|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:32 am
Maximos not acting to character.
The Shadow had always been the man to wave his hand and summon shadows to sing and dance for him, or snap his fingers and flip the possible to the impossible. He acted cool, calm, maybe even suave. But here he was fast, almost edgy and random.
He took a deep breath, and then approached John with a soft smile on his face and began to draw. It wasnt really doodles, it was symbols, shapes and lines. They were like the lines drawn on the parchment below, only they were more carefully crafted, slow and meticulous strokes of the brush began a simple few lines and grew it from there line a wild black blossom crawling up a house. He worked in silence at first, and if John looked, or even could crane his head far enough to look past his shoulder he might see that the smile on Maximos' face slipped into something more serious.
There was a slight furrow in his brow, and his lips simply drew a flat line. This too, was out of character. But after a few silent minutes, the Shadow broke the silence and began to softly speak.
"The Moon, is just a barren wasteland." He said, his voice no longer filled with that same amount of roiling infectious energy but almost a calm contemplative stillness. "But you are just a large man with big muscles and electrical powers. And I am just a small man playing with dark corners and drawing funny circles on your metal shoulder."
He made a sound like a small laugh but there was no real mirth in. "Guldor is barren too, and Barthavos is a wasteland, and Gaia is just a large rock floating in a big fat nothing."
The lines crept up, so that Max was drawing the edges of the design in light strokes off the metal and on to John's actual shoulder, and then tracing them back down in long fluid strokes. "But your my friend, John. And I'm yours. And if there is anything I have learned from my time with Death, its that the things we call Gods and the places we fill with wonder do not exist, then this life...every second of it, is all we have."
Max's dark blue hair hung slightly to the side as he tilted his head, held a thumb to John's shoulder and then began drawing again. "Some longer than others, myself a good two hundred years...well, a little over one hundred fifty remaining, yourself hundreds...and then...what? Nothing. Without all the small pleasures, without all the little magics and without friends to share it all with all of our time here is...a waste."
The door to the laboratory opened, and Walter entered. Behind him was a long wooden dining table only a bit smaller than the table they had eaten lunch at. It was scurrying, walking silently down the hall following the butler's' lead. Walter entered with a silent bow and Maximos made a gesture with the hand holding the lantern over to the magic circle. Walter copied the gesture and the table trotted over and positioned itself directly over it, evenly spaced across its center. Atop it were a very many covered plates, pots, pans, cups, and silverware, a small dinner who's' exact servings were still clandestine.
"But nothing is promised." Said Maximos. "Disease, war, disagreement, death. It can come to take all of this away in a heartbeat."
"There, and thank you Walter." The Shadow whispered softly, as he made a quick few flourishes on the painting now covering Tomorrow's arm, shoulder, and a good portion of his flank. He nodded in approval, and then stepped back from Tomorrow, and then stepped toward the magic circle and dinner table, still speaking, while spreading his arms to gesture wide at the feast before them. "So eat, drink, be merry with me John. For Tomorrow, we both may die."
And then with a few careful steps, he made his way into the center of the circle still holding the lantern, the paintbrush now vanished via some sort of slight of hand. He gestured to the spot opposite himself on one of the tables long sides and said. "But for now, step into the circle, and let us just live for a while, shall we Tomm?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:09 am
John was silent to begin with, simply looking straight ahead as Maximos worked, his crazy excitement seeming to die to be replaced by a cold seriousness which seemed to make the room tense.
He looked down at Max, watching his pale face as it scrunched up in concentration, no longer giddy with enjoyment. When he finally began to speak, John looked away, around at the room, letting his brother talk.
What was he trying to say? That the world was meaningless unless you make your own meaning? That you have to live your life to the full with each second? It was a nice prospect to have, and John commended him for having realized it...but he said nothing. That was John's life, and it showed in how he acted...at least, that was the life he aspired to. Ever since he'd come back, he had become very introspective, very mournful of a past he could not change....but now, he had a reason to drink in life.
It had red and black hair, liked roses and footrubs, and tea with a lot of sugar in it.
He did try not to laugh as Maximos' brush began to trace down his side - contrary to popular belief, seeing as he regularly got the snot beaten out of him, Tomorrow was actually quite sensitive in the ticklish areas - he forced himself to bite his lip and bear it, only the slightest hint of a giggle escaping his pursed lips. When Walter walked into the room, John looked at him and the table that followed after him, giving him a nod as a greeting - he didn't want to speak, it felt like he was being fitting for a suit or something, he had that feeling where you didn't speak unless spoken to....
Maximos finally finished, and John blinked as he stepped back, looking down at the intricate markings Max had drawn all over his shoulder and the magnetic pad embedded in his torso. It reminded him of the Tribal warpaint he'd worn as a child, back when the Tribes fought together....
He approached the table as requested, his hand still holding onto the clump of rock and dirt. He looked down at the table, covered in shielded dishes and plates, before raising his hand to tamp the dirt over his empty shoulder, rubbing the soil and rubble over his skin, the tanned, scarred flesh now becoming dirty with the damp soil of the Island. Some spilled down onto the paper they stood upon, but he was doing as was requested. "...You have gotten very serious, Max." John said quietly, his voice low, his brother's serious attitude rubbing off on him. "...It's unsettling me."
He sighed as he finished smearing the dirt over himself, before looking back over to Max. He shot him a smile, trying to break the mood. "...Whats on the menu?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:09 pm
For just a flash, Maximos looked surprised by Tomorrow's comment. Had the mask fallen and he missed it? It was like the flash of recognition when a woman realizes her lipstick has smeared across her teeth, or a shock of hair has fallen from place. And then just as quickly a smile spread across his face.
