Lords of Creation (Story Thread 3)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The goddess looked over to her 'girls', and something of a chuckled escaped her kissable lips, "Indeed. I should have known, by your nature and the nature of your master, that you would ask such a thing. Yes, by all means, I shall be fine to take this escort to the Dome. Come Khadai. Jissei. I trust the Watchman may arrive shortly, and I would hate to be late."

The two took either of Uburra-Namall's arms, and walked with her after the Watchdogs, to the Dome that lay ahead. In their wake, the love goddess left a bright trail of perfect green grass, blossoming flowers and the sweet perfume of springtime youth and vigor.

Watching them leave, Jassi asked, with a voice growing bold, confident, just short of militant, "All right, then, Mister Veteran. The others of this pantheon are off to their duties. I should like to be off to mine. If you please, show me to your weary and huddled masses."

[Mik_Hael]

Mikhael: "huh, I wonder what those three are up two, sounds interesting." The god clad in white clutched his wooden staff as he sat perched upon the roof of the tallest building near the conversing gods, his cape blowing behind him in the wind, entirely unnoticed by all. His mask was featureless save for two stripes starting at the bottom of the eyes and leading to either side of the chin following the flow of tears, and two small horns which sat upon his forehead.

 "...wait, I think I recognize that one. " Moving his hand in front of his brow to block the sun the god peered down at them further before disappearing, and reappearing in front of the group standing a few inches above the ground facing the Veteran"...hey where do I know you from."

.......................................................
Dephos: The goddess at the top of the dome overlooking the city in melancholy, her master had been missing since the end of the great war, and there had been no sign of him, Grace had been busy organizing the dead since the event and had not been able to join in the search....Suddenly the god noticed a slight movement near area of the city that the over gods had gathered.. A slight flickering of a white mask. An instant later the goddess had disappeared flying down side of the dome towards street level.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The little man had just leapt down so suddenly the Veteran had almost popped his one just on reflex. He still placed Jassi behind him, though. No need no to be cautious.

But this guy? Who was this guy? He considered the Mask guys question for a moment. Well, the resemblance was close and he'd heard the bosses new god had made a servitor into her vassal.

"I don't know. You a Witness?" he said, Jerking his thumb at the servitors down the street.

[Mik_Hael]

Mik: "....I don't think so." The god shifted position and sat crosslegged in midair in front of them, "then again I can't remember  much for some reason" The god scratched the back of his head with his right hand while the left clutched his staff, "Everything been a bit blurry..." The eyes on the mask grew dim for several seconds before a short blast of static darkness arched across his skull before the eyes brightened again, "Oh right, what are you guys up to?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"We were goin, uhhhhh...."

"Mik?" came a confused question from down the street.

The Watchman was striding down the street, confusion evident in his posture. He got close the the confluence of gods and gave Mik Hael a scrutinizing once over. "It is you, isn't it?"

Mik Hael was the one god he hadn't been able to account for. He had tentatively labeled him as one of the casualties, until seeing the being before him. It was surprising to seem his so spry.

"That's Mik Hael?" The Veteran asked.

"It appears so. Mik, what sort of game are you playing?"

[Mik_Hael]

"Mik?"

"Mik," The god thought, "That name sounds familiar....wait, that's mine isn't it?" The god slowly rotated until his head pointed towards the ground and turned to face the being who was talking to him, turning his head as he scrutinized the masked being. "Oh hey, another masked one, like me, hey do  you know who I am?...you seem familiar,..."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He looked at Mik for a good, long while. What are the odds that he would just show up, today of all days, out of the blue and with amnesia? Then again, part of Mik had been violently ripped out then stomped on until it was a vegetable. He's seen what sort of damage that could do to a god first hand.

"If this is some sort of jest, Mik Heal, overgod, you are not amusing me. But, if you really don't remember anything, then we can only try and correct this problem. Come with me, I'll reintroduce you to your contemporaries. My name is The Watchman, you may shorten it if you like." He made a quick "follow me" gesture to the floating god and started down the road toward the dome. It was times like this he desperate wished he wasn't the top of the chain. Then he could kick things like this up it to a superior.

"I'll take him off your hands, then. Continue with what you were doing." he calls back to the Veteran.

"Right, let's talk and walk then." He says, turning on his heel and marching down the street, speaking quickly and clearly. "Now, we can't put all these people I'm talkin about in one place, most of 'em are getting cared for by their families or friends that they made here in the lead up to the disaster. They pretty much all have some signs of something I've seen a lot with young soldiers, a sort of reaction to battlefield stress. Some minor, some incredibly sever. There's also a rash of depression and survivor guilt, mixed with the regular guilt. Then there's the worst bit."

He leads the group to a small house on a corner, mostly intact save for it's busted windows. They venture inside. "The worst bit is something the Watchmans been calling Sleeping Death. You probly had some cases on your island. People seem fine, lie down for the night, and just don't get up again. Like they don't want to go on, and decided whatever was beyond the pail was better than here. Speaking of here." He says, opening the last door on the left.

A small hole has been dug out of this rooms floor, the inside layered with Vandal string. Inside, a lone figure sits. A Vandal, small by her races standards, slowly rocking back and forth. Though no tears fall from her eyes, there's a distinctive sense of a weeping child to her, curled up to get away from the monsters. She flinches when she hears the door shut.

"There was a group of my girls on your island, when it all went to hell. They were with some of them colorful folk. I found to of them tending to this one. Said they dragged her from a cave in this state. She's..... she's the only one I found."

[Mik_Hael]

".........Okay......" the god alighted to the ground righting his position and began to walk after the watchman, "So you know who I am then, I haven't been able to remember anything for the past few days, I just woke up next to this odd guy who doesn't talk, and I've been wandering about ever since. I've tried to remember a few things since then but I've had no lu..." the god was cut in mid sentence by a flying tackle from a black and white blur that flew from the direction of the dome.

