Holy High: Pax Deorum (IC/OPEN)

[Il-Illah]

Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus

On the Sunlit Sea
Day 27, Daytime
Near Holy High Campus, Above the Courtyard

The first thing Ragatirta did right off the bat was to let out a huge sigh of relief. At the very least, he didn't come off as stupid to the teacher talking to him at the moment. He couldn't ask for more.

"Don't worry, the salt never bothers me. Anyway, Mr Hyperion..." He looked up to scour through his memories, which landed his thought upon a certain moment during the years he lived after the first death.

When Ragatirta was still on a trip down memory lane, he heard Hyperion saying something about asking for his name once again and telling him to come down. When said trip finished, he quickly replied to his teacher.

"Ah! I've read your name in my astronomy book! Good day, sir. I've barely been taught how to keep myself in shape for my whole 24 years of life, and I couldn't remember if I picked Physical Education as the class I'll attend. Anyway, if you are asking for my name again, it is Ragatirta," he spelled his name slower and with more stress, "and yes, sir, I will come down, and did I hear about getting a dorm? I'll follow you then if you'll be the one to bring me there. Thank you in advance."

[Luminesa]

On the Sunlit Sea
Day 27, Daytime
Near Holy High Campus, Above the Courtyard

The first thing Ragatirta did right off the bat was to let out a huge sigh of relief. At the very least, he didn't come off as stupid to the teacher talking to him at the moment. He couldn't ask for more.

"Don't worry, the salt never bothers me. Anyway, Mr Hyperion..." He looked up to scour through his memories, which landed his thought upon a certain moment during the years he lived after the first death.

When Ragatirta was still on a trip down memory lane, he heard Hyperion saying something about asking for his name once again and telling him to come down. When said trip finished, he quickly replied to his teacher.

"Ah! I've read your name in my astronomy book! Good day, sir. I've barely been taught how to keep myself in shape for my whole 24 years of life, and I couldn't remember if I picked Physical Education as the class I'll attend. Anyway, if you are asking for my name again, it is Ragatirta," he spelled his name slower and with more stress, "and yes, sir, I will come down, and did I hear about getting a dorm? I'll follow you then if you'll be the one to bring me there. Thank you in advance."

Textbook Famous
Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Above the Courtyard

This new student did not have a lot of the ingrown confidence and brazenness of some of the other young deities. In a sense, his temperament was more like that of Abuguabana-mild, polite, and a little nervous. Hyperion found such a personality refreshing, and almost a little too human. The Titan had to wonder how young he was, as just from looking at him, he could not tell if he was even aware that he was a god.

"Ragatirta. Got it. I think you actually entered our attendance this morning, but you had a much longer name that I need to go back and read. Thanks." Hyp took the note and read it, before he gave a little bit of a chuckle to himself. The new deity even took the time to spell his name for him on a piece of paper. He shook his head and gave a wider smile to the kid. "I'm gonna let you in on a not-so-secret secret, I am TERRIBLE at taking care of myself. You're not allowed around the teachers' rooms, most of the time, but like, don't come near my room if you want to see a horrendous room. I've got beer, I've got liquor, I've got cigarettes, I've got my weapons, I've got pajamas on the floor, some of it's not mine..."

He let that statement trail away and gave the anxious young deity a grin. The rest of the students knew what a mess the Sun Titan was, but Ragatirta was so normal he almost felt that he might corrupt him by standing next to him. Nevertheless, he marched on with the young man in tow, leading him down a set of steps made of more raised rocks. Fortunately for the sea deity, these rocks were not the same as the molten rock on which the sun god was standing. "But you'll have time to learn all of that later. Let's get you a dorm."

When they got to the ground level, Hyperion was sure he had heard a scream somewhere around campus. Then some sorts of foxes yipping and playing. He thought he smelled coconuts. Either way, all of these strange snapshots around the Titan were just more strange happenings at an already-strange school. "If nobody is on fire, or nothing has exploded, it is a good day here," he joked as he led the young deity to an available dorm. "You're going to get a roommate soon, we've had a couple students leave and they have open rooms. And then some just haven't been filled yet."

Somewhere, "The Sweater Song" also played, somewhere near Hyperion's own room. He had forgotten to turn-off the thing before going to do his work, and now he heard it more clearly. "So what brought you to this school to learn here?"

[Il-Illah]

The first thing Ragatirta did right off the bat was to let out a huge sigh of relief. At the very least, he didn't come off as stupid to the teacher talking to him at the moment. He couldn't ask for more.

"Don't worry, the salt never bothers me. Anyway, Mr Hyperion..." He looked up to scour through his memories, which landed his thought upon a certain moment during the years he lived after the first death.

When Ragatirta was still on a trip down memory lane, he heard Hyperion saying something about asking for his name once again and telling him to come down. When said trip finished, he quickly replied to his teacher.

"Ah! I've read your name in my astronomy book! Good day, sir. I've barely been taught how to keep myself in shape for my whole 24 years of life, and I couldn't remember if I picked Physical Education as the class I'll attend. Anyway, if you are asking for my name again, it is Ragatirta," he spelled his name slower and with more stress, "and yes, sir, I will come down, and did I hear about getting a dorm? I'll follow you then if you'll be the one to bring me there. Thank you in advance."

Textbook Famous
Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Above the Courtyard

This new student did not have a lot of the ingrown confidence and brazenness of some of the other young deities. In a sense, his temperament was more like that of Abuguabana-mild, polite, and a little nervous. Hyperion found such a personality refreshing, and almost a little too human. The Titan had to wonder how young he was, as just from looking at him, he could not tell if he was even aware that he was a god.

"Ragatirta. Got it. I think you actually entered our attendance this morning, but you had a much longer name that I need to go back and read. Thanks." Hyp took the note and read it, before he gave a little bit of a chuckle to himself. The new deity even took the time to spell his name for him on a piece of paper. He shook his head and gave a wider smile to the kid. "I'm gonna let you in on a not-so-secret secret, I am TERRIBLE at taking care of myself. You're not allowed around the teachers' rooms, most of the time, but like, don't come near my room if you want to see a horrendous room. I've got beer, I've got liquor, I've got cigarettes, I've got my weapons, I've got pajamas on the floor, some of it's not mine..."

He let that statement trail away and gave the anxious young deity a grin. The rest of the students knew what a mess the Sun Titan was, but Ragatirta was so normal he almost felt that he might corrupt him by standing next to him. Nevertheless, he marched on with the young man in tow, leading him down a set of steps made of more raised rocks. Fortunately for the sea deity, these rocks were not the same as the molten rock on which the sun god was standing. "But you'll have time to learn all of that later. Let's get you a dorm."

When they got to the ground level, Hyperion was sure he had heard a scream somewhere around campus. Then some sorts of foxes yipping and playing. He thought he smelled coconuts. Either way, all of these strange snapshots around the Titan were just more strange happenings at an already-strange school. "If nobody is on fire, or nothing has exploded, it is a good day here," he joked as he led the young deity to an available dorm. "You're going to get a roommate soon, we've had a couple students leave and they have open rooms. And then some just haven't been filled yet."

Somewhere, "The Sweater Song" also played, somewhere near Hyperion's own room. He had forgotten to turn-off the thing before going to do his work, and now he heard it more clearly. "So what brought you to this school to learn here?"

Eccentric.

It was the word that came out of Ragatirta's mind when he finally had the chance to speak with Hyperion for more than a mere moment. In his mind, the average gods would be either cocky or cold and graceful like his mother. Expectations were crushed, new knowledge was gained, and a good impression was made, to have his first counter be with someone of a... mortal-like behavior, for the lack of a better word. Although hearing descriptions of the Titan's room made Ragatirta surprised in a rather bad way, everything else was pretty alright to him.

The Southern Sea's prince quietly followed Hyperion from behind, and looked around in awe of Holy High, of things he never saw in his whole life. Although, when the scream was heard and the smell of coconut went through his nose, he felt strange, and it slowly turned into a slight emotion of worry.

"It's only a matter of time before I meet a scary or mean god. Don't get your hopes up..." Ragatirta thought to himself. But, the PE teacher was quick to bring out yet another piece of his sense of humor, and Ragatirta's mind slightly became clearer once again.

"To be honest, sir, I was afraid of coming to school, let alone something as prestigious as Holy High, where it's none but gods and things like that. It's just something that happened when I was still a human. In the end, I thought to myself that I have to take my steps, and now I'm here," he answered Hyperion with a smile, yet the somber eyes betrayed the supposedly bright emotion he was supposed to bring out.

[Luminesa]

Textbook Famous
Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Above the Courtyard

This new student did not have a lot of the ingrown confidence and brazenness of some of the other young deities. In a sense, his temperament was more like that of Abuguabana-mild, polite, and a little nervous. Hyperion found such a personality refreshing, and almost a little too human. The Titan had to wonder how young he was, as just from looking at him, he could not tell if he was even aware that he was a god.

"Ragatirta. Got it. I think you actually entered our attendance this morning, but you had a much longer name that I need to go back and read. Thanks." Hyp took the note and read it, before he gave a little bit of a chuckle to himself. The new deity even took the time to spell his name for him on a piece of paper. He shook his head and gave a wider smile to the kid. "I'm gonna let you in on a not-so-secret secret, I am TERRIBLE at taking care of myself. You're not allowed around the teachers' rooms, most of the time, but like, don't come near my room if you want to see a horrendous room. I've got beer, I've got liquor, I've got cigarettes, I've got my weapons, I've got pajamas on the floor, some of it's not mine..."

He let that statement trail away and gave the anxious young deity a grin. The rest of the students knew what a mess the Sun Titan was, but Ragatirta was so normal he almost felt that he might corrupt him by standing next to him. Nevertheless, he marched on with the young man in tow, leading him down a set of steps made of more raised rocks. Fortunately for the sea deity, these rocks were not the same as the molten rock on which the sun god was standing. "But you'll have time to learn all of that later. Let's get you a dorm."

When they got to the ground level, Hyperion was sure he had heard a scream somewhere around campus. Then some sorts of foxes yipping and playing. He thought he smelled coconuts. Either way, all of these strange snapshots around the Titan were just more strange happenings at an already-strange school. "If nobody is on fire, or nothing has exploded, it is a good day here," he joked as he led the young deity to an available dorm. "You're going to get a roommate soon, we've had a couple students leave and they have open rooms. And then some just haven't been filled yet."

Somewhere, "The Sweater Song" also played, somewhere near Hyperion's own room. He had forgotten to turn-off the thing before going to do his work, and now he heard it more clearly. "So what brought you to this school to learn here?"

Eccentric.

It was the word that came out of Ragatirta's mind when he finally had the chance to speak with Hyperion for more than a mere moment. In his mind, the average gods would be either cocky or cold and graceful like his mother. Expectations were crushed, new knowledge was gained, and a good impression was made, to have his first counter be with someone of a... mortal-like behavior, for the lack of a better word. Although hearing descriptions of the Titan's room made Ragatirta surprised in a rather bad way, everything else was pretty alright to him.

The Southern Sea's prince quietly followed Hyperion from behind, and looked around in awe of Holy High, of things he never saw in his whole life. Although, when the scream was heard and the smell of coconut went through his nose, he felt strange, and it slowly turned into a slight emotion of worry.

"It's only a matter of time before I meet a scary or mean god. Don't get your hopes up..." Ragatirta thought to himself. But, the PE teacher was quick to bring out yet another piece of his sense of humor, and Ragatirta's mind slightly became clearer once again.

"To be honest, sir, I was afraid of coming to school, let alone something as prestigious as Holy High, where it's none but gods and things like that. It's just something that happened when I was still a human. In the end, I thought to myself that I have to take my steps, and now I'm here," he answered Hyperion with a smile, yet the somber eyes betrayed the supposedly bright emotion he was supposed to bring out.

Spooky Scary Students
Day 27, Daytime
Holy High Campus, Near the Dorms

"Oh, I mean, there are a lot of students who are sort of...scary. Some of them have super-strength, some of them represent concepts that mortal minds can't even categorize, and some of them control the sea. Just like you." He smirked down at Ragatirta, consoling him in the way that only Hyperion knew how. He understood that this deity's threshold of knowing the divine was lower than that of some of his classmates, and so the shock and awe would have to come gradually, not all at once.

"As for how 'prestigious' we are, I'm not sure if there are other schools like this on this planet that even exist, never mind any that compare to this one. And I'm a Titan, I'm supposed to have awareness beyond that of even normal gods." He looked around the dormitories for an empty room, and occasionally looked back to Ragatirta. He did not have many possessions, or at least not many that would be unusual. Lanuru had an entire wardrobe and tea set, Aleator had his many games, Cryptid had morphed his room into something unknowable, Hoshi had made his room to look like the celestial heavens high above him...

And this young deity only had his clothes and his textbooks.

"You'll be fine. And uh, if you hear music from the 90's playing outside of your room for any reason whatsoever after 5 AM, that's because I'm awake and I have things to do before class. So you can catch me at any time before your classes start if you have questions." As he gave his explanation, he found an unused room and opened the door. Inside, the room was as grand as any of the other rooms, with all of the amenities available to the other students, but it was a bare canvas. One which the new seawater deity could decorate to his heart's desires.

Hyperion turned to him and motioned into the doorway. "This is yours. If you get a roommate, they'll have the other side of the room. Luckily, you both will have enough room that you shouldn't be killing each other for space. 'Shouldn't' being the key word." He then glanced back at Ragatirta and looked up and down at his person. "I'm gonna call you, Raga, by the way. Raga, I uh, I know I'm not very high-maintenance, and in fact I probably have some possessions I shouldn't, but are those textbooks and that one pair of clothes the only things you have?" For once, the sun titan almost looked worried.

[Il-Illah]

Eccentric.

It was the word that came out of Ragatirta's mind when he finally had the chance to speak with Hyperion for more than a mere moment. In his mind, the average gods would be either cocky or cold and graceful like his mother. Expectations were crushed, new knowledge was gained, and a good impression was made, to have his first counter be with someone of a... mortal-like behavior, for the lack of a better word. Although hearing descriptions of the Titan's room made Ragatirta surprised in a rather bad way, everything else was pretty alright to him.

The Southern Sea's prince quietly followed Hyperion from behind, and looked around in awe of Holy High, of things he never saw in his whole life. Although, when the scream was heard and the smell of coconut went through his nose, he felt strange, and it slowly turned into a slight emotion of worry.

"It's only a matter of time before I meet a scary or mean god. Don't get your hopes up..." Ragatirta thought to himself. But, the PE teacher was quick to bring out yet another piece of his sense of humor, and Ragatirta's mind slightly became clearer once again.

"To be honest, sir, I was afraid of coming to school, let alone something as prestigious as Holy High, where it's none but gods and things like that. It's just something that happened when I was still a human. In the end, I thought to myself that I have to take my steps, and now I'm here," he answered Hyperion with a smile, yet the somber eyes betrayed the supposedly bright emotion he was supposed to bring out.

Spooky Scary Students
Day 27, Daytime
Holy High Campus, Near the Dorms

"Oh, I mean, there are a lot of students who are sort of...scary. Some of them have super-strength, some of them represent concepts that mortal minds can't even categorize, and some of them control the sea. Just like you." He smirked down at Ragatirta, consoling him in the way that only Hyperion knew how. He understood that this deity's threshold of knowing the divine was lower than that of some of his classmates, and so the shock and awe would have to come gradually, not all at once.

"As for how 'prestigious' we are, I'm not sure if there are other schools like this on this planet that even exist, never mind any that compare to this one. And I'm a Titan, I'm supposed to have awareness beyond that of even normal gods." He looked around the dormitories for an empty room, and occasionally looked back to Ragatirta. He did not have many possessions, or at least not many that would be unusual. Lanuru had an entire wardrobe and tea set, Aleator had his many games, Cryptid had morphed his room into something unknowable, Hoshi had made his room to look like the celestial heavens high above him...

And this young deity only had his clothes and his textbooks.

"You'll be fine. And uh, if you hear music from the 90's playing outside of your room for any reason whatsoever after 5 AM, that's because I'm awake and I have things to do before class. So you can catch me at any time before your classes start if you have questions." As he gave his explanation, he found an unused room and opened the door. Inside, the room was as grand as any of the other rooms, with all of the amenities available to the other students, but it was a bare canvas. One which the new seawater deity could decorate to his heart's desires.

Hyperion turned to him and motioned into the doorway. "This is yours. If you get a roommate, they'll have the other side of the room. Luckily, you both will have enough room that you shouldn't be killing each other for space. 'Shouldn't' being the key word." He then glanced back at Ragatirta and looked up and down at his person. "I'm gonna call you, Raga, by the way. Raga, I uh, I know I'm not very high-maintenance, and in fact I probably have some possessions I shouldn't, but are those textbooks and that one pair of clothes the only things you have?" For once, the sun titan almost looked worried.

Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Near the Dormitory

He may not consider himself as the shining example of being a teacher, but as far as Ragatirta is concerned, Hyperion didn't seem to be as bad as the Titan himself thought. The sea prince felt relieved at the teacher's company and nodded as he explained things to Ragatirta.

As Hyperion went around looking for a room, Ragatirta thought for a moment about the concept of being in a room with a complete stranger. Back in the Southern Sea, none save his queen mother had the courage to even call him by name, despite his constant reminder. Caretakers and servants had been the most people he ever met throughout his life, and having a friend beside Baya Putih and Ula Ijo was something to be joyful and worried about for young Ragatirta. Why the worry? Perhaps it was because of the possibility of cruel or mean roommate with godlike power, perhaps it's more because he didn't know the etiquette behind friendship, or perhaps both.

A moment after, Ragatirta followed Hyperion's instructions and walked towards the Sun Titan as he explained about the prince's roommate. Then somehow the teacher decided to give him a nickname, which was yet another massive leap compared to his times in the Southern Sea where everyone always called him by titles.

"Ah, the rest of my items are being carried by someone else, sir. It should arrive soon."

As both were conversing by the dormitory, a peculiar white crocodile with white hair covering his entire back arrives at Holy High, followed by four men wearing an all aqua green uniform and a blangkon cap, each carrying around cardboard boxes. All four of these men had a rather ghastly face and a pair of blank white eyes. The crocodile went around asking for directions from students about the dormitory, and after some time, he led the men towards the dorm, and happened to meet Ragatirta and Hyperion as soon as he and the other four men arrived.

"There they are!" Ragatirta exclaimed after seeing Baya Putih and some palace servants arrived to send the remainder of his things. He walked over to them, but not before giving the Sun Titan a small bow, and asked the crocodile, "Can you tell them to drop the boxes over to the room over there? I'll do the unpacking."

"But Master, why don't you let me--" "No, Baya Putih. After this you're dismissed. You deserve a rest after going all the way from the Southern Sea." The crocodile simply nodded, and gestured with his head to the four men following behind him to bring the boxes over to the room. After completing their task, Baya Putih vaporized into steam, while the four servants dissipated into thin air.

[Finsternia]

Maquetaurie, Patriah, and Lanuru - Retrieval
Holy High Campus Grounds - Dawn of the 26th Day

Half an hour after Lanuru's message…

A dark blue/purple portal opened in the lawn in front of the school; the insides rapidly becoming a dance of dark blue, dark purple, and pink energy as multiple skeletal hands dragged themselves from the portal, gripping onto the edge as they forced the portal out further. A black mist poured from the portal as an inky tar-like substance slowly rose from the portal, taking the form of a person as skeletal parts fell from the tar. Spirits - not of the dark nor magical kind, but of the human kind - flew from the portal, orbiting the inky tar as it pulled itself together to finish forming that vague human shape. Color slowly began to take its appearance as the tar finished forming the figure, the skeletal hands grasping onto his legs as if attempting to keep him within wherever the portal’s origin was, but failing handily.

Maquetaurie, the divine spirit of death, stood. He was, like many of his kind, relatively tall; but unlike most of the divine spirits, he seemed to be rather portly in appearance, which was strange considering that the spirits were shapeshifters and chose whatever appearance they preferred - it seemed that this portly frame was what Maquetaurie considered appropriate for himself. Most striking about his appearance however, was that he appeared to be a dualistic entity; half of him appeared human, with deep red skin, a sharp face, and despite his portly form, seemed to possess considerable musculature under his frame. The other half, however, was strikingly different; splitting down the middle was a hazy grey/pink energy that his human side seemed to melt into, and the rest of his form was a reddish-golden skeleton, as if half of him was alive, and the other half was long since dead. Unlike the other spirits, Maquetaurie was also not wearing any traditional spirit garb either. It seemed he took a greater interest in the formalities of modern mortal culture - Maquetaurie was wearing an incredibly well embroidered suit; in fact, it seemed to be a masterpiece. Like many suits, it was black, and was made from a soft, luxury fabric, emblazoned with the designs of vines and leaves on the top, and a symbol of the Arawak sun as a pin on the chest. The dress shirt he wore under the suit jacket was a particularly deep orange, complimenting his red human half, and the trim of his suit was outlined in the sacred reddish gold of the divine guanin metal. Whatever the case, it was more than obvious that this suit was somehow custom-tailored to this god of death, as if it was made specifically for these occasions.

In his right hand was a considerably large staff made of polished wood and ending in a gentle hand, decorated with bands and engravings of reddish-gold and topped with a strange humanoid skull that was clearly not human in its origin, which sat in the grasp of the staff’s hand. Mirroring the skull was a gem-like spherical pommel on the bottom of the staff, which was onyx in coloration, yet inside seemed to have glowing swirling purple energy like a purple star contained in a nebulous cloud where both were spinning. Impacting the bottom of his staff against the ground twice in an imperious gesture, the dead and death spirits that followed him were forced to obey the wordless command of their lord of death, and retreated through the portal, which rapidly closed behind him. Breathing in deeply and closing his eyes, then releasing that breath in a loud and powerful exhale, Maquetaurie began walking towards the great door of the school.

Patriah was concerned about whether or not he would have the words to console his friend and roommate when the chance came. Perhaps with Lanuru being back, he would at least have some support. After all, Lan had seen the events happen, and he seemed like he at least respected the young storm god. And Pat himself was his friend. At the very least, he could sit with him, but he was not sure how they would plan to deal with something as terrifying as the god who had killed Abaguabana's mother and uncle.

And so he was glad to see Maquetaurie. At the very least the elder Taino god would be able to support them and to give Bana actual familial consolation. That was, if he already knew. Of course he does, probably, he considered. He gave a knowing look toward Lanuru, and decided to walk toward him.

"Hey," he spoke, his voice plain and quiet, but polite. "You look like you're not quite sure where you're going. Need some help? Are you looking for Bana or his uncle?" He was mentioning Marohu, whom he was somewhat aware was convalescing somewhere on campus.

Dawn is rising beyond the horizon, painting the sky in soft blues, fleeting purples, and a distinct pinkish-orange as the sun rises once more. In contrast the moon is slowly fading from the sky, with each star that accompanied it blinking away as the night is banished. Much like the moon and its shadowed friends, the God of Nightmares is slowly fading away.

Like a shadow he clings against Patriah's back, a dark figure whose own shadow lashes at each ray of sunlight. His back is bent, his figure simply a hunched silhouette of darkness as the shadows come to protect the Fae Prince. Dawn is still not the grandest time of the day, for twilight still clings in its fleeting moments, but Lanuru could already feel the hatred of the sun for him.

He stalks behind Patriah, and bright moon-like eyes glow underneath the shadows as he looks ahead at the newly arriving figure. "...A Lord of the Dead?" He whispers, and several tendrils of his shadow snap and whisper the same words like a cacophony of snakes and leeches. "Well met, August Lord... To whom do we speak to?"

Maquetaurie, the half-skeleton, half-human spirit, pinched his chin with his skeletal fingers, deep in thought; his human half was clean-shaven in his considerable age. It seems he was briefly oblivious to the world, before demonstrating a brief startled sense as Patriah spoke, catching the god at a disadvantage.

"Ah, yes, thank you." The clack of moving bones scratching against themselves signified his movement as he turned fully towards Patriah, and the...shadowy being next to him. Firmly placing the back end of his staff against the ground, the onyx orb pulsated with purple energy as it struck the ground, and Maquetaurie bowed. "I have divined the location of Márohu in this building. But I do not know where he could stand. Does the moon spirit yet live? Who has taken him here, if not himself?"

The spirit seemed to have slight trouble with the English tongue; he weaved together iconography and poetic, flowery language, seemingly how he must naturally speak in his own tongue, but in this manner, it seemed like he was having some trouble doing so.

It took a few seconds before the great spirit stopped in his words, and focused his eyes like an eagle onto Lanuru's own form - uncomfortably similar to the same reaction that Faraguvaol the forest spirit, and Mautiatihuel the dusk and dawn spirit, had; a look of vile recognition, underscored by a feeling of murderous intent, but then softened to that of foreign recognition; experience and a kindred nature winning against his initial perceptions. It seemed that the deity was somewhat similar to Lanuru, and recognized that fact.

In fact, his aura - which seemed to bleed through the air, imperceptible as it was, supported that. It was dark, evil, and to Lanuru, *recognizable*; it was similar to the endless malice of Moboyas and the endless vicious burning hatred felt in the presence of Juracan's god-slaying lightning, but it was also *empty*, like a silent void, like a dead body. And above all - it was cold, and tamed, and soft; like whatever malice that could've soaked into Maquetaurie like oil was purged or mastered. A dark being in full control of himself.

Much could be told from the aura of a being, and for Maquetaurie, it told stories and implications.

The spirit, his features softened again, answered. "I am Maquetaurie Guayaba, chieftain-king of Soraya. The supreme spirit of death. May I assume that you are the Fae prince that has made his rounds in the spirit world?"

“Like I said, if you’re looking for Márohu, I think, he’s with Bana,” Patriah explained. He was a little shocked by the appearance of the newcomer, but not too much. After all, his own father was the Greek personification of death, who could take forms which were equally as terrifying. “And this one right here is, uh, Lan. Fae Prince and whatnot. He just got back from your world, I think.”

"Your... Excellency..." Lanuru speaks in a weakened voice as his shadowy form clings onto Patriah's own shadow. Tendrils of darkness rise from his visage, like growing stems that seek Maquetaurie's dark energies rather than the baneful sunlight that is bearing down upon him. "It was... indeed I... and it was Lord Thoth and I who brought... Lord Marohu to safety..."

Maquetaurie nodded, and clasped his hands around his staff in a two-fisted grip, taking a step away to give the students space as his spiritual aura flared to give him some space from Lanuru's own aura. Black-purple decayed leaf petals trailed in his wake, rapidly disintegrating to nothing as the deity moved. Speaking, he turned his head, looking down onto Patriah. "As it seems. Prince Lanuru would surely have some stories to tell you."

Angling his head further, Maquetaurie looked at the shadow of Patriah where Lanuru stuck himself to. "I felt you when you entered the spirit world. Something that was both familiar and foreign. Good work on your restraining of Jurupari. Mayohaboa sent his gourd to my pits." Clamping his staff to the ground, and placing his hands atop the head, Maquetaurie continued. "But I don't have all day, or rather, I have NO day at all anymore, sadly. May you lead me to the faculty so that I may speak with them? We will chat as we go."

“Sounds good.” Patriah was trying to latch onto the message that Maquetarie was explaining, that for some reason there was “no day” in this God’s realm. As he led the storm god toward Athena’s office, he attempted to get more information. “Yeah, Márohu hasn’t been in good shape, I imagine. But uh…you said the sun was gone in your realm? How would that work, because the sun is working over here.”

Maquetaurie rubbed his chin as they walked along, trying to think of some way to explain it. "How do I put it..." A few seconds passed, before Maquetaurie spoke up again.

"I suppose it may have to do with the other sun gods. I believe each one is the personification in their own region. Boinayel was the personification of ours. With his death, came the death of the sun. You see, spirits such as I, are tied so deeply to our concepts that we may as well be one and the same. We cannot change our natures for that reason." Maquetaurie held out his hand and splayed his skeletal palm outwards, purple billowing magic flowing forth from between the joints as it created a display of a moonless, sunless, dark land lit only by the presence of a young mighty ceiba tree that easily dwarfed everything around it, something Patriah would recognize as vaguely similar to the Spirit World. "In the first days of the spirits, there was no sun, or moon. Darkness reigned until Boinayel and Marohu were born from Iguanaboina."

Suddenly, the sun and moon appeared on differing edges of the spirit world, slowly beginning their dance the moment they flashed into existence in silvery and golden light on their respective ends. "I suppose that with Boinayel's death, it is as if that change never happened."

“Huh.” Patriah nodded, as he seemed to understand more. He felt this conversation was far too big to be held while holding a door open for two gods to walk into a school building, but he continued responding anyway. “We do have Hyperion here, if you want to talk to him about other sun gods too. I don’t know if they’re also in danger. But it will be good for you to talk about this with Athena. She’s a lot smarter than Hyperion, even if he’s older, and she’ll know how to defend the school against whatever killed Boinayel.”

The idea of the sun being dead, even, was too huge and dreadful to even sit across the wind god’s mind. It was brutal-complete and total darkness and a suffocating lack of life-sustaining energy. Even a less scholarly individual like Patriah knew that on Earth, a lack of a sun would mean complete destruction. He could only imagine what was happening in Bana’s realm.

Maquetarie's presence and dark magics seem to lessen the powerful restriction of daylight upon Lanuru. Like boiling tar, the Dark Prince's form bubbles out of Patriah's shadow, rising into a more physical form. Shadows still cling to his body, but he no longer hides within the Wind God's own shade.

"The... The one who slayed Lord Boinayel, he tried to reach out to me and tempt me with benefits." Lanuru speaks as his halo slowly forms behind the vague shape of his head. As it does, the sunlight around them seem to slowly fade, turning into cool shade, and the crown of the eclipse hangs low behind the Prince. The dark yawning void twitches and shudders as it seems to hunger for light, before settling in as the corona of sunlight around it pulses rhythmically like a heartbeat.

"I've declined, of course... After all, such an agreement would run against the many other promises I've made."

“Not to mention Hyperion would make your life a living hell for it,” Pat pointed-out to his friend. He looked down the hallway for Athena’s office, and then started further in that direction. “I can go get Hyperion, if you want to include him in the conversation.”

"Hyperion...Hyperion....ah! Yes, Hyperion!" Maquetaurie exclaimed, after spending a few times focusing and trying to identify where exactly he heard the name before. "Greek sun god, correct? My bad. I don't quite venture out of Soraya very often, unlike poor Márohu. I'm not quite as familiar as I should be!" Clapping his staff within both hands and holding it diagonally against himself, the death god continued to speak as they wandered the halls, passing by students yet-unnamed and gods teaching them. Purple leaf petals trailed in his wake and the wake of his staff as he moved it. "...He is not teaching a class now, is he? I may actually like for him to join me and the senior administration about the recent problems."

[i]"But don't worry your heads, young ones. We gods are quite literally ageless. You need only worry about your education, we can handle these troubles ourselves and keep you away from them." The god spoke, attempting to reassure the students - he'd rather not have them understand the danger, because in his eyes, they were still children after all. "That being said, good on you for not breaking your word, dream prince. I cannot judge you for your temptations, for I myself am born of darkness, but I can admire someone that can deny themselves of the satisfaction of indulging themselves!"

“Sure. I’ll go get him and you all can talk,” Pat responded, “he’s probably cleaning the beach or something, he might even have gotten drunk.” He thought for a moment at the chances of Hyperion being sober at this time of day. “Yeah he’s probably drunk. But coherent. I think.”

He then looked to Lan, whom he knew would not like seeing the Sun Titan. “Hey. Uh. If you want, since they’re all going to be talking, I’ll go get Hyp and we can get going. How does that sound?”

Maquetaurie looked entirely nonplussed at the mention of Hyperion being drunk. "Would be wrong for me to judge someone for their tastes, I suppose. I do enjoy sweets myself. " Taking a few moments to scratch his chin and look up in contemplation, the death god added a small bit before looking at Lanuru. "Although, interacting with a drunk sun god would be, shall we say, interesting. As for Prince Lanuru..."

Maquetaurie looked at the slowly shrinking shadow, and raised an eyebrow. "Seems your particular variety of Fae has a weakness to the sun, does it not? You truly are quite unique. I suppose I should journey to the world of the living more and understand the peoples outside of our particular slice of the mortal world. The dead are dreadfully boring after the first eternity..."

Lanuru seems to take a moment to answer has his semi-corporeal form stares at Maquetaurie. The elder deity could see a glimpse of apprehension behind the two pinprick points of golden light within the shadowy godling, as if divulging the next words are of great importance towards the Prince's self. "You are not wrong... but also not quite right, Your Excellency."

The Prince seems to want to take a more physical form, but the void-like crown behind his head seems to almost roar in wrath when his body could barely keep up its shadowy visage. "We Fae and you Spirits are quite... similar. We are of the natural world, both of us. We are governed of laws, many of which that mortals and fellow divinities don't fully understand. I, too, am governed by those laws and... the promises I've made. I am Dream, of the Dream... and dreams rarely live past the sunrise."

"Interesting..." The death god took a few moments to actually consider the words, attempting to find some deeper meaning behind them, as out-of-touch as he was. Taking his staff in hand once more and twirling it, Maquetaurie continued. "I suppose with the encroach of the day and the sun god, you may want to retreat with young Patriah. Still, we must surely find some time to sit down and speak, you and I. I find you and your kind quite interesting. You particularly, and your...variety, I suppose, of Fae. After all, we are both born of the dark; beholden to it, and yet, independent from it. I suppose some common ground may yet be established one day. But not today. "

As if on cue, the Prince's barely corporeal body melts like black wax. His body drips down like thick and viscious ink, bubbling into Patriah's shadow like poisonous tar. Vague glimmers of stars spark in the darkness, only to succumb to the cold shadow. The great Spirit of Death does notice the imperial halo of the Prince, the hungry yawning void of the eclipse, has momentarily stayed afloat despite Lanuru's disappearance.

Maquetaurie could almost feel a ravening hunger within the dark as he gazes, and the solar eclipse seems to roar in defiance as if sensing the nearby presence of Hyperion. Hunger, greed, and hatred radiates out, dark desires that only a fellow dark god could understand. It is an old thing, this crown, and it is an odd thing. It is old, it lives, yet Maquetaurie has never seen such kind of artifact. It is alive, just like how nature is alive as a whole. Just like how a human is alive, yet also an organ in the grand body of Mother Nature.

And it hungers.

The halo makes one last shuddering silent scream before melting alongside Lanuru, setting into the shadow of Patriah with nothing to show but two pinpricks of eerie light.

Patriah feels a coldness that is not from his body but from his shadow, an extremely unfamiliar and unnatural sensation that is almost akin to an out of body experience, as Lanuru laughs softly in the bubbling darkness. The laughter almost echoes, yet it's something that cannot be heard but rather felt, an emotional wave that both the God of Wind and the God of the Dead would sense as the Fae Prince's emotions seem to be transmitted psychologically. The bubbling shadows settle as Lanuru seem to adjust in the dark, settling in as he hides to protect himself from daylight.

Patriah felt strange sensing Lanuru’s body becoming a shadow and passing into his own shadow. It was an extra weight, something uncanny that made his spine shudder. “You can’t just have a normal, geometrical body that makes sense like everyone else?” He then shook his head, and smiled at Maquetaurie. “Hyperion might be able to help you, yeah.”

"Quite the unusual fellow, isn't he?" Maquetaurie spoke, as Lanuru retraced himself from the conversation. Placing his staff behind him, the death god began to walk down the hallway, and beckoned Patriah to come join him in doing so. Hand clenching staff and arm pinned behind his back, the death god's skeletal parts clacked against themselves as he turned, and continued. "This place remains rather unusual and alien to me. I will stay here and wander this particular stretch of corridor, and admire the effort and architecture your family has put into its constructions. In the meantime, perhaps you can deliver Lanuru out of discomfort, and bring forth Hyperion so that he and I may speak in private? I wish not to intrude on whatever he may be doing at this point in time - truly, I believe you are best suited for that. And if you come across Lord Abaguabana or Lord Coatrisquie...I would ask you do me a personal service, and not inform them of anything you may...know...until the situation is properly handled back home."

While the lightning god had a feeling that Bana already knew part of the tragedy which had taken place, he agreed anyway. He gave a firm nod and a smile. “Sure. Yessir. I’ll make sure to keep my mouth shut. In the meantime…” He whipped around and pulled Lanuru by the shoulders, dragging him out of his shadow. “we’ll get Hyperion, and then we’ll also see about Hestia getting you something to eat! Whatever you’d like.”

Hyperion would be heading toward them soon, as he was aware that Maquetaurie was on the campus to ask questions. “So the headache of Moboyas continues…” he murmured to himself. In a pink polo and cargo shorts, he did not look very much like a powerful god who could help to fight against one of the most terrifying forces of any pantheon.

Then again, he never did.

And so he rounded the corner, looking for the lightning god and his shadowy companion, and the oddly skeletal spirit whose only intention was to protect his crippled family.

[Luminesa]

Spooky Scary Students
Day 27, Daytime
Holy High Campus, Near the Dorms

"Oh, I mean, there are a lot of students who are sort of...scary. Some of them have super-strength, some of them represent concepts that mortal minds can't even categorize, and some of them control the sea. Just like you." He smirked down at Ragatirta, consoling him in the way that only Hyperion knew how. He understood that this deity's threshold of knowing the divine was lower than that of some of his classmates, and so the shock and awe would have to come gradually, not all at once.

"As for how 'prestigious' we are, I'm not sure if there are other schools like this on this planet that even exist, never mind any that compare to this one. And I'm a Titan, I'm supposed to have awareness beyond that of even normal gods." He looked around the dormitories for an empty room, and occasionally looked back to Ragatirta. He did not have many possessions, or at least not many that would be unusual. Lanuru had an entire wardrobe and tea set, Aleator had his many games, Cryptid had morphed his room into something unknowable, Hoshi had made his room to look like the celestial heavens high above him...

And this young deity only had his clothes and his textbooks.

"You'll be fine. And uh, if you hear music from the 90's playing outside of your room for any reason whatsoever after 5 AM, that's because I'm awake and I have things to do before class. So you can catch me at any time before your classes start if you have questions." As he gave his explanation, he found an unused room and opened the door. Inside, the room was as grand as any of the other rooms, with all of the amenities available to the other students, but it was a bare canvas. One which the new seawater deity could decorate to his heart's desires.

Hyperion turned to him and motioned into the doorway. "This is yours. If you get a roommate, they'll have the other side of the room. Luckily, you both will have enough room that you shouldn't be killing each other for space. 'Shouldn't' being the key word." He then glanced back at Ragatirta and looked up and down at his person. "I'm gonna call you, Raga, by the way. Raga, I uh, I know I'm not very high-maintenance, and in fact I probably have some possessions I shouldn't, but are those textbooks and that one pair of clothes the only things you have?" For once, the sun titan almost looked worried.

Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Near the Dormitory

He may not consider himself as the shining example of being a teacher, but as far as Ragatirta is concerned, Hyperion didn't seem to be as bad as the Titan himself thought. The sea prince felt relieved at the teacher's company and nodded as he explained things to Ragatirta.

As Hyperion went around looking for a room, Ragatirta thought for a moment about the concept of being in a room with a complete stranger. Back in the Southern Sea, none save his queen mother had the courage to even call him by name, despite his constant reminder. Caretakers and servants had been the most people he ever met throughout his life, and having a friend beside Baya Putih and Ula Ijo was something to be joyful and worried about for young Ragatirta. Why the worry? Perhaps it was because of the possibility of cruel or mean roommate with godlike power, perhaps it's more because he didn't know the etiquette behind friendship, or perhaps both.

A moment after, Ragatirta followed Hyperion's instructions and walked towards the Sun Titan as he explained about the prince's roommate. Then somehow the teacher decided to give him a nickname, which was yet another massive leap compared to his times in the Southern Sea where everyone always called him by titles.

"Ah, the rest of my items are being carried by someone else, sir. It should arrive soon."

As both were conversing by the dormitory, a peculiar white crocodile with white hair covering his entire back arrives at Holy High, followed by four men wearing an all aqua green uniform and a blangkon cap, each carrying around cardboard boxes. All four of these men had a rather ghastly face and a pair of blank white eyes. The crocodile went around asking for directions from students about the dormitory, and after some time, he led the men towards the dorm, and happened to meet Ragatirta and Hyperion as soon as he and the other four men arrived.

"There they are!" Ragatirta exclaimed after seeing Baya Putih and some palace servants arrived to send the remainder of his things. He walked over to them, but not before giving the Sun Titan a small bow, and asked the crocodile, "Can you tell them to drop the boxes over to the room over there? I'll do the unpacking."

"But Master, why don't you let me--" "No, Baya Putih. After this you're dismissed. You deserve a rest after going all the way from the Southern Sea." The crocodile simply nodded, and gestured with his head to the four men following behind him to bring the boxes over to the room. After completing their task, Baya Putih vaporized into steam, while the four servants dissipated into thin air.

After While, Crocodile!
Day 27, Daytime
Ragatirta’s New Room, Holy High Campus

Hyperion watched as the young sea deity seemed to be confused at his hospitality. He had to wonder what sort of kingdom he was from to expect such a stiff welcoming from a place like Holy High. Even Astrid had at least received a friendly welcome, when she was willing to receive it.

Nevertheless, he got Ragatirta to a new room, and he waved his hand as he motioned inside the large dorm. “Whatever you want to put in here, as long as it’s not illicit substances or alcohol, is fine by the school and by me. Though, uh, if you had a moving crew then you should have just told-”

He paused as he saw who consisted of the “moving crew”. One was a crocodile walking on two legs, and the rest were servants in matching turquoise uniforms. “Team Aqua got an upgrade,” he murmured to himself as he watched them bring boxes into the room. He decided to go help them, however, especially after Raga had asked for him to do so and when he also saw the sizes of some of the boxes. “I’ve got it.”

He was stronger than all of the servants, but he mostly just helped them to not drop things around the room. One of the items in a rectangular box seemed to have water sloshing around, and he felt it had to be fragile. “Don’t drop it, don’t drop it!”

Once everything was in the room, and the servants left, Hyperion wiped his brow and took a sip of liquid from one of his flasks. After giving a loud burp, he then grinned down to Raga. “Gonna go find-out whoever your roommate is. In the meantime, have fun decorating! If you need help, Hestia’s in the infirmary with a student and Athena is in her office in the main building. I’ll be cleaning the beach and probably eating my breakfast. See ya!”

With that, he vanished, walking back out to the courtyard and toward the shoreline of the beach area to continue his tasks before classes started.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write With Tarnen, Nantoraka. Mindhart, Naval Monte, and Lumi
Friendly Fire Pt. 1
Day 27, Daytime
Holy High Campus

Click, clack, click, clack.

Coatrisquie led the students through the hallways back from the courtyard, gently pushing aside and maneuvering through the myriad others that cramped the hallways. Some were staring at the students he brought along with him with a sense of mischievous humor, as if they were in trouble. Others still tried to pay no attention, and others tried to pay attention still to the noises coming from outside the school - the new arrival causing all sorts of chaos, and in fact, the hallways were somewhat more cramped than usual precisely BECAUSE of this chaos, with students retreating inside to avoid the gnashy, bitey horrors that Lavinia was carrying alongside her. Coatrisquie intended to confront her at some point - albeit, more strictly than aggressive, the lightning god perfectly understanding the stupidity in threatening a student on school grounds while a guest - due to her…nature.

The lightning god had a tendency to perch in his hawk form atop the roof of the school to watch for threats and newcomers, and thus had a perfect view of the new arrival. Her friends were so much like the dark spirits, it set off a thousand alarms in his head. Still, nobody could judge. He certainly couldn't, after all, Prince Lanuru was similar, and yet he learned that the other spirit gods called upon his help. If Lanuru was good, perhaps this one was good too. Curiosity did need to be sated later, despite this.

Akura almost tripped over a crack in the pavement as they were walking, but was quickly caught by Abaguabana as the ocean prince immediately put a hand out and stopped Akura by firmly placing his hand on his chest. ”Careful.” the Ocean Prince said, ”You’re quite clumsy. Strange to see, from a god.”

Akura grabbed Abaguabana’s arm and used the friction to right himself up, firmly placing his feet on the pavement walkways as the group traveled with Coatrisquie, whose hands were behind his back as he walked in that cold, aloof, even arrogant walk of his - someone who has nothing to prove, because he’s already proved it. Brushing off his arms and legs from the near-fall, Akura just took a quick glare at Abaguabana, as if he was meant to be offended by it. ”...And that means, what exactly?”

Abaguabana placed his hands behind his back in much the same manner, and the similarity between him and his brother were fairly evident already. Besides just looking similar - though Abaguabana had the build of a crossfit athlete, and Coatrisquie the build of a professional wrestler, the two carried themselves in similar manners, but Abaguabana was less rigid, and more fluid, less like a disciplined warrior, and more of a humble prince. The godling continued, not paying Akura’s frustrations any mind, and looked away, back towards the path. ”Well, I mean no offense, of course. It’s simply interesting to see such behavior from someone that, well, should not HAVE it. Spirits like you and I flow like water across the terrain. But you carry yourself like a human, rigid, stiff, like you are mortal flesh, and not divine energy. It’s quite strange.”

Akura just blinked in response. ”I have no idea what any of that means.” He turned and whispered to Vix behind him. ”Are you made of divine energy?”

Abaguabana just rolled his eyes and turned towards Turock. ”You know, I always wondered the differences in the spirits of our world, and those of others. What exactly is YOUR nature?”

Vix looks around anxiously, her teeth looking noticably sharper as her eyes track any movement that gets too close to her. "Huh? Oh, uh, don't think so. I mean I might be I don't know."

Fog lowers her voiceI'm going to jump on the chicken.

This distracts vix as she picks up fog, seeming to relax a little as fog curls up around her shoulders. "Sometimes I really wish you were a bush dweller."

nah. Anyways, akura, maybe it's cause you were raised by humans. I read that people learn to talk from their parents n' stuff. I guess it follows that maybe you can't control your magic cause you weren't exposed to it a bunch as a kid, and you can't walk like spirits do.

Vix bares her teeth as she gets bumped by someone, seemingly more nervous despite fog's presence.

Akura thought for a couple seconds in silence, while Abaguabana just raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and kept walking. Evidentially what she said had some effect on him just now. "...That makes sense." Akura said. "I only really discovered I was more abnormal than usual when I hit puberty. Maybe I imprinted...wonder if it can be reversed."

Akura definitely noticed her demeanor afterwards, though. "...You good? Wanna switch spots in our little caravan so you're in the middle and not the outside? You don't look like a very touchy-touchy person."

Coatrisquie turned an eye behind him as they kept walking, and stared down Akura, Vix, and Fog. "I suppose I could've used my own brand of spirit magic to take us to the Egress, but it is...quite bright and loud[/], and I doubt the school faculty would've been very happy with me if I went around casting thunderbolts."

Turock bob and weave through the hallways of students, some he managed to avoid others bump into his side, which he growled in anger.

Still he managed to keep up with Abaguabana when he ask him a question that gave him a brief moment of pause before answering. "I am of the Inuit gods, and the jotun of the norse giants. I am of two natures."

Abaguabana looked at Turock for a few seconds. "Ah...right, you told me similar. I suppose I'm just curious on what your life is like. Child of two worlds. Shocking." Hands still clasped behind his back, Abaguabana continued. "I may be born of a sky goddess and a water god, but I am still wholly a spirit. You...half spirit, I believe, and half giant. You can see the old world and the new at once. I wonder what that's like."

Vix shakes her head a little. "Ith fi-" she winces as she bites her tongue, teeth still elongated and shifts to a fox, shifting back with a startled look. "Mfine. "

Fog makes an attempt to pounce on coastrisquie, but discreetly gets caught midair by vix, which seems to distract her once again and she smiles a little, sighing. Stop hogging the braincell, fog. You're wearing it out.

Bold of you to assume we ever had one. Fog wriggles out of her grip and successfully jumps onto Coatrisquie, scampering onto his head, to which vix sighs, before her teeth sharpen again and she growls at another student.

"WHAT TH-" Coatrisquie jumped for a second, and stopped, evidentially his reaction time was just fast enough to realize it was Fog without throwing her into the sky through sheer instinct alone. Stepping dead in his tracks and signalling each student to stop with a hand, and reaching both hands up, Coatrisquie picked up Fog under the arms, and stared at her in the face. He didn't look exactly angered, but somewhat bemused, though there was a hint of sternness under that expression of his. "...Look. I may look quite young in this, well, human form, but I have been around for a long time. I have spent much, much, much of that time hacking dark spirits into cubes, crushing them under my talons or between my beak, or eating them. That means a lot of my instincts have been honed for war. Which means I can be jumpy. Let's not do that again, okay?"

Coatrisquie handed the fox to Vix. "It wouldn't exactly play well on my conscience were I to unintentionally injure you. I am quite fond of you all, and I enjoy my duties here as a protector, so let's give the lightning god some space, hm?"

Turock shrugged at Abaguabana's fascination. "I accept who I am, others do not accept the Norse part of me. When they first came, they brought their gods with them. And the gods fought, my mother originally hunted my father as he was killing her people." He put his hands in his pockets as he continue to tell the story told to him a thousand times by his father.

"They fought each other for weeks, when they were both exhausted they saw each as a worthy adversary. My father didn't go into much detail but later I was born, the Norse I heard rejected me as for the Inuit most accepted me for who I was." Turock again gave a shrug, he never really like talked about his family always felt out of place regardless if they treated him as equal.

"Fog, what did I just say? It's dangerous! The man's a war hardened god!" Vix gives her a hard look.

Fog shrugs. “You say danger, I say warm spot to sit.” She wriggles out of her hands one again, this time jumping down and walking by Coatrisquie.