Max looked back at Walter, and gave him a nod, the butler bowed and stepped back out of the room shutting the door behind, then he looked to Tomorrow and the dirty smeared across his shoulder and offered him a matching nod. His free hand slipped up and moved to hover over one of the steel gray lids covering a large plate. At the same time, his other hand lift the blue burning lantern until it was about even with his shoulder.
"Well John." Maximos said, and then immediately swung his arm down smashing the lantern into the arcane symbol meticulously crafted below. The glass shielding the lantern shattered the the flame exploded outwards in a burst of unseen fuel and blue flame. The instant the blue flame touched the intricately traced lines of the magic circle, it ignited. As opposed to the calming blue of previous it shifted to the brilliant reds and oranges of real flame. The fire spread like a hungry and living thing, it raced along the black lines, it scorched its way around magic rings and symbols and in a matter of seconds, it ravaged across the parchment under Maximos' and Tomorrow's feet leaving violently glowing streaks of indigo and dark plum embers in its wake and then in a single was it ripped out across the entire parchment until the large sheet of paper was engulfed, burning up like so much dry tinder. The embers, the symbols of power and shape burst out with a sort of life all their own spreading until the magic circle filled the entire room. Even the stone walls of the laboratory could not contain it, for as reached these earthen protrusions, the walls themselves fell.
They simply fell outwards and down into nothingness, like the flats outsides of magicians trick box. Surrounding both men was sudden and completely a great nothingness. Walls of impossible black that crept inwards, swallowing Maximos' work table the doors, and any light save for the faint flickering glow of the magic circle etched now an unseen ground. The two men were standing on empty black space, existing in nothing. And then, the flames began to vanish, darkness encroached on the embers blackening everything they touched. It raced over the image of Maximos, rushing across his body, and then pale face like creeping veins until it dissolved him into itself.
It was about then, John might notice the darkness on him. Encroaching over his shoulder, crawling on his face, slithering over his hands and face. It was icy cold to the touch and impossibly empty. But like any one who has been in a room when the lights go out knows, the darkness cannot be stopped.
Now surrounded by nothing, there was a feeling of motion. Falling, fast and far and intense. And then nothing. The feels rushed back, but in reverse. The falling feeling became a rise, the cold, creeping over Tomorrow became a warmth. The dark tendrils that enraptured him, retreated back over the entire frozen scene. There was the dinner table, there was Maximos. The embers ignited and finally, the black retreated until their surroundings were visible.
How Tomorrow would feel or react was entirely unknown, but as motion and life returned to the captured image, the Aesir would see Maximos lift his head and look up and past Tomorrow with awe covering his face as surely as white skin. From the larger man's point of view they were now situated in a large gray barren plains. Dirt, rocks, chipped soil and rigged hills and mountains in the distance, all gray and lifeless. With closer inspection he might even notice that no wind blew the soil, nothing stirred the landscape. And above it was only stars, like any plains or barren landscape would be on a clear night without a single cloud. The magic symbol was burned dimply beneath his feet on a sort of platform that he and Maximos had landed upon. A large steel gray boulder a couple of hundred feet wide.
As if suddenly springing back to life, Max's hand fell onto the dinner lid clumsily, and pulled it away. Underneath was steak! Eight of them to be exact! Maximos presented it, though his attention was clearly distracted between the presentation, and whatever was behind Tomorrow.
"...We're having steak!" The Shadow said, and then cheerfully added, "On the dark side of the Moon."
His hand moved to unveil the next plate, but he stopped locked again on the image behind the Aesir, until he finally gave up pointing around Tomorrow and said. "John...turn around, just...just look at that..."
If he would, Tomorrow would see something he had seen a thousand times before. He would see Gaia. Gaia as a glowing blue orb spinning in the either surrounded by a thousand thousand twinkling bright eyes. Stars, floating through a gigantic and yet wordlessly beautiful void. From here, even he squinted hard enough he might even be able to see the Mithral Mountains were Shadow Island hovered. The oceans which surrounded that in enormous wild blue splotches marking the thing behind John as an unforgettable marble, so small and fragile, and yet containing everything that had ever come to matter to either man over the past few years. Everything good and everything bad, all so very far away, so pristine and spotless.
So powerful really, that gazing at it Maximos took a few steps back, and could really only manage to say. "See...I promised you would never forget..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:50 pm
John started when Max smashed the lantern, looking down at the paper as the magical lines burned completely, so very hot and fast, and he felt his heartbeat quickening as the darkness began to consume him. He looked to Max, trying to keep his eyes on his, trying to see what he was doing, but he was gone quickly, and once more John was plunged into the ink.
At first he was okay...he could handle darkness, he could...he could...but ther sudden movement made him cry out suddenly, a shout of fright as his body jerked up and down, twisting his stomach, and the biting cold chilled his blood, making him shiver. "M-Max...!" John cried, trying to see if he was still there. If he was near him, he knew he was safe...his brother would not hurt him...
Tthen it was all over, and as light and warmth crept back over John's body he felt himself relax, Maximos appearing before him to make him breath a sigh of relief, looking around to get his bearings, and noticing that Max was not really looking at him. "What is it...?" He asked, realising that he did not know the landscape as he turned...
And felt all the air rush from his body as he looked at the vista before him. darkness spanned the sky, dotted with pinpricks of light, and on the grey, barren horizon, sat the great blue orb of Gaia.