"مايكل!!!!!!!!!" Dephos sat on top of the god grasping him in a bearhug as she continued to sound out in her unintelligible murmurings. translated: "Master I'm so glad you're safe  I was so worriedabout you I had begun to think that you were lost in the rift when...."

"...Who are you?...you look familiar."

Dephos: D:>

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He almost Brother Eyes the thing that flew out of the sky and tacked Mik, but restrains himself at the last second. "Dephos. How long have you been here? Wait, no, go back. Mik, this odd guy. Where is he? Do you have him?"

[Mik_Hael]

9,0 the god is still in shock from what her master had said and simply sits on top of him staring blankly.

"Hmm?" Mik looks up at the watchman, "Oh right, him!" The god dissappears and reappears on top of Dephos's head sitting crosslegged. Mik reaches his hand forwards and it simply falls int space, opening a portal to the dream realm from which he pulls forth a black oblong wrinkled shape.  The thing suddenly pops from the portal and hangs limply. It is an odd completely black withered being of roughly five feet in half, with a bulbous head. The only features upon it's face were a pair of hollow eyes composed of white fire that shone outward in a look of complete and utter hopelessness. "Yeah this is him, he doesn't talk much, or at all, maybe it's because he doesn't have a mouth...but considering that neither of us do I'm guessing that's not the reason."

[Marvelous Miscreant]

The clack of wood on the hard surface of the floor echoed about the chamber where Mina waited. Crav, supported partially by Sonia and partially by his cane, slowly stumbled into the room. Sonia helped him to a seat and he sat down with a groan.

"I keep telling you, I do not need help moving Sonia." Crav remarked idly.

"I'm only trying to help you sir."

"Hmmph...."Crav grunted before his attention fell to Mina, "Ah! My apologies, I did not notice you there Mina!"

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

"Don't worry, I was-" Mina turns to look at Crav, then gasps. "What in the world happened to you?!? Your legs, they've been..."

Mina's mouth moves open and closed in horrified astonishment, unable to say anything.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Crav's voice lowers to a tone of sadness. He rubs his leg as he begins to speak.

"As it turns out, my body could not completely cope with the power of three gods combined. When I fused with Sonia and Von Trapt I inadvertently took on more than I could handle. When the time came to separate once again, I found that my body had deteriorated in the lower extremities. Our combined power had kept me fit while we were together, but now....."

Crav breathed deeply.

"...but it is on little consequence. At least I still have my hands."

Crav faked a smile.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

"Aaah," Mina sighs. "So many things that mortals and gods have lost due to the disaster. Were locked up making something or something and that's why I haven't heard of your loss of legs? If so, could you tell me what you've been doing?"

Call it intuition, guessing or whatever you want, Mina could at least tell that Crav had been up to something. And for her Shadow-Scarred to not have told her, it meant that he'd kept himself isolated for a good amount of time too.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Crav chuckled, "Nothing gets past you, huh? It is true that I've been rather preoccupied with a certain project lately, but it is not for prying eyes. It'll be seen by all soon enough."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

"Well, I hope this meeting is finished fast," Mina replies. "So that I can see what this project of yours looks like."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The Watchman gingerly takes the figure, reaching out with his senses.

Yes, there was no mistaking it. It was him. His stink was still permeating the world. He overlooked the man he had fought on to of the demon wall and week ago and couldn't help but wonder, dear Omni above all, what sort of fight could reduce a god to this?

He flicked his vision back to Mik Hael. Or that?

"I'll carry this for now. Come, seeing the others may iog your memories.

[Mik_Hael]

The withered husk shifted slightly in the gods clutch as shortly after his mind had drifted to the battle.  The beings eyes suddenly began flickering violently as if they were flames sputtering in the wind.

Suddenly the buildings around the two of them to began to break apart and flow away into sand as the space the left behind gave way to reveal a group of beings fighting furiously in front of a vast wall spanning the horizon. In the midst of the fight were two gods of immense power, one a warrior of great might, and the other a horned god seeping darkness carryong with it athe black swordbox oozing power. A stray blast from one od the gods wizzed towards the three of them.

Just before it hit Mik struck the withered monsterking skull with his staffa nd suddenly the scene dissapeared to be replaced with the street, having had no discernable change.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Memories again...." he said, shucking the Monsterking onto his shoulder and starting down the street. "Terrific. Just great. Peachy keen!" he said derisively under his breath.

Well, at the very least this would be a good conversation starter.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Jassi recoiled a bit, unable to utter a sound other than a sharp gasp of horror. The sight of the small Vandal clenched her chest, a sick, tugging sensation, and she could do nothing to hold back the tears that welled up in her sapphire eyes. Feeling returned to her legs and she took a half-step forward, careful not to make too sudden a movement.

Still, she couldn't help it; the girl needed a hug. And so, she leaned in with arms open wide.

"Come here, little sister." She coaxed, just above a whisper, pulling the girl into a deep embrace, "That's right, give big sister a hug. It's okay, little one. It's okay. Lay your burdens on me..."

The winds stirred a bit, all around the disheveled little spot where they found the young Watcher. On feeling it, the Seven-Sin Sisters felt a shiver down their backs, and grew uneasy. The air about Jassi and the weary-hearted girl grew hazy, and then steadily brighter, until neither the Seven nor the Veteran could bear to look upon them.

It's all right, little sister.

It's okay.

It's okay, little sister.

Lay your burdens on me...

As the light slowly and silently began to fade, the strangely familiar aroma of laurel crept up through the air...