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 Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:54 pm
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Illuminating Knowledge
XiaoRen  Gianfar still had frost on his wings from the far reaches where he had travelled. Far, distant, cold places between the stars. Amazing, how far away they were from each other. Amazing how long it took to fly from one to the other without a dragon to ride. The distances were greater than he remembered, but then everything moves, spins outward and away, bodies moving apart, until the fingers of the stars reached out will no longer be able to grasp at their companions' and all will be dark... He shuddered. He had sensed some change in the mood of...the universe? No, it wasn't Lucius. It was something deeper. And he had taken all this time to return to find out what. It was blessed to find the shop warm and the coffee bar still there. The dais was new...
Sosiqui  Illumin was currently bumping around in the kitchen, highly annoyed. Of course he'd needed a substantial snack - he had to eat more now, ever since Harmodius' change and when his room wasn't wholly bathed in sunlight every hour of daylight - while his two servants were out. Eibhilin was shopping or something, and Eliam was nowhere to be found.
"What good are Aoidei if they're not there when you need them?" Illumin muttered, peeveed. "Ouch!" The kettle was screaming on the stove, and now Illumin added his own yelp of pain as he learned that metal kettles conduct heat quite nicely.
XiaoRen
Gianfar jumped at the whistle of the kettle and almost dropped his staff as he set it against the wall by the door. He shuffled over towards the noise, shaking ice crystals out of his robes and beating his wings. **A kettle...that's the noise. How blessed. Someone is making hot drinks**
The person in the kitchen was not someone he recognized. He ran a hand through his wind touseled hair and took his glasses off to shine them on his robe self consciously. He was about to introduce himself when the strange youth began muttering to himself and then yelped.
"Oh dear." Gianfar held out his hands as they were still chilled. "Careful of that." Perhaps, like Byrne, this god had difficulties with appliances. "May I see?"
Sosiqui Illumin blinked, and turned to see a god he had never seen - but, still, he recognized him from a faint flicker in the memories that had once been Sosiqui's. "You're... Knowledge?" he asked, withdrawing from the kettle. "And - if you like. These blasted implements...!"
A teabag was in pieces on the counter. Apparently Illumin wasn't sure how to use that, either.
XiaoRen Gianfar smiled at the torn teabag, but decided not to mention it. He moved not to the kettle, but to the youth, taking the burned hand between his, both to warm his own and to chill the burn. It didn't look too bad. "You know of me?" Come to think of it, this person did look faintly familiar. *could I have forgotten someone? no, I never forget.* "I am honored. My name is Gianfar. Perhaps I knew your host?"
Sosiqui Illumin was surprised by the other god's instant kindness, but he smiled back - taken a bit off-guard. "It must have been my host who knew of you, though her memories were too faint to recall your name. I am Illumin, Light."
He lingered for a moment, unsure of what to do, before gently removing his hand from between Gianfar's and rummaging through a drawer for a dishtowel. "My Aoidei have vanished, it seems, and left me to fend for myself in this barbaric... kitchen."
XiaoRen Gianfar let Illumin's hand slide easily from his own. The brief contact made him feel grounded again, more able to interact. "I am happy to make your acquaintance Illumin. These Aoidei, they are your servants? familiars?"
He got out three new teabags of strong black tea - PG Tips it was called - and poured some hot water into the pot to warm it, then poured it out, put the teabags in, and set it to steeping. He had wanted coffee, but he could have that after a nice hot cup of tea.
Sosiqui "My servants, yes, the only two remaining faithful to me," Illumin said, frowning a bit at the vague reminder. "Oh, so that's how it works," he added, sheepishly, watching Gianfar put the teabags whole. He'd thought you had to open them first, and had thought all the 'extra packaging' rather silly. To cover his embarassment, he turned to open the fridge and retrieve the cream. "I believe I have been using your library as of late," he said, turning the conversation away from the reminder of past pains or present lack of knowledge. "Truly, an impressive collection."
XiaoRen Gianfar was glad to see Illumin note how he'd done things. He wouldn't need to explain anything to someone who could learn by observation.
He poured out two mugs after exactly three minutes and moved them towards Illumin for him to add the cream. "My library, oh yes. I am so pleased. Did you find the book on Nanotechnology and Stained Glass Making? It talks about the properties of light and aesthetic in a way that I found invogorating, tradition art and science brought together. Did you know that humans were useing nanoparticles for hundreds of years to make deep reds in stained glass before they even knew what a particle was?"
Sosiqui Illumin carefully poured in cream so that his tea was nearly overflowing the cup, then paused and put the cream on the counter so Gianfar could reach it. "I'm not sure how much you take," he said, picking his up and stirring it a bit with a spoon, very carefully.
He blinked at the long stream of words. "Ah... no, I was actually studying old tales, trying to find some information about our lord Harmodius and the mysterious Aristogeiton," Illumin explained, taking a quick sip of his tea. He wasn't sure he knew what a particle was, either. "It was fairly informative."
XiaoRen Gianfar began to add cream, but lost track of what he was doing at mention of Aristogeiton. That name was in the oldest of texts. His Fact Recall failed him, though. He hadn't researched it in this lifetime. His cream overflowed the cup, the tea now a pale tan going white with clouds. Still he looked distant. "Yes...that is...curse it I can't remember. Something has happened since I left. I returned because of this. A darkness, a shifting in the stars. Can you tell me?" Still the cup overflowed.
Sosiqui "Your cup..." Illumin quickly set his down and grabbed a dishtowel, putting it down over the spill while gently lifting the cream out of Gianfar's hands. Setting it on the counter, he sighed. What was he, the local chronicler?
It seemed he was, at least for now. "It's a long story, but - Lucius... decided he loved Harmodius and would have him whether Creation would or no. To this end, and aided by Khiviance, he stabbed our Lord through the chest with a sword and would have carried him off were it not for the rest of us - Beryl, Eamnnon, Insanity and her host, and myself of course," he added, swelling a bit with pride as he mentioned his own part in the battle.
Then he sobered. "Afterwards, despite Medicine's careful tending, the wound would not heal, and he sent that goddess off to find this Aristogeiton, apparently the one who can help him most. Shortly thereafter he shifted to his Destructive aspect, and everything changed to what you see here..."
XiaoRen Only after Illumin was fully finished with his answer and it had sunk in did Gianfar look down at the now mostly sopped up mess and his milktea. "I am terribly sorry." It could have been about either the tea or the near abduction of their Lord by his grave tone. "Thank you."
His tea was ruined, but it was still warm. He lifted it and began to quaff it. "I should have been here. It is my failing that I was not." *gulpgulppause* "At least not all is inauspicious. Now, of all times, it is good that you should be reborn. So long as there is still light, Destruction has not come to full fruition. Not that it does not have its place," he looked nervously over one shoulder, Harmodius had usually been in the shop before. As guardian of ideas against decay, however, he had never been comfortable with Destruction. "The light of the eyes and the light of the mind are not too different. I am glad, glad that you are here and we have met, even if I come too late and in the middle of a mess."
Sosiqui "So long as there is light..." Illumin wasn't sure whether that was reassuring or not. "Do you mean that literally?" he asked, uncertain. "I read in the books that light was the second-born child of Creation, but then he skewed to Destruction and brought darkness into the world..."
If it WAS literal, that sounded a bit worrisome. Destruction certainly hadn't shown any qualms about changing things to suit himself, and Illumin really hoped that didn't mean changing - or eliminating? - HIM as well.
XiaoRen "I mean it both figuratively and literally. Knowledge and Light are the lifegivers and the preservers, gods of the Golden Age at the apex of things. As the worlds crest and fall, do not be alarmed I speak of the ages here, we will wane. But we are reborn, so we have a second chance, an indian summer. If we find the secret of this Aristogeiton, perhaps we can make good on our chance."
Sosiqui Illumin breathed a sigh of relief, then took another sip of tea. "Understood," he said, though he wasn't sure he really did. "Knowledge is also a seeker of truth and reviler of shadows, that hide such?" he added, hopefully. It would be so nice to have a kindred spirit around, that wasn't one of his servants.
"Pana - Medicine - is out searching for Aristogeiton even now." He paused. "Lucius is guiding her - and I made him swear, on a geas that Destruction laid on him, that he would not guide her falsely."
XiaoRen Gianfar felt a wave of exhaustion hit as he finished his drink and his insides warmed. "Yes, always a seeker of truth." *I'm not so sure about a reviler of shadows, though if he means the figurative shadows with which men purposefully cloud thier minds and not the shadows that hold the greatest of knowledges for last when men are able to at last comprehend...* This conversation had been intense. He took the final words about Pana, another whom he did not know, as comfort. Others were working, he could rest for now.
"My bedroom must be inches in dust." He said, thinking of his own weariness now.
Sosiqui "Have you no Aoidei to tend it?" Illumin cocked his head before drinking a bit more tea. "Oh, and you will find that the rooms no longer respond to your wishes, if you had any of that kind," he added, making a face. He really, REALLY missed his sun-tracking windows. He wouldn't even be down here eating if he had those.
... Well, then he wouldn't have met Gianfar. "It is good that you've returned, then. We need all the truth we can find. It is... clouded here."
XiaoRen Gianfar had never shaped his room to his own desires...he like moving his books around manually and touching them. "No, I have no servants. I never did. Once I had a helpmate, a dragon who shared my soul. But he was not reborn." It was a daily truth, so the sadness only sounded tired. **Gabriel could never have fit his fat haunches into a house to clean anyway.** "Perhaps I will take my rest on the couches. Though..." he didn't want to say it, but he was uncomfortable in the common space. He didn't want to wake to meet Harmodius for the first time. He wanted to be cleaned up and wide awake for that.
Sosiqui "A dragon? Destruction seems to think often of such." Illumin gestured to the dragon statues rearing all around the lower form. "Perhaps yours, too, will return?"
He paused. "If you wish, when my servants return, I can send my High Flame Eibhilin to assist you. I do believe she's scrubbed every bit of my room until it shines. If she does it much more, I'm afraid she'll wear holes in the floor and walls."
Prolixity  "You don't wish to be woken by the great and terrible?" Revei inquired from the top of the stairs, leaning on the railing. "I don't blame you." His wings shuddered faintly, and he refolded them. "Welcome back," he added.
Sosiqui Illumin turned at the new voice, and smiled faintly as he saw Revei on the stairs. "Ah, Dream," he said, holding his teacup high. "Gianfar was just teaching me the way of tea, seeing as my servants have seen fit to go where none may find them."
XiaoRen The thought of Gabriel's possible return was too sweet and impossible; it made his chest constrict. Dragons were destroyers as well as protectors, but he would always love them, wise creatures. Perhaps he would broach that subject first with Harmodius when they finally spoke. Dragons might be a common ground.
"Well, if she truly loves to clean so, she will find ample employment in my apartments I am sure. If Light's apartments are polished to shining, they must reflect blindingly to the untempered eye."
Turning at the voice, he saw Revei at the top of the stairs. The knot in his chest loosened and the pleasure of meetings thawed the last of the lesser void's darkness from him. "Revei! My friend. Was it not thus at this espresso bar that we last met?"