From the campus Lavinia would walk out of her room. The albino was surprisingly alone as she left the dorm as she allowed her bodyguards to finish with the arrangement of her room. Her eyes never lingered long at one thing as she kept moving from one sight to the next. A combination of wonder and memorization was the source for her rapid eye movement.

Lavinia would see a few students but most who saw her would recoil back; they either have seen her before with her monsters or had heard about her from others. Her attempt to speak would have most students quickly move away from her sight.

The albino hybrid would sigh as she resume her tour. She was hoping to find Hestia to get more answers. As she tried to find any leads to the goddess she would see a few other people in the hallway. Despite her previous efforts being failures she was still optimistic to try again.

"Excuse me," she would say. "Do any of you know where Hestia is?" she was silent for a few seconds before adding. "Never in my life did I ever think I would say that sentence."

The eldest of the grouping - Coatrisquie, and easily identified as the eldest due to the stern and dignified posture the god carried himself with and his outright mature features - [b]immediately looked up from Vix and Fog after the latter jumped from the former's hands, and turned his head at the sudden appearance of Lavinia. The lightning god's crackling blue eyes narrowed as he stared at Lavinia, with an eyebrow raising in surprise at how quickly they met this demigoddess. With a silent and constrained voice, Coatrisquie spoke, an electric charge underneath his voice as his eyes seemed to scan her from head to toe. "...Oh. I see." Perhaps his expression and voice wasn't outright cold, but it was certainly lined with suspicion more than anything else, a rather far cry from Thoth, the other faculty member she had interacted with thus far. "Hm...before I answer your question, where exactly do you hail from, exactly?"

At the same time, one of the other deities seemed to be entirely absorbed in his conversation with another of the group, too absorbed to even notice the demigoddess. The godling - Abaguabana - seemed to be of the same stock as the eldest Coatrisquie. The bronze skin and facial features shared with the eldest betrayed this particular godling as family of Coatrisquie, and the godling's hair would have looked particularly similar to Coatrisquie's own - had it not been tied into a bun behind his head. This one was definitely a fair bit younger, identified by his somewhat casual and relaxed manner, but certainly of a more refined upbringing with the manner he spoke to the other god, Turock. "...Amazing. Your family certainly has some stories to tell. I may not be able to fully understand what it is like being ostracized from one end of your heritage, but as a child of the sky and ocean, I can assure you that you'll find the most comfort with the Inuit spirits that accept you. The sky and ocean are two wildly different domains, and I simply cannot be both. So I take comfort in the acceptance the ocean has given me, in spite of my sky spirit mother. I'd say you should take comfort in that too."

And as that godling spoke, another, on the other hand, apparently was paying full attention to the demigoddess herself. This one was...rather on the taller than average side, compared to the average build of the second god and the rather large bodybuilder frame of the eldest, and his face was...remarkably young handsome, all things considered - whereas the other two godlings looked human, there were some minor tells that they were not[i]; Coatrisquie's crackling voice and glowing eyes, and Abaguabana's floating hairstrands and glowing tattoos.

This one on the other hand, seemed simply...human, and was regarding her with an inquisitive head tilt after turning his attentions from the two fox godlings towards the new student. [i]"Oh hey. You're new." And as Lavinia spoke the last bits of that sentence, this third student - Akura - muttered under his breath and continued. "...Tell me about it. Meeting Hyperion and Hecate on my first day here felt like my world imploded in on itself."

Lavinia’s slightly relax posture stiffened as she heard the cold tone coming from the other god. She subconsciously swallowed as she can feel the atmosphere in the room change drastically from before.

It wasn't just the electrical sensation she felt from the voice. His eyes, glowing an otherworldly light, gazing down at her made her feel as though he was judging her for every little thing. She didn't know if she upset the man for some reason or if this was his usual response to people. Regardless of the answer she had to stay on her toes with this one to avoid bringing his wrath upon her.

When the first god asked where she hail from she would briskly say. "New England sir. I came from Massachusetts." she told him. She hoped that he was asking for where she came from and not whatever pantheon she could be linked with because she doesn't have a good name for that one.

She looked away from the first god to see the others. Her eyes fell upon one who could be his brother, looking identical yet still having a few notable differences to make the two stand out. More important with how he acted with the others he seems to be the more approachable one. Perhaps his youth is a factor to that?

She would soon have another one have his attention on her; one much taller than her. A body pact with muscles yet retain a youthful face that made him look handsome by all conventional means. More importantly, he seem to resemble the most humans as he lack any obvious signs that he may be touched by the divine like most.

Even her albino appearance could be consider to be regular genetics than a possible sign of whatever divinity she hail from.

When the other god pointed out she was now she let a small smile and bow. "My name is Lavinia Vaughn. I just recently transferred here. I'm still getting use ancient myths being real, or having to share a dorm and staying in a school."

Coatrisquie's eyes narrowed at her answer, but he was seemingly satisfied with the answer, as the crackling static dulled down and his blue eyes dimmed to a more manageable feature. "I see." The god continued to look her up and down, and went back to staring at her in the eyes. Though he didn't seem to drop the suspicion entirely - it seemed some of it was just...wired into him - the god's pose and demeanor relaxed somewhat as the power he exuded toned down. "My apologies then, I suppose. I was watching you enter the school when you arrived. The creatures you brought with you had me believe you may had been a dark spirit. Your willingness to cooperate and the fact you're not chewing on a student's vital organs or something tells me otherwise, at least."

Coatrisquie cracked his neck, and his hands moved from behind his back, into a crossed arm pose in front of him. "My name is Coatrisquie. For the foreseeable future, I assist in the defense of this school against...unsavory, hostile things."

Coatrisquie moved to the side to allow the other godling to more easily interact with her - and Coatrisquie's movements in doing were outright unusual, his movements just seemed to flow like water, with a grace and smoothness that were otherwise impossible with such a human build, as the god quietly moved himself to the side and surveyed the outdoors, attempting to get a sense of direction of exactly where Hestia may be.

Akura, on the other hand, just did a clumsy and stiff bow in return - a gesture he wasn't really familiar with, but still just trying to be polite. "Same. I didn't even know myths were real until like, 2 weeks ago. I just figured spirits were and that was it. And even then...well." The godling stood back up and smiled - he seemed to just have a warm and positive demeanor in general. A closer look at his face seemed to reveal the fact that the only truly unnatural feature he bore was a slight, barely noticeable glow in those green irises within his eyes. Evidentially, there still some mark of the divine on him...if barely noticeable. As he took in her greeting, the godling just sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I'm...well. My full name is Akurrada-karoa'baru. But I just go by Akura instead. I'm new here too."

And following up in a hushed, whispered voice..."...I agree with you about the dorms. My dorm mate is a fucking space alien."

Vix watched the interactions, ears spinning from one place to the next before fog jumped into her arms and chirruped, ears also twitching in a complicated pattern with her tail. Vix nodded, and fog climbed up, settling around her shoulders and soon dozing off.

She looked Lavina up and down for a moment, before grinning. "Hi, I'm vix. I'm guessing you're my roommate? I, uh, heard you walking. And also the screaming, but I think it's safe to assume that you probably aren't some spawn of a cosmic horror beyond our minds comprehension come to bring forth an eldritch god and kill us all," she joked, "Sorry. I'm Vix, don't know if I've already said that."

She goes for a hand shake, but seemingly hesitates and turns it into an awkward high five before just deciding to give a half-hearted wave. "Uh, we should talk later. About the room, and stuff. I can tell you about some stuff that's happened."

Lavinia blinked as she tilted her head sightly in confusion. "Dark spirits?" she asked. "I believe I can create some form of life that can have the ephemeral and ethereal qualities of a spirit but none of my friends are spirits. They are very much alive." she explained. The god would explain his name and the fact he acted as a guardian for the school against threats.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. There are many tales of monsters, devils, and evil gods. So if the gods are real the horrors they faced would be real as well." she fought back any urge to show fear of encountering those ancient monsters and devils. Her families dabbling with the occult was never a concern because she always felt they knew what they were doing. But now that she was alone she wasn't so sure how well she would fair if a spirit or demon came to the campus.

The man would move aside and she would notice how fluid and smooth his movement was. She wonder if perhaps he was a god of sea and storms? It could perhaps explain many of his qualities if that was the case.

Her attention however would turn to face Akura as he introduce himself and explain that much like her she didn't know that many myths were real, save for spirits. "I know magic was real because my family dabble in it. Infact I always thought what I can do was the same magic they practiced... until they told me the truth."

A frown would cross her face as she thought back to the fact that what she assumed as a major part of her life was a lie. Her being a Vaughn, her powers, what she is. Her self reflection would make her ignore the sign of divinity coming off from Akura until he brought her back to reality by revealing that his room mate was an alien.

"You're pulling my leg right?" she bluntly replied back in an incredulous manner.

Lavinia looked over to the other girl and her eyes immediately fell upon her ears and tails. Her eyes widen in surprise. She tried to think back what sort of creature best matched a magical fox. But the fox girl would already speak before she can find the answer to her question.

"Yes. Thoth lead me to the room... I still can't believe that happened." she said as she held her forehead. She can feel a slight pang of pain as her brain was still having difficulties comprehend the new world she was in.

The fox mention the screaming and her being some sort of horror sent to kill people for a dark god, which made her frown and glare at her new room mate.

"I haven't done anything to warrant the treatment I've received. My friends were with me to make sure no one would try to harm me. So no. I don't have any intentions on feeding you to some dark god or ending the world."

Lavinia would let out a sigh. "I don't even know what pantheon my real parents or parent came from. So I don't even know if ending the world is something possible in whatever mythology I'm attached to."

Coatrisquie paused as Lavinia continued her speech, eyes still surveying the area around him as the lightning god thought for a few seconds. "Hestia...Hestia..." The two didn't exactly have many interactions, but he familiarized himself enough with the area around them to understand where she could be at this point in time. Still, before answering proper, Coatrisquie listened in on Lavinia's own comments. "Precisely. There's been a recent uptick in violence at the hands of dark spirits in the otherworldly lands the three of us," Coatrisquie gestured to himself, Abaguabana - who was still deep in conversation with the other godling - and the third, Akura. "-here, have come from. In fact, we are currently on our way to the Primary Egress to receive a message about some recent developments. I'd ask if you would like to accompany us as well, but, well, classroom hours will start shortly. If you wish to continue looking for Hestia, try the academics hall. She teaches the culinary arts during classroom hours. If not, I know Hecate and Athena are certainly teaching in there. They can help you with her if my advice ends up being quite wrong."

As Coatrisquie concluded, Akura just suppressed a small snicker and continued to whisper. "I don't even know if I AM pulling your leg. He's so weird." Clearing his throat, "Ahem. I feel that. I grew up as a human, but while I knew there were some, well, 'tangible supernatural qualities' to my homeland in Puerto Rico, I never SAW straight up MAGIC. Like spirits would wander around every now and then, but I never saw a spirit perform magic. My human parents never did it either."

Akura crouched down to his knees and sat on the stone path, pinching his fingers around a dandelion that was growing from between the cracks of the pathway's stone panels, and picked it up, severing it from the bush. Standing back up, Akura closed his eyes, with a small little greenish-gold glow shining through the severed stem of the dandelion, rapidly maturing it until it closed up and then re-opened into a grey head full of seeds. "If you're anything like me, well, I'm sure we'll find common ground and be bestest best buddies. I didn't even know I COULD do things like this, and even then, I learned that way before I was told that I wasn't human." Akura just blew the seeds at her, but the seeds were rapidly blown away by slight-yet-sudden gust of wind - along with a small gesture of Coatrisquie's index finger in his crossed arms - before they could actually get into her face and be annoying.

Lavinia would raise her hands. "I rather not be thrown into conflict while still being new to all this. I'm just lucky class is gonna start soon." fear and concern etched visibly on her face. Lavina was hoping that being thrown into violent fights would be common in this year for her. She lacked any sort of combat training and needs her friends to defend her.

The fear she felt would diminish slightly when Coatrisquie told her where she could possibly find Hestia and to find two other goddesses if his directions proved to have been false. "Thank you." she said as she was hoping to end the conversation before he could say something else that would make her feel threaten.

Akura would however speak as she shared the same feeling she had on her new life. Sharing that like her he only knew a small aspect of the supernatural world but unlike her spirits dominated his life where as magic did. Spirits did appear from time to time but often in relation to necromantic rites and haunted relics her parents collected. "When you say human parents were you adopted as well?" she asked, wondering if this student mirror her life that precisely.

He would then demonstrate what he can do as alter the life cycle of as dandelion to make it fully matured to produce seeds. She was amazed at the ability in displayed. More so as he revealed he was new to them.

"I knew of my powers for a long time. My parents help in training in some parts and for a long time they told me it was a form of blood magic I was unusually good at. Until they told me it came from a fertility deity worshiped in some cults that had the same power that I have."

The seeds would be blown at her way and Lavinia would try to catch them and indeed caught a few before the rest was blown away quickly by the older brother.

"That's impressive. I tried to do something similar when I tried to do magic like my adopted parents. However I could never do it. Instead the plants always changed." she explained. "It's probably best if I show you."

She would raise her other hand and in front of the group she would begin to bite on her finger tips hard enough to draw out blood. She would hover her bleeding fingers over the seed, dropping the blood on top of it.

She would begin to recite in a strange language. One that sounded like pure gibberish. The words by the sound should be impossible to utter yet she recite each one fluidly. The alien words seem to have an effect as a black, oily, viscous aura would mix with the now viscous miasma that the blood transformed into.

Moreover, the chanting seem to put her in a trance as she would ignore the entire world as she focus intently on whatever she was doing. Her red eyes began to emit a glow which grew brighter the more power she put into the seed.

The seed would begin to grow in size as cracks form. Slimy residue would leak from the cracks and a pungent odor would come from the fluid. Yet she ignored the slime and smell.

A writhing slimy masses of branches and creepers would emerge. From the mass everyone would see that it covered with lipless fanged mouths and bulging eyeballs. The plant was growing rapidly as some of the branches and creepers began to surround Lavinia's arm as she continue with her chanting.

The glow would fade and she seem to now be alert again as she smiled. "This is the magic I can do. What do you think?" she raised her hand higher to bring the planet closer. Yet one of the branches would latch out to try and bite Akura's nose, forcing Lavinia to pull back.

"Sorry." she sheepishly apologized, pulling the plant away as another branch snatch a fly out of the sky. Another would warp it's creepers around the neck of a rat and try to drag the poor creature towards its mouths.

"That makes the two of us. No worries,I wasn't you were, I meant it as a joke. I keep forgetting I don't have good humor." She pets fog for a while, slightly uncomfortable at still being in a crowded hallway. Her attention was immediately drawn by the plant and she pulls out a stick from her tail that seemed far too long to fit and poked and eye that she decided had been looking at her a little too long, before dropping the stick on the floor and pulling out a can of spam. She looks at it quizzically before shoving it back into her tail and proceeding to rifle through stuff, odd clanking noises coming from inside before she pulls out a king sized Snickers and offers it to Lavina. "I can talk to foxes like fog here," She scratches the sleeping kit behind her ear, "and also I once zoom called a giant fox who I think is my mom, but I doubt it. Also adopted, technically, but my dad was human."

The plant would try to lunge its branches at Vix after she poked it, but none would catch her as Lavinia would pull it back. One however grabbing the stick and sinking it's teeth within the stick, eventually snapping it in two.

Lavinia would look at the tail with wonder as the fox girl seemingly materialized no objects from it before placing them back inside. When she offered the snickers the woman slowly reached out but as she used the same hand that had the plant the branches and creepers would grab the snicker and break apart the chocolate and devour the pieces with it's mouths.

"Talk to foxes and hold objects within your tail." she would add. "How many items you have on you?" she asked. Vix would also share that she talked with a fox she believed was her mother even though she doubt it. "I still don't know much on who my real mother is besides that she was human. But they refuse to say more other than she was a witch. I don't know who she is or where she is. As for the other parent I don't even know if they area man or woman since my parents were extremely vague save for them being a fertility and nature deity to some cults, and that was something I got after years of asking them the same question over and over."

As soon as the plant-although Vix now considered it to be a threat to her day- ate the bar, Vix would casually go as if to brush some dirt off her tail before grabbing a bottle of alcohol, smashing onto the offending plant, and tossing a lighter onto it, eyes filled with hate as it caught fire. She pulls out another king-sized Snickers and cautiously hands it to Lavina, making sure the now distracted plant wouldn't get the chocolate. "I haven't taken stock in five years. Probably somewhere above a, hundred. Sorry about your plant, by the way, but I've only had chocolate once and this thing stole a gift."

Lavinia ignored the offer as she began to swing her arm in a panic as the flames quickly spread throughout the plant that has itself warp around her arm. The woman screamed in fear and pain as she felt the heat of the flames as she tried to remove it but the planet held on to her tightly.

From behind a tear in reality would emerge. A black hole from it would come down thick, gelatinous, pulsating dark matter. The mass would lunge to her burning arm and cover it down to the shoulder, smothering the flames. From the mass many unblinking eyes would stare the fox girl as sneering mouths would emerge and sink back.

As she apologized for her act Lavinia can only look at her with shock and confusion. Before she can utter a word several black tentacles would emerge from the Shoggoth and would latch at the fox girl for threatening it's maker.

Vix panics with Lavina, having not realized the plant had latched onto her. "Oh my god, oh god, I'msosorryohno-" Then, the rift opens and something happens to vix, her face suddenly becoming completely calm as she's grabbed. "Let go, please." Her voice sounds...colder, somehow, more distant.

Lavinia would tried to speak but the Shoggoth would react before she can say a word as it began to slam Vix on the floor repeatly.

"NO! DYER STOP!" she screamed at the creature but it refused as it slammed the fox girl on the wall.

”You idiot.”
Coatrisquie’s voice would take on a far more wrathful and furious tone - every syllable practically charging the air around them - as the clouds above manifested into darkness, and the blue glowing tattoos on the body of the lightning god suddenly surged in brightness enough to sear straight through the god’s casual sweatshirt and pants like sun through cloud cover. The god surged forth, his warrior history evidentially shining through in a pulse of silent lightning as he grasped the tentacles of the monster and Vix’s arm in a single hand, and his skin and demeanor took an ever-darker tone as the human peeled away to reveal the wrathful inhuman spirit underneath - feathers of lightning and cloud piercing their way out of his arms and shoulders, and skin turning from bronze to a metallic sheen of black, and legs and feet twisting into those of a hawk and its talons. It was all too clear that the spirit was so utterly furious that the effort he took to maintain a human appearance was rapidly beginning to crumble away.

Turning a silent glare from Vix, the glow and thunder lightning God's chest deepened in color and tone as he turned towards the tear in reality and the plant itself, warping to a silent, crimson red, as the lightning the god produced additionally began to shift hues. It was all too noticeable that at this exact moment, Abaguabana suddenly stopped talking and doubled over, clenching his chest in pain and stumbling a few steps away, turning away from the fight as his own chest deepened into the same glow of red. Akura threw his arms up - deciding to answer Lavinia’s questions, and comment on her rather beautiful, and strange, magic later on when things were less…hectic. Coatrisquie’s eyes glowed a significant crimson as he narrowed his eyes at Vix in a look of pure venom, and turned back towards the Shoggoth.

”You. Let this stupid girl go. She is under my protection.” Coatrisquie spoke, his form still steadily deforming to that of the animal spirit he truly was. ”I will deal with her transgressions myself. Adhere to the commands of that which you may consider your ward, and we will avoid this fight that you will not want. She will learn the consequences of her actions, but not like this.”

Akura walked up behind Lavinia and placed his hands on her shoulder, trying to pull her away a safe distance a few feet away from the confrontation. ”I’ve heard stories about his anger in the Spirit World. Let’s, ah, give him a little space. Are you able to call off that space monster?” Akura stumbled over his words, but quickly picked himself back up. ”I tried myself but…whatever you summoned just doesn't respond to my commands. And that's weird. Most things do but yours just straight up ignores me.”

Lavinia would take a step back as Coatrisquie began to reveal more of who he truly was. The electricity from his surge of power can be felt. She can smell the scent of ozone in the air. Feel electricity coursing on her skin and making her hair stand on ends.

The Shoggoth produced more tentacles that ended with mouths having rows of fangs but while they seem prepared to attack they didn't. The creature weighing it's options. Lavinia was more willing to run away. Maybe even leave the school entirely.

When the spirit demanded that she release the fox girl the albino didn't waste any time. "Dyer. Please let her go. I don't want us to get in trouble with that... thing." the fearful woman stammered out. The Shoggoth did not react immeditaly to the order but soon it would let go of Vix as it retreated it's appendages back to it's body. The tentacle grabbed on to be Coatrisquie would be detached and the limb would melt on his hand.

Lavinia felt someone touching her shoulder and was startled. Akura would have tentacles that had blades form at the end surround his neck in response to scarying the woman but once she saw who it was she commanded the Shoggoth to put down the blades.

"I.. I can call them off..." she could even dismiss him entirely but right now she felt safer having the Shoggoth with her than if she was alone. Akura look to be the sane and friendly one but she had to be sure that what he was showing was genuine and wasn't an act.

"What do you mean by most things respond to your command? What can you control?" she asked, not wishing to reveal the source behind why he can't command her creations quite yet.

Vix stood there, blood dripping from her head as she glances around the room, seemingly unconcerned with the open wound on her head. She's different from a moment ago, more... Powerful, before she collapses.

Fog had long since gotten off her shoulders, trying to wake Vix up.

Coatrisquie groaned and panted, closing his eyes as he loosened his grip to allow the Shoggoth the space to maneuver away, allowing the creature to choose its next moves - to continue engaging the student, or to allow itself the comfort of moving away. Luckily, the creature did retract, and Coatrisquie was left there standing as he turned his hand and allows the liquified tentacle to slide off his hand and onto the ground - red lightning surging, storm clouds gathering, and metallic skin shimmering, as he clenched his fists and stared at the monstrous eldritch being. Still, in a deep breath and a groan of static electricity, the god closed his eyes and focused inwards - and as a result of what appeared to be his efforts at calming himself, the sky slowly began to return to normal and the red tint changed back to blue. Abaguabana’s convulsions lessened as well, and the ocean god, who was preoccupied until recently, was panting and doubled over, staring at the ground and hands on his hips, evidentially out of breath.
”Please. Brother. Warn me. Before you. Do that. Thank you.”

Without response, Coatrisquie opened his eyes, and his form had returned back to its human guise. ”...I will not apologize. Retaining this…human form, is taxing when my emotions are imbalanced.” Walking over to Lavinia, the residual static electricity died down as the god crouched down to his knees, planting a knee into the ground as he attempted to remain at eye level with the demigoddess before admonishing Vix. ”I apologize for Vix’s actions. I also apologize for my distrust earlier. It seems these beings are not only under your control, they protect you, and do not lash out without reason. Don't let yourself feel regret for what just happened here. None of this was your fault.”

And as he stood back up and turned back towards Vix - his expression hardening again - Coatrisquie had not not bothered to react when the tentacles sharpened and hardened around Akura’s neck - but Akura certainly did so, throwing his hands up in surrender and taking his hand off of her shoulder. ”Heynowholdup!”

Akura froze, trying to show his lack of threat to the Shoggoth, and sighed openly in a breath of relief when Lavinia commanded the Shoggoth to relent. He scratched the back of his neck, and laughed nervously. ”Thank god. And, well, ah, you see, if you want the long answer, well…my ‘real’ dad is a nature god from what I've been told. So I can talk to and command animals and plants, kinda. Still a work in progress. But the things that you have around you? Well, I tried telling your, er, friend there to chill and calm down. But it's like talking to a brick wall. Not like he's ignoring me, but like my power is entirely ineffectual. I've never felt something like that.”

And in the meantime, Coatrisquie walked towards Vix and Fog, and his eyes narrowed and he shook his head, speaking up in a stern and deeply irritated voice - entirely uncaring of the fact that she seemed to be unconscious. ”Girl. You had best learn your lessons of the consequences of your actions hereon out.”

Lavinia retracted back slightly when Coatrisquie approached her. With what occur she wouldn't be surprised if she would be blamed for what occur. Most people in the school didn't take kindly to her presence because of her friends and considering what her creations did she expected to face the consequences for what occur.

Yet, what she fear never came. Instead the spirit knelt down and apologized for what the fox girl did and for his distrust towards her earlier now that he knows more about the nature of her creations. He even told her to not feel regret for what happened today yet she wasn't sure if she can easily let go of what happened.

She heard Akura speak about how his father was a nature god and that is the source over his command over animals and plants. Yet despite that power he couldn't influence her own creations. Not so much they ignore them but that he couldn't get access to them at all.

She looked at Dyer. "I never had any command over animals or plants. I can only command what I create. From what I learn that seems to be a power my parent had and why they were a deity of nature and fertility." she explained.

She commanded Dyer to let go of her arm. Yet as the Shoggoth began to open up Lavinia would feel an intense sting of pain which caused the Shoggoth to cover her arm again.

"Damn it! The fox manage to burn my arm and burn it badly." the woman cursed as she tried to fight through the pain she was now feeling. Now understanding that Dyer not only smothered the flames but prevented her from seeing the burns on her arm and feeling the pain.

"You know where the school infirmary is at?"

”Deity of nature and fertility…” Akura thought for a few seconds. ”Huh. I think you and I are gonna get along fabul-wait.”

Coatrisquie turned towards Lavinia, and then pointed at Vix and Fog. ”You two stay here.” He spoke as he turned back, and began walking towards Lavinia. ”You. We need to hurry up and make it to the Egress. We’ve delayed Lord Baibrama enough. So if it's urgent enough and it helps you, I can carry you atop my back and fly you to the infirmary for healing.”

"You don't have to," another rift would appear and her nightgaunt would fly threw. "I have my own means. I just need to know where to find my way to the right room." the humanoid would pick up Lavinia and carry her like a bride.

"I rather have this treated now before it gets worse."

Turock nodded to Abaguabana "Perhaps in time they will learn to accept me, but who is to say." He gave a shrug. "But I take comfort in those that accept me, and see them as my family." Turock turned to the new Goddess in the the group giving them a wave and a smile. "Hello."

[Luminesa]

Co-Write by Same Writers as Friendly Fire Pt. 1
Friendly Fire Pt. 2
Day 27, Daytime
Holy High Courtyard and Infirmary

“Oh goodness, what is all of this ruckus?”

In a swell of fall-colored linen shawls and a pumpkin-colored dress, an auntly figure rushed through the courtyard at the speed which only an Olympian could accomplish. And yet she was never quite a blur. Her appearance was meant to soothe, to console, to warm. Hestia had been busy in the kitchen, but then she had heard the screaming from the courtyard and had decided to investigate.

At the scene she found a whole bundle of the young gods, just finished with a fight of some sort. Abaguabana looked as though he was struggled through acute pain, Coatrisquie was on his knees apologizing to a new girl with silver hair and a plant-like monster near her, and Vix was unconscious on the ground with Fog standing near her. Hestia shook her head, the messy bun holding her hair bobbing in either direction with it. “Oh my goodness. What happened here?”

Fog nudges at Vix more. “Vix? Vix are you okay? This-this isn't funny, Vix!” Vix lies there, bleeding a little.

Hestia hurried to Vix’s side, adjusting her head in her lap and holding a hand over the wound. With a warm, healing touch, she was able to close and stabilize the wound. Even so, she was sure that the young Fox deity would need her rest. Shaking her head, the Goddess of the Hearth carefully picked her up and gazed at the group. “What happened here?” Her voice was quiet and motherly, but still quite firm.

Akura immediately backed away in sudden fright when the nightgaunt appeared, but rapidly calmed down, placing his hands on his hips and panting, looking on the ground. "Bloody hell! Those things just come out of nowhere!"

Coatrisquie crossed his arms and sighed. "Lavinia. By no fault of her own." Coatrisquie motioned over to the albino girl, the massive bat-winged creature carrying her, and the godling next to them, and continued on. "Poor girl's first day here was marred by this incident. Those creatures she controls react defensively. Our intelligent little fox here...set one on fire and it proceeded to react as one does to be lit on fire. I fully agree that these...THINGS are unusual, and perhaps somewhat frightening to ones that are not quite as inclined in the warrior's ways as I, but...seriously. That was not a smart move. I've handled the beasts, at least, so they won't be much of a problem for the near future. Hopefully. Speaking of, Hestia, Lavinia has been trying to find you, and have you had a chance to meet Lord Akura yet?"

"Wait, lord?" Akura cleared his throat, and then waved harmlessly over at Hestia, the rather tall boyish spirit seemingly rather unfazed and friendly despite the chaos that just unfolded.

Lavinia can feel the charred vines of the plant she made. She didn't need to see it to know that it was dead. She felt it's last agonized moments as it's life was snuffed out. She wasn't sure if the burns on her arms hurt more or the empathic link that remained with the dying plant exceeded it. She wish to just pass out but she couldn't. The pain that made her want to pass out paradoxically was keeping her awake.

The albino woman looked over to finally see Hestia. She raised her Shoggoth covered arm. "My arm is burnt. I don't know how badly it is. But I can barely feel anything besides pain from it." she explained. Lavinia would notice Turock waving and she tried but instead waved the shoggoth around in the air.

“Oh dear, I see now.” The kindly goddess went to Lavinia, all while still carrying Vix in her arms. She examined the scorched arm and shook her head. “Such recklessness…and for what reason I do not know. Nevertheless, it is my responsibility to care for both of you, and anyone who gets hurt. Even when we do get a full-time healer.”

She then looked to Akura and Coatrisquie as she decided on her course of action in her mind. “Please follow me as I bring them both to the infirmary. I feel Lavinia’s treatment will be quicker, but I do need to bring Vix somewhere so she can come back to consciousness safely.” Without waiting for an answer, she then whirled around, shawls and all, and started toward the main building and its infirmary.

"Wait," Lavinia asked as she moved her head up. "You don't have a god or goddess who is acting as the campus doctor or nurse?" she asked, wanting to make sure she misheard what she thought Hestia said.

Akura just looked at Lavinia, then at Hestia, then at Coatrisquie, then back at Hestia, and then back at Lavinia, and-
Sighing, Akura started walking towards Hestia, trying to figure out a way to help, but fully realizing he's out of his depth when it comes to these kinds of matters. "...Yeah alright, I'll keep you guys company. Let's g-" Just as Akura started to walk and finish talking, Coatrisquie stopped him dead in his tracks with a firm hand on his shoulder - having moved particularly fast enough that Coatrisquie was on him faster than he could actually register.

"No." Coatrisquie looked at Akura in his eyes, face stern enough to cause Akura to slump his shoulders in defeat, and then looked up to stare at Hestia. "Lord Baibrama has asked for our presence to deliver an urgent message at the Primary Egress. We may be able to come with, but I would like to know how long it will take first."

“Oh! If you have somewhere to be, then by all means!” Hestia answered as she looked back at the duo. “I simply needed you to both come in case you had any more information on what has happened. If you don’t, then I’ll just take these two and let you go. I know you must be quite busy.” She spoke with the subtle compassion of someone who knew all too well the threat which loomed over Bana’s pantheon. Bana’s family, friends, and everything he held dear. “Please, don’t let me stop you. Unless you need directions to someone.”

"My plant." the albino woman started. "It stole a piece of chocolate the fox had and she set it on fire while it was warp around my arm. It warp itself around me tighten the moment it was set on fire and I couldn't get it off. Dyer had to smother the flames with his body." she explained the the hearth deity.

"Dyer knocked her out because she hurt me. I told him to stop but he only did after Coatriquie used his powers." The Shoggoth's eyes stayed on Hestia. It judged the goddess. Waiting for her to make any move it can interrupt as a threat.

Vix wakes up with a start, shifting into a fox almost as she does, a glimmer of blue light surrounding her for a moment as though shielding her, and Lavina would feel as though somewhere, something snarled at her.

Vix slowly shifts back, her head no longer hurt. "Ow. Yeah that sucked, but also my bad. Didn't realize it was on your arm." She looks a bit sheepish. "I, uh, have some Aloe vera wraps n' stuff if you want." Vix glances at dyer, nodding to it in a sort of dual apology and recognition before pulling out some heavy duty burn cream from her tail, as well as a still-cold ice pack and a roll of surgical bandages. She extends the handful told supplies to Lavina slowly, not scared but simply gauging Dyer’s reaction to see if it understood she didn't truly mean to hurt Lavina.

Lavinia looked at the fox wearily. Her posture becoming more guard once she was awaken and began to speak to her. The eyes of the Shoggoth all turned to stare at the fox. Several tentacles rose up, rigid like spikes.

"No. I don't think that would help." She told Vix. She also knew that if she got close to now Dyer would most likely attack her again. Better to keep distance between herself and the fox for now.

The Shoggoth mean while was growing the spikes the closer Vix got to Lavinia.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

A cacophony of voices erupted from the Shoggoth. Different people voices all came out but each voice repeated the same word over and over.

Hestia gave a light tap on the Shoggoth, giving both the creature and Vix a firm look while doing so. “Stop that.” The tap would not have hurt, but her words were a warning for them to keep apart. She then looked at Lavinia and nodded at her story. “Yes, it seems that this has all been the result of some misunderstandings, and I hope that in the future Vix and your creatures will keep away from each other when tensions are high. Or…” She looked at the fox deity. “we will simply learn not set students on fire.”

Vix nods to hestia, dodging the tap instinctually. She retracts her hand slowly, making no sudden moves. Understanding the shoggoth's wishes she slides a packet of m&ms over to it. "Hey, I've heard enough people say that to know what it means. I ain't after her, I'm just incredibly stupid." She explains. She speaks in soothing tones, not treating it as an animal so much as a distressed creature that would lash out given the chance.

She shrugs at Hestia guilty. "I didn't realize the plant had her."

She turns to Lavina. "If it helps any, I've had my fair share of burns. Being a god should really come with a 100 year fire proof warranty, or something."

Fog trots over to the shoggoth, sniffing at it before gently pawing at it. I want up.[iI]

“You are not ‘incredibly stupid’, or you would not be at this school,” Hestia chastised Vix with a gentle, almost encouraging voice. “You simply need to take more time to think about your actions before committing to them. Let yourself think of how any new student would feel if you threw fire on their pet, or their friend. Like little Fog.” She scooped the tiny fox with a free hand and put her on top of the girl’s chest. “It sounds morbid, but you have to think a little morbidly to keep from making the same mistake again.”

[i]"Well!" Coatrisquie clapped his hands as he loosened his grip on Akura's shoulder to prevent the godling from moving away. "You and I will certainly have to disagree there, Lady Hestia. That being said, the three of us will leave now."

Coatrisquie placed his hands behind his back, turned, and beckoned the mostly-silent and pre-occupied Abagubana to follow, and motioned for Akura to come with as well. Akura did briefly turn to Lavinia for a few seconds, and shouted; "Vix! Lavinia! Imma come visit you two later with some gifts and settle your nerves. Just a simple mistake! Don't be too worried!"

"Hurry up." Coatrisquie called out after Akura, who promptly started jogging to keep up with the elder god.

The Shoggoth would try to enclose the spikes around Hestia's wrist. Like a mouth ready to sink it's teeth into a morsel of food offer to it. But the Shoggoth stopped as Lavinia glared at it. The spikes moved away.

The shoggoth looked down at the fox but ignored it's demand to get up. Or more precisely it didn't understand the request. It's confusion was the sole reason it wasn't seeing the fox's action as a threat.

Lavinia mentally requested for the Shoggoth to release the plant. The shoggoth's body parted and from it dropped the burnt remains of the plant. The blacken, shriveled tangle of branches and vines showed barely recognizable lumps that had sharp teeth still attached. The eyes were boiled away with only empty stocks showing that such organs were once on the plant.

The body of the plant landed on the ground. Lavinia refused to look at the remains. Knowing already that it was dead from the glimpse she had when she first saw her arm.

"I, uh... I'm not good at making first impressions, huh?"

Fog tries to jump up onto the shoggoth's shoulders.

Vix looks at the now-dead plant. "...I'm working on a garden. You could put more of them there. I shouldn't have done that, and I'm sorry. I reacted on instinct and it was a terrible thing to do. I don't do that normally. I don't know why I did that." She gathers the parts of the plant. "...Do you... Want to bury it?"

Lavinia looked away at the plant and at Vix. "No. I think I can do something with the body. I rather not throw it out." she said. Dyer was forming mouths with fangs but Lavinia placed her good hand on the Shoggoth to calm it down.

"I'm gonna need time to process all of this before I can decide if I accept your apology." she bluntly stated. Her tone sounding hollow. Her emotions have become numb after everything she experienced. Her mind putting her through a dissociated state to help process everything that happened by so quickly.

Vix nodded silently, before turning and walking into a wall. "Ow." She turns again, walking a little ways before tripping and falling on her face. She just lays there a moment before just shifting into a fox and padding off .

Fog wriggles up, trying to settle down on the shoggoth in a very nonthreatening way. Wow, you're tall AND you can't understand me? This is great! I can talk all I want and you won't get annoyed! So have you ever eaten mango? I haven't eaten a mango. Do they even exist? See, it makes no sense to me because...

“Shhhhhh.” Hestia picked up Fog once again, and pulled the little Fox away from the shoggoth. “Give them some space. I’m not even going to put you near each other.”

When Hestia got them both to the infirmary, she put Vix in one bed near the entrance, so she could see her as soon as she entered the room. As for Lavinia, she brought her further from Vix, and once she had them separated, she drew the curtain and looked at the traumatized young deity. “Let me see your wounds, sweetheart.”

In the meantime, a certain ibis-headed god had followed, having heard some of the screaming and the action. But Thoth did not walk into the conversation between the girl and Hestia. Rather, he stayed near Vix, going to clean her wound and to affix some gauze around the wound.

The Shoggoth would move from the arm and Hestia would see red arm with black and white jagged patterns displaying damaged skin. She would also see pieces of the burnt plant seem to still be stuck on to her arm.

Lavinia looked away from her arm. She had a peak before and now she rather not see the full damage. She can already feel that it was terrible by how she couldn't feel much besides pain coming from it. The shoggoth would slide under the bed for the time being.

“Oh my goodness, let me see…”

Hestia was shocked by how much damage Vix had done. She was not usually so aggressive, and even with all her godly wisdom she could not have guessed what had driven the usually-perky deity to become violent. But she hovered a hand over the wound, and the warmth and Hestia’s soothing power closed the painful wound, and helped the skin and tissue to begin healing. Lavinia would see a long, smooth, new sheet of pink skin over the spot where she had been burned.

“And does your pet need healing as well?”

Vix flicked her tail, feeling incredibly guilty as she hugged fog. Her eyes were a little teary. "...I didn't mean to..."

Lavinia looked at wonder as the burnt flesh began to repair itself before her eyes. The black spots turning back to a regular colour and the red inflamed flesh turning into a more pleasant shade of pink. The unbearable heat began to diminish as more of the skin was repaired until finally it was more tolerable. More importantly, she can finally feel from the arm and when she raised a finger with no difficulty she was glad to know the limb can be saved. Yet the sensation of phantom pain persisted. Yet it was weaker than what she felt before.

"Dyer doesn't need healing. Nothing can really hurt him for long." she explained to the goddess as she moved her fingers around to check on their repair. She would twist her hand. "My plant is dead however. I don't think your magic can bring it back can't it?" She looked at the pink skin and compared it to her other arm which was still pale. It was rather obvious that the other stood out massively. She was hoping her arm would return back to it's pale complexion cause even if her pale complexion stood out she rather have her entire body match up than one looking different.

Thoth leaned by Vix’s bedside and handed her a tissue. “Most wounds can be healed. First impressions, however, may be difficult to heal. Keep that in mind, since it seems that you two will be roommates.” His words were gentle, but firm. Goddess or not, the fox deity was old enough to learn from her mistakes.

In the meantime, Hestia looked at the plant which had died, and she gave a frown. “Oh goodness. The poor dear.” She held the leaves, now charred and destroyed, and she thought for a moment. “I am not sure if mine can, but what I can do is send this to a plant deity I know. She can perhaps assist. If she is successful, you should have your little plant back in a couple of days. Is that acceptable?”

Lavinia looked at Hestia with surprise. "I was planning on using it's body as material to create new life. But if your friend can revive it than I will like to see if that can be done." she would give Hestia the charred body of the plant.

"I would like to request a change in my accommodation." she would add. "I wish to be in a different dorm." she looked away from the goddess as she stated her request. She knew it would cause issues but she needed to express her current desire now before it was too late.

The Goddess of the Hearth could feel the sting in her chest. She hated to see such pain and frustration on a student’s first day, but she understood the demand. “Very well. I will let Athena know. We should have an extra dorm available to you, and we will swap you with another roommate for Vix.” She spoke low, making sure not to let the fox deity hear them. While this business did involve her, she could also speak directly to the girl later. Not to mention that Thoth was with her, and if she was upset he would be able to handle her.

"Thank you." she quietly said. Lavinia turned to her side. The fox girl tried to apologize and frankly after how she was treated since stepping foot in this terrible place that was a major improvement. But she couldn't see her now nor be close to her after she burned her arm and killed one of her creations.

She can't blame the fox for not knowing the connection she felt with them. That was something she never shared. But she can't look into her eyes after she felt the plant desperation to live, it's pain and fear as it was burning to death, to feel not only the heat and burn from her own skin but have it amplify with the plant suffering the same thing and dying as well.

It was just the fact she lost something that was close to her. It was the fact she felt as though she died yet did not. That was a sort of pain she rarely felt and any time she felt it a terrible emptiness would settle in her very core.

"Divinity huh?" for her, this gift of divinity feels more like a curse. She wish she can go back to her youthful days of being a witch. That what she had was just a specific form of magic. She wants to see the people who she believed were her parents. She wants her old life back. She doesn't want to be in this place.

Thoth could tell that Vix would feel awful after this experience. She was still trying to understand what was her place in this school, and among her classmates. Experience was always the harshest teacher.

“She will forgive you, I’m sure,” Thoth explained softly to Vix. “But it will take her some time. So allow her that time. In the meantime, we will find you a new dorm-mate.” He pat her shoulder, and waited for Hestia to come to check Vix’s own head wound. In the meantime, as he kept an eye on her, he also let Ganesha know from afar. He checked the gauze around her head, and decided he would stay here until he was needed elsewhere.

[Il-Illah]

Day 27, Daylight
Holy High Campus, Near the Dormitory

He may not consider himself as the shining example of being a teacher, but as far as Ragatirta is concerned, Hyperion didn't seem to be as bad as the Titan himself thought. The sea prince felt relieved at the teacher's company and nodded as he explained things to Ragatirta.

As Hyperion went around looking for a room, Ragatirta thought for a moment about the concept of being in a room with a complete stranger. Back in the Southern Sea, none save his queen mother had the courage to even call him by name, despite his constant reminder. Caretakers and servants had been the most people he ever met throughout his life, and having a friend beside Baya Putih and Ula Ijo was something to be joyful and worried about for young Ragatirta. Why the worry? Perhaps it was because of the possibility of cruel or mean roommate with godlike power, perhaps it's more because he didn't know the etiquette behind friendship, or perhaps both.

A moment after, Ragatirta followed Hyperion's instructions and walked towards the Sun Titan as he explained about the prince's roommate. Then somehow the teacher decided to give him a nickname, which was yet another massive leap compared to his times in the Southern Sea where everyone always called him by titles.

"Ah, the rest of my items are being carried by someone else, sir. It should arrive soon."

As both were conversing by the dormitory, a peculiar white crocodile with white hair covering his entire back arrives at Holy High, followed by four men wearing an all aqua green uniform and a blangkon cap, each carrying around cardboard boxes. All four of these men had a rather ghastly face and a pair of blank white eyes. The crocodile went around asking for directions from students about the dormitory, and after some time, he led the men towards the dorm, and happened to meet Ragatirta and Hyperion as soon as he and the other four men arrived.

"There they are!" Ragatirta exclaimed after seeing Baya Putih and some palace servants arrived to send the remainder of his things. He walked over to them, but not before giving the Sun Titan a small bow, and asked the crocodile, "Can you tell them to drop the boxes over to the room over there? I'll do the unpacking."

"But Master, why don't you let me--" "No, Baya Putih. After this you're dismissed. You deserve a rest after going all the way from the Southern Sea." The crocodile simply nodded, and gestured with his head to the four men following behind him to bring the boxes over to the room. After completing their task, Baya Putih vaporized into steam, while the four servants dissipated into thin air.

After While, Crocodile!
Day 27, Daytime
Ragatirta’s New Room, Holy High Campus

Hyperion watched as the young sea deity seemed to be confused at his hospitality. He had to wonder what sort of kingdom he was from to expect such a stiff welcoming from a place like Holy High. Even Astrid had at least received a friendly welcome, when she was willing to receive it.

Nevertheless, he got Ragatirta to a new room, and he waved his hand as he motioned inside the large dorm. “Whatever you want to put in here, as long as it’s not illicit substances or alcohol, is fine by the school and by me. Though, uh, if you had a moving crew then you should have just told-”

He paused as he saw who consisted of the “moving crew”. One was a crocodile walking on two legs, and the rest were servants in matching turquoise uniforms. “Team Aqua got an upgrade,” he murmured to himself as he watched them bring boxes into the room. He decided to go help them, however, especially after Raga had asked for him to do so and when he also saw the sizes of some of the boxes. “I’ve got it.”

He was stronger than all of the servants, but he mostly just helped them to not drop things around the room. One of the items in a rectangular box seemed to have water sloshing around, and he felt it had to be fragile. “Don’t drop it, don’t drop it!”

Once everything was in the room, and the servants left, Hyperion wiped his brow and took a sip of liquid from one of his flasks. After giving a loud burp, he then grinned down to Raga. “Gonna go find-out whoever your roommate is. In the meantime, have fun decorating! If you need help, Hestia’s in the infirmary with a student and Athena is in her office in the main building. I’ll be cleaning the beach and probably eating my breakfast. See ya!”

With that, he vanished, walking back out to the courtyard and toward the shoreline of the beach area to continue his tasks before classes started.

Day 27, Daylight
Dormitory Room, Holy High Campus

"Decorate as much as I like, hmm," Ragatirta spoke to himself, while looking at the four boxes currently placed on the floor. The sea prince looked around to look at the room one more time, and he was quite surprised. Back when he was human, Ragatirta would hear from his radio accounts of college students having to survive in a very poor condition, away from home to seek knowledge. They often jokingly described their room as barely livable, cramped, and even poorly maintained. To his surprise, his room was akin to a high-end hotel room one would pay stacks of money for.

And then Ragatirta looked again, to a door next to him. When it was opened, the room revealed a bed with two t, an empty desk and chair, a cupboard, and its own bathroom. He couldn't be any happier to see that his room was in opposition to the things he heard on the radio.

Ragatirta went back on the boxes, and opened one of them, the bulkiest of all four. It was some of his personal belongings; a laptop, his radio, a Big Mouth Billy Bass (a kid gave it to him as a gift after he thwarted an attack against Palabuhanratu. It was given during his victory speech in a celebration after the defense), a wireless computer mouse, and a rice cooker with its cord cut off (a palace servant enchanted it so that it may work without electricity). He began putting the stuff in the box in their places, with the radio, the laptop, and the computer mouse placed on his study desk, the rice cooker on the floor beside the desk, and the singing bass on the wall.

Then, Ragatirta turned to the other box. It wasn't as bulky or tall, but it was certainly wide, wider than the rest of the box. He unraveled the box to uncover a painting of his mother Kanjeng Ratu Kidul graciously presenting herself on the waters of the Southern Sea, his own illustration of Baya Putih and Ula Ijo from when he was still human, and a large portrait of himself wearing his signature aqua green sweater, the very same that he was wearing at the moment. All of these pictures are already framed, and Ragatirta hung these three pictures on the wall above his bed. His mother's painting was hung just above the bed, while his own portrait and drawing of his two Greater Mimics were hung to the left and right of the Queen respectively.

When all was done, Ragatirta opened the third box, the smallest amongst the rest. It revealed a fish bowl with a cover on it, decorated with real corals and small pebbles. In it lived a lionfish, dearly named Jeremiah by the sea prince. Ragatirta lifted the fish bowl, and placed it on the study desk.

Finally, Ragatirta turned to look at the fourth and final box. It wasn't small like the third box, nor was it bigger than the box of his personal items. He opened it to see several boxes of mosquito coils with a lavender scent. Not that Ragatirta was concerned about the insects swarming around, given that the gods are surely anticipating something as insignificant as mosquitoes. It was that the sea prince loved the smell of it. It brought him to his mortal times, where he would spend the night drawing Baya Putih and Ula Ijo while listening to the radio. He closed the box again, and put it beside the rice cooker.

With all things now set, Ragatirta put all the empty boxes as one and put it away in front of his bedroom. Meanwhile, the clothes and textbooks he already brought were placed into their proper places. He smiled in satisfaction after seeing his own room, the room he'll live in and sleep the night in for the days to come. Waiting for the class, he decided to seal himself in a ball of saltwater while in his bedroom, just like before Hyperion found him above the skies.

[Nantoraka]

Akura, Abaguabana, and Coatrisquie
School Courtyard
Click, click, click, click. The tapping of shoes against stone brick practically filled the air in the awkward and silent aftermath of the altercation. Abaguabana had nothing to say, distracted as he was the entire event, and the event had put Coatrisquie in a noticeable mood, while Akura felt too intimidated to ever speak up to Coatrisquie about his transformations during the event - so the three were content to wander in silence.