John was speechless. There were no words for this. They were on the moon. And that was Gaia herself. Midgard in all her splendour. He lifted his hand and spread his fingers, holding it over the planet, watching it's glow appear through his fingertips.
"This....I..." John mumbled, finally managing to tear his eyes away from his planet to look down at ther ground before him, falling to a knee to dig his hand into the rock beneath them, feeling the dust under his fingers and watching as the moon rock crumbled and bounced almost weightlessly away from his fingertips.
He looked up to Maximos with tears brimming in his eyes. "Max...this..."
What could he say? That this was a place that they would have never seem in their entire lives except in books or tv? That they were, quite possibly, the only people to have ever been here? That all this was impossible?
He blinked suddenly, the spell breaking as ther delicious scent of well cooked meat wafted into his nostrils. "S-steak?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:38 pm
"And potatoes!" Maximos added cheerfully, he was not done with the view by any stretch of the imagination, but his fixation had bubbled down to looking up from various dishes and trays as he took off their lids and set them down in empty spaces on the table, which Walter had set aside previously.
Tomorrow himself would be discovering an interesting feature belonging to the particularly flat piece of moon surface they had settled upon. Beyond the fact that there was both air, gravity, and heat, as he reached down to dig his fingers into the gray soil he would feel something hard and cold, just beneath his hand. While the top layer of soil yielded a rock, and some crumbling moon dust, a man with hands his size would realize that just an inch or two beneath that was a cold smooth and seemingly metallic surface.
"Gravy, some assorted vegetables, and I think these are various kinds of bread. Walter really outdid himself!" Maximos, seemed oblivious to Tomorrow's discovery. The Aesir might also notice, that as he let the rock fall it would bounce as gingerly as it would have on Gaia, until its momentum carried it to the edge of the magic circle at which point its tiny bounce was suspended in mid air letting it roll weightlessly at a crawl upwards and away. A mere few seconds after, the small amount of heat carried on the stone was drained away quickly turning to moisture and a thin frosty coating.
Max met John's eyes with a brilliant, almost child-like and innocent smile. This was impossible. But thankfully, despite his excessive vocabulary, Maximos had never learned the real meaning of that word. And it showed here, and now, as the Shadow very cheerfully began adding large spoons, ladles, and knives to various side dishes. Walter had already put out the main two place settings.
"I'm really surprised this all worked out so well! This is much more beautiful than even I expected!" Max said with a laugh and a smile. "I think we honestly needed a quiet, non-distracting place to discuss business. Come! Eat! Enjoy with me!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:48 am
"Potatoes...." John mumbled mindlessly, frowning as he looked down at the ground he had disturbed - the feeling had been a solid metal. he looked up, taking up a small moon stone and tossed it out of the circle - it had no downward arc, it simply spiralled away endlessly, growing a tiny fuzzy coat of ice crystals as it went, off to become a comet, zipping through space...
It seemed Maximos had created some sort of temporal bubble of some kind...keeping them safe from the elements. John stood and looked down at the markings on the ground - if he reached out, he could pass his hand over them...
Then Max said something about business, which made John frown, drawing back his hand before he could put it over the line. "Business? What business?"
He turned and approached the table, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all - they were having dinner on the moon. He wished he had a camera or something...instead, he took his seat and waited for the opportunity to dig into the fabulous spread Walter had prepared for them...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:26 am
"Your arm, of course!" Maximos said with a big cheery smile, as he used a large serving fork to plop a few steaks onto his plate, then began adding several of the smaller entrees to his main plate along with slightly larger servings to smaller plates.
"Please, help yourself Tomm." Max said with a grin, "Walter isnt here, we dont have to be so formal."
With a few plates stacked, Maximos took a seat, still grinning across the large Aesir and said. "In all the commotion, you must have thought I forgot."
He took a scoop of mashed potatoes and a sliver of steak and promptly ate them, then after a bit of chewing said. "So tell me, what would you imagine your ideal limb to be like? Except, obviously, a regenerated version of your last."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:10 am
John smiled sheepishly as he began to pile his plate high, taking more steaks then Maximos could possibly handle as well as good helpings of the rest of the entrees - nice steaming vegetables, well mashed potatoes....Walter had outdone himself, if he had been the one to cook all this! "No...I know you wouldn't have forgotten....I did but." John said, waving his fork around him at their dark, barren surrounds. "...But can you blame me?"
He laughed a little, stabbing one of the steaks with his fork and lifting it to his teeth to tear it apart, ripping a chunk out of it and chewing powerfully before swallowing. He was used to eating one handed....he was used to doing a lot of things one handed. There were a lot of tricks involved, but the mechanical arm had always been a useful crutch more then anything....as well as a punishment.
Spending this time with Maximos had changed him mind about that, however....the past was the past. And he was a changed man. He stuffed the rest of the steak into his mouth and demolished it with his teeth, the food disappearing quickly - John was not one to muck around when it came to eating. You needed to eat fast when in the forest - you never know when your next meal would wander up...not to mention he was damn hungry, and Maximos had said to not be formal....manners, however, suggested that John did not eat with his hand. That would be a little too rude. He looked down at his left shoulder thoughtfully, swallowing his mouthful before speaking. "...You know, I've never really thought about it...I mean, I've gotten used to the mechanical arm now, and it had its advantages...it was more resilient to damage then my actual flesh, for one. Small caliber bullets bother me, they sting like...like someone's thrown a rock at you, but the arm could stop even the heavier stuff, at least a lot better then my own flesh....and I could take it off and bash people with it!"
