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 Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:34 am
John watched, ruined, as the scenes played out before him. He watched, wide eyed and with utter disbelief as the monster he had killed titans with was led into a village like a lost puppy. Cared for. Treated like an equal, like a valued member. "...What..." He whispered as the images unfolded before him.
What had happened? What had sated that dark desire within Maximos, in that instance? What had torn him from the horrid path of destruction - what had derailed the Destroyer?
It mattered not - John watched as his brother felt fear, regret, and shame. He watched as he tried to make himself a better man, a scholar. He watched as he started his life anew, was brought to Gaia, became the legend he was today, just as he was in Aria. He watched as he filled the hole with love, not sorrow, and lived for his friends and companions.
And finally, John's eyes were opened to reveal something new.
The antechamber was big, bigger then the Island could hold, and as John stepped in, somehow finding the strength to walk, he saw Maximos lying supine on the floor....and the child cradling his head.
The giant's eyes went wide when he saw the boy, fixing on those violet eyes. His mouth went dry and a chill crept up his spine, for he knew exactly, from the stories Maximos had told him, from the feeling in his gut, who this child was. All he could hear was his own ragged breath, exhausted from the mental, magical journey he had partaken, as it drew itself in and out of his body.
In some way...in some part....he knew this time would come. He'd known it when the shadows had first started speaking to him, when his mind had been touched by the madness that still revealed itself to him, every time he closed his eyes...
The boy approached him, and as if reading his mind, spoke out the words of a person who knew exactly what to say. John nodded dumbly, and as the boy reached out for him, John stooped down to pick him up, letting him sit in the crook of one of his arms. For some reason, he expected him to be heavier, but he simply felt like a nomal boy...a normal boy with a knife sticking out of his chest.
He wanted to ask a million questions, looking into the boy's disturbing eyes with his own wide-eyed azure gaze. He wanted to ask a million questions, yet none came to mind. He looked down at the knife sticking out of his chest, and immediantly wanted to pull it out, to help this kid who was in pain....but he wasn't a kid. And he realised that, tugging on the knife would not help, even with his own immense strength....it would most likely make the boy angry.
So, instead, and rather stupidly, John said quite posssibly the dumbest thing one could say to a god.
"...I thought you'd be...older." He mumbled, looking the boy up and down again in disbeleive...before frowning. "...The dreams....Maximos' memory...its over now. He....cant recreate you in his imagination, can he?" He said, remembering the image of the armoured king sitting at the throne at the very start of this bizarre voyage.
He was dumbfounded. He'd been replaying this meeting in his head again and again, trying to figure out what to say, how to say it....should he speak to the god as equals, or be subservant, for he was his lover and his brother's god, and respect demanded as such. His mind suddenly reeled - this was his opperunity to ask the little boy for a boon....but he must wait.
There were other things to be said. He just knew it...
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:36 pm
The boy chuckled a soft and almost innocent sort of thing and gently bat Tomorrow's arms away. He was just a hair too old rides and cuddles, but the kindness of the gesture was not lost on him.
"I could be." He replied without skipping a beat, and gestured to the wall behind him. The large shadow of a black knight looking ominous and frightening, it reached out its arms peeling them off the surface of the wall as if it meant to break free and then just as suddenly it stopped and lay flat again. The boy laughed again. "But wouldnt that be just a little...trick or treat?"
And with that, he hoped up just enough to grab a hold of Tomorrow's hand and began walking him toward Maximos' unconscious form. The boys skin was cool as a nights breeze and smooth as a newborns, and yet in all the ways he looked soft something at the pit of his mannerisms said he was anything but. He looked down at Maximos was a sort of fondness in his eyes, John might actually recognize the proud eyes of a father even if someone displaced on the face of a child. "Yes, its over. He exhausted himself into unconsciousness to try and show you the truth, I had to finish the dream for him. He wanted you to know that he wasnt a...whatever it is your imagination constructed. That there isnt a reason to fear or admire him so much. He's just a man, flawed like anyone else, faced with extraordinary circumstances. I should know..."
