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 Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:52 pm
Alva looked at the different doors as she wandered down the halls of the gods. Some were blank, some had intricate designs just like the rooms they were staying in. She attempted to guess the gods behind the doors until she came to the one that had been described as Nergal and Echo's. She knocked, though was not sure if anyone would be home. She knew that Echo did not stay there, nor any other members of the family.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 2:21 pm
Silence had become his due, his only confident. There was little to deal with, little upkeep to truly busy himself with within a place that was empty.
Once he might have sit in those gardens - still beautiful and alive, in spite of the fact that he had no idea how to care for plants - and have heard so many things. Children laughing, running and screaming. The lady's music, as beautiful as she was fair. Beautiful Music, bruised and yet ultimately unbroken. She still came, every now and then. Came and told him to let go, to move on.
But what was there to move on to ? Nothing. And so Ianthe stayed, and listened to the silence. Waiting. Hoping, against hope, that one day his lord would return for him. But his lord has seemingly forgotten him long before he had vanished, and if he did not come for his own family, what hope was there for him ?
And what else could he do ? He was aoide, but he had no god to serve. And what god would want an aoide like him, broken and bruised in so many ways ?
Suddenly there was a sound. A knock on the door. Odd, for the lady never knocked. It must have been a visitor, then. Someone looking for any of those who had dwelt in these rooms, once vibrant and alive but now dead and silent.
It took a moment for Ianthe to manage to get his body to move, to get his legs and feet moving how they should. It took a few minutes, but the door finally opened. He had no idea who the woman standing here was, but he prepared himself for the usual reaction to his appearance. His decayed arm was covered - it was more comfortable to him that way - but his face was not, pale bone exposed to the side of his errily pale skin. His dead eye remained unmoving as it always did, but the living one regarded her with some curiosity curbed back with weariness, the blue made all the more vibrant by the rune glowing right below it.
Valyrmora may remember the man who had served as her brother's adviser, often aiding or outright taking his place in judgement when such things were warranted. The runemaster, the one who warded all the gates, one by one, like clockwork, every time it was required. There were still peeks of the once vivid purple of his hair, if she looked, though now it had turned into a deeper green, not for any lack of washing. The hair was clean, but the color was stuck. A man that she was now faced with a pale shadow of what he once had been.
Or she might not. Either way, he addressed Alva. "May I help you ?" She had to be here for a reason, after all. Ianthe would never have thought that the reason would be him.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:08 pm
Had Alva been a woman of a weaker constitution she might have flinched. Sure she had not seen the living with such wounds but she had seen many dead in various states of decay. She had seen the living with burns and mutilations. When she had been a child they had been frightening, either cautionary tales or heroes with battle stories to tell.
When he spoke she wondered if she was supposed to do the talking. Luckily Val spoke for her.
The goddess did remember the man that had been, it was one of her shadows but a memory none the less. He had been important to the Underworld and so was important to her. There were many entrances and boarders, their security was of great importance, hence her mission to do what she could to learn the state of them.
"Ianthe, I am looking for you." She smiled. "Do not be alarmed, you might not remember me. Few seem to. I am Valyrmora, goddess and protector of the Underworld. This is my host, Alva."
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:37 pm
Her voice was.... familiar. Soothing in it's own way, though his mind at first struggled to come up with an explanation. He did not fear her, and deep down he knew this voice, he knew who she was, though the memory was distant. Even before the Underworld was destroyed, he had not seen her for quite a long time. "Lady." He bowed and opened the door more fully to let her come inside. He had no reason to turn her away, after all.
"If it is the lord you seek, he answers no one, I am afraid. He sleeps below and things exist... But they do not move. Not unless the Spirit Guide sees to it." Though deep down a part of him doubted that. It was so hard to remember... But he remembered that they had disagreed. And often.
"What it is that you seek, my lady ?" She had come looking for him, so certainly there was a reason for it.
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:53 am
"I'm looking for you as a matter of fact." She stepped past him and into the apartments of Underworld and Music, or that had been theirs. "I am unable to venture into the Underworld in this human form, though I am determined to do what I can to secure it. I have sought out Cerberus and the gateway under St Kore, tomorrow I will leave for the World Tree with the Spirit Guide to inspect the gate there. Jinx told me of your existance and I would like to reinstate you if you want your old job back."