He put down his fork and mimed ripping his left arm off and smacking it over someone's head, chuckling a little as he did. "That, uh, that was nice, i guess..." He said, his smile becoming a little sad as he realized how childish and unpractical it was, in the long run...
Sighing, he took up his fork again, spearing a potatoe and looking up at the stars as they twinkled down on them. "I don't know, Max....I, well, it would be nice if it could take some more damage then my regular arm....and it would need to be able to conduct electricity, so that narrows the materials down a little..." He shrugged as he stuffed the potato into his mouth, chewing it as he spoke. "After seeing this, where we are....what we're doing here....I'm sure you're capable of just about anything. So no matter what you come up with, i'll be happy."
He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "...This is weird...I feel like we shouldn't be talking about this...I, uh..." He sighed angrily, gripping his fork a little tighter. Stop it, John. He's your friend and he wants to help, thats all. Don't feel bad for that, there is no shame in it, and he is not taking any more pity in you then you would someone else in your position. He thought to himself, shaking his head to rid himself of such stupid thoughts before looking back up to Max with an apologetic smile. "...Sorry...I just want to say that I'm very grateful that you're willing to help me out like this, Max..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:29 am
" Not a worry", Maximos said after a bite out of what appeared to be lightly toasted garlic bread. " We'll get you all sorted out. But." And he shook his head, reaching for a glass of some sort of steaming light green fluid, likely tea. " You have me all wrong. That's mundane thing John, and we are not mundanes." He brought the glass to his lips, but then clearly believed it more pressing that he finish his statement, and so lowered it again and continued. " Mundanes always believe that anything they cannot explain or do not believe they can themselves do, is impossible. Ergo, anything must be possible for one who can do the impossible. But this is a falicy!" He said that last sentence like the punchline of a joke, complete with light laughter and then continued. " You can call down lightning from the sky. Do that on the appropriate world and people will think you are truly a god. You must be able to grant them good crops, heal the sick, bring back the dead. Anything. But you cant, can you?" Max was smiling a wide sort of grin. " If you had seen me step into a shadow on one side of the room and out of another, would you have been surprised? Of course not. And this is no different. As I said in the hallway, it is a lot of distance but its still one trip." The Shadow gestured to the magic symbol etched in the floor, moving his hand from glyph to glyph as he spoke. " Magic is about symbolism. Not doing an act, but guiding the larger forces in how you want an act done. The empty jar, symbolized our need for air, brown dirt sprinkled symbolized gravity pulling us down. The gray dirt, represented our destination. The lantern shattered and gave us heat and finally..." He pointed his fork across the table at John's dirt smeared shoulder. " That design, along with the iron bars, focused our destination. It allowed me to ask the shadows making their home in this dark place to guide our landing to a spot in which we could find a material strong as, or stronger than what your arm was made of previously. The dirt, specifically from my home, let the shadows get a good look at what that shoulder is made of and by my request exclude anything so...terrestrial." He laughed, a big happy laugh, and finally took a sip of his tea. Exiting the sip by tapping his foot on the ground beneath them, which in turn made a dull metallic gonging sound. " I heard a story from a boy outside a store selling fiction picture books about nations who waged war in gigantic machine battle suits they made out of a super tough metal found on the moon. If its true, we have the toughness concern handled." He stabbed another bite of steak with his fork, rounded up potatoes to be scooped up with the next bite but just before actually proceeding said, " What else? Surely you want something more than a super tough arm you can take off and hit people with."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:36 am
Tearing some bread into pieces, John smirked as Maximos explained it all to him. Of course it sounded simple to Max - he was in the know. In this world of magic, John was barely a student, and Maximos was the teacher - and knowledge gave you confidence and power. Maximos was right - because he had never thought of it before, he had thought it impossible....the first time. Now, however...
"Fine then - impressive. Not improbable, or impossible - impressive."
He'd never try to replicate it. That would likely take years of study that John did not have the patience for. But he took Maximos' words to heart - anything was possible in this world. He took note of the items Max had used as totems for various elements, including his own baseplate - which, interestingly, did not seem to be terrestrial in origin...did that mean aliens had given him the arm??
He didn't want to think about it.
He used the bread to wipe up some of the meat grease, chewing on it as he looked out to the dusty lands surrounding him. Maximos' words stung a little - he was supposed to be the God of Thunder, hell, he went around proclaiming himself as such - so why couldn't he summon thunder and rain? Why couldn't he make lightening come from the sky? It was pretty egotistical of himself to walk around boasting such things, when he couldn't back them up...
...But then, he'd never tried to do such things. He wouldn't know where to begin. But....somehow....he knew how to do such things...it was buried, deep somewhere in his fractured mind....he could feel it....
He looked back to Maximos with a wry smirk. "I dont have much imagination, Max. I'd be happy with just my old arm back....but okay. You're right - I'm going to take this oppertunity and roll with it. How often do you get a chance like this?"
Grabbing what appeared to be a pitcher of beer - Walter had, apparently, thought of everything - he took a long drink before placing it back on the table, his eyes narrow as he wiped the foam from his lips with the back of his hand. "...Fine. I want the arm to be weightless if i wish it to be - I can move faster like that. As a matter of fact, make it so i can pass it through objects - lets see someone walk away from an arm materializing in their stomach."
He grabbed some of the garlic bread Maxi had been chewing on and popped some into his mouth, masticating it thoughtfully.
