first verse Augury: Ten of the Void

[I think I am here.]

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Thanks, Ene.  

The knife. Price’s aggression drifted away as Sagitta talked to both of them, explained that they both did things they would consider wrong in others.

Price kept his eyes fixed on the forest, but when we saw Zura grab the knife out of his peripheral his breathing pace quickened. He knew, he could never beat her in a straight out fight. Maybe in a laboratory. Maybe. Price had only killed one person before, and that was when they hadn’t been able to fight back. His first Cahayan test.

The world was still as she flipped the knife in the air, offering it to him. Price turned and looked at her, at the knife. To take the knife and throw it away would mean agreement, for peace. Was peace an option? What did a simple agreement between two people do for a war spanning thousands of years.

But to take the knife, and keep it, that would mean he mistrusted the Cahayan. Well, he did, but a part of his soul couldn’t argue with Sagitta, her logic. For a scientist such as him, he knew she spoke the truth. And the curtain of bias couldn’t hold forever.

Hesitating, Price took the knife. It was heavy and he brought the blade closer to him, inspected it. Keep it, or throw it away? Maintain the illusion of security and superiority, or force to make peace with the enemy? It seemed Zura had already made up her mind.

Keep, or throw away?

He looked to Sagitta, arms spread. Another option was using the knife. The knife. Somehow Price thought it symbolised something more. His fingers tightened around the hilt.

“Times are hard enough,” he whispered to himself and cradled the knife in his hands, making it explode, black flame swallowing it whole, leaving no trace of what it had been behind.

He fixed his eyes on the forest, unable to come to terms with his treacherous thoughts. Unlike Zura, he seemed to be the opposite of in peace. Had he gone against his nation with a simple action?

[AonEne]

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STOP THANKING ME, THOSE THREE AWESOME POSTS JUST PROVE ME RIGHT ALL OVER AGAIN.  

 

[+Doomstick]

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so whats going on?

 

[+Sorana]

Sagitta closed her eyes and then lowered her arms, when the Price destroyed the knife. Pressing her hands together to hide their shaking she nodded at the two of them.

"Thank you."

For being good enough people that you didn't kill me right here and right now. She took a limping step towards the carriage considered going back to sleep. In the end her exhaustion won over her urge to take the safe path.

"Wake me when it's my watch."

She asked him, although it was most likely soon, too soon. Still she was tired, so tired that she had a bad taste in her mouth and her eyes hurt. Slowly she climbed back into the carriage, then turned around looked outside at the sky again. Sitting down she burried her face in her hands, then almost hastily left the carriage on the other side, hid from them for a moment. She pressed a hand against her face and started to sob quietly. She doubted she could muffle all sounds, but she could try, and she needed to try. Exhaustion made her sit down and she shook with her sobs when it all became too much. She wanted to go back, back to her line, when all thoughts of a different way, of peace had been like a far away dream, like something she would never be able to grasp or see. When she had been fine with killing for her country, when the nomads had been enemies she hated.

Price and Zura were like a mirror of herself, although she doubted she would have left it at a harmless discussion. Had there been a nomad, she would have killed him on sight. And been proud of it. Disgusted by herself, because they were right, because she was simply the lucky one whose enemy wasn't here, because her own words had struck too close to the truth of her own actions, she hit the ground, once twice. To see the way their faces twisted around the hate hurt, how they believed in the same rules she did. That fighting for your country was an excuse for bad behaviour while you condemned your enemy when he did the same. She had forced them to face it, and at the same time she had ripped herself apart when they had called her bluff, when they had taken the knife. When suddenly it wasn't about her, but about them actively deciding to let their enemy live. Strength. Such strength. More than she had herself.

But it was only one part, the memories of weeks as a prisoner kept crawling back, now that she was alone in the darkness, the memories how they'd talked to her in a language she didn't understand, how they'd asked her questions again and again, how she never had been able to reply in a way that satisfied him. That point when she would have sold her family, only to have them stop, to be allowed to sleep again, to eat again. To be free again. She was exhausted, bone deep exhausting and the last thing she'd needed was a discussion, a reflection of her deeds, of her actions. She knew deep down, that she was wrong, had always been wrong. That they needed peace. How he'd touched her, stolen her her armour and her weapon. Intruded into her life and ripped it apart.