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:21 pm
"The living do not last long in the halls of the dead, no." It had always been such, yes. The realm was simply not created with the living at all, and air was scarce deep down below. The dead had no need to breathe, after all.
He led her deeper inside, so that she could make herself comfortable if she so chose. There had to be something he could scrounge up to serve her, though the goddess' words made him pause. Him ? Honestly ? "I am... uncertain if I can do so, my lady. At least not to the level you and the realm deserves my service." He admitted. "I have not tried to ward since..."
Since the day everything fell down.
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:38 pm
Val followed him inside and looked around. The rooms were what she would have expected from Nergal. He had always enjoyed the classical style.
"Are you able to?" She asked. "I would not expect you to be able to do it all now, right away but I would appreciate your counsul. I understand times haven't been easy for you."
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:39 pm
"I have not tried, so I do not know for sure." He admitted. When he had first been found, simply thinking, simply realizing that he was not longer trapped had taken all of his focus. By the time he had managed to steady himself somewhat, it had seemed like his services were... not needed.
"The Lord may have gotten someone to do new wards. All I know is that such was not asked for me." There was an hint of bitterness there he could not quite mask, though most of it was hidden away. "If not... Then I assume the wards inside crumbled with the realm. Those outside may be whole, but likely fell into dormancy once they were no longer tended to."
He led her to the garden, which was the place where she would likely be most comfortable. Most of the more personal rooms were closed out. "Would you like something to drink, my lady ?" He offered. On that much he could serve, if slowly. "Or to eat ?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:25 am
Val followed him through to the nice gardens, so full of life she knew they would have belonged to Music, they reflected her beauty well. She took a seat on one of the benches there and smiled up at him.
"Something to drink would be nice, some tea perhaps if you have it? I don't think anyone else has been employed by Nergal to do the job. I've only been to the St Kore gate. It seems secure and Cerberus is guarding it. I will need someone more expert to check it though, to work with me inside and out."
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:28 am
"I will see to it, then." He nodded and left to do so. He knew where things were and since he was the only one here, he kept things where they were most easily reachable for him, and not necessarily where they should have gone, so it was relatively quick and painless, though he was not able to completely stop the tremor of his arm when he poured the tea.
"I can try." He could not promise more than that, honestly. Every day was it's own hurdle. There were days were he could almost function normally, and then there were days were he could barely move his body out of bed.
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:41 am
He hurts.
Alva said in her mind as they watched him move about. It was hard to see, both goddess and host wondered how long he had been here alone, the family having abandoned him. It was not a home really, too tainted with bitterness and loss.
"How long have you been alone?" Val asked him. "Have you seen anyone about those wounds of yours?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:45 pm
"I do not remember how long." The days had started blending together, which was a blessing in itself. "Every so often the lady still comes, and every time she asked me to come with her... But it seemed better not to burden her any more than she already has been. Lament and I disagreed on many things before he parted ways." He paused. "Though sometimes I wonder if he was not the one in the right, and not the one in the wrong."
"They do not heal." Perhaps only Medicine or Healing would have been powerful enough to do something for him, but he knew of neither. And even if he did, well, who was he to ask anything of them ? "Though the decay stopped once I was... pushed out." It was hard to explain. "We were all ordered to leave, when the realm died. I did not."
He should have.
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:17 pm
Valyrmora frowned, so much mess. She was beginning to understand the troubles that Ankou faced, the Underworld really was in tatters.
"May I ask what it was that you disagreed about?" She asked wanting to get an understanding of what had gone on. He should have left. She agreed inwardly, though perhaps something could be done. There must be a god that could help him, or perhaps the restoration of the realm might help.
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 5:03 pm
"About your brother, my lady." As if there was anything else they could have been this strongly divided about. He saw no need to elaborate on how they had disagreed, either. She most likely knew.
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Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:47 am
Valyrmora studied him for a moment.
"You defended Nergal?" It was more a statement than a question, that was all she could imagine they would disagree on. "I have met Kios once, it was beyond awkward and now I understand why more than I did then. He has turned his back on us I feel. I hope in time he will come round but I have no desire to press any issues with him. Though I am his Aunt he outranks me in power at the moment."
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