"...And I'm sick and tired of getting my a** kicked by magic - I want the arm to be able to absorb magical or meta energies and convert it to my own, so i can give back what someone else dishes out at me. And I want the arm to regulate my power, so i don't spark everywhere when i start reaching my power threshold - its a waste, i simply can't do it myself, plus it can get painful if i try to contain too much....and I want the arm to be stronger the more power i contain. Much stronger....as strong as a gods arm should be..."
He speared some broccili and some carrots with his fork, making sure that each one was well stuck on the tines before slipping them into his mouth. He really wanted to ask for some weather powers...but for some reason, he didn't...he felt that he didn't need to. Besides - how would the weather help him in a fight? Besides, he didn't want to ask too much of the man...that would be rude.
He put down his fork and tapped his fingers on the pitcher of beer, looking down at the amber liquid. "...What do you think about that? Do you have any suggestions? What would you want if you were in my position?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:13 pm
Maximos listened to everything John said and yet it became progressively more and more evident that his previous statement had missed the mark. It was only going to be a matter of time before the difference between both men surfaced again. Thankfully that was why Maximos stated they could discuss business. Not that Maximos would be taking a verbal commission form.Max just listened without really reacting until the other man finished and then, with an almost embarrassed scratch to the back of his head he spoke up.
"Heheh," He tried to smile amiably without seemingly he was trying or going to try and test or otherwise do whatever it is his actions had made him do in the past to have Tomorrow misconstrue him. "I think you've missed my point. I was trying to express that just because someone does something seemingly impossible, people think that person can do anything or everything. Those were your words, I'm capable of just about anything. I can not however, do anything."
The Shadow gestured again, beyond the table to the markings etched into the ground. The magic circle he had explained moments ago. "I gave you a breakdown of this particular spell to show you that while something appears fantastical there is in fact system and limitation."
His hands came back up on the table, and neatly interlaced with each other as he met John's eyes across the expansive serving of dinner. "I told you magic is about symbolism, if your arm is to embody strength and durability, then it cannot also embody insubstantiality and weightlessness. Those are opposite concepts and neither who bind, or they would both bind put very poorly. Transversely however..."
He gestured to John's shoulder with a small wave of his hand. "...it can embody being a pillar in a storm and the focai for your excess power, as you mentioned. That fits the theme, the symbolism."
It was about then, that Maximos' face quirked at an odd angle and he pondered to himself exactly how much John really meant that question, regarding what Maximos himself thought or would do. Because, he was about to give an honest answer, and he was already cringing at what he expected to be the result. "As for the rest of that? I refuse. But I imagine you already knew I was going to say that. You just spoke to me about being able to shrug off bullets a mortally wounding attack, but you mentioned it not as a boon but as a weakness because without your old arm you could not shrug off more. Now you want to absorb magic? Now you want to be even stronger? I kill gods my friend, I do not craft them. But again, you already knew that before you asked for a bunch of silly things. Didnt you?"
It was rhetorical. Max took a pause just long enough to fit a deep breath inside of, and then continued. While he had addressed his own reasons, he had not addressed what he perceived to be the problem. He shook his head slowly, and then spoke, "What would I do? Reassess. In my experience, I would say that raw physical power is by and far the most common and most useless of all tactics, second perhaps to doubt. Simply via observation, I would note you appear to have both in a plethora. You appear to have no appreciation of your current talent and power scope, likely because it has failed to surpass some goal you've set for yourself. And so you are seeking more power to compensate. I imagine it is a small number. If I gave you more power, you would only be ruined. You would rely on that overwhelming power over any real sort of skill, more than you already do. Your only defensive strategy would be "I'm rather tough" and your only offensive technique would be "I'm rather strong too" worse still, it would be enough to meaninglessly best most individuals out there. Thus reinforcing a bad habit and a bad cycle."
Max did not pause, he slipped his hands free of each other, grabbed a knife and fork and just rest them on his plate, bracing himself to resume when he finished. "Eventually you would have no actual skill worth noting. And you would be....well boring, too easy. I'd personally never contest against you again. As your friend, and as a matter of professional pride, I simply have to refuse to aid in such a downward spiral. Reassess. How many people do you know, who can do the things you can do John? How many have as much power as you? Personally I cannot name one with even half. And so why are you searching for more when you are already gifted with a unique and superlative repertoire? "
He impaled a piece of steak, swirled it in sauce, used it to scoop up some potato and said in closing. "I think you need more neutral concepts. How about having it be able to be launched and magnetically retracted? Maybe an extendable chain? Perhaps different hand attachments? A hammer even! Something to give your arm versatility, cleverness, and make you think. You know?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 7:35 am
"Hey, i just call 'em as i see 'em." Tomorrow said with a laugh. How Maximos did it didn't matter - Tomorrow couldn't do it, therefore he thought it was impossible. It was a difference of perspective, that was all. John didn't really care, what mattered was that it happened and he was experiencing it.
But he listened intently to Maximos' point, looking down at his hand as his brother spoke, and it dawned on him that Maximos was right. His strength was no good to anybody but himself - and even then, as a fighter, he was barely capable of anything aside from swinging madly.
What had happened to the man who could run, jump and fight with fluid motions, who had strategy and poise in his fights? When did he become this thing?
"When you started to lose faith in yourself."
John blinked from his musing, looking up to Maximos, who was still merrily eating away. He was chomping on some sort of vegetable, delicately cutting the asparagus with his knife and fork before spearing it and putting it to his lips. "...What?" John asked, confused.