Sagitta curled up on the ground, when it all became to much, when she couldn't go on anymore. She'd always prided herself on being strong and selfconfident, but she had crossed a border, had crossed it days ago. Price and his stories about the prisons, about some of his colleagues had hit her more than she had shown, torture, again torture. She trusted him, had to trust him to keep it away from her, but for now. Her thoughts were so muddled by her exhaustion that she realized how she stopped thinking at one point, filled by a nameless dread and the feeling of being overhelmed. Tomorrow, she had to be fit enough tomorrow to walk, but for now she couldn't. She wanted to go home, to her parents, wanted to leave all of this behind. Forget. Fall into oblivion and forget all of it.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Sorana

[Lunamor]

Zura watched as Price destroyed the knife and smiled softly. She had known what would happen. They were similar people. Just normal people fighting for their countries to live onto the next day.

She saw Sagitta retreat from the carriage and heard extremely faint sounds of sobbing. Was that from their conversation, being forced to consider that everything she had built her life on was wrong? Zura didn’t regret what she had done. Everyone involved had needed to face the facts if they were going to have even the slimmest chance at peace. She still felt bad that it had made Sagitta cry, though. What must’ve have been going through her head to make such a strong woman break down into tears? 

Zura stood up slowly, as to not alarm Price. She scooped up her handful of wood shavings with one hand and yanked her knife out of the wood with the other. She ran her fingers over the oddly smooth carvings as she stepped past. Following Sagitta’s path out of the carriage, she stepped out into the night. She held the hand full of shavings up and let them drift away in the cool breeze. She shouldn’t need them anymore. She then stepped carefully and quietly over to Sagitta.

”Sagitta? I brought you something.”

@Sorana

@I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, Lunamor said:

”Sagitta? I brought you something.”

Sagitta moved when she heard steps, was still wiping her face clean when Zura walked around the corner. She looked up, sat up again, and leaned against the carriage.

"I spent the last weeks, maybe months as a prisoner." She explained tonelessly, ashamed of her tears. If Zura had heard her, Price had aswell. Sounds carried at night. "They took me from the battlefield, kept me chained the whole time. They asked questions, so many questions, and I -"

Shaking her head she stopped, rubbed her head tiredly.

"Of course they did. I was but a prisoner of the enemy. Some things are the same everywhere. They left me to die a few days ago, somewhere in the wilds."

"I am sorry. It is none of your concern."

She fell silent, saw nothing the woman had brought her, but didn't want to ask. Instead she fell silent, but moved a bit, a silent offer to sit down as well.

[I think I am here.]

Price wasn’t alarmed but instead looked curiously on as Zura stepped out of the carriage, walking around to the other side. Though his hostility towards the Cahayn had dwindled, he still wanted to know what she was getting up to, for the safety of them all. As he followed her the sounds of Sagitta’s sobbing and her words about being prisoner became louder. Price stepped forward into the moonlight and watched them both. He was taken aback at first, Sagitta was strong, a brave soldier, maybe a stronger person than he or the Cahayan combined. And she’d been crying.

It seemed the forests were upsetting her? Maybe reminding her of her time in the wilds? Price had seen this occur in other soldiers before, trauma or flashbacks to previous times.

Price noted something down in his ledger.

“The nomads,” he said. He didn’t have an opinion on them, and didn’t know whether Tühinine had an offical stance on their presence but it seemed their relationship with Ta’e’ilo was similar to that of Cahaya and Tühine. Except, Price noted. The nomads are invading. Ta’e’ilo is just defending. In one way, the two conflicts were similar. In another, completely different.

“Questions?” Price asked. “They also tried to test you?”

[+Sorana]

2 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“Questions?” Price asked. “They also tried to test you?”

