"I don't see why he gets to stay here with bread in the oven, and a hotcake around his neck!" screamed Iuto, conflicted as per usual. Pretty common for a god of Choice.
He wasn't talking about a bake sale. On the stand in the middle of the Council of Gods was Arrikanez, bound and shackled as per custom. Made to feel like a prisoner for being pregnant in two ways, and having no say over the matter at all. He felt a little like his life was on trial. Which, in a sense, it was.
"I agree!" shouted Arrimarris, from across the council hall. He was late. "Arrikanez should NOT be allowed to stay in Kimagaa while raising children. I don't care if one of them IS god-blood!"
Arrikanez wilted a bit, the chains rattling as his head lowered. He felt so... so... lonely. Despite being trussed up like a criminal, and put on trial in front of everyone he cared for... all he felt was lonely. He didn't even look around at those assembled. It wasn't as if anything he said would sway them anyway. Eriot's turn.
"I move that Arrikanez be granted 'leave' of godly duties until his children are of age to understand his situation. All those in favor?"
"OBJECTION!" hollered Tamari from across the way. It was a matter of pride in this one, since Tamari was directly responsible for the bun in the oven. And it hurt to hear him argue.
"I move..." continued Tamari. "That Arrikanez be STRIPPED of his powers. Completely For the duration of the lives of the children he carries."
As Eriot seemed to consider this, Arrikanez felt even worse. He was starting to hurt again, and the pain likely showed on his face. His abdomen seemed to swell, even though it wasn't large at all. Each kick the baby made felt like a stab. He didn't know WHY he was in so much pain from this child, but he was. Almost so much, in fact, that he missed four or five other statements about his child and where it was going to put him in the long run. By the time everyone had finished speaking, he felt about an inch tall, had no self-esteem left, was in excruciating pain, and crying. The crying stopped long before the pain did. And although Eriot COULD technically ease his pain, he was not legally allowed to help prisoners on the stand. Even if they were fellow gods. It was his turn to speak again.
"I have heard and understand all complaints and comments. We will recess on this to discuss the issue at a later time this afternoon. The accused will remain incarcerated for as long as the recess lasts. Dismissed."
As the rest of the gods filed out, Arri remained in the center of the council hall, bound in chains, shackled, and in so much pain he was trying not to scream. He wanted to shout after them. Call Eriot a callous b*****d. Call Tamari a hypocritical b***h. But that would have gotten him absolutely nowhere. So he sat there and waited for the rest of the gods to return. Meanwhile, he busied himself and his mind with thinking of the children he was carrying. What he'd name them. How he'd raise them. The necklace, he decided, contained the child he was going to name Willow. The one in his belly - which would be younger by a few months - would carry the name Brooke. He'd always loved the name Brooke. Although it technically WAS a woman's name, he wouldn't be hard-pressed to give it to a son of his. He was still contemplating this, when the other gods returned, Eriot looking full of doom and gloom, as per usual on these types of things.
The elder god took the seat he was accustomed to, and looked down at Arri. There was a little remorse in those eyes... but not much.
"Arrikanez - Since you have been rendered with child - twice - You were brought before this court to decide what to do with you. After much deliberation, we have made our decision. Our verdict is thus..."
He paused, and sighed, then continued.
"Your powers will be stripped from you. You will be sent to another world to wait out your pregnancy. Once your eldest child reaches the age of eighteen, you will be allowed back into Kimagaa. However, at that point and time, the memory of your children will be erased to preserve our secrecy. They will remember nothing about you."
Arri bowed his head, tears now flowing freely.
"Thus has it been decided by the Council, and thus will it be carried out. Dismissed."
It was a while before they unbound Arri - but where they sent him was not much better. There was only one way, right now, to strip a god of their powers in such a way that they might someday be returned. And that was to kill them. Again. Arrikanez was strapped to the altar of a temple set up in Kimagaa. Chanting reverberated around his head, before the ritual was continued.... more chanting... then completed, when one of the gods - he didn't know which one - plunged the sacred knife straight into his beating heart. It didn't kill him, as it would a mortal. But it sealed his power. And knocked him unconscious. He heard sounds of concern... then silence.
When he awoke, he was stripped naked, lying on a bed in a hotel somewhere. The language he could see outside the window was foreign to him. The air was thick and hard to breathe. And he felt his heart palpitating in his chest, the protection from his powers no longer inherent in his blood. Freed from that, he was sick and weak as the day he ascended into godhood. Outside, someone was yelling in a language equally as unfamiliar - but likely not the same. Tears welled in his eyes. He cursed his very friends, the other gods, as he wept salted tears against the filthy hotel-bed sheets, exhausting himself so thoroughly that he passed out shortly after.
He lay there, unconscious, on his side. A youth of the age fifteen. Pregnant. Black hair greasy and haphazardly strewn all about the sheets and his face. His eyes closed and sunken. His skin pale with the traces of many scars. He looked like your average naked drug addict, crying into a pillow for his mommy and a fix... although what HIS tears foretold was a life of hardship. A stranger in a land devoid of faith. A god in a godless world. Stripped of everything that had, up until this point, made him who he was. So was this the Council's decision. So was it done. So was Arri's life made once again a living hell. And so was no one around to witness the fall of Chaos - the dark angel rejected by Light - so that a secret could be saved.