The boy looked up from Maximos and grinned wide at Tomorrow. "...I designed them. That's my way, my love, I teach my children through hardship and darkness and make...them..."
The words just sort of trailed off and a big frown formed on the child's small lips. Like someone had just taken his cookie away. "Johnny, your staring."
He looked down, and gestured with a small white hand to the glimmering and golden pure blade stabbed into his heart. "Is it this? It doesnt hurt anymore, if that's what your worried about. Look."
He flicked the hilt of the blade with his finger, it didnt even jostle, but the boy didnt writhe in pain either. Instead, blackness just continued to slowly ooze from the wound, slithering down his body and the rushing off into the distance. Shadows, new shadows, being born and racing away. "My brother gave it to me. Hey now, dont be mean! I know it doesnt have the pizzazz of an eye patch and two talking raven's or a big hulking hammer, but we all have our things!"
The dark child laughed, as if he hadnt a care in the world and waved his hands in front of himself as if swatting away the tangent he had allowed himself to get on and distract him from his goal. "I digress, I digress, I'm not here for him, or her, or me. I'm here for you. Which, is odd really considering how long you've spent absolutely disgusted with all of my kind."
He said the words, but didnt seem to have the indignation that should accompany them. There was no reason to explain, by now Tomorrow knew exactly what the boy was talking about. So it should come as no surprise when he smiled, like the perfect little tragic angel and said. "What can I do for you Johnny?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:42 pm
Join didn't know how to react as the boy/god lef him over to his supine brother, lying so still John thought him dead before he realised that it troubled him so because he had never seen Maximos so vulnerable before . Kneeling beside his dark brethren, John reached out with a powerful hand, a hand that could crush Maximos' skull with a single squeeze...and rested two fingers against his neck, checking for a pulse, before laying the hand on his cool brow, brushing some of the mans hair from his face.
A small smile spread John's lips as he rested his hand on his brothers forehead. "...You've left yourself open, brother..." he whispered down to the sleeping man, before tweaking his nose with a grin.
These were the words John spoke to a god, though he looked down to his sleeping brother, his voice soft like distant thunder. "...He was wrong, thinking that showing me this would show how flawed he is. A mere taste of his hardship brought me to my knees in despair...he managed to bring himself back from such despair and made himself more, better. I could not have any more pride and admiration for him then I do now - the only difference is, now I understand how far he fell."
He pushed himself to his feet gingerly, wincing with pain. He felt depressed that his left arm had vanished now - he had gotten used to it being back. But that mattered not - he turned to face the child deity, his face grim with the task he was about to perform.
"I have many questions of you that I would like answered...but first...I must show respect where it is due...and then, selfishly, ask a boon of you, for I do not know when I will get this opportunity again." He fell to one knee before the boy, resting his one fist on the cold stone. "...It is in regard to your priestess, Hono'o Arashi Raven."
"We have started a relationship...and I have come to love her deeply. I...am not sure if she truely loves me back, but...i know there is something there...as her god, I dutifully request your permission to continue the relationship...and ask you help me with my trouble." He lifted his hand to dig into his pocket to pull out the little pearl, presenting it to the boy in his outstretched hand. "...This was a gift from Maximos to me, and now I wish to give it to Hono'o...containing part of my soul. She already has my heart and mind...but I want her to have my soul too...i can think of no greater gift to give the woman. She...has become my life."
He finally looked up to the boy, locking eyes with the violet, frightening gaze, visibly trembling in fear as he did so, for what stood before him was the personification of his most deep rooted fear - but he stared boldly into those eyes irregardless. " Is it within your power to do as I ask? Take part of my soul to place in this gem?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 3:28 am
It seemed, that even to dark and ancient gods of shadow and evil respect was a mutual sort of currency. Tomorrow showed it, and received it in kind. The boy did not interrupt the Aesir, he did not even so much as interject a chuckle or a laugh. He watched the larger man, much like a child watches adults at work all wide eyed and full of curiosity.
