tomorrow... be carefull!" The little she thought she could do for now done, Verandi stepped away from John. " Hey Reaper...here!" She flicked something small, round and inky black to Maximos. " Don't get yourself killed!" It was a coin.. A heavy black coin with ragged edges, the one face was a crumbling tower in front of a broken shield... the other face was writing Illic est haud loricatus obviam Fortuna. (There is no armor against Fate.). If he could touch Odin's armor or helm with the coin, it would erode their magic. Weapons she could not affect, they were at their core tools of fate, but armor was a man's attempt to cheat fate.. and she had already told Odin that he could not cheat her anymore than he could cheat Death. If it would help or not, she couldn't tell... Odin was still capable of blinding her, but she wouldn't hide! Verandi did the next best thing though, she changed.. she left Verandi behind and became Moirea.. the three Greek Goddesses of Fate. They were less than Verandi had been, but Klotho, Lakhesis, and Atropos were in some ways harder to kill than the Norn... for starters, they were currently misty forms, hardly even recognizable as women.
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:47 pm
So this was it? This was a decree as direct and inescapable as the finality visited upon every living being after its first breath. Never mind the theatrics, the shadows and spells, the magic words and official rites. All that was left was to fight. Life or death for the fate of the world. Max clapped his hands together and then split them apart holding his scythe. The slightly curved staff angled across his person with its butt over his right shoulder and its blade down by his left foot hooking forward like some horrifically deadly fishing instrument. He leaned forward, about to toss his body weight into a charge -- AtaraRaven " Hey Reaper...here!" She flicked something small, round and inky black to Maximos. " Don't get yourself killed!" There was a swath of black and a smack as Max snatched the object out of the air. It was a coin. Illic est haud loricatus obviam Fortuna.Latin. It was a language very similar to Arian, though a bit harsher at the edges. There is no armor against Fate. Max grinned, palming the coin as nimbly as any magician or assassin. With Tomm taking a defensive position in front of the avatar of Fate, it seemed the first strike was his. There was no armor against him either. Maximos had no doubt the elder god had the ability to see his attacks coming, but could he dodge them? Attempting to block or defend them them would be fatal folly. As is oft stated, when it is your time, it is your time. The scythe was designed to cut through anything, physical, mental, or spiritual, including if not especially items of legend and divinity. If he could conceive it, he could cleave it. Without fail. Once, Maximos had even stabbed it through a man's head, doing absolutely no damage to him but cutting away a group of his memories. This sort of conflict was why the death scythe was made, and given to the Reapers. It was a balancing factor in the fight between mortals and immortals, never meant for combat with the mundane. And now, as Maximos settled his eyes on Odin, it would be put to the test. As would all of Max's skills honed for exactly this sort of task. And then, Maximos was gone. In a blurry swath of black, the Reaper burst forward and rushed the All-Father. Keeping the scythe staff close to and across his form, letting its blade trail just slightly behind. As it moved, the air warbled, distorting and blurring the space around his blade and letting out a slight whistle. As he ran, it sliced the air, the light, and space itself. And then, unless countered, as he reached within roughly five feet of Odin, he would swing. It would be a diagonal slash, from Max's lower left to his upper right meant to slice the through the old man entirely in one pass. He knew it would not be that easy, but he was not here to fight Odin, he was here to end him.
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:55 pm
rofl **Editing for flow**
Odin's blazing eye fell upon them all, focusing all at once upon Tomorrow swinging Mjolnir, Verandi casting her boons then tossing her coin to Maximos, his hands letting Gungnir slip down so it was held horizontally before him, the shining golden spearhead pointing out to John as Maximos advanced, the Thorson tensing as he prepared himself for a bolt of lightening or a gust of wind or something along that way to strike at him...
...But there was none. At him. Instead, Odin took up his stance as Maximos advanced and in that instant, John knew what would take place would happen in the smallest of seconds. Odin's eye was focused on the advancing Godslayer, his left hand pulling the spear back as his right came up, his feet spreading wide as the air before him seemed to simply warp.
It was more then a simple gust of wind. It was like, with a single thought, the All-Father had turned the atmosphere around Maximos into treacle. Air clung to him like invisible globs of glue, pressing and pulling at his clothes and skin like he was running through clouds of gunk. Some of the apples fermenting on the ground had taken off from the force of the blast of invisiblity, slowly drifting towards the Godslayer unfettered by something as irrelevent as gravity. His forward momentum would slow almost to a snail's pace, even though his mind would remain the same speed. It would look like Odin had stopped or slowed time, but it was not the case - he had simply made the air around the Godslayer....sticky.