Sosiqui "It is white, and finely sculpted - but not reflective. Though, that is an idea for when the ability to mold the rooms returns..." Illumin filed it away for reference, then took another sip while observing the other god's machinations. He wasn't entirely sure what that strange contraption was for. "I will send her up to you, once she has fulfilled her duties. She is strange of appearance, but kind despite her fearsome look."
Prolixity "It was, I believe. I have made myself learn the arcane arts of coffee, since we last spoke." Revei swept down the stairway - no use making a dramatic entrance before everyone was watching, after all, but now that they had seen him ...
"If you have learned how to make your servants obey and be less contrary," he said dryly to Illumin, "I wish you would teach me. Mine are familiar and meddling little creatures."
Sosiqui "Well, now that you are here to keep Gianfar company, and now that I have had my tea - I believe I will switch places with you, Revei." Illumin nodded to Gianfar, then stole a roll and apple from the counter and headed up the stairs.
Halfway up, he passed Revei and paused to whisper. "I have remembered some things, Dream. We should meet to speak on them - you may find it interesting as well. Good day..." With a sly smile, he continued up the stairs and disappeared from view.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:55 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:56 pm
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Sage Advice?
Sosiqui As much as Illumin detested the lower environs of the shop now, he was beginning to hate his room even more. Familiarity breeds contempt, it's true. At least downstairs there was some chance for excitement, like going out into the jungle in search of adventure with the solid knowledge that you could go back to a save haven any time you liked.
Illumin crept down the stairs carefully, intending to see if anyone was around. If not - well, he'd head out to the grassy areas around the town, where he'd met Eamnnon before. At least there the air would be fresh and clean, and a god could stretch his legs and wings.
Meepfur Alex was sitting on an arm of one of the couches, scuffing at the floor with one booted toe. True to her usually inconsiderate form, the vampire was smoking, lit cigarette dangling from her lips despite Rio's protests that someone might not like it. But hey, with all the ash and crap around down here, she figured it didn't really matter, anyway. And she was really terribly bored, and it was something to do. She actually looked a little less trashy than usual, in black pants and t-shirt. She'd finally given up on the corsets, because they rubbed at where the god's stone was, and it really kind of hurt. She wasn't too happy about it, though.
Sosiqui Ah, so there is someone here... Love? Illumin walked quickly over to the couch, on tiptoe as per usual in the 'dirty' parts of the shop. "Desiderio? Or, his host, perhaps?" he asked, coming up and tilting his head inquisitively. Fortunately, the smoke wasn't wafting towards him at this exact moment.
Meepfur "Mm?" Alex lifted her head a bit, taking the cigarette between her fingers and exhaling a puff of smoke before actually speaking. "His host, actually." Judging by her tone of voice, she wasn't too thrilled to be assumed to be the god right off. "Name's Alex." Illumin, came Love's cheerful voice in her head. Would you let me speak to him?Later, maybe. If you're good.Alex!Hey, it's what you get for not asking last time.Smirking, she ashed on the floor without a second thought, and looked at this 'Illumin' guy...only to look away again, muttering, "Christ."
Sosiqui Illumin frowned, then remembered and dialed down the natural glow. "My apologies, I forgot... the deity you bear told me of your weakness." His manner, though, was much more formal and distant than it had been when it was just Rio. "Alex, then. I am Illumin, god of Light."
Meepfur "Did he now?" She lifted an eyebrow, chewing a little on the end of her cigarette, but nodded. "Well, thanks...Illumin." At least he was nice enough to tone it down. "Nice to meet you, I guess." Although she really was a little intrigued, the Light thing was a bit of a turn-off. Oh well.
Sosiqui Illumin waited, a bit awkwardly. What did one say when you wanted to talk to the god? Pardon me, is Desiderio at home? Knock knock?
He settled for merely making a face as a stray draft pushed some of the smoke towards him. "Is, ah, Desiderio... awake, at the moment? I had spoken to him a few days ago. It is nice to have a Love around who is not trying to kill people," he added, with a slight frown.
Meepfur "Awake? Yeah, he usually is." Awake and chattering away at her about not putting her shod feet on furniture and all those kinds of things. Well, it's only polite. Courteous and all that.C'mon, this couch has had a lot more than somebody's shoes on it....has it now? That distracted him sufficiently. Now he wanted - no, needed, with his curiosity - to know what that was all about. He might not try to kill people, but Rio did have a fault in that he was terribly nosy.Wouldn't you like to know? And hey, what's this about killing people?Maybe I'll tell you sometime...later. If you're ******** you. She grimaced, breaking the spacy look she'd had going for most all this internal dialogue. Fine, fine, I'll take the goddamn hint. Go ahead, just don't be stupid and bite yourself again, alright? That hurt.
I'll try, he purred, taking the control she willingly gave. Looking at Light, he formed an easy grin. "Evening, Illumin."
Sosiqui Illumin visibly relaxed when the deity took over, and inclined his head politely to the other god. "Love. It is good to see you again... do apologize to your host for me, but I..." He hesitated. "Do not wish to deeply enjoy the presence of those who will soon be gone," he said, finally. "It is painful."
Illumin fidgeted, a bit. "I was wondering, Rio, if I could speak to you about a matter in your domain, as Khiviance is no longer able to speak - and I would not trust her, even if she were," he added with a scowl.
Meepfur "No worries," Rio assured, "It spares you her attitude problem, at least." Despite the serious nature of Illumin's words, Rio remained deliberately cheerful. He ignored the resulting Hey you, I heard that! from the back of his mind. The curious god very nearly asked what had brought Illumin that revelation, but he was headed off (fortunately) by Light's request.
"I don't see why not," he answered, "Although how well I'll speak on it, I don't know. So many things are terribly fuzzy, if not gone entirely." There was a touch of regret in his voice, but he soon quirked a smile again, even with the mention of his counterpart.I still wanna know who this Khiviance b***h is, Alex put in.
Sosiqui Illumin smiled with an odd shyness - really, this was a tremendous amount of trust to be placing in a new deity, but if Khiviance was so treacherous than surely this incarnation of Love must be the opposite. That was how it worked, wasn't it?
"It is a matter of the heart," he said, finally. "A... shall we say, a younger goddess confessed adoration to me before the turn of the year, but I was most unsure, and she left on a quest. Lady Medicine, of whom we spoke last time... but now, now that she is not here, I find myself vexed most days by thoughts of her!" He scowled a bit. "It is... most unusual."
Meepfur Rio only now realized that he was still holding his host's cigarette, and that it was continuing to burn and drop ash on the floor. His gaze darted around for a moment as he tried to figure out what to do with it, before he settled on putting it out - on Alex's boot.Hey!Oh, hush. This is serious, and you're distracting.Like that ever stops YOU from talking at me.Pointedly ignoring his host's complaints, he listened carefully to Illumin, and smiled. It wasn't condescending, or even knowing, really...it was just happy, because his domain made him happy. Quite simply, Desiderio was quite in love with love. Granted, this could be something as simple as a crush, but these things were just so nice.
He steepled his fingers thoughtfully. Light and Medicine, hmm...how very interesting. But Illumin hadn't asked for commentary on the 'match.' "Well, that's not so hard. You miss her, I'd wager...and far from being unusual, it's only normal to miss someone you care for when they've gone away."
Sosiqui "It's... complicated," Illumin said with a sigh, sliding down to sit on the couch near Rio. "The host - Memi... she was only twelve. Obviously, I didn't care for her like that," he said, quickly, waving his hands in a gesture of negation. "But she was special to me, and I was... very angry when she morphed, as the goddess seemed unfeeling and cold. A short time before her change, the goddess used her power to make her body grow, and the changes made... I guess, her mind change too? I'm not sure how it works..." He shook his head. "But she developed a, ah... crush." The word was snatched quickly from one of Sosiqui's memories, and put to use.
"The two of them, the goddess and host, merged thereafter when Panacea attempted to destroy Memi's pysche and was instead destroyed in return, and a new personality came to be - a kinder, gentler medicine. Who wanted... she said..." His face, colored. "That she... ah..."
Meepfur Ah, so his earlier curiosity was satisfied without having to ask, but the initial tale was..tragic, really.. Rio felt a pang of sadness, which he very quickly tried to shoo away. Being sad simply wouldn't do, not for him. And besides, the possible ending was looking quite a bit brighter than its beginning. Happy endings were always the best kind, and Love quite ferevently hoped that that was just how things would turn out.
Mostly, what Illumin said were things he could only listen to, and let him talk it out. Consolation for things lost, Rio couldn't really give him.
"That she loved you?" he guessed. "But so far, you've told me very much of her, and yet...very little of you." He smiled, good-naturedly. "The question is, Light, what do you want?"
Sosiqui "Her to come back so I can figure that out," Illumin burst out, then quickly quieted. "My apologies. It has been, ah, singularly frustrating, and my servants are no help. Eibhilin merely titters and gives me this... this female look..." He shrugged, helpless before the secrets of Eibhilin's feminine intuition. "But, as we have said, she is far away performing a most important mission - and I am here, rattling about my chambers like a creature in a too-small cage."
This was the sort of thing he should be telling Sosiqui, really - but in her now-permanent absence, Rio would have to do. He gave the other god a calmer smile, pleased that he hadn't been mocked or otherwise made to feel foolish.
Meepfur "No need to apologize." Rio waved a hand, grinning. "Ah yes, women are very good for giving looks, especially when they know something. Or want something, or..anything really. But at least they are good to look at, as well." He laughed, quite aware that he was rambling, but completely unashamed of it. A little lightheartedness couldn't go too far wrong, anyway.
"As for your rattling about, perhaps you could find something to busy yourself with? Even something silly, it needn't have any lofty importance." Rio was not, however, a god of idle occupation, so that advice was far from authoritative...a fact he acknowledged with a shrug and a sheepish sort of smile.
Sosiqui Illumin frowned, slightly. "The atmosphere here is... not conducive to silly pasttimes," he said, gesturing at the imposing dragon statues, and not least at the flame-backed throne. "I have busied myself with certain tasks, but there is another very large thing I wish to pursue that I cannot deal with now either, and the weight of the two is most damning." He raised one eyebrow at Rio. "Though, that last task is not in your domain, so I will not bore you with it."
"But - when she does return, then... I wonder on a path of action...?" Illumin wasn't sure he'd had a... what were they called, anyway? Girlfriend, surfaced from a Sosiqui-memory, but he dismissed that term as far too silly. Consort was much more fitting for the amorous escapades of the gods.
Meepfur He followed Illumin's gestures and nodded, conceding, "Some things can't be helped, I suppose. Still, it was worth a try." He shrugged, and though he was curious about this 'large thing,' he didn't pry. "And as it isn't, I won't pester you with questions about it."
"Well, that depends, I suppose," Rio said then, thoughtful. "If nothing else, simply spend time with her, and perhaps that will clear your uncertainty some. And though I doubt you would do such a thing intentionally, do be careful not to lead her on while you vacillate. It wouldn't do to hurt the fair lady's heart."
