Lords of Creation (Story Thread 3)

[Philote]

"Most of us are the leading Spirits of neighboring lands" Gilgamesh instructs "You may wish to go inform your people, who knows what these Spirits are planning to do with your guardian Zaya once they get their hands on her."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Finally, the day relented, but by now, it had already taken its toll. The Boquabians knew they must rest.

"We cannot go on further, Draias..." came a voice, "Where is this place you lead us to?"

Draias turned back, and Linessa and Fandas stepped aside so he could face the voice and the rest of the crowd, "It is an arduous journey, I thought that much had been promised you at the outset. I made no sweet morsel of the idea of our journey. You should know by now not to ask 'are we there yet?', because quite simply, the answer, after just a day's worth of travel, is still 'no'. It will likely be 'no' for many days. So go. Rest. Find food for yourselves. Decide who among you will take first watch. Take refuge in your fond past memories, take comfort in your present aliveness, and take thought of your future prosperity."

His comrades gave scattered sighs. The others eyed him, silent, as he lumbered off, dimly silhouetted by the small cloud of strange glowing flies that flitted off behind him, to snare the only animal he cared for tonight; sleep. And among the trees trimmed perfect by nature, hung carefully with fruit by design, bedazzling with all the elegance simplicity could afford them, Draias' people would soon join him in those drowsy spoils...

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The Watchman wasn't really listening, so enthralled was he with the devices. With something like this, he wouldn't even need the Watchers, and the dome of Spectropolis was made of panes of glass much like this. Why...

No! He banished such thoughts from his mind. Such a gross invasion of privacy wasn't in his nature. Sure, he might be always watching but at least he was fair about it. Nothing he heard wouldn't be heard by anyone who happened by, it wasn't his fault that people weren't careful about the words they spoke. By all rights he should destroy it.

But then, that would probably shatter the peace he'd brokered with Zaya. He did not want or need conflict among the gods. It only hurt the little people when the powerful fought. He would leave it intact for the good of the world. That's what he told himself.

He didn't know who he was trying to fool.

So he turned his attention to the old hag, more for the distraction than anything. Were they born like that? What did hag children look like? You know, he could probably find out with that mirr- NO! Start talking, stop thinking.

"Now now Gil, I'm sure it won't come to that. So sorry for the intrusion, we are nothing but concerned co-workers. I'm the Watchman, this is Gilgamesh. Behind us is the Lady Gant. Personally, I'm, here out of worry Has Zaya returned since yesterday to this island? If not, I'm afraid something may have happened to her."

[Philote]

So the Watchman had a chink in his armor. Gilgamesh could piratically smell the conflicting thoughts going through the Spirits head. It almost made up for the Watchman ignoring his claim to capture the mirror.  

"You have make sure they're prepared Watchman. Their guardian Spirit is gone and a group of powerful Spirits have strode into their inner chambers without their notice, they should be deciding who to appease to for protection."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Well, you sure took your sweet time Commander. What were you doing? Did taking care of that troublemaker take so long."

All of the days march, the Vandles had fanned out around the Boquabians, keeping mostly to themselves. They really hadn't had much choice: they couldn't find the Veteran, the village was outright hostile, and the cave had a flesh eating monster in it. The could have flown back to Spectropolis, except most of them weren't sure which direction to go in and it would have meant abandoning the mission regardless. Besides: they had seen what had happened in the cave. It wasn't a nice sight, and most of them never wanted to see that again.

The Veteran finally contacted Shoving Another Down that night, landing on her shoulder as a Hercules beetle and asking for a quick chat in the woods. She had snuck off with him, indignant.

Right now he was standing before her looking sheepish. "There were complication. Complicated complications. Need to know basis."

"Permission to speak freely, commander?"
"Granted."
"That's a load of crap."
"Just for that comment, I ain't tellin ya now."
"What?!"

"Shh" he said, bringing his finger up to his lips. "You'll wake em all up."

They looked out among the people sleeping among the trees. "Anyway, mission's over. Were headed back."

Shoving looked at his, then back out at the Bouquabians. "Sir, with all due respect..."

"They gotta learn to stand on their own the hard way, soldier."

"But they have been." She said quickly. "A full days march, all on their own. Not once did they ask for out help. Look, you've seen these people; they aren't built for fighting. What if they're attacked again? They're never going to learn to stand if they're wiped out while still struggling."

He smiled. "So, you decided to protect em, then."

"Until they asks us to leave, Commander."

"And the rest of the girls?"

"They share my feelings, commander."

He stuck out his hand, extended a finger, and pressed it against her forehead. She heard a burning sound for a moment, before he pulled it away. She couldn't see, but their was a star emblazoned there. She felt up there as he stepped away.

"Then I leave this situation in your capable hands. Act at your own prerogative, First star Sub-Commander Shoving Another Down." He saluted. She looked stunned for a moment, before hastily saluting back. " That will lead you back to home base anytime you get lost. Get some rest, soldier. I got an appointment to keep." With that, he shot off into the sky.