Sagitta looked up, saw him hold his ledger in his hand, and looked to the ground embarrassed that he had noticed, that he was writing this down.

"Sorry." she said quietly. "Just a bit too much the last days."

Forcing herself to concentrate on his question she gestured to the ground on the other side of her, asked him as well to sit down.

"They were interested in our military. Our command structure. How many men we have, how my officers were called, how our badges looked like. Everything. Passphrases, typical order when we prepare for a battle, how the different units are named." she forced herself to smile at him, "The only thing that kept me sane was my instinct. At least until they realized what it was. Then they changed methods."

"In the end my leg saved me. I was delirious, and they left me one morning to die." A tired smile on her face she looked at him. "Which I didn't. Instead I recovered enough to get to your base. The rest you know."

[+Ark1002]

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I wan't to do something but I don't know what's going on...

 

[Lunamor]

Zura sat down next to Sagitta, a bit concerned. Her hurt leg had been from the Nomads? Was she hiding any other injuries? There was a strong chance that such cruel treatment would give her mental scars as well. She had no clue how to deal with that, though. Blood she could handle, memories not so much. She suddenly felt an intense hatred of the nomads that she quickly suppressed. She had had this problem with Tühine already. But were the Nomads really the same as Tühine? She didn’t know the situation all that well. Cahaya didn’t tend to feel too inclined to teach kids about other wars that could distract them from the one and only “true” and “noble” war. Maybe she could ask Sagitta about it later, when she was feeling better?

Zura didn’t know how to comfort her. She hadn’t been in a situation like this before- she had always worked alone. In Cahaya people hid their tears. They were a sign of weakness, and those seem crying could be subject to punishment. Hopefully she wouldn’t make things worse.

”I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

She started to move her arm in an attempt to pat her on the back, then changed her mind and awkwardly stopped herself.

”I, um, brought you a knife. I thought that maybe you might want another one, since the other got destroyed. In case of monsters or something.”

She held out the knife she had yanked from the bench to Sagitta.

@Sorana

@I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

4 hours ago, Ark1002 said:

I wan't to do something but I don't know what's going on...

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I have no idea what's happening with the god characters either, sorry. I can't help with that. Itiah, Luna and me are the non-god-character group and kind of have our own plot.

===============

3 hours ago, Lunamor said:

”I, um, brought you a knife. I thought that maybe you might want another one, since the other got destroyed. In case of monsters or something.”

Sagitta took the knife, fastened it to her belt.

"Thank you." She smiled at Zura, saw how she started to wrap an arm around her shoulders, and then stopped.

"It's alright." her voice was low, but sure of herself, "I will be back to my old self once the sun is up. All this talk about enemies, about killing and who is allowed to do what, and that at night, " she swallowed the nights had been worse. Maybe. Everything had been awful.

"I need some time, but it's nothing I can't recover from." She'd always recovered from bad things so far. Memories faded over the time. "It's the same with a battle. Afterwards you always think, that you can't go back, no matter the cost. But then you still go."

Despite her brave words she wondered if they were true.

"Ta'e'ilo means oblivion." she was looking up again, into the sky. "Did you know that the stars are vital when it comes to forgetting? At least if you believe an old tale my mother told me."

@I think I am here.

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Sorana

[Lunamor]

Zura was glad Sagitta had said she would be alright by the morning, but she wasn’t entirely sure she was correct. Years of torcher couldn’t just go away that quickly. She had seen plenty of people driven mad by it before. With the horrible methods employed by both sides of the war, many prisoners didn’t hold onto their sanity for very long. It was the only way to survive. Zura was just impressed that she hadn’t been completely broken under the pressure.

And not to mention her leg wound. She still felt a bit guilty about breaking it open during their fight. Hopefully she would be able to walk the next day. They couldn’t afford to stay here for very long or move too slowly, unless they were planning on becoming some animal’s dinner. 

Sagitta said something about the stars being needed to forget and Zura was immediately curious. Could whatever she was talking about help her feel better?