Tapping a finger against his lips, an idea lit his eyes, and he broke into a slow smile. "Perhaps, while you wait for her, you could occupy yourself - and get yourself out of this 'atmosphere' - by finding something you could gift to her?"
"Women do so like presents."
Sosiqui Illumin looked thoughtful. "Do they? And gods enjoy offerings... yes, perhaps that is an excellent idea. A gift. I had given Memi one, but I never had the chance to give a gift solely to Pana, as the new entity calls herself."
"But..." He frowned. "What makes a good gift?"
Meepfur "Well, that depends on the woman, really. Most seem to like pretty things, jewelry and the like - oh, whatever you do, I'd advise against actual clothing, as they're often touchy about such things - but there are some who prefer more practical things, and might be offended by such a frivolous offering. Others would cherish some little pet, something cute and sweet to mother, or maybe something scaled or feathered or not 'cute' at all. The list goes on and on, and changes from woman to woman. Some are quite surprising."
"But you know Medicine far better than I, and I can't say what her tastes might be. It's quite likely you'll 'know it when you see it,' all it takes is a little patience and a willingness to search." He smiled again, encouraging. "Besides, whatever it is you find, I'm sure it will please her, because it would be something from you. So don't worry so much about whether it should be this or that."
Sosiqui "Hmm. I will have to consider carefully, but such a task should indeed keep me occupied for a while." Illumin gave Rio a wry smile. "So I will thank you for that, at least - but, I don't really know Pana. Oh, I knew Medicine and I knew Memi, but this new creature is something I really barely understand..." He shrugged. "Well, we shall see when she returns, I suppose. Once our Lord is taken care of and, hopefully, Creation's glory restored. I do get so very tired of the choke of ash in the back of everything I smell or taste."
Meepfur "You may know her better than you think, in some way or another." Rio leaned forward a little to 'tap' his index finger in the air near Illumin's chest. He mgiht actually have tapped more than air if it hadn't struck him at the last minute that he had no idea what effect actually touching Light might have on his host...and while it could be nothing at all, finding out the hard way didn't seem like a good idea.
"Even viewing it from my host's mind, I'll admit that this place is tiresome, with the only brightness- excepting your presence -" he grinned "Being of flame...and not a merry one, at that."
Sosiqui Illumin grinned. "Now, now, you're forgetting Byrne. He radiates cheer like a tiny star." He stood up, then. "Thank you, Rio. You have given me much to think a bout beyond how very slighted I am by circumstances," he said, with a tone of genuine gratefulness in his voice.
Meepfur "Such a hard one to forget, and yet it seems I did, in that way...but yes, so he does, even in a place such as this." He smiled, not failing to notice that Light had shortened his name. "You're more than welcome, Illumin. It is a pleasure, especially after so long in silence."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:57 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:58 pm
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An Encounter in the Marketplace
Meepfur The wingzelle strolled casually through the marketplace, but she wasn't shopping...not anymore, anyway, because she'd already found something she was quite taken with, despite the terribly unfair price the vendor had insisted on extracting from her. The pouch that hung around her neck was noticably lighter than it had been when she arrived, but the metal mage put it easily from her mind, focusing instead on her purchase with a satisfied purr.
Hanging in the air a few inches in front of her was a scarab made of some strange metal, just the right size to fit comfortably in someone's palm (not that Seppa had any herself). This floating scarab was the source of pleasant preoccupation for the pard, who willed it to spin and turn this way and that so she could look at it from different angles and best let the light catch on the object and its fanciful engravings.
Fortunately for her, the market wasn't exceptionally crowded today, and on top of that it was hard not to notice such an impressively-sized feline; people tended to get out of her way.
Sosiqui Most people, perhaps, but not Illumin. However, this oversight was not because of divine status, but because even gods sometimes don't look where they are going.
Especially when they feel as though they have been combing through shops for days on end (even if it's only been two hours) and found absolutely nothing like what they were looking for (even if they didn't know exactly what that was).
Hence, Illumin, who was walking and looking mainly in windows of shops, a cloak drawn about him to conceal his wings and light so as to avoid unpleasant questions, stepped directly on the pard's tail.
Meepfur If it had just been a bump, she would have stepped to the side and kept on her way...but no, someone had to step on her tail. The reaction was automatic, and though Seppa was wickedly intelligent and nearly the size of a horse, she was still a cat, and in that moment she acted no differently than one.
With a pained yowl, she dropped her weight back onto her haunches and pivoted, one huge paw raised and claws unsheathed; however, for all that she looked like she was about ready to strike, she didn't...she was a civilized being, after all.
But that didn't mean she couldn't yell, in her way. Right into the man's mind. "Watch out!"
Much of her dark blue fur stood on end, while her coppery wings flared out in agitation. The scarab she'd been so carefully inspecting, loosed from her hold by the lapse in concentration, dropped to the ground with a clatter.
Sosiqui Illumin, totally distracted, didn't notice something was wrong until he felt something move under his foot... then flip away, sending him off-balance...
And then, a voice intruding in his mind, which sent him the rest of the way down as the shocked deity forgot to regain his balance. "OUCH! Who said that?!" he yelped, grunting as he hit the ground and all the bruises he'd gotten from Ea immediately started complaining.
Then, he looked up into the eyes of a very, very large... predator. Oh... my. "If you spoke to me - I am sorry I trod on you, but is that any way to behave?!" Illumin burst out, embarassed at being caught off his guard, moreso at being flung to the ground, and exceedingly irritated that something had violated the sanctity of his thoughts.
Meepfur With the weight off her tail, and therefore the immediate pain, Seppa composed herself somewhat, lowering her raised forepaw. But oh, it did ache something awful now. That throbbing, insistently aggravating sort of ache.
Sitting gingerly, tail curling around herself, she gave this two-legger who'd stepped on her a brief looking-over with bright green eyes. "You startled me."
Her ears, each pierced with three hoops, fell back slightly, and her gruff mind-voice was tinged with sheepishness. "Sorry, it was reflex."
Sosiqui Illumin just stared for a minute. "Really... can't you talk normally? That's very... intrusive," he complained, rubbing at the side of his head. It felt wrong to have a... a voice in there that wasn't his host. "What are you, anyway?"
Meepfur "Nope," she replied simply, unapologetic...that was just how things were. "I haven't got the right sort of vocal chords for it."
"And I'm a pard, a wingzelle to be exact." Seppa leaned forward some, sniffing. "And what are you? You smell...different from anyone I've ever met. Strange, but not unpleasant."
Sosiqui Illumin rolled his eyes. "Fine, then," he said, grumpily, and stood up, feeling every ache on the way. All his bruises and muscle strains from his practice had been reawakened, it seemed. Wonderful.
"A pard, huh? Never heard of you," he said, though with more curiosity than dismissal. "As for me, I am Illumin, God of Light." He smirked.
Meepfur "Not been around long?" she nosed curiously. "There are quite a few of us here. I'm surprised you've never even heard of us." A little pride to this cat, maybe...but then, that wasn't exactly unusual.
"A god, are you?" Seppa tilted her head, giving him a long, appraising look that turned incredulous. "Hmmm."
Sosiqui "I do not normally go out," Illumin admitted. "Until recently, our temple home provided all we required, before it became fouled, but you do not need to know about that." And I will be damned to fade again if I explain that one. more. time, he added, mentally.
"And yes, a god," Illumin repeated, a bit peeved at the creature's reaction. "Not yet fully ascended, but a god nevertheless."
Meepfur "And I'm not interested in knowing, and so we are both spared that explanation." So maybe she was a little curious, but if he was going to be condescending, she didn't have to indulge him.
With her tail flicking curiously behind her, Seppa stood and padded closer - close enough that he might feel his personal space was being invaded - bright eyes staring into his as she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent again and wrinkling her nose. "Maybe you are a god, maybe not. You are a strange one, that's for certain."
Sosiqui Illumin scowled. "What do you mean, maybe not? Feh... such ignorance and insolence," the god huffed. Illumin's glow increased in response to his irritation, shining through the cloth of his cloak and haloing his face in the overflow. "If you come to the Edelsteine shop, you will see many, many gods, all clawing towards the ascension that belongs to them and them alone, and we will topple your false lords," he added, a spark of pride in his bright gaze.
Meepfur "And how am I to know?" Seppa retorted. "So you glow, so you have the arrogance, but that doesn't make you anything at all."
"You would have me seek gods in a shop? Do you enchant trinkents, then, for the easily awed?" Her wings bristled, then resettled themselves. "I'm a practical cat...Illumin. And being practical means being skeptical, not gullible. I would not be so stupid as to fall under the spell of a false lord."
Sosiqui "Of course not," Illumin huffed. "Our Lord Harmodius, the Twin Crown of Creation and Destruction, offers forth jewels to those who feel drawn to His presence. When... the gods faded long ago, our Lord enclosed their essence within gems so that all glory would not go from the world, and now given the body and will of a host we can be reborn. Even so," and he tapped the gem embedded into the flesh on the left side of his neck. "If you don't believe me, go and see, and then tell me whether your skepticism holds."
As much as Illumin didn't like Destruction, after all - he had to admit that this aspect of the Twin Crown was uniquely imposing, and that while the shop's lower floors were not to his taste, they were more sepulcheral and temple-like than previously.
Meepfur "Your story seems credible, at least...it doesn't have the ring of some concocted tale." Her eyes narrowed, wrinkling her furred brow as she considered. "But regardless, potential higher powers aren't my concern."
She swished her tail in a sort of shrug. "Bowing to some distant being's glory doesn't interest this smith, particularly if they can't even be bothered to notice when they're stepping on someone."
Sosiqui "Then your life will surely be cold and dark," Illumin said, bluntly. "I have apologized for the accident, and I owe you nothing more - though I do hope the rest of your race aren't as foolish. Good day to you."
With that, Illumin turned with a swirl of cloak and stalked back into the crowds, blending in quickly - though a small card dropped from where he had been standing. It bore the name, and address, of the shop.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:59 pm
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Antidote
Sosiqui Illumin huffed his way into the house, followed by stomping up the stairs, grumbling down the hall, dropping his cloak barely inside the doorway of his sanctuary, and flopping onto his bed.
He knew he was acting like a petulant child, but that... that overgrown cat... had doubted him and all the others as well! Much as he didn't feel comfortable with Harmodius' current aspect, the Twin Crown was STILL his Lord...
"What's wrong?" Eibhilin asked, gently, as she emerged from the side chamber.
"Nothing. Which is exactly what I found at the marketplace, too," Illumin grumbled, rolling over and sitting up some.
"Oh... that's too bad," the Aoide said in a calming tone. "Why don't you rest here a while, my lord? The sun will be shining in here in about an hour."
"Thank you, no... I need to..." Illumin fumbled on the words. "Go... somewhere... else." He didn't want to tell Eibhilin how much he needed to NOT be mothered right now - it would hurt her feelings, she'd sulk for days. "See Gianfar," he said, finally. "I'll be in the library."