The three godlings walked from the site of the altercation along the myriad stone brick paths of the school, Coatrisquie leading the group ahead, arms behind his back and hands leaked across his lower back, and a hint of static electricity trailing around himself as a remnant of his earlier outburst, his tattoos steadily glowing in the aftermath of the power he had briefly let out in anger. Coatrisquie was, in comparison to his earlier appearances when first summoned to the school, dressed much more modestly and more “in touch” with that of the surrounding cultures - instead of a revealing assortment of gold plates, feathers, and leaves that left much of his torso and chest exposed, Coatrisquie was dressed in that modest sweatshirt, which gave Abaguabana some manner of pause when wondering exactly how he came across such an elegant design so quickly. Coatrisquie was silent, still annoyed and in a particularly bothersome mood after the trick that was pulled earlier, and he continued to march ahead along the path in silence. Akura on the other hand, was rather deep in thought and preoccupied. He actually quite liked the new arrival - for some reason, Akura just saw a lot of himself in her, and felt the two had many shared experiences, which made the altercation all the more heartbreaking for the young godling. As such, he was thinking of ways to improve her situation - her mood, her standing of herself, whether or not she feels she fits in or not, all things Akura would much rather see to, as to lift her spirits. Akura, ever-imaginative, just kept muttering under his breath, coming up with, discarding, and altering ideas that would not end up seeing the light of day.

Abaguabana on the other hand, certainly did notice the demigod’s demeanor, and was all too keen on Akura’s unusual behavior. Opening his hand, Abaguabana allowed a jet of water to spring forth and reform into his fishing spear, and turned it, allowing the blunt top of the hooked end to poke Akura and get his attention. Akura, predictably, shot up and grabbed the mark the wet hook made - red and slightly burned - with a tight hand and looked around for the offender, and turned to his right, staring down Abaguabana. ”...What? What is it?” Akura asked, slightly annoyed at Abaguabana poking him with the spear. A simple “Akura” would have sufficed.

”You look like you’re trying to think about something.” The bronze-skinned water god spoke, trying to break the awkward silence with a new topic to distract the three of them from the earlier event. ”You know, I might be the second-youngest of the divine spirits…but I have been around for what a human would consider quite a long, long time. You could ask me for help.”

Abaguabana reached his hands up to his head, fidgeting with that supernatural hair of his, as Akura considered his words for a few seconds, wondering whether or not to speak up about his thoughts to his brand-new family - they were certainly related by blood it seemed, but they hadn’t known each other for a full day. Opening up felt…awkward, to say the least. ”Well, ah, I’m trying to figure out a gift for the two girls earlier. I feel bad about what happened.” Akura spoke up, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. ”I feel like I have to do SOMETHING to help them out.”

Abaguabana finished fidgeting with his hair - pulling the leather hair tie that was keeping his hair together in a ponytail, and letting his hair drift upwards and outwards, moving in that unusual way it does, as if he was suspended underwater. A hardly subtle indicator of his status as an oceanic god. Akura just raised eyebrows at the display, as Abaguabana whipped his head around to get his hair under control and out of his eyes, and it floated behind them as they moved. ”Ah, much better. That display earlier had messed with my hair. I’ll fix it later, but I just need it to breath.” Abaguabana punctuated his sentence with a clap, his spear fading away and evaporating away as if it was made of water. ”Now! You have quite the kind heart, do you, Akurrada?”

Akura did take a few seconds to answer, of course - he was rather mesmerized by how Abaguabana’s hair just seemed to float in the air, and trailed behind him as he moved like a cape. How does he… were the thoughts that flew through Akura’s head, but he rapidly pushed them away as he returned to focus on the conversation. ”Ah, well, yeah.” Akura just stated. ”I mean, we’re gods, or at least, that’s what I’ve been told. That’s our purpose, isn’t it? To make things better for people?”

Coatrisquie had nothing to say, but still looked back at Akura as he said those words, before looking back and just sighing as they continued along. Abaguabana nodded, and placed a hand behind his back in some sort of rest pose as his other hand returned to his chin to think. The bronze-skinned god just seemed to ponder these words, and continued along. ”I suppose you’re right there. But some of us simply don’t have any other choice than to make things worse…in some ways. You see…mortals are just one part of the system that is the Earth Mother. Something that might change things for the better for mortals…may make things worse for others. Your heart is good, but you should balance out your kindness with the willingness to do what you NEED to do.”

Akura was silent, and Coatrisquie himself was wondering whether or not he should weigh in - after all, in the old days, he had spent much time culling the human populations on a practically regular basis by unleashing hurricane after hurricane with his mother and twin brother Guatauba, and doing so may have been cruel, but ultimately proved beneficial for the wider ocean ecosystems, which desperately needed the help in those days. Still, he decided to continue swimming in his grumbling, residual anger and annoyance - that, and he fully knew that Akura still retained a strong connection to his human side. Far moreso than his spirit side, he did not need to be told this; he already felt it. Saying such may very well have angered him. Akura did, however, break the silence and speak up once more. ”Look, I’m not quite smart or experienced enough to wade through your philosophy. Let’s get back to the gift, ey?” Abaguana suppressed a small smile and shrugged in agreement, and Akura continued. ”Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but I was thinking of getting Lavinia some, ah, flowers.”

”...Flowers?” Coatrisquie spoke up, somewhat surprised at the gift and even incredulous, but the god suppressed a small snicker. ”Just met her and already taking someone out on a date? How proud of my family am I.”

”Woah now! It’s not like that.” Akura put his hands up in surrender. ”...okay, her albinism is actually somewhat cute, I’ll FULLY admit that. And I feel like me and her aren’t that different. But I’m not doing it as a romantic gesture. Did you feel her plant, or the tentacle-mouth-toothy monster that was trying to kill Vix?”

”Of course I felt it. I grabbed it.” Coatrisquie just bluntly stated.

”But did you FEEL it? Like its nature?”

”Akura,” Abaguana spoke up. ”Remember, we are all unique. You can do things that we cannot do. I cannot ‘feel’ the aura of plants if they do not somehow originate as a spirit. Same with Coatrisquie. You can tell us what you mean.”

”Okay.” Akura coughed, taking a deep breath as he prepared to deliver quite the speech. ”Look. My dad is Faraguvaol, I think you two know that. I don’t know much about him, but what I do know is that he’s a deity of nature. And I inherited nature abilities from him. I can command and talk to animals, and do the same to plants. Insects. Anything that really feels like it falls somewhere in the natural order of things. But her beasts? That bat-winged monster? They ignore my commands, and it’s more than that. They IGNORE it. As if I never spoke in the first place. Like they completely fell out of the natural order of things entirely.”

Coatrisquie stopped in his tracks. If he didn’t feel like a fool then, he certainly felt like one now - dark spirits would not have blatantly ignored Akura’s ability like that, if he is understanding it correctly. In fact, she may very well be something entirely unknown. Rather curious. As Coatrisquie stopped, Abaguabana stopped as well - with his hair continuing its momentum and suddenly shooting past his head and into his face, much to his annoyance - and the two gods slowly turned towards Akura to hear him out. ”Look, my point is, that plant was much more than a simple fancy succulent to her. And I feel like she feels she doesn’t belong. It’s like…intuition, I think. Whatever she is, her abilities are drawn from something that’s just…not like anything we know, or feel like. And if I remember right, we’re spirits, right? Bound to the Earth? Nature and magic mixed together incarnate?”

”Your point being…?” Coatrisquie spoke up. He certainly was somewhat impatient at this point of how long it was taking the group to reach the egress, but still, on some level, he was rather impressed at Akura’s ability to deduce such subjects with little formal training. The skin was human, certainly, but underneath it, Akura was undeniably a spirit, and this was certainly showing. The god was even somewhat interested in what the demigod had to say - it was rather interesting seeing such a being, with little proper education in the ways of the spirit, comment on subjects that were instinctive to him.

”My point is, if I, an incarnate of nature, create a flower, and give it to her, and teach her to take care of it to replace the one that died, maybe I can help ‘anchor her’ to the natural order and help her feel like she belongs. Help her have control.”

Abaguabana and Coatrisquie just looked at each other in silence - no words needed to be verbally exchanged for the two brothers to know what the other was going to say, and Coatrisquie simply just turned, placed his hands behind his back in some sort of parade rest pose, and walked once more. Abaguabana tilted his head in a gesture for Akura to continue following them, and Coatrisquie spoke up. ”Would you look at that.” The god spoke with a small hint of pride in his voice. ”The spirit underneath makes itself known. A god will be made of you yet, Akurrada.”

Akura fumbled over his words trying to find a response, but Abaguabana interrupted him before he could speak. ”...What he means, Akura, is that none of that is the human talking. Spirits are magical in nature. You just tapped into that without knowing. Nice work.”

”Wait.” Akura spoke up. ”I did?”

Abaguabana nodded and smiled, returning his arms to parade rest as the three gods continued to march their way towards the primary egress.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three gods, after nearly five minutes of walking, finally came across the egress. It was actually rather small compared to what Akura expected - he had arrived the “mortal route”, dragging himself up the mountain with nothing but his own super-strength to keep him anchored to the cliffsides, and hadn’t actually seen this side of the school yet. Akura simply looked at the egress - a somewhat large marble gazebo with myriad glowing magical circles in the center - and felt…underwhelmed. The word “primary”, to him, had implied some sort of grandeur, rather than this…park building. His attention was immediately drawn to Coatrisquie, who shouted to him. ”Akura! Come here.” Akura obeyed, silently walking up to Coatrisquie, who stood next to the ramp leading into the central ring of the gazebo and the various magic circles within. ”Here,” the god spoke, ”You will learn how to call forth Lord Baibrama’s message for us. I will not do it. Abaguabana will not do it. You will do it.”

”Wait.” Akura immediately got nervous, and started stammering. ”I-I-I…don’t know…magic.”

Coatrisquie raised an eyebrow. ”Of course you do. You spoke of your intuitions of Lavinia’s magic. You showed your ability to manipulate plants to her. Is that not magic?”

”That’s different. That’s like, instinctual. I just…do it. I don’t summon magic circles for it, it just comes naturally, like an innate power. It’s not like using eye of newt to fling fireballs, or whatever it is.”

Abaguabana rolled his eyes as Coatrisquie continued. ”Wrong. That’s magic. You are a divine spirit. Same as I. Same as Abaguabana. Of course it comes naturally to you…you are not only a spirit, innately magic, but you are a god. Divine. You just do not know how to focus your magic properly. The magic of spirits is far more instinctual and primal than that of the magic of men, you simply need the know-how, and you will learn here. Watch.”

Coatrisquie opened his hands, stretching his arm and pressing his palm forwards and outwards as his fingers splayed out. Lightning began to surge from beneath his clothes, the glowing tattoos visible through the fabric, and danced in arcs across his shoulder and arm, and into his hands, gathering into a variety of arcs and a steadily growing, surging ball within the palm of his hand. ”You see, you may end up attuned to a certain…element, I suppose, as part of your domain. I am the god of lightning. Therefore, my lightning carries a magical nature with it. Abaguabana is the god of water, and thus, his water carries a magical nature with it. The light and fire of Boinayel is magical, and so is the silver light and ice of Marohu. Some of us do not have this special element, but you may, and you will not know until you discover it. Until then, you must focus on the energy you already produce. That golden-green light that forms whenever you utilize your powers. That there is your divinity made physical, like my lightning.” Coatrisquie looked to his left, staring at Akura in the eyes, who himself was rather enamored with the light show Coatrisquie was producing, but yet, still focused on the teachings of the elder spirit. Coatrisquie closed his hands, the lightning dissipating and his tattoos dimming until they were once more hidden under his fabrics, and turned to face Akura. Abaguabana crouched to the ground, kicking his legs out and sitting on the soft grass floor of the outdoors as Coatrisquie continued his little lesson. ”Now, you try.”

Akura nodded. ”Here goes…” He spoke, as he outstretched his own right hand towards the gazebo’s circular interior, closing his eyes to concentrate…and nothing. A few awkward seconds of nothing passed by, ticking by bit by bit, as Akura continued to just groan in frustration and seemed to stick out his hand harder, seemingly trying to find some way of channeling his power without relying on a plant, and yet continuously meeting with failure as Coatrisquie just stared impatiently while tapping his foot on the ground. Abaguabana simply leaned back, elbows on the grass and feet kicked out, watching in silence as Akura continued to try and fail to cast his magic. Nearly a minute passed by until Akura sighed in defeat and dropped his arms to his side, rubbing his elbow from how hard he was pushing forward his arm. ”Yeah, no, I can’t. Sorry.”

Coatrisquie rolled his eyes. ”Because you’re not doing it right, you’re not trying hard enough, and you don’t believe you can do it. You are a spirit. You may have been raised human, but you are NOT human.”

”Did you not see me raising my arm up like an idiot?” Akura exasperatedly shot back. ”It’s just beyond me.”

”No, it’s not. Put your hand up again.”

Akura groaned and did so, passing his arm back up and perpendicular to himself, and once again, pointed his palm once more at the ground, while taking his other hand and holding his arms like it was some sort of arm cannon. ”Too tense.” Coatrisquie spoke, as he walked up to Akura and forced the hand and arm holding his right arm up back to his side, and moved it to point at the ground. ”You’re not trying to blast it with lightning. Be calm. Be still. Allow it to flow through you, don’t force it through.”

Abaguabana spoke up, prompting Akura to open his eyes and shift his vision to his cousin as the ocean god spoke up. ”Your magic is part of you. You said yourself that spirits are magical, correct? It will do as you command so-long as you allow it the space and respect to do so. You do not even have to think it, as again, it is PART of you. It follows your instincts and desires. That is how my brother and I weave our lightning and water so…effortlessly.”

Akura sighed, and closed his eyes. ”Right. Let go. Just let it through, and stop trying to force it to do what I want. Just…let it happen. Right. Right.” Akura kept saying the mantra to himself - Right, Right, Right, distracting himself from his efforts and letting him clear his mind of other distractions by focusing on that one word. A few, seemingly fruitless seconds passed as Akura attempted this new strategy of letting go, and as it seemed that failure was about to happen once more, a green light made its appearance as the faint outline of the spirit tattoos endemic to all divine spirits made their presence known underneath Akura’s own clothes - something which Coatrisquie and Abaguabana both noticed, and the two looked at each other, and smiled at the development of Akura’s being. Still, the demigod himself had not noticed, eyes closed as they were, but now a small orb of jade light was making itself known on the palms of Akura’s splayed out hand.

”Good.” Coatrisquie spoke, with ever the slight amount of pride underneath his voice and a mouth tipped with a slight smile at the progress Akura was making. ”You’ve let go. Now the power works as an extension of yourself. You did not think it, you willed it.”

Akura slowly opened his eyes, looking at the orb within his hands, an identical energy to that which he uses to channel his control over plants, and almost became giddy over this development. ”Wa..wait…I D-DID IT? I DID IT!” Akura almost cackled over his excitement. ”I CONTROLLED IT!” Such a thing, refined control over his own abilities, was alien to him - this new development felt like opening a million paths he never thought would be opened to him.

”I know. Now control your excitement, don’t get out of balance.” Coatrisquie spoke, the elder lightning deity spoke. Turning to Abaguabana, Coatrisquie nodded, and in a hidden signal, the ocean god nodded back. Kicking his legs beneath him, Abaguabana rapidly got onto his feet and stood up, walking back towards the gazebo as Coatrisquie continued to coach Akura. ”Now, to open a-”

”Wait…what are those…WHAT ARE THOSE?” Akura suddenly shouted in an equal mixture of nervousness and excitement, having evidently noticed the bright green patterns burning their presence into his skin with a warm and gentle glow. They formed various complex geometric patterns, but closely mirrored those of Coatrisquie’s and Abaguabana’s; whereas Coatrisquie’s formed various effigies of storms and waves across his chest, wrists, arms, and lower torso, and Abaguabana’s formed effigies of waves, the sun, and oceanic animals and spread across his wrists, arms, and the entirety of his torso, it seemed Akura’s own patterns seemed to form effigies of forests, animals, and most notably, images of war and weapons, and seemed to extend up his arms and around his upper torso.

Coatrisquie just blinked at the rather rude interruption he was just dealt, and he and Abaguabana stopped to look at each other. Crossing his arms and snickering, clearly finding some sort of humor in the demigod freaking out over what was a childhood fact of life to the two deities, Coatrisquie turned towards Akura. ”Ah…it seems this is your first time seeing your spirit tattoos, isn’t it?”

”YES! WHYISMYSKINBURN-” Akura panickingly shouted out, still getting used to the true nature of his body, before being interrupted by Coatrisquie once more.

”It’s not burning. They were always there from the moment of your birth. It seems that they are only now making themselves known.” Coatrisquie raised his arm upwards, and with his other hand, pulled the sleeve of his sweatshirt up to his shoulder, revealing the rather strong sculpted muscles underneath, the physique of an experienced warrior. Across his skin were those very same glowing tattoos, though glowing blue instead - though a fair bit dimmer, they always glowed somewhat as the power of Coatrisquie flowed through his body, even if rather dimly. Flexing his muscle, Coatrisquie allowed some form of lightning to begin channeling through, the tattoos sparking into life as the full geometric designs began to glow, stories glowing into existence on his arm, and glowing lights shining through the fabric across the other places on his body beneath his clothing - chest, wrists, arms, and abdomen. ”We all have them.

Abaguabana looked at Coatrisquie and shrugged, doing the same - pulling his own long-sleeve shirt up, Abaguabana revealed his own tattoos, and whereas Coatrisquie’s was blue, his was white. Akura just stared at the two, and nodded, his panic giving away to curiosity and yet even more excitement. ”So…what are these?” He spoke, as he stared at the glowing shapes beneath his clothing.

”The channels through which our energy flows.” Abaguabana spoke. ”Think of it like…rivers. Our energy is the water, these tattoos are the rivers through which that water flows. They are unique entirely to us, and the symbols on them represent the domains we hold.”

”Back on topic. We will discuss them later.” Coatrisquie spoke, pulling his sleeve back down and allowing his energy to calm once more, and turned back towards Akura. ”Back to what I was saying. The Spirit World that we hail from is connected to the world of men through puddles of water. Gates will form in underground ponds and such. These gates are maintained by the spirits that you will know as the Kabuya Rakan. With their tending, the ‘ropes of power’ keep the Spirit World tethered to the mortal world. Through that…we communicate. Abaguabana.”

Abaguabana nodded at the mention of his name, and clapped his hands together, closing his eyes. His white tattoos began to glow as the godling pulled water from the air around them, moisture forming in a ball of crystal clear water in front of Abaguabana as Akura held his pose with his arm splaying outwards. Clapping his hands once more, the water ball collapsed and filled the ground of the gazebo, and rapidly began to take on a far more magical color as the water interacted with the magical circle on the bottom of the gazebo - turning darker and beginning to glow a brilliant green, with star-like pricks of light appearing in the center. Coatrisquie then put a hand on Akura’s shoulder, using his other arm to steady the godling and aim his arm at the gazebo. ”Now,” the elder god spoke, ”Do not think. Desire. Desire to open a gate, and speak to Lord Baibrama.”

Akura closed his eyes, and did so - trying to banish the thoughts, and focus his magic through desire instead of thoughts or commands. And as the approach finally changed, so too did his magic, finally taking shape into a finer, controlled form in stark contrast to his wild and uncontrolled demonstrations earlier, and the green light faded as the puddle glowed green in return. Coatrisquie smiled, patting the godling on the back. ”Perfect. You’re practically a natural, once you understand the direction you should be going in.”

Akura smiled at the compliment, evidently proud of himself as his face was gleaming at what he just achieved, and opened his mouth to speak and reply - but was rapidly interrupted as stones gathered forth and the water evaporated from the gazebo, rocks tearing themselves from the space around the gazebo and rapidly forming together inside the gazebo itself, with Akura immediately backing up as his muscles tensed defensively in alarm at the sudden change. ”W-what the hell?!”

Coatrisquie again placed his hands atop Akura’s back, staring at him in the eyes. ”Relax. Lord Baibrama is closely tied to the earth itself. He is the god of farmers and workers, and as such, when he communicates with us through this manner, he manifests through stone.”

Akura stared at Coatrisquie in the face, attempting to process what he was saying, before nodding along. ”Yeah, alright.” Akura spoke, relaxing his muscles and sighing as he watched the stones rip themselves out of the earth and gather together in the gazebo, grinding and merging themselves together to form a facsimile of an incredibly large and strongly-built individual. The loosely gathered stones suddenly dissolved and shattered as if the wind was carving a statue out of them, and in their place was the image of a tall, strongly built figure with a brilliantly adorned mask that covered his face and head like a helmet and extended to his neck and upper chest. This individual was even more strongly built than Coatrisquie - in fact, he was outright the build of a divine power lifter, compared to Coatrisquie’s more bodybuilder-esque physique, and Akura could hardly doubt the power that god must have physically.

The stone figure began to move, rocks and pebbles falling to the ground with every movement, and the figure began to slowly cross its arms, the friction causing dusty soil to plume outwards and dirty the gazebo around them. The figure’s expressions could not be read - masked as it was, let alone its golem-like composition of rock and soil - but it almost felt…melancholy, and depressed, with the low energy of its movements. A demeanor that the other two gods seemed to notice immediately, with Coatrisquie picking up on it noticeably quickly. The figure spoke, his voice noticeably masculine and gravely, with the bass of a mountain. ”Lord Coatrisquie. Lord Abaguabana. Prince Akura…I’m afraid I bring alarming news. The most alarming news I could ever bring, for a day I had hoped would never come.”

Coatrisquie’s hand slid off of Akura’s back as the spirit moved forth, his eyes narrowing in concern - and he would never let his cousin, and especially his younger brother, know such a fact, but anxiety began to build up within his soul. Such an alien demeanor from a being such as Baibrama alone triggered such feelings, but this particularly alarming introduction set especially strong feelings of anxiety through the deepest parts of his stomach. ”...What has happened, Lord Baibrama? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you quite this way, Uncle.”

An uncomfortable few seconds passed as the golem-like projection attempted to find his words, and sighed. ”Nephews…I’m sorry. Moboyas has made his move. Guabancex has…” A pause, as if the spirit god found the sentence painful to complete. ”Guabancex has fallen to his hands. She is lost to us.”

If the last few seconds were uncomfortable, the next few seconds were agonizing - Akura uncomfortably looked at the two deities besides him, and their demeanors were considerably darkened the moment those words were uttered. It seemed the weather itself seemed to churn uncomfortably as it was exposed to Coatrisquie’s growing grief and anger - it was otherwise a clear day, but clouds were suddenly rolling in from nowhere, forming from nothing, as the god clenched his fists, the grinding of flesh against bones alone audible as Coatrisquie’s knuckles turned white from just how tightly he was clenching his hands into fists. In fact, it seemed the effect was rapidly accelerating as Abaguabana’s own effects on the weather began to kick in; the ocean god seemingly stunned, if not outright physically hurt, by the news, took a few steps backwards and sat down, briefly placing his face between his knees. ”I…I…I never…” Abaguabana tried to utter out some words, some untold regrets about his misunderstood mother, but nothing really came out but silence. Instead, the god just…sat his head down, in defeat and resignation. No rage could really be brought forth. Nothing could be brought forth, just defeat, and weakness too great to do anything but sit in the ground as the clouds above darkened and rain began to fall in the double onslaught of the dual weather god’s emotional turmoil.

Coatrisquie simply stood in silence, but the sheer volume of his rage, unseen yet ever-too-presence, was seemingly drowning Akura in its presence. Static electricity filled the air as the rain grew harder, Akura hissing as he took his sweatshirt off, leaving only a t-shirt to protect himself from the elements, placing the sweatshirt above his head as a makeshift umbrella to shelter himself from the onslaught of the gradually growing rain. He wanted to make a comment of the pain the water was causing him - every raindrop a burn, like a thousand falling small needles - and perhaps it was not debilitating, or agonizing, but it was certainly painful. Still, Akura gritted his teeth and kept silent, more than intimidated by Coatrisquie’s silent, tranquil fury; the rage he showed in the earlier altercation was one thing, but this was murderous. He felt that Coatrisquie was best left alone. Still, after these agonizing few seconds passed - and the rainstorm overhead now fully manifested after mere seconds - Baibrama continued.

”I’m sorry, Coatrisquie. I know your mother and you were close. The land of Aumatex now lays bare and with no ruler to guide it. You are next in line. Will you take it?”

Coatrisquie did not answer, and his arms shuddered as he attempted to fight back tears, still ever rageful. Sighing, Coatrisquie let go of his fists and slowly stopped tensing the muscles in his body, color returning to his knuckles as he raised an arm to his eyes and wiped away moisture. ”...No…No, sorry. No I cannot. I cannot take Aumatex. I am no governor. I am a warrior. I do not understand the intrinsics of governing, or what people want. I only know one thing, and that is war. I am sorry. Guatauba will make a far greater cacique than I ever will. He is calm, intelligent, and compassionate.”

Baibrama nodded, as Coatrisquie simply looked down, not bothering to return the gaze of the projection. Still, it seemed, the projection continued. ”And I’m afraid it is much, much worse. Lord Boinayel has perished as well, by the hands of Moboyas, who now lays claim to the shard of Juracan Guabancex had.”

Coatrisquie looked up slowly, face contorting with rage and grief, but simply relaxing into one of resigned defeat. Grief-stricken as he was, he was still rather intelligent, and could immediately deduce the circumstances behind their deaths. ”...He killed my mother…just to get at Boinayel…?” Boinayel’s death didn’t particularly rattle him that much, at least not compared to that of his mother. The two fought practically every season - Guabancex would do battle with Boinayel and Marohu, and often lose, while Guatauba and Coatrisquie would do battle with Mautiatihuel and Macacoel. He and Macacoel loved their battles - although this sentiment certainly wasn’t shared by Mautiatihuel or Guatauba - and while he could not say he loved Boinayel as a distant uncle, he certainly respected Boinayel. And with that respect came knowledge, particularly that of Boinayel and Marohu’s absolute integral role with the cosmic order. Coatrisquie vividly remembered the day, an eternity ago, where the twin gods of the sun and moon almost died at the hands of Juracan and were permanently scarred, and on that day, the apocalypse drew perilously close.

Now one of them is dead. ”...What happened? In what state is the Spirit World?”

”Oh, nephew of mine.” Baibrama sighed. ”It’s the apocalypse. The last days have arrived, I’m afraid. The sun is dead, the cycle is now permanently broken.”

Abaguabana still sat in silence. No words. Nothing but grief, weakness, and unmoving guilty as the rain poured around them.

Abaguabana could barely work through his grief - such levels he could not stand, did not know how to deal with. But Coatrisquie resolved to turn this grief and rage into fire and vengeance, and slowly gathered himself together. ”...And Lord Marohu?”

”Living, but in tatters. I have never seen him so weak. His other half is dead, and with him drained his power. He barely has the strength to speak, let alone mourn. We are still wondering what we should do to safeguard him.”

Coatrisquie took a few seconds to think. ”When we finish, send him here. I will take him to the infirmary here. We can keep him safe.”

It seemed those words, that Marohu was alive, was enough to rouse some manner of activity from the ocean god. Abaguabana looked up, and sighed, slowly getting up out of his stupor. ”I’m sorry.” The god spoke, choking up tears. ”I have to be alone.”

Coatrisquie turned to Abaguabana, nodding, and moved up to the spirit god. In an act of uncharacteristic tenderness, the spirit put a hand on Abaguabana’s shoulder, and brought their heads together, mourning their mother in a single wordless gesture, before lightly pushing away the ocean god. ”Be strong. I will find you later. Let your heart cry, little brother.”

Abaguabana just nodded, tears welling in his eyes, as he turned and slowly walked away. Akura just stared, reaching a hand, but putting it down, entirely out of his element - he was unsure how to properly approach this situation, wondering whether or not he should do something, do any gesture, but the worries he would make things worse overpowered him, and he still chose to remain silent. The golem projection of Baibrama sighed, and continued. ”The remaining legions of Yukiyu warriors are garrisoning Aumatex, and so are Mautiatihuel, Macacoel, Isla, Chemin, Anahua, and I. Moboyas will attempt to gather the shard in your twin next, but any attempt will be met with vengeance and hatred. We will keep your twin safe at any cost. But still…Coatrisquie.” The projection’s voice took on an ever more serious demeanor - it could not have been possible to make the gravity of his speech any more clear. ”Be ready for a dark spirit attack of your own. They know Abaguabana is here. They do not know you are here. They will attempt to claim Abaguabana’s piece of Juracan as well. We cannot allow that to happen whatsoever.”

Coatrisquie nodded, eyes still not quite ready to meet those of Baibrama. ”They will meet lightning and drown in it if they attempt to harm my little brother. The wrath I make on their bones as I devour them alive will create an entirely new definition of death.”

”Good.” Baibrama spoke. ”Your warrior heritage is exactly what we need. You are safest there, and they are safest with you. Secondly, Coatrisquie. Ensure you train Lord Akura.”

Akura’s eyes perked up as his name was mentioned, and the demigod raised his face to meet those of Baibramas as the rain was soaking through his jacket. ”I’m sorry, ‘train’?”

Coatrisquie was about to speak up, but Baibrama interrupted him before he did so. ”Correct. Train. For war. There is strength within you, unspeakable strength. When you were born, the sages read your spirit tattoos for your future. We see much talent from you, but you must hone it. Coatrisquie will ensure you do so.”

”I…I don’t know about that, sir.”

”Nonsense.” Coatrisquie spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder, and wiping away a tear with his arm once more. ”In one session you learned to channel your power. In fifteen, you may very well be the god you are meant to be. What kind of god that is remains to be seen.”

”Correct.” Baibrama spoke. ”Even a god of warriors must be trained to become a warrior. In fact…Lord Akurrada, we indeed have a gift for you, and you specifically. Our final gift…in fact, one gift commissioned by your father, Lord Faraguvaol.”

”...Faraguvaol? My dad?” Akura blinked in surprise. ”I’m sorry, Lord Baibrama. You must have me confused with someone else. I specifically remember Faraguvaol as not being the gift giving type.”

”Your father can be wrathful, distant, sheltered, and confused. Affection does not come easily to him. He is the god of nature, and nature is not kindly, it is not motherly. It is strong, it is wrathful and deadly, it punishes mistakes severely and rarely shows love..and…it can give the greatest of bounties to those that earn it. Inriri shall tell you.”

Baibrama raised his hand, the golem projection having several carved magical circles within its hand, which rapidly glowed a bright white, almost blinding and illuminating the area in the darkness projected by the clouds overhead. When the light dimmed, a new being made itself clear. It was a rather large 4 foot tall woodpecker, or rather, a woodpecker-like being that was actually made of wood with carved inlays of ivory, and eyes of turquoise. A familiar sight to Coatrisquie to be sure - it was Inriri, the god of craftsmen, and the same being that made his axes. The spirit’s movements were typically rapid, jittery, like a spider or hummingbird, but not today. They were slow and measured, low in energy, as if Inriri’s famous energy had finally been drained by the weight of the apocalypse on his back. ”Lord Coatrisquie. Lord Akurrada. Hello.” The spirit spoke, his voice slow and drained of enthusiasm. It almost hurt Coatrisquie to see the spirit like this.

”...Lord Inriri. It pains me to see you like this. Your energy is gone.”

”It has been a rough few days.” Inriri lowered his beak to the ground. ”I am so sorry about your mother. I cannot bear the shame of it. If I had made her gourd stronger, she may still be alive. I’m sorry.”

”The fault was never yours, old friend.” Coatrisquie placed a hand on the back of the woodpecker, slowly rousing the bird spirit to activity. ”You did what you could to keep her safe in her imprisonment. I’m sorry Moboyas took advantage of it.”

The silence penetrated the air for a few seconds, before Inriri lifted a talon, opening it to reveal a glowing green light, and a cloth pouch manifesting from the air beneath him. It was rather large, and tied together with glimmering, glowing white ceiba bark. ”Lord Akura…your father had this set made for you long, long ago. He asked that I pay extra close attention to its construction…and that I empower it as much as I could. He did everything he could to find the guanin used in its creation.”

Coatrisquie crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. The divine nature spirit was certainly prickly, but it seemed, in his own ways, he could care. Inriri opened his wings, flapping downwards and lifting himself in the air, gently placing the green cloth sack by Akura’s feet. Akura just stared at it, seemingly waiting for permission to open it - and the woodpecker’s energy seemingly returned for a few seconds, gently pecking Akura’s shins. ”Open it already!”

”The…rain, sir.” Akura raised his eyes to the sky, and gestured with his gaze to Inriri at the soaked sweatshirt he was holding above his head. ”It kinda hurts. I don’t wanna let go of this shirt and drench myself in face-melting water.”

”Ah…right! Simo-ahawara. Almost forget, with that human skin you wear all the time. Allow me.” Inriri’s energy returned somewhat, as the woodpecker opened his feathers, and a bright blue orb of energy burst outwards and vanished. The rain droplets were sent outwards, and as they came down, it was clear they were now being blocked by some invisible force, like a bubble was formed around them.

Akura smiled, and gently handed the sweatshirt to Coatrisquie. ”I don’t want to put this on the ground…may you please hold it?”

Coatrisquie nodded, and gently picked the sweatshirt up. Akura then crouched downwards, grappling the ceiba bark tie that was keeping the cloth sack closed, and muttering to himself in astonishment of the power he felt coursing through that tie alone. Still, he pushed through without too much focus on it, and unfolded the cloth sack. Glimmering golden light shone through as dappled light from the sun above, barely penetrating the clouds, reflected and glimmered off of the items beneath. The sack now fully opened, the contents were laid bare - a set of reddish-gold royal carved armor, decorated with red, green, and yellow feathers, as well as emerald inlays that covered the shoulders, upper arms, legs, shins, and upper chest. There were a pair of particularly decorative bracers with plates that covered the fingers as well - with multiple serpent-like coils wrapping around the forearms, and venomous fangs pointing from the mouth of the gauntlet outwards like wrist-born claws. These bracers were a noticeable difference in design from the golden armor, with black metal interlaid with guanin gold, a serpentine motif, and multiple colored gemstones studded along the fingers. Akura was stunned into silence - he wasn’t raised in money. He wasn’t even raised in good conditions; his family were survivors of an apocalypse, scraping together enough food just to survive.

Seeing all this here, for him? This was practically a wish come true - he felt like a prince, and could hardly believe it. This was his? This…gleaming gold? Akura almost felt ashamed of it. ”I…I don’t know if I can accept this. Why should Abaguabana’s and Coatrisquie’s mother die, while I get…golden clothes? That’s not fair. I can’t have this.”

Coatrisquie was silent for a few moments, but placed a gentle hand on Akura’s back. ”I would take offense if you rejected it. You are a divine spirit. You will be treated like one, and you will learn how to be one. You will take up arms in defense of your people, the ones that raised you, and the ones that birthed you. This is the start.”

Akura stared up at Coatrisquie in silence, and slowly turned his eyes downwards. There was one more part of the set he couldn’t quite see before, but had now made itself entirely clear. A spear. It was particularly unique as well; the handle was bright metallic red, while the speartip itself was reddish-gold, and flanked by two additional small sharp tips, like a form of trident. The handles of the spear were wrapped in an extremely fine leather, and decorated with red feathers. Along the entire shaft itself was a snake, coiling itself from the pommel to where the spearhead met the staff itself. Akura ran a finger across it, and the spear vibrated and shimmered, and he picked it up, the spear feeling particularly light within his hands. ”This…this is amazing.”

If Inriri could smile with a beak, he would have. ”Your father did everything he could to ensure you would have the best equipment when you were ready. From the moment of your birth, Lord Faraguvaol deeply believed you would have made the strongest warrior the spirit world had ever seen. He planned to deliver you this set himself when you were ready to join us…but these plans have been derailed.”

Akura placed the spear down as gently and gingerly as he could, and picked up one of the bracers, placing it atop his right arm and clamping it shut. Before he could comment, Inriri spoke up, proud of his work. ”Those bracers will enhance your blows, protect you, and make you stronger. They are capable of functioning with your simo-ahawara stingers-” The words “simo-ahawara stingers” had made Akura shoot Inriri a certain look, but the woodpecker spirit continued on, ”-and they, along with your armor, will transform with you when you do. Quite proud.”

”Did you make these yourself?”

”I did!” Inriri flapped, energy returning, always happy to talk about his work. ”Took quite long time! Again, QUITE proud.”

Akura placed the bracers on his wrists, stood up, and walked to Inriri, and picked up the bird in a massive hug that was far too fast for even Inriri to be capable of reacting to. ”These are BLOODY AMAZING! THANK YOU!”

”STOP- Simo-hawara physiology strong. YOU ARE VERY STRONG. Please put me down.” Inriri struggled against the superior physical strength of the god, and Akura sheepishly did so, gently placing the woodpecker back on the ground.

”Haha…sorry about that. Seriously. Thank you.” Akura spoke, scratching the back of his neck.

”You are welcome. Your father created me a long, long time ago.” Inriri hopped in front of Akura. ”Of all the gods, I am most pleased to serve the son of the one that gave me life. I wish I could help you more, craft more for you, but alas…the kabuya rakan will be shut down as I leave.”

Akura smiled and shook his head, closing his eyes as he tried to think of something to say to Inriri. Thank you, was the first thing to come to mind, but he was rapidly interrupted by the sudden outburst of the lightning god beside him. ”Excuse me?” Coatrisquie blurted out, almost having to do a double take from the inanity of what he just heard. ”You mean to shut down travel between the mortal and spirit worlds?”

”Correct.” Inriri spoke. ”Doing so will mean severing all communications between here, and home. You three will be isolated. But that means the dark spirits will be isolated as well.”

”Inriri…please. If you die, we will never return home. We can never bring home reinforcements.”

”That’s okay, Coatrisquie. I have lived a long time. I’ve done a lot of good. I’ve done a lot of evil. I am okay with this sacrifice. However!” Inriri stopped for a second, and turned back to the idle stone projection of Baibrama that was sitting within the gazebo egress. ”We do have someone to deliver for you, someone that can relate to the pain you are feeling, Lord Coatrisquie. Lord Marohu needs shelter, and we - I - am glad you have offered responsibility for his protection.”

”...I see.” Coatrisquie sighed, and lowered his eyes from Inriri to the ground, as Akura continued to inspect the new equipment he was given. ”I will do what I can, as I said, to keep him safe.”

Inriri nodded, and the woodpecker spirit turned towards the gazebo, nodding a signal towards the golem. The golem stepped back, and a glimmering silver light began to make itself known in the center of the gazebo, with the magic circles within forming symbols of the moon as a figure emerged from the light. Akura shielded his eyes from just how bright the silver light was, looking up from his gift into the gazebo, and immediately astonished at the brilliance of the beautiful show of magic before him. The figure slowly, weakly, crept forward, placing a hand on the marble pillars of the gazebo to stabilize himself as the light dissipated and made the figure more visible - his skin was blue, and he was possessed of the same types of spirit tattoos as the two spirits watching the figure, though his were…dull, colorless, with no power going through them, like a dried up riverbed. He had to have been exceedingly strong at some point - the bare musculature of his body certainly pointed to it - but his figure was almost pathetically frail, and his features were aged, elderly, and weak. It seemed so much as standing was difficult for the figure, if not outright impossible; indeed, it seemed the only reason the figure was standing was just simply through force of will alone. The figure was panting, and the golem moved an arm to grasp ahold of the figure’s shoulder to stabilize him, helping him stand on his own as Coatrisquie immediately began to move forward. ”Lord Marohu!” He cried out, running upwards to greet the figure with a sense of urgency and alarm rather than relief or excitement. ”...What has happened to you?!”

The figure, Marohu, just stood, and stumbled, almost falling to the ground, but was caught by Coatrisquie who wrapped Marohu’s arm around his neck to give him a strong pillar to stand up on. The two were certainly never on the greatest of terms, with their families almost constantly at each other’s necks, but some strange sense of relief washed over Coatrisquie as he saw that Marohu was alive, if not particularly in great shape. ”Boinayel…has died…my power has drained with him…” The figure weakly spoke, his voice raspy and decayed. Still, he spoke, solely in defiance of the weakness that has befallen him. ”Coatrisquie…it’s good to see...you are alive…”

Akura immediately dropped his equipment and stood back up, rushing past Inriri and propping up the old man on his own shoulders, both spirits flanking Marohu and helping the spirit stand. ”Coatrisquie…who is this?” Akura inquisitively asked, the figure grasping onto Akura for stability.

Coatrisquie turned towards Akura, somewhat impressed at his immediate willingness to drop what he was doing, and help. ”Akura, this is Lord Marohu, the Moon Spirit.” Coatrisquie spoke with a great measure of respect for the spirit, whatever malice he had now dropped in the face of the overwhelming situation that he has been faced with. ”His twin was Lord Boinayel, the Sun Spirit.”

”Akura…Akura..” Marohu repeated to himself, slowly tilting his wilted head to face Akura. The familiarity struck him, and in the face of the weakness he has been drowning under, he struggled to remember, as if the millenia he has lived now surfaced as an endless tide of frailty and senile memory. Coatrisquie winced with every word; he remembered Marohu as one of the most powerful of the spirits, and seeing him in such a frail and mortal state pained him. ”...Akura…haha. I remember you.” It seemed that remembering the origin of the word seemed to lift the moon spirit’s mood and energy, if only slightly.

”...You…remember me?” Akura asked, raising an eyebrow. He’d never met the moon spirit, after all.

”Of course I do. You’re the son of Faraguvaol…my brother. That makes...you…my nephew…” A short, weak, stuttering laugh came from Marohu, trying to fight his fragile state with every inch of his being he could possibly muster. ”It is so good to…finally meet you…my nephew…I wish it were…under…better times.” Unmistakable joy outlined every weak syllable Marohu spat out, even if the words seemed to be physically painful for the god to speak. Akura was about to speak - even if he didn’t know exactly what to say. Meeting his blood family this day was certainly eventful - this day in general was eventful, if not for the best - and seeing them actively speak and look at Akura with familial warmth was…flattering, yet alien, and Akura wanted to reciprocate, but could not quite figure out how to. Stuttering over his words, Akura tried to respond, but was interrupted by Marohu suddenly slumping over, losing all possible strength within his body as Coatrisquie immediately caught him with his other hand, placing a firm palm atop his chest to stop the spirit god from falling to the ground.

”Márohu…Márohu!” Coatrisquie shouted, almost desperately, but no response. His tattoos began to glow as Coatrisquie closed his eyes, as if focusing on Márohu’s body, and a few tense seconds passed as Coatrisquie breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Akura in the eyes. ”...He still lives, he is just weak. Such weakness in such a powerful being…this is not good.”

Akura just nodded silently, unsure of how to respond, and looked down onto Marohu himself as Inriri bounced forward up to Coatrisquie. ”Now I must go…train Akura, teach him to be the warrior he is meant to be. Should our pantheon die, you three will still live in the mortal world. Goodbye.”

Coatrisquie bowed in deep respect to Inriri, and Inriri nodded his head in turn to Coatrisquie. Raising his wings, Inriri flew back to Baibrama, clapping his wings together and causing the barrier keeping the rain out to collapse, additionally causing Akura to immediately pick up the sweatshirt from Coatrisquie’s grasp in panic and placing it back over his head. In a flash, the stone construct of Baibrama collapsed and Inriri disappeared, with Coatrisquie sighing and turning to Akura.

”...Your training will begin this weekend. For now, I must attend to Marohu and my little brother. Have fun with your new gear, Lord Akura.”

Coatrisquie bowed to Akura in respect, and Akura attempted to do so back - failing, but Coatrisquie simply smiled, appreciating the sentiment as the grief-stricken lightning god turned to wipe another tear from his eye and walked away, carrying Marohu over his shoulder and leaving Akura alone in the rain.

[Il-Illah]

After While, Crocodile!
Day 27, Daytime
Ragatirta’s New Room, Holy High Campus

Hyperion watched as the young sea deity seemed to be confused at his hospitality. He had to wonder what sort of kingdom he was from to expect such a stiff welcoming from a place like Holy High. Even Astrid had at least received a friendly welcome, when she was willing to receive it.

Nevertheless, he got Ragatirta to a new room, and he waved his hand as he motioned inside the large dorm. “Whatever you want to put in here, as long as it’s not illicit substances or alcohol, is fine by the school and by me. Though, uh, if you had a moving crew then you should have just told-”

He paused as he saw who consisted of the “moving crew”. One was a crocodile walking on two legs, and the rest were servants in matching turquoise uniforms. “Team Aqua got an upgrade,” he murmured to himself as he watched them bring boxes into the room. He decided to go help them, however, especially after Raga had asked for him to do so and when he also saw the sizes of some of the boxes. “I’ve got it.”

He was stronger than all of the servants, but he mostly just helped them to not drop things around the room. One of the items in a rectangular box seemed to have water sloshing around, and he felt it had to be fragile. “Don’t drop it, don’t drop it!”

Once everything was in the room, and the servants left, Hyperion wiped his brow and took a sip of liquid from one of his flasks. After giving a loud burp, he then grinned down to Raga. “Gonna go find-out whoever your roommate is. In the meantime, have fun decorating! If you need help, Hestia’s in the infirmary with a student and Athena is in her office in the main building. I’ll be cleaning the beach and probably eating my breakfast. See ya!”

With that, he vanished, walking back out to the courtyard and toward the shoreline of the beach area to continue his tasks before classes started.

Day 27, Daylight
Dormitory Room, Holy High Campus

"Decorate as much as I like, hmm," Ragatirta spoke to himself, while looking at the four boxes currently placed on the floor. The sea prince looked around to look at the room one more time, and he was quite surprised. Back when he was human, Ragatirta would hear from his radio accounts of college students having to survive in a very poor condition, away from home to seek knowledge. They often jokingly described their room as barely livable, cramped, and even poorly maintained. To his surprise, his room was akin to a high-end hotel room one would pay stacks of money for.

And then Ragatirta looked again, to a door next to him. When it was opened, the room revealed a bed with two t, an empty desk and chair, a cupboard, and its own bathroom. He couldn't be any happier to see that his room was in opposition to the things he heard on the radio.

Ragatirta went back on the boxes, and opened one of them, the bulkiest of all four. It was some of his personal belongings; a laptop, his radio, a Big Mouth Billy Bass (a kid gave it to him as a gift after he thwarted an attack against Palabuhanratu. It was given during his victory speech in a celebration after the defense), a wireless computer mouse, and a rice cooker with its cord cut off (a palace servant enchanted it so that it may work without electricity). He began putting the stuff in the box in their places, with the radio, the laptop, and the computer mouse placed on his study desk, the rice cooker on the floor beside the desk, and the singing bass on the wall.

Then, Ragatirta turned to the other box. It wasn't as bulky or tall, but it was certainly wide, wider than the rest of the box. He unraveled the box to uncover a painting of his mother Kanjeng Ratu Kidul graciously presenting herself on the waters of the Southern Sea, his own illustration of Baya Putih and Ula Ijo from when he was still human, and a large portrait of himself wearing his signature aqua green sweater, the very same that he was wearing at the moment. All of these pictures are already framed, and Ragatirta hung these three pictures on the wall above his bed. His mother's painting was hung just above the bed, while his own portrait and drawing of his two Greater Mimics were hung to the left and right of the Queen respectively.

When all was done, Ragatirta opened the third box, the smallest amongst the rest. It revealed a fish bowl with a cover on it, decorated with real corals and small pebbles. In it lived a lionfish, dearly named Jeremiah by the sea prince. Ragatirta lifted the fish bowl, and placed it on the study desk.

Finally, Ragatirta turned to look at the fourth and final box. It wasn't small like the third box, nor was it bigger than the box of his personal items. He opened it to see several boxes of mosquito coils with a lavender scent. Not that Ragatirta was concerned about the insects swarming around, given that the gods are surely anticipating something as insignificant as mosquitoes. It was that the sea prince loved the smell of it. It brought him to his mortal times, where he would spend the night drawing Baya Putih and Ula Ijo while listening to the radio. He closed the box again, and put it beside the rice cooker.

With all things now set, Ragatirta put all the empty boxes as one and put it away in front of his bedroom. Meanwhile, the clothes and textbooks he already brought were placed into their proper places. He smiled in satisfaction after seeing his own room, the room he'll live in and sleep the night in for the days to come. Waiting for the class, he decided to seal himself in a ball of saltwater while in his bedroom, just like before Hyperion found him above the skies.

Day 27, Daylight
Holy Hugh Campus, Ragatirta's Bedroom and Above the Skies

At first the Southern Sea Prince thought he had heard things in his mind. After all, it had always been a regular occurrence to hear so many things while he was locking himself inside the saltwater egg, including but not limited to his own voices of self depreciation and self motivation. Yet, it sounded too real to be a mere product of his imagination.

Ragatirta went outside out of curiosity, and much to his pleasure, rain fell down from the skies. He would've never thought that rain would fall down in this... otherworldly place. He thought again, that it might be an attempt to make this place as "natural" as Earth was, or perhaps it was a reflection of one's wrath or negativity. Yet it didn't matter, rain was the perfect occasion to wash away the things in his mind. At that moment, all he needed was not a quiet place, but a noise to roll and crash into his worries as a wave would crash onto the shore.

The princeling flew, or rather, swam his way midair to reach the skies, ever closer to the rain. What would he do then? Well, of course, Ragatirta assumed fetal position, and sealed himself away just like before. At the very least, his mind would be occupied by the droplets of rain.

But did it truly help? Of course not. With mind still as feeble as Adrian's, he cried himself within the bubble, his tears mixed with the saltwater enveloping him. He began doubting his decision to even come here, to learn and meet the students, who are apparently divine beings. At that moment, a familiar face slithered its way towards Ragatirta who was still crying himself in his own bubble. He was his one half of the Greater Mimics, Ula Ijo.

Noticing his master's cries, Ula Ijo slithered faster towards Ragatirta's side. "Master!" he shouted from outside the bubble, as he quickly moved to dissolve his own body to become one with it, and directly speaking to his master's heart.