”What was the tale?”

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Gaaaaaah I think I made Zura’s arc peak too early

@Sorana

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

3 minutes ago, Lunamor said:

Gaaaaaah I think I made Zura’s arc peak too early

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Ha, just add some plot device (like amnesia ). Amnesia always works a charm.

“We don’t have many tales in Tühinine,” Price said, sitting down.

“At least, none that don’t have any sort of relevance to the war.” Hundreds of years of conflict did that to a nation.

[Lunamor]

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Quickly, someone hit her in the head really hard!

 

[+Sorana]

16 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Gaaaaaah I think I made Zura’s arc peak too early

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Additionally, you can always say that she sees Price and Sagitta differently, but not everybody else. Or have her see an example of Tühine cruelty to stoke her hate. Something that strong won't vanish completely with a night anyway.

Sagitta continued to look up and smiled.

"Ages ago, there was a Chieftain. He was powerful and so wise that all other chieftains refered to him for advice. Every year they met at his place and he would listen to their problems for days upon days, looking for solutions. More often than not he found a solution, a path they could walk."

Straightening her voice changed, when she fell into the comfortable rhythm of a known story.

"Back then, there was nothing but the clans and the castles, the little conflicts between them. No central rulership, nothing like a king. The clans were proud, only accepted one of their own to rule them, but this man's advice - advice was no rulership and so they could meet, could confer and discuss their problems together. They realized that more often than not they had the same. An illness of the stock - a clan had found a solution and the cure saved many others."

"The chieftain liked to listen to them, saw the power behind this unitiy and he tried to lead them along, tried to ensure that this cooperation would last even when his bones had turned to dust and his name was forgotten. Then tragedy struck. His wife died of an unknown illness, and a few month later his only child as well. The chieftain was devastated. When his loved ones had died, so had a piece of his heart. He cried for days upon days, forgot about his lands, about his clan, cried and buried his sorrow in alcohol. His younger brother stepped in, tried to fill the hole his brother had left him, and for a while it worked. His own clan readily accepted him and the yearly meetings had become a regular institution. Only when a new crisis struck did he realize, that while he was able to represent his clan and discuss with the others, he missed the charisma and the repect to unify them. Barbarians started to invade the north. They came on horses, they were fast and quick and the peasants living there had no chance. The clans of the north tried to protect their own, but faced with an superiority, they faced destruction. So the chieftains met, tried to find a solution, but those in the south were reluctant to send their young ones to fight for those in the north. They feared to loose their own lands afterwards, if they were weakend by the losses."

"The discussion kept them chained to the table without any result, while hard-working people died and one day, the younger brother opened the door and faced the man he had loved above all others. You have to get out. He told him. You have to lead them, as you have before. We can throw the enemy back, if we work together, but they are afraid and they never looked up to me, like they look up to you."

"But his older brother only shook his head, heavily drunk almost unable to stand. He wouldn't go, he would stay here, here in his room. If he faced them, then he would remember, and he couldn't remember. The only thing he wanted was oblivion."

"The gods still walked our lands back then and they saw his pain, his fear. Sensation, for he was one of hers, finally had mercy with the man and stepped into his room. It was night, the sky hung dark over the land, only the moon lighting it up. Stand up. She bade him, and he followed her words, for she was his goddess. You leave those alone, that look up to you, that need you. You accepted the responsibility when they handed it to you, you accepted their praise. Now you have to show them, that you're worthy. The man only shook his head, lifted a bottle. I don't know what to do. When I look into their faces, then I see nothing but her face. When I hear their voices, I hear her voice. I want to offer her peace, to allow her to rest, but I took her into my heart and I swore that she will stay there forever. I can't break my oath, or I am nothing more than a cremling. I can't let her go, for she is the one keeping me sane." Sensation placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. She reached out for one of his tears, and looked at him. This is a memory. And a memory can hurt you, or it can heal you. He looked into the tear and saw that she was right. There was a memory in there, of his wife laughing, holding their first child in her arms. He started to cry at the sight and Sensation smiled. Then she flung the tear towards the sky where it remained as a tiny bright spot next to the moon. She took his other tears, painted the faces of his wife and child into the sky, so that he could remember them, so that they would look upon him. The man straightened when the burden was gone, when he could smile at the memories, be grateful for their time together."