"As you wish, Radiance," Eibhilin murmured, bowing slightly.
Illumin nodded and strode out of the room, heading for the library. Would Gianfar even be in there? Maybe. Stopping in front of the door, Illumin knocked once before opening it. "Gianfar? Are you present?"
Ithiltari The sound of a dropped book was Ilumin's answer, as Idhren panicked and froze. You do that far too often, Tilion said irritably. Idhren wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but the Moon god had gotten more irritable over the past few days. Say something already."No?" Idhren called out unsteadily, unsure of who this Gianfar was. Perhaps the rightful owner of the library? "Gianfar is not here," she continued, fidgeting slightly before remembering her dropped book. "Oh dear," she said, bending over to pick it up, her long braid flipping over one shoulder. "I hope I didn't damage it," she said, more to herself than anything, inspecting the leather bound tome, completely forgetting that Ilumin was there.
Sosiqui Illumin raised one eyebrow at the unfamiliar person. "And who might you be?" he asked, surprised. Ooh, if it was a heretic like that dratted cat, he'd happily throw them out... though, if they were within the library of the gods, chances were he would not have that pleasure. "I haven't seen you before..."
Ithiltari Idhren started again, although she didn't drop the book. "What?" He asked you who you were, Tilion said, still in that irritated and annoyed tone. "My name is Idhren," she replied after a moment spent with her head cocked to the side as she listened to Tilion. "Um," she continued somewhat awkwardly. "Who are you?"
Sosiqui "I am Illumin, God of Light," Illumin replied, a bit wearily - hoping that THIS reaction to his identity wouldn't slight him again. "Idhren, then... a mortal. Why are you here in Knowledge's library, in the home of the Twin Crown?" He tried to get a glimpse of the title the mortal had been reading a moment before.
Ithiltari Idhren made an abortive attempt at a cursty, stopping because she didn't want to drop the book...again. "Oh. Um. Oh dear," she said. "This is someone's library?" The elven woman looked like she was ready to go running away, or start crying. "I didn't know, I just found it and it was empty, except for the books, and I don't know where else to go," she said, half wailing. You're babbling, Tilion commented, but unable to make any sort of dent on the circling thoughts that continued in his host's head in the same vein.
Sosiqui Illumin took a step back - as with many males across the universe, gods or not, a crying woman was not something easily dealt with. "Calm... uh... calm down, nobody's angry with you," he said, awkwardly. Dammit, he never had been any good at this with Memi, and now it was happening again. "I was only asking why you were here."
He felt an odd air around her... "Do you bear an Edelsteine gem?" he asked, slowly.
Ithiltari "I live here," she said quietly, gripping the book tightly, the only sign other than her still slightly high pitched voice that she was near hysterics. Hysterics then forgetten in curiousty. "A what?" she asked, loosening the death grip to faintly touch her shoulder. Me."Oh. I think so, yes," Idhren said, her hand going back to down to clasp the book, which was growing heavier.
Sosiqui Illumin forced himself to smile - really, if he was going to be greeted by histironics he might as well just go back to his room, but now he felt he had an obligation to calm down what he'd excited. Sigh. "If you dwell here, then there is no problem," he said, as soothingly as he could manage. "Study here as you will - I do, and Gianfar has no problem with it. I cannot imagine he would refuse any who seek his domain ardently. Which god do you carry?"
Ithiltari "Really?" Idhren said, regaining more of her composure. "I would not wish to intrude on another's domain." Idhren blinked a little at that statement, almost as if she hadn't expected that to come out. "What he said," she remarked with a sigh. "That was Tilion. The God of the Moon." At least you didn't make it sound as if I was making things up this time, the god replied.
Sosiqui "Intrude?" Illumin gave the girl a quizzical look. "No, if you intrude, than I do so as well - and Gianfar was not angry with me at all. It is a good library, isn't it?"
He took the knowledge of the deity's identity with a thoughtful nod. The Moon, hmmm... light in darkness. "Greetings, Light of the Night," he said, inclining his head. "It seems to me we are kin, perhaps, in element and self."
Ithiltari "Oh yes," Idhren replied enthusiastically. "Definently one of the best libraries I've ever been in." Please don't get started on the others, I wouldn't like to have the God of Light bored to death, came the nearly inevitable remark. "Very possibly, Radiance," the god said in a much more respectful tone than the one he used with his host.
Sosiqui Illumin looked startled at the title, then a slow smile spread across his face. What an excellent antidote to his earlier encounter! "So you do know me, then. Be welcome, then, Tilion... and to your host as well," he added, almost as an afterthought. "What information are you looking for here? Perhaps I can be of some assistance," he said, grandly.
Not that he knew much about books, but after the day he'd had, he was ready to respond richly to any acknowledgement - and it wouldn't hurt to cement a relationship with a lesser Light.
Ithiltari "More correct to say that I remember a little of you," Tilion said amiably. "My host is not precisely the most social of creatures.""I'm not looking for anything, really," Idhren said after a pause. "Cleaning mostly. Being distracted by every other book," Tilion finished for her. "Um. Were you looking for something?"
Sosiqui "Cleaning? Why?" Illumin raised one eyebrow in the girl's direction. "We have servants that can do such things - I was going to send one of mine to assist Gianfar, in fact. Though, I'm sure he appreciates it," he added, quickly. "But there is no need to bother yourself with such menial tasks. And, well, I was looking for Gianfar, but I count it just as well that you and yours were here instead."
He wandered over to the nearest shelf and tilted his head idly, so he could read the titles on the book spines. What book was it that Knowledge had mentioned before? Something about particles, whatever they were. "Why would a girl such as yourself, host to a god, want to clean? Here? Surely the downstairs area, all ash and gloom, would speak more to such tendencies," he added, dryly.
Ithiltari "I don't like being downstairs," Idhren said with a slight frown. "I like libraries better. And it needed to be cleaned," she continued with a sad look around. "This place hasn't been taken care of," the elf said with an almost disapproving tone in her voice. "So, what were you looking for?"
Sosiqui Illumin sighed. "I don't like it down there either, and I fear it will only grow worse," he admitted. "This place is far more pleasant, despite the dust. Gianfar had been away for some time, but now that he has returned - and with your tender ministrations," he added, bowing slightly to her, "it should regain former glory swiftly. Would that the same could be said for the rest of this place."
He ran one hand down the leather-bound spines. "Nothing in particular. I research here, time and again. A pity I did not discover this place before my host was gone, she would have enjoyed it. But no, I search for truth here, sometimes. It is most illuminating." He flashed her a literally bright grin.
Ithiltari "I don't mind that it looks like a temple. It's just too dark," Idhren said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "And foreboding." She looked around the library again, a small smile on her face. "But I can forget about that up here." With a slight sigh, she set the book down, having forgotten what she was going to do with it. Glancing back towards Ilumin, she caught the grin and offered one of her own, an uncertain thing, but genuine nonetheless. "Books don't lie as often as people," she offered. "That's why I like them better."
Sosiqui "But books can be written by those who lie," Illumin said, raising one hand as if to caution her. "Still, the truth will out, as is the way. Two things cannot be hidden, two things that are never extinguished - Light, and Truth." He carefully removed one book from the shelf and wiped the dust gently from the top and the sides of the cover. "Truth is very dear to me. The Light destroys all shadows and lies, leaving only the purity of itself, and truth unembellished, behind. Would that the whole world were so..." He sighed. "But, maybe it still will be, when I ascend further." Illumin grinned at her. "I need only..."
His brow furrowed. "Followers, I think, though as someone I... ah.. ran into today indicated, I may need more than words and a lovely glow to convince them of my nature."
Ithiltari "I think that the God of Light will have plenty of oppurtunities for followers in the days that follow," Idhren said with another frown, this one more severe and not directed at anything in particular. "But why do you need followers?" I thought you said you'd had experience with gods, Tilion exclaimed. Else I'd have further explained the Fading to you. Please warn me the next time you want to make it seem as though I've told you nothing, he continued caustically, causing Idhren to blush at the reprimand.
Sosiqui "Ah, followers are the lifeblood of any god. Worship and adulation is the true ambrosia, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise - it is our breath and our food, our sweetest wine and source of life." Illumin inclined his head and gave her a charming smile. How very kind of her to give him a chance to perform! "The more followers we gain, the more strength - and the more we lose, the less, until we are reduced to ash and cold jewels. Though that will never happen to me again," he added, with a slight frown. "All I need are those who believe."
Ithiltari "Oh," Idhren replied, rocking back on her heels slightly. "That makes sense," she admitted. "Different, but it makes sense." Different from what?Home, was all Idhren replied to the god she carried, the word full of longing. "You'll have an easier time of it than him, I think," she said with a nervous laugh.
Sosiqui "Perhaps so, perhaps not," Illumin shrugged. Privately, he was sure his ascension would be most quick once he had completed the arduous climb to reclaiming more of his power, after all - who could resist the true call of Light? However, it would be impolite to say so. "Have you been here long?" he asked, curiously. "I haven't seen you before. Reclusive, or new?"
Ithiltari "I forget when I came here, but someone named Panacea helped me originally," Idhren said, twisting a bit of her braid in her hands. "I haven't seen her in a while," she added, looking a little wistful. "She prefers to stay up here, at any rate," Tilion commented dryly.
Sosiqui "... Oh. Pana." Of course. Somehow, it ALWAYS comes around back to her. "She is not here, at the moment, and hasn't been for some months," he said, formally. He was NOT going to explain again. Period. "Do you have chambers of your own? There are some empty rooms here, though they lack the ability to change by the god's will that they once bore. So inconvinient," Illumin added, making a face.
Ithiltari Idhren shrugged. She hadn't really known the other, so her being gone wasn't something to particularly bother her. "Nooo," she said, drawing the word out. "I sleep here," she elaborated. "I didn't see any other rooms when I was looking for somewhere to stay."
Sosiqui "You sleep here? In the library, here? Well... suit yourself, but someday Tilion will need a temple of his own, rather than using those of others. We can be jealous creatures, gods," he added, with a wink. Ooh, this was fun. "Though, now that Gianfar is back, perhaps if you see him you should speak with him. He is gray of skin, wears simple robes, gray hair, and glasses. A kind and most wise god."
Ithiltari "I wouldn't mind sleeping somewhere else," Idhren said with a hint of a bite. "But I should speak with him anyway," she continued in a more normal tone. "I don't want to be seen as an intruder."
Sosiqui "Oh, don't worry. You meant no harm, you'll be fine." Illumin put the book back on the shelf and stretched. Ahh, he felt much better now. "Thank you, Tilion and Idhren, you've improved my mood enormously. I wish you good luck in finding your places." Illumin nodded to the girl, then grinned and turned to walk out of the library, humming something under his breath.
Ithiltari "Thank you as well," Idhren said with a bow, picking up the book she'd been holding earlier. "Farewell, Radiance," Tilion called after Ilumin before retreating to mutter in the back of Idhren's mind.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:00 pm
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Darkness Falls
Illumin stood by the great windows in his chambers, staring up into the livid, bruised sky. The color had spread from horizon to horizon - no mere storm clouds, these.