The All-Father did not gloat. Indeed, he did not seem to even want to do what he prepared to do. His face was totally impassive as he drew back his spear, the tip glinting maliciously in the torchlight around the cavern, and as his shoulder tightened and his arm thrust forward, the sound of an Ialmighty explosion interuppted the almost tranquil scene...the sound of stone obliterating metal.
In the time it took for Odin to cast his spell and draw back his spear, John had reacted from instinct. Primordial. Engrained within him by years of combat whilst also being dredged up from the basest recesses of him mind....and as Odin drew back his spear in a fluid throwing motion, John pulled Mjolnir back behind him, still humming through the air as it span in his grip - and thrust it forward towards the All-Father.
Mjolnir is a devestating weapon. Forged by the mightiest dwarves millenia ago, it is said to be the most powerful Asgardian weapon ever devised. Stronger then Freyr's sword. More powerful then Gungnir itself. And as John unleashed it, in desperation, in instinctual anger, he learnt its potential fury. As soon as it was released from his grasp, it tore through the sound barrier, blasting air out from around it so powerful that it blew John off his feet and to the ground, and slammed into Odin's side so hard his golden armour was obliterated right from his body - at the precise moment he threw his spear.
Three things would happen then.
Odin would fall to the floor with a strangled roar, hitting the ground and spitting blood upon the rotten apples still surrounding them, his silver eye now blazing with furious anger as his armour rained down around him, his ribs crushed ribs right side as his thick chest began to turn a mottled yellow and purple...
Maximos' body would be released from it's treacle-like imprisonment, his slow, graceful movement now released like someone had hit the cosmic 'speed-up' button.
And Gungnir would fly lower then intended, aimed now instead of the middle of Maximos' chest, but for his lower left hip, Odin's aim having been thrown off by John's attack.
John groaned as he lay on the ground, his body feeling like it had just stood next to a grenade as it exploded. His head, luckily, had ben protected by his helm, and as he lifted it up to look for Odin, he saw Mjolnir flying back towards him, obediantly returning to it's master - closely followed by a star-eyed, silver haired giant, snorting blood and fire from it's nose.
Catching Mjolnir and rolling backwards onto his feet, Tomorrow barely managed to stumble back as Odin cut the air apart with his sword, a steel blade with mystic runes trailing down the middle of the blade, the tip of the blade opening the skin on John's belly as he pulled back Mjolnir, looking to strike Odin - but as he swung the hammer down, Odin's other hand suddenly came out, striking John's inner elbow with unerring accuracy, arresting the hammers swing before it had barely begun. Another strike, lightening quick, stabbed into the tendons in John's wrist, forcing his fingers open, dropping the hammer to the ground as a knee slammed into his stomach, blowing all the wind out of his lungs as he fell to his knees, gaping for breath.
John felt horror stab through his veins as thick fingers pulled the helm from his head and wrap themselves around his throat, lifting him up off the ground to make his legs dangle. Odin's voice booming as his silver eye blazed down at him. "Children...thrashing against the inevitaaaaaack!"
Before he could wax about life and their inevitable conclusion, Tomorrow had reached out to stab his hand under the old mans helm, his own fingers wrapping around Odin's throat, digging into the flesh to clutch at his larynx. Odin's sword- arm came out to thrust the blade forth - but was caught by john's wolfskin boot, the Tribal warrior lifting his leg up, using Odin's own grasp on his throat to keep the sword-arm back, stabbing the sole into Odin's elbow to arrest the thrust...for a moment. With infinite slowness, the sword crawled forth, John's face red as his body strained for oxygen, his other foot coming up to press against the hilt of the sword, trying to keep it back...
But his grip on Odin's throat was loosening, his footing failing, and Odin began to speak. "It was a nice try, my son...but your strategy is flawed."
John suddenly laughed out loud, finally giving up on crushing Odin's throat to grab the wrist clutching his own neck, veins pulsing around his neck and head as he tried desperately to keep the swords tip at bay. "Hows this...for strategy..." He slurred through blood flecked teeth, "...I'm the distraction."
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:42 am
((I'm sorry. This fight was a stupendously bad idea. It really should never have happened. From the moment you came back Tomm, I knew any sort of fight should be avoided at all costs. But, nostalgia overtook me and I let this happen.
This is my fault. My curse if you will. Its always going to end this way. I used to love RP fighting, it was so much fun back in the day. But most no one will or can do it with me anymore without turning it into some huge dramatic ordeal. I dont know for sure what I did, but I wish I didnt make it like that. And now, I'm not sure if I cant, or if I just dont want to, but there doesnt seem to be a post I can think of to let Max exit properly. But I cant continue this. I owe an apology to both of you, and I truly am sorry.
Both of you please have fun.))
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:33 pm
((sorry this didn't work out sweatdrop *stuffs Verandi back into a closet until another opportunity to take over the world arises*))
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