"You began to lose faith in yourself. Your abilities. So you began to overcompensate." Maximos said casually, chewing his asparagus before spearing some steak, holding it still whilst his knife dug into its steaming, juicy, well cooked flesh, releasing the liquids within and exposing the pink insides. "You began to gain power. Strength. You tried to overpower your enemies, instead of overcoming them."
He dug his fork into the sliced flesh and stuck it between his teeth, looking up to John with a sure smile, his white/black eyes glinting with mirth. "You've failed."
John sat back in his chair, utterly shocked at his brother's words. He was not unused to Maximos being blunt....but there was being blunt and there was being this....this passive-agressiveness. Maximos used the truth to guide you...but now he almost seemed fed up by it all. "Wha...no I haven't..." John said, feeling the need to defend himself, before Maximos cut him off, placing his knife and fork down to take up a napkin, wiping his mouth off by running the napkin over his lips and daubing it at the corners, making sure all the meat juice was gone.
"Dont try to deny it. Everybody knows its what you do." Maximos said, his voice calm and serene, the Cheshire smile not wavering one iota as he folded his napkin neatly and placed it on the table. "You spark and stamp and scream until you spit blood, and you think people will notice you. But I got news for you - thats not how this world works. You go around proclaiming godhood, but look at you - squabbling over weapons and arms with a man who has better things to do with his time. A true god would have no need for such things. A true god would have no need for anything I have to offer."
"I told you - "
"Oh, sure, you're not a true god. Take the easy way out. Excuses. You're good at that. You tell people you're an Asgardian as well, but Asgardians don't fear death nor pain. What happened when Maximos took your arm? What happens when death stares you in the face? When a man who is a god-killer faces you?"
"S-shut up..."
"You run and hide and try to forget. You dig yourself into a hole, into the deep dark earth like a worm, because your precious ego couldn't take it. You lost. My god. Its like the world has ended."
John placed his hand over his ear, but that only left the other open. His body was trembling.
"You want to hurt me, don't you. But you cant. You fear what would happen if you did." Maximos stood up, spreading his arms out wide, laughing as he did. "Look out around you - nobody is watching. We're completely alone. For the first time, we have no interruptions and nobody stopping you but yourself."
"I-i dont want to..."
"Oh please. Big strong guy like you? You're not afraid of anything. You can take on the world, you can take on gods themselves! This body is flesh and blood, it can be cut and crushed and killed. Whats stopping you? whats stopping you?!"
"You're supposed to be my friend!!"
Maximos drew in a deep, dark breath. "...And there we have it, folks. Underneath the big, thick skin lies a little boy who is so afraid of letting others down that he overcompensates to cover his shortcomings, who is so full of self loathing that he makes himself think he's a god, thinking that will make him better then everybody else, and validate himself to himself. You couldn't beat Maximos in a fair fight, so you decided to simply become bigger, and bigger, and bigger, hoping to overshadow him...your ego must be astounding to put up with that."
John lowered his hand slowly, gripping the edge of the table. His face was red, his eyes pricked with tears - but he looked up to Maximos with anger in his eyes. "Y-you're not Maximos..."
The thing wearing Maximos' skin grinned. "No, I'm not. And you're an egotist. Hypocritical, judgmental, brimming with self-worth and conceit."
The Aesir wanted to tear himself from the chair, upturn the table and grasp the thing by the throat, to squeeze it until his eyes bulged and his neck snapped and his brains burst out of his head...but he couldn't. For some reason, he couldn't move...
"Ooo, hostility - thats good. I like it. You're good with anger. Good with your emotions." The thing said calmly, walking around from it's position at the head of the table and approached him, using Maximos' boot to kick a moonpebble away from the table leg. "You're very sensitive....other people's emotions, other people's feelings towards you....you say you're not, but you are....always wondering if they approve of you....you like to turn heads, dont you...go on, you can say it, I wont ridicule you..."
John said nothing, his teeth clenched tightly.
"Of course you do. It validates you, like i said. It makes you feel important." John felt cool hands clench his shoulders, and Maximos' lips brushed against his ear as he whispered to him. "...But the clothes don't make the man. And you can bulk up until you're a carnival attraction, but its not going to get you anywhere."
"...Who are you..." John choked out.
The thing wearing Maximos' skin stood curtly, running his fingers through John's long blond hair, almost lovingly. "Thats not important. What is important, is fixing what you've done to yourself."
"There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Really? So you think being so big and strong you can barely hit what you attack isn't wrong? So you think you're talking to Maximos now? Would you like to see what you're actually doing now?" The table before John, full of plates and delicately placed cutlery, suddenly dissolved to reveal John's broad shoulders, his body slumped over onto the table, dishes and food smeared across the white tablecloth and onto the moon's surface as his skin sparked and twitched, blood seeping from his nose and mouth to stain the cloth, his eyes rolled back into it's sockets.
"Oh gods..."
"Yes, you're stroking. Mostly because of what you did to yourself in a wild panic, but also because I needed to talk to you." The thing wearing Maximos' skin walked around the table to peer down at John like he was a science experiment. "Actually, I tried to do it many times before, and almost succeeded at the hospital...but out here, there's less...distractions."
John didn't know what to do....what to say. "...I..."
"Mmm, yes, that brilliant intellect speaks! Please John, save your breath and just listen and perhaps this will sink in for the billionth time." Maximos slipped onto the table besides the twitching body sprawled out atop it, taking care not to rest his hand in any blood. "You've gone off the beaten track, son. Its time to get back onto it. Time to stop dicking around and realize what you are. Understand? You don't need to validate yourself anymore, son."