"What's wrong, master, why--"

"Shh, it's irrelevant for now," Ragatirta interrupted with a shaky and quiet voice, "Just tell me what you saw on your tour, okay?". "I object, Master, your mind wouldn't be able to comprehend--"

"Shh," yet another interrupted from the Southern Sea Prince, "I want to know, okay? Answer me, please".

"Very well, master," Ula Ijo conceded. "I saw gods. A lot of them. They all bear... interesting personalities, if I have to say something about it. One strikes several distinctions from one another, and I am quite confident in my sense that they are far, far more powerful. Most of the ones from your books? They're real. Thousands of years old."

"And here I am, on my twenty fourth," Ragatirta commented followed by a dry laugh, a calm before the storm.

"A crybaby in his mortal, adult age. A man who, in spite of whatever the Kraton said, delegated his fights towards his champions and mimic instead of standing side by side with everyone else. A man who couldn't, still can't, and probably won't be able to break out of this damned egg! WHAT AM I, ULA IJO? WHY AM I HERE? WHY DID SHE SAVE ME?"

The mimic couldn't speak out a word in response. He only watched as his master cried even louder on his knees. Ula Ijo or even Baya Putih never saw their master breaking himself like this in their years of servitude. Perhaps Ragatirta simply kept it in as to not bother everyone back in the Kraton. But he left that place for Holy High, and with no one to cast an eye upon the seawater prince, what could've stopped him from doing what he was currently doing at the moment?

"I beg you, master, please..." Ula Ijo said after mustering himself to help Ragatirta, "Silence those thoughts inside your head. Listen to something else. Listen to the rain. Listen to me. Please..." The man he talked to was simply too busy crying to respond verbally, but Ragatirta simply nodded while his head was buried on his knees.

"Allow me to help you as much as I can, master. Hear nothing else but the upcoming volley."

Ula Ijo then began to take the form of a large vine snake and coiled around the seawater bubble containing Ragatirta. The snake mimic then hissed at the sky, and borrowing his master's power, he called upon large clumps of seawater scattered throughout skies above the campus ground. They then slowly dripped out a part of its water, creating a replica of a heavy rain, some of which collided with Ragatirta's bubble, and caused an even louder noise from without. Meanwhile, the man himself slowly settled down, and eventually tired himself out to sleep while Ula Ijo remained by his side.

[Mindhart]

Vix had long since snuck out of the infirmary and traveled a small ways down the mountain, frustrated at herself.

'So, are we going to talk about what just happened, or...'

"Why do you always follow me? Don't you have anything better to do?" Vix snaps at her before recoiling, guilty.

Fog doesn't seem to care as she stretches.I'm not going to tell you to calm down, because we both know how crappy that feels. What I am going to do is tell you to start digging.

Vix stares at her for a moment. "What?"

Dig a hole. Take your anger out on the ground. The Vix that burned the plant wasn't you, and we both know that. So, unless you have a better idea... Start digging.

"That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

there's not really any cons to doing it, though.

"Fine." She reaches into her tail and pulls out a shovel, planting it in the ground and heaving the dirt over her shoulder.

This was going to take a while.

[Luminesa]

Flashback-Day Before Current Day

As Different as Sun and Moon
Day 26, Daytime
Holy High Campus
Day Before the Current Day

As Hyperion rounded the corner, the death god drew his attention from the decorated walls of the school, and turned his face towards Hyperion, and pausing. Maquetaurie looked at Hyperion, and was silent for a few seconds - the death god's "eyes", or rather his singular eye and the socket of what would have been an eye had his face been entirely human, just scanned Hyperion up and down rather slowly. It wasn't an act of hostility, or even suspicion - rather, the spirit was just...bewildered, and took a few seconds to take in the sight before a small, bemused smile was cracked in the corners of his mouth, finding humor in the god's demeanor. "A pink polo, huh?" A small chuckle, and closed eyes. "Well, perhaps fashion is different in this region of the world nowadays. Thank you for coming. I believe Lord Marohu is somewhere within the campus, correct?"
The sun god knew when someone was judging him, and when someone was checking him out. But Maquetaurie was doing neither. He was simply engaging, taking Hyperion as who he was and as the help he needed right this moment. On one hand, the Titan was relieved. On the other hand, he had almost wanted for Maquetaurie to make a comment so he could joke right back. Yet this was not a time for jokes, though the death god did seem to have a dark sense of humor and presence.

“Yeah, he’s here. In some pretty terrible shape, but at least he made it,” Hyperion explained, keeping his voice low as Patriah and Lanuru left. He then spoke at room volume again once they were gone. “Did you want to ask me some things first before you go see him? I imagine he’s resting from the fight of his life right now.”

"Thank Yaya." Maquetaurie's shoulders slumped, tension being relieved off of his back. "Once, the hiyaloko under my domain and I used to wonder whether or not that if one twin perished, the other would as well...I suppose our answer, we have, and unfortunate it is."

Standing straight and proud once more, Maquetaurie nodded. "As for questions...one that I have. I only wish you to know that I come to bring him home, perhaps temporarily should you will it, he may be safer here than home. The divine spirits are hosting an emergency meeting, summoning all the divines and their servants from across every corner, from the sky, to the pits of Soraya, to the deepest bushes of the forests and depths of the oceans and beyond. We need him present only for that time."

Hyperion did not like the sound of this plan. Márohu had only been here for a couple of days. Now they wanted him home, and only to be a visible body in the room. “This is definitely safer. Is there no way you can’t have the meeting here? What if your meeting over there gets crashed?”

"Because if we are over here," Maquetaurie said, "the one thing discouraging Moboyas and his spirits - a dozen divine spirits - no longer is a concern. Had we not been there, I would estimate the Spirit World would go dark in...well, perhaps a day. Maybe an hour. Maybe several. But not very long."

Rolling his eyes, the Sun Titan admitted mentally that his plan of action had not been the best. He then took a breath and looked at Maquetaurie. “Alright. That’s fair. I just don’t like Márohu going back and continuing to suffer. If the moon is sick and is not getting better…won’t he just get sicker over there? Or am I missing something?”

"Sick? Hardly. This is not a disease." Maquetaurie shook his head and twirled his staff. He evidently liked playing with it. "The moon is dead. Gone. When the sun dies, the moon goes with it. I cannot understand the effects this has had on Lord Márohu - I've not seen him myself yet, after all, but he is no longer a god, I suppose. He'll suffer anywhere. Here. There. Everywhere. The moon may still be present here, but the moon within our home is gone. That moon was Márohu himself."

Maquetaurie stopped himself, the death god pausing for a few seconds as he seemingly tried to figure out his next words. "It is...hard to explain. I don't know if the other gods are like us, in our little ways. We are unusual beings, through and through. I can't blame you for thinking him being here will alleviate whatever suffering he is going through, but it won't."

“I mean, when Cronus ate his children, they sat in his stomach for a while until they were freed.” Hyperion shrugged, but he was clearly still concerned. Seeing that Márohu had made his way to the school, he could not believe he was truly dead. But then again, his suffering was also one worse than death-the curse of having no more meaning in one’s own pantheon.

“If you think it’s safe, and you can guarantee that you can bring him back here, then I suppose you can take him. Athena would probably say the same thing. But uh…” His face furrowed with worry. “For Abaguabana’s sake, please make sure to tell him hello and to make sure he sees you. He’s going to be dealing with the pain of losing all this family all at one time.”

Maquetaurie nodded. "It is...well, maybe. I am not exactly the best individual to break this kind of news to someone like him. I have a perspective on death, I see it in ways nobody else can. I cannot empathize the way people need me to with death. So...I can be rather insensitive. I recognize it, I understand it, but I can't help it."[/i\

Crossing his hands, and staff, behind his back, he continued. [i]"And yes, we will bring him back once we are finished with him. At least if he remains alive, there could be some sliver of hope. I hope so, anyhow. Something like this is beyond our wildest nightmares, so I have to take every bit I can. Shall we go?"

“If you so choose.” Hyperion nodded. “Though you may need to send at least somebody to console Bana. Maybe Coatrisquie, or…I’m not sure who else.” He frowned and shook his head. Emotional support was difficult for him, and now he was having to learn how to play that role for many different students experiencing many different tragedies. “I’m just worried about the kid. We’re a month into our year here and half of his immediate family is gone. It’s not like the Greeks who never really lose family, they just end up in Hell or turned into an animal. But he actually needs someone, and I dunno if I’m equipped to help him. Unless you’re just asking me to follow you to the other world for your meeting.” He gave a deep breath. “That I might be able to handle.”

Maquetaurie stifled a small, macabre laugh. "Oh, Coatrisquie would not be quite the consoling type. He doesn't particularly process trauma well. He tries to be a 'tough guy'. Doesn't do him much good."

Still, that little laugh, completely at odds with the situation, soon turned to silence as the reality of the situation dawned on Maquetaurie and the lord of death slowly started to grimace. "But...but yes, you are right. Forgive me. And no, I do not ask for you to attend. I can't force that on you. You have duties here, caring for these innocent children. That alone is far more help than any of us could ever ask for. No, I merely asked if we may go and see Lord Marohu."

"Well. In that case..." The Sun Titan looked across the campus grounds toward the dorms. "You're free to go get him. If you're in need of any help, don't hesitate to talk to us." He gave a smile, despite the heaviness of the situation. "That's why this school exists, you know."

"I would, except..." Maquetaurie just gave the Sun Titan a blank look. "...I have no idea what this school's layout is. That is why I asked for someone, after all. Consider me in need of help!"

“Well in that case, I guess I do have some help I can offer you,” Hyperion answered with a grin. He then turned toward the infirmary. “Let’s go, while I’m still sober.”

With that last prompting to lighten the darkened mood, the sun god in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts led the majestic Maquetaurie through the courtyard. He kept a thoughtful expression, aware of the gravity of moving Márohu in such a delicate time. But delicate or not, his pantheon needed him.

He only hoped, for Bana’s sake, that Márohu would be back soon from such a trip.

By the time they arrived, Márohu was not in the best of states. He had certainly improved - when he originally arrived, the moon god was nearly paralyzed, incapable of moving or uttering sounds beyond garbled, painful groans or quiet, labored breaths. It was especially painful for him - he, prideful as he was, did NOT enjoy being carried, and he especially did not enjoy being brought to places. Being powerless to stop both agonized him, not to say of his damaged pride. Still, the moon god had some time to nurse his sour mood, and some form of cognizance had returned to him. Whereas earlier he was barely responsive to any outwards stimuli, now, the moon god seemed to slowly and weakly turn his head towards Maquetaurie and Hyperion as they entered the room.

Noticeably, Maquetaurie seemed to stop, the death god immediately stunned at what lay before him. Márohu wasn't simply sick, or damaged, or inert. It was like the shreds of every last bit of immortality had been killed in him, rather than dragged out. Icy, blue feathers, dimmed and devoid of power, layered the bed around him. His wings, formerly great and beating with silvery power, had lost all ounce of majesty and grace, least of all their feathers, leaving behind a near-skeletal husk. His body, formerly strong, youthful, and coursing with silver power and tattoos was now wrinkled, and fragile, like an infirm old man. His face, youthful, handsome, and filled with the same beauty of the moon, had its youth drained out of it like a famine, leaving behind an elderly husk with grey, dry, fracturing hair. His eyes, formerly glowing with power, were now dull, losing their spark. Even Maquetaurie, powerful and old as he was, couldn't help but stare. An alarming few seconds passed as Maquetaurie had to take the time to recognize exactly what lay in front of him.

Márohu, the great moon spirit, foremost of the spirit gods, and among the most powerful and highest in the pantheon beneath only Yúcahu himself, who's beauty and handsomeness could charm entire tribes and his strength enough to pacify an entire world, now drained, and left a decrepit old man.

"By Grandfather..." Maquetaurie said, almost without self-control the way he seemed to just blurt it out. "You...you truly are alive."

Márohu weakly nodded, just cognizant enough to understand the words spoken to him, his eyes narrowing to focus on the being in front of him, before relaxing as the figure cleared and he recognized who was in front of him. "Ma...que...taur...ie..." He whispered out, in pained, labored breaths. "I'm...sorry...."

Maquetaurie placed his staff in the wall next to Hyperion, walking over, and took Márohu's hand in his skeletal hand. "Cousin, you have nothing to be sorry for. I am sorry. I am sorry for not protecting Guabancex as I should have. I am sorry. I can't...I can't make up what I've done. My failure did this. I'm so sorry, my cousin."

Márohu weakly shook his head, squeezing the death god's own hand. "Not...your....fault..." He said, every word painful to speak. "Never...was..."

Maquetaurie sighed, a deafening few seconds of silence passed as Maquetaurie harshly criticized himself in his own head for every failure he made in keeping Guabancex's prison safe. "...We need you, back home, for a short while. Then we will put you back here."

Márohu tried to stand up, trying to summon whatever strength was left to yell in protest, and even though he called on every last shred of anger he could, he could barely mutter more than quiet indignation. "I...refuse...to...be...caged..."

Maquetaurie gently put him down. "No. This is by my own order. You will be safe here, while I try to return you your divinity. Chief Yúcahu has summoned the spirits for a summit in Yukiyu. All of the divine spirits must be present."

Márohu mustered a single nod, his strength failing as he shut his eyes and fell backwards again, returning to labored breathing.

Maquetaurie turned towards Hyperion. "I admit. I doubted he truly was alive. A state like this...I'm not sure what to call this myself."

“I’m not either. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Hyperion was quite honest, moved internally by the scene of Maquetaurie showing such reverence for a relative. He walked toward the bedside, and he put a hand on the moon god’s shoulder. He was surprised to feel how paper-thin and leathery it was, much like a mortal old man’s. “We’re going to do everything we can to restore you and your land to their true dignity. So you’ve gotta go with Maquetaurie. I’ll help you up.”

Using his immense strength carefully, he wrapped the moon god in his blanket and lifted him as though he was a gold treasure box-slowly and with care. He then pivoted his body toward the storm god, and he put Márohu in his arms. “They still need you, sir. We’ll take care of Bana here.”

Márohu just eyed Hyperion with a mixture of annoyance and indignation at being picked up again, but as he mentioned Abaguabana, he just held his vision for a few seconds for relenting and softening his expression.

Maquetaurie took his staff, tapping the ground as a variety of misty glowing purple lines formed below them, coalescing into a circle that rapidly seemed to fill with glowing purple water. Maquetaurie took Márohu's arm over his shoulder and held him up. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll have him back shortly."

And suddenly, the two vanished from sight - suddenly falling into the pool, as it splashed and collapsed it on itself, rapidly solidifying into the ground and disappearing entirely.

[Mindhart]

Neither stone nor starlight
The Teumessian fox

It was funny, really; How fast you lose time, how much you forget.

She had stopped trying a long time ago. The time went on, this was true. The being turns her head, watching the dog across from her. He had been asleep a long time. They had chased each other once, she was sure, but she didn't know why. She took a few steps, and her bones creaked as she did so, the chains around her legs jangling. How long had she been sleeping? Why did she wake up? She tried to remember.

There was... a girl, yes. Yes? familiar. No, not friend... not foe... But there was another! Another, who? Who was another? Power, yes; She had power. But she was not important. Who was the girl?

Another thought popped into her mind. The child! Her child! This thought seemed to wake her up, and if she had not already been standing she would have jumped up. She looked around again, her eyes briefly landing on a building in the distance. Not a castle, larger, but she couldn't remember the word. How long had it been? She... didn't know. Joints popping as she moved, she grabbed the chain in her mouth and pulled, but she only succeded in hurting her teeth. She gave up, circling before laying down in a more comfortable position as she wondered about that girl.

And then she was somewhere else. Sights and sounds suddenly assaulted her, and for the first time in eternity, she was free. A... beast? monster? stood in front of her, blood trickling into her eyes as a small, black fox cub ran over to her, calling her name. No, not her name; She wasn't free. Vix. She glared at the monster, angry but not sure why before falling over.

She let out a yelp as she jolted, chains rattling as she landed on her back. She got up, desperately looking around before reason caught up to her. She wasn't free. She was sure of it, and She was also certain of another thing: The girl. Her name was Vix.

She paced a little, debating trying to wake the dog up but ultimately deciding to lay back down.

Vix would call her again. And until then, She slept; and dreamt of a life in the forests.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write by Lumi, Fin, and Hallownest

Daydream Wanderers
Day 27, Afternoon
Lanuru’s Room, Holy High Campus

Whether or not Aleator considered that he needed to rush to find the students who had stumbled upon the potential dream of the Fae Realms, the three young gods were already determined to try and solve the mystery for themselves. They knew which of their classmates would be able to genuinely lead them further into the dream, and so they would trust him. Even if “trust” and Lanuru were tenuously related at best.

Patriah was just glad nobody thought he was insane. He did not have these sorts of grand spectacles as dreams often, and now that he had one, he had feared that he was losing his mind. Then again, Hypnos would have told him to search for the meaning. Searching for meaning was exactly what he was doing now. Between this mystery and the danger of Moboyas and Abuguabana’s family situation, he had a lot of meanings left to find.

The Faerie Prince stands before his two other classmates. Winds billow around him as royal silks flutter like gossamer lights. Dazzling blues and pinks, starlight colors of dream force, and deep reds and purples, nebulaic shimmers of nightmare, swirl about him. Lanuru raises his hand, gathering these twin forces of phantasma, and begins weaving his rightful divine power.

The starry mists of dream and nightmare spill from his hand, heavy like lead, as they cover the glade with their colors. Patriah and Cryptid could oddly taste the Prince's power: the sweetness of dreams, like candy and venom, and the bitterness of nightmares, like promises and terror, engulf their minds for a moment as the silent power of the Prince swells more and more. Vines and trees begin to grow from the soil, rising and tangling with one another as they create an archway, from which the divine powers of Lanuru flood towards.

Blue, pink, red, and purple flowers begin to bloom from the trunks and branches, which soon glow brighter and brighter like stars in the suffocating phantasmagorical fog. They pulse and flash, before slowly releasing a steady light. The forces of dream and nightmare begin to recede as ambient mist, and the two could see that there is a barely noticeable invisible film within the arch.

"Friends," the Faerie Prince speaks as he turns to Patriah and Cryptid, "our journey begins here. Once you step into the Dream, your forms will change. The true face of your soul shall come forth, and reality will only be moved by emotion and the rules of the stage. Be careful. I may be able to save you, if only you do not stray from the path."

Ara watched passively as the display unfolded, the air around them distorting slightly as The Unmentionable snagged lingering tendrils around currents of dream-stuff, before discarding them. As the archway finished its formation, they stood from their seat, walking towards it as their senses peered into the wound-up strands of magic comprising it. They stopped just short of entering themselves, stepping to the side and turning to Lanuru and Patriah as they inclined their head. "After you."

Patriah had felt dream magic before, back when Hypnos used to show him some of his own tricks. But Lanuru was not Hypnos. In fact, he might have even been more powerful than the Greek God of Sleep. Something about this magic felt more wide-reaching, and more sinister. It prickled his skin, enough so that he almost felt he should have worn some sort of covering. But he was still shirtless, and stubborn, and he walked toward the portal.

"Oh boy, I wonder what my soul is going to look like. And how exactly do we see a path in a realm that doesn't have any strict roads?"

"I shall lay down a path. Stay close and don't wander until we reach a Dream." Lanuru turns to Patriah and gently smiles as he reaches out, squeezing his arm for a moment, before walking towards the portal. His body seems to melt, turning translucent as the God of Dreams slowly diffuse into a fog of dream stuff. His halo remains in the physical realm, only for a brief moment for a silent yawn, as the eclipse crown devours itself into nothingness.

Beyond the portal, once the two godlings slip into the invisible film that separates the realms, is a narrow and dark path. It is a simple and straight line, a dirt road that is carved through the thicket and dense forest. They are flanked by trees and bushes that are far too ancient and far too crooked than anything on Earth, like hags' decrepit fingers trying to rake at the dark sky. Upon the Heavens is a familiar thing: no sun nor moon rises but rather a devouring void, a hungry eclipse that seems to rotate and pulse as if to guide them down the path.

They both hear rustling in the leaves and in the thorned shrubbery. It's time to move.

The world into which Patriah decided to step was ancient. It burned with life, which teemed from fresh undergrowth that sent a rain-soaked perfume into the air. He imagined that the scent was much like how the North Carolina woods had been before The Dying. He could not tell.

What he could tell was that his body began to transform as soon as he entered this realm. The ground under him seemed to fly away from his view, far beneath him, underneath the trees whose nests and hallows he could now see clearly. “Whoa! I got taller!…Hey wait a minute.”

He pat his skin and looked down, realizing that his tanned skin had now become emerald scales. And then someone began to ache its way around his back and shoulders. Huge, sturdy wings of emerald. Shock hit him after a few seconds, followed quickly by childlike excitement.

“I’m a dragon?…LAN! CRYPTID! I’M A DRAGON!!!”

And then there were one.
Ara was the last of the godlings to step through the gateway, feeling the warp and weft of the dream part around the sharp, mindless contours of their being. Smoothly. Easily.
Too easily.
It started small, shadows deepening and fading into sight among The Prince of Dreams' artificial path, threads of something darker than the clouds slowly fading into the sky. As they walked down the road, it accelerated, color slowly draining outwards as though physically leeched from the world. Texture and contrast followed, a current behind the Vessel reducing the artifical world behind them with a formless, featureless void, barely differentiated with vague shapes of a path and the distant gate.

The tendrils accelerated further, extending past the Vessel as they reached the halfway point, dimly registering in Ara's vision as they slowed, realizing the world seemed to be moving out of focus.
...and that they felt cold. So, so cold.

Oblivion washed over them, narrowly missing Patriah and Lanuru's Eclipse above as it folded inwards and outwards simultaneously. There was the vaguest impression of dozens of limbs surrounding and engulfing the Vessel, the faintest of gasps leaving their lips as they were embraced by themselves-
Before they vanished, leaving behind nothing but the slowly spreading Nothing.

And Then There Were None.

Between the triumphant and joyous roars of the Dragon of Zephyrs to the cognito-hazardous implosion of the Forgotten Orphan, only a mere moment has passed. Yet time rarely means anything when one dreams. What matters is great emotions, of joy and sorrow, of thoughts, logic, and fantasy. Before the Prince of the Dreamlands could have responded to their motions, it was the Dream itself that did.

Red and purple nightmare force seem to have been called upon by the presence of Oblivion, seeping into the stretched out un-form of Gaia's adopted. Ara, for a brief flash in time, feels a surge of emotions, as bitter as burnt sugar and coffee, fill their form. Bitter grief, burning wrath, sour envy, and salty tears seem to grace their senses, before they feel something... escape from their being. As if a cloth that was draped upon them was pulled, shadows of the Void were swept away by the mists of nightmare which followed...

A storm. Pink and blue dreamforce breeze past Patriah's emerald body. Sweet emotion, like cotton candy, blooms in the Wind God's mind, and for a moment he is reminded of a sweet dream. An endless field, under summer sun, and sweet winds pass by as he lays his head upon the lap of the man that has fallen for him. He tastes fresh strawberries, hand picked and hand fed, upon his tongue, as dreamforce rages. Emerald winds churn in the forest, causing the ancient trees to wail and groan in their passing. They sweep and sway, dragging soft dream and cruel nightmare in their path, until formless Dream gave birth to a child.

From the winds cracked an egg, spilling out amniotic shadows as hands rip apart starry pink and nebulaic purple. A head, twisted to the side as eyes line its jaw, slips out and falls heavily on the forest path. A behemoth slithers out of bowels of the dark around them, dragging itself forward with scaly arms as its body squelches on the forest floor.

Part lizard, part snake, and part squid, it weakly thrashes itself as it looks at the ones in front of it. Its jaw opens wide, revealing razor sharp teeth and seven fanged tongues. There is a pause, before its screech revives the raging winds. Its arms begin to pull it forward, its maw biting and chewing at the path and dissolving it into dark ether.

The Eclipse high above trembles and pulses, releasing a sonorous song reminiscent of a high pitched glass song and a low call of a whale. Patriah and Ara hears Lanuru's voice in their mind, repeating the reminder he has told.

"Do not stray from the path, no matter what happens. Follow the dark sign in the sky, and I shall guide you."

With Cryptid becoming a giant void of nothing, which simultaneously decided to eat everything around them, and with the fabrics of dreams and nightmares swelling and unraveling around them, all Patriah could do was watch. As a god, he should have been able to do more. But he was used to being able to parcel everything as part of nature or part of brute force. This experience was neither. His senses were being dunked in cold water, and he was not being told when to rise from that water for air.

“Sooooo this is fun. Where are we supposed to go if Cryptid or something just ate the path? Left? Right? Forward? Just walk until we hit a giant wall of decay and degradation and go around it? Cause, uh, understanding the psychology behind nightmares is not my strong suit.”

A part of it ached as division occurred. Something pulled from it, a fragment condensed into a new being, woven in with foreign essences.
Though it followed the calling of the dark disc overhead, its movements along the path were slow and placid, like a midwinter river choked with ice. Impressions of vacuous nascence could be gleaned - something new and vast, yet devoid of...itself. As it passed beneath Patriah, he could see that it did not consume the path, merely overshadow it - the landscape behind it slowly fading back into existence, even as the abomination rapidly gained on it.

A dim portion of its mind registered the threat, but more importantly registered the division, the un-wholeness - something had been taken from it and put inside that thing.
Something it wanted back.
The null multitude of its being reached out to that thread of essence within the creature, the thread of foreign Un-Consciousness in this place of the subliminal mind.

And it pulled, attempting to take back what belonged to it.

The pull of Oblivion rends through the nightmare creature's form, spilling out a gush of volatile green-black blood on the quickly disintegrating forest path. It screams in pain and begins to drag itself forward in a frenzy, its maw lashing out with its multiple fanged tongues to devour the path that the godlings are on.

As Cryptid's form subsumes what it has ripped from the dream creature, it tastes several things: it tastes hunger, bitter on its nonexistent tongue, it tastes joy, sweet like candy, and it tastes realization, like a drop of sunlight exploding in its mind. Emotions, both from itself and from Patriah, seep into its void marrow, many which it hasn't experienced in this way.

Patriah feels the wind pull, spring wind, crisp and sweet, from what he could sense and smell in the air. The creature's tentacled lower body begins to writhe, and it raises several tendrils into the air. They split at the tip, opening into flower-like maws of five petal jaws and a single stamen-tongue, and wind condenses into spheres. With a striking motion, the creature's tentacles shot the wind bullets forward, aiming to strike both godlings.

“Okay, so what I’m getting from this horrifying encounter,” Patriah explained over the shrieking of the wind, “is that we need to kill this thing so we can move on! Right? Cool!”

With a shearing roar across the skies, Patriah flew toward the creature. He was not sure how to attack something that was the essence of nightmares, but he attacked it in the only way he knew how-like a dragon. With both wings, he conducted the air to their huge, muscular, graceful command and swung a boom of wind toward the creature, hoping to tear at its tendrils or to twist it away from them.

“I better not be expected to put my teeth around that…” he muttered as he watched the creature take the attack.

The bullets of air pass into the textured nothingness, losing power and unraveling as the air itself within The Quiet ceased to be air. The magic, the concepts comprising it, were simply folded up into the shifting mass of false presence.

It slowed further at its aggression, however, and began to slowly flow back down the path towards the creature. Once more forest and path fell into its shadow, reinforced against the predations of the being as it slowly thrashed towards the vast emptiness.

There was a distant rumbling, a sound of innumerable sounds, as something drew closer through the non-ether.

Rage and fury made the winds howl and in the midst of thunderous roar comes actual thunder, born from the Emerald Dragon's anger. The quiet fear within him made the baleful winds decay whatever it passes by, the primeval forest around them bowing and outright being uprooted as sharp gales swing and claw at the nightmare.

The winds sever the monster's tendrils, bringing ecstatic lightning in their wake, and the nightmare roared in pain and anguish. The two godlings can see that its essence is disintegrating, its wounds bleeding dreadful purple and red stars. With its pained screams, the nightmare began to pull itself in a frenzy, and its maw opened to lash out with its fanged tongues like whips.

The closest was Cryptid, and the lashings of its tongues honed in like a scorpion's tail. There was no sound, either from the air or from the impact, but there was a boom elsewhere. In what serves as the voidling's mind and consciousness there was white hot pain. It was both burning yet freezing, numbing yet unbearable, like thorns digging and ripping into its very essence.

The Void is struck by the Dream, fathomless nihility by boundless imagination.

Patriah, by virtue of his airborne state, was barely grazed. There was no scratch nor cut on his beautiful scales, ones that no mortal weapon could even mark, yet came pain. A sharp ache lanced through the tip of his wing where he was touched, spreading across his body before settling into a single burst of a migraine that faded into an eerie and humming, dull pain.

"GUAH!"

Patriah withdrew his wing, and then watched in horror as the monster seemed to gnash its teeth and moved toward Cryptid. He could not even really tell what its "teeth" were anymore, since he had sliced so well into its body. When he realized that they were something more like "tongues", and that the monster now sparked with the same lightning he had used to attack it, he almost panicked and swooped toward Cryptid, ready to help him if he needed the assistance. "CRYPTID, LOOK OUT!"

Pain does lance through a nonexistent mind, white hot, a flare of light among infinite darkness.
It slowly fades, leeched from existence by the very being it sought to inhabit. Outwardly, there is no expression of pain - but the rumbling grew louder, and the Nothing surged around the monstrosity.

Drowning. Suffocating. A frozen river washed over the being, the world around it becoming that same textured nothing as the oblivion it chased after.

Cold. Dark.
Feelers probe across the surface of reality, a thousand pale limbs reaching from around it and scraping claws along the glass of its soul. With each hand upon it its essence slows and coagulates, dulling from the vividness of dream to the colorlessness of the Unconscious. Extremities find its consciousness and wrap themselves around it.

It is No longer alone.

Deep within the monstrosity the Spawn of Lethe feels a coagulated mass of nightmare, raging and boiling purple and red, a tumor of horror and despair, fester and pulse. As annihilation breaks through its form, the monster squirms and screams, and both Patriah and Cryptid swears that they hear thousands upon thousands of voices, layering upon each other in a maddened chorus. They sing a song of frenzied winds and the deep sea and, as the storm of baleful red and purple sweep through them in the wake of the monster's passing, they feel their minds numbing and tearing apart, and their minds and souls experience deprivation.

If the soul could breathe, if the mind could take in the air, they no longer could as the nightmare's residual dying curses reach towards their deepest cores like an infection and begin to eat away at their psyches. They feel thousands of hands, cold and clammy, drag them into an imaginary abyss of black waters, as steam and wind is being forcefully pulled out of their essence. It is numbing and cold, with a dull heat that could only be said as pain.

Suddenly the path that they are on began to twist. The disintegrating "corpse" of the nightmare began to immediately lengthen and distance itself from them as space is pulled like taffy. Trees pass by them like scenery outside of a speeding car, and their minds begin to recover from the nightmare's throes of death. The path is near its end, as thorns and briars begin to devour the road behind them. The shadowed sun above is pulsing, rotating, like a vortex, pulling them into its embrace as from a distance a gate of horns, polished like jade and marble, begin to rise like a divine monument.

They hear trumpets, like angels heralding these young gods to their arrival into Dream Land, and they see the gates slowly open. Beyond the threshold is a vortex of blue and pink, stars floating in the boundary, inviting them into the Kingdom of Phantasma.

Patriah was not exactly sure what was making his head spin more, the effects of the nightmare itself or the sudden swing away from the nightmare’s direction. The movement was constant, with dark colors splashing and clashing violently like a Pollock painting. The music was the screams of the damned, calling one last time in an unrecognizable voice. All he knew was that they were angry, and would have tried to kill them if they could.

But now that time had passed. They had felt the ground twist, turn, and throw them ahead, far away from this monster, and now they were in another area. This one did not move constantly, but the shapes of the gates and the road before them became solid again. The colors resembled those of visual snow, except they were much larger dots in much brighter colors.

“Uh…” Dragon Patriah turned and looked at his compatriots, as soon as he got a grip of his senses. “Did we win?”

With the drawing of the two Godlings into the close hold of the Dreamborn Prince, both Prince and Drake are enveloped in the gap of perception created by Things Left Unnamed. Both are left free of its erasing touch, as though it dimly recognizes them. The gate, too, remains untouched - too concrete in the realm of dream for it to leech.
The world appears as an endless expanse of textured nothing, the shadows of hills and empty streets, flickering lights in distant cities, lost to time and memory.
There is a dot. A singular spot of white amidst the endless shadow. Neither approaching nor drawing further away, shifting minutely, as though vibrating with intensity.
Slowly, it draws closer.

A vessel hollowed out stands before them. Pale limbs wrap about its androdgynous form, some gentle and cradling, others harsh and grasping with enmity or ecstasy. Extra limbs fan out into the abyss around it, searching, grasping at thin air - some bearing strands of essence from the Nightmare, small tatters salvaged from its collapse.

The Gate of Horns seem to swirl with an arcane and indescribable power, something that both godlings could only understand as a hypnotic pull. The stars of dream force continues to stir in the vortex of nebulae, pulling them closer and closer, and the path begins to constrict as the very space seems to slide into the divine gate.

Stars fly past them, the fog of pure imagination, thought, and envisionment wrapping around them like tendrils and hands that are eager to drag them into a boundless ocean of dreams. A flash of light engulfs them, before they find their feet planted on the ground.

The first they notice is the smell: earthy and fresh, forest air. Around them are primeval trees, stretching far higher than any tree in the mortal realm ever could, choking the skies and barely letting any light in. Their senses made them focus out into the wilderness, something that Cryptid would only see in the deepest parts of the Primordial Earth's Realm. They see gigantic bones, spines that rip through the earth. No, a voice whispers in their minds as clarity slowly clears their minds, those are mountains, like jagged spears that ripped the earth and are now piercing the sky.

And beyond that they see... a giant monstrosity. Through the clouds its tree-like hands grip the mountains as its face, with only depressions and holes for eyes, peer behind the clouds. Slowly it moves yet they feel like it is fast approaching, like a photo that is being zoomed into.

The giant's bark-like face cracks as it descends, grabbing at spine mountains and impossibly tall trees, and slowly a figure is visible behind the face. Lanuru, as they have always known, steps out of the giant without any word, and this unholy abomination crumples like paper in a single moment. It is reduced to nothing as its titanic body is devoured by the dark halo behind Lanuru, which then releases an imperceptible roar in its shakings and quiverings.

In the next second it disappears, devouring itself from its central point, before the skies clear of clouds. Up above, there is no sun nor moon, but a dark disk.

"Welcome to the Dream, guests. I, Lanuru, Prince of the Dreamlands, joyously welcome you to my domain."

Patriah had watched so much of the realm change toward him, he actually held his breath while watching all of the shifting colors and shadows. When he finally saw things that were familiar-trees, grass, skies, and something almost like an eclipsed moon-he gave a deep, shaky exhale. He was relieved to be standing on solid ground, and to not have something attacking him. Even if he would have liked to continue fighting.

“Gaaaaah…Oh, hey Ara.” He turned and smiled at his friend as they also seemed to take a physical, comprehensible form once again. At least, mostly comprehensible. “Oh hey there, Ara. You have more arms than usual!” He then turned and looked at Lan, who was finally next to him and recognizable again. “Where’s the cave?”

The aura of emptiness receded among the pine, as if content with familiarity. It became innocuous, blending with the landscape until barely visible - yet remained prominent about The Empty Form - small enough that one may be able to reach through and touch the vessel, yet with a vertiginous feel that looked as though one could fall entirely within it. It stirred as the others spoke, and its mouth opened.
"Something stirs me from a long quiet, promising gifts of a fragile vessel. One that seeks, and one that follows."
It was...strange. The interminable other-ness that wove its way into Unspoken Names from Still Lips' words remained, yet...warped further still...or clarified, enhanced by the medium of the Dream?
"I wonder which is which?"

"Dreams are mercurial, that even one who wields authority over it like I do can get lost." Lanuru shakes his head as he begins walking through the Dream of the Appalachian mountains. The primeval woods feel suffocating to the other two godlings, a land untouched by mortals and where olden gods who had no names nor altars still prowl. There is a constant feeling of being watched, before the Prince looks towards their sources. They both sense scuttling shadows flee from his gaze, but still follow as if in curiosity.

"The Dream of the cave beckoned and summoned us, and is now hidden from us. All of Dream is interconnected by the principles of emotion and distorted logic based on symbolism. A cave in a mound or hill..." He pauses, before he grasps at the air before him. He claws at the empty space, and the two godlings witness the world tumble and be torn asunder as the forests seem to be ripped apart by an invisible hurricane and the world seem to stretch. The three find themselves at the foot of one of the bone-like mountains, jutting out of the earth.

"Caves are passages, burials, and cemeteries. We must find a place of burial in the Dreamlands, and we can go from there." Lanuru speaks as he begins his ascent up the mountain, the earth beneath their feet being uncharacteristically soft yet also incredibly sturdy once their soles push through the soft soil.

“A place of burial…” As Patriah watched Lanuru and Cryptid have their conversation on the strange nature of dreams, he felt something like a third wheel, even though he had asked for this trip. He took a breath, feeling overwhelmed by the strangeness of it all, but then he had an idea.

“Can I just…imagine a cemetery in the dream, and then it will appear? Is that how this works?”

Despite the overwhelming presence of the pine, The Ebb and Flow found peace in it. A gentle reminder of Distant primeval forests and the Mother that tended to them.

At Patriah's inquiry, The Empty Vessel tilts its head. Though its expression remains lax and neutral, eyes covered and mouth limply moved, one cannot help but detect a hint of irony in its words.
"Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. A question answered is no longer a question, and a narrative resolved is no longer a story to tell. What is one more intrusion among many?"

“Alright. I’m gonna test it. Something simple.” Patriah closed his eyes, and he tried to shape and shift the first image he saw in his head. He had tried to control his dreams before, but those dreams had been in his own mind, not in a realm in which all of their feelings and mental visions were coming to life in front of them. This was an entirely foreign experience, and just as he had learned to cook for the first time, he was now experimenting with his senses. Specifically, touch, smell, touch, and sound.

“I am picturing a coconut tree!” He shouted to Lan. “Does a coconut fall on my head?”

Lanuru shares a glance at Cryptid, the Prince seemingly agreeing to his confidant's thoughts. The God of Mysteries had the right approach towards discovery and knowledge: it must be experienced and learned, rather than be told. The Dreamlands are the same. It is a realm of imagination and thought, and of great discovery.

As Patriah expands his thoughts, trying to sync and harmonize his mind and emotions to the greater reality around him, he almost feels lightheaded as his thoughts slowly dissipate into the ether. He imagines a coconut tree, tall and swaying in the wind, its green leaves fanning out as it soaks the summer sun.

One... Two... Three... Moments pass, and Patriah isn't sure if something happened at all, before he feels the wind pass by something tall, making it sway, before an object falls on his head and breaks his concentration. On the ground lies a coconut, bright green and almost shimmering, and the shadow of a coconut tree looms up above.

“OW!” Patriah jolted and stepped back, even though the coconut tree was nowhere as large as his dragon form. But when he looked down at the comparatively tiny fruit, he grinned and gave a cheer. “WOOOOOO! I DID IT! Okay, so we can control the dream here. Like clay!”

He looked at the huge, majestic mountains, and then he looked back at his friends. Only one way to know if they could complete this adventure quickly, or not at all. “Now we need to imagine the cave and the voice, and then we’ll be able to climb and find them!”

The starry mists of the Dream seem to eagerly respond to Patriah's surprise, coalescing into pink and blue nebulae that surge towards Lanuru's hands. "Then I shall bring forth the vision of the cave." The Prince of Nightmares murmurs towards his companions and the dream stirs.

Pink and blue intertwines, dreamforce surging out like a tide, as the image of a cave and a hill is being interposed over the scenery. Memories of a hike, in an unknown dream, towards a near lightless cave surfaces into the minds of the three godlings, before a voice greets and banishes them. Their bodies are pulled, their surroundings passing by them as if in a blur, before the same voice greets them once more.

"Gentlemen."

The Prince's control over the dream shatters, space crumbles as dreamforce rages like a storm. The scenery melts as if like a paint being splattered haphazardly, and Lanuru immediately comes over to protect the other two godlings with his own body. Shrieks and screams echo as the storm of thoughts and broken ideas fly past them like sharp glass, pain splitting their heads in responds.

In the midst of the psychic storm of a dream shattering, there is the sound of a gong, a bell that tolls for what's to come, and the raging pink and blue starry mists are eradicated by a greater force. The winds calm down, becoming stagnant in a single moment. The pinks and the blues become monochrome, as grey fog settles around them. They could barely see anything, except for their fellows and themselves. Shadows are thick beyond the grey fog, yet there is no movement beyond the wisps of grey. Tall trees, they think, and multiple other shapes.

Gravestones.

"It seems that the existence within the cave has blocked our travel..." Lanuru is the first one to speak. "...But we've landed ourselves in this dream of death... Perhaps we might find our way through the crossroads."

Patriah stared in awe as he had done it. His, and his friends’, imaginations had created the location they had needed to reach. He jumped for joy, except doing so also caused for several trees to fall around him. “YES! WE CAN SHAPE AND MOVE DREAMS! THIS IS AWESOME!”

But when he was finished knocking over pine trees, he calmed himself in order to look at where they had landed. They should have gone directly into the cave, by his logic. Yet as Lanuru had explained, they could not enter.

Yet as he hid his disappointment and scanned his surroundings, he saw the names on the gravestones and began to read them.

“Cryptid! Can you remember these names? Beulah Merrick, Edith Hardley, Thom Becker, Mercy Wright. Those might be hints.” When he had listed the names, he whirled back to Lan and called, “This graveyard exists somewhere in the waking world!”

Contemplation. That which Was Not took stock of itself, folded-up-unbeing contorting internally in the wake of the abrupt change of scenery.
"Once more the attempts to reach out are thwarted. Are you certain that what you seek is worth another attempt at intrusion?"
There was no harshness to the tone of its words, but a weight of...some vague qualia of agitation. It was only sensible - that which embodied All things buried and left to rot without name would acknowledge the want of others for privacy.
Its head shifted minutely at Patriah's request, multitude of limbs moving the emptied-out-vessel like a child's doll. "I know those names. Deep in the well of my being may they be found. But to bring them forth is not something that may be done without something given in turn."

“Okay, what do you want me to give you in return? You want my mom to knit you a sweater?” Patriah was not sure what Ara meant, and he did not want to give the wrong sort of offering. “Or do we need to give something to The Dream?”

Lanuru glides about the cemetery, his imposing and shadowy form almost merging with the ambient fog and the dark shadows of the tombstones and the swaying trees. His eyes similarly glide across the names on the tombstones, unfamiliar names to the Prince, names of feeble mortals who have been taken away by calamity and misfortune.

Dreams of death like this has become common among the mortals, as the wrath of the gods devastated their lands and brought nothing but terror and destruction. Their sorrow still lingers their dreams like a harrowing and haunting scar, one that still bleeds fresh till this day. Lanuru would find it normal to come across dreams such as this if not for the fact that graveyards are deeply connected to caverns, and thus the Underworlds.

'Perhaps that eminent figure must be one related to the realms of Death?' The Prince ponders as clawed hands caress a nondescript tombstone, one whose name has been erased by the erosion of time. Those named still must be connected to the dreamer, ones that have a deep emotional connection with them.

The Prince glides back to his fellows, from which he looms behind the shoulder of Patriah like a shadowed terror. For but a moment his features seem to become a lot more exaggerated into nightmarish proportions, yet his robes and the metallic armor he wears clamp onto the grotesque shadows that seem to squirm and writhe underneath the layers of cloth and steel. He looks directly at Cryptid, who he could feel intense emotions of discomfort, both from their current predicament as well as revelations of their person. His lips peel back into a grin that would have been a friendly gesture, but behind his pallid lips are simply sharp needles and a gaping black void beyond.

"You wish for an exchange. The knowledge of these mortals' lives so that we could decipher our situation. What would you wish to trade for it, friend?" The Prince tilts his head in question, a snapping sound echoing from the action.

“I just suggested something, and now I just want an answer. Is a sweater acceptable or not?!” Patriah demanded.

Hands folded atop hands, limbs wrapping in embrace. The depth of being that The Prince of Dreams saw vanished as rapidly as it had appeared. It was futile to stare with wide pupils at that which could only be held in the corner of the eye, or in a passing glance, and that which contrasted so sharply with the familiarities of his realm rendered itself as obtuse as it was within the world of the waking.
"What I ask is simple. A toll for a prize, be it paid in flesh, mind, or soul. A palm's-length of skin, a memory of a dark corner, or a meager droplet from the well of the one who decides to offer sacrifice."

With a clearer definition given, Patriah finally decided to try and seriously consider the requirements. Watching a dragon of his size tapping his chin to think about an offering to an Eldritch shadow, however, looked quite comical. “A length of skin? How about a dragon scale then?”

Taking two huge claws, he grabbed a scale from his own body and tore it off, causing himself to bleed just a little. He had millions of scales, but one had quite the value in any Magical context. “Is one good or you want more?”

For once, Bayaras' slack mouth shifted, a small grin among the prolonged neutrality of their demeanor over the course of the journey.
"It is a suitable offering. I accept this sacrifice."
A hand reached from the unraveled world around it, gingerly taking the scale from Patriah's claw before withdrawing, returning to the formless mass from whence it came.
"In turn I give this boon, knowledge of the final resting place to these dreamless dead. The town of Gilead, Maine, is where their graves may be found."

“Gilead! Perfect!” Patriah blurted, as he whirled around to Lan. “We need to leave this dream and go find those graves! Then maybe we can get inside this cave! This is clearly some sort of puzzle, so that’s the next step!”

"Gilead. Perfect." The name means nothing to the Prince of the Dreamlands, but knowing their destination makes the process of walking through the worlds an easier process. Lanuru's towering form begins to glide next to the gravestones, gauntleted hands raking across their surfaces. Many have long since forgotten, their etchings blurred by lost memory and the marchings of time, but some are still as vibrant as if they were etched yesterday.

Paint seems to bloom from these gravestones, with differing hues and intensities as they emerge from the gray rock. Both Patriah and Cryptid feel a pulse from each bleeding color: sorrow, deep regrets, and grief echo in their minds as the dark graveyard is painted with more striking blacks, whites, and grays. Candles, long since offered for the peaceful repose of the dead, light up, and guilt rises up their throats like bile. It burns like the fleeting flame, it is bitter like the rotten earth beneath their feet.

And Lanuru stops before a specific grave. This one, seemingly made not just yesterday but now, still has fresh soil dug and tossed over it. Fresh flowers, pure whites and other bright colors of yellows and oranges, seem to pop like splashed oil paint against a white canvas. His clawed gauntlets drag across the epithet.

Mary Loise Wright

Beloved Daughter, Cherished Sister

Together With Her Mother in Peace

The dates on the gravestone foretell a horrid truth, that this one grave lays to rest a life that was snuffed too early and next to it is the one that brought her to life. The emotions of grief are stronger in this one, as if marked and stained by a personal sense of failing and loss.

The Prince leans down and plucks a pure white blossom from the many offerings to the dead, and he takes a single petal off of it. Before the two godlings he holds it with a gentle touch, before bringing it to his mouth.

He chews, savoring the flavors of emotion from deep within, before blowing out a breath of pinks and blues towards the flower. It quivers, before it grows rapidly in the Prince's hands, weaving a familiar sight to Patriah and Cryptid: another dream gate, this time leading outside and towards the material world.

"...The path leads to the one who buried these people, who carries the grief of doing so until this very day. Come. Let's see what's in store in this city of Gilead."

[Nantoraka]

Co-writes by Nant, Luminesa, and Naval Monte
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Akura
School Courtyard

With the rain overhead, Akura slung the green cloth over his shoulder and grumbled, using his other hand to hold up the sweatshirt keeping him mostly shielded from the rain. Small droplets still made themselves known through mini pricks of acidic heat that needled his forearms like pins and needles, but the sweatshirt - soaking as it was - still held up, though still gave the same burning sensations atop his palms as he gripped the wet cloth. Steeling himself and gritting his teeth, Akura still marched through the rain and pushed himself through the pain, making absolutely no effort to mask his complaints as he did so. ”Hate the rain. Hate the rain. Hate the rain. Hate the rain.” Every word accompanied by an annoyed growl and a wince. ”Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it so very much.” He never liked the rain. Humidity was simply uncomfortable, but rain was outright painful. It earned him a lot of teasing as he grew up - not many kids could say they were so allergic to something as basic and common as water - and every moment spent in rain simply reminded him more of just how much of an other he was. If he had his way, every waking moment of a rainstorm would be spent inside. Unfortunately, growing up in a humid area prone to rains - particularly hurricanes - kept him from doing so, and fittingly at this moment in time as he walked through this rain storm, he had only one desire, and that was to crawl into bed and sleep. Sleep until the end of time, if he had to.

The day hadn’t just been busy, it was beyond exhausting. So much had happened; a new student, making friends with the fox goddess Vix - of which he had a particularly rough first contact with, learning about his family, meeting his family, learning about the deaths in his family, learning about the apocalypse his family is going through, and above all else, learning that his distant birth father had cared enough about him to personally send him weapons and armor to keep him safe. Akura was no lesser being, as much as he thought he was, and even then, the rolling snowball of constant news after constant news wore thin on his head, and for the most part, all that was left was mental exhaustion and a desire to just…take a break. Still, in spite of this, there was something else - excitement. The godling had only a year of formal training, poor formal training at that, and found almost no proper control over his abilities. But now, with the guidance of Coatrisquie earlier that day, he learned a new approach that showed him that control was possible. For once, in his life, his “curse” could now be called a gift. For once in his life, he casted something with purpose and control. And the possibilities, which Akura had never thought would be possible, were now endless. He now had a path to walk, and with that purpose, direction, and determination, he was practically floating on a wave of excitement to try new things.