He wasn't talking about a bake sale. On the stand in the middle of the Council of Gods was Arrikanez, bound and shackled as per custom. Made to feel like a prisoner for being pregnant in two ways, and having no say over the matter at all. He felt a little like his life was on trial. Which, in a sense, it was.
"I agree!" shouted Arrimarris, from across the council hall. He was late. "Arrikanez should NOT be allowed to stay in Kimagaa while raising children. I don't care if one of them IS god-blood!"
Arrikanez wilted a bit, the chains rattling as his head lowered. He felt so... so... lonely. Despite being trussed up like a criminal, and put on trial in front of everyone he cared for... all he felt was lonely. He didn't even look around at those assembled. It wasn't as if anything he said would sway them anyway. Eriot's turn.
"I move that Arrikanez be granted 'leave' of godly duties until his children are of age to understand his situation. All those in favor?"
"OBJECTION!" hollered Tamari from across the way. It was a matter of pride in this one, since Tamari was directly responsible for the bun in the oven. And it hurt to hear him argue.
"I move..." continued Tamari. "That Arrikanez be STRIPPED of his powers. Completely For the duration of the lives of the children he carries."
As Eriot seemed to consider this, Arrikanez felt even worse. He was starting to hurt again, and the pain likely showed on his face. His abdomen seemed to swell, even though it wasn't large at all. Each kick the baby made felt like a stab. He didn't know WHY he was in so much pain from this child, but he was. Almost so much, in fact, that he missed four or five other statements about his child and where it was going to put him in the long run. By the time everyone had finished speaking, he felt about an inch tall, had no self-esteem left, was in excruciating pain, and crying. The crying stopped long before the pain did. And although Eriot COULD technically ease his pain, he was not legally allowed to help prisoners on the stand. Even if they were fellow gods. It was his turn to speak again.
"I have heard and understand all complaints and comments. We will recess on this to discuss the issue at a later time this afternoon. The accused will remain incarcerated for as long as the recess lasts. Dismissed."
As the rest of the gods filed out, Arri remained in the center of the council hall, bound in chains, shackled, and in so much pain he was trying not to scream. He wanted to shout after them. Call Eriot a callous b*****d. Call Tamari a hypocritical b***h. But that would have gotten him absolutely nowhere. So he sat there and waited for the rest of the gods to return. Meanwhile, he busied himself and his mind with thinking of the children he was carrying. What he'd name them. How he'd raise them. The necklace, he decided, contained the child he was going to name Willow. The one in his belly - which would be younger by a few months - would carry the name Brooke. He'd always loved the name Brooke. Although it technically WAS a woman's name, he wouldn't be hard-pressed to give it to a son of his. He was still contemplating this, when the other gods returned, Eriot looking full of doom and gloom, as per usual on these types of things.
The elder god took the seat he was accustomed to, and looked down at Arri. There was a little remorse in those eyes... but not much.
"Arrikanez - Since you have been rendered with child - twice - You were brought before this court to decide what to do with you. After much deliberation, we have made our decision. Our verdict is thus..."
He paused, and sighed, then continued.
"Your powers will be stripped from you. You will be sent to another world to wait out your pregnancy. Once your eldest child reaches the age of eighteen, you will be allowed back into Kimagaa. However, at that point and time, the memory of your children will be erased to preserve our secrecy. They will remember nothing about you."
Arri bowed his head, tears now flowing freely.
"Thus has it been decided by the Council, and thus will it be carried out. Dismissed."
It was a while before they unbound Arri - but where they sent him was not much better. There was only one way, right now, to strip a god of their powers in such a way that they might someday be returned. And that was to kill them. Again. Arrikanez was strapped to the altar of a temple set up in Kimagaa. Chanting reverberated around his head, before the ritual was continued.... more chanting... then completed, when one of the gods - he didn't know which one - plunged the sacred knife straight into his beating heart. It didn't kill him, as it would a mortal. But it sealed his power. And knocked him unconscious. He heard sounds of concern... then silence.
When he awoke, he was stripped naked, lying on a bed in a hotel somewhere. The language he could see outside the window was foreign to him. The air was thick and hard to breathe. And he felt his heart palpitating in his chest, the protection from his powers no longer inherent in his blood. Freed from that, he was sick and weak as the day he ascended into godhood. Outside, someone was yelling in a language equally as unfamiliar - but likely not the same. Tears welled in his eyes. He cursed his very friends, the other gods, as he wept salted tears against the filthy hotel-bed sheets, exhausting himself so thoroughly that he passed out shortly after.
He lay there, unconscious, on his side. A youth of the age fifteen. Pregnant. Black hair greasy and haphazardly strewn all about the sheets and his face. His eyes closed and sunken. His skin pale with the traces of many scars. He looked like your average naked drug addict, crying into a pillow for his mommy and a fix... although what HIS tears foretold was a life of hardship. A stranger in a land devoid of faith. A god in a godless world. Stripped of everything that had, up until this point, made him who he was. So was this the Council's decision. So was it done. So was Arri's life made once again a living hell. And so was no one around to witness the fall of Chaos - the dark angel rejected by Light - so that a secret could be saved.