"Sensation stepped back when she saw him smiling, took the bottle out of his hands. From now on, you will be the one to lead them. Oblivion shall be with you, your name forgotten, but know that I will always remember who you are. Ta'e'ilo shall be your name and the name of those that you lead. You will bide them to take care that their names and their story reach the ears of their gods. When each of them dies, their loved ones are to tell their tale and tell it loudly. Now that you can forget, you will forget about your heros, about your loved ones, same as you will forget about the things that hurt you. Oblivion comes at a price.."

"And he saw that she was right, for his pain was lessening. He knew that they were still there, that they would always be with him. He looked up, and he saw that she sky had brightened, stars covered it. Millions and millions of stars. The memories of his nation, memories of the clans. He left the room, his steps sure and proud for the first time in years and he stepped in front of the chieftains."

"The gods have given us a great power. He announced. They allow us to forget, to preserve our memories on the sky. So that we can go on and fight for them, fight for our children and grandchildren. We are Ta'e'ilo."

@I think I am here.

@Lunamor

==============

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Archer, I don't want to godmod your character. This is a tale, and there is absolutely no need that it happened like that. I simply needed sensation, because it fit, but made sure to change the gender as well to add to the tale feeling and to make it easier to discern this from Tion.

@Archer

Edited September 19, 2019 by Sorana

[AonEne]

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Sorana! 

Holy storms! 

Can I show that to my English/creative writing teacher? 

That...wow. 

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

...nothing more than a cremling. 

Was that the cursing filter? 

Some of the gods/certain instincts could cause amnesia of varying degrees, if you want, Luna. You could engineer a fight with someone in Tühine? *shrugs* 

@Sorana @Lunamor

Edited September 19, 2019 by AonEne

[+Sorana]

25 minutes ago, AonEne said:

Sorana! 

Holy storms! 

Can I show that to my English/creative writing teacher? 

That...wow. 

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Sure. Wow, that's a great compliment! But let me check for mistakes again. Give me an hour or two before copying it? And you have to tell me what they say?

And no, no cursing filter, I went with something I knew would be alright for the page and the context.

===============

Edit: Alright, I reread it. If you really want to show it to you teacher, feel free to do so.

@AonEne

Edited September 19, 2019 by Sorana

[AonEne]

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I’ll probably show her after school, I don’t have her today. But that is seriously awesome. We were talking about myths and legends recently, that’s why I think she’d be interested. 

 

[Lunamor]

15 hours ago, Sorana said:

@I think I am here.

@Lunamor

 

 

6 hours ago, AonEne said:

@Sorana @Lunamor

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I like both of those ideas so I’m gonna try and combine the two and see what happens.

Also HOW THE STORMING COLORS ARE YOU ABLE TO WRITE SO WELL SORANA THAT WAS RUSTING AMAZING

Zura sat still there for a moment, thinking. She had known that Ta’e’ilo meant oblivion, but had never imagined that it was because of something like that. She had always thought that it was because of their ability to completely destroy their enemies, not that it was from the creation of the stars. It seemed rough, in a way. She respected that. The Cahayan tales taught in school were all heavily edited versions of the originals, filled with perfect heroes with long, flowing hair. The only thing they ever did was destroy evil Tühine. The Cahayans were always completely in the right, the Tühine completely in the wrong. They always had a neat and clean ending. This story, though, was messy. The chieftain wasn’t faultless, and the story concluded in a bittersweet way. She liked that. It was more real. Life didn’t often have perfect and happy endings. And there were very few real heroes or villains out there. 