This even extended as far as Tomorrow genuflecting himself before the boy god. At no point did he respond in a lordly manner, as if expecting the gesture, although equally he never told him to stop and stand. If anything the child was very difficult to read. He was clearly paying attention to every word, and he looked John directly in the eyes when he presented the pearl, and his request. He even kept that smiling eye contact a lingering second or two after the man had finished speaking without responding or blinking as if he was looking at something, or for something.
"Mortals!" He exclaimed, and all at once he was full of motion and voice. He reached using both tiny hands to grab either side of the pearl and lift it from Tomorrow's hand. "You never cease to surprise me!"
With bright curious eyes he rolled the white gem around in front of himself, analyzing its every angle, he shook it and held it to his ear for a moment before placing it in front of himself and tapping a spot on the pearl like a man identifying a spot on a map. "But this...oh ho ho, this is very curious Johnny, very very curious."
Small hands lowered the ball, and those glowing violet rings fell back on Tomorrow's eyes. "A few weeks ago, you absolutely hated everything having to do with me and mine. You made my Raven, the very same Raven, very sad in that tavern. Ashamed even. And now..."
He looked at the pearl and back to Tomorrow. "...your willing to trust me, myself, the embodiment of all that scary, spooky, and so very terrible darkness, with your soul."
Wavy indigo hair shook back and forth landing even more tousled than it was before, as if he was trying to shake loose something. "No, no, thats not what you said, is it? You want me to take part of your soul, and place it in here. Part. Part. P-a-r-t."
Every letter in the word was said slowly and in slightly different inflection as if trying to figure out the sudden new flavor in it. And then, silence. He cocked his head slightly to the side and said. "I can do it. Of course I can do it, I can do just about anything but...why? Why me? You hate me Johnny-boy! Why now? No, more importantly, why Johnny? Why does my priestess, your heart, mind, and 'life', only get a part?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:10 am
"I've never hated you." John said quietly, the Asgardian lowering his head slowly, as if ashamed. "I....I just didn't understand you. You're....not of this world, you....you play by different rules. Its...hard for me to...to understand you." He bowed his head again in shame once more. "When I came back....i was still angry....i lashed out at my loved ones, when all they did was welcome me back with open arms...because I was afraid. Just as I'm afraid now."
He looked back up to the god/boy, his eyes still containing fear - but still holding that unwavering resolve. "...But you are my brother's god. And my love took you as her god. She loves and worships you, and that isn't something I overlook. No matter what I think, I must respect that, for it is her wish."
He looked down to the pearl in the boy's hands. "...And...and i'm not stupid. I know asking such a thing might...change me. It is fear that holds me back completely...what is the point of giving her my soul if I cannot reciprocate that love? Why should she love an empty husk?"
The Aesir looked back into those dark eyes, his jaw set, even though his heart palpitated and his throat felt tight. "...But you are right. She is deserving of my soul, completely and utterly. If I am to do this, I must do this all the way." He bowed his head back down, placing his fist back to the floor, so he was bowed before the boy/god, his eyes wide as he looked to the floor. "...As the God of my brother of oath and love of my life, I trust you with this request...please, Lord Nocturne...take my complete soul and place it in my brother's peal....so Hono'o may carry me forever by her side...and know that I shall always be with her."
He felt his jaw tighten. This was it. Deal or no deal? If Nocturne was able to do such a thing....would John know about it afterwards? Would his body still live? Would it feel like something was missing? Or would he simply be dead inside?
He focused on Hono'o's smiling face, her ember eyes, her crimson hair splotched with darkness...and hardened his heart.
This was for her. Now, everything was for her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:46 pm
"I'm not right." Said rather flatly, and then chuckled. "I was curious. I questioned it, I did not endorse it. In the end, Johnny, this is your choice. Its your soul. You dont have to do this. If Raven wanted your soul, she would just ask me and I would give it to her in a nice neat box. Or, she would take it herself."