Accompanying that new wave of excitement was the gear that he was given. A series of accouterments, that, according to Inriri, had been designed for him to become a prince of the forest spirits. Enchanted, royal armor - golden royal armor at that. Absolutely something he would be showing off later, of course. This armor additionally came with a set of unusual serpentine bracers and a spear additionally fashioned by Inriri - said bracers he was wearing as well - and he was more than happy to experiment with his newfound gifts by the time he got back to his dorm. In particular, he wanted to do things right by giving the rather pretty new girl a gift to replace the plant that was killed earlier. After all, now that he could hopefully control his magic, that meant he could now expand upon his natural abilities without accidentally turning his dorm room into a withering jungle of vines. He could hardly contain that excitement, as dead-tired as he was. Sleep could wait anyhow. Akura’s feet trudged heavily and noisily through the steadily dampening sidewalk, rainwater splashing upwards and outwards, onto his jeans, shoes, socks, everywhere; mud clung to his soles as he took messy shortcuts around the steadily-growing puddles of the sidewalks, and the godling clung to the sides of the buildings, safe from the wind and rain, as he meandered his way around the central buildings into the dorms themselves.

By the time he got to the dorms themselves, Akura slowly, yet impatiently, opened the doors, trying to get in as fast as he could without ripping the hinges right off the walls and worsening his predicament. Sliding through and immediately throwing himself against the wall back-first, Akura panted in exhaustion and slid down, throwing his soaking wet sweatshirt angrily to the side, which shot outwards like a bullet and impacted the wall opposite of him with a wet splat. ”Hate. The. Rain.” Akura loudly and annoyedly said to himself, as he hiked his shirt sleeves up his arm, and gently rubbed the areas where the rain had repeatedly contacted him. Small red pinprick marks were all over his arms, but they were rapidly beginning to fade like a sponge that was exposed to an open fire - his divine healing factor kicking in and rendering every single mark harmless, if not painless. Pulling his knees towards his body, Akura took a few minutes for a breather, placing his face between his knees and breathing deeply, before kicking his legs outwards once more and shooting up to his feet. Pulling the hem of his shirt back down towards his waist, he bent down and grabbed the cloth that the gifts were wrapped in, and took a look at the soaking wet sweatshirt on the floor. ...I’ll take care of that when it dries. Thought Akura. Now, time to go!

Swinging the sack over his shoulder, Akura made a dash for his room - that natural speed of his kicking in was all he needed to be able to clear the distance from the entrance of the dorms to the entrance of his own room within seconds, sparks of golden magical energy trailing him as he did so. As Akura opened the door and shut it behind him, he made eye contact with one of the many types of winter fae that seemed to call the dorm home. Many of them were practically living shadows, moving every which way and that in whatever eldritch chores his roommate had assigned them, and Akura was staring face to face with one on the far corner of Lanuru’s side of the room. Akura was a rather friendly individual…but there was certainly deep, vivid, homicidally intense aggression in the deepest corners of his soul as a simo-ahawara, and if there was anything that brought out this aggression, it was those things. Akura had not once made an attempt to hide his disdain of these creatures, and he narrowed his eyes in a thinly veiled signal of aggression with an ever-faint buzzing hum radiating from the godling as he turned his eyes and walked towards his room. He didn’t even bother to pay attention to the shadows afterwards, nor their reactions, but only paid a single sentence as his free hand grasped the handle to his door. ”I’ll be busy here. Do NOT disturb me. Do NOT touch what is in this sack.” He hadn’t waited for any response - any phrase, any sign of acknowledgement - before he just up and went into his room, and shut the door behind him.

His room was…rather minimalist, in design. Akura had never grown up in opulence; his family were survivors, trying to eke out a desperate living in the aftermath of an apocalypse. Comfort was practically foreign to him, and when he left the Spirit World to attend the school, he kept only the essentials. Food. Clothes. Nothing else. And as such, his room was uncomfortably bare; there was a single bed that was barely long enough to accommodate Akura (and left his feet dangling off the edge every night), a mirror, a desk, a bookshelf, and a chair to go with the desk. There was no dressers, either; instead, he had simply two piles of clothes, folded clean clothes, and dirty unfolded clothes. And yet, in the end, it was practically cuddly compared to the circumstances he grew up in, and so not once had he ever complained or even thought to improve it. All he cared about was that it was “good enough”, and it sure was. The room was well-lit with two lamps, one on the ground beside his bed, and another on the desk that faced the wall, and was relatively light on the decorations for the most part - however, the parts of his room that were decorated, were decorated with the usage of plants. Akura had a bit of a green thumb, an aftereffect of his supernatural heritage, and he had a tendency to spend his time growing plants almost as a compulsion. He had multiple pots of various makings; clay, porcelain, and otherwise, and many were empty, many were filled with dirt, and many had sprouts and full grown plants both local and from his homeland and neighboring islands.

Akura placed down the cloth, pacing throughout his room as he ran every which way and that to organize for his work, energized by the hope of the progress that he had not realized he was starved for. And he moved fast - practically in a blur as the wind that kicked in his wake was enough to shake and move the messily folded sheets of his bed. One thing had caught his eye though; the mirror in the corner of his room, and he stopped as he placed down a series of folded clothes next to the bed. Slowly standing up, Akura stared at the mirror, and moved his way over to the front of the mirror. What laid before him was the same individual that he always was - a human stared back, but now, it felt more alien, as if he was now having trouble connecting that the being before him truly was him. He felt…changed, somehow. Unusual. Different. Like a switch that he never knew was there had been flipped. A few idle seconds passed by as the godling closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it as he grabbed the hem of his damp shirt and lifted it over his head, exposing his musculature and physique to the world as he looked at himself up and down, and butterflies emerged in his stomach as physical changes - not mental - had made themselves apparent. His tattoos. Running a hand up his naturally sculpted smooth bronze flesh, across every single ridge of muscle across his well-kept abdomen, Akura inspected the patterns of the new tattoos; a series of dull bluish-green inked patterns, semicircles marking his right pec and various geometric patterns across both arms, accentuated with thorned vine-like markings as the circles on his pecs themselves were surrounded with spear-like icons pointing at the circles. Akura let out a shuddered breath, air escaping as an equal mix of excitement, wonder, and nervousness made itself known. He felt…strong, and confident, and a small laugh escaped his mouth as Akura covered his face with his hands, unable to suppress the grin he was sprouting. Leaning closer into the mirror itself, he looked at his eyes - and they had changed too, the emerald glow had intensified, and his pupils were now…oddly cat-like, with a slit appearance.

Akura leaned back, covering his mouth, before taking a hand and trailing another finger up the tattoos that covered the length of his body. Every single second, he just marveled at the changes that he had undergone with Coatrisquie’s instructions - that single moment of exposure of his true spirit self was all it needed to permanently ingrain itself into the physical world, and now, he was forever marked as divine. The tattoos themselves had no separate texture or other physical sign to mark they were there, they felt not unlike the rest of his smooth skin. However - Coatrisquie’s tattoos glowed. His did not. And so, Akura closed his eyes again, and slowly raised his left arm upwards and forwards towards the mirror, splaying his hands.

Let it through. Let it flow. The lessons echoed their way through his head and memories again. Shape it with desire.

A deep, slow, controlled breath was all Akura took before he opened his eyes once more, and came face to face with the results. Once again, his power had been channeled, and to him, the results were so beautiful he almost moved himself to tears. His tattoos were now glowing a beautifully brilliant shade of green, like that of a malachite gemstone, and were practically gleaming. A low, steady hum of radiating spiritual energy filled the room, and the glow was strong enough to outshine the lamps themselves. Akura raised his hands to his mouth, tears welling up; he felt…like this was right. A life spent in denial of himself was melting away, like an unwelcome weight that was cracking his neck had finally been lifted. Absolution, true absolution. Akura just laughed to himself again, confidence welling up inside as he took every chance to enjoy the look of his empowered body. He was practically childish in this regard; flexing every which way and that, admiring the way his muscles rippled with every movement as his tattoo’s glow never once faded. ”Who is the strongest demigod?” Yet more posing, ”Haha…that’s right. I am.” He felt divine. ”Nobody lifts like me!” Akura smiled at his own reflection. as he closed his eyes and blocked his magic once again, his tattoos beginning to dim. However, while his tattoos dimmed back to their dull color, the shape of his eyes stayed the same - the cat-like pupils evidently were here to stay.

Still, appreciation of one’s own physique couldn’t last forever. There was a time and place, and this was definitely not the time. Akura finished his preparations as he pulled his desk forward, moving a potted plant - a series of flowers from his homeland known as a flor de maga, sprouting from branches trimmed from a tree - from beside his bed towards the desk itself. Placing the serpentine bracers onto his arms once more, Akura held his breath and experimented - he struck the bracers together, and when he did so, sparks of glowing green-golden energy shot out, like steel striking flint. It seemed the bracers were more than just gold and metal - they were magical in nature, and the fact that they were sending out sparks identical to his own energy, Akura could only come to one conclusion: that they were specifically made to channel his own energy. Perfect. he thought, as he pulled up the chair to his desk, picked up the potted plant, placed it on the desk itself, and sat down.

Akura stared at the plant, crossing his arms, and just…stared. He hadn’t actually thought of how he would start; the process in his mind made it seem a lot more seamless than it actually was. Start with the basics, I suppose, he thought. He extended a hand outwards, fingers slowly splaying outwards as he touched the plant with the palm of his hand and closed his eyes. Once again, the words of Coatrisquie echoed through his mind. Let go - allow it to change, do not wish or force it, desire it and allow it to work on its own. And for this, he desired the plant to sprout more flowers. He was somewhat nervous at this; he had a tendency to accidentally kill plants by aging them out of control whenever he did this. He did it while showing off to Fog, and he almost did it while showing off to Lavinia, and was doing it even beforehand while practicing on his own. Still, as Akura closed his eyes and focused his power once more into the plant itself…nothing happened. The godling sighed in defeat and lowered his hand, relieved the plant itself had not died, but dejected that nothing had happened. It seemed he still had some way to go. Still, he wasn’t about to let that get him down; still riding on the enthusiasm of his newly empowered magic, Akrua raised his hand once more, and changed his attempts to something new. I may not be able to make it sprout more flowers, Akura, thought, but I can do this instead! Akura pinched one of the stems that the flowers were growing from, and slowly pulled it, ripping it from the branch as he placed it on the desk, stood up, and carried an empty pot back to his desk. Placing the branch in the pot and burying it partly into the dirt, Akura then grabbed a small container of water, opened it, and began to pour it over the severed branch and its flowers.

Pulling the wooden chair back, Akura sat back down, closed his eyes, and raised his hand once more to the new plant. This time, he would regrow the plant, and as the green energy coursed through his tattoos once more in that steady magical hum, this new approach certainly bore fruit. The plant seemed to regenerate, and it basked in the glow of his spiritual energy, attuned to nature as it was, and the plant rapidly began to grow; new branches forming, flowers sprouting, roots taking shape in the pot itself. In fact, it began to grow…a little too fast; vines rapidly wrapped themselves around the pot and burst outwards, beginning to crack the clay pot as the vines slowly extended outwards, turning into wood as they wrapped around the desk. Akura slowly opened his eyes and blinked, a few imperceptible moments passing by as he had to register the sight before him before panicking. ”Shit, that’s not what I wanted!” He exclaimed in nothing short of pure shock, as he stood up fast enough to send the wooden chair careening backwards into the wall of his dorm. Small green veins of magical energy appeared in the bark of the growing plant - now more of a growing tree as it rapidly began to take over his room. Thoughts raced through his mind as he attempted to figure out some manner of stopping the growth, but panic began to give way to curiosity as he slowed down and took a deeper look into exactly what the tree was doing. It wasn’t exactly growing out of control like a plague, on a deeper look. No…it was more merging with his room; branches wrapped around - not through - his furniture, and vines creeped along his wall slowly yet powerfully. Flowers grew from the ceiling as the tree now practically occupied the corner of his room all by itself, and the vines slowly lifted his bed into the air, additional vines growing outwards to reinforce it. The living wood seemed to create all new furniture from itself - his room, minimalistic and poor before, now seemed to be…alive, and accommodating the prince himself. Branches split outwards and formed shapes of a couch, table, chair…everything, really, all things the godling never knew he wanted, but still wanted.

Panic continued to give way to wonder and amazement as new plants grew in the corners. There was certainly some disappointment, however - it was entirely obvious that he still had some ways to go before he could ever consider his powers under control. ...I must have used too much energy, I guess. Akura tried to reason away his failure here, and at this point, he didn’t have much desire to stop it. Whatever had happened here, was not harmful, and he considered that a point of improvement. Small glowing flowers sprouted on the ceiling above, glowing a soft golden-green light, filling the room with the same warm, glowing lively energy of his spirit self, and he felt…empowered, comfortable. Like this room was now his beyond just a deed and title; it felt like his domain. By the time the tree had finished growing out of control, it had practically dominated his room. More flowers grew from the base of the tree, as he went over and picked them. Closing his eyes, he would attempt this one more time. Holding the flowers between the tips of his fingers of his right hand - the arm with the most tattoos - he once again focused his power…and slowly made his desires clear once more. And upon opening his eyes, he immediately widened them as he smiled at the results.

The formerly red flowers had now changed colors, shifting from red to a mixture of black and white with blue tips, with glowing green cracks in the stems themselves to signify their merger with his energy; these were no longer mundane flowers, they carried a hint of spiritual energy, as if they were now partially spirit themselves, attuned to the earth. It seems that whatever his energy had done to the flowers, they had changed on the most fundamental level. ”Well, she’s magic, I’m pretty sure. She’ll be able to do something with these.” He remarked to himself, voice practically tickling with pride at his work. He slowly raised his face, taking one of the flowers and smelling them, and moved to place them in another clay pot he kept around his room. ”My god.” Akura said, placing his hands on his hips and looking at his suddenly-overhauled room, the spirit flower he just created, and his bared glowing tattoos. ”I am just the greatest.”

Akura turned to his left, moving to the side of his bed and shifting through his clothes to find a new shirt to put on, and upon finding one he was satisfied with wearing, tossed it over his head and arms, and moved to pick up the pot. Taking a few seconds, Akura thought about the weather outside - horrific, dreary, terrifying rain - and tossed an additional coat on himself, taking the hood and pulling it tight over his head. It wasn’t perfect, but it’d keep him dry. Picking up the pot, which now contained the bright black and white spirit flowers, Akura slung his arms underneath the pots and left his dorm, not bothering to maintain eye contact with the shadowy fae wandering around Lanuru’s half of the dorm as he left the building. Walking up to the final door, he tightened the hood further around his face, breathed in, and gently pushed it open with his foot, his hands too busy occupied with the pot itself. ”Please don’t burn me. Please don’t burn me. Please don’t burn me.” Akura muttered over and over again to himself, but as he crept out of the door and underneath the rainy sky and muddy ground, he was safe; the rain was bouncing off of his coat and sliding harmlessly to the ground, keeping him safe and dry from everything else. Breathing a sigh of relief, Akura picked himself up and began moving…only to realize that he hadn’t actually figured out where to go. He didn’t know which dorm is specifically hers, but he figured he should at least stop by at the infirmary to check. She did say her arm was burnt, after all. And so, Akura moved southwards, reaching the central complex of buildings in only a few minutes time - he had planned to move faster, but slowed down, worried that moving faster would involve the rain splashing down into his face.

Reaching the entrance of the infirmary, Akura slowly turned around and pressed his back against the door, opening it as he tried to slowly turn and make sure the plant wasn’t shaken up. Once he was inside, Akura slowly placed the pot to the ground, reached his hands up to his hood, and pulled it down. He ran some hands through his hair as the hood came down, straightening it as several strands got tangled and matted, and picked up the pot once more.

Hestia and Thoth had both come back to the infirmary to care for individual patients. The former had brought a light lunch-a small bowl of gazpacho, crackers for the soup, a ham-and-cheese sandwich on toasted bread, a pineapple smoothie, and orange juice. The latter brought a little less for Vix, just the gazpacho and a smoothie, easy things while the teachers monitored her condition.

The ibis-headed god was the first to spot Akura, and he smiled as the young deity entered. “Hello, Akura. Good to see you. What do you have there?”

"Oh! I...uh...well, I, uh," Akura kept stumbling over his words as Thoth spoke. He wasn't exactly shameful of his task, but he was absolutely intimidated by Thoth, in the way someone might be intimidated meeting a celebrity, only much moreso. Listening to the gods in a classroom was one thing, speaking to them was another. Even if he was supposedly a "royal" now and a god himself, there was still that little shred of inadequacy in him facing someone with over 3,000 years of legends describing their existence and worship. Still, he persevered. "...Ahem, sorry. These are some flowers I made. Or, er, altered specifically. I just tried changing the color originally, but I ended up accidentally changing the whole thing."

"Flowers?" Thoth was curious, but in a positive way. He leaned over and smiled at him, encouraging him in his kind task. "And who are these flowers for, if I may ask?"

"...Well, magic flowers..." Akura muttered under his voice, before speaking back up. "Well, these are for Lavinia. Her plant got burned alive and I figured she could use a replacement. That, and a way more pleasant 'welcome to the school' gift that doesn't involve...fire, and screaming. Maybe even get to know her, I dunno." Akura shrugged, some measure of embarrassment in his voice. Sentiment was something a little difficult to admit.

“Excellent. Lavinia is still in her bed, having lunch. You may go see her if you would like.” The ibis-headed god smiled and nodded to Akura as he explained his sweet gift. “I’m sure she’ll be very happy to receive it.”

"Well, that's perfect." Akura said, struggling to keep the flower pot stable. "...Think I could have some directions? My skin hasn't exactly, well, broken open enough for me to actually know this place by heart."

“She’s right down the other side of the room. You’ll see her when you get to the other side,” Thoth explained, nodding in the direction of her bed. “She’s probably resting, but she’ll be happy to see you, I’m sure.”

"Well, if she is, I'll just quietly drop em off. No big deal." Akura said. "That being said! Thanks for the directions."

Akura smiled and nodded in a show of thanks and acknowledgement. Taking the pot in his hands, he turned and went down the hallway, continuing on his way as he passed the curtains of the infirmary. [i]"Other side...other side...." Akura muttered to himself as he tried to find the right spot. "Ah, wait. Here we go!"

Akura rounded the corner to the end of the rather lengthy room, but with his hands full, he couldn't quite "knock" on the curtain. Instead, he just chose to try and get her attention. "Aye, Lavinia, you awake?"

The albino was infact not awake, but asleep. However she turned in her sleep. She was in a dense woods. A black oily fog obscure everything. She stood at the edge of a clearing.

Dark shapes danced in front of a bonefire. They thrusted in the air and into each other. They screamed. They moan. They cheer and laughed. Some cut themselves with nails and blades. Some fornicated upon the alien idol that was at the center and stood next to the raging fire. Some were at their knees and prey to the idol, chanting in words so alien yet so familiar to her.

The idol was a thing of impossibility. So many eyes. So many mouths. So many angles that should be impossible to be made in. So many tentacles. It was repulsive It was blasphemous. It was wrong. Yet once more that feeling of familiarly struck her.

The figures dropped to their knees. Their hands extended upward as they screamed in mad jubilation. Following their direction Lavinia looked up and saw a massive cloud of organic matter forming above.

Lumpy drops began to rain down as eyes, mouths, and tendrils began to come down from the thing. Lavinia swore she could hear the bellow of goats but her attention was upon the yellow eyes of the thing in the sky. The eyes that store down at her very soul. The eyes that knew who she was.

The bellow grew louder. Her body was drench in blood. Her skin began to peel on it's own as thick, oily, substance began to ooze out.

Her arm would combust into flames and only then did Lavinia finally had the will to do something besides being a passive observer.

She screamed. She screamed as loud as she can. Both in the dream and in reality.

Hestia hurried to her side, and Thoth flew over to see what had prompted the scream. The latter had figured that her nightmares had come from her pain, and Hestia figured from experience with Astrid that they had come from something she had not yet revealed to the teachers. Either way, they both hurried to see why she had given such a blood-curdling scream.

Lavinia would thrush on the bed. A rift began to open in the room. Drop fluids began to ooze from it. A blast of humid, stagnant air would come into the room. The scent of blood, sweat, and some other nauseating aromas that lack proper words would fill the air. They would hear the echoing calls of what sounded like a goat.

“It’s coming from her nightmare!” Thoth exclaimed, as he grabbed Lavinia and held a hand out under her head. The soft glitter of the moon radiated under her head, creating a halo of silver light around her head.

In her mind, the dream would start to become blurry and sparkling. Moonlight over a soft, gently-flowing riverbank. The screaming creature would seemingly vanish, its shrieks being swallowed by the squeaky greeting of cicadas and fireflies on a June evening. A nightmare replaced, and the scent that came through the portal would instead be citrus and honey, the scents of summer.

The bellow would turn into a loud and painful scream. The scream would reach frequencies that the glass from windows and cabinets would begin to crack. Ear drums would be threaten with rupture. The scream would go through the walls of the infirmary and travel down the hallway, scaring many students and staff alike from the suddenness of it all.

Yet, the rift began to close as Lavinia began to open her eyes. She saw the professor as her vision began to adjust. Upon being awaken she would immediately reach to the corner of the bed and puke the sandwich she ate before on to the floor.

The smell the rift unleash was beginning to fade away. But the black liquid remained.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Akura shouted as he immediately lifted his hands to his ears, dropping the pot to the ground, and landing with a crack barely audible against the screaming. Akura winced as thick, golden fluid - evidently honey to Hestia - leaked from his ears, but his eyes flashed gold and the leaking rapidly stopped. He might have the strength of an ocean and the fortitude of an mountain, but loud sounds like this hurt him as much as anyone else. Wincing further, he immediately and slowly walked forward - and carefully avoiding the puddle of vomit - as he slowly moved his hands away from his ears and took Lavinia's hands in his. "That's...enough...of that..." Akura shout-muttered out.

Steady green energy, something Thoth could feel, and could tell felt somewhat like Marohu's own energy, yet distantly related, began to emanate from his body accompanied with a small hum and a chime, like a gently rung wind chime. Sooth. Be sooth. Akura thought, trying to translate his thoughts into desire, trying to sooth and calm her with the power of his newfound spirit magic.

He couldn't exactly tell what was happening here. This was foreign, unbelievably, impossibly foreign. It was anathema to him - like it was entirely wrenched out of the natural order. Holding her hand gently to his chest and squeezing it, he just focused on keeping his aura generated. If nothing else, he hoped his presence as a nature spirit would at least mitigate the effects of whatever this thing was; like heat, mitigating frostbite, or water mitigating thirst. "You're okay." Akura said, trying to get her attention. "You're okay...you're with friends."

His hands were in full contact with the black ooze - but he was unconcerned. Evidently, only water seemed to affect his skin the way it did.

Lavinia was breathing after expelling her stomach content. Her mind was a flurry of images as she tried to recall what just happened. Yet all she can get is smoke and oily water. Everything she saw was a blur.

"Wha.. What happened?" She asked as she now noticed Akura and him holding her hands. The woman blushed when she noticed he got that close to her.

Her eyes looked over to the black ooze. "What is that?" she shivered as she felt as though the ooze was familiar even though she can't recall why

Tightening his grip, Akura tried to find the right words to explain what exactly happened as the green aura enveloping him like a glowing mist died down to a faded, dim light. "Well, I'm not sure about either. You screamed pretty...pretty..." Akura winced and shook his head, like something was bothering him. "...Sorry, one second."

Taking one of his hands, he raised them to his ears, feeling a certain wetness that raised some alarm in his stomach, and wiped it. Taking the hand in front of him to see what happened, Akura winced again as he saw that part of his hand was covered in honey. Grimacing, he wiped it against the leg of his pants. "Well, you screamed pretty loudly. There was a portal...smelled like everything you don't want to smell mixed into one...all kinds of crazy stuff." Akura pointed at his ear, the one he didn't wipe - a small stream of honey trickling down from his ear canal. "And I mean you screamed LOUDLY. Like you have a VOICE. You should take up opera, you know that?" Akura said, trying to lighten the mood, lowering his head to his shoulder as he wiped his other ear against it.

Lavi would get up to sit as she placed a hand on her forehead and the other on her throat. It did fell dry now that she feels it. It felt as though she abused it a lot which if what Akura said is true she may have done so.

"I.. I don't know..." she stopped. "I don't remember." she corrected herself. "I feel like something happened but I can't remember it. You're saying a portal came through when I was screaming. Was it like the portals I make for my friends?" she asked? The shoggoth below the bed was silent. Both physically and through the bond she had with it.

She can tell it saw the events and was keeping silent on it. Why she couldn't understand.

Hestia picked-up the potted plant and held it tenderly in her arms. She saw the little crack, but decided it was far less important to manage than Lavinia’s sudden panic and illness.

“Your nightmare might have awakened some sort of trauma, something you were not aware existed. Perhaps an old bond to your pantheon?”

In the meantime, Thoth began to clean the black ooze from the floor. He did so while wearing gloves, but decided that examining the strange vomit was worth more now than trying to dispose of it. He wiped it onto a rag, and then also moved the garbage can by Vinny’s bedside, in case she needed to vomit again. “We might be able to determine whether it’s biological, psychological, or both by taking this and studying it. As…strange as that may sound. Acute stomach pain from intestinal trauma can cause one to vomit black blood, but so can a host of many other supernatural causes as well. Are you alright with me doing that, Lavinia?”

Wow, her hands are soft. Wait, uh-
Akura's thoughts strayed away from the issue at hand, and he gently put her hands down onto her, smiling awkwardly as he stood back up. "Right, uh, sorry about that. As for the portal, well...I can't really say for sure." Akura pinched his chin in thought. "Maybe? I mean, I felt the exact same thing from the portal and your...episode that I feel from your friends. So they're probably related. What do I know though? I don't know anything about this god business." He continued, shrugging. He put another hand to his ear, wiping away the last of the honey from his ear.

"Oh, goddamnit." He said indignantly, once again wiping the sticky fluid on his pants a second time. It was rather unclear where all of it was coming from. "Hestia, can I have a towel-waitasecond." Akura looked at the potted plant and the crack in the pot, little specks of dirt falling through as he groaned. Luckily...he had a way to fix that. "Did it crack? Goddamnit, it cracked, didn't it? Can I see it? I might be able to plug it."

Hestia handed Akura the plant, while Thoth continued to clean the floor. She could tell he was so nervous, and she just gave him an encouraging smile as she watched him.

Lavinia looked at the black slime that was being cleaned up. "I know not to question the god of knowledge when it comes to information. If you feel that learning more about that sludge would help me than I say do it. Do I need to offer blood as well?" she asked Thoth.

She was torn on the matter. She wants to know what sort of pantheon she may hail from yet a part of her felt dread on knowing the answer. She told herself the dread was coming because of what happened. Perhaps knowing the truth would make it less terrifying.

When Akura let go of her hand the blush she had began to fade and she can feel a sigh leave that she didn't know she was holding. Yet her heart was still beating faster than before. How strange?

However when he told her that the portal was the same she felt a chill go down her spine. "Did you see green eyes peering through the portal? Tentacles? What sort of sound came out?"

She doubt it was her star spawn that came out as it doesn't produce black slime or blood but she was hoping that perhaps her creation has some surprises instead of the terrible truth that there are aspects to her own power she does not know.

Her mind was racing with so much fear that she has yet to realise that Akura was intended to give her a flower until she saw the pot being held by Hestia.

"Why are you carrying around that pot?" She asked Akura

"Green eyes? Uh...not sure. Tentacles? Don't think so...sound? Well, more like sounds, as in, plural...and a lot of goat noises." Akura said as he bit his lip and suspended the pot on his left arm, distracted as he snapped off a piece of the branch of the plant with his right. Multitasking was evidentally not his strong suit, given the way he was focusing on the pot and answering the question as quickly as he could. Still, when she mentioned the pot, his ears perked. "Oh, the pot? Well...I'll tell you about it once...I...get...this...bloody...crack...filled..." Akura said as he maneuvered his way into a comfortable position. "Alright...take number four."

Placing the branch against the pot, Akura closed his eyes and tried to focus his energy once more, just as he had done earlier. Mend it. Mend the pot. He didn't even need to think it, his desires were already at the forefront of his mind, but he still thought so regardless, the magic working its way through the branch as a green glow made its presence known, shining through the fabrics of shirt in a series of vaguely circular shapes around his arms and upper chest - telltale signs of spirit tattoos.

To the staff present, that was definitely new. Those lines were obviously visible in the forms of tattoos on Coatrisquie and Abaguabana, but Akura had never shown these same lines until now. That, and his newfound confidence in his ability was certainly new as well - normally, he'd stutter and try to procrastinate when doing something like this. Somehow, Akura has improved in his magic in the recent day, than he has in the last month.

The piece of branch began to glow...before practically exploding outwards. It almost seemed as yet another classic Akura failure in controlling his magic, but this one was much more directed - the newly formed branches wrapping their way around the pot and pulling it together, transforming into soft, green vines as the crack in the clay pot sealed, and vines covering it. It certainly was still some manner of uncontrolled power - but now, it was directed. Clear advancement from a teenager who could hardly predict the effects of his own power only days earlier. "Yes! I did it again! AHAAHAHA! I AM THE GREAAATEST!"

Akura could barely contain his glee at having done...whatever it was he was hoping to do.

Thoth chuckled at Akura’s feeling of success. He was a strangely “human” deity in that aspect-he had to force himself to believe that he really could fix something as simple as a pot for a plant.

He then turned to Lavinia. “We can draw a little blood, certainly. That way we can make sure to rule-out other causes for your illness as well.” He went to hook an IV, using simple-but-effective technology in her better arm to collect a couple of tubes of blood.

In the meantime, Hestia would help Akura to clean himself from the honey that had dripped onto his person. An easy enough fix. She heated a wet cloth and cleansed his ears, glad that he was not showing other signs of trauma. In fact, he had bounced back quickly, more like a god in his physique than in his mild, kind temperament.

“All you need to cleanse honey is just some warm water. Much better!”

Lavinia watched on as Akura began to use his powers to fix the pot as she gave her arm to Thoth to draw out blood. She was puzzled by why he was moving around so much to use his powers. She never had to be in odd positions to use her powers but she figure that with Akura perhaps there was different rules involved?

The thought that something else was in the space between spaces unnerved her. What the hell was in there? She can only store in beings she created. Did she make something she forgot? Was she sleeping walking? What was going on?

Her thoughts on the mystery would be put on hold as tattoos form on Akura's body. She would see the display of his powers with awe. She covered her eyes as it seem her lost control over his magic but the fear of that happening faded quickly as she saw that the pot was fixed.

She gave him a smile as the spirit aligned student cheer for his success. "Congratulation." she would look at the branch. "Why are you using that? Are those tattoos normal when you use your powers?"

"Waitaminute whatare-oh. Oh. Okay." Akura tried protesting at first as he calmed from his giddiness, but rapidly stopped as Hestia cleaned the residual fluid from his ears, relaxing as he closed his eyes and let her do that. "...Thanks, that was getting irritating. Downside of having honey blood is that it's...very sticky and irritating.". At the mention of "blood" he did visibly look away from what Thoth was doing. Whatever that tube was trying to do, it was visibly creeping Akura out.

As he relaxed, his eyes and tattoos slowly dimmed, the latter fading entirely underneath the fabric as his eyes returned to that dim, green glow, and with the fading of the glow came the silencing of the slight hum and chime of his particular magical power. "Tattoo...?" Akura blinked and paused for half a second, before continuing. "Oh right...the tattoos, Uh..." Another brief pause as Akura tried to remember what Coatrisquie had taught him. "...Well, I think? I've never had them until today. I think they never showed cause of some blockage, or something. Not sure. They're like a river, of sorts, but with spiritual energy instead of water. Every divine spirit has them, and they're apparently representative of our 'domains'. Or, er, that's what I've been TOLD anyways."

Akura pinched the sleeve of his right arm, raising it to his bicep to reveal the entirely new details on that bronze skin of his - dull, bluish-green inked patterns. Semi-circles wrapped up his arms in a repeating pattern, connected through clear iconography of spears, as vine-like patterns wrapped around every circle.

Those were definitely not there before.

Lowering his arm, he turned and placed the pot down, focusing back on the plant inside. "Oh...and, ah, the branch is because I can't just summon plants into existence. I need a base, that's why you saw me picking up that dandelion earlier. Now...one...sec..." Akura explained as he placed his hands just above the flowers, palms facing the plant. Whatever he was doing had an effect on the plant - the stump of the branch he ripped off rapidly seemed to regenerate, and the black/white flowers perked up as small, dim veins of green energy embedded themselves into the stems each flower was attached to. Another spiritual power was emanating - not from Akura, but from the plant. Somewhat similar to his own, but different. "So...the plant you had that got burned. Was that plant unusual besides being really weird looking?"

Lavinia nodded as she heard how Akura's powers work. She wonder if her powers would show any strange effects to her body? Unless her hair and eyes were signs of that?

"I never had any blockage with my powers. It has always worked as you have saw it for as long as I have lived. I'm not sure if my magic involves spiritual energy like yours."

She would see him working more on the plant. Mesmerizing as the magic was working on it.

"The eyes and mouths actually worked. The plant drinks blood and other bodily fluids and it's roots can dig through flesh. It was sentient to but not like plants. Not sure if it's like regular animals or more alien minded."

"Makes sense." Akura said as he continued working over the flowers. "I mean, you ARE human...I'm pretty sure anyways. Different rules for you, right? Things you can do, I can't do."

With a final swoosh of his hand, Akura's rejuvenation of the plant was finished. He wasn't about to say a word on exactly how creepy her plants were, like Venus flytraps from Hell - not the best moment. Turning, Akura snagged the nearest chair and pulled it next to her bed, before walking up, grabbing the plant, and placing it down next to her. From this distance, they may have even felt magical - they didn't feel like normal flowers. They were...rather pretty, all things considered.

Akura sat next to the flowers, placing a hand on her bed as he breathed in deeply, trying to figure out what to say, evidently quite awkward in trying to deliver whatever message he was cooking up. But a few seconds, fairly uncomfortable seconds for Akura, passed, and he spoke up. "Okay, Lavinia, look." He said. "I'm not human. I'm a spirit, apparently. But I grew up as a human, ate as a human, lived as a human, taught to be a human. And underneath all of that, in the end, I wasn't human." He breathed in deeply, pausing for a couple seconds as he tried to figure out how to convey his next words. "Water acid burns me, I can toss trees like they're toys, my skin doesn't cut - it cracks, and my blood is made of HONEY. Lavinia...I know what it's like not to belong. To feel like you're just kinda...there, that secretly, people just want you gone, because you're different, and you don't fit in. I barely fit in with people." He continued. "And when I went to the Spirit World for a year...in Guanausa...well, I was like a fish that got yanked out of a river and told to walk on dry land."

"Vix made a mistake, a stupid mistake, but a mistake. She's innocent. I don't want you to feel like you don't belong here over one, little, probably-really-painful incident. You belong here, you do. We're the only ones that can ever really understand you, just like you're one of the only ones that can really understand someone like me. Or Abaguabana. Or Vix. Or Sun...or so many others!"

He placed a hand on hers, and gently placed her hand on the flower. "Feel that? This flower is magical. It's a font of spiritual power. Don't ask how I know that, or how I made it. I don't even know myself, I just did it."

Squeezing her hand and smiling, he continued. "These flowers are for you, and you specifically, so you can get better acquainted with the spiritual side of things. The natural side. The other side of the coin, really. I feel like...like your powers, the nature of them, kinda make you feel alienated. So! Use this little plant here!" He placed his free hand on the flower itself, and the green veins began to glow. "Let it anchor you! Learn from it, grow from it. I know I did. Maybe studying it could help you with your fucking spooky night terrors. As long as you're grounded to us, I feel like you'll feel like you'll fit in."

Akura stopped himself mid-tirade and awkwardly cleared his throat as he let go of her hand to let her rest on the plant. "Ahem...yeah...just water it maybe, I'd reckon...a cup a week. I'm sure Abaguabana would help out with that. I hear there's another water god running around too, could help with that."[/i]

Thoth and Hestia listened to the conversation. Albeit, they listened while giving the two students some distance. Akura was doing a much better job than he could have realized. His words were kind, gentle, and honest, and Lavinia seemed to be comfortable around him. At least, she was the most comfortable that she had been since she had arrived here just an hour or two prior. But now she had an actual friend, and not a new traumatic event to heap into a pile of more traumatic information.

But they did not speak too soon. While Hestia still had the sweet, doting smile of a knowing auntie, and Thoth was pleased by the bee spirit’s kindness and politeness, they knew to remain wary in case something else went wrong. Both of them held their breath-from a safe distance-for Lavinia’s answer.

Lavinia nodded to what Akura told her. In truth she was doubting how much of her was truly human after finding out the truth. Sure gods looked human enough in ancient art work and it seems even in reality. But they often had powers beyond mortal comprehension. How was she sure that she was truly seeing their actual forms?

What if Hestia was a being with many limbs, eyes, breasts, and mouths? Thoth was a many headed giant that was a void for a body?

How can she be sure she was still human when faced with such beings and knowing one of her parents was never human to begin with?

Akura would soon tell her that he wasn't a human but a spirit that looked human. Yet he still saw himself as human as he had lived his whole life as one and did everything humans would do. The woman heard him out as he express what she was feeling not only when it came to her attempts with befriending people but how she was feeling now that the truth was revealed to her.

How she was in the right place for her and there would be others to help her find her place. She was enraptured by his words she didn't feel Akura touch her hands and place it on the floor.

He even told her to use the plant to anchor herself to reality. To remind her that she has somewhere to be even when her own mind wish to take her away to somewhere dark and terrible.

The albino woman was silent as she rubbed her fingers on the leaves of the flowers.

[Nantoraka]

"I.. I'll try..." she gingerly replied back. "But I wonder if I shouldn't know what I am?" she would raise her other hand and let a black oily mist emerge from it. "I know that I'm not human and maybe I should know what I am but what if I'm better of never knowing that? What if the truth ends up doing more damage than living in ignorance?"

"Well..." Akura thought for a few seconds. "Look at it this way, you won't be...complete if you don't, so-to-speak. I don't think so, anyway. That night terror you had? Well, you’re as old as me, right? Judging by my ‘experience’ I think they’re gonna get worse. Or more frequent. Or just keep harassing you until the heat death of the universe. I think you knowing how to understand yourself, understand the world, could help with that. And-”

Akura was suddenly interrupted by the steady opening of the door to the room, then weak and measured footsteps. The door revealed the entrance of a rather elderly and weak blue-skinned individual - Marohu, who evidently substituted his royal elegant clothing for a pair of plain sweatpants and a black featureless shirt. He was walking around with a cane, seemingly holding onto it with less strength, and more sheer determination not to fall. Seconds passed before Akura just suddenly turned to the deity and shouted. ”...Oh hell! You’re awake!”

The elderly one, Marohu, just weakly nodded and rested against the wall, standing fully. Evidently some manner of strength returned into his broken, withered form - just enough to let the deity stand from his bed and investigate what happened. ”...The scream. What…happened?” The moon god spoke, before looking at Lavinia, eyes narrowing, before softening. ”...Hmm…you’re an unusual one. Who are…you?”

Every word the deity spoke was soft and weak, but was spoken with a furious determination not to stumble, or think, pushing through the fog of pain. A fair bit odd for what seems to be an old, withered, being.

Akura immediately tried to get up and run over to Marohu, speaking out, ”You’re supposed to be in bed! Here, I’ll he-” but was rapidly interrupted by Marohu as he waved him off.

”I would…rather die of this…’disease’…than…stay confined…in that forsaken bed.”

“Oh good heavens.” Hestia hurried to Marohu’s side, seeing that he was not well and yet also trying to fight through the pain. She held his underarm to steady him, and then looked him in the eyes. “You may feel that way, but your dear young Akura does not.” She knew they were part of the same Pantheon, though she did not know their exact relation. Nevertheless, her words were kind yet firm. “If you would prefer better accommodations, we can arrange that. But you must not hurry out of bed without our assistance. Not now. Soon, but not now.”

"No!" Marohu stubbornly said, standing straight, but visibly shaking as he did so, Akura just putting his hands up in response and backing away. "I am done...being...carried like...a sack of meat!"

"Ah..." Akura just sat down again, next to Lavinia and the plant. "...I dunno if I want to carry away an old, grumpy god."

Marohu stumbled, his form collapsing as he leaned onto Hestia for support, the strength required in just standing straight proving to be a bit too much. "...I am...a...GOD! I have lived...for...ten thousand...mortal lives...! I do not need...to be coddled...in...that...bed..." Marohu slowly slowed down as he started to breath harder, his prideful frustration being a bit too exhausting to keep up, but after looking into Hestia's own eyes for a few seconds, then at Thoth, relented and relaxed as common sense and the reality of the situation set in. "...Fine. Let me...at least...sit by my...nephew, so that...I may talk...to this...unusual, snow-skinned...girl. I would...like to know...what happened."

After Márohu had finally relaxed, Hestia smiled and placed him next to his nephew. She was just glad to see that while he was still an obstinate god, one could still reason with him.

Lavinia looked back at the old and cantankerous god and Akura. Not expecting the intrapanethic drama between the two.

She tried to make herself small to not be involved but the old god was seemingly interest in her as much as Akura.

She looked at the younger spirit with a pleading look. Hoping he can help her

Márohu just stared at her for a few seconds, expecting an answer before sighing, and turning to Akura. "...Well?" He asked as his bones popped as he moved, his eyes wincing as they did so. "Damnable...mortal...body..."

"Oh! Uh..." Akura took a few seconds to look at her, and then looked back at Márohu. "...Her name is Lavinia. She's part of the...part of...the...the..."

Akura trailed off, trying to think of an answer before just continuing. "Well, I don't think we really know yet."

"Hm." The moon god just weakly nodded, settling back in his chair, eyes scanning her as he looked at the healing pink spot on her arm, the black goo on the ground, and back at her face. In spite of the visible concern on his weak, pitifully malnourished and elderly face, underneath it there was still some spark of some energy, some slight enthusiasm at being able to do something after the death of Boinayel instead of accumulating bed sores all day. "...I am...no idiot." The god curtly and tiredly said. "You...are...young? Inexperienced? I can...tell much...from demeanor...you are...having trouble?"

Lavinia thought about what to say. She was not willing to open up to the old man who not so long ago was acting like her grand father when he wasn't on his pill.

"I... Think so." She finally said. "I apparently use my powers when I'm asleep but I have no recollection of the dream that causes my powers to manifest."
"...Right." The spirit god said, briefly tipping over as the weakness overtook him, before righting himself with the assistance of his cane, Akura taking the chance to attempt to hide the flowers behind him in a barely perceptible flash of movement. "That is...interesting...I had...heard the...heard the..."

Márohu stopped for a second, closing his eyes, before opening them once more. "...My strength...fails me...again." He sighed, as Akura placed himself in front of the flowers. Still, even in this diminished, powerless, graceless state, the moon god could still sense what Akura was attempting to do. Stabilizing himself with his cane, he raised an eyebrow. "...Flowers?"

Akura just averted his eyes. "...Yeah."

A weak, sickly chuckle came from the god. "Aren't you...a charmer..."

Akura simply turned away to cover the golden flush on his face. "It's not what you think."

"Of...course it...isn't." Márohu said, coughing, before shaking his head in amusement. A couple feathers fell from his bony wings, still tucked against his shoulders like a bird. "My strength...continues to fade...Lavinia, was it? I will attempt...to help you with this. In this damnable...diminished, mortal...form, I can't do...much, but I will...think. I need to...do something, anything, to...stave off boredom and purposelessness...from the...bed these-" Márohu weakly waved a wing towards Hestia and Thoth. Evidently, Márohu was still somewhat butthurt over being bridal carried away from the Spirit World against his wishes. "-two have forced me into."

Lavinia looked over at the two gods the old man pointed.

"You're a spirit aren't you?" She asked. "Can you even help me? I'm... Human." She hesitated for a small bit on what to refer to herself but like Akura said it was better to stick with human for now.

It was the preferred option anyway.

"Spirits and humans seem to operate by different rules."
She choose not to comment on what the old man thinks Akura was planning with the flowers as she is aware her correction would appear as shameful refusal which would only make him believe he was correct on their relationship.

Raising an eyebrow, her answer had apparently caused just enough pause in Márohu to stop him for a brief second. "...How did you-" Márohu, as quickly as he started, looked at Akura, and then back at Lavinia. "Ah....yes, yes...it is true that we function...wildly different. I moreso...I am, or was, to a spirit...what the sun is, to fire."

Though he changed in demeanor at the mention of the word "sun" - the pain as fresh as ever as his eyes lowered and teared - he quickly distracted his mind and gestured at himself, the wrinkled old body, the unnatural aging, the bony, near-featherless wings. "...however...I am quite...old..." He continued, in some rather bizarre form of macabre humor. "...VERY old...I was there...when the first humans...were carved...from the spirit woods...I may be powerless...but I know many things...about divinity, power, heritage...the stars, the worlds...comparatively little of man...but much of the wonderful and fantastical..."

He sighed. "This body...is old, and mortal, and...powerless, sick, dying. But my...mind, still remains! Will take...some time to think...remember...but I am sure...I may instruct, or assist...when some...strength returns..."

Thoth winced at Marohu’s attempts at humor, but he understood them. In this horrid state, and with his pantheon falling apart, he had to be able to laugh about something. He held the old man under his arms and smiled at him, encouraging him toward his gentler nature. Especially once he started speaking more cordially to Lavinia. “And we will assist you. Both of you.” He nodded to the new girl, as well as to the moon god. “For now, Márohu needs to rest. He will have more meetings soon, and we want to let all of you rest and heal before any other commotion comes upon us.”

"...Y...yeah...no meetings, however..." Márohu slowly and shakily stood up, muttering under his breath. "How...do mortal elders...deal with this...infuriating fragility..."

Akura turned to Lavinia as Márohu clapped down on his cane, standing, still unused to such an elderly, frail body. He turned and whispered in her ear, using his hand to try and mask his words. "...Apparently that guy is my uncle."

Lavinia looked at Akura with skepticism. She lean forward and whispered back. "I don't see the family resemblance."

The shoggoth would spurt out an eye stock and gaze from out of the bed to stare at the old spirit.

Lavinia looked down. "The old man is not a threat nor an easy meal. So ignore him."

The albino woman didn't object to strongly with letting the old and possibly unwell spirit rest or even herself.

"Before you go. Do you have any clue on what I could be?" she asked the elder spirit. Hoping someone can give her something instead of nothing.

Márohu stared at the shoggoth's eye in silence, though whereas Coatrisquie had earlier reacted with hostility...Márohu seemed to just tilt his head in curiosity, questions seemingly forming in his head before turning back to Lavinia. And all the while, Akura stared as well, but seemed somewhat desensitized at this point with just mild discomfort at the sudden activity of the Shoggoth instead of outright revulsion. "Your, uh, 'cat' is starting to move again." Akura said.

Still, Márohu just pinched his chin in thought. "Hm..." He said. "...Unknowing of your heritage...divine...like us, in...a...certain manner..." Márohu turned back to her after a few seconds. "...A long time ago...when I had wanted...change in the mortal world...or when my followers...wanted power...I would sire children...you may be similar...demigoddess with a purpose that...she does not know...but who can say?"

"Yeah...I don't think we need to hear stories of you having kids." Akura just said with a deadpan expression, which Márohu met with an uncharacteristic snicker, before ending up in a coughing fit. Clearing his throat, the spirit god spoke back.

"Oh? No? I have...a thousand of them...you would...love to hear..."


Kunsagaya
Spirit World, Ceiba Tree

The battle had been finished - amongst the eerie aftermath of swirling shadows, dying gasps, and the clattering of freshly exposed bones kicked around by the wind underneath the rotting eclipsed sun of the blood red sky, silence began to set in amongst the survivors. Bodies of spirits stretched across the horizon; thousands of warrior spirits that would never again see their homes perished at the hands of the dark spirits that marched here under their warchiefs. Among the dead, several bodies of the spirits - and various types at that, foremost being simo-ahawara spirits wearing the colors of the fallen village-hive of Guanausa, as well as yurokon shamans from the neighboring woods - had the telltale miasma of dark spirit energy coalescing around their forms, bodies warping and reanimating, bones twisting and sprouting like flowers underneath a sun, rattling in exposure to the energy left behind in the wake of Boinayel’s murder. As the bodies twisted, rotted, and were brought back up as mansinskiri, the dark spirit survivors of the battle, warriors all, grouped together. Hundreds of dark spirits were picking apart the bodies like vultures, eating the dead, taking their bones as trophies, attempting reanimation on their remains, or drawing forth power from the magical remainder of the spirit’s bodies.

The leaders of the dark spirits, the war chiefs, had been gathering in the aftermath of the battle. The dark spirits were all of varying intellects - sometimes the mind survived the transformation from the natural to the unnatural, sometimes it did not - but they could all be guided through the authority granted by seniority in age and power; chaotic and aimless as they were, they were still just sane enough to understand the importance of obeying their leaders. The war chiefs, mighty and intelligent as they were, gathered in a circle amongst the dead, discussing the recent battle that had occured. Nearby was a massive tree with a spiked trunk, golden leaves covering the ground as they had been shed in their entirety from the branches of the enormous tree above. It was a ceiba tree, a spiritual focal point of immense power, a remnant of the time of the first world of spirits and men, and sacred to those that dwelled in this land. But to the dark spirits, divine sacredness was a concept they could not understand, serving the dark and evil as they did, and thus this ceiba tree served one and only one pragmatic purpose - a point of power to expand through the world like the roots of a toxic fungus. The spirits before them fought vigorously, but not hard enough, and now this particular ceiba tree was now under the control of the dark spirits.