Storm clouds had never eaten the sun.
"What is it?" Eibhilin asked, from her place behind him.
"Darkness... Destruction," Illumin said, flatly. The wrongness that had long since permeated the lower shop was now twanging through the very sky, depriving him of his element. It was like drowning - and the only way to keep calm was to try and ignore it. "He has ascended, there can be no doubt..." Can there be a return? I don't know... I don't know.
Pana...
He heard Eibhilin shifting awkwardly, unsure of what to say in the face of this. "Radiance...?"
Suddenly, Illumin couldn't bear to look any more, and turned away from the windows with a jerk. "Cover them."
"My lord?"
"Cover the windows!" he barked at her, then sighed as he saw her cringe away. "No, it's not your fault, I'm sorry... just, please. Make some curtains, buy some, anything so I don't have to look at... at that." Illumin glanced up at the ceiling. "And... more lights, bright as the vessels will allow. I refuse to bow to this... this darkness." His fists clenched at his side.
"Even so, my Radiance," came a smoother voice from the opening, and god and Aoide both looked up to see Eliam standing in the doorway, lantern blazing at his side. "The darkness has spread far. The mortals are beginning to fear... in time, terror will take them. Who will they turn to?" The dragon-winged Aoide's eyes were bright.
Illumin pondered this. "To... the light, if we can call them," he said, finally, the understanding opening up before him like a glittering path. "In darkness, Light truly shines its glory... and is most attractive. Yes... yes..."
This might be profitable after all. But, Illumin thought as he caught a glimpse of the sky again and his stomach took a dive, he didn't have to like it.
At all.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:01 pm
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The Dish Best Served...?
Meepfur It had taken a little longer to find the place than she'd expected, as she seemed to have remembered the name of the street wrong, but eventually, Seppa did find the shop...and that frustrating delay had given her time to think more; and, consequently, get more and more frustrated.
Partly because her mouth still hurt, even if she was slowly starting to get used to it, but also because of something she'd remembered on her way here. That something was frightening, and being frightened was one thing Seppa sincerely hated and tried to deny being.
But she couldn't shake it, not this time. Although Sabah had told her to come here, that she might find something out...she hadn't connected it right away to what the man had said the other day. About gods' essences in gems, given a host...and the jewel embedded in his neck.
As she willed the handle on the door to turn and pushed it open, she felt faintly sick.
Sosiqui Illumin was, amazingly enough, downstairs. Since the sky had changed and twilight descended, his large windows were now much more disquieting than comforting. Eibhilin was up there now fitting massive damask curtains to the formerly never-covered windows, and when she was On A Task there was no getting in her way. Even the gods must stay well clear.
Not that downstairs was a whole lot better, but at least he couldn't see the sky very well. Still, the god was very fidgety, pacing back and forth in the entryway, staying away from the dais area. He looked up quickly when the door opened... and then, when he saw who it was, blinked and started to laugh. "I didn't think you'd come here," he said, with a toss of his hair. "Come to investigate? I warn you, some of the gods will bite back worse than I..." He watched with chill amusement in his eyes. This should be most interesting.
Meepfur That...was the last person she wanted to see. Tail lashing behind her, she laid her ears back testily. And he had the nerve to laugh.
Seppa bristled and hissed, opened mouth revealing a tongue cut and bleeding. "Come to find out what the hell is going on."
Sosiqui Illumin stopped pacing and leaned against the bannister of the stairs that led up to the second floor, and raised one eyebrow at the pard. "Calm down," he said, indolently. "The only goddess capable of healing isn't here. Is that all you wanted? Perhaps you should try a veterinarian."
Meepfur "If I wanted a healer, I'd go to my own kind." Seppa paced forward, stifling a frustrated growl. "I want answers. I want to know what this damn rock is doing in my mouth, and I want it gone."
Calm was a hard thing to do, at the moment.
Sosiqui Okay, now Illumin was confused. "I have no idea what you mean," he said, bluntly. "If you can possibly explain yourself clearly, please do so - the world is bad enough as it is without my getting yelled at by large cats. What rock?"
Meepfur At first, his confusion was frustrating too, but finally she shook herself mentally, realizing she was getting nowhere. Her fur smoothed somewhat, and she looked up at him desperation in her bright eyes.
"It's carved, it looks like a dragon, holding another stone. And it's stuck." She didn't know how else to explain it, other than show him. Shaking her head, she moved closer and opened her jaws wide, tilting her head back. Half-buried in the roof of her mouth was what she'd described, at an unfortunate angle that meant the dragon's horns and a fair bit of its mane would scrape against her tongue.
Sosiqui Illumin stared... then started to laugh again, though not unkindly this time. "Who told you to come here? It looks like it might have been a good idea that you did - where did you get that gem?"
It was rather delicious irony, but now that the pard seemed placed firmly in 'host' territory, Illumin's vague diplomacy kicked in. In fact, didn't it make him even MORE noble to be kind to someone who was nasty to him? Surely so.
Meepfur "It's not funny," she muttered gruffly into his mind. "It hurts." Her ears canted back again in half-hearted annoyance.
"A friend of mine told me to, Sabah." Paws shuffling, Seppa sat back on her haunches. "And Albion gave it to me, I don't know where he found it. But he was carrying it around for days and didn't have a problem."
Sosiqui "Unless I miss my mark..." Illumin reached forward, then hesitated. "May I touch the gem? That way, I will know for sure."
Meepfur After a moment, Seppa shrugged her wings. There wasn't any reason not to let him, and if it meant knowing for certain.. "Go for it, then."
She opened her mouth again, tail swishing slowly back and forth over the floor behind her. "I won't bite, promise."
Sosiqui Illumin cautiously reached for the pard's mouth, being extremely careful not to touch the tongue, and placed the tip of one finger on the gem. Immediately, he was aware of an unmistakable sense of power similar to his own, in a way. How could anyone not notice this?
Then again, many mortals seemed able to miss it. Perhaps it was something only other gods could reliably detect. He withdrew his hand and nodded to Seppa. "It is as I thought. The gem is an Edelsteine jewel, the remains of a god awaiting rebirth, and it seems to have chosen you as its host..." He wondered what god it was. It was hard to tell anything from its appearance alone, with it so inset into the pard's flesh, especially in that particular location.
Meepfur Closing her mouth again, Seppa shut her eyes and hung her head. "What does that mean for me, and can I...can it be taken out?"
She seemed to have calmed for now, tired and clinging to a stubborn hope.
Sosiqui Illumin shook his head. "It cannot," he said, the tone of his voice unreadable. After all, it wouldn't do to seem inordinately amused at the creature's fate, even if he was. The irony was wonderful.
They call their perfect hosts, and then eat them up. Chomp, chomp... The memory rang through his mind for a moment.
"The deity you now bear will... take you. Everything - body, mind, and eventually soul - as fuel for a glorious rebirth and return to their former state of power. It is a gradual change, but it cannot be stopped once it has begun," Illumin explained, carefully, watching for the pard's reaction. "As for why this did not happen to the others who came in contact with the stone, the deity chooses his or her perfect host..."
Meepfur "No.." Seppa raised her head, eyes wide...horrified, disgusted, denying. "NO!"
What calm she might have had for that short while was gone, replaced with anger, despair. With a violent shake of her head, she yowled, loud and ragged, claws coming unsheathed and dragging across the floor in front of her. "You call this glorious?!"
"To take, to steal what isn't yours? To murder and worse, and without so much as a by your leave?!"
Sosiqui Illumin frowned at her. "Don't get angry at me. I asked my host. She was fully aware of what it meant. Blame the god who took without asking, if you like, but leave me out of it."
Meepfur Panting, Seppa sagged to the floor, lips curled in a silent snarl, head bent so that her nose touched ashy ground. "But I don't want to die, Illumin."
Sosiqui Inside, Illumin softened a bit. This was enough penance - let it never be said that he was an unjust and wholly unforgiving god. He gave her a sympathetic look. "It is not... death... not exactly, and perhaps the god within will set apart a place for you as I did for my host, before she decided to fully merge of her own free will." He did not mention other circumstances - Morpheus, Panacea... where things had gone differently. Why scare the creature more?
"It is something you must speak with your deity about," he said, more gently. "Whoever it is, is alive within the jewel." He hesitated. "If you like, I could try to speak with them, though I would need to touch the gem again. Or you yourself could try to focus on the mind within. I assure you, there is one." Something inside Illumin squirmed, though. This was close, too close, to what he'd done with Memi, and it brough up all kinds of conflicted feelings about the rightness of that act.
Meepfur She lifted her head, twitching away the ash that clung to her whiskers. Her ears dropped to the sides, and a shudder ran through the antlered cat, taking the immediate burn of anger with it and leaving her with the bitter aftertaste.
"I don't...want to talk to him." Him? Well, whatever, it didn't matter. But she didn't want to talk to him. She wanted the god to stay nameless, silent, easier to be angry with. Easier to hate. "Not now."
Sosiqui Illumin shrugged. "Then don't. Though I suggest you do so eventually, but it makes no difference to me. You'll want to come back here more often though, of course. To be among your own kind." He grinned at her, and there was something wild in the expression. "The world is changing, I'm sure you've noticed."
Meepfur "Thank you, for the...help." It was nearly a whisper, and a grudging one at that, but it was nonetheless sincere. "My...own kind? Oh. Right."
"The sky's gone all wrong. Everything's...gone all wrong." Her ears flicked forward, curious. "You know what's happening?"
Sosiqui "It is Destruction's taint... the Twin Crown of Creation and Destruction dwells here." Illumin made a sweeping gesture towards the flame-backed throne, visible at the other end of the shop's first story. "When I came here, Creation held sway, but the Creator of All also bears a second aspect. Most gods do - there are two of Love, holding sway over different aspects of their element. I myself have... had... a sister Light, who commands it in a different way. But within Lord Harmodius, both aspects are combined... usually."
Illumin sighed. "I will not explain the whole thing, you can look it up in the library or somesuch," he muttered. "But, in short, something pushed our Lord over to the Destruction side of the spectrum, and now his power is complete and he is making himself known to all mortals."
Meepfur "Taint's a good word for it," Seppa agreed, following Illumin's gesture with her eyes. Ash and flame in here, a changed sky outside. Would the ash and flame work their way outside, as well? She hoped not. And whatever happened, she hoped her friends would be alright. Surely Sabah would be able to take care of them.
"Not exactly subtle, is he?" The humor was dry and halfhearted, but it was an improvement.
Sosiqui "No, not particularly." Illumin sighed. "We are seeking to return balance to our Lord - one among us is out searching for the solution even as we speak - but it is an arduous task. If it helps, I don't like this any more than you do." The god looked pensive, and twitchy. "Light and Destruction are not friends."
Meepfur At least they were trying to do something about it...that gave them a few points in Seppa's book, at least, despite her feelings about the whole affair. "I'd think not, since he seems to have gotten rid of most of it."