"This is not for her, or him, or even me. This is for you." Now, he was being fancy, rolling the pearl off the back of one hand and down his shoulders, up the opposite arm to the other hand, then with a light flick tossed it so it landed squarely atop his head defying all concepts of gravity. "And after all, your going to be the one paying the price."
He smirked. "Yes, its unpleasant business but there is of course, the subject of payment."
At any time during this the child could have explained the intricacies of soul placement, and maybe even sooth some of Tomorrow's fears, it should be noted that he did not. Instead, he let the pearl roll off the front of his head and land squarely in the palm of his hand.
For a moment, the bright white gem seemed to completely contrast the child and make him seem even more horribly dark than before. "I want one thing from you..."
With each word, his voice grew more course, more haunting, the very last word in the sentence echoed in the shadows repeated by several tortured voices that seemed to be calling it out in forced and terrible yet beautiful agony. He chuckled, as he had many times now, and yet instead of it seeming soft if yet creepy his laugh felt more like the sort of joyful expression a murderer uses with the knife dangles over your throat.
"I will have your first born son!" It was not stated as a request, but as fact. Black vomited from the child's pale face, dripping down his neck and across his body. His shadow, stretched long before him wretched him back until he was engulfed a dozen feet away and being hoisted up into the air, voices cried out in pain and hatred and fear from all directions.
"He will be mine!" The chorus said, all at once. Black swirled and coalesced covering the image of the small child with massive pieces of armor until he was smothered entirely in the now three dimensional visage of the horrid night from Maximos' vision. "He will be me!"
Indigo and violet bled from a slit in his helm, and the fissures in his armor. All semblance of a child was gone. He spoke with a myriad of voices all at once, all in power. "Your child will be my vessel of resurrection! A child of gods and war! My perfect vessel, heralding a new reign of DARKNESS!"
The armored monstrosity, easily twelve or more feet tall thrust its fist at Tomorrow and shouted. "Now speak your woeful wish again Scion of Thunder and War!"
His gauntleted fist opened, gleaming with runes and magic shapes and circles, all pulsing with unholy life. And at its center the small white pearl. "Call upon my name Johnathan Tomorrow! Surrender your soul UNTO ME!"
And then he laughed, like thunder, and death, and war all rolled into one terrible repeating sound.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:53 pm
Tomorrow's blood chilled to almost freezing point as the Dark Lord made his unholy bid, literally cringing as he spoke out in his booming voice. He lifted his bloodied face and stared up at the God as he took what could only be his true form. "...What?" Was all he could say.
To be honest, John had never actually thought of the payment needed for such a task. He considered a boon payable only by a boon - if Nocturne did this for him, then he could expect Tomorrow to return a favour of equal amount later...
...But then, wasn't that what the Dark Lord was asking? A vessel for a soul....for a soul placed in a vessel.
Tears welled in John's eyes as he shook his head, not beleiving he had gotten this far only to fail. This was a price he could not pay....if the Gods found Hono'o and he blessed with a son, he did not want his life snuffed before he'd even had a chance to live, a chance even to dream. To make such a pact without Hono'o's consent was paramout to betrayl in it's highest order. It was also John's chance to start again....raise a family the right way.
"...I cannot agree to that!" He shouted over the booming laughter as it echoed around the grand hall. "I'll swear servitude to you - I'll renounce Asgard and all the Norse Pantheon..." He lifted his eyes back up to the giant knight, his voice filled with venom, his tone defiant. "...But our children will be ours to raise, if she deems me worthy - not you! I will not trade my child's soul for my own."
This was not something he could decide on without her. He did not know how she would react to their son becoming the Dark God himself. Hell, she might even like it...
His eyes faltered for a second. She was his priestess, she was in his service body and soul...maybe....maybe she would want such a thing...
His mind was in turmoil now. He did not know what to do - on the one hand, he felt agreeing to such a thing now would be a betrayl to Hono'o...on the other hand...it seemed like something a priestess would be proud of. But then....why wouldn't Nocturne just do the deed himself? Or pick any random woman? Was he trying to test John?