"What?"
Maximos sighed heavily, scratching his cheek a little, a bit of his flesh peeling off to reveal hair, grey and silver, hidden beneath as he looked up to the stars with his white and black eye. "Wow...you're either really stupid, or you like being completely useless. Look, its simple really - you need to stop being what you want people to think you are and just be who you are. Stop pandering to your own self belief and just accept that you are you. Love yourself, be one unto yourself, blah blah blah." The Maximos-thing sighed, scratching it's hairy cheek and making more of the skin slough off slowly, revealing a jawline that was many times broader then Maximos' slim lines, reaching over John's twitching body to take up a cherry tomato and popping it into his mouth. "Honestly, you're a big boy, I shouldn't be telling you this....nobody should. Its amazing you've got any friends at all, the amount of time you strut about..."
John hung his head then, and Maximos put his hand on his head, stroking the golden locks again almost apologetically. "You want me to say sorry...you want me to forgive you. You want, want, want...you never think to just accept it and move on. Trust me, son - accept it. Everybody else is sick and tired of it."
"...Then what should I do?" John asked quietly.
Maximos patted him on the head, the mirth back in his voice. "I'm going to give you another chance. Your friend here has given you a million chances, for some reason - perhaps you should ask him why he seems to value you so, if you want your validation so much. But here is a clear chance at doing it right. Are you ready?"
John nodded slowly, causing Maximos to laugh out loud, a deep guttural laugh that sounded much too deep for what his body could emit. "Eager to please, as always...your friend took something from you and fashioned something out of it. To do this, he used some materials from a temple. Go to that temple. You will figure out the rest."
"...Thats it?"
"Yeah. Easy. You like easy, right? Isn't that how you like it? Nice, and easy, and understandable. Can't have too much bouncing around in that head of yours...you might strain something. Ha, sorry, its just really easy to bust your balls over this....I mean, really. You're supposed to be a warrior, you should have seen this coming."
John said nothing. He had a feeling this was all going to end in a moment, and he was right - Maximos reached forward to dig his finger into the top of John's skull, a piercing and excruciating pain blossoming from his forehead like the mightiest migraine. Red color flashed over his vision, black spots flaring as he literally felt Maximos' fingers digging through his brain, squirming and searching for something - before the pain finally went away, Maximos' hand lowering to rest before John's eyes, a small object held in his fingertips - it looked like a little sliver of metal.
"...You might a rock stuck in your head, Thor, but at least this wont be bothering you anymore."
The world span around then, John's view slowly moving down to where he was lying on the table, bleeding profusely from every orifice. Something was changed in him now...his eyes were wide, rolling back down to look around as if for the first time. He didn't know how long he'd been out of it, but judging by the blood pool stained on the tablecloth, it would've been no more then a minute. Shakily he moved his arm, reaching up to touch his face.
"I-it was bad this time..." He whispered to his hand, blinking as he pulled his hand back, dragging it through the blood as if it weighed a thousand pounds - and spying something glinting wetly within the crimson.
A small sliver of metal.
"M-Max...?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:34 am
“ I’ll say. ” The voice came from nearby, mirthless, serious and dark. It was a terrible thing Tomorrow would see if he turned to look. A horrible thing that no man should feel proud of. And yet pride and necessity are not usually the best of bed fellows. Maximos was sitting on the edge of the longer dinner table, one long leg stretched down to the moon metal turf beneath them. The other propped against the leg of a table. His posture was casual, but far from calm. It was closer to loose, if not prepared. There was a thing leaning against him. A long black and slightly curved shaft rest against his form, touching the ground and reaching up to about even with his head, at which point a long, fat, and yet simple curved blade extended out behind Maximos’ head and over his shoulder. Maximos’ arms were loosely looped around the scythe, holding dearly in both hands his most prized possession a pocketwatch. His mismatched eyes stared into as if it was reading something much, much more than a simple set of mechanical hands ticking away on a number facing and reading the time. But that’s all anyone else would ever see. Not unless it was one of them. “ You were only out a moment. ” And they were here. He saw them, it was evident in the way Maximos’ eyes did not settle on Tomorrow but looked up and around them as if chasing ghosts in the air, dancing back and forth. It was funny that his eyes were still facing that ineffably beautiful sight they had both marveled over earlier, but his face was devoid of the life and spark it had brought. Now, there was blood, it pooled and poured from John in rivulets and streams, drops and thick gooey ropes, life spilling from the human form. And where life was spilled, there was death. Death come to steal the magic away. Timeless and tireless, come even here to heed its absolute call. “ In that moment, your clock fell to nothing and jumped back to mere seconds, three times. And then... ” The sentence just teetered off with Maximos make a waving gesture with one hand. And then he fell silent. He said nothing, he did not, except stare into his pocketwatch. His face was not sad, but empty cold and resolute. It was rather obvious what Maximos would have had to do if Tomorrow had not miraculously pulled through. It was also plainly obvious that Maximos did not take pleasure in that fact. After a long moment, he closed the watch and slipped into his inner vest pocket and just barely above a whisper he said, “ I thought it would be better if I…” But he never finished that sentence, John could find the answer when or if he actually died. Maximos just shook his head, hopping off the table and turned to the other man, holding the scythe much like a staff with one hand and said. “ I sincerely hope whatever did this to you gave you a way to ensure it does not happen again.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:31 am
John's eyes were wide as he saw the thing resting on Maximos' side, and for a moment his heart skipped a beat. The last time he had been this close to it, it had ruined his life, maimed him, destroyed him utterly. He could still feel the way it cut through his flesh as if it was nothing, as if his thick skin and tough bone were mere jelly. His left shoulder tingled with the memory of the sensation, and for a moment, his left arm - the phantom limb that he could always feel - clenched its fist, as if preparing for the blow...