Among these many chiefs, of which were separate spirits of their own - a tobe-horoanna black jaguar spirit who's skin had sloughed away to a skeleton, a blind Arawidi dark sun spirit who’s face had been excavated away into a singular hole, a chinay who was dressed in the hollow skins of its victims like a dress, and other revolving sights - there was one particular spirit they bowed to, one above all others. A rather tall, vaguely simo-ahawara - or what used to be a simo-ahawara. Tall, masculine in form, but the body of the figure had been comprised of various former spirits that had been seemingly jammer into his form to create his body, with these bodies rotting away in the innards of this dark spirit. His “skin” underneath the chitin of his victims was malnourished, dry, and torn, connecting the ligaments of his somehow hybridized exoskeletal body together. Long tentacle-like hair, matted and dirty, stretched out from the back of his head down to the spirit’s shoulders, and his face was covered by an enormous warped beetle fused to his face, with four glowing slits for what must have been the figure’s eyes. His most noticeable feature, however, were the three stone spears jutting out from his torso, dried organs hanging from the wounds inflicted by these spears, but they seemed to cause the spirit no discomfort despite each spear’s audible clacking with every no meme as they impacted each other.

Myriad colored blood, gold bleeding into red, to blue, to green, was dripping from the dark spirit’s hands as he wiped them away and approached the chieftains. He did not lead from the back, he led from the front, thriving in the fight. And as the dark spirit chieftains wrapped their conversations of the battle and spotted this being, they immediately stopped to pay the proper respects; bowing, nodding, anything that was considered as such in the originating “cultures” of this beings. The tobe-horoanna, bones clacking together as he kneeled to the being, was first to address him. ”Moroko! Hail to the chieftain of war! The dead wail in your presence!”

”MAYAUKWA. HAIL TO KUNSAGAYA HAND-OF-MOBOYAS. SKY-DARKER, BLOOD-DRINKER. RELENTLESS. DISMANTLER. KILLER.” The Arawidi dark spirit spoke, the words reverberating the ground in spite of a mouth to speak with.

The entity in question, Kunsagaya, regarded them with disinterest as the gore was wiped away from his hands. The dark spirit, the newly ascended dark spirit god of war, crouched down, before shoving a clawed chitinous hand into the body of one of the dead, thoughtlessly drawing power from the corpses as the bodies rapidly aged and turned to dust, blue misty power rising from the body before darkening into purple and traveling along his arm. Every last shred and inch of spiritual power had to be his - everything he could draw from the bodies of these dead. It wasn't much, but it was necessary; the pathetic attempts by these wretched spirits to defend their “little tree” was more than welcomed - many dark spirits were killed in this battle, but more could be made at any moment, while the bodies of the true spirits could not be replaced, and could be used to gather inklings of power. On the other side of the barrier Inriri put lay the children of various deities, and the true deities that protected them. Every bit of power has to be accounted for if he was to kill Abaguabana and take his shard.

Extracting his hand from the body, the armor of amber and gold that the warrior was clad in clanged harmlessly to the ground, kicking aside the dust left behind in the body’s dissolution. That armor was new - and some, perhaps in the minority, but still noticeable, of the deceased warriors were clad in it. A hallmark of their enemy attempting to adapt, it would fail in the end, but it certainly proved to be a particularly annoying pain for the dark spirits that these warriors fought; the armors were created by Inriri and his woodpecker spirit assistants for war, with special protection against the infectious dark essence that comprised the dark spirits. It wasn't impossible to circumvent, given these warriors had been gored mercilessly by the dark spirits under Kunsagaya’s command, but it made it far more annoying to put these spirits down. These spirit warriors were part of Yukiyu’s own bands of braves - luckily, the only warrior bands that possess this armor. One of the dark spirits slowly crawled up towards Kunsagaya, their legs having fused together into a torn mashed slug-like tail, forcing the spirit to crawl on their elbows, and several hands split from their back like the sail of a fish. Within the hands of the dark spirit was the severed head of another spirit, an akari dream spirit, who’s skin had tarnished from gleaming white-blue to a dull silver, and who’s expression was blank.

”As commanded…” The dark spirit hissed and spat through its fused mouth, handing the head of the spirit to Kunsagaya as he wiped his hands on his hide trousers. ”The head…of the tree spirit…”

Kunsagaya reached down and in a single grasp, picked up the head of the spirit, staring at it before slowly walking towards the tree. A ritual had to be completed to enable some form of passage between worlds; he had attempted to leave earlier, through one of the many naturally occurring portals in the spirit caves, but was blocked off. Evidently, the spirits had somehow sealed off the portals - but luckily for him, there were ways to circumvent this. The dark spirit bowed and slithered away, as Kunsagaya turned, walking towards the expansive tree whose branches seemed to reach on and on towards the sky without end. The dark spirit war leaders all followed him, weapons in hand as they intended to see exactly what it was the dark god was planning, as Kunsagaya slowly tipped his fingers into the wounds of the unfortunate victim to cover it in blue-white glowing blood, which rapidly darkened and burned into black-red sludge as it came into contact with the spirit. Stepping over the bodies of the deceased and kicking over the occasional mansinskiri that was attempting to rise out of the rubble, Kunsagaya eventually reached the base of the ceiba’s trunk after only a few minutes of walking, with the spiked trunk of the enormous tree easily dwarfing his entire body. Despite the near-dead state of the tree, the tree contained just enough life inside of it to violently react to the presence of the dark spirit; spines on the tree twisted and broke their way from the trunk as sap began to pour from the tree in a desperate attempt to keep the spirit at bay, but Kunsagaya was not easily deterred. Taking the red-black sludge in hand, the spirit slowly pressed a hand to the trunk of the tree and traced a circle, the grey bark of the tree rapidly turning black and brown as if a supernatural fungus had begun to bore its way through the bark, deadly tentacles moving like infected arteries throughout the point of contact.

Hm. Kunsagaya thought as he traced symbols across the bark. I should thank Nooktas later for his help.

A few minutes had passed until Kunsagaya’s ritual had been finished. The resulting symbol was something of a strange icon of a sun, but missing the traditional face the guey was adorned with. Streaks of rotted corrupted akari blood were spread outwards in spokes, sprading outwards more in branches as they themselves ended in ritual circles and yet more icons, and only a few seconds passed before the gorey sight began to glow and hum in a dark, depe reverb. The black-scarlet “ink” glowed brightly as the sun icon began to melt, slowly falling apart as the tree itself seemed to scream, a deafening high-pitched roar blasting outwards into the sky, before the sky rapidly began to shift to black. Kunsagaya couldn’t help but smile - or attempt to do so underneath what was left of his face - as his magics bore fruit, and the sigils writ on the tree began to heat and burn their way into the bark of this once-holy, now desecrated, tree of life. Fleshy pustules spurt from the bark before bursting outwards, the trunk opening like a flower from the force The heartwood inside, formerly a brilliant lively green, darkened to a dead and dry grey, and spiritual power gradually began to leak from the inner heart of the now-exposed core of the ceiba like sticky sap, pooling on the ground. Perfect. He could use this. The dark spirit slowly kneeled down to the ground as the sap-like magical energy continued to spurt out from the sap like an open sore, and slowly placing his hand above the gradually expanding pool of power, slowly commanded it to rise as he pulled his hand upwards. Flinging his wrist into the tree itself, the power shot out, bleeding from blue to red, and forming an illusionary wall in the heart of the ceiba tree itself. Clapping his hands, the dark spirit muttered an incantation as he formed myriad arcane symbols with his claws, slowly bringing them inwards.

The dark spirit warchiefs all slowly backed away as they watched exactly what the dark war god was doing. Slowly bringing his arms up in a pose of dramatic power, Kunsagaya closed his eyes, and after taking a few seconds to take a shuddered, sputtering deep breath, opened them once more. Green flames, the color of bile, burst out of the chitin within his arms, spreading like sickness across his body as the dark spirit slowly raised his arms upwards. His dark green flames jumped from his body in heaps of clusters into the tree like swarming fleas, suffusing it with further power as the portal began to darken from the red of blood to black like pitch, ripples forming across it as the sap finished bleeding out as the pooled power began to clot. Reaching his hand into the newly created illusory vertical puddle, the dark spirit closed his eyes and muttered a single phrase - ”Konoko…hadali…ilokosa…” - and then, the puddle began to clear, forming a visible window through it…a portal. He couldn’t quite move through it, as the wards keeping the Spirit World isolated were simply far too strong to allow such a thing through this portal alone. But they were just weak enough to allow this tree here, twisted, turned, corrupted into a conduit of dark spirit power, to form a window between the Spirit World and the mortal world, and that’s all he needed. The window was focused on a singular wooden talisman, one of several created by Moboyas and placed in the mortal world, and that’s all he needed. Kunsagaya was one of the more immaterial spirits, and raising his hand, the talisman responded, the carvings rapidly warping into that of wasps as the talisman rapidly began to shudder and spasm as the dark spirit took control. Good.

…

…

…

…

…

”Dad! I found something!” A small child-like cry, excitable and innocent, from a daughter that was no more than 8 years old. The little girl ran towards the woods as the father, a large and gruff man that had to have been in his mid-40s, and the mother, a shorter and yet kind-hearted woman in her late 30s, ran after their daughter as she charged off into the bushes with reckless abandon. ”Follow me!”

”Whoops, better catch her!” A sardonic reply from a teenage boy, a middle child, who sat on a broken-down and useless truck, warped from the extensive damage inflicted by weathering the Dying. ”Tell her about the forest monsters!”

”Evan! Stop filling your sister’s head with monsters!’ The mother yelled out in motherly frustration as the young girl stopped, bent down, and slowly began to dig through the dirt. She had almost found exactly what it was she was looking for, but the father slowly bent down and pulled her away.

”Let’s not get your fingers dirty, huh?” He said, his voice low, calm, and measured, but uttered with a smiling face. He loved her energy; the naivety was something to be protected. ”Come here Anaya, let Dad grab it.”

The father dug his fingers into the dirt before finding a rough object - it wasn’t a stone, it was smooth and light, with small curves in the object itself. He slowly pulled the object out of the dirt, and brushed it off, removing the bits of caked dirt from the object to better look at it. It was a wooden charm of sorts, carved with various icons on it, and didn’t seem to have anything to connect it to a necklace of sorts. The father slowly presented the charm towards the mother, who looked closely at it. ”What do you think it is, Reggie?” She said.

”I dunno, Eliza. Might be some kid’s abandoned art project from before the world turned to shit.” The father whispered, keeping his voice low as to not teach his excitable kid any harsh words.

”What is it? What is it? What is it? I wanna see!” Anaya, the little girl, bounced up and down, trying to reach it. ”Let me see iiiiiiiiiit!”

Reggie, the father, bent downwards and let Anaya take a closer look, the little girl looking marveled at the object she had found. ”Woahhhh…can we keep it?”

”Can I see it?” Evan, the teenage boy and older brother, uncrossed his arms and stood up, placing his hands in his pocket. The father dropped the charm into the hands of the littlest sister, and ran towards Evan with reckless enthusiasm.

”Look!” She said as she almost shoved the charm into her brother’s face, who backed off and slowly gave it a look.

”Wow…” Evan suppressed a smile. ”I bet the forest monsters made it!”

Anaya punched Evan in the arm as hard as she could…which was to say, not very hard. ”There are no monsters! Stop trying to scare me!”

”Kinda deserved that one, son.” The father spoke up as he walked up towards the two.

”Yeah, I did.” Evan snickered as he pulled the little girl close and looked at the charm himself, handing it over to the father. ”Let’s go show Summer! She loves this kind of stuff.”

”Maybe Grandma Evelyn will have something to say about it too? She used to do carving, you know.” The mother, Eliza, walked up, taking the little girl's hand.

The father placed the charm in his pocket, and they turned to head home.

[Nantoraka]

Mautiatihuel
Spirit World, Acanao

Mautiatihuel, the dusk god, soared over the battlefield - the great spirit village of Acanao lay before him, a series of great and expanding spires of stone and trees connected by vines and wooden bridges reinforced through hide and stone; adda-tukuya women, children, and the elderly fleeing through the various . Several of the buildings were crumbling and collapsing, black balls of fire swinging over the sky as Mautiatihuel gracefully ducked and soared around and through the falling burning projectiles of black magic as his hawk form soared through the sky, a trail of nebulas following him. He was weaker ever since the incident - after all, being the son of Marohu made him far more sensitive to the apocalyptic phenomenon that was occurring - but he was just separate enough that he retained his own power even in spite of the seizing of the sky, and that is why he was here, to use his power to defend Acanao. Show the dark spirits that the sun god is not entirely gone - his children will still menace them until their last breaths. The spirit moved his face downwards to gaze upon the ground as the battle raged on, the latest attempt of the dark spirits to breach Acanao’s interior. What he wouldn’t give to go back in time to the first siege of Guanausa that occurred shortly before Boinayel’s death - the dark spirits then were animalistic, barely directed. This time they were intelligent, acting with purpose, marching with malice, and that made them far, far more dangerous. Normally he would be bringing his spirit hawk mount, but he worried for the spirit’s health; he deeply cared for the hawk spirit, bringing it to a dark spirit-infested battleground underneath the corpse of his uncle would be cutting it far, far too close. Their darkness, their evil, it was infectious, and it spread through skin and soul like a hungry plague of rats and fungi. That is not something he wished for his loyal steed.

Continuing to fly far above the battlefield, the dusk god spotted the latest advance of the dark spirits - a band of what had to have been over 300 warriors, corpse-like in their gait, seemingly torn from the dead of other forest spirits. Konoko-tukuya. Yurokons. Hebu. All manner of spirits that don’t belong to a particular collective, either - even the occasional tobe-horoanna were in this utter mess of melee chaos, and they hadn’t even been dressed in armor either. Still, they all possessed some form of weaponry; many had spears of bone and stone, but others had machetes carved from obsidian, fishing spears, clubs, axes, anything they could get their hands on from the bodies of fallen warriors. They were throwing themselves against a shield wall of adda-tukuya spirits, human-like in their form were it not for their bark-like skin and vine-like sinews holding their bodies together, vaguely reminiscent of the lord Faraguvaol himself. Still, only about 20 of these warriors were left, still using their hide shields to keep the dark spirits at bay against a legion of ravening, starving, teeth and claws and spears and axes, savage desperation guiding the dark spirits as they connected with blow after blow attempting to break through the spirit lines. They needed assistance.

The divine hawk spirit curled into a ball, wings pressing against himself as he hurled himself towards the battlefield, blue-purple fire engulfing his form as he gathered speed like a comet, hurling towards the ground in a brilliant fireball before striking the ground in a matter of mere seconds. The shockwave of the impact sent the adda-tukuya warriors stumbling backwards, stunned at what they had seen - but it was far worse for the dark spirits, with those he collided with reduced to mere puddles, and the others send careening outwards at speeds that were surely capable of breaking bone by the time they struck the nearest tree or ground. Wind kicked upwards, fighting against the howling gales produced by the dead sun in the sky, before the dusk spirit god rose from the crater he made in the ground in human form. The red light of the eclipsed sky gleamed off of the golden gauntlets he wore, his eyes glowing a furious yellow, marked with claw-like warpaint, his hair shaped into lengthy dreads and his lower body covered in a brilliant-yet-somehow-spartan assortment of golden plates and spirit armor. As the gales returned, his form began to spark and glow an aura of cold blue fire that hugged his form, as he glared at the survivors. Normally he was to use his uncle’s powers of sunlight against the beasts, but that was no longer an option. Neither was the silver cold powers of his father’s moonlight. At the very least, his own powers - the cold blue-purple fires of dusklight - held some potency, if not as much as the spiritual magic of his uncle and father.

The dark spirits slowly crawled up as they beheld the spirit before them - one they knew well, the son of one of their greatest enemies. Some were apprehensive, some gazed at him with stares of hate and venom, others blank as their minds and brains were robbed away from them in the transformation from spirit to dark spirit, but none of them truly felt fear towards the spirit, despite his overwhelming power. Mautiatihuel slowly rose to his full height, clenching his fists as the spirit tattoos of his body - a beautiful patchwork of yellow circular symbols tracing out the outlines of constellations on his glowing, purple body - began to glow. As the dark spirits hissed, and roared, and prepared for battle, Mautiatihuel only slowly outstretched his hand in a display full of silent, cold, hate, a spear of blue-purple fire forming in his hands as he gripped the divine magical power in both hands. The adda-tukuya warriors rapidly grouped together behind him as their vision cleared from the impact of the blast, their morale rising like a monument as they beheld one of the divine spirits - a child of Marohu, grandchild of Iguanaboina, and one of the few spirits anointed with divine, immortal power. One warrior couldn’t help but shout out.

”...Hail to Mautiatihuel! The god of dawn and dusk lives!” The young adda-tukuya shouted out. ”There is hope!”

A loud cheer as Mautiatihuel couldn’t help but smile as he swung the spear outwards and behind his back, taking a pose as he simply dared the dark spirits to make a move with his body language. Two of the dark spirits rose from the ground and lunged at the dusk god - the first a ho-aranni ocean spirit with rotting scales falling off their skin, holding a stone spear; the second, a konoko-tukuya with oversized fangs, an inhumanely wide mouth, and rotting fingers lunging to bite the dusk god. And it wasn’t enough; just as quickly as they lunged outwards, they were cut down as Mautiatihuel moved with such grace and speed that the shadows themselves seemed to be pulled by his supernatural power, their heads separating from their shoulders in a single swing of the god’s burning lance, their bodies disappearing as they were consumed and turned to ash in bright blue burning fire.

”...That’s it?” The demigod spoke, swinging his spear outwards and back over his shoulder to prove his point. ”Your existence is pain, a blight. Come, let me…cure you.”

An almost malicious smile crossed his mouth - the sadism of a being that deeply enjoyed revenge against an enemy that killed his beloved uncle - as the spirit prepared for battle. The spirits jumped at him, numbering in the dozens; rotting flesh oozed onto the ground, fractured bones falling out of open sores, shadowy mists following the spirits as they lunged at him, flew at him, ran at him, jumped at him. But it was all for nothing - only serving to irritate the dusk god as with every swing of his spear, dozens of dark spirits were bifurcated, disemboweled, beheaded, a myriad rainbow of multicolored rotted blood spewing out across the dead grass and trampled dirt in a technicolored shower of thick, foul-smelling paint. And even then, as the dead piled high and the dark spirits uselessly threw themselves onto the dusk spirit as he swung, swung, and swung, Mautiatihuel showed no sign of stopping, no sign of exhaustion. A rare few would make it past his spear, only to be grabbed in the neck and strangled in barely a second, or have his hand thrusted through their ribs, or some other method of gruesome, painful, execution. But unfortunately, the dark spirits were all too far gone to feel the pain, to feel any sense of self-preservation.

The wind kicked up in the wake of Mautiatihuels blinding speed as he dispatched dark spirit after dark spirit, swatting away lifeless bodies like flies as their heavy forms impacted the dirt and kicked up clouds. The warriors could only look in awe at the speed and efficiency of their god, a hill of bodies forming from the dead that were not burned to ashes and cremated by Mautiatihuel’s dusk-fire. More and more dark spirits had attempted to gain some sort of advantage over the dusk god, their strength being no match for him, but hoping to gain a foothold through numbers. And yet, as the bodies piled high and the casualties rose against a furious, vengeful, heartbroken god, no advantage was gained. For any mortal, or any spirit for that matter, inflicting this many casualties in a battle such as this may have taken hours of attrition, blades against shields, slow and measured advances to keep from bleeding too many able-bodied men. But this wasn’t against a mortal army - this was a culling. For anyone else, the battle may have taken an hour; the adda-tukuya spirits were strong, but not strong enough to resist forever.

But when Mautiatihuel landed, this battle ended in only minutes. Within a 6 minute long, blinding fast slaughter, over 700 dark spirits lay dead. Mautiatihuel would suffer no survivors, and not a single dark spirit survived the slaughter. A single, vengeful, fiery broken heart empowered his slaughter, and he was left only panting, in front of shocked spirit warriors who had never seen such levels of violence in their lives. The dusk god was covered almost head to toe in grotesque viscera, teeth gritted as he panted hard through his teeth through exertion and a barely-suppressed growing rage. Still, as the seconds dragged on with no additional dark spirits foolishly throwing themselves to their death, Mautiatihuel took the precious time he had to calm his nerves, despite being covered in less-than-savory remnants of his victims. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out, Mautiatihuel slowed his breathing and let his rage melt away, the remains on his body catching on fire as his aura began to intensify and automatically burn away anything that was somehow foreign to himself and his clothing, cold ash falling away. Letting go of his hands, the fiery blue spear he was holding onto cooled and dissipated away into a flurry of blue ice crystals, the spirit standing tall and opening his eyes once more, the yellow glow of his eyes flaring before returning to normal. The spirit god turned, taking a deep breath once more and exhaling, allowing the last of his rage to dissipate as he beheld the spirit warriors behind them. They had long since taken a back seat to the violence, letting Mautiathihuel dismantle and rip through the dark spirits as they checked each other for wounds, exhaustion, and supplies. Several of the spirits were covered in cuts and bruises, green sap-like fluid leaking from every cut inflicted by a spear, every bruise inflicted by a club. One spirit was sitting on the floor, leaning against a stone pillar holding his knee - a broken bone, as another spirit was kneeling next to him, using some spirit magic invocation to gradually mend the wound, slowly, and carefully.

One adda-tukuya spirit walked up. He was aged, but still somewhat young in appearance - certainly appearing to be older than Mautiatihuel, but that was to be expected. The dusk god was immortal, these spirits were not. The adda-tukuya took off his helmet, a series of interlocking wooden plates decorated with the feathers ripped from an avian dark spirit. Some kind of war leader, by the looks of it. ”My name is Kore-danshiri, Lord Mautiatihuel. I lead these braves.” The spirit spoke, a voice edged with exhaustion and relief. ”...I was certain we’d face our death there, I…hadn’t made peace yet.”

Mautiatihuel placed a firm hand on the spirit’s shoulders. They were both of a similar height. ”I wouldn’t blame you, warchief. What were they attempting to do here?”

The adda-tukuya warchief turned and pointed to the village behind them, and then took the time to point towards the outer walls of the village. ”They were trying to get through the main walls of the village, and sent this force here to flank us. We held them off at the main entrance…but when things were getting tough for them there, they sent their reserves here. We’re the last 19 remaining of the 60 braves that were keeping this part of Acanao guarded. They had us entirely outnumbered.”

”I…see.” Mautiatihuel spoke. At the very least, it seemed the attack had failed. Acanao had at least 7,000 spirit warriors to its name prior to the death of Boinayel, but luckily the dusk god had intended to bring reinforcements with him. Acanao wouldn’t fall yet. ”I’ve brought a band of 3,000 of my spirits with me here. I’ve merely scouted ahead, so you may rest now warchief. You and your braves are strong men, and we need men like you more than ever.”

Kore-danshiri smiled, and turned. There was a slight limp in his legs as he walked towards the wounded spirit with the broken leg, evidently suffering some wound himself, and Mautiatihuel turned away. Bending down to gather power within his legs, the dusk spirit burst upwards in a single bound into the sky, using his own natural power to stay afloat as he leaped high into the sky to survey the battlefield. Just as he thought, the dark spirit numbers were dwindling - the remainder were at the main entrance to Acanao and were steadily being cut down by the armored adda-tukuya warrior men that were defending the spirit kingdom. Mautiatihuel crouched down, preparing to shift into a hawk to fly towards the fields, but just as he was preparing his spell…he was struck himself. A blinding bolt, a searing pain in the side - the spirit felt the world turn upside down as he lost his magic and fell to the ground, yelling in surprised fright as his magic failed him as he fell to his way colliding with the ground. The spirit surged his power as best he could to slow his descent, but was rapidly caught in a magic projected hand - a fully formed fist of red glowing light as large as he was tall catching him in its hand.

”Augh! Get off of me!” Mautiatihuel tried to yell out, trying to force his arms out through his divine strength, but it was to no avail. Only a few seconds of bone-crushing tightness later, the magical hand suddenly threw him away - careening towards the source of the projection at an intense speed. A second hadn’t even passed before Mautiatihuel impacted the ground, dirt kicking outwards as the dusk god collided with the ground and skidded several feet along the dirt, an indent forming in the wake of his collision. The dusk god dug his fingernails into the ground to stop himself, blades of dusk-colored fire burning their way into the ground and solidifying to provide greater friction before the spirit came to a complete stop. Wincing, the dusk god slowly crawled upwards and reared himself to his full height, bruises on his body from the intensity of the blow rapidly disappearing as he closed his eyes and refocused his power to heal himself. As Mautiatihuel tilted his head and lightly smacked his head to dislodge the last bits of dirt and plant matter from his ears, the dirt a dozen feet away slowly coalesced together, rocks picking up and gradually forming into a person as the dusk god stared with more than a hint of annoyance.

”Wonderful. Another grain of sand.” The dusk god spoke with more than a hint of suppressed anger. The dirt, once it had finished collecting into the shape of a person, exploded outwards like a fragile, shattered shell that had been struck, revealing a female individual spirit who’s ribcage had been opened, a cold blue fire sitting where her heart should have been, with flames drifting down her back like a cape. A Hebu dark spirit, a witch. A shrill and dismissive laughter from the spirit was her answer, before she spoke.

”Come now, I don’t think you’re in a position to act all powerful after what had just occurred.” Her voice was shrill and mocking - her body somewhat elderly, matching the unpleasantness of her voice. ”Rahesamatakai sends her regards.”

Mautiatihuel simply tilted his head. ”...Who?”

”You’ll see her…soon!” The hebu immediately threw her hands up, a storm of icicles bursting from her hands as her magical prowess came to light, but Mautiatihuel was faster, his divine body easily outpacing her in speed, strength, and reaction time as he ducked, the hail of razor-sharp ice crystals flying over his head as he dove to the ground and brought his fist upwards in a quick show of force to separate her jaw from her mouth. But…the dusk immediately found that he could not muster the same force he had hoped, a wave of lethargy overcoming his limbs as a blow that should have easily killed the witch faster than she could register was now subject to a painfully mortal limit. The dusk god stumbled in confusion as the hebu gracefully dodged his blow, her hide robes moving in the wind and the force of her movements as she moved out of the way. The dusk god stared at the ground, and at his fist.

”...How?” He asked in bewilderment and concern. He had been hexed - that much is obvious, but there was no possible way a regular hebu had the knowledge or strength to hex a deity.

”I told you. Rahesamatakai sends her regards. She crafted this hex specifically for you. She wants to see you…personally.” The hebu dark spirit spoke. The dusk god hated every word she spoke, her words practically grinded like mocking sawdust on his ears, but the words of Opiyelguabiron in the great emergency summit only a day earlier echoed through his mind.

”...that we will likely see new dark gods as well. Our own counterparts; for if we do not falter, then Moboyas will ensure that he has replacements for us.”

”...She’s a god, isn’t she?” Mautiatihuel asked.

”Oh, indeed. The Black Ice Lady guides us all! She will guide you too…and I will force it to happen!” The hebu screamed out as she spun and waved her arm outwards and swung her hand out, an inky black mass firing outwards and slowly taking the form of six separate imp-like creatures…but just as they formed into intelligence, they were just as quickly dispatched by six blazing blue spears that left trails of snowfall behind them, and were eradicated from existence, burning away with the ink they spawned from. The hebu gasped, evidently expecting the dusk god to be more defenseless, and turned back, looking at the dusk god who was now surrounded by wings of sharp spear-like projections of dusk-colored fire, and a rather smug smirk from the dusk god.

”Your Black Ice Lady made the mistake of thinking my power lay in my strength.” Mautiatihuel spoke, weaving his spears in front of him with a wave of the hand. ”But I am the most powerful spirit sorcerer you’ll ever lay your eyes on. I am a true god.”

Mautiatihuel swung his spears outwards in a straight line, every spear surging forward as the hebu ducked, dodged, somersaulted, and did everything in her power to get out of the way. Every spear that missed exploded the second they came into contact with a tree or stone, but the ones that nearly hit their intended target were rapidly blocked by a petroglyph symbol as the hebu warded herself to block off the dusk spears. Normally they were powerful enough to blast right through…Mautiatihuel thought, so it seemed as though the hex had affected his magical power as well. Luckily…I have thousands of years of experience over her.

As the hebu prepared yet another spell to throw against the dusk god, Mautiatihuel stretched out his hand, taking command of the burning blue-purple fires of the exploding spears and forcing it upwards and together, bringing to himself as he shaped it within his own hands. The hebu made a single incantation and several rotted hands seemed to manifest from the air and reach towards the dusk spirit, but he immediately ducked and threw out the fireball he was gathering within his hands, which took the form of a purple bull and ran towards the hebu…before the hebu called back the rotted hands, grabbing the flaming bull and blocking it, as the bull exploded in a concussive wave of fire and force. The hebu was knocked back, the dark spirit grunting and coughing a green cloud of fungal spores as the dusk spirit simply took the blast, shaking his head as he attempted to stave off the mortal weakness of his body and its temptation to be flung outwards. As the hebu gathered her bearings in the air, she kicked herself out and regained stability, taking numerous seconds while gathering lightning within her hands and flinging it towards the dusk spirit, who, even faster than the blinding flash itself, stretched out his hands - the lightning being drawn to the space between his palms and gathering into a single orb, which the dusk spirit absorbed into his right hand, glowing as he slowly placed his hand outwards towards the spirit, and…proceeded to snap.

SNAP

Every bit of power that was concentrated in that burst of lightning was converted straight into a massive concussive blast of utterly deafening force - the trees around them were flattened in that single blast, the noise directed entirely into the ears of the dark spirit, and the hebu screamed, howling in pain as she desperately covered her ears, rotting black blood spurting from the old woman’s ears as she fell to her knees entirely deaf. The dusk god simply crossed his arms and shook his head. ”I know you can’t hear me,” Mautiatihuel cheekily remarked, and he couldn’t help but smile at his little prod. ”...But you do not use lightning against the god that fights Coatrisquie and Guatauba on a yearly basis.”

The dusk god simply walked up towards the dark spirit, too preoccupied with her own pain as she placed her forehead to the ground, crying tears of blood as she shuddered and writhed in her pain. ”At least you almost gave a god some trouble.” The dusk god spoke, staring at his hands as a spear of fire formed into his hands, inspecting it before striking it through her heart. The hebu fell dead to the ground, burning into cold ash as Mautiatihuel’s fire consumed her. As her undead, dark life ebbed away at his feet, he felt his strength return - evidently, whoever this “Rahesamatakai” woman is, she was suppressing his power through her. But still...something felt, off. The dusk god turned to his side, where he was struck with the hexing bolt, and the wound was left black…which left a rather deep pit of concern in the dusk god’s stomach. That can’t be good. He thought. ...I’ll have to make an appointment with Iguaka later.

Mautiatihuel cracked his neck and stretched, letting his muscles work through the soreness in the wake of the hex some apparent dark goddess had developed for usage against him. The dusk god immediately doubled over, gathering the power within him as he forced his body to change - arms warping and changing into wings, body shrinking and morph, the bones realigning themselves. It was an impossibly alien feeling, but painless, and after hardly any time had passed, his transformation had finished in a single purple flash - he was back in hawk form, and the upwards to meet back up with the city. With the hebu dead, it was likely the remainder of the dark spirits would be routed by now, or perhaps even vanquished in their entirety. Luckily he saw such; as he passed through the swarms of sky-scraping, dead, bony trees and flew against the howling gales that ravaged the world, he came upon the spirit kingdom in…manageable shape. It could have been far worse, and several of the straw and stone huts that housed the spirits had been decimated by the dark spirit’s magical projectiles in their violent attempt at besieging and flattening the village. But, for an extensive attack of thousands of dark spirits, Acanao held. Good. He may have arrived late, but the tukuya would stand another day.

As the demigod flew upwards and took a closer look at the village, several new spirits had arrived and taken the place of the fallen tukuya warriors, and by far several hundred more were arriving just now in an enormous display of power; the spirits forming a cloud of beautiful blue, black, purple, silver, and violet and their paths forming a trail of stars as they made their way across the sky. They were of several different forms; some were humanoid, some were varying species of birds, and others were even mammals and fish, galloping and swimming their way across the sky. Mautiatihuel, through his powerful hawk eyes, could see them well, and pride welled in his heart; they were sky spirits, in particular, spirits of the dusk, twilight, and night, the spirits that he resonated the most with. Evidently they had been ordered to advance - it seemed the leader of the spirits had been impatient on waiting, or worried. A glimmering silver vulture exhibiting a pale trail of white and blue starry patterns flew down from the sky, landing in the village itself as the dusk god dove from the sky towards the village to meet up with the silver spirit. The speed of the dusk god was impressive, but the distance kept him from reaching the heart of the village as quickly as he hoped - and as he passed over the village, he was careful to take inventory of the damages. Though many lay dead in the streets, and the sight of so many innocents almost brought a tear to the dusk god’s eye, many more were busy attempting to take care of the wounded. Women and children embraced each other and the men, relieved at another day of survival. Craftsmen had already taken to the building, hauling large bundles of thatch and stone blocks from the surrounding countryside of the now-dead jungle to begin repairs. Warriors conversed among themselves, awarding each other feathers for their actions, while trying to arrange funerary arrangements for those that had fallen.

By the time he arrived, the spirit had already changed from vulture to humanoid; he was aged, his skin practically metallic silver, and robes of white covered his body and drifted around in elegance. His hair was long and white, tied into a bun to keep from getting in his face. He was already conversing with an adda-tukuya spirit, an elderly spirit clad in the unmistakable leathers of the medicine man; the tribal shaman, and likely the leader of the tribe’s contingent of shamans given the opulent golden jewelry around his neck. They were deep in conversation, but Mautiatihuel could not hear any of it as he landed from the sky into the ground.

”...moon spirits won’t help” The silver spirit spoke, his own head crowned with a considerably opulent headdress of feathers and bones. ”Neither will the sun spirits. They’re with Iguaka now.”

”But we need more! We can’t hold out forever!” The elderly spirit shaman spoke and responded, a plea of desperation in his voice. ”You saw what happened! We need all the sky spirits here!”

”Unfortunately, you only have us.” Mautiatihuel spoke as he flew from the sky and somersaulted in his hawk form, blazing into a purple light and burst of blue fire before coming out in human form, landing on his feet. ”The warriors that the tribes of day spirits, dawn spirits, and star spirits were able to provide are all with Macacoel. The other sky spirits are in Aumatex preparing. That means you have us, and only us.”

The silver spirit nodded, placing his hands behind his back in parade rest as the elderly spirit sighed and responded. ”Lord MautiatihuelI only worry they’ll find ways to overcome such a limited selection of spirits…”

The silver spirit was about to speak, before the dusk placed a single hand on the elderly spirit’s shoulder. ”I won’t leave you, don’t worry. You’ll have my strength and the strength of my warriors to keep you safe. Even from a pragmatic point of view…Acanao must never fall, for the archives you hold contain the secrets we need the most.”

The elderly spirit solemnly nodded as the silver spirit spoke up. ”My lord, your side…” The silver spirit’s voice was edged with a hint of concern, as he pointed a clawed finger towards the wounded portion of Mautiatihuel’s side, still blackened from the bolt.

”Ah yes.” Mautiatihuel looked at it, and gently rubbed a hand over it. The pain was still fresh, and he winced. ”I’ll be fine, Chieftain Mauthébwa. Though apparently it seems I have a secret admirer, given that this wound was a hex, crafted by a goddess.”

The spirit - a warchief of the night spirits - stared at the wound carefully for a few seconds before responding. ”She would need to study you before attempting that, wouldn’t she?”

Mautiatihuel nodded, about to respond before the elderly spirit spoke up. ”We may have something in the great library that can assist you with that…unseemly wound, my lord.”

”Ah!” The dusk god smiled. ”I was going to inspect it anyhow. Let us go.”

The three spirits - a forest spirit shaman, a night spirit warchief, and a divine dusk spirit - took only mere minutes to arrive at the centerpiece of the spirit kingdom, and the true bounty of Acanao that the dark spirits were attempting to reach. A singular pyramid, a ziggurat with several alternating layers, extending upwards into the sky. It wasn’t particularly large, and in fact, was rather stout as to keep attention away from it, but it was a far cry from the infrastructure of the rest of the village, which was comprised of various stone and straw huts of varying complexity based on the importance of those who lived in the huts. A single white fire burned at the top of the ziggurat, a religious icon to symbolize the kingdom’s devotion to Yucahu, and the three spirits stood at the base of the rather imposing stairs into the ziggurat themselves. Various tukuya spirits marveled at the spirits, a night spirit and the divine spirit himself there in the city - neither of which was a common sight, the latter even less so, and a crowd of clean, dirty, and wounded yet functional spirits began to form as they watched the spirits march their way up the ziggurat.

Entering the ziggurat, the spirits beheld a vast collection of different carvings and petroglyphs - the spirits did not write in the way that mortals did. They passed stories through oral tradition, as such, the various idols, carvings, and petroglyphs were carved in such a manner so as to tell stories of their own. They were all charged with magic of their own, spiritual energy radiating from the vast shelves of artifacts like a warm, comforting cloud, and Mautiatihuel couldn’t help but wince as his wound burned in the presence of such powerful spiritual magic, churning as if allergic to the life they held. The dusk god held a hand to the wound on his side, covering it as he moved through the collection with his warchief Mauthébwa. Each of these contained some manner of magical knowledge imparted in some form - although not written - and Mautiatihuel blissfully remembered the childhoods he spent in collections such as these as a young spirit in the first world of spirits. The knowledge he gained then went a long, long way in protecting men and women when Juracan manifested and shattered the world. Bittersweet memories that are repeating themselves all over again.

He would have to go through these again later on to find something to mitigate exactly what was going on with the wound he suffered, but for now…a spell caught his eye.

”Shaman…what is your name?” The dusk god spoke. ”I don’t believe I ever asked for it.”


”Akhorákarokuri.” The shaman spoke back. Gold Frog.

”Would you mind if I used one of these spells to communicate with Macacoel?” The spirit asked.

”Of course not, Lord Mautiatihuel!” Akhorákarokuri answered. ”It would be an honor. We would absolutely prefer you to use these icons rather than the dark spirits.”

Mautiatihuel smiled, and slowly pressed a finger to a rather strange person-shaped clay icon.

…

…

…

…

…


Mautiathiuel slowly opened his eyes, and found himself on a raging yet desolated battlefield. Legions and legions of dead bodies surrounded him - many reanimating into mansinskiri, and the spirits became more and more recognizable as his vision focused. Yurokon forest spirits had fallen in droves, yet flashes of green magic forced the bodies to rise back up, piecing them together as the once-dead warriors reanimated and roared, ready to fight again. The steadily-dimming bodies of hundreds of poor deceased day spirits were gradually wasting away into dust, and the sky was on fire; thousands of burning fireballs flung across the sky by the many day spirits that had arrived. The dusk god turned and looked at his body - a projection of shadow, within which was a reflection of the deep solace of the night sky, now a foreign sight in a world ruled by the corpse of a sun. The dusk god turned towards the horizon, where the battle raged; a legion of dark spirits being steadily pushed back, and deep within the carnage of the battle itself stood a singular imposing figure of stone. Macacoel.

He was losing himself in his savagery and rage - no words of any value came from his mouth, only savage roars of rage and anguish from a spirit who had lost his father, beloved not just to him, but to the world, and his own father’s corpse was in the sky constantly as a reminder of his failure. Mautiatihuel knew Macacoel was unwell, his mental health in torment since the death of Boinayel, but this was…something else. The daylight guardian had no care for others, maybe not even a sense of self, as he was tearing apart the dark spirits with his bare hands…and evidently the Yurokon’s resurrections had devalued them to him, as he took even still-living yurokons, beating dark spirits to paste until the yurokons were left bloody and ravaged, forced to resurrect again.

This could not stand.

Mautiatihuel rushed forward, raising his hand as he sent out a projection of chains glowing with purple light, wrapping around Macacoel and dragging the daylight guardian back as he roared savagely and tried to hold onto the ground to stop himself. By the time Mautiatihuel let go, Macacoel stood up, pounded the ground, and immediately turned, bringing a fist of stone into the dusk god’s face as he immediately ducked and weaved out of the way, starlight dust kicking up in his wake. ”Macacoel!” The dusk god spoke. ”Calm yourself! Macacoel!”

The daylight guardian grunted and prepared to raise another fist to strike the dusk god, but sanity seemed to return to him before he could do so, the thought of hitting his cousin too heinous even for him in his broken state. The day spirit breathed deeply, hyperventilating, trying to calm himself even through deep, growling breaths. ”Mautiatihuel…” He said.

”Calm…down…” Mautiatihuel said, gently. ”Please. You know you’ll fall if you keep that up.”

”I…I…I CAN’T!” Macacoel suddenly roared, punching the ground with enough force to kick out a shockwave that sent dust and dirt flying in the air. ”They…they killed my FATHER! HIS BODY! IS UP!” Every single time Macacoel spoke, he just kept punching the ground harder and harder. ”IN! THE SKY! BLEEDING! CRYING!” Macacoel kept punching faster before breaking down in tears and falling into anguish, collapsing on his knees as he brought his hands to his face.

”I know…but you need to reign in your hate…don’t let it affect the yurokons…” Mautiatihuel slowly and calmly said as he crouched down. ”Where is Isla?”

”...” Macacoel took a few seconds to breathe in, regaining his stability. ”...She is guiding the warrior movements from Samana. She was supposed to be here and I in there but… I am here to…to get revenge.”

”At least you’re here.” The dusk god said. ”I will be at Acanao. I know your magics are crippled, but they still work. Don’t fall to the pain again, if you feel like you are, contact me. Understand?”

”I understand…” Macacoel worked. They were cousins, but they were practically as close as brothers. Fighting Coatrisquie and Guatuba for a thousand years would do that.

”And be careful. I fear you may be targeted by another dark god. One ‘Rahesamatakai’ tried to hex me. I’ll be finding information on her as I can.” Mautiatihuel spoke.

”Good luck. Thank you for pulling me out of that…” Macacoel said. ”I will keep an eye out.”

The two gods nodded, and Mautiatihuel stopped his projection.

Coatrisquie and Athena
Athena’s Office

Athena had been told to expect Coatrisquie. He had already been around the campus enough, but he wanted to specifically speak with her. She hoped that the news he brought was good, or at least decent. Anything else would be another annoyance, or worse, especially given the recent events around Moboyas. And then she still had to determine what to do with the Shepherdess.

Coatrisquie paced through the hallways, hurried, annoyed, frustrated, grieving. The spirit was very powerful, very physically powerful, and while normally he was an expert at containing his own strength, his own willpower faltered. Every footstep was practically a stomp, the storm spirit’s mind overwhelmed by his own grief and not knowing how to particularly process such a thing. He didn’t even bother making eye contact with any of the other students or faculty he passed, simply keeping his eyes close to the ground, away from others. He didn’t want the marks of the tears that were practically streaming down his face earlier visible. It was unbecoming of a warrior. His breaths were silent, but heaving, the spirit taking deep breaths to keep himself in some manner of calm. Losing a mother was always tragic, but being an immortal, and losing your immortal mother - one of few constants in an immortal lifespan - was outright devastating. In the old days, he was a mass murderer, entire nations of dead spirits and humans under his belt and the various hurricanes he inflicted on the world of men and spirits. But now, he felt compassion, sorrow, regret - if he had not willingly gone down that path, she might still live today. The imprisonment he had faced as punishment for his actions had changed him, that much was true. Perhaps not tamed him…but changed him. So, in spite of the crippling grief that he had to bottle up, he had to turn that into fuel.

If there was anything he could do to right the wrongs he committed - anything he could do that made use of the horrific skills he acquired over tens of thousands of years of bloodshed - it would be here, assisting these children. Nobody should feel the pain he had felt just now, the pain he inflicted on others. Now was time to finally put a stop to it.

Walking to the office of the goddess Athena, herself a god of war…though perhaps of a separate kind than Coatrisquie, who was more in line with Ares…the spirit had figured that if there was anyone at all that could help him help these children, it was her. Coatrisquie stopped before he reached the door, wiping away his tears and nose with a single arm, and took a single, deep breath. He needed every shred of composure to hide what had happened, the news he was told, the concern on his face. None of it could be visible.

So, summoning what remained of his will and composure, he, as gently as he could, knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Athena called gently. She could feel the many emotions swirling in the heart of the god behind the door, and the best she could do was be the wise, calm goddess she had always been. It was why she had taken the role as principal, after all.

Coatrisquie simply breathed in, closed his eyes, and attempted to find peace - it didn't work, at all, but it gave the storm god enough time to settle his demeanor. He silently raged and cursed at the shard of Juracan embedded in his soul - the supreme spirit of destruction was taking an almost perverse glee in amplifying his rage.

The storm god, still in that particularly nonchalant dress of his, a grey sweatshirt and jeans, steadily opened the door and walked through it, attempting to close it as gently as he could. Slowly turning, the storm god clasped his hands behind his back in a form of parade rest out of respect. Though he seemed outwardly calm, Athena was more than capable of telling that the calm was just a front for an utter barrage of negative emotions that were swirling through him like a raging tempest. This veneer of respect and civility was a fragile dam holding back a flood. But it was holding.

The spirit took a few seconds to find his composure before speaking up. "...Athena." His voice was edged with static electricity like a malfunctioning vocalizer. That part of himself, he couldn't hide behind a smile and a straightened back. "I have a concern I would like to bring up."

“Coatrisquie. You sound as though you have several concerns.” Athena stood to greet him, elegant and composed as she always was. She gave an understanding smile, one that showed that he could not hide his pain from her.

"No. Just one." The storm god curtly replied, crossing his arms. "Do you think these students are ready for war? For murder?"

“Well, they have engaged Cerberus, and a rogue Angel,” she responded, “but if I believe they are ready to fight the armies of other pantheons…it’s quite hard to tell.”

Coatrisquie sighed, and closed his eyes. "Yes...listen." the storm spirit's anger and rage seemed to evaporate into a resigned defeatist tone, some sense of sadness overtaking his speech. "I...I understand...the importance of the pax...and...why you are doing what you do here. I think...your mission is vital to the health of the mortal world, and each other."

Coatrisquie slowly dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden charm, a hole carved in the top, and a small rope threaded through it. It was a talisman, like the ones Moboyas had sent through, but devoid of the black magic that his talismans were infamous for at this point. Taking the talisman, he slowly walked up, and placed it on her desk. It was a carved icon of a woman's face, who had her arms in a spiral - Guabancex. "...But not everyone understands it, and not everyone is willing to uphold peace. I am..." Coatrisquie paused for a second. "...not a good person. So I understand fully that this school's existence is precarious. After all, I was one of those spirits who reveled in bloodshed. I've learned, well, certain 'skills' over my extensive lifetime. I believe we need to teach the children how to survive war. I don't think we can protect them forever."

Athena leaned over to examine the talisman, and slowly her face began to give way to a quiet, motherly sorrow. She had no children of her own, but she had seen many families in pantheons who were much more loving than her own. Guabancex was Abaguabana’s own mother, and he was a good student. Now, she was gone, and he was practically an orphan. “I entirely agree with your assessment. They need to be able to fight, in order to uphold the Pax. Otherwise, it is only a piece of paper.”

She stood upright, and gave the warrior god a more businesslike gaze. “So what have you come to propose?”

"First...you should know something." Coatrisquie spoke, staring blankly at the talisman, eyes seemingly zoning out. "I understand this school was founded on the idea of peace, and education. I have killed...many. I could fill an ocean with the amount of blood I've spilled. I've eaten enough spirits to feed a nation, and casted enough storms to cover the planet. Just...know the implications of hiring me." The god sighed, eyes not looking upwards.

"Second...as you might expect, because of all the time I've spent as a warrior supporting my...mother's...rage and hurricanes, I am a master in the arts of violence. It is not talent...it's expertise." Coatrisquie picked up the talisman, and slowly placed it back in his pocket as he looked up, eyes charged a glowing blue as an aftereffect of his tumultuous grieving state. [i]"...I...well, I suppose the best way for me to repay the damage I've done to other pantheons during the Dying and my complicity in humanity's complete decimation, is to teach these new gods how to defend themselves. How to fight. Survive. Because, Athena, we both know that evil is still gathering out there. Our students may very well be victims."

The Greek goddess of wisdom gave a long, thoughtful pause. “So then. You wish to be a teacher in the combat arts at our establishment?” She frowned and thought on the idea. A whole new class, a whole new addition to the schedule. “Would you mind sharing that slot of the schedule every other day with Hyperion?”

"No, not particularly." The storm god spoke. At this point, it seemed his conversation with Athena had been distracting him - whatever turmoil he was going through was gradually beginning to calm itself.

Likely much to the annoyance of Juracan.

"...I haven't quite exactly seen his classes." Coatrisquie continued. "I should ask whether or not I am allowed to be rough with the students. I will not injure them. But I will make them very uncomfortable."

“You are allowed to be rough with them. I think they have been rougher with each other than the teachers have been with them.” She thought of some of the duels between the students, to Patriah and Vadha causing massive damage to the gym, and to one student destroying the laboratory. “As long as they are not in danger of death, I will oversee the first class and make sure all goes well. Hyperion himself is not afraid to be rough, though I hope you will not mind his…mellow nature.” She was not sure how else to describe the Sun Titan’s antics.