There was actually a fleeting look of sympathy in her expression. If she was uncomfortable with the lack of real daylight...
Sosiqui "Perhaps the deity you bear will be able to help," Illumin said, finally, his wings rustling lightly. "Once you have discovered his or her nature, you may know more. There is an excellent library upstairs for research." Oh, how he hoped this newly awakened one was something that could assist.
Meepfur "Perhaps." Could something good possibly come from all this? Or was the way he'd taken her an indication of what he was like?
At his mention of the library and research, Seppa's lips curled in a sort of grin, and she lifted a paw. "I'm afraid I'm not much good at turning pages. I've never quite figured out how to do it without crinkling them terribly."
Sosiqui "Ah... of course." Illumin inclined his head in a vaguely apologetic gesture. "Well, there is Gianfar, Knowledge. He is the library's keeper, and I'm sure he would be delighted to assist you."
He peered curiously at the pard's mouth, again, as if looking right past her to the gem within. "Are you sure you don't want to try to talk to it? Find out something?" Ugh, this was maddening. Illumin really, really wanted to know who this was, now.
Meepfur "A god turning pages for a cat?" Something about that was faintly amusing. She might just have to see about it.
Pushing herself up into a sit again, Seppa shuffled her forepaws. She was gradually feeling more sensible, and realized exactly why she didn't want to talk to whoever this was...and just how childish and stupid that was.
"...Alright."
Sosiqui "Very well, then... do you want to try and, er, talk to it... with your thoughts, and all, or should I try it? I'll have to touch the jewel again, but you are quite obviously already touching it," Illumin added.
Meepfur "You, please. If you don't mind." The god really had wound up in a very awkward and inconvenient place. She wondered if they'd realized. "I know it's not the first place most people would want to put their hand."
She'd talk to him herself eventually, maybe...but she knew her own temper, and right now she didn't trust it. If Illumin agreed, she'd open her mouth again for him.
Sosiqui "Very well... I will need to touch it a bit more than before, though. Be careful, I'm attached to my hand," he added, wryly. Illumin stepped up to the pard and pushed back the translucent fabric from one arm, then waited for her.
Meepfur "Nothing to worry about, I've never had a taste for them." Tilting her head back, she opened her mouth, tail flicking patiently behind her. "They're much too bony to bother with."
Sosiqui "How reassuring," Illumin said dryly, then reached in, feeling for the smooth surface of the gem, surprised at the roughness of whatever was twined around it. Then, he concentrated, much as he had with Panacea's jewel.
Greetings... whoever you may be? I am Illumin, God of Light. And you are?
Meepfur "I try." She quieted then, letting him do whatever it was he was doing.Something stirred, slowly. Who..? Light? There was a fuzziness to the voice, almost like a yawn. Hello, Illumin.
I am Zhijian, Ying Long, Fangbridle. The dragon sounded pleasant enough, if...sleepy.
Sosiqui Illumin jumped a bit, startled, then gave Seppa an apologetic look, hoping he hadn't inadvertantly bumped a sore spot. "A male god... Zhijian? He calls himself.... Ying Long..."
Illumin's gaze flicked to the dragon statues. Are you a dragon king, Ying Long? Your chosen host is somewhat displeased with your choice of fusing location, I daresay...
Meepfur The pard winced a little, but she was careful to keep her mouth open. "Ying...Long?" That last was familiar, it was...what had Ashoka said? "The Long King.."Yes. He was quiet for a moment, then, puzzled. I didn't...choose. I felt her, and took my chance. Where is it that I've put myself?
Sosiqui "Ying Long," Illumin repeated, feeling a little disoriented by having not one but two voices in his head. "He is a Dragon King... one of Lord Harmodius' nine must favored and special princes..."
She is a... er... very large hunting cat, Zhijian, Illumin tried to explain. Her only means of lifting objects is through her mouth, and it is there you have fused, to the roof. The gem abrades her tongue and gums, it seems.
Meepfur "A favored prince, is he? A Dragon King...he doesn't sound like an ordinary god." Not titled with a domain or influence...so just what did that make him?A hunting cat? He gave a faint, amused chuckle. She is a strange cat, then...there is some kind of power in her I'm not familiar with.
His amusement faded, though, to a certain amount of sheepishness. Have I? I sound...painful. I do not mean to be.
Sosiqui "No... no, he isn't. The Dragon Kings hold power second only to Our Lord... and they serve him," Illumin said, almost reluctantly. So the Dragon Kings were awakening... would they support Destruction's rise, oppose their attempt to bring back balance? Or would they help? It was an uncomfortable wild card. "This one titles himself Fangbridle, though I'm not sure what that means."
It seems you are. She bleeds some, Illumin admitted to the dragon. Aloud, he said, "He seems sorry for the pain he has caused you, that his gem rests in an inconvinient place. This one seems a thoughtful god. You should do well."
Meepfur "Powerful servants.." Seppa mused, thoughtful. So, this Zhijian was actually higher in the hierarchy of things than Light? Hmm. "Fangbridle...I can't say I know what it means, either."I will have to apologize. I have felt she is angry, though, and she has fought me even without knowing she does so. It is why I haven't tried to speak with her, he admitted, I would prefer to do so when my lady's ire has cooled somehwat."He wasn't particularly thoughtful about this whole business to begin with," she griped, nose wrinkling.
"I'm sorry, Illumin, but I don't know how much longer I can keep my mouth open." It was getting dry and rather uncomfortable.
Sosiqui "It's okay, I'm sure he will speak with you in due time," Illumin said. I will leave you, now. Thank you, Fangbridle - I hope to meet with you in better circumstances.
Without waiting for a reply, Illumin released the gem, and stepped back away from the pard. "There's water in the kitchen if you need some," he said, putting both hands up to his temples and rubbing. All this talking with thoughts was making his head hurt.
Meepfur When Illumin had withdrawn, Zhijian fell back into a fitful drowse, quiet.With the god' hand no longer in any 'danger,' Seppa closed her mouth, tongue working uncomfortably against the gem as she tried to get some saliva going again. She didn't fail to notice him rubbing at his head, though. "I'm sorry if that was troublesome."
Sosiqui Illumin shrugged. " I wanted to know as well... and now I do, at the price of a headache." Indeed, her mental voice was only making it worse. "I believe I will retire to my chambers... there are some upstairs, you know, if you need a place to stay. Lord Harmodius grants them, though now they are somewhat less exciting than they once were." He turned and started up the stairs, then quickly looked back. "He seemed kind," Illumin repeated. "You are fortunate, whether you believe that or not."
Meepfur "Thank you, Illumin." Seppa nodded, understanding. "Fortunate in my misfortune...perhaps." She wrinkled her nose.
"I don't believe I ever told you, but..I'm Seppa. And I'm sorry for earlier." With that, she turned to find the kitchen...sinks, at least, were something she could manage, and hopefully no one would mind her putting her paws on the countertop...and if they did, well, what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.
Sosiqui Illumin paused, surprised. "Seppa, then... thank you."
With that, he turned and continued up the stairs to his chamber, lost in thought. Hopefully, Eibhilin would have finished the curtains by now.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:02 pm
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Covering the Sky
"Is it done yet?" Illumin snapped, pushing the door to his chambers open a crack.
There was rustling of cloth within, then: "Yes, Radiance, it is covered," came Ebhilin's quiet voice.
Breathing a sigh of relief - as if mere cloth could erase the horror of the bruised and livid sky! - Illumin pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside, then stopped in surprise at Eibhilin's handiwork. The great windows that had previously dominated the room were covered in opalescent white fabric shot through with gold threading here and there, reflecting and shining the light from the lamps back into the room.
He let the door fall closed behind him and stepped forward to examine the curtains more closely, aware that Eibhilin was waiting with baited breath, clawed hands clasped, anxiously awaiting his judgement. He reached forward with one hand and felt the fabric - it was a bit stiff, but thick, and when the curtains were fully pulled closed no darkness was visible through the fabric.
"Marvelous work," he murmured, letting the fabric fall from his hand. "It is beautiful and fitting, Eibhilin."
The banshee flushed as best she could, and bowed. "Thank you, Radiance. It sets my heart at ease to not have to look at... it... either."
"Mmm." Illumin mounted the dais and sat on the edge of his bed, apparently deep in thought.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:03 pm
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Little Lost Firebird
chaeval Byrne spent a quiet night in his room, not moving at all other than to let the puppy squirm free and nibble at the dog food he had earlier dropped there. Then he was alertly watching until the canine came back to curl up to him as a source of warmth.
The darkness inside the room suited him fine. No windows or sound escaping from outside. The light was bloodred and the sounds were a wastelandish cacephony.
Perhaps it was merely time to sleep again. But closing his eyes offered no respite. His tail was still painful, but he made no effort to attend to it. Why bother?
Sosiqui Eibhilin moved smoothly along the corridor, carefully carrying a tea-tray from below up to Illumin's chambers. The only sound of her floating passage was the soft clink of china.
As she passed Byrne's room, she paused. Illumin had discreetly asked her to keep an eye on the godling - and something felt... off... right now. She couldn't say much, maybe it was maternal instinct... but something wasn't right.
Illumin had ordered tea, but he'd also ordered her to watch out for Byrne. The banshee Aoide bit her lip, then made a decision. "Young firebird?" she asked, quietly, knocking on the door. Her tone was kind.
chaeval The voice didn't sound at all like Beryl's, save it was female. And of course, Beryl just called him by his name.
There was no need to answer the door, then. Turning over, he cuddled the puppy closer and curled in on himself.
He almost told the voice to go away, but there seemed little need to. She would simply think he was not there.
Sosiqui Eibhilin's ear perked... movement. So, the godling was within, but....?
She shook her head, and quickly proceeded along the corridor until she reached Illumin's room. "Radiance?"He was pacing, as usual. The windows were solidly blocked by thick curtains now, and the room blazed more than ever with light and heat, but it seemed more desperate now than it had before. Illumin looked up as she entered. "What?" He was tense, as he had been since the sky darkened. "You told me to watch for Byrne... I think something's wrong..." She put the tea tray down on the sideboard and tried to articulate it, but failing that just shrugged helplessly and wrung her hands. "I don't know what or why, but...""I trust your instincts," Illumin murmured, brow furrowing. What could be the matter with Byrne? "Thank you... I'll go and check, I suppose. Is he in his chambers?"
She nodded, and Illumin changed the direction of his movement, heading out the door. The cool air in the corridor was a bit of a shock, but he shook it off and padded down to Byrne's room. "Byrne? Byrne, it's Illumin. Are you okay?" He knocked twice, firmly, on the door.
chaeval "εγκαταλείπω κάποιο μέρος" He replied, not moving. Perhaps he should have just answered the door to begin with, but now stubborness had kicked in. Digging in deeper to the debris on the floor, he hissed his annoyance.
Sosiqui Illumin frowned. He wasn't sure exactly what Byrne had said, but it hadn't sounded friendly - and that inflection alone was cause for concern, considering it was Byrne he was dealing with. "Byrne, I..." He paused, trying to figure out what to say. "If something's wrong... I know I'm not Beryl, but I can help you until she gets here?" His glow increased, now easily visible under the door.