As she wove herself a hammock, Shoving had only one hope; that he hadn't put something dumb on her head.

(Raise Hero -1, 31 remaining.)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Come Gil, the answer to that should be obvious. Oh wait, no, they never got that message, did they?" He turns to the Head honchhag. "It's me, for the record. I'm sorry, we strayed off track. Do you know how to work that thing? Is there some sort of code phrase or....."

[Philote]

"Sure are anxious to get at that device Watchman" Gilgamesh notices "You could probably force it to activate for you, I don't see anyone jumping to stop you."

[Zaleramancer]

The head-hag started cackling wildly, bent over in mirth.

"Knock yourself out," She gasped. "No one can use it right except the Mistress. The last one who tried... well, it was hard to scrub the brains off the walls."

She leered over the group, examining the faceless stranger and the god with the stressful aura. Behind them, standing quietly, were a few smaller gods- bare flames before the might of the two.

"Gods you may be, but so was the one who made this. Divine power, skill in magic and a very flexible mind are required to even think of tapping it. But to actually control it? That requires a level of self control that few have."

"Do you think you can let secrets remain? Are you strong enough? Few are. So few. They find things not meant to know. Attempt to embrace the sum of the knowledge of the cosmos in their arms. Stretched so thin, their minds fall apart- smeared across the universe like a bug beneath a boot."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He turns his head to look at the thing.

An emergency.

This was an emergency.

Mitigating circumstances.

He would use it the ONE time, then never again.

He turned and walked back to it, this window to the cosmos. He almost wanted to reach out and touch it, but abstained. He spoke.

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, show me the oldest, most conniving goddess of them all. Show me.... Zaya!"

[Philote]

Gilgamesh stands and watches, awaiting the outcome. He wonders if the Watchman would have the willpower to resist using the Divine Artifact a second time, of if he would even be able to control it through his first attempt.

[Zaleramancer]

A slight humming came from the mirror and a single image appeared. It wavered slightly, indistinct.. before launching into explosive multiplication. Dozens of images and whispered voices echoed through the cave, only heard in the depths of the Watchman's mind.

For a second, a thousand images of Zaya danced by. Whispered words and strange sounds and odd sensations. The feeling of raw magic danced across him with a caustic, skin flaying sensation. Unfolding into infinity, knowledge came. The mirror could let him know anything that had ever happened- and it thrust all of this knowledge on him, whipping through his mind like a hurricane wind.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He clutched his head and fell to his knees, straining under the weight of it all. He could feel it, the pressure the divine artifact was putting on his mind. It was trying to push knowledge into him! He wretched and screeched with the shear pain of it, his voices unsynchronization in, each individual voice letting out it's own take on agony and making the cave echo like an overfilled torture cellar.

There was one voice, however, that was not screaming. It was in just as much pain, but the tone was such that you knew this person had a great deal of experience with pain. Even this voice, that spoke with a tone of authority usually reserved for a king, was having trouble forcing itself through the information blitz to speak. But it made itself heard.

"Y-y-y-yOu MiRRor! You Th-th-thi-th-Think I CAN'T TakE ThIS? Liste-Lis-List-Listen heRe yooooouuuuuuuu WHISPERS! List-te-ten to my SCREAM! You Think A BeiNG Such as m-m-m-m-ME isn't used to THIS?"

And as it spoke, it seemed to draw the other voice is, back into lock step with one another, reverberating again in perfect harmony. The Watchman rose to his feet and struggled forward, until his mask was level with the mirror.

"Knowing thing's isn't my business! I WATCH! If it's important enough to see, I'll see it, but I'll do it on my terms. Now, Zaya! Where is she? Presently? At this very moment? IS that specific enough for you wretched, stunning hunk of glass?"

[Zaleramancer]

Snickering sounds echoed through the Watchman's mind, almost as if the mirror laughed.

Crackling, a single image seared into his brain. A strange slim creature with a stony hide standing next to the Babysitter. They stood as if refracted and reflected through a crystal in place that echoed with memories.

A single, simple sentence followed. A gentle afterthought to the image.

Go to the place of the Monster King.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

By the end of it, he was breathing heavily.

"Mik." was the word that echoed out of him. He had been so preoccupied that the group he had sent to investigate Mik Hael not returning had slipped his mind. "Well, I've been meaning to visit that island anyway."

He turned to the others. "She's in the land of Mik Hael, along with some of my people. Watchers!" The three stood at attention. "You are to find the Veteran and put him on alert. I may need him." They nodded, then shot out of the cave like rags blown in the wind.

"Come on, we have to go see the King of Monsters." He said to his companions, trying not to stumble like a drunk as he exited the cave. That Mirror has been a trip and a half.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Nighttime proper had fallen on the world, and as everyone from the Boquabians pilgrims to the Demons behind their wall lay down to sleep it was apparent that the activity was only just beginning in Spectropolis. The bars and restaurants were filled with laughing patrons discussing the battles and event of the previous days. In the streets and alleys crimes were committed, drink and food consumed, and friendships formed between people who had only just met in this oasis in the desert. The city bustled with life. Let's look in on them, shall we?