She wasn’t sure if the story was true- tears becoming stars seemed a bit far fetched- but it still was fascinating to her. Hauntingly beautiful. She looked up at the sky and saw a few shooting stars. She imagined the moon as one big shining eye, silently weeping and sending them across the heavens.

“Do you believe in the tale? That the stars are banished memories?”

She asked Sagitta, not turning her face from the shining points of light above.

@Sorana

@I think I am here.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Lunamor

[+Sorana]

21 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Also HOW THE STORMING COLORS ARE YOU ABLE TO WRITE SO WELL SORANA THAT WAS RUSTING AMAZING

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*blushes* Thank you so much! (Honestly I wrote that at 6am, and I had no real plan, only that I wanted to write some tale about stars and forgetting.)

Sagitta was silent for a moment, looked at the stars as well.

"I believe that they listen when I speak of my sorrows, that they watch when I wash the blood of my hands and that they carry the tales of the dead to the gods." She lifted a hand, as if to touch a star. "Maybe I only imagine that, but what else should they be? And even if they don't, I find solace when I look at them and they offer me peace. In the end, I suppose it has to be enough."

Looking down she gazed at Zura.

"What do you believe?" She asked, half expecting to be shut down. It was a very personal question, but somehow here at night, things had changed. She doubted that it would remain like this, but for now she felt like asking the question was alright. The night was the place for dreams, for sorrows and for honest talk. During the day, they had to return to their places, to their problems, but for now they could talk as equals.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Sorana

[Lunamor]

Zura froze. No one had asked her about this before. She had avoided thinking about it. A warrior like her hadn’t had the time to ponder such things. But now she had been directly asked. And she didn’t have an answer.

What did she believe? Sagitta had said that she believed that they were watched by, remembered by the gods. That sounded... problematic. Why would they only watch? Shouldn’t they do something to help? Something to stop the war, all of the death and pain? Why were they silent? A terrible thought seized Zura’s heart. What if they wanted the destruction? Why else would they stay completely out of things? She quickly terminated that line of thinking. She didn’t even know if such beings existed, so there was no point in worrying about nothing. She still couldn’t complete put herself at ease about it, though.

“I... don’t know.”

She eventually said. She spoke slowly, carefully thinking over every word.

”I do want to believe that there is something or someone out there watching us. Someone who cares. I really, really do.”

She shook her head ruefully.

”I just find it hard to believe that. I mean, if there are really entities like that out there...”

She swept her hand towards the sky.

”Then wouldn’t they do something to help? Something about this?”

Her hand swept past the broken bodies on the ground.

@Sorana

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

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Agreed, really good story

The story was...  nice, Price decided. It was unconventional for him, no black and white characters, except maybe Sensation, but Sensation was a god. Price was sure no matter where they were, all the gods were good hearted and kind. That was, if they even existed. Looking up to the stars as no doubt most children did when they heard the story, Price wondered what his ancestors would think of him. What would his father, his sister think of him?

He listened Zura about belief.

“Most people say the same thing about the gods,” he said. “Why they don’t do more for people. But... people still believe in them.”

[AonEne]

On 9/16/2019 at 3:09 AM, AonEne said:

It was more than a relief when all at once Gati’s power soared back to her, Negating everyone around her in a wave. She held them far from her and Truth easily now, letting them move a fraction of the way toward her, not even close to a full step, before undoing it, and keeping them in a loop of that like bubbles popping. The goddess let out a quiet laugh at the rush of power, though she quickly stifled it. As good as it felt to be normal again, this wasn’t the right environment to be laughing in. 

He managed to carry Truth outside of the tent; they were spotted by one man, but Gati simply reversed his movements until he had turned a corner and was out of their view. He pushed back the soldier’s thoughts even further, to leave him just slightly confused, and used that time to get Truth out of the camp and behind a tree. Anderson would recover on his own. The best thing for both of them would be Negation finding the other deities and warning them of Entropy’s betrayal as quickly as possible. 

He began running through the forest, not bothering with stealth. Getting to the clearing mattered more than merely getting away. Gati dashed through dancing shadows, under leaves lapping at the wind, and by boulders with lichen creeping down their cracks. 