It wasn't much, but it was all he had to offer. But what was going on, that Byrne the eternally cheerful would act this way...? It was definitely worrisome.
chaeval The murkiness evaporated slightly, and even though his ears were flat against his head, he sat up with just a slight wince. "αφικνούμαι " he said finally. "Come in."
Sosiqui "Thank you," Illumin said, gently, and opened the door. The light that radiated from him battered against the shadows within, and he frowned to see the firebird's chambers so dark. "What's wrong... are you okay?" he asked, quietly, walking over to crouch near Byrne. "What happened?" It was obvious from his expression that something was very, very wrong, and it was starting to make Illumin nervous.
chaeval He didn't bother to look up, just closing his eyes against the brightness. "Nothing's wrong." he said, not even trying to be ingenious. He held the puppy protectively and fondled the ears.
Sosiqui "Are you sure? Your ears..." Illumin pointed lamely at the godling's drooping ears. "They almost match his," he added, smiling, trying to make a joke as he pointed at the puppy Byrne was holding. "Is he a new friend of yours?"
Small talk. He wanted to come right out and ask for a straight answer, but while that might work on lesser beings fellow gods deserved more care than that.
chaeval "I found them outside." he answered. "They were left alone in a building. I took them home with me." his ears flickered nervously at the joke.
Sosiqui "Oh... that was nice of you," Ilumin said, awkwardly. He knew that if Sosiqui was still around, she'd be laughing at him... telling him he was never any good at this, and what was a god who wasn't any good at comfort, anyway?
And then, she'd give advice. But she was gone, and there was no advice forthcoming. He was on his own.
"They?" he added, noting the plural and moving to look around the room. "There's more?"
chaeval "Was." Byrne answered. His expression didn't change at all.
Sosiqui "There was? What happened to the others?" Illumin asked, as gently as he could manage - though he was subconciously relaxing. Maybe the godling was just sad over something that had happened with his pets. Painful, but ultimately fixable and mostly harmless. "It's okay to tell me," he added. "We're... friends, right?"
chaeval His ears flickered again. "I thought it would help Harmodious." he said simply.
He shifted, fondling the pup again, but moved more to relieve the pain he was feeling. But he didn't feel like standing up either. Finally he lay back down, favoring his off side. It would heal eventually. When he felt like it.
Sosiqui "Really? And... did it?" Illumin asked as kindly as he could, though he was already dreading the answer. "It was nice of you to think of Harmodius," he added, trying to bolster Byrne's thoughts even as his own heart began to sink.
Illumin noticed the crumpled tailfeathers, but said nothing for now. One thing at a time.
chaeval There was a slight twitch. "He thanked me." he replied.
Sosiqui "That's.... that's good."
He paused, knowing pushing further would probably open a floodgate of some kind, for good or ill, but... he couldn't bear to see Byrne this way, so knotted up. "Then why are you here all curled up and hurting?" Illumin asked, quietly, his glow dampening some. "I... I was the one that said maybe... something happy might... help..." He faltered. This was not going well. "If you're hurting because of... something I told you..."
Illumin lapsed into awkward silence. There was nothing else to say, not if Byrne wouldn't tell him exactly what was going on. Oh, he probably could have forced it out, but he had more respect for the firebird than that.
chaeval "No." Byrne answered, still in the same matter-of-fact monotone. "It wasn't your fault. Happiness isn't the answer. His colors ran black. I didn't want to see it, was all. I have to think about it, even though it's hard."
He was familiar with fire, well enough. But a flame of the purifying kind. Not so much one that blackened and burned, charring.
"He wasn't expecting an offering." he finished. "Not from me. Noone seems to expect anything from me. But that's okay too."
Golden apples and secret gardens. Melody and gilded cages. Horses and wolves and captive princesses. Stone statues and pealy tears.
Sosiqui "An offering..." For a moment, Illumin was confused - and then it all fell into place. He swallowed, hard. He didn't need to know exactly what had happened any more - he could see the shape of things from here, and he didn't like them. At all.
"I'm sorry, anyway," Illumin murmured, feeling wretched. "You tried... that's the important thing," he offered. "You did your best... he's just changed so much, but Pana will bring Creation back. Pana and Aristogeiton. Just wait and see. The colors will come back, I promise." His hands balled into fists, held tight in his lap.
He did not promise lightly.
chaeval "It's not really important." he answered. "But thank you. Maybe someone else will help. I'd just like to go back to sleep for a really long time. But I don't think that will happen either. So theres not much to do, actually. Colors come and go, dark today, bright tomorrow. Sometimes they run, sometimes not. I remember night time forests with magic apple trees. Those were good times. Not like now. But those times aren't present, and the present isn't the future.
"I tried, but it didn't work. But that's okay too. That happens, things not working. Things being broken. You don't need to be sorry. It's just broken."
Sosiqui "We will fix them again. We have to." Illumin's glow slowly intensified to near-blinding, though he didn't seem aware of it. "The... Harmodius, Creation-Harmodius, is still there," he added, trying to be helpful. "It's just... you know, how there's two of everything? Two of Dream, two of Love? There's two of Harmodius, too... they just share the same shape... so it's harder... but I will not let the darkness win. Destruction or no."
Something inside trembled at the words, but the rest of Illumin was angrily exhilirated at his own daring. True, just saying things wasn't much, but voicing it was more than he'd ever done before.
chaeval He nodded. "Maybe you will. That's okay. I don't really think it matters overall. But maybe it does." He blinked at the increased illumination, but didn't show a sign otherwise. "It'd be nice to be a bird again. I miss being a bird."
Sosiqui "It looks like your tail got a little squished," Illumin observed. "And of course it matters - it was in a book, an old book I read about when the world first started, Harmodius and... Lucius... and everything. There was Light, and then there was Dark, but the two of them in balance made everything else come into balance too... so, you see, I can't just let the darkness win." He smiled, pleased with his own logic. "You should have someone look at that," he added, gesturing towards the crumpled tailfeathers. "Then you'll be more like a bird again."
chaeval He craned his neck to look at his tail. "They'll get better eventually." he replied indifferently. "I fell when he thanked me, was all. I don't fall alot, so I did it wrong."
"Balance is okay." he said "I needed some before I fell. But different, I guess. Fire can be nice or not."
Sosiqui "That's true," Illumin acknowledged, his glow dying down to only a little brighter than normal. He sat there quiet for a moment. "Should I find Beryl for you? I'm not very good at this... even if I want to be. I guess I need to learn more, too."
chaeval "You don't have to." he said. "I'm okay. You don't have to stay here, you know. "
Sosiqui "Are you sure?" Illumin asked, hesitantly. He wasn't sure if it would be better to leave Byrne be, or to keep him company.
chaeval He nodded. "It's okay." he replied. "You'll feel better in the morning."
Sosiqui "I hope you will be, too," Illumin said, soberly. "Let me... or my Aoidei... know if you need anything, Byrne. Even if it's just somebody to sit and keep you company, or a bit of light."
Illumin concentrated, spinning out a bit of his personal globe into a trio of floating orbs which moved to bob around the room. "They'll glow for a few hours," he said.
chaeval "OKay." he answered. "Thanks."
Sosiqui With that, and a quick pat on the puppy's head, Illumin stood and left the room, not looking back even though he wanted to.
Once the door closed behind him, he let his face fall into the angry scowl he'd been surpressing ever since he'd figured out the gist of what happened. There was no way now he could equate Harmodius with... with that thing downstairs.
He didn't want to stay here. He didn't want to be here, at the heart of the oppression and darkness. Fists clenched, Illumin stalked down the hall and pushed open the door to his room. The light within flooded the corridor for a moment before the door slammed and darkness fell once more.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:04 pm
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Quest - Introduction: Bandaged Chains
Illumin was livid.
He stalked around his room like an angry cat, his wings trembling, fists tightly clenched, resisting all attempts by his Aoidei to calm him. Eibhilin and Eliam exchanged worried glances every time he passed.
"My lord-" Eliam ventured, finally, and Illumin turned eyes blazing with cold fire on him.
"What?" The tone was biting, nearly hissed in frustration.
"What happened to the young firebird godling was most unfortunate, but is it really worth troubling yourself so?" Eliam said, standing straight and apparently unruffled by his lord's obvious irritation.
"It shows that everything is gone and everything is wrong," Illumin snapped, the light around him swirling and blinking erratically. "The state of Destruction is unnatural to me, Eliam - Light is Creation's child. Everything about this is wrong, and the way... he took... Byrne's gift... only proves it a thousand times over." Illumin turned away sharply. "I don't want to be here any more."
"Then leave," Eliam replied, just as calmly as before. "Cast off into the darkness and forge your light there. With our help and the information you obtained from the shadow demon-"
"I can't," Illumin growled, resuming his pacing. "I don't have the strength to fight a demigod Aoide right now, especially not with Destruction's aura beating down on me like... like..."
"Hot sun, to mortal men," Eibhlin said, quietly.
"Perhaps," Illumin grumbled, unaware of what that felt like - to him, the hottest rays of the sun were only more nourishing and vital, not oppressive at all. "And... I can't leave because of... her."
"Her?" Eliam looked up quickly. "What do you mean?"
Illumin sat down heavily on the edge of his bed. "Lady Medicine - she is returning, and returning here, and I WILL NOT have her come back to this... this forsaken place... without me. I will be here waiting for her, no matter what happens!" Light blazed and danced around Illumin intensely, fueled by his emotions.
"But... until then?" Eibhilin asked, quietly.
Illumin glared at her for a moment - then deflated. "I don't know," he admitted. "What can I do?"
"Not sit in this room wearing ruts in the floor!" the banshee said, sharply, and Eliam and Illumin both turned to stare at her in surprise. "Don't mope about how you can't do anything, and do something! Er, with respect, Radiance," she added, more meekly.
Eliam smothered a grin, unsuccessfully. Illumin tried to glare at them both, them looked down, shaking his head.
"I see I have been bested by my own servants. Again," he added, with a bitter laugh.
"No, Lord - we think only of what is better for you. I swear it on your very self," Eibhilin said, quickly, moving to bow before him.
"And I, as well," Elilam added, moving next to Eibhilin to bow as well, kneeling low. "I, too, swear it on thy very self."
Illumin paused, then smiled wryly. "I know, my trusted ones," he said, quietly. "Rise." The two Aoidei did so. "So. Where would you suggest I begin, in doing... something?"
"From what you have said, the Lady Memi began her search for knowledge in the houses of knowledge. Perhaps the library holds more answers. You had found some things already, had you not?" Eliam said.
"Indeed." Illumin rested his chin on one hand, thoughtfully. "Perhaps another visit is in order."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:05 pm
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Quest - Part One: The Ancient Puzzle
"Idhren?" Illumin called out as he entered the library, closing the door with some relief. The library still felt more comfortable than any other room save his own - there was something about the gathered knowledge contained there that seemed to surpass any outside forces, covering up the foul taste of ash and lava fumes with that of old, old paper.