....No. This price was too much to pay, in return for a bauble that contained his soul, and did not garuntee he would keep all his faculties after the fact. If Hono'o was dead or dying....then John would trade his soul gladly for her, without hesitation. But not for this.
He held his hand out to the Black Knight, the torn palm turned up. "Give me back my pearl." He said in measured, defeated tones, his head bowed and his dirty, bloodied hair hanging lank over his face.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:09 am
"Why?" Was the response Tomorrow received, from a completely docile and child-like voice right beside him. The same little boy from before simply stepped out from beside the Aesir, with the pearl balanced on his head and a small bucket of popcorn in his hands.
He waited for the exact moment Johnathan realized he was there to say, "Oop! Oh...see what I did there?"
He pointed his small, ringed and adorned hand at the enormous giant of shadow and steel and...nothing. There was nothing there. Not even the previously ominous haunting shadow, the boy was not even casting a shadow. There was empty space and a wall, and grinning child who then said. "I lied."
At which point he popped a handful of popcorn in his mouth and started chewing, while speaking. "Thats what your expecting right? Deception? Meglomaniacal schemes? How is that fair? Have I ever lied to you?"
He let out a small disappointed sigh. "Raven always said you were so smart. I tried to tell her, your smart for a blonde. Do you get all your opinions on what darkness is from comic books and kid's stories? I mean seeeeriously Johnny, what self respecting god would talk like that?!"
Little hands gestured rather eagerly at the open space where the giant god figure was moments ago, but where now nothing was but empty room. Meanwhile the bucket of popcorn floated in mid air, and the pearl seemed content to no sway or roll off his head like a round object should. The gesture lasted a few seconds and then he gave Tomorrow a serious gaze and said. "No but seriously. I want your kid."
The serious face lasted approximately two to four seconds before he broke out in laughter of the completely non-maniacal sort and replied between laughs. "Again! You almost fell for it again! You need to lighten up! I mean seriously, your bringing down the room. Popcorn?"
The bucket sort of floated in Tomorrow's general direction invitingly. "I know you've never actually been a true god, Johnnyboy, but no one acts like that anymore except the newbies who need to prove themselves. Does your dad do that? Oh ho ho man. I am the Shadowfather, plain and simple. All this, bow, and speak in old tongues and inflections, thee, they, hither..."
The sentence never finished, instead he reclined comfortably back as if sitting on a chair that was not there, and waved his hand in front of himself in a sort of dismissing manner.
"Let me break this down for you, first off..." The pearl rolled back off his head, and down his neck, across his shoulder and into one of his hands. He palmed it, but used his opposite hand to pull one of his fingers back and down, enumerating a one. "Souls dont belong to you, they're connected to you. It doesnt matter where they are or what they're in so long as they're still connected. If I put your soul in here."
He knocked the pearl against his head which made a sort of hollow knocking sound. "You stay you, and nothing changes, except necromancers and soul eaters can eat the pearl and never have to eat or fight you. But! That's your problem, not mine. Your not asking for protection. Which leads to our next point."
The boy pulled back a second finger. "Simply put, your asking for two things. Not one. You want me, great evil mastermind that I am, to take your soul, that's one job. And second, to place it this pearl. Two tasks. Two payments. Still with me?"
The child god didnt really wait for an answer, he just continued on, pulling back a third finger. "In payment, your going to do three things for me. One is necessary for me to perform the task, the second are my price. Your going to say something, your going to deliver a message for me, and lastly your going to understand something. That's it! Agreeable enough?"
He let the pearl roll onto the three fingers he pulled down then let them go so it flicked into the air and was caught on its descent by his other hand. "Also, I shalt have thine child, son of the nor--"
At which point he broke out in quick burst of laughter, followed a cheerfully spoken, "Oh you should have seen your face. Priceless!"