A smacking sound thumped through the air, then another. He would have ignored it, if it weren’t for the voice that then spoke. Tion. Negation relaxed and followed the other god. 

@Archer

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Are we going to wander until we find the mortal characters?

Edit: Lights, I forgot to show Sorana's post to my teacher...next week, I guess.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by AonEne

[Archer]

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I 100% approve of that post, Sorana, but thanks anyway for the ping!

Ene, that’d be good, but for purposes of brevity, it’d be easiest if we imply they talk and travel for a few days, and we're only showing snippets of the journey, before we arrive at where the others are. 

Po, BoS etc., Now that the camp scene's wrapped up, and the gods have gone their separate ways, the other gods will have to find a way to get to where the mortals are currently (rural region a few days travel from here, or the city depending when you show up), or there abouts if they want to get in on the action, or interact in a different location. 

On the trail to coincidentally run into the mortals

“Do you know what power is, Gati? Not in the magical sense, but in practice.”

Tion’s invisible feet padded invisibly along the forest floor, making less crunching noises on the leaves now that the surrounding foliage had thinned considerably. Through the trees, he could see the dark green mass of miles upon miles of rolling hills surrounding them.    

“I used to think that there was power in anonymity: the ability to act independently of society, step away from it all, and wield your influence without anyone being the wiser. But I have come to realize that that’s an unrealistic way of looking at this realm’s dynamics. Look at your clothes, man! And your face, even your mannerisms. We claim to be gods, but we’ve all adopted their habits to blend in. Sure, it means we can act unmolested, but there’s hardly anything differentiating us from our subjects anymore. This isn’t power, it’s integration, it’s submission.”

He paused to inspect a fallen twig along the side of path, turning it over in his hands, noting how recently it had been snapped. Nervously, he peered around, looking for any signs of life besides his travelling companion. He saw none.

“Proper power,” he continued, “lies in being known. The greatest heroes of this age have all chased their ambitions relentlessly, and done so without any thought to what others think of it. They have studied in the face of ridicule, built to spite the elements, and fought their way through opposition, with force if necessary. Those men become kings, grinding themselves out a position of unassailable might. Everyone knows their names, even if it’s only so they can curse them. They are the ones of which legends are told; their names are written in the stars. They thrive in conspicuousness. That, my boy, is true power.”

The god of Sensation sniffed at the wind, nostrils flaring to breathe in the scent of a familiar smell. Instinctively, he slowed his pace, moving closer to Negation for protection, but he carried onward.   

“There was a bedtime story I used to tell Jessic on that theme. It was one of those scary ones, about a man who fed beggars at the door when they knocked on the door each night. He never saw their faces, just their outstretched arms. Then, one day, they knocked on the door in the daytime, and he saw he’d fattened them up into bulbous giants. Nom, nom, nom they gulped him down and feasted on his family.”

He scratched his chin. “I don’t think she liked that one very much.”

His invisibility flickered, momentarily revealing his form. Inexplicably, the god’s body and clothing seemed to be entirely coloured black, as if he was made of pure shadow. Then he was unseeable again, showing no signs have having noted the lapse.

“Come to think of it, she didn’t like any of my stories.”

[AonEne]

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Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. 

Oh my gosh. Is he just going to monologue mysteriously at Gati the whole time?  Of course he is, he’s Tion. (Just noticed your signature ketek, by the way, it’s awesome.) 

Arghhhh I assume my character knows who Jessic is, but I only have guesses. Also I love your writing can I go cry now. 

I’m sorry this isn’t very much or very good  he’s not going to say anything, just listen. 

Gati moved behind Tion, also invisible, and listened. The other man’s voice was soothing to listen to, but he couldn’t blame Jessic for not entirely liking the stories Tion told. Gati guessed that their content wasn’t what she would have wanted to hear. The god of Sensation had a point, though - most of the gods didn’t act like gods. Gati wondered why that was.