Nobody answered his call. The girl must not be here right now - fine by him. No need to explain his actions to anyone else, then, or to play at pleasantries when he really didn't feel like doing so. Quietly, the god padded over to the part of the library where he'd found the ancient book he'd read some weeks ago - the book where he had found the old, old creation story.
This section of the library was different from the others; here, books became sparser and much, much older forms of recording knowledge became prevalent. Some were parchment or papyrus scrolls - some beautifully decorated and held in elaborate cases, some not. Other shelves had stacks of carefully preserved clay and stone tablets. The whole thing tasted of age beyond any other part of the collection.
Carefully, Illumin walked up and down the shelves here, peering at some glass cases in which more fragile volumes were out for protected display. All of them seemed to speak of ancient ages of Creation, though not quite as old as the ultimate beginning he had read about earlier.
But I don't need the beginning. I need the continuation.
Illumin turned, intent on looking through the tablets and scrolls for as long as it took to find what he wanted - and spotted something odd.
In the bottom of a glass display case, something was catching his glow oddly and refracting it back at him. "What..." he murmured, walking over and crouching to see.
For one heart-stopping moment, he thought the object was the jewel of a slumbering god - but, no. It was just a box, just large enough to fit in his hand, but beautifully crafted and decorated with a jewel-like square pattern over all surfaces he could see.
How odd... why is it here? Illumin looked around. Everywhere he looked were books and the ancestors of books; other than the shelves, the occasional chair and table for reading or wall-mounted lamp, there was nothing that wasn't a book in sight - except the box.
He frowned, slightly, then reached to open the case. The hinges creaked but it opened easily; he reached carefully past the four moldering volumes on the top shelf, and picked up the box carefully before letting the glass lid fall gently back.
The box glinted in his hand, and Illumin looked over it carefully, then poked it with one finger. To his astonishment, one of the small raised square markings actually moved, pressing down until it was flush with the rest of the box's surface - but he felt an answering square bulge press against his palm on the other side.
"What are you...?"
Illumin frowned at his new prize, then looked speculatively at the books in the case. Maybe one of them had the answer.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:07 pm
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Quest - Part Two: Sacred Secrets
The books housed in the case that had held the unusual cube were written in a tongue Illumin could barely decipher - an old version of his own language, the text marred by age and decaying materials. Still, after reading through one of them with utmost care, he discovered a sketch of another cube-like object, with a caption underneath:
fig 1.A: puzzle box of the people of the Ashlands, see pg. 203
People of the Ashlands? Illumin had never heard of such a place, but he cautiously turned pages, wincing whenever a corner or edge crumbled off in his hands, hoping that Gianfar wouldn't be angry at the light damage.
After what seemed like forever, with paper-dust sitting in his throat as thickly as the ash outside ever did, Illumin reached page 203. The paper was stained badly, but through the splotches he made out a few words:
... uzzle boxes were us... conceal the most pre.... d private secrets of the Gr.... elling in the Ashlands.... xes are rare and m.... by collec...
A large stain obscured most of the rest of the page, except for one small segment near the bottom.
... ded by Aristogei...
Illumin blinked, then stared at the book as though willing it to reveal more. Aristogeiton...? But the smudged ink showed nothing, and he was afraid that to increase the intensity of his light would only damage the pages more.
Still, the god looked thoughtfully at the box as he closed the book gingerly, moving to replace it in the glass case. "A secret... and Aristogeiton..."
It certainly seemed old enough to bear such secrets... but how on earth could he solve it? Illumin's brow furrowed as he closed the glass case and picked up the box in one hand, the cube cool against his palm.
Well. Secrets. He was meant to illuminate those, was he not? If this box had anything to do with Aristogeiton, he would find it - no matter what.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:08 pm
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Quest - Part Three: Unwilling Rainbow
"Nnngh....!"
Illumin sat on his bed, arm outstretched as though ready to throw, the box held so tightly in that hand that the knuckles were white... but he couldn't. He dared not throw the box, lest it be damaged - as much as he wanted to.
Three days.
Three days of doing nothing but sleep, eat, and fiddle with the damned box. Oh, at first it had seemed so easy... Eliam had noticed that the colors of light that each square reflected changed when you pushed them, cycling through the colors of the rainbow from red to violet and back again. It had seemed so easy to change all the colors on one side... until he pressed the final piece down, and realized that the colors on the OTHER half of the box were a mad hodgepodge.
Repairing that mess had utterly destroyed the synchronicity of the other side...
And so it went, for three days. Three days of trying to make the box all one color, any color at all.
It was... it was infuriating, was what it was.
"Radiance?" Eibhilin asked, and Illumin realized he'd been sitting with his arm raised for a few minutes.
"Nothing," he said, quickly, lowering his arm and wincing as the muscles protested. He rotated that shoulder gently, then bent over the box. His neck ached from peering at it, but he couldn't see the subtle colors unless he was close, even in the blinding light of his chambers.
Red red red blue... red green yellow... dammit...
"There has to be a way," he muttered, out loud. "It can't be unsolvable. Can it?"
"If the box truly does contain secrets, surely it would be able to be opened by someone, Radiance... otherwise, why create a box to hide them?"
"It's not supposed to elude me like this," he grumbled, putting the box down on the bed. "It isn't fair."
Eibhilin, showing her wisdom, said nothing in response to her master's complaint.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:09 pm
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Quest - Part Four: The Jeweled Tablet
Six days...
"I must be missing something," Illumin groaned. "Because, I swear on my very self, there is no way to make it all match up. None." He tipped the puzzle box off the edge of his bed - where Eliam, who sat cross-legged on the dais below, caught it deftly in one hand.
"The colors are wonderous, truly, but I had no better luck," the Aoide admitted, holding the cube up and turning it to catch the light. "I confess myself stuck."
"I can't be stuck," Illumin grumbled, folding his arms huffily. "Pana is out there doing who-knows-what for Aristogeiton, and I find one little clue - one simple little box - and can't figure it out? Ridiculous."
"Maybe the solution is not what we think..." Eliam held the box up to him, and Illumin grabbed it again, leaning back in his bed to study it once more. He knew the cube's bright surface intimately by now; he could practically see it when his eyes were closed.
"No, no, it has to be. The picture I saw in the book shaded the box all one color..." Illumin sighed. "It has to be possible."
"How many sides could you see, Radiance?" Eibhilin said suddenly, sitting up from where she'd been lounging on the other side of the dais.
"The... what do you mean?" Illumin stared at her.
"How many sides of the cube could you see in the picture?"
"It was... like this..." Illumin tilted the cube so that the top was visible, one corner turned head-on towards him so he could see two sides at once in their entirety. "All red..."
"That leaves three sides..."
"... that might not be red..." Illumin muttered, dropping the box down into his lap and pressing at the squares quickly. Shifting one side to one color disrupted the opposing side, always, but... maybe...
Maybe...
...
Four hours later, the two Aoidei were all but asleep when a cry from Illumin woke them up. "Look! Eibhilin, Eliam... look!"
The cube, three sides red at last, the other three violet, was shifting and trembling all on its own against Illumin's open palms. The squares moved about, unfolding out of the cube shape, moving to stand as a precarious rectangle that nearly fell out of the god's hands before he moved to catch it.
Slowly, the movement ceased, leaving the box in a new form - that of a long rectangular tablet. For a moment, the red and violet shades mingled - and then writing appeared in white, searing across each individual square until the tablet was bone-white, with writing in red and violet marked vividly.
"What is it?" Eliam quickly stood up, staring.
"I... I don't know. Some kind of tablet... writing, a message..." Illumin's hands shook as he put the thing down on the edge of his bed so that all three of them could look at it.
"Well done, Radiance," Eibhilin murmured, leaning over the tablet. "The writing is... familiar..."
"It means little at first, but... if I watch it..." Eliam tilted his head at it. "The meaning seems to come to me, like I've always known it."
"It is the hand of the gods," Illumin breathed, staring at the bright writing. "This is the ancient and sacred tongue of the Pantheon itself. I remember it like a dream... the hand, too... Harmodius wrote this, I think."
"How long ago?" Eibhilin wondered, as Illumin bent to read.
It was a truly strange experience - the meaning of the words remote at first, then slowly coming into focus until it was crystal-clear. A very slow process, but over time...
"It sorrows me to think that, in the end of things, negotiations with Mang have come to no fruition," Illumin read, slowly, as his Aoidei listened. "It is their right to wish no govern, but it is harsh to us, just the same. We are left in wonder at the wisdom of my empress' wishes, that all peoples bound to our hand be afforded such freedoms."
"What does it mean?" Eliam asked.
"I don't know... people who rejected the gods? And Harmodius... let them?" Illumin looked confused. "I'll go on..."
"The Grigori, as the others have come to call themselves, we have made a kingdom of their own, outside the bounds of light and dark. It is the Ashlands. It is left to Gaia, Universe and their loves, to keep eye of. Only their aspects are connected therein, for they are Primordial as Us, and all that Is remains within them.
Their leader, Samyaza, we do not trust. We feel she will betray us somehow. Her eyes are empty as the wastes from which we formed, and seems to long for some part of it. She leads her people in study and dedication to the nothing. It can only be to the benefit of all that they be separated from the rest that Is, as our word was given not to eradicate them.
We've allowed Aristogeiton-"
"Aristogeiton!" all three said at once, the two Aoidei turning to Illumin.
"So this is part of his story," Eibhilin said, with a smile. "Surely this will be of use to us!"
"Let me finish," Illumin said, soberly.
"We've allowed Aristogeiton to oversee, alongside Mang, their exodus to the new realm. We trust he will see them well. He has been appointed regent to them, a final attempt to reason, for a period of fifty years, after which Mang will return with him to our side.
May they return sane from such a realm, and safe."
"The writing changes a little here..." Illumin squinted.
"I shall miss him."
Something in Illumin twisted at the simple sentiment - it hit a nerve he understood all too well. Pana...
"What are these markings, here?" Eliam gestured at a set of strange pictures beneath the main text.
"They look like images... sort of. Very stylized." Illumin peered at the writing next to them. "Names? Samyaza... Akibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Asael, Batraal, Anane, Turel, and Azazyel."
"The names of those who rejected the gods..." Ehbhilin sighed, sadly. "Surely their lives were empty and bleak. I pity them."
"They rejected darkness... and light," Illumin grumbled, feeling vaguely insulted - rejecting darkness was fine, but why Light as well? "What a strange people... and Aristogeiton led them? But how could the lover of the greatest of gods consort with such people?"
"To bring them back, as it says," Eliam replied. "Surely."
"Maybe that was when he died..." Illumin rested his chin on one hand, thinking. "This could be very important to Pana's quest. I should find out more, as soon as I can... provided it doesn't come packaged in a damn box." Illumin sighed and leaned back in his bed as the two Aoidei converged to read the tablet themselves.
A list of names, images of and a tale of those who rejected everything he stood for. How could this possibly matter? And yet... Aristogeiton...
Perhaps a clue could be found in these... these Ashlands.
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