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:52 am
Tomorrow didn't know whether his heart was beating faster before or now. The boy was right - the theatric had fooled him. He'd been so caught up in speaking to an actual god - he could feel it, this boy before him, it couldn't just be false - that myth and hearsay had taken control. He should have spat in his face for fooling him like that. John had been trying to show nothing but the utmost respect for the god of his brother....but this god was a trickster god, a god that delighted in playing games with others. As the popcorn floated over to him he looked at it, as if disbeleiving it was real...before reaching out and pushing it away with the back of his hand, rising to his full height with a pained grunt. His eyes were downcast, his jaw set, his hand clenched by his side. He was hurt, emotional and now he had a child with a dagger sticking out of his chest mocking him. Tomorrow was not having a good time anymore, if indeed he had been in the first place. Nocturne "Souls dont belong to you, they're connected to you. It doesnt matter where they are or what they're in so long as they're still connected. If I put your soul in here."He knocked the pearl against his head which made a sort of hollow knocking sound. "You stay you, and nothing changes, except necromancers and soul eaters can eat the pearl and never have to eat or fight you. But! That's your problem, not mine. Your not asking for protection. Which leads to our next point." John said nothing. He didn't know whether he could trust the boy/god before him now. He'd thought respect due would have been enough - to take knee and bow before such a being was the Asgard way. But it seems omnipotence bred arrogance, even on Aria. He wondered what Raven saw in such a god....she must have been desperate to want to beleive in him so. He voiced none of this, and surely if the boy could read his mind, he would expect such a reaction....but at the moment, John didn't care. Nocturne "Simply put, your asking for two things. Not one. You want me, great evil mastermind that I am, to take your soul, that's one job. And second, to place it this pearl. Two tasks. Two payments. Still with me?"The child god didnt really wait for an answer, he just continued on, pulling back a third finger. "In payment, your going to do three things for me. One is necessary for me to perform the task, the second are my price. Your going to say something, your going to deliver a message for me, and lastly your going to understand something. That's it! Agreeable enough?" John nodded slowly. "Aye." He said quietly. He felt betrayed - and very hurt. He thought his brother needed help with this child...to right things back on his home world....but who would want to help such a thing, to mock him when he had tried to do the right thing? Nocturne "Also, I shalt have thine child, son of the nor--"At which point he broke out in quick burst of laughter, followed a cheerfully spoken, "Oh you should have seen your fa - " Tomorrow rumbled, his voice low like distant thunder as he spoke down to the boy. Respect bade John to allow the boy/god to finish his sentence. But respect was only due when returned in kind.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 7:36 am
In another place and another time a woman who knew these two as well as Raven was laughing her a** off and waiting expectantly for the next pass in this interesting little drama that was unfolding. heart
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:41 am
The smile was there, the exactly same smile but in the wake of Tomorrow's words, the boy god was just quiet. He let the moment of silence stretch on until it was obvious, until it was undeniable that it had indeed achieved an effect. But what?
Nocturne stood up from his invisible chair, the popcorn vanished, the tricks were gone save for the pearl in his hand, the drip of shadows down his chest and the glow of his eyes. "That's better...au natural."
"The anger is comfortable, isnt it John?" He balled up a tight fist and pounded it to his chest. "Blame me, for all of it. The bad dreams, the insanity, the brother in the shadows with his knife and his teeth. Blame me for all these things I never did."
"That's right, let that anger burn. I know you." He said, face turned down in a tight mirthless frown. "I've known you since I was exactly as old as I look, when my brother drove this into my heart because I had polluted his world with 'monsters'. Your exactly the same."
He stepped forward, the shadow slithered and writhed. "His creatures were constantly at war with themselves over land and gold. My creatures stood quietly on their island, hunting simple four legged prey and living in harmony with Lilara's world, when they were attacked. Who were the monster's John? You've seen it John, you lived it WHO!?"
His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Oh, they didnt understand us. Not at all."