At the moment she said "you are allowed to be rough with them", a small, almost sadistic smile crept on Coatrisquie's face, before the storm god caught himself and forced himself back into a neutral expression. "Of course...they won't be in danger of death. I only hope Hyperion and I are on the same level."

“On the same level in terms of skill or in terms of toughness toward the students? Because Hyperion does happen to be a Titan.” Athena thought back to how Hyperion usually conducted his lessons, before she continued. “But you may need to explain to him how rough you plan for the training to be.”

"Terms of toughness." Coatrisquie spoke out. "I don't intend to be gentle. The dark spirits will not be gentle, the monsters will not be gentle, and all those other myriad legions of dark and savage gods that we don't even know about will certainly not be gentle."

She nodded. In Coatrisquie was the sort of courage and bravery that Ares lacked, but with twice the brutality of Ares. She would indeed watch him carefully. “Excellent. You may start tomorrow in the courtyard where Hyperion usually works. He’ll be glad to help you. Just…” She narrowed her eyes. “Let me know if he comes in drinking on the job again.”

Coatrisquie, like an inquisitive bird, just tilted his head in a single quick movement. Some things just couldn't be hidden in a human form. "...He's not supposed to do that? He's always drunk."[/i{

“I know,” Athena muttered in a deadpan answer. “There’s no easy way to stop his habit, I’m sure you know that. But with someone spotting for him, maybe he’ll do it…less. Given we don’t have Dionysus on staff, I’d like to take the opportunity to avoid making anymore…[i]lushes out of the rest of the staff and students.”

"We can both agree on that." Coatrisquie said, placing his hands behind his back. "I can begin teaching classes tomorrow...I am fairly quick in setting up lessons. I taught the warriors of Aumatex in how to fend off particularly voracious maipuri with just an hour of notice, I'm sure this will not be too hard."

The storm spirit turned to leave, but stopped for a few seconds. "And...thank you. For listening to me, and letting me work. The distraction is welcomed...I feel far better."

“We all need distractions from struggling with this dark new world. We are the lights bringing about new life, and most of us can only wonder if we are truly ready to bring about that life.” Athena smiled sadly as she spoke her words, knowing how deep his wounds would be for a long time. But if Holy High could keep him from being buried in thoughts of those wounds, then she would be more than happy to provide him with a position at the school. “And you are most welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then. Welcome to our staff, Coatrisquie.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Akura
Bedroom

Akura simply lay in his bed, idling as he stared at the ceiling above. It was a very long, very eventful day…and even he, despite all of his youthful and divine vigor, was somewhat exhausted. Maybe not physically, but certainly mentally. The tree was still glowing, a soft and dim green light filling the room. It was almost calming, and the demigod found himself slowly drifting to sleep even though he hadn't even removed any of his street clothes for the night. A butterfly slowly flew its way across the ceiling of the room before slowly and gently fluttering its way down towards Akura, landing on his chest. The butterfly and the teenager locked eyes with each other, and Akura was the first to speak as he moved his hand forward and slowly opened a finger for the butterfly to crawl on.

”Well…where’d you come from?” Akura asked, the butterfly slowly crawling onto his hand. A response echoed outwards from the insect as it fluttered its wings and made its home on the human-spirit’s fingers.

”Window open. Water out. No water inside.” The butterfly spoke back. Not a single sound was uttered or a movement of the butterfly’s mouthparts - the conversation was all in Akura’s head, a result of his ability to speak with animals.

”You and me both, little buddy. I don't like rain.” Akura said, bitterly remembering every moment he spent the day in the aftermath of the rain.

”Me stay?” The butterfly said as it tilted its head. ”Still water.”

Akura shrugged, waving a hand towards several of the branches up above his bed. ”Find a spot to get comfy. Something tells me we’re gonna be here awhile.”

Fluttering upwards, the butterfly slowly and gently stuck on a landing on one of the branches above the demigod’s head, and it slowly began to crawl downwards until it was hanging upside down. The butterfly clapped its expansive orange wings a few times before settling down in a peaceful stillness. ”Comfortable.” It spoke.

Akura reached over his bed and started spinning a pencil idly, before catching it and starting to play with it. The spirit just seemed to be rather absent minded, and the insect took notice. ”Not sleep? Tall ones sleep at night.”

”Nope. Busy day.” Akura just blankly replied as he played with the pencil in his hands.

”What happen?”

”Turns out I’m a prince.” Akura bluntly spoke, still a fair bit disbelieving of his status. ”I mean, I sorta knew that. But I've actually got things to support it.”

Akura waved his hand towards the pile of golden gear that was gifted to him earlier in the day, sitting in the corner and haphazardly wrapped up in cloth. ”Then I met my…cousin? I think? Two of them. One’s pretty scary. Big guy.” Akura stopped fiddling with his pencil as he splayed his hands outwards to enunciate the size of Coatrisquie. ”Then I met a girl, a guy, and another girl.”

”Who?” The bug asked inquisitively.

”Well a fox girl, and her fox Fog, Vix. We didn't get along well at first. But I met her again today and…she's actually really nice once you get to know her.” Akura started playing with his pencil again. ”Then a guy named…I don't quite remember. Apparently a spirit too, but very different. He was busy talking to Abaguabana though.”

”Aba-what-huh?” Akura gave the insect a look. Apparently their ‘brain capacity’ was still not as advanced as he liked when they were exposed to his ability.

”Water god. I think he might be causing this whole thing. His…mom died.”

”Oh. What about girl 2?” The bug asked, unconcerned about the issue with Coatrisquie.

”Oh yeah, her. Lavinia. She's…unusual. And it's not just behavior, cause nah, Vix has her beat on that end.” Akura put down the pencil, and started counting on his fingers. ”One, she has insane monsters following her. Two, she has nightmares like you've never even seen, like my ears actually bled when she screamed. Three…for some reason, her monsters just don’t respond to my powers like you do.”

The bug was silent. It was listening, but everything that was going in one “antenna” was coming out the other. Still, Akura persisted, and he thought to himself of the absurdity of the whole situation. Can’t believe I’m talking to a bug about this. ”And here’s the weirdest part. Despite her being so strange, she's…pretty attractive. I…really like the albinism…and the shyness. But luckily you're a bug, so you can't tell anyone I said that.”

”Al-bair-nism?”

”You know, white skin…red eyes. She looks like a ghost. But a hot ghost. I dunno. I went in there to give her some spirit flowers, but now I wanna give her actual flowers.” Akura stopped playing with his pencil and looked at the butterfly. ”...Why am I even telling you my schoolgirl crushes? You're a bug.”

”A bug that not talk to tall ones.”

”...Fair.” Akura said. ”Can’t say for sure I know how to ask her out without looking like a creep. I never had much experience with girls. I bet you don’t either. Not human, anyways.”

”Me not mate.”

”Yep, there it is. Anyways, it's getting late, little buddy. I can't…turn that thing off yet,” He gestures at the glowing green pods sprouting at the tree gently lighting up the room. ”...so I’m afraid you're gonna sleep with a nightlight.”

”Me not care.” The bug spoke. ”Me not sleep like you do. I wait.”

”Then feel free to wait. Goodnight bud.” Akura said as he turned over, pulled the sheets over him, and tried to doze off to sleep.

[Luminesa]

The Sun’s Dying Light
Day 27, Daytime
Pisgah National Forest
Avery County, North Carolina

Martin and Ayden went searching for the talisman, though they did so largely without a map. In fact, the only real compass they had was the spirit which was guiding the younger fireman. Occasionally, Molly could find a scent, but Boinayel’s presence even as a whisp of the divine was even more powerful. The older fireman watched as they walked deeper and deeper into the woods, and Martin wove through the trees, eyes wide open and searching through the dark, thick forest.

“I know it’s here, I know it.”

“Okay, so where is it?” Ayden questioned. After two hours of walking, he was starting to believe that his friend was possessed by something, if only because he seemed to turn on a whim and without any verbal notion of where to go. “You’ve been turning us around for two hours. Do you even know what it looks like?”

“Yes! I can see it in my head!”

“Mhm.”

Explaining the sensations in Martin’s head was just about impossible. He did not quite hear a voice, as this foreign sun god was still too weak. But he could see the images, and he had seen the talisman that Father Hernandez had found and that he himself had smashed to pieces. They just needed to find this one.

“How many of them are there?” Ayden inquired after taking a pause to drink some water from his flask.

“Just the one that I’m seeing. If there’s more then they’re not here.”

“BOWWWWWWWWW!”

Finally, Molly’s baying broke the monotony of the quiet, and Martin’s head perked to the northeast. Both of them stared in that direction while their friend caught himself, and before he could screw the cap back onto the container they had shot in that direction.

“HEY WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT! I NEED TO PUT THE FLASK U…it better freaking be over there, I swear.” Finding his pace once again, Ayden carefully tread the knotted undergrowth to meet with the two.

They had come to a clearing once again. This time, however, there was no meteor. It was much smaller, instead looking more like a burned-out campsite. A huge stack of charred logs and branches sat between two massive stumps, each about five yards from the fire itself. A ditch was dug in the earth, about six feet deep, and a dewy blanket of leaves and moss was lying neatly over one of the stumps.

“Oh crap.” The older fireman immediately took a couple of steps back. “Oh crap. Marty, Marty.”

“It’s in here.” Speaking in a whisper, Martin indicated the direction of the talisman’s aura, and started creeping toward the stump with the mossy blanket.

“Martin! Martin no, someone lives here!”

“If the talisman’s here, I’ve gotta find it. There’s no other option.”

“There’s always the option of asking someone if we can take it, first,” Ayden suggested, his pupils shifting like ants as he searched left and right through the trees. Any of the shadows could be a person, or a group of persons, or some wolves. Even worse, it could be some monster that made a primitive home much like a human. He did not want to be around to know the answer. “Martin, I’m serious, we’ve got to GO!”

But the younger fireman remained silent, patient, and slow as he walked. Molly was also silent, following her master’s lead as he shushed her and made his way to the stump. Carefully, he lifted the blanket, and there it was.

A horrid talisman, one with a symbol of a dragon eating a woman. It smelled vile, and while Martin did not have the words to describe the blasphemy, he could hear the silent screams of Boinayel in his mind. He grabbed it, and tucked it into his pocket.

“Alright come on!”

Martin hissed the command, and suddenly he was at the front once more, lamp swinging in his free hand as he led Molly and himself ahead of Ayden. The other fireman did not stop to complain. He knew they had stolen the talisman from someone’s home, and even if it was imperative that they destroyed this wicked charm, someone would be looking for it. They could not afford to be caught.

Their steps made drumbeats on the forest floor, their sweat barely registered as it flew off their brows. Even in the coolness of the woods, the August heat made itself fully known in the panic and the sweat under their arms. When they were back at the firehouse, they had barely registered that they had made it.

“Gah…ha…ha…ha…” Ayden took a few long, shaking breaths, before he stumbled to his friend’s side and smacked him on the shoulder.

“OW!” Martin turned to stare at him, though he himself was still out of breath. “The hell…was that…was that for?”

“Someone’s gonna…be…after us now, you dunce. Even if we did the…even…the right thing…Guh.”

“Well now, we just…need to show it to Padre.”

Father Hernandez had indeed been expecting them back at some point. Once they had come into view he had made his way outside, the hem of his cassock sweeping the dust and must near the top of his shoes. He hurried to them, and put a hand on both of their shoulders.

“Hey Father, we found it,” Martin had murmured.

“Do not bring it into the station, or onto the property,” Father Hernandez warned, “we do not want a repeat of last time.”

“You’re the one who almost went hungry,” Ayden murmured.

“This is a power you do not understand,” the priest corrected, keeping his voice low and even despite his anxiety. “This is what the Lord said could only be eradicated through prayer and fasting.”

“And by the hammer of the gods?” The older fireman questioned.

“Supposedly, yes.” The priest looked at Martin. “Where did you find it?”

“At a camp somewhere.”

“Someone had made themselves a bed out of a ditch, six feet down like a burial plot!” Ayden interrupted, now showing more of his own terror. “Whoever that was, when they see it’s missing they’re gonna try and kill us.”

“Not if we destroy it now.” The priest looked between both of them as he spoke. “Martin, get the hammer and finish the job.”

The younger fireman rushed into the station, and Molly followed. All the while, the older fireman stood outside with the priest.

“How does all this make you feel, Padre?” Ayden questioned, his voice now more hushed and sincere. “Foreign gods, foreign talismans, foreign hammers, this doesn’t freak you out? Doesn’t the Catholic Church teach that all this is demons?”

Father Hernandez furrowed his brows. “I prayed and fought with that talisman for several days and several nights. I do not know what purpose the Lord has for letting this come upon us, and for giving Martin what he has. But the Lord gave Moses the power to survive snakebites, and He gave St. Patrick the ability to cut down the trees of foreign gods. However He chooses to dispense His power now, I cannot say. But He has kept us together for this purpose. We must move forward, even if we do not fully understand.”

“That’s good, because I really don’t understand at all.”

Martin stood for a quiet moment with the hammer. With the priest’s blessing, he had decided to try and speak to Boinayel. To ask if more talismans were around. To ask what the symbols even meant.

But the sun god was still too weak.

“One day, I hope you’ll answer again,” the young fireman murmured, as he stood staring down at his new weapon. “If God wants me to do this, maybe you can ask Him.” After taking a few moments to center himself, he turned and looked at Molly. His beloved pup had sat quietly, almost reverently, waiting for her master to finish so that they could complete their job. He smiled, and nodded to her. “Gonna get you a big hamburger to eat when we’re done, girl. Let’s go.”

With the shadows dragging behind them, as though their shadows were almost afraid to touch them on account of the light, they walked out into the hallway and back out of the station. One more talisman would be gone, one more quiet statement that Moboyas had not yet fully defeated the sun.

[Luminesa]

Property of Prometheus
Day 28, Morning
Pisgah National Forest, NC

Prometheus could smell something strange.

The scent was mixed with the mud in the ground and the overturned moss on the log. He did not hurry to go see to the moss. He never hurried and was too big to hurry without making unnecessary noise. Instead, he was on a hunt for something, and so he acted the way a masterful hunter would: silently, and with caution.

He moved and lifted the delicate moss carefully, and he could smell it. A human hand, covered in a leather glove which smelled like old ashes. He gave the log another sniff. The humans had not moved anything else.

He turned around again, and looked at the tracks in the grass. They were harder to see, but he could see them. The trails were shaped like heavy boots crunching the wet grass and undergrowth. He could see the grooves in them. Working boots or some sort, almost like those of Tom’s father. He knelt and sniffed them.

As he knelt, he also sniffed elsewhere. Not too far from the human tracks, he smelled a third set of tracks. They were much smaller, and not human. He whirled around, realizing this creature had not completely followed the same walking pattern as its companions. It had urinated on a tree near the area, and he could smell that faded scent as well. Nothing passed the Titan’s senses. Nothing except who took his talisman.

He had it for the purpose of study, of eventually seeing how it might act in the environment around it. He knew they had a curse, one that the humans could not fully comprehend. They would need the power of a god to unlock the secrets and to destroy this talisman and others. But now it was gone, and definitely in at least two human hands.

“…Thomas? Would he steal such a thing? No. How could he? Why would he? To bring such a curse onto his family…” The Titan shook his head. “No. There must be someone else. But I can’t figure who.” His voice grumbled and sighed, thinking deeply over who could have possibly taken one of the talismans. Maybe he should have guarded it better. Maybe he should have taken it with him. Maybe he should have just destroyed it.

Either way, he needed to be sure. And just to make sure he was not about to step into some unknown trap, he would first go to where he knew he would find allies. And perhaps that little family in the forest was beginning to soften him.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write For Nantoraka, Hallownest Eternal, Mindhart, Il-Illah, Naval Monte, and Luminesa

Self Defense Class
Day 28, Early Noon
Holy High, Training Ground

The rain had mostly cleared up by the time the day had begun. Though the sun was up, the sky was still dark; various storm clouds had taken their place in the sky, obscuring the sunlight except for sparse dapples where the sun managed to penetrate the thick interior into the forests below. The extensive rain had turned the surrounding forest into a decidedly more temperate environment - it was cool out - not particularly hot, yet not particularly cold, and the mists had set in, the ground still wet and the grass still covered in dew. The wind was still kicking in spite of the absence of rain, bringing with it a chill as it gently rocked the trees and grass, a soothing dance of leaves being the only major sound made in the silence of the weather. The school, being located on a mountain, had a particularly nice view of the post-rainstorm weather, and the training ground even moreso.

The ground had been layered in stone bricks for several feet in a rectangular fashion, an arena built in the decidedly “old style” of the Caribbean and Central Americans further down south - personally designed and created by Coatrisquie in a timespan of only a few hours. He worked fast. Coatrisquie stood at the edge of the training arena, a foot on a rather large rock, elbows placed on a knee as he leaned forward and took in the sights before him. He was dressed in a decidedly more traditional fashion than his earlier garb, a rawhide vest, rope bracelets, and rawhide moccasin-like boots, with opulent red-gold guanin armorings - bracers that went up to his arms, a necklace of gold inlaid with feathers, and a crown of blue feathers. All in all, his armor seemed to be more ceremonial than anything else, but also providing some manner of protection against the chill, despite not exactly needing it. The storm god’s tattoos were bright, at full glare, and his eyes glowed with quiet purpose as he continued spending his time staring at the horizon that the mountain afforded him, his hair free of any constraints as it billowed in the wake of the wind.

None of the other students had arrived yet, except for one. Akura sleepily sat cross-legged on the other end of the training arena, planted firmly on the wet grass. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the last few nights, and was fighting the urge to fall asleep as his eyes were heavy and steadily beginning to close, the chill helping keep his body shivering and his eyes awake, despite doing nothing for his attention span. Behind him was the demigod’s red and gold spear, the same he was gifted yesterday by his father, and delivered by Inriri. He was still getting used to the idea of himself being a spirit - he always heard that he was a spirit, but now seeing true evidence of his true nature pushing him further into the hands of the spirits and away from the arms of humanity wasn’t something that he especially welcomed.

He was woken up early in the morning, too early to be comfortable, by Coatrisquie, and told to bring his spear and his armor, and thus he did. Though he still wore his own sweatshirt and jeans, layered above the clothes were the plating - bracer, shin plates, and a gorget - and rendered his clothing a rather unusual mix of modern and traditional. The demigod’s eyes were still rather catlike in their composition, but dull and devoid of energy, a reminder of how tired he was. Despite his divinity, some mortal quirks were still embedded into his mind.

And despite the presence of both Akura and Coatrisquie, Abaguabana was nowhere to be found. Something that deeply irritated the eldest brother, but couldn’t be helped.

”Tired…” Akura whined. ”How long do I have to be out here…?”

”Do not complain.” Coatrisquie sharply shot back, without looking away from the horizon. ”You will find the energy you need for what I have in store for you today. You will not like it, but you’ll find it. As for how long…until your fellow students get here.”

The storm god continued looking over the horizon, before he spoke a word to Hyperion, the solar god some distance away as he observed the class. ”Beautiful forest.” Coatrisquie said. ”I wish I took more time to admire the environments up north. Guatauba would always tell me to stop and ‘see the roses’, but mother and I were always too absorbed in the destruction to notice.” The spirit sighed. ”It’s strange, but I wish I was imprisoned in a gourd sooner. I don’t think I would have ever learned to appreciate these things without it.”

“Good morning, Coat!” Hyperion waved to Coatrisquie as he walked toward the grounds. He had his radio with him, and he had a flask at his side. A normal day, a normal time to drink alcohol and to potentially teach some students.

He took a chug and smirked at the battle god as he stood next to him. Once again, he was in a Hawaiian shirt-neon green, this time, with bright-orange foliage-and Bermuda shorts. He kept his sunglasses over his eyes, and nodded to him. “Well just like Bret Michaels liked to say, every rose has its thorn. But you know, the thorns of roses are beautiful too. And that’s how Hecate and I made love in my station wagon about twenty years ago.” He swigged from his flask before continuing. “Don’t tell the kids. Anyway, who’s here?”

Coatrisquie just dismissively pointed a thumb backwards towards Akura, who waved towards Hyperion in a bit of a more energetic manner in an effort to wake up. "Hey, Lord Hyperion!" Akura said. "It IS Lord, right? Spirits call themselves that. Do we call you Lord?"

"Just Akura." Coatrisquie said. "And good morning, Hyperion. I have no idea what you're saying besides your...ah, TRYST, but good morning."

“You may call me Hyperion, you may call me Mr. Hyperion, you may call me Lord Hyperion, I have been called Dad, and I have been called the biggest ball of hot gas in all of Greece. That’s what you get when you take me to have street food.” He burped, and nodded to Akura. “Any of those will do. But no telling anyone what you just heard, kid. Those are deep secrets.”

Lavinia took a deep breath as she allowed the scent of wet grass subsume her. She also liked the smell. It felt therapeutic whenever she felt lonely or stressed. She closed her eyes to enjoy the breeze blowing against her face, causing her ponytail to flutter against the wind. In her mind's eyes she can almost recall something that almost resemble a tree. Many thick branches that moved around fluidly and rapidly. Sets of thick trunks acting like legs to support the being. Loud bellows as their cries travel through the woods

"What the hell am I thinking?"

Lavinia would shake her head to remove the odd thoughts that intrude upon her mind. She sometimes get such funny thoughts whenever she was close to nature. Particularly the woods. She sometimes swear she could hear goat bellows echo through the canopy even though she is sure no goats would be near by.

The albino would walk around on the field, already seeing Coatriquie and Akura on the field. She found it odd that Akura was not only wearing armor but was also holding a spear!

No one told her about live weapons being used!

The woman gulp in fear as she approach them. She lacked the armor or any other fancy divine given attire or equipment. Instead she wore a sleeveless black turtleneck body suit with accompanying stockings around her legs. She had red shorts with white hemlines and ankle boots of the same colour pattern. She wore a white coat jacket that had black edges. The hemline on the front stopped on her midriff but the rest stopped past her knees. She had a pair of ear rings depicting a black pyramid with white eyes in the center.

She admit that maybe it was a bit much but she wish to make a good reappearance with everyone in the school after what happened yesterday. She thought that maybe a change of attire may help.

None of her monsters were present. She was advice by Hestia to try and walk down the halls without them to see if things would improve for her.

In truth it did. But only a little.

Most people still avoided her even if no one screamed for mercy. It seems word travel fast about what happened when she arrived and most students already began to fear her.

By the time she was close to the spirits not only did a new god arrive but she was already in a noticeable funk as she now have to contemplate her new status as a pariah.

"Good morning." she said with little enthusiasm that she wish she didn't make so obvious. She didn't want her teacher to think she didn't want to be in his class.

"I'm confused sir. I was never told that we would need to bring weapons for this class."

“Morning, Vinny! I appreciate the getup.” Hyperion saw her hesitation and tried to cheer her up through his hungover daze. After all, someone needed to be cheerful this morning, and he would fake it until he made it.

The albino gave the hungover deity a blink. "It's Lavinia. Not Vinny." she dully replied back. "But your complement is appreciated... I think." she was unsure if to accept it or not. "How sober are you right now?"

“Lavinia. Understood.” Her dour mood did not help him with his attempts to try and lighten the mood, but he would charge forward anyway. “Let’s just say, enough $5 fruit punch mixers to kill a mortal, but not enough for me to stop being able to slur sentences. Everything I say begins and ends with a period. And that’s good enough for today. I’m mostly watching and helping this guy,” he explained, nodding to Coatrisquie, “to train the lot of you.”

"I mean, I didn't hear anything Hyperion." Akura responded. "Buuuuut...now I'm not so sure if I really do wanna hear it all."

"Good morning, Lavinia." Coatrisquie said, as Akura just stared at her walking across the field. Coatrisquie turned his head slightly, feeling the lack of creatures beside her - there was some degree of surprise within him when she showed up defenseless, but he still turned back to view the horizon, hair still flowing through the wind.

"H-Hey...Lavinia..." Akura said. "I'm glad to see you're alright. Just, well, watch the spear." Akura reached back behind him, and moved the spear forward to keep any student from accidentally tripping over it and earning themselves a trip to Hestia.

As Lavinia spoke to Coatrisquie, he turned his head away from the horizon that entranced him so, glowing eyes staring at her. "I didn't tell anyone that. Only Akura. You see...he was gifted that spear yesterday." The hint of a small, almost sadistic smile crept across the sides of his cheeks. "And he's going to have to learn it the hard way. The way the simo-ahawara learn most things."

"...What's that mean?' Akura just blinked and answered bluntly, but Coatrisquie turned his face back towards the horizon and didn't say a thing.

With his trusty serpent, Ula Ijo, encircling his neck, Ragatirta ran his way here, and he reached the training ground. After catching his breath, he looked up to see that some people were already there. He had slept in his water bubble for the whole day yesterday, and his eyes still seemed strange for the tears he had been weeping all day long.

"Was I late?"[i] he thought to himself. He didn't even change before he ran his way here, everything was too hectic.

The Southern Sea Prince saw Hyperion, the only familiar face amongst the gathering gods and their students. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief, knowing his kindness prior, but he decided to keep his distance and stand a few steps away from him and the rest.

Ula Ijo's words ring frantically in Ragatirta's mind. These are gods whom it believed to have existed for more than he did. Regardless, he is a student of Holy High, and as a good student, he gathers his energy by taking a deep breath, and letting it out with a sentence, "Sorry if I am late.”

[i]"Just in time." Coatrisquie spoke, taking a look at the water god before him. "You're a new face. I don't believe I've seen you around just yet, have I? Was that you who was making the rain fall even more? I felt a third, and it wasn't me, nor was it my brother."

"Oh, hey, new face!" Akura said, taking a look at the serpent. "You can talk to animals too? Cool!"

The woman frown. "I find the capabilities of the staff of this school even more questionable if they are allowing a drunk to teach when he is clearly still under the influence." she snip back. Normally such comments would be kept to herself but her dour mood only increased seeing the drunken teacher for her first class. She already has negative feelings about the school and this pathetic excuse of a god isn't improving the image she has of the campus.

Lavinia would give Coatquie a slight nod and Akura a smile. "Good morning, Akura." her eyes fell on to his spear. Her gaze would break off from the weapon as the older spirit told her that Akura only received the spear yesterday. He also told her that Akura would learn the hard way how to use it. Seeing the smile on the man's face made a shiver go down her spine.

"It was nice knowing you Akura. It's a shame we couldn't be friends much longer." she told the young spirit as she waved good bye to him.

Lavinia looked upon the new arrival. Her eyes falling upon the snake around his neck. "Oh. Can you speak with animals or did you create him?"

She knew from Thoth that apparently she was the only one with the known power to create life but she was still curious to see if maybe someone else has the same power but hid it for some reason.

"I don't think I saw you yesterday. Are you new?"

"I..." When interrogated about the rain, Ragatirta remembers the rather embarrassing breakdown he had just yesterday. With the voice of a guilty man and eyes not looking at the teacher who is currently talking to the sea prince, he simply responded with one word, "Yes."

Ragatirta then noticed someone else talking to him. "Ah yes," he responded to Akura nervously, "t-this snake is my creation. It is one of my two m-m-masterpiece. You'll see it soon," the sea prince ended with a hand wave towards the young god before him.

"Should I dismiss myself?" Ula Ijo whispered at his master's left ear. "No. Please, don't leave me alone with these people", Ragatirta responded in a quiet whisper. The company of the snake is the only thing keeping the water god sane and calm, aside from Hyperion, but his intuition says that things will take a turn for the worse...

Lavinia's eyes widen when the prince told her that the snake was his creation.

"So you can create life like me!" excitement rang out from her voice as she got close to Ragatirta. "I can show you my creations if you want. I think you would love them." the woman was now feeling much more giddy after knowing she has someone who has the same power as her.

As Lavinia spoke about the drunk, Coatrisquie muttered under his breath. "Even she can tell when this one is drunk..." Looking briefly towards Hyperion, the storm god just raised an eyebrow. "You're a god. A SUN god. If you're anything like that one I knew...how are you even getting drunk? Nothing short of divine poisons should be affecting you."

"...Y-Yeah." Akura just flushed as he responded to Lavinia, muttering to himself. "I really should've played hooky like Abaguabana is. I don't like that smile he has."

Coatrisquie, looking briefly at Akura and chuckling under his breath, turned towards Ragatirta, his elbow coming off his knee as the storm spirit just rubbed his chin. "Interesting..." he said. "Very interesting. What exactly is the extent of your powers over water and weather?" The storm spirit was more than obviously intrigued; had his words not been enough, the fact his attention was torn away from the horizon was plenty, as the spirit turned full towards Ragatirta, his full physique coming apparent. Yep. He was definitely a warrior.

Akura just stared at Coatrisquie, obviously hesitant at being on the recieving end of whatever the storm spirit was planning, before placing his hands on the wet ground and spinning towards the water god. "Wait, you MADE him? That's...pretty cool!" The demigod leaned in his direction, resting his chin in his hands, his curiosity overpowering his sense of tiredness. "Can...can he understand me?" Akura asked.

Ragatirta's social battery is slowly running out, as he runs out of words and rubs his right arm with his left. "I..." He utters, trying to come up with a proper answer along the way. A full ten seconds is all it takes, and Ragatirta responds to Coatrisquie, though his gaze remains averted from everyone, "I... Control the ocean. Mold a semblance of life out of it. But my Queen Mother said that water is capable of so much more, and... I'll try to find whatever it can do."

Then Ragatirta has to come and face his rather bright schoolmate, Akura, who, like anyone else, had been avoided by the sea prince's sight. "He.. he can speak and more." Ula Ijo, seeing the writing on the wall, turns to see Akura by his serpent's eyes and says in a formal manner, his voice resembles a gentleman in his 30's. "Greetings. My name is Ula Ijo, a personally-created bodyguard and caretaker to our master Ragatirta. And yes, I can talk."

Lavinia ignored the fact the prince ignored her over the fact the serpent can speak. None of her friends can speak like the serpent. She can only understand them due to their bond. So often she spoke for them.

"That's incredible. How did you manage to make your snake speak? I'm still trying to do the same with my friends. Do you feel a special bond with them so you can understand how your serpent feels without asking? Do you two speak without saying a single word? Can you feel each other's emotions?" she was delivering a barrage of questions at the socially anxious godling and worse the space between them was getting shorter and shorter as her excitement was consuming her.

"Do you need just water or can you use blood to create life? Does your serpent have organs or is it just made up of entirely out of water?"

Not good. Not enough that Coatrisquie and Akura were pestering Ragatirta with questions, in came Lavinia with the figurative steel chair against his social skills. He takes a deep breath then answers her question one by one, "It has some similar properties of humans, being a creature that can speak and have its own sapience. They cannot die so long as I don't, and we can talk to each other with our minds. I needed a ritual lasting months to create Ula Ijo and another similar to him. It has organs yet they are entirely made of water, thus they can dissolve themselves as a form of protection." With the last word finally spoken, Ragatirta closed his eyes and drooped himself in exhaustion.

"You really do remind me of someone I know." Coatrisquie scratched hid chin in thought as Ragatirta struggled to respond, but Coatrisquie paid it no mind. Guatauba could be similar under certain circumstances. "I should introduce you to my little brother, Abaguabana some day. He's fairly young as well...but older than you are. Maybe he can help you. You two are...well, quite similar."

Akura slowly and carefully stood up - trying not to slip on the wet grass - as he placed a hand on his knee and stood to his full height...rather tall, especially for a face as youthful as his. "Amazing..." The demigod said, bending over to get a closer look. "I have GOT to find you two later. I've been trying to practice my more, well, 'advanced' animal talking and it just comes out so bad. I bet you can show me all kinds of things!"

May his Queen Mother have mercy, Ragatirta's social fatigue manifests in him covering his flustered face. Ula Ijo noticed his master's tiredness, and decided to take over the conversation. "Though we haven't met, I have observed Abaguabana from afar," he says to Coatrisquie, "Do not mind my master's manners, he... had a bad experience with schools and barely speaks to strangers in his life."

Turning towards Akura, Ula Ijo looked up at his tall figure and responded in kind, "Baya Putih and I, while having the form of a beast, can turn into humans all we like. We are mimics given life by our master..."

"My Master, he..." Ula Ijo returned once again to Coatrisquie who just asked about Ragatirta's condition as the sea prince remained in silence, his flustered face still concealed, "had too much sleep, and not the good kind. He tired himself to the point of being knocked out.

As Akura spoke to Ragatirta, Coatrisquie turned back towards the horizon. "I may be able to help you as well. I am no water god, but I do have...certain dominion over water." The storm spirit reached out a hand and his spirit tattoos flared with an even greater brightness as he closed his palm into a fist, a small flash of thunder appearing in the distance, before rain began to fall in a small, localized area. And as he opened his palm again, it stopped. "More of a weather god, really."

And as he turned back to look at Ragatirta, the storm spirit just blinked in surprise. "...Not enough sleep?"

Lavinia frown as she realize the other godling was not entirely good with social interactions. In hindsight it should have been obvious but she ignored them.

"Sorry." she muttered as she looked away, ashamed.

"Maybe seeing something related to your domain would help?"

Before the older spirit and god can stop her a dark rift would manifest. From the rift a singular entity would emerge.

It was a humanoid beings with fish, human and amphibian-like traits, they are described as having grey-ish green, glossy and slippery skin with white stomachs. They have scaled, ridged backs, as well as webbed and clawed hands, and gilled necks. Notably, they have heads similar to that of a fish, with mouths filled with sharp shark-like teeth and eyes incapable of blinking.

It was Olmstead, the Deep One that accompanied her back in her first day.

The deep one tower over the godlings, its eyes staring down at Ragatirta. It was breathing deeply, revealing its teeth.

"...Maybe then you can help my brother attend his classes." Coatrisquie muttered under his breath, before turning back towards the horizon with his hands behind his back. "I suppose not every god can be a socialite." Pointing towards Ragatirta with a sharp index finger, he spoke further with some authority. "After this class, I want you to rest. You cannot learn anything worthwhile if you're pushing yourself to your limits. You may be divine, but you are NOT infallible."

Akura was about to speak up towards the serpent, but Coatrisquie was a bit faster as he put down his finger and looked towards the serpent. "Having the form of a beast, yet can turn into a human? Interesting. Are you also an animal s-" Coatrisquie was interrupted by the rift, and the storm spirit went silent as he and Akura turned to watch the entity slowly emerge its way out of the rift. Akura took a step back, while a small smile, almost one of anticipation, appeared on Coatrisquie's face.

"Interesting. I was under the impression they followed you at all times." The storm spirit said. "You can summon them?"

"...Lavinia, your friend is back." Akura hesitantly said.

The woman turn to Akura with a smile. "They never left. I just have them be somewhere else. A space between spaces. I can't have them be in my room all day and Thurston would barely fit in the dorm... or anywhere in the campus really. Perhaps maybe out here if Coatrisquie is okay with me letting him loose."

She looked over at the older spirit to see if he was fine with her releasing the one creation that she never took out from her first day. The anticipation on his face was now missed by her but the young woman wasn't sure why he felt like that with her creations. They are not dark spirits as she had proven so we he felt weary about them?

Ula Ijo sees Lavinia's 'friend' staring down at Ragatirta. He's not having it "Master... Do not open your eyes..." Ragatirta simply nodded at his mimic's request. Ula Ijo's eyes stare intently at Olmstead, and immediately flies out of Ragatirta's neck.

"Baya Putih, at once!" Ula Ijo shouted. The snake then turns into a clump of seawater, shaking violently and growing even bigger. It starts to form into a tall figure, and not long after, the seawater figure turns into a larger winged serpent spanning over 7 foot long, a figure not unlike the legendary serpent Antaboga.

Not long after, another clump of seawater forms itself beside Ragatirta, and it's none other than Baya Putih who has taken the Beast Forme, a white crocodile revealing arrays of sharp teeth by widely opening his jaws, his entire body almost covered in white hair.

"No." Lavinia had barely finished her sentence when Coatrisquie immediately shut that idea down. "Very much. No. At least not for now, unless you want to ask the..." Coatrisquie waved a hand dismissively towards Hyperion, the snark on his voice evident of what he thinks of the sun god's drunk state. "...drunk god, or Athena. Before I could ever agree to that, I would have to know whether or not your creatures are harmless when outside of your vision."{/i]

[i]"Space...between spaces?' Akura tilted his head in a rather...unusual gesture. Wasn't exactly something a human would do, but more of a bird, or insect. "..." A moment of silence before Akura immediately rightened his head and exclaimed; "That's what that portal was! The scary one, with the black goo! It led to your space between spaces! I think...? Am I in the ballpark? ...Am I just talking out of my butt?" Akura tilted his head again.

Akura's enthusiasm distracted Coatrisquie for a few seconds, before he turned towards Lavinia. "...Speaking of. I will be especially rough during this training segment. I suppose you want your, as Akura called it, 'friend' alive, and as uninjured as possible? I remember the effect that burning plant had on you." Crossing his arms, he continued. "I am attempting to turn over a new leaf, and it would be an especially awkward talk if I ended up mortally wounding a student through their creation. Understan-"

Coatrisquie was interrupted by Baya Putih's appearance, and was about to intervene when Akura snapped out of his curiosity and immediately rushed towards the serpent in a green, glowing blur of inhuman speed. "Hey, HEY!" Akura tried to shout and get the serpent's attention. "It's alright! He won't hurt anyone! It's fine! Let's just...calm down...alright?"

Lavinia backed away in fear as the serpent and other spirit took on a more hostile posture. More rifts would open as both the Shoggoth and the Nightguant would emerge. The two beings would get close to Lavinia to protect her while the deep one put itself between the albino woman.

Coatrisquie walked forward and placed a hand on Akura's shoulder, and then Lavinia's shoulder - evidently disregarding the appearance of the two beings that appeared to guard Lavinia - and rapidly pulled the two away and behind him, putting himself between the deep ones and Baya Putih. His voice was taking on a decidedly more static-y property as he spoke with a voice that absolutely had a hint of irritation. "That's enough. All of you are on my time now."

Ragatirta has had it. His very first class started with their mimics being overprotective as always. While covering his face, the sea prince could only speak in a soft and shaky voice to his creations, "You're dismissed..." A second after the order is given, both Greater Mimics evaporate into steam. Though the face remains hidden from all, the rest of his body is slightly trembling, and with that voice, one conclusion can be drawn; Ragatirta is crying. Again.

At this point, the sea prince wants nothing more than hiding in his water bubble, as he always does under any distress, but he knows that it would end up in tarnishing his name, and in default, the name of his mother and homeland. Try as he might, Ragatirta couldn't hide his own emotions well.

"I-....I-" Coatrisquie tried his best to be angry, but his expression softened and his anger just evaporated as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice returning back to normal. "You're fine, Ragatirta. Just...stand straight, and stand proud. By Yaya, you remind me of Guatauba when we were young spirits..." The storm spirit just placed a hand on the shoulder of the water god and tried to help him up., surprisingly gently for such a violent spirit - evidentally Ragatirta's behavior had struck a chord in him.

Akura just took one look at Ragatirta and turned towards Lavinia. "...Are you alright? I think he's gonna need some help."

It was the least Ragatirta could ask. He thought of his life as Adrian, where none would console him in his sadness. Trying to cling upon that fact to brave himself up, the sea turned himself into a clump of seawater, the same trick that his mimics did not long ago. It shakes, and slowly regains the human form that Ragatirta has.

"Thank you," he said gently to the rest of the crowd, "I never thought that this would happen. My apologies. I swear by my Queen Mother that I will try my best to not repeat this mistake.

The woman took a deep breath. "I think so." she would wordlessly order her creations to return back through the rifts. A faint echo of goat-like bellows was heard coming through the rift before it was closed.

"I…I think coming to this class with other students was a mistake." Lavinia stated. "I should get my schedule rearranged to see if I can have some classes alone. I have a feeling this incident would repeat itself with other students if I need to bring my friends out."

Akura tried to speak up, but Coatrisquie immediately interrupted him. "Unfortunately for you, nothing will be convenient all the time." The storm spirit just kept looking at Ragatirta, while Akura stared at the area where the rift closed, having heard the goat bellows. "Like it or not, you'll be experiencing this multiple times until you learn to confront it. And, by the order of Coatrisquie the Lightning God, you're going to confront it here, and now, because you will not grow otherwise."

"As you wish, sir..." Ragatirta responded quietly. Despite him wanting to improve, for now, he wants to silently stand over where he has been standing. But then Ragatirta notices that another stranger has approached the field. "Another student..."[i], Ragatirta thought to himself. He really wants to introduce himself, but with his social energy is all but spent, he couldn't come up with the gut nor the words to do anything about it.

Lavinia frown when the old spirit told her that she would have to stay in the class and others were such incidents occur. She hated the fact he was right. That it was better if she confronts it now. But the fact of the matter is sooner or later one of the other students will attack her and either she or one of her friends get hurt, or she is forced to hurt someone else.

Her thoughts were distracted somewhat by the giant that approached them. A rift emerged but before something can escape the giant revealed himself to be a student looking for the class.

"Is that a golem?" she asked as large green glowing eyes would peer through the darkness. The eyes would illuminate parts of a face. It's large frame made it difficult to see most of the face. However the scent of rotting fish, salt water, and sea weed would come through the rift.

[i]Tump.
Tump.
Tump.
Slowly, but surely, a figure approached Coatrisquie's arena - at first seeming to merely be tall in the distance, as they approached it rapidly became apparent they loomed over everyone present, casting a shadow with their armored bulk.
The armor itself was a touch odd - less solid and seeming more like dense fiber than plate, yet carrying an interminable solidity regardless. A wide, disc-shaped hat obscured their face, leaving only dimly glowing, catlike irises visible, while a long cloak trailed behind them. The legs terminated in elephantine stumps, the source of the gradually rising footsteps as they came to rest, looking over the...admittedly quite chaotic scene.
"Uh, excuse me-" Said a male voice, "Is this Coatrisquie-Sensei's class?"

"You may repeat it a thousand more times in the future. Learn to accept your mistakes, and move on from them. They have no power over you unless you choose to let them have power over you. They are how we grow, so you should not be ashamed of growing." Coatrisquie looked away from Ragatirta as the figure drew closer. "Correct, this is my class. Forgive the...disorderly conduct." Coatrisquie took his hand off of Ragatirta and gestured towards the gathering of students. "You missed some, ah, excitement."

The storm god simply walked towards the figure and seemed to look at him up and down, trying to figure out exactly who it was. "I don't believe I've seen something quite like you before, and I am not talking about your identity. That armor. The hat. Where exactly do you hail from?"

The figure kept his hands to his sides and bowed briefly, returning to a straight posture before speaking. "I am from Nihon, sir. My father is Amatsumara, Kami of Smiths. My name is Hoshiko." Despite the politeness, Coatrisquie could make out a palpable nervousness about Hoshiko - not in the sense of outright anxiety, but closer to that of a big dog not quite sure it was doing the right thing. His eyes briefly flicked to the thing in the rift and Lavinia before looking back at his teacher.

"I wouldn't be surprise. Dios mio that thing's a tall glass of wa...water...hold on..." Akura just shook his head, the smell irritating him, but fought through it - some instinctive urge to back away from a source of what his instincts felt should have been water, but the demigod spirit still suppressed it. "Lavinia, I am so done with rain...you know that?"

Coatrisquie just looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Those portals smell like ho-aranni. What exactly is causing that smell? The spirit turned back to Hoshiko, and nodded, giving him another look-over. "...You. You have some potential." Another small smile crept up on the storm spirit's lips. "I am not sure what your skills are, but I feel like there is something great I will be able to bring out of you in the future, tall one."

"That's Thurston. The one I rarely take out because of size issue. He like Olmstead are connected to the sea." she explained as a large black and green tentacle would emerge, waving in the air above everyone's head before returning back to the rift. The smell grew stronger when the tentacle waved past them.

"You get use to the smell." she told everyone, showing no reaction to the smell. She would however close the rift so the source of the smell wouldn't be present. However the smell still lingered for the time being.

"Oh." her eyes lit up. "You asked about my friends." she said to Coatrisquie. "I would indeed prefer if they weren't killed. Even if they died so swiftly that they won't feel it the shattered bond I had with them would still bring about intense agony for me. More so than whatever injury you can cause to them. So I can tolerant injuries so long as it doesn't lead to them dying. Cause you saw what happens to me if their death was slow and agonizing."

“Alright, alright,” Hyperion commented, trying to get the class in order. “How many more are we waiting for? We need to get started!” But alas, more students were indeed coming along, such as one little fox deity and her friend bouncing along the path.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write: See Above for All Writers

Self-Defense Class, Pt. 2

Fog led the way to the class, chatting while Vix sleepily rubbed her eyes. She sighed, occasionally nodding off as she walked. It wasn't because it was morning, as other might have thought, but rather that she hadn't slept. Fog didn't know, of course; she was always a deep sleeper.

Vix enters the area, and noticing Lavina she opens her mouth to apologize but thinks better of it She hesitates for a moment before she grins at hyperion, calling out to him. "Sup, hyperion. How are you doing?"

Fog pads in after her, finding a nice bush to settle down in. She yawns.

The godling's nose twitches as she registers the smell, and she stifles a cough before holding her breath. She doesn't seem too phased by the tall creature but she keeps her distance anyways, remembering what Fog had told her about what happened.

"I'll take your word for it." Akura said as he watched the tentacle emerge and then return back through the rift, placing his hands on his hips and stretching. "The rotten smell doesn't bug me that much...I mean, I didn't grow up exactly rich...but man, that saltwater. I think it's just a me thing."

Coatrisquie turned his face back to Lavinia as he greeted Hoshi, listening to her answer. "In that case," The storm spirit said, "I'll be gentle. Gentle...er, anyhow."

And as Vix walked her way towards the class and the little fox helped guide her, Coatrisquie turned back from Lavinia and placed his hands behind his back. "Ah, and the last attendees of our class have arrived. Good. We'll begin shortly." Coatrisquie turned and walked back towards the edge of the cliff-face the training arena was situated on, looking back over the horizon as he placed his hands in his pockets. "You may socialize for a few minutes while I finish looking at the scenery. Afterwards, you will all line up shoulder-to-shoulder along the edge of the arena. Understand?" Coatrisquie spoke aloud to the students.

Akura on the other hand turned towards Vix and waved. "Hey, Vix!" He shouted, before gently placing a hand on Lavinia's shoulder and leaning into the side of her face, whispering in her ear. "...Let's play nice with her, right? I'll help you if you need."

With all of the excitement happening around him, Hyperion had been unsure where exactly to start to try and bring order. Two students now did not want to attend the class, and two were overeager as usual. Poor Hoshiko had just walked in to start the same physical education class as usual, and had no idea what was in store for him. The Sun Titan had his work cut-out for him, far more so than Astrid had singularly ever caused for him.

“I’m gonna…” Hyperion blinked to get his bearings. “I’m gonna try and explain to you what I discussed with Coatrisquie and Maquetaurie yesterday. All of you have to be ready for combat, and that includes with beings outside of this pantheon and possibly, in a class setting, with other gods in this school. I know not all of you are social beings. Compared to me, most of you are practically babies as well. But in this class, I may not always be sober, but I will make you ready to fight. We Because otherwise, what is the Pax if nobody will uphold it?”

He pulled a receipt out of his pocket. Nobody was quite sure what was on it, but he had indeed made a payment somewhere. “The Pax becomes worth less than this $15.97 I paid for groceries. This is a legal agreement, backed by a law even after an apocalypse. Legal agreements must be uphold by diplomacy, as I had kids come with me to talk to Prometheus. But they must also be uphold with force. You are all forces of nature. Authorities of nature. So just pretend, if you have to, to get along and to cooperate to make this class work the way it should. Got it?”

Hoshiko stared blankly at the scene. There had clearly been other events at hand before this that he had missed, and given the attitudes present - perhaps that was a matter best left untouched. He let out a quick "Yes, sir." in response to Coatrisquie and Hyperion's statements, and found a spot at the edge of the Arena to settle into a cross-legged sit, arms firmly in his lap and head bowed. Those close by would hear, despite the fabric appearance of the armor, a muffled clank of metal impacting - though the source was not visible.

Lavinia frown for a few seconds once she saw Vix but quickly removed it. She had to try to give the fox a second chance even if a part of her wanted to keep her distance from the pryomanical fox.

Her musing over the fox would break when Coatrisuqie said he would try to be _gentler_. Why does she feel like she is gonna be in a world of hurt despite what he said.

The woman would feel a hand on her shoulder and would hear Akura whisper to her. "I'll try so long as she doesn't set me on fire again." she whispered back.

The drunkard began to speak. He explained how everyone in the field was ready to learn to defend themselves when they finally leave the school in the event they encounter members of other pantheons who would be hostile to them

The drunk then produced of all things a legal document... what?

So it seems they have to cooperate by law? Gods are weird.

"What would happen if we don't follow the rules?" Lavinia asked, no doubt the same question being present in the mind of the other students.

Vix smiled a little at Akura, but despite her efforts she still looked like she felt incredibly guilty. "Hey, Akura." She didn't speak fox this time, but instead listened silently.

“Well, if you don’t follow the rules of this class, then Coatrisquie and I can ask for you to either do something extra-within reason-for participation in our class, or we can ask for you to leave if it’s bad enough. Though we haven’t had to do that to anyone yet.” He thought and frowned. “If you mean the Pax, not obeying the Pax means war. Plain and simple. That’s for every pantheon of gods that there are.”

Lavinia pale face somehow became more pale when she heard the price for breaking the Pax. "War! The world is already devastated as it is and they want to destroy what's left!?" she screamed, outraged over the cost for breaking the rule.

"There had to have been other means to deal with rule breakers without plunging the world into chaos?"