-------------

Jovian Pasture, on any other day, would have been thrilled to be surrounded by eager, curious young women. It was only his bad luck, the durhian thought,  that they had carapaces.

He wasn't sure why they were so interested. Yes, he worked on a farm. Yes, he could grow things, he knew the basics. All of a sudden, he was an authority on the subject.

"So, good mineral rich soil is found near rivers?" The first vandal asked. Sisters, that what she called herself. At first it had been just her, then another had shown up and did her magic street show. That had drawn a crowd, which had drawn more Vandals, a few of which had come over to talk to Sisters. They had gotten curious and now he was teaching Farming 101 to a class of ever growing bug girls. Every so often, another would see the group and come over.

"Well, yeah. If the river is mineral rich."
"Are the five rivers mineral rich?"

How was he supposed to know that?! Oh, but she was looking at him now with those huge green unblinking eyes.

A trio of figures entering the restaurant gave him the out he needed. He raised up his glass and called out. "Hey, it's the Goliath Godfighters. Three cheers!" The place erupted into applause and adulation as Eglath, Vimak, and Nalla stood in the door. They were ushered in by the owner, everything on the menu being free.

This gave Jovian time the wrack his brain for an answer.


--------------

"Well, ya can't expect him to be there all the time." said the dwarf.

"It's just a matter of timing. I mean, the very day I have information to confront him with-" complained the durhian.

"Your lucky he wasn't there, in that case." replied the dwarf.

"What do you mean?" Asked the durhian.

"Smite." Spoketh the Milteo.

Pessimal sighed. Away on business, that's what the watcher had told him. Bah! Still, if the Watchman couldn't be seen, he couldn't be seen. There wasn't a lot you could do in those circumstances. So, the Cravian Daily news team made there way silently away from the great glass meeting hall toward their hotel in the pleasure district. At least until they saw the something streak into the sky and explode in a ball of white fire. Then they took off running.

What they found was a myriad array of races, drinking in the street and watching a bug dip her hand in a liqueur bottle and throw it in the air. This exploded in the same way as the last one.

"Can you make it colored?" a dwarf shouted to her.

She beamed. "Oh, that would look neat! Somebody go get me some, like, paint or something!" The rest of the bug woman ran off to search the city, as Horizon noticed the team and waved them over. "Hey, you guys want to watch to?"

Pessimals notebook was already out. "Why yes, please, exactly what is that your doing. Also, what's your name?"

-------------------

In an empty alley, the clash of weapons and the screams of pain indicated something those that came to this city should no well: Battle. The fighters were fast, dexterous, even in the confined space of the alley throwing everything they had into threw fight. This was no tournament battle, but neither was it some drunken brawl. There was no sport in this, no cheering crowed, no safety net. Both fighter knew that only one of them would leave this alley alive. Finally there was one last sound, like tearing cloth.

The witnesses were limp. But he was still alive for just a little longer. He could linger. So he looked his killer in the big glassy eyes, and spoke his last. "My brothers will sense this, lawbreaker. They will be coming."

"Oh, really? How many?" she asked, curious.

"All of them."

"No. Most of them are to preoccupied keeping the peace in the market and entertainment districts. Maybe they'll all take notice once I've killed enough of you, but not a first. How many are in this empty district? A token team of four? Five? That should be enough for tonight."

"Why?" He asked, before a pair of swords took his head off. Devoid of life, the body fell off the blades that had it pinned to the wall. Two Gods Sitting looked down at the empty shell of the servitor.

"Don't take it personally. It's just training."

[Philote]

"The King of Monsters? You mean the one that nearly interrupted my tournament?"  Gilgamesh asked "I have yet to see the full extent of creation on his side of the world."

Gilgamesh strides outside next to the Watchman, waiting for the same wind to be summoned for them to travel again.

[Zaleramancer]

"You want I break door now?" She inquired as she waved the stick towards the house.

[Zaleramancer]

"When did monsters get a king? Did I miss something?!" Tez glared at Gant. "You forgot to tell me something, I know it!"

The rather green looking Madame Gant was leaning against a tree, chugging alcohol like a maniac.

"God 'o Memories. Annoying twit." She hiccuped.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Maybe," he says to Gilgamesh. "I don't have all of the details. A god under him and a monster created by him helped to fight off the attack. Besides, isn't one of your warriors his creation? It seems unlikely that it would not act in the event he tried something."

Hearing Tezs confusion, he decides to clear it up. "I call everyone I'm angry with king. Are you alright to fly, Madame?"

[Philote]

"Atlas was given to me before he had begun his evolution. He has lived and trained with my people and evolved differently than any other in his race. Besides, when I made him my hero I blessed him to be free of whatever schemes that may have been laid on him when he was given to me" Gilgamesh explains.