His voice came out as if floating on a breeze. Soft, cool, but direct. "They didnt even try, and neither did you."
And then all that was left was a cold looking child, emotionless in the way children should never be, with indigo hair covering his violet eyes. "...until you want something. Then its all properness and respect, right? But I know what you really want. Tell me, wheres your knife, John?"
He put his hand softly to his chest, fingers splayed around the knife wound. "I have room for at least one more."
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:07 am
"I am to blame you little b*****d!" John suddenly roared, his eyes affixed on the little boys glare. "I am! I killed those people, all of them, and not you, or Max, or anybody else had anything to with it - because if you did, i'd tear that damn knife out and jam it into your eye!"
He couldn't look at the boy, so he turned and looked back to Maximos, lying on the floor, oblivious, and John felt a world of guilt smash into him, just as it did when he'd first seen him. "Dammit...you don't understand. I blame no one but myself for my actions. I blame myself for making Maximos take my arm...i blame myself for killing those people...for not trusting Max when I returned...for fearing him when I should haver known there was nothing to fear!."
His rage, bright and fast to rise, was quelled just as suddenly. Hiss injured, weary body could not withhold it for long... So he shook his head slowly. "Anger is...easy. Anger...makes sense to me. You're goddamn right i'm angry - at myself. It's so easy to get angry....but it doesn't make it right to take it out on others."
He turned then to face the boy, looking down on him. "...If you want to lump me with the Lunoc scum, fine. I'll have to live with that. But I have never blamed you for any of my actions, and I regret that you see me in such a light..."
He sighed heavily, shaking his head slowly. Gods in Valhalla, he was so tired... "...I've never wanted to hurt you, Nocturne...I've never wanted to hurt anybody." He nodded down to Maximos. "Least of all him...and least of all her."
His wide shoulders shook a little as he chuckled, the laughter hurting his chest. "...And gods damn me, yes. Yes i'm a selfish b*****d. I came here to see my brother, but also to ask you for this boon....for I think Hono'o deserves nothing less then my everything. I can say that now...but to just go and do it hold no weight...it had to be you. You are her god, she had accepted you - who else is better suited to do the deed?"
His eyes cast back down to Maximos. "I was going to tell you brother... I just didn't know the right time..." He whispered to the sleeping man.
"...I bade you respect because you are a god. where i'm from, that is enough." He looked down at the boy again. "Tell me what I must do to gain your respect...it is important to me that we...get along."
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 9:51 pm
"That." The boy said as a cheerful smile spread across his lips bearing absolutely no malice or trickery. He pointed a small white finger at the humongous man before him and repeated himself, enunciating every word properly. "That right there."
"A few hours ago, you arrived at this house full of guilt, confusion, and fear. Most importantly fear. Months before that, you lived in fear of this poor man's face. When you saw me, I actually worried for a moment that your gigantic heart was going to stop." A light chuckle. "Now look at you. Your talking to me, an honest to badness god of the same darkness that held you so tightly. The Shadowfather, the Lord of Nightmares. And your talking to me."
He waved his hands in front of himself, shoving away his previous point for a bigger one as he stepped towards Tomorrow. "No, no, more than that. Your insulting me! You called me a little b*****d! You confessed the truth in your heart...to me, of all beings."
The child was barely four feet away when he smiled, let his head fall slightly to the side and said. "Where is your fear now? Gone."
"Your so angry right now, you dont see it. And thats the idea." He laughed to himself, but there was a hint in his inflection that made it sound as if he wanted to Tomorrow to laugh with him.
"Tricks." He said as it were a joke, the boy grinned, hoping Tomorrow could see it now. "Tricks are for kids. If you want to know what kind of God I am, look at yourself right now. Feel that courage. Remember that anger? I gave you that. I planted the seed, and oblivious of my machinations you grew it, and overcame yourself. Now your never going to quiver when you hear my name again. Your never going to worry or doubt when Raven calls out to me, or speaks of me, or adorns herself in my markings. A bad thing, birthing a good thing."