But none came, and for a moment, John didn't know whether Maximos had been preparing to dispatch him, or guard him from those who wished to.
He hoped, upon all hopes, that it was the latter. It was a hope he held onto tightly, because a part of him knew the sad realism in Max's eyes. But, as he lifted his right hand and pressed the palm into the slick blood, pushing himself upright and to his feet, leaning against the table as he tried to catch his breath, the pain easing from his head...he turned his eyes to Maximos, and spoke with utter sincerity. "...Whatever you were going to do....for whatever reason....don't feel bad....because I'd rather it be you."
Bright blue eyes peered out from the ghoulish mask of crimson liquid smeared over the left side of his face. His right eye's capillaries had burst, the tear-ducts overwhelmed by his lifeblood as his brain bled, causing the stark blue to be framed by redness. His lips, caked with his own blood, twisted up into a shaky smile. "B-but...maybe next time, if there ever is a next time...don't..."
He shook his head, pushing himself to his feet, wobbling a little before finding his footing. "...Forget it." He muttered as he ran his bloody fingers through his hair, his smile fading quickly, not realizing what he'd done until it was done and groaning as he pulled his hand away from his blonde locks, now sticky and matted. He grabbed one of the napkins from the table and began to scrub at his face, trying to get the scarlet from him as he spoke, a little urgently this time. "...I don't know whether it was something, or just a weird hallucination...but I have an idea now..."
He lowered the napkin and looked to Max, his eyes full of determination, his voice rigid and stern. His face was smeared with scarlet now, the majority wiped away. "My arm - the hammer. The hammerhead was made of stone - stone from a temple, right? Don't ask me how i know..." The determination in his eyes faltered for a moment as he looked down at the napkin in his hand, dripping with his life essence. "...If I am to be rid of this condition, I need to ask another favor...but I'm hoping it will be the last I need to ask of you."
"I need you to take me to that temple."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:13 pm
"...Whatever you were going to do....for whatever reason....don't feel bad....because I'd rather it be you."
The words, while meant to be reassuring or perhaps helpful, instead seemed to make Maximos tighten up. His lips pressing flat, his jaw clenching. He was looking at John, really looking at him. His eyes scanning intently across the larger surface of the other, as if looking for lingering injuries, wounds, causes of possible death, suffering, or maybe looking for whatever it was that brought John back.
He didnt seem like he was going to reply, that cold nearly empty stare, those eyes scanning back and forth with such calculated precision, a face pale and emotionless which looked as if it had never really responded to anything ever before. The fragile line that between business and pleasure that Maximos walked by keeping exactly the sort of friends he did.
"B-but...maybe next time, if there ever is a next time...don't..."
Max swung the scythe, not in any sort of attack or threat. He twist it with one hand so that the blade faced forward and simply brought it down in a slight motion that would have made its tip strike the ground. Instead of actually hitting the ground however, it vanished. No black magic swirls, no glows, no special effects. The scythe was in Maximos' hand and then it was just gone.
"...Forget it." Tomorrow said, and without a second's pause Maximos replied. "Forgotten."
It was rather clear the Shadow did not feel like discussing it any further.
He seemed to loosen over the next few moments as John attempted to clean himself and made something of a bigger mess. His gaze softened, his shoulders loosened, he stepped forward casually and slid a pitcher of water across the wood to the Aesir, and finally his lips curled down in a concerned sort of frown.
Maybe John didnt know what it was, but Max did. It was his job to know, quite literally. For the Shadow it was not a question of what, so much as who it was. Was that a manifestation of Tomorrow's own divinity or someone else's? Was it a single time affair, a little divine intervention? Or maybe...no. Not enough facts to conspire on maybe. Max approached John like any worried friend would have. It was no act, a man he called brother was covered in blood on one of his tables...on the moon.
The last bit really seemed more out of place now than it did not ten minutes ago. A bit cleaner than he was moment ago, it was easier to see John's eyes, they were full a sort of storm and thunder. He was talking...
...not this again, they just argued over that arm! Now...wait. His brow quirked, an dark blue eyebrow raised.
"My arm - the hammer. The hammerhead was made of stone - stone from a temple, right? Don't ask me how i know..." Eyes as side as billiard balls with little nipples of mismatched color, a jaw opened and about to speak but unable, as a mind prepared to speak had its entire train of thought derailed and sent a completely different set of words spewing from his lips like passengers thrown from a wreck as so very much ferocious wreckage. "How do you know that?"
"John! How do you - " He hadnt even noticed his eyes fall and falter, but the actual words the other man spoke snapped Max's attention back to the core of this discussion. The Reapers swimming away into the void of space, the man before him covered in blood clutching something shiny and small in a massive hand.
"...If I am to be rid of this condition, I need to ask another favor...but I'm hoping it will be the last I need to ask of you." Silence. Black and white met blue.
"I need you to take me to that temple."
"Lets go."
No question, no concern, no doubt or hesitation. When a friend was truly in need, Maximos was there as surely as the shadow beneath one's feet. And he turned, and went, walking off in the opposite direction as if ready to confront an army with unstoppable steps. Really, what more need be said?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