He spread his little arms out to either side as if presenting himself. "That's the sort of god I am."
And then he extended his small hand, with all of its rings and bracelets in the universal symbol of a handshake. "I'm Nocturne, its a pleasure to finally meet you."
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:16 pm
A trickster god...tricking people to do the right thing.
John....might be able to get behind that.
But the boy was right. The anger he felt was cleansing, washing away his fear and leaving him bare. The boy was like a rash, irritating and sore, making you want to itch and scratch - but when the scratches healed, all that was left was fresh skin.
He looked down at the tiny hand, covered in ancient jewelery. He only paused for a moment before reaching down, having to stoop, to enclose the hand in his own massive grasp, shaking it up and down slowly as he looked into the indigo eyes. "...My name is John. Well met, Nocturne."
This still felt very strange to John, but he tried to think of it as meeting a king or a president They held a lot of power, but they were only human. Nocturne was nothing like that at all - but it seemed he wanted John to be himself, so John would give it to him.
As he released his hand John stood upright again, placing his hand upon his hip as he looked down to the boy, a small smile spreading over his dirty face. "...You irritate me with your tricks - for that is what they are - but...you seem to have good intentions. I think i see what she sees in you now...and...I can see the influence you've had on Maximos."
He turned to look back to his brother again. "He can't ever just tell me something, he always has to make me think it through....it is extremely frustrating." He chuckled a little, his smile spreading more. "...Maybe that is why I like being around him so much. He....forces me to think." He shook his head slowly as he looked down to Maximos...
Then looked back to the boy. "...Why him? You could've chosen from a hundred others to pour your power into - why him? Why....why allow Maxine to die? It would've been in your power to rescue them, I could feel it!" His teeth were gritted in anger as he balled his fist, thrusting it down to emphasise his frustration. "I would've understood if you had harnessed him for only a short time, but for him to just let it all loose for so damned long..."
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:47 am
Nocturne, now properly introduced, reclined back in his invisible chair folding one leg over the other letting his skirt of twinkling night sky pour down like a fountain from his waist. "It wasnt easy."
He said, shaking his head. His smile faded for a moment as he turned to look at Maximos. "He always had the seed in him, the mind that questioned and challenged everything around him unrelentingly. And he was the only Leus of his generation, I needed one of my hunters and they're rare, nothing else would do."
Violet eyes swirled back to John, there was a small smile on his face but it seemed more to keep the mood than in actual joy. "Its not always tricks John. I put those events in motion. I killed her as surely as if I had blasted her myself."
He shook his head. "The events in his life were going to unfold either way. He was, eventually, going to go after the Dark Lord. And if he was not strong, in heart and mind and body, he was going to die and my world would be lost."
"I know, its difficult to understand, but he chose me." He raised his little hand, one of the shadows bleeding from his chest turned and ran up his arm dancing along his palm in a myriad of shapes. It hadnt been assigned yet, it didnt know what shadow it was but there it danced. "He called out to me, and I answered. And it was too much for him, but he had to learn to control it. Not fear it, but wield it. Face it. Master it. The very fact that he could not shadowcraft sufficiently is what drove him to master it well enough to create..."
The Shadowfather paused, and instead just gestured around him to Shadow Island as a whole. And in passing to every nifty little shadowy spell and device that Tomorrow had ever seen Maximos use. "And that's just the start of it! In the end, the very same way he had to ask for the power, he had to choose to stop his own reign of destruction. That moment, in the desert with that little girl he took control and chose."
"I know, its terrible. I am terrible. I engineered a nightmare for my poor child and he was forced to live through it, but it created the man you see there." A slight gesture to Maximos accompanied the words. "Blood was spilled, yes, but how many more lives do you think would have been lost if he had never come to be? Where, and only you can truly answer this, would you be if you had never met him?"
"And then ask yourself this..." He smirked just slightly. "...he's always wandering and vanishing, right? Given that, how many other people do you think he's effected in the same way? People you've maybe never even met."
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