Coatrisquie just smiled at what Hyperion was speaking to the students - firmness in his words and conviction in purpose, and for a second, the two were thinking on the same wavelength. He let Hyperion continue on without protesting; he had no problems with what Hyperion was saying, but truth be told, a small part of the storm spirit wished to keep his intentions a surprise, and thus, somewhat disappointed at Hyperion confirming his intentions to be especially rough. Still, this was a small part after all, and as Hyperion explained to the students, the storm spirit just kept watching the horizon silently. The clouds billowing over the horizon, the trees shaking and trembling in the presence of the wind, and the solemn blue of the sun’s rays trying to work through the thick clouds above. The distraction was welcome, but in his heart was some degree of regret for not learning to appreciate the forests and the lives that lived within them sooner. Maybe…

As Hoshiko took a seat, the clattering of his armor had passed by Akura's ears - but Coatrisquie just turned and looked a single swift movement at Hoshiko, but turned back to look at the horizon. All the while, Akura still tried to mediate the whole problem with Lavinia. ”Yeah…if she does that again I’ll make sure she doesn't. You know. Set you on fire again…”

As for once Lavinia asked what would happen if she didn't follow the rules, Coatrisquie spoke up from the other end of the arena, answering in a somewhat snarky tone. ”Well, I didn't follow the rules. I was struck down and locked inside a fruit. It was NOT an enjoyable experience. That being said…for anyone here who does not follow the rules of both this classroom and the Pax, and does not wish to spend their time in a butternut squash, I am more than willing to strike anyone as hard as I have to, to discourage breaking the Pax.”

Akura just took a look at Lavinia, and a look at Vix, and another look at Lavinia. ”So…how was everyone’s night?” The demigod asked, trying to break the ice.

Coatrisquie just turned back to Lavinia. "I will go over that once we begin. Unfortunately, not everyone is as reasonable as you and I."

The albino was silent. "You were turned into a fruit? That's both a cruel and unusual form of punishment... Is being insane a common trait among gods?" she asked her teacher.

When he asked how their night was Lavinia would say. "I didn't summon any more rifts in my sleep if you were worried about that. But I didn't sleep easily either." she rubbed the arm that was burnt. The memory of the incident from before haunted her in her sleep.

"Also the school may have an odd rat problem. I found a large rat last night that had both the hands and head of a human being."

Coatrisquie just blankly looked over his shoulder at Lavinia at her accusation, but then just answered the disrespect with a small and bemused chuckle. ”Ohoh, you don't know just how true that is. And no, I wasn’t turned into a fruit. I was hexed and then put inside of one. A surprisingly effective method of containment. Ironic how nothing could hold me, because I would break every single attempt at binding me…except for a forsaken GOURD.”

Once Coatrisquie finished, Akura just turned to Lavinia. ”Well…hopefully you can sleep better tonight. It's much easier after the first day, innit?” The demigod thought for a second, considering asking something before Coatrisquie interrupted him as Lavinia was talking about the…rats.

”Rats? With a human head?” The storm spirit shook his head. ”I suppose I'll have Akura animate some trees to take care of them. If not, well, it's been a long time since I hunted in my native form. Rats sounds like a delicacy at this point.”

”I can’t ‘animate trees’. Uh, with respect…sir.” Akura said, ignoring Coatrisquie’s rat-eating remarks.

“Your father could. I’m sure you can too.”

"I can try animating some trees if you want." Lavinia suggested. Of course with her it's less of animating them and more like changing them into entirely new life forms. But if it helps with getting rid of the rats than it would be worth it. No matter how much blood she loses in the process.

"Yeah! Lavinia can do it! She kn-" Akura was immediately cut off by Coatrisquie, and the demigod just dropped his arms to his side in disappointment.

"Nope." The god just waved her away. "You know already know how to do it. Akura does not. Which mean he gets the honor. Otherwise, it's of no concern. I'm a hawk spirit. Do you think I eat fruits and vegetables?" Coatrisquie just snickered under his voice.

"Ah...crap." He sighed. "You're going to be abusing me today, aren't you?"

"Could be."

The woman looked at him. "What about me. What sort of training you have planned with me? You want me to create as many life forms I can possible make?" she can tell this was gonna be painful cause while she was use to cutting herself for her powers she still needs to use blood and using too much will incur the same issues as it would for most humans.

"I have a few ideas of what new beings to make if that is your intention with me." she tried to be chipper to hide her nerves.

Coatrisquie turned, taking his hands out of his pockets as he tore his attention away from the scenic view that had mesmerized him. "For you, specifically? When our session starts and everyone lines up, you are going to show me exactly how useful those creatures of yours are in a fight. Specifically...a fight against me."

Coatrisquie turned back, as Akura just stared. The storm spirit continued. "I won't be able to protect you all forever," he said as he gently and idly raised a hand towards his chest and stroked a space above his heart, "-and if I'm ever gone, you will need to rely on your own powers to defend yourself against the things that want you dead. Luckily," Coatrisquie gestured towards Akura, and then to Vix. "You won't be alone. These two will help you. They fought an especially strong monster a few weeks ago."

Akura just absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. "Hoshi was there too, but...yeah...I didn't really fight that thing...I just kinda stood around trying not to get killed and staying as far away from it."

"Hyperion tells me you broke its head open with a boulder the size of a hotel."

"Yeah but that was-wait." Akura stopped mid sentence. "Did you say...against you?"

Coatrisquie just smiled and turned back towards the horizon.

Hoshi's head shifted slightly at the mention of his name, processing Coatrisquie's words.
"Will these be one-on-one sessions, or as groups?" He asked, raising a hand.

Ragatirta might be too tired to pay attention to anything at the moment, but hearing what he is going to do in this class gives him quite the shock.

His eyes widen, and he looks down on the patch of grass, thinking to himself, "First day of school and I have to fight that man? Can I do it? Will my body save me? Should I bring those two? Will I be useful this time?".

On one hand, Ragatirta can't comprehend even the reason behind this class. He is yet too young to understand the intricacies of diplomacy between the gods. However, the sea prince knows that he must lead the Southern Sea one day, and he must break out of his own weakness. With a sigh, Ragatirta quietly says to himself, "I hope I can get through this..."

Vix isn't even surprised by this. "Yep. Heard this through the walls. Gotta say, I don't think I did much in the way of attacking.i just got a weird second wind and then hung back." She shrugs, before looking at Lavina. "Uh... I didn't mean to set you on fire. I don't know why I set the poor plant on fire. I won't do it again. I get that you will absolutely not forgive me, and that I made an incredibly bad first impression. So, I'm sorry, and if you want some chocolate cake I can get you a slice as apology."

Relieved to see the apology, and that Coatrisquie was starting to try and corral the class, the Sun Titan nodded to Vix and then to his fellow teacher. He then smiled at the rest of the class. “Are you gonna make it through this? Yes. You’re young gods, you’re learning to use your powers, if we didn’t think you could do it then we wouldn’t be standing here at 7 AM, when I could be recovering from a hangover! We’re here for you, even if that means making you fight us today.”

When Lavinia heard that she was gonna test the combat capablities of her creations and use them against Coatrisquie she wasn't ashamed to show fear over the prospect.

This was a spirit older than mankind itself and she barely understood the nature of her own powers or even herself. It was like making a newborn baby fight against an atomic bomb.

How on Earth and every other realms that exist can she defend herself from him, let alone defeat him in combat?

Hearing that she would have assistance didn't do much to reassure her as the others are new to this as much as she is. I mean Akura just received his weapon yesterday!

Her fears over the fight would have a temporary respite as Vix approached her and apologize. The albino was still not sure she can properly forgive her. Killing her creation was one thing. But she put her in danger when she set her on fire. Feeling the flames was excruciating and having to feel her plants painful last moments as the bond she shared with it quite literally went up in flames.

It was a miracle she didn't feel like murdering the fox right now.

But she did admit she made a mistake. Though the fact she did it without thinking was concerning.

"I.. still need time to gather my thoughts..." she rubbed her arm without realizing it. "But that cake would be nice as a first attempt to try and patch things through." she gave Vix a small but nervous smile even as her other hand continue to rub her arm.

The god of drunken fathers soon chimed in and vouch his confidence to the group.

"If we must fight then I suppose we shouldn't hold back right?"

A rift would emerge behind her, appearing in the sky over the ground Black ooze pouring as large eyes began to surface from the ooze.

”A group, for today. Singular. All of you, against all of me. Afterwards…likely one-on-one sessions, as I personally see to the development of your skills.” The storm spirit said as he replied to Hoshi’s question, and the storm spirit had not overlooked Ragatirta’s rather nervous and shy posture. ”I can tell you’re worried. You should be, because then you can learn to move past your fears. But I won’t do anything that will permanently hurt you.”

”See!” Akura smiled and patted Lavinia on the back as Vix apologized, and looked at Lavinia. ”She’s not kidding, by the way. Vix is weirdly good at getting sweets. When I first met her, she gave Sun some coffee beans she…somehow found. That was…interesting.” And as Akura spoke to Lavinia, his powers briefly kicked in as he turned towards Fog and spoke as well. "Oh, and hey Fog. How were you holding up, little buddy?"

And as Hyperion interjected and made his own words clear, Coatrisquie did feel the need to speak up every now and then. ”Actually,” The storm spirit spoke up, ”I’m doing it at 7 AM because I knew nobody would like it.” He explained with a cheeky smile on his face.

And as Lavinia asked her question…the storm spirit spoke up a bit further. ”No. Do not hold back.” Coatrisquie smiled in a more than cocky manner, a degree of arrogance and pride earned through a lifetime of bloodshed. ”I can take anything anyone can throw at me, and dish it back twice as hard. It’s very much preferable that you hurt me, instead of me hurting you. But…” Coatrisquie turned fully, a hand behind his back as he pointed the other towards the rift. ”Not quite yet. I will explain what you need to do to defeat me first. Otherwise, it’s a battle of attrition, correct? That is certainly something you don’t want to fight.”

The storm spirit placed his hands behind his back, and spoke up. ”Alright students, line up. Akura, pick up your spear.”

Akura took a quick glance at Lavinia and took his hand off her back, moving in a rather hurried motion as he picked up the glimmering spear off the ground and stared at it, pointing it straight up as he lined up and tried to keep the tip from touching anyone else.

Lavinia would have asked many questions on most occasions.

How Vix can find sweets as easily as Akura claims.

How a god who was plastered can still make coherent plans.

How they could take him on singularly if they fail to do anything meaningful as a team.

But the time for questions. For socialization. For anything else was now over. The old spirit was ready to sink his teeth into each and everyone one of them and Lavinia was gonna show him that she was now damsel in distress.

"Dyer. It's time to feast my dearest friend." she commanded as the Shoggoth began to grow in size. The mass bubbled and grew, pieces coming off and sliding back into the mass.

The mass would reach Hoshito's size but it would quickly grow past it. At the end the Shoggoth stood well at 15 feet.

The mass would produce many tentacles and gaping maws that look as though they can swallow everyone whole. The eyes were bulging out and massive.

"I had Dyer take on a much smaller size yesterday because as you can see trying to fit him through the halls would cause him to take too much space." she explained as she moved forward to stand in the line.

The shoggoth remained in place. The eyes constantly rising and falling into the mass. Each one keeping an eyes on the storm spirit who would face against it.

Following Coatrisquie's instructions, Ragatirta chooses to stand last in the line. He ponders about the line about taking everything and dishing it back twice as hard. The sea prince thought that it might help him get through this class...

Hoshiko slowly stood as the students lined up, taking the center position of the Line as he dusted stray grass from his armor. His gaze shifted to the Shoggoth as Lavinia ordered it to swell, unconsciously letting a shred of stellar power run through his body before looking back at his instructor. Politely, he clasped his hands behind his back, awaiting instruction.

[Luminesa]

Self-Defense Class, Pt. 3

”Interesting…” Coatrisquie rubbed his chin as he watched the mass grow from simply human size, to towering at nearly twice the height of the storm spirit, the spirit’s eyes tracking upwards and staring at the central mass of the being. ”So this…is Dyer. I see. He’s a large one. We’ll see what he can do against a deity shortly!” Coatrisquie said, smiling, before placing his hands behind his back.

Akura just stared at the being. Normally he'd be quite unnerved by something like that, but this time, he was actually fairly astonished at how much of it just appeared. ”...Where were you even hiding all-”

”Quiet.” Coatrisquie said, as he placed his hands behind his back and Akura stood at a clumsy and stiff attention. ”Now…lets begin.”

The storm spirit, hands placed behind his lower back, began to slowly pace up and down the line of students as he moved down the arena, looking at each of them. ”A few years ago, before many of you were born, or grew up, there was…a war.” Coatrisquie turned, and gestured with an open palm towards the scenic view down the mountain. ”A war between all the pantheons, of immense violence and bloodshed. Within a period of only a few years, we singlehandedly brought the world and humanity to their heels, and they are still rebuilding. This school was founded to keep the peace, to teach you students, all of you, to shun war. To stay away from it. To nurture your best halves and befriend each other, so we may never kill each other again, and with it, maybe teach you all the responsibilities of divine blood.”

Coatrisquie stopped, and turned towards the students. ”...But before that war, there was a war. And before that war, there were wars. And more wars. And more, until we get to the beginning of humanity.” The spirit crossed his arms. ”Gods killing titans,” Coatrisquie waved a hand towards Hyperion, evidently having read up on his history. ”...Titans killing gods. Gods killing gods, and gods killing men. Cycles of bloodshed over and over again, across infinity. We cannot help what we are, students. We cannot help our natures…or that's what we thought, until the Dying.”

”For once…the gods may have a chance at peace, but because we are at peace, does not mean we are safe. I know this, because there are some of us that do not adhere to the laws set in by the Pax…whether out of power, detachment, or outright evil, the Pax will never uphold true peace. And for that, you are all in danger.”

”Look at your teacher. Look at the foe you'll be facing today. My mother, brother, and I used to lay waste to entire kingdoms for no other reason than because we enjoyed it. The days we rode the warpath to battle Boinayel and Márohu to crack their Cycle was considered a holiday for us.” Coatrisquie kept staring at the students. ”Do you think I would have changed my ways if I wasn't struck down for my actions in the mortal and spirit worlds during the Dying, and then sealed away? Do you think I would have respected the Pax? No, I would not have. I may very well have targeted the school and all of you on one of our rampages solely for the challenge.”

”And I…am just one, of an untold myriad of violent beings that disregard the Pax entirely.” Coatrisquie uncrossed his arms, and placed his hands on his hips. ”And that is why I, violent spirit that I am, will be teaching all of you how to defend yourselves and utilize your powers against the dark beings that want you dead in spite of the Pax. Whether your strengths lie in your warrior physique…” Coatrisquie gestures to Hoshiko and Akura. ”...The powers of your summons…” Coatrisquie gestured to Ragatirta and Lavinia. ”...Or your speed and cunning.” Coatrisquie gestured to Vix. ”All of you, will need to learn to utilize these gifts so that you may survive another day if you ever find yourself cornered by the same beings that caused the many conflicts gods have fought throughout history.”

Backing away, Coatrisquie pointed a thumb at himself. ”And that is why you are lucky enough to have me to guide you. The only spirit to have seen both sides of the savage coin. Because I know all of you have greatness within you.” Placing his hands back on his hips, he continued.

”Any questions before we move onto our first lesson?”

Lavinia was silent as she took in everything she heard from her instructor. The bloody history of the gods and how it all lead to the Dying. How that one event caused them to try and fight their nature, yet for many their lust for blood and death was too strong and thus they disregard the Pax entirely.

Yet that did raise a question for her.

"Are there any pantheons that completely disregard the Pax or are just apathetic to it?" Lavinia asked. "I wish to know which groups we should air on the side of caution when meeting them."

Vix nodded, not quite shoulder to shoulder with anyone but still listening.

”Less the pantheons themselves, and more of those that are within the pantheons.” The storm spirit answered. ”Undead. Evil spirits. Mutant aberrations. And I assume wherever your,” Coatrisquie pointed at Dyer. ”-creation originally came from. Every pantheon has something within it. But the greatest threats of all are the gods that disregard it. Hyperion may be able to tell you more about it, but the example that…”

Coatrisquie’s demeanor cracked for a few seconds as his eyes softened, but pushed through it. “That I can…name the most, is Moboyas, and the spirits that follow him.”

For the moment, Ragatirta cannot help but keep on pondering, keeping a figurative water bubble around himself as he looks down to think. To himself, he definitely isn't the physical type of fighter nor will his mimics ever compare to whatever creature that Lavinia has, after a short glance upon a moment of distraction not long ago. He will need something new. The sea deity will need something new to bring to the table.

Gone are the days where Ragatirta can simply send out a few water sharks or whales while the rest of the Kraton's forces take the frontline. And yet, it is the only thing he can do for now. At this moment, the Southern Sea's Prince comes out with an idea... Perhaps it can help, perhaps it will not. Yet mistakes are inevitable.

At Coatrisquie's final question, that figurative bubble around Ragatirta pops, but he himself cannot offer any questions. Hoping to be taken as a sign of readiness, he maintained his silence with eyes forward.

”No additional questions? Very well.” Coatrisquie said, placing his hands behind his back. ”Onto your first lesson.”

The storm spirit resumed moving in front of the class as he spoke, explaining further. ”I’m sure we are all to some degree familiar with the laws of physics. Though we break the laws of biology through our existence and in many ways we break the laws of physics as well…in many other ways, we are still subject to them.”

Coatrisquie bent down, picking up a small pebble and tossing it into the air, catching it. ”In the 1600s, the mortal philosopher Isaac Newton developed three laws of motion to describe the world around him. First, an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it. Second, the force on an object is equal to its mass and acceleration. Third, when two objects interact, the forces they carry apply to each other in equal magnitudes in the opposite directions.”

”And how is this relevant, you might think?” Coatrisquie turned, winding an arm…and then throwing the rock out towards the scenery. It shot outwards like a bullet, emitting a loud screech as it soared too far to spot in less than a second. ”Because these same forces govern the force and direction of your divine strength, should you possess it. By extension…it would also govern the divine strength of your foes.” Coatrisquie turned back to the students, hands behind his back. ”One day, you will certainly find yourself outmatched by a foe that is far stronger than you physically. What people do not understand, is that controlling these same forces is far, far harder than simply directing them. It is incredibly easy to put a powerful foe off-balance if you learn to control and direct the direction of his blows. Watch.”

Coatrisquie looked at Akura. ”Akurrada, come here.”

Akura just looked around for any other volunteers, and when there were none, whispered in Lavinia’s ear. ”It was nice knowing you.” He whispered, before moving up with his spear and standing in front of Coatrisquie.

Placing a hand in front of him and gesturing towards Akura, Coatrisquie continued. ”For those of you that are not spirits, which is all of you, Akura here is what is called a simo-ahawara. He is a wasp spirit. His kind naturally contains immense strength. They carve out mountains and trees with their bare hands to form shelters. Akura’s divine heritage should enhance his strength far, far more than even his own kind naturally has.” Coatrisquie explained, as Akura sheepishly scratched the back of his head. ”Now watch what happens when Akura applies all that force, into a single blow.”

Coatrisquie backed away and extended his right arm out as far as possible as he splayed open a palm towards Akura. Akura just looked left and right confused, before Coatrisquie explained. ”Now…strike my hand. Hard.”

”I…I…” Akura looked back at the students and then back at Coatrisquie, clearly nervous and apprehensive about his performance. Control wasn’t his strong suit. ”I don’t want to hurt you…but okay..” Akura said, as he slowly backed up, raised a hand…and threw a punch. The punch was blindingly fast, and when it hit Coatrisquie’s hand, it was stopped; but it came at a cost, an incredibly loud shockwave thundering outwards and shaking the ground and the grass, more pebbles shaking loose from the ground as the shockwave echoed outwards. Akura’s eyes widened and he pulled back, as Coatrisquie gently put his hand down, unconcerned by the impact…although judging by the way he was gritting his teeth, it was clear that it was still somewhat painful for the storm spirit to have stopped his punch so casually like that, but to what extent was unclear.

Before Akura could speak, Coatrisquie spoke up, the grass having finished shaking and waving in the wake of the shockwave. ”See that? That punch was faster than sound and carried even greater force. If I had to guess, that punch would have been enough to easily send me off of this cliff if I hadn’t met it with the same force pushing back. Remember what I said about the cliff.” Coatrisquie shook his hand of the pain before placing his hand back up. ”Now, hit me again, but this time, as hard as you possibly can.”

Akura nodded and slowly raised his hand again, closing his eyes as his muscles flexed and he built up as much strength as he could. Taking a running start, Akura ran towards Coatrisquie and prepared to strike with far greater force, his fist coming down onto Coatrisquie’s hand…until Coatrisquie moved out of the way and stuck his leg out, tripping Akura and placing a hand on his back to “help” in his descent. The speed and force Akura gathered had been more than enough to send him flying right off the cliff with only minimum effort by Coatrisquie, and his voice trailed off as he screamed.

”SHIII-”

”Oops.” Coatrisquie snickered under his breath, all too amused at him throwing Akura off the edge of the training grounds, off the cliff, and down the mountain. ”See that? With minimum effort I sent him flying by simply…stepping to the side and pushing him in the same direction as his fist. All that force still needs to go somewhere, and it will keep throwing him into that direction until he stops. If you are ever confronted with a superior enemy who can easily outmuscle you, turn their own strength against them. You create a very easy escape route with that manner.”

When Lavinia saw Akura being thrown off the cliff she reacted long before her brain had time to form the proper thought.

"CARTER, CATCH HIM!"

The panic dark young shouted as a new rift materilize and the nightgaunt flew after the falling man.

Lavinia looked at Coatrisquie with rage. "Have you lost your mind?!”

Hoshiko stiffened as Lavinia yelled, before looking down at the indignant woman.
"Uh- Akura's pretty strong. He'll be fine. I think."
The 'lesson' itself was fairly basic to the godling - his powers mandated an understanding of the forces at play. But it was a valuable lesson for some others he supposed.

Vix knew what was going going to happen almost as soon as he said to remember the cliff, and she'd started running before he was even falling. Not towards coastrisquie, though- she knew that there was no way she could stop him in time from there.

So she instead left an illusion in her place, held her breath as she turned invisible and ran down the side of the cliff. For others, it might have been slow, but she used what fog had taught her in the courtyard. Fall as a fox, land as a person to limit the impact. The illusion was gone by now, and she'd dropped the invisbility after a few feet. She got to the bottom, and brought out whatever she had in her tail that might decrease the pain.

Coatrisquie idly stepped by to allow Vix and the nightgaunt to move towards Akura - the spirit having long since learned the ability to discern illusions - but figured that discouraging this behavior from the students would do more harm than good in the long run. Still, the storm spirit covered up his smile, clearly amused at his little trick, and placed the other hand behind his back. "Ahem." Coatrisquie put the other hand behind his back again. "Good reaction speed there, Lavinia. And no, I have not, because I wouldn't have done that with a human. A human would leave a mess, but Akura? The wasp spirits are made of hardened wax and chitin, not skin and bone. They can take quite a beating." Coatrisquie snickered again. "Heheheh...Akura doesn't know that, though. Some things are best learned under pressure. You don't forget when you learn under pressure...I'm sure the time Akura was thrown off a cliff to demonstrate the importance of force control and direction won't leave your mind anytime soon." Coatrisquie turned towards the scenery, and back towards the students. "Now...we'll continue once he gets back up here."



On the other hand, Akura was idly flying through the air downwards, cussing to himself. "Shit, shit, shit shit!" He said, somewhat panicking as he flew downwards. He wasn't entirely sure he'd survive this one - he fell off more than his fair few share of cliffs climbing to the school in the first place, and came out bruised and injured, but alive. This one was a fair bit steeper than what he was used to. He had to think, and fast - something about the force he had to use. The wind kicking by his ears made it hard to concentrate as well as the sickingly lack of hard ground beneath his feet, but the memories came in clear - if he generated the force that kept him flying, he could generate the force that would land him against the cliff and give him enough leeway to slow down. Gaining control over his fall in the air, Akura spread out his arms to slow his descent, and prepared himself to throw another punch. "Need to gain control!" He shouted to himself as within a split second, he threw a punch upward just hard enough to counteract the forces keeping him flying horizontally - and ended up striking his arm through the cliffside hard enough to sink his entire arm through it. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he sunk his other arm through the rock as he began to slow downwards to the bottom off the cliff, just as the nightgaunt was flying over on top of him.

"WHAT THE HELL-" He shouted as he reached the bottom of the cliff and stumbled over, the forces carrying him downwards still enough to keep him tumbling until he stopped...right next to Vix, his skin somewhat bruised with green-gold splotches of pain, but Akura, still high on adrenaline, didn't notice as he yelled at the fox, the nightgaunt almost on top of him. "-HOW DID YOU GET HERE SO FAST?!"

The woman's expression remain cold. She wanted to be relieved that Akura could be alright if what he told her was true about what he was. Yet risking his life so easily still didn't settle her well.

"If we're gonna be laissez faire with lives than perhaps I should follow through with what you told us before and not hold back."

Everyone would hear the sound of something sizzling. Behind they would find the grass that the Shoggoth was on top of producing steam as the slime was burning it like acid.

She pointed at Coatrisquie. "Ravage him, Dyer! Make sure nothing remains!"

The shoggoth would contract it's being into a black orb. The orb would wobble as though it was trying to contain something.

"Tekeli-li. Tekeli-li."

The shoggoth uttered these alien words. Something that surprised even Lavinia who never heard the shoggoth utter a word before.

"Tekeli-li!"

Suddenly tentacles would shot out from the orb. Most were in the air and were coming down at Coatrisquie from different attlutle and from different sides.

The front, the back, the sides, and even behind. The Shoggoth was intending to trap him.

Some slither rapidly on the ground to catch him from below. The grass burning and melting as the dart serpents tore through them.

Vix steadies him. "Hold on, dude. Sit down a second." She grabs him by the shoulders, gently forcing him to sit down on a pillow. "Don't get back up. You're high on adrenaline right now but after that you're probably going to be pretty tired. Let me see your arms." She grabs a bottle of Adderall out from her tail, and pops it open. "Take one. But only one."

She cocks her head as her ears swivel, before she growls. "Just to let you know, you're not going to die of a fall. Chicken man up there just likes to mess with you. His words, not mine, so don't trust him too much. His job is to look after you, but I highly doubt he'll play nice."

Akura grabbed the pill, and popped it into his mouth as Vix steadied himself, shaking his head. "Ack...that sucked." He said, raising his arms. They had various cracks and bruises in them, but for the most part, they were intact. "...Wow. Looks like you're right. I didn't expect to get out of that without missing at least one finger..."

The bruised and cracked demigod slowly got up, and grabbed ahold of the nightgaunt's legs, offering a hand to Vix so that they could get back to the top. And meanwhile, at the schoolgrounds...

"Correct, I'm not sure why you-what the..." Coatrisquie's hands immediately fell to his side and he took a step back, evidently caught off guard. "I did not say to s-ACID!?" The various tentacles of the Shoggoth had wrapped up the storm spirit by the time he had finished, and the storm spirit winced at the acid as more and more of him got covered up. He made efforts to break free - despite the apparent annoyance on his face and his pained expression, the storm spirit was actively attempting to keep his promise and not hurt the Shoggoth - but as Coatrisquie's strength grew and yet failed to yield results against the Shoggoth, the storm spirit grew more and more trapped...

...And then the clouds in the sky above rapidly gathered in a supercell that raged upwards, seemingly materializing out of nowhere as Coatrisquie's form seemed to glow, and grew brighter, and grew brighter, and grew brighter, until a blinding lightning strike struck the storm spirit, utterly deafening thunder shaking the ground and the trees, and when the storm clears, stood a new being.

A massive hawk - easily standing at least 50 feet tall and easily dwaring even the buildings - had burst from the Shoggoth's grasps and was actively standing on the Shoggoth's tentacles, the feathers of the massive hawk glowing blue as lightning crackled across it as if it was made from solidified storm clouds, its feathers ruffling in the violent winds as the air seemed to pick up and kick around just the presence of this being. And through its chest, was a glowing red core, decidedly at odds with the rest of the hawk's body. "I did not say to start." Every syllable a thundering wave, crackling with energy like a stereo. "You will have your chance, but NOT now. The first rule of my class is to LISTEN to your directions, and OBEY your superiors. Do we understand?" His voice was tinged with annoyance, along with some rather noticeable acid scars on the gigantic hawk's talons which gradually faded away, and the hawk's piercing glowing blue eyes stared at Lavinia, the annoyance steadily bleeding out of his voice. "But...good work on the ambush, I had not expected that, at all. You should lead with your other creatures, and use this one for entrapment...you almost had me." The hawk expanded its wings outwards, and the wingspan easily covered the entire arena and then some. "It's much harder to entrap larger beings. Regardless, that acid is strong enough to scorch and dissolve my feathers and talons. It has very good potential. Good work."

Coatrisquie seemingly waited for her response, wary whether or not shifting to human form would entail another ambush, as the Nightgaunt soared upwards and dropped the two demigods, Akura panting, the bits of exposed skin on his body exhibiting damage in the form of golden bruises...and cracks instead of cuts. The cracks were slowly beginning to seal themselves as the demigod slowly caught his breath, still a little too hopped up on adrenaline to notice the enormous thunderbird in the training area.

Hoshiko winced as the Shoggoth thundered by, and flinched further at Coatrisquie's outburst as he contemplated the situation.
That said, the element of surprise was key - and as he looked over the students present, ideas flickered through his head. He was no tactical genius, but prior lessons might prove valuable.

Vix whistled. "Akura, I'm going to need you to help me calm her down. We can't kill the summoning thing, and Coatrisquie, despite being a large immortal chicken, has some restraint. Not saying Lavina doesn't, but she's upset right now, and I've read enough books to know out of control people and powers are not a good mix. " Vix slowly walks towards Lavina, holding her hands up. "Hey, Lavina. Hold on. He's okay. It's okay."

Ragatirta knew that it would be a rough class. He steeled himself as he took the opportunity as the last one in line to observe everyone else. Suffice to say, it didn't take long before the sea prince's heart returned to how it was, pumping anxiety.

Seeing Akura getting easily sent right out of the field by Coatrisquie in an instant made Ragatirta worry about his own physical prowess.

Watching Vix strangely disappear took the sea prince a few seconds of his time being perplexed.

Then in came Lavinia, and by his Queen Mother, Ragatirta had never witnessed anything like it before. The fact that her so-called 'friends' would be this... entity of possibly bottomless power that could land some damage even on the mighty Coatrisquie who boasted not so long ago.

Yet Ragatirta would soon learn that his teacher's boasting was not without merit, for the thunderbird sent him into shock, as his whole body, being made of pure seawater, couldn't endure such presence of electricity . It is enough to say, that it caused his current situation, spasming in pain. Ragatirta tries to dissolve himself to null the pain yet it is too difficult, the electrocution gives him no time to focus. The best thing that the Southern Sea's Prince can do at the moment is to endure until something happens, and he does so with doubt in heart.

Suddenly a giant clump of seawater, this time enough to rival the hawk's head and torso, forms just above the sea prince. A small dragon claw clutches the comparably tiny body of Ragatirta, and pulls him into the seawater. It stirs violently, and a loud hiss is produced from within.

"...Large immortal chicken? What are talk-WOAH!" Akura turned and immediately saw Coatrisquie, who switched his view from Lavinia, to the demigod, and he fell backwards in some mix of fright and surprise. "CHRIST!"

A low shriek - like laughter, but far deeper - echoed from deep within the giant hawk's throat, reminisicent of the cry of a red-tailed hawk. Akura shook his head and pointed at the spirit as he slowly stood up, wincing. "...We're gonna have to talk about that trick you pulled."

"No, we aren't. You survived. I know you would have. You're a simo-ahawara." The hawk spoke.

Akura was about to speak back, but looked towards Lavinia, then at Vix. "Yeah...you're right." Akura stood up, and clenched his fists, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth - and the cracks were forcefully sealed shut, the bruises rapidly fading as Akura tried to focus his energies, his tattoos flaring up once again. And once they had vanished, Akura walked up to Lavinia...and immediately grabbed her in a full-armed hug. "THANK. YOU." The demigod spoke as he firmly hugged Lavinia for the nightgaunt, his head dipping into her shoulder as Coatrisquie just tilted his head in curiosity as he watched Akura.

Coatrisquie's attention would be rapidly diverted as Ragatirta felt the electricity radiating from the storm spirit, and the hawk immediately opened his wings and turned towards Ragatirta - still pinning the Shoggoth underneath his talons, just to be sure. The storm spirit leaned in, trying to get a closer look...before immediately figuring out what was happening. The storm spirit raised his wings, and the storm clouds immediately dissipated, static electricity draining from the air as the hawk made a grandiose gesture as he absorbed the latent energy in the air, before folding his wings. The lightning across his body gradually dissipating, leaving behind a - still enormous - red-tailed hawk, decidedly devoid of lightning. The hawk still stared at the seawater and spoke, his voice lacking that electric edge. "...Ragatirta? What has happened? Are you alright?"

Hyperion could only watch ad the lesson began with a bang. Coatrisquie sent his nephew flying off a cliff, and Lavinia wanted revenge. Seeing the pot that was about to spill over, he took a step forward, but still allowed the storm god to work. “None of this is personal. If it was, we’d tell you. Coatrisquie is doing this because far worse gods can do far worse things to you.” He nodded to the students just as they gathered their powers to strike. “And while I won’t be the main participant in the fight, I’m just here to make sure to keep track and to keep score. So please, don’t treat this as a grudge match. It’s all training.”

The clump of seawater slowly becomes still, and soon after a few moments of stillness, a water shaped like opened serpent's jaws rises up from it, still letting out a hiss. Then, another part pops out of the seawater, a pair of bird's wings. It spans about half of the massive hawk's own.

The clump of seawater soon tightens from below, first forming a tail. Then, a long, serpentine body coiled above the ground. And then, two pairs limbs come out from the body. Finally, the seawater forms the head of a serpent, completing the transformation with the external shell of green body and golden wings.

Ula Ijo has returned, and this time, sensing his dearest creator in danger, he pushes himself to the real Beast Forme. Soon after, the serpent quiets down on the hissing, looking upon everyone else on the ground.

Ula Ijo wants to speak, he wants to ask who'd push his master to the brink of 'death', putting aside the hidden soul that Ragatirta possesses. And yet, the sea prince, in his last few drops of energy, says no from within. The serpent has no choice, but to look around with a judgmental stare.

Lavinia legs buckled as she felt pain shot throughout her body. The electrical strike would have vaporized most beings but Dyer was not most being. Whatever conventional matter he was previously made from became more exotic and alien once he was "born". The amorphous, shapeshifting, blob of alien matter can regenerate from most attacks, if any actually effected it.

That was why Dyer was often her first choice if her life was threaten. You can cut. Smash. Shot. And do so much and because most normal weapons can harm him she doesn't feel a thing.

However the lightening she felt came from a god. This wasn't a normal attack and she can feel it, even if dull by the fact Dyer was regenerating from it.

The mass of the Shoggoth shrunk from the onslaught. Steaming clumps scattered about.

"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

The shoggoth chanted as it tried to warp more of it's tendrils around the hawk. The burnt clumps began to pulsate as their charred exteriors began to crack and more ooze began to leak out.

The hawk berratted her for latching out before being instructed to. Yet as quickly as he scold her he would compliment her for the ambush and the fact Dyer was able to injury him.

If she was being honest she didn't think she would have harmed him to that extent. She hoped for her attack to work but a part of her suspected that as a god he would dodge or defeat her creation before it caught him.

But a god he was and he was now displaying it in full.

Lichtenberg Figures pattern markings appeared on her skin, pink and hot. The bond showing how much it is a curse as it was a blessing.

"Trust me." she said with a loud breath. Her eyes began to glow red as a sangiuness aura surrounded in shadow began to surround her.

"I only started." Mentally she commanded her Nightgaunt to fly high after she saw it drop the two students. As it flew into the air the Nighgaunt would enter a rift.

The shoggoth's uncanny duplication caused Hoshiko to shudder slightly - despite the appearance, he did not exactly have a stomach for these sorts of things. Yet as Akura landed he shuffled over, letting him finish hugging the strange albino before squatting down to his level.
"Psst, Akura. I might have an idea." he whispered, tapping his shoulder. "Remember the Taotie?"

Vix walks back to the line, but not before walking right up to coastrisquie, her features becoming impassive and cold as she leans in. "One day you will learn that your actions have dire consequences. Pray that day is not the one you become flightless, Chicken. Her eyes have taken on an incredible depth, an endless void with pinpricks of light piercing it as her aura grows more powerful for a moment.

Then, she sneezes, blinks, and Vix is normal again. She looks at Coatrisquie, unsure of why she was there, before walking to Lavina.

"Okay, so good news: Akura's fine. Bad news: I should probably get far away in case dyer tries to kill me for being near you. So uh, have an Advil, and here's a Snickers. Feel better." She make a move to grab lavina's hand in an attempt to give her the stuff, before hesitating and just setting them down on Akura's head and making a speedy retreat.

The massive hawk spirit turned a head towards Hyperion and nodded, the wind slowly dying down as Coatrisquie purged his natural form of the storm magic for Ragatirta’s safety. Rapidly however, Coatrisquie turned back towards the clump of seawater, and tilted his head in that avian curiosity as it underwent its bizarre changes - from a serpent’s jaw, to growing bird wings, and then shaping into a tail. It was…rather large, larger than the hawk spirit certainly expected - the size didn’t compare to the spirit’s own, but it was certainly larger than the other students, and even had size advantage over the beings that Lavinia had summoned earlier. The hawk spirit raised his talon that was keeping the Shoggoth pinned - not that it would have worked as Coatrisquie found out, the Shoggoth escaping his bird-of-prey talons through splitting apart - and slowly walked around the arena, his footfalls causing heavy and audible thuds[ with every step, talons so sharp as to embed themselves into the stone and leave gigantic piercings into the ground. At this moment, in the excitement, the storm spirit didn’t exactly care - he’d fix them later. ”Interesting.” The storm spirit said, before the massive hawk leaned to the ground and stared down the snake. ”So you are the snake construct. How interesting...is your master somehow vulnerable to electricity?” The storm spirit asked, evidently ignorant of the fact that the snake couldn’t speak.

Coatrisquie briefly looked away - the chanting from the Shoggoth catching his attention as the enormous hawk looked back towards Lavinia, and then tilted his head, noticing the lightning-shaped scars that had made their way up the young girl’s body. The spirit had briefly winced, ...Oops, he thought, this time for real. He hadn’t actually intended to utilize lightning against the students as he fully realized the pure intensity of his lightning magic, only relegating himself to his hands and natural physique, and as the storm spirit spent his time looking at Lavinia and especially Ragatirta’s form as a snake that vaguely reminded him of an okoyumo ocean spirit, the hawk spirit almost felt…ashamed, easily realizing he had overestimated the resilience of these beings. They were not spirits. Still, Coatrisquie had been quickly distracted from his regret as he looked back over Lavinia…and the many smaller Shoggoths that had surrounded her. He narrowed his eyes at Lavinia, about to say something in regards to her glowing red eyes and the many new creations that surrounded her, but Akura had interrupted him.

The demigod didn’t exactly respond - just hugging her tightly in thanks for the attempted save, but he slowly came to realize what exactly he was ending up doing to Lavinia. As Hoshi spoke to Akura, the demigod looked at Lavinia for a quick second, and slowly started to peel himself off of her. ”Oh…uh…whoops…haha…” Akura scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. ”Well…I, sorry…I was still delirious from the, uh, adrenaline…one second, Hoshi.” Coatrisquie just met the two with another curious head-tilt, as Akura turned back over to Hoshi.

”Uh, I think I paralyzed her.” Akura said. ”...Am I contagious? OH!” The demigod shook his head. ”YEAH! The Taotie! Are we planning to hit him with a giant rock again?”

Coatrisquie was about to say something before he felt a presence, and the massive hawk looked downwards at Vix…and almost suppressed an arrogant laugh at Vix’s threat - the humor of a fox threatening a massive bird-of-prey not quite lost on the spirit - but then went quiet as Vix sneezed, turning back to Ragnatirta, and then turning back to Vix. ”...Hm. I suppose I will have to suspend lessons for a few minutes while I attend to these two.”

Akura immediately flinched as Vix placed the Snickers bar on his head, and took it off. ”Oh, hell! Thanks!” Akura smiled, and held it in his hand before…sneakily handing it over to Lavinia. ”Okay, wakey wakey, you’re redder than a tomato. You're very soft, you know that?”

But just as Vix tried to escape…once again, Coatrisquie caught her. He was very good at that. ”Vix. How long have you been blacking out?”

Fog pads over to Vix, jumping up and settling around her shoulders before going back to sleep.

The fog godling stares at the towering hawk, and for a moment she seems like that colder version of herself before fog speaks up.

Viiiiiix. Pet meeee.

Vix reaches a hand up to scratch fog behind the ear as she speaks to coastrisquie, a bit surprised. " Uh... Wait, how'd yo-" she hesitates for a second, before staring at him with a practiced look of confusion. "How'd you, uh... How'd you figure? I mean, I don't think I black out. Fog would tell me."

"I am very, very old. I've been around for a very long time. I know things, because I've seen things." The hawk reared up and opened his wings, pointing the tip of one of his wings towards his chest. The red glow wasn't particularly visible anymore - his body having solidified from lightning and storm clouds into proper feathers and skin - but there was still a small glowing mark. "That, and I know a thing or two about foreign influences from a long time of experience. We'll have to talk about it some time, you and I."

Vix sighs, looking a defeated. "I... I don't know how long it's been going on. I used to think I just zoned out, but I remember I was passing an alley once, and I looked in... And next thing I know I'm in a different town, wearing a different set of clothes and a little bruised. It doesn't happen much."

[Luminesa]

Self-Defense Class Pt. 4

Second by second, Ragatirta slowly loses consciousness, and it takes no longer than ten seconds for him to fully pass out. With his master now out cold, Ula Ijo can finally speak out. Yet choosing to respect the sea prince's wish of preventing escalation, all that the Greater Mimic can do for now is to answer the questions thrown at him.

"Indeed. But this is not yet the highest power that my master has granted to me or my other comrade. And yes, lightning is the worst that my master could ever face. Not once had he ever fought creatures that wielded it until now, thus... My master remained in bliss of such bane to his own existence.

For now, my master shall rest within me, my scales are well protected, and I can channel my own power to help with his recovery. I won't let his rare moment of burning passion be squandered, he will recover before the class ends."

Coatrisquie placed his wings back in his back, and the hawk looked elsewhere before turning back to Vix and Fog. ”Yeah…we’ll have to discuss that later. I’ll have to have you talk to Hecate. She can likely help with that. I’m sure you don’t want to spend your life blacking out.”

Turning back towards the serpent as it explained the exact source of its power - and the weaknesses of its master - the hawk tilted its head. ”Lightning… Hm. That would've been nice to know earlier.” the hawk exasperatedly said, shaking his head. ”You may be dismissed if you wish, or may watch. Right now, Ragatirta needs to recover more than anything else.”

Hoshiko relaxed marginally as Coatrisquie called a pause to the classes, settling down properly next to Akura. "I was thinking more before that, when we attacked it from multiple directions. You lead his attention with the spear, and I can land something bright in his eyes to blind him. Does that sound good? he whispered.

Already one student was already unconscious, and the actual exercise had not yet even begun. Hyperion groaned, and he looked at the rest of the class. At least Coatrisquie had decided on decency and would allow the students to refresh and recover before continuing. All the while, he could tell that the students were whispering plans to each other, and he just nodded and took a swig of water.

"He is having his rest at this moment," Ula Ijo responds to Coatrisquie, "In the meantime I will focus on helping my master regain his consciousness. The sooner the better. I dread to think what he will cry about if he misses this class." The serpent then lands on a far corner in the arena, and rests itself.

Coatrisquie unfurled his feathery wings and brought them to his face, a small energetic flash and a dissipation of lightning marking his form as he rapidly transformed back to his human state, now that things had started to calm down. The storm spirit turned towards Ula Ijo and nodded. ”Well then. You may be dismissed. I would still prefer you watching, and relay the lessons learnt towards your master. Sometime I’ll have to show you all how to overcome lightning.”

Akura took a brief look at Lavinia, before turning back to Hoshiko, and whispering under his breath. ”That does sound like a plan. Even if you don’t blind him, I bet we can keep his attention occupied and divide it between his front, and his back. Attack in unison…y’know, keep him distracted? Sorry, wait, one second.”

Akura turned back to Lavinia. ”You, uh…you alright over there?”

Lavinia stood motionless, her face still red as a tomato. In her head the neurons that made up her nerves system was firing erratically as it tried to comprehend what happened.

It wasn't to say that she wasn't hugged. Her parents were many things but to be cold enough to deny that from her would be too much.

But a boy showing affection like her without it being tied to ulterior means was something she never experienced. The closet contact with someone of the opposite sex and such contact being from a pure reason had shook the monster maker at her very core.

In her states she missed much on what happened. Sure her eyes witness it but her mind was absent.

"Tekel-li! Tekel-li!" the smaller Shoggoths began to merge to become one larger being.

The albino's stupor would finally end when Akura asked her if she was alright. Lavinia would blink and shake her head. Her face turning even redder as her aura faded, the glow on her eyes fading.

"I... I'm... fine..." she stammered out, the woman was jittery. "I.. just feel a bit... under the weather is all." the stammering monster maker said as she tried to deflect the matter before Akura can press forward with it.

Vix watched all this, stretching in preparation for the actual fight. She exchanges a knowing look with fog at lavina's response. Fog nods, and Vix chuckles a little, still keeping her gaze firmly on the shoggoth. She glanced at lavina, attempting to gauge the distance between them and scooting back more when the shoggoth speaks. She doesn't want a repeat of her first encounter with it.
Coatrisquie stared at the shoggoths merging together, and in a blur of movement, picked up a large boulder from the edge of the arena, and carried it to his spot, sitting on it as he waited for the students. Akura, on the other hand, just tilted his head, completely ignorant of the reasons behind her blush - honestly assuming she really was sick. "...Imma have to check on you later, you freaked out there." Akura clapped his hands and then whispered in her ear. "And if you're feeling better...Hoshi and I are trying to come up with a plan. Wanna come join us?"

Coatrisquie stared at Vix, and crossed his arms. "I don't believe I ever asked you. What DID happen to those other foxes from the battle against Cerberus?"

The close contact to whisper in her eyes only made Lavinia's condition worsen. Her eyes began to glow red as more of her life essences would erupt from her body in a momentary flash.

"I.. I.. might..." she stammered out.

She walked away from him. "I need to relax." she manage to say.

When she reached the shoggoth she would dunk her head inside the amorphous being, an audible splat would be heard as pieces of it's black, tary, form would splatter on the ground. The creature had no reaction to her action.

Vix turns to the hawk spirit. "None of them were hurt, but they did dig a massive hole around their area. They said they were going to trip the 'Hunter '", she replies. "I helped them fill it in, and they said their goodbyes to the dead elder. I fortified their area a little more, got some squirrels for them. I'm actually going to go down there soon. They kept talking about a sky elder, and I should probably see what that's about.

They were a smart bunch. I've seen some innovative groups before, but they were..."

She turns to fog, who was padding over to Lavina. "Hey, get back here! She's tired."

"Usually there's one elder per group, and the groups aren't as expansive as that. I asked, and it turns out that those were four separate families, and they teamed up."

"That...can't be healthy. And that can't be healthy either." Akura said, as Coatrisquie turned towards Lavinia and tilted his head leftwards. "Does that thing eat brains?" The younger spirit asked, before turning to Coatrisquie. "Do...do we do that?"

"Not in the way she...might be doing it." Coatrisquie said. "Well, you give her space and I suppose we'll put her to the side with Ragatirta and his serpent. In a figurative manner of speech. I prefer not touching that thing, and carrying it. I'm sure you wouldn't like to either."

"Yikes, if I caused that, that'll be...embarrassing." Akura muttered.

Coatrisquie turned back towards Vix. "Ah, I see." The storm spirit immediately pointed towards Akura. "Akura. You need a better understanding of your nature and more chances to utilize it. If Vix allows it, you should accompany her."

"Eh...I dunno." Akura rubbed the back of his neck, slowly backing away from Lavinia to get her some space. "I'm still not, you know. Stable."

Vix had shifted into a fox. "I mean, we can walk in nature and rest. I know a nice sun rock-" she looks up, seemingly realizing how much taller everyone was. She shifts back. "Sorry about that. So like I was saying, we could rest and walk. There's a fresh spring next to a nice patch of sun some foxes told me about that sounds like a good place you could hang out while being in nature.

Lavinia took her head out of the Shoggoth, black ooze trailing down from her head and down her face to her shoulders and further down her body.

"Dyer can eat pretty much anything thrown out. Very useful for disposing garbage. So he can eat brains but he isn't gonna eat mines." she told the two spirits before slamming her head back into the creature.

Perhaps sticking her head inside a Shoggoth was a bad idea but right now she doesn't want to be seen by anyone. Besides she current has an air pocket with some supply of air. She will get out once she can stand to see other people.

Coatrisquie nodded towards Vix, before standing up. Akura shrugged. "Hell, if you insist. I could some space to practice my plant-mongering after all."

Akura jolted and flinched as Lavinia tore her head from the oozing grasp of the shoggoth, and slowly relaxed as she spoke. "Madre dios, that spooked me." Akura rubbed the back of his head again. "Once I get done here, and get done with Vix, you and I are gonna have to hang out later. I'm gonna figure out a way to talk to your brain eating slime monster. I swear it."

Fog chirrups as she tries to jump onto coastrisquie again, Vix catching her hand putting her around her own neck. She leans her head closer to fog. "So... Life raft or full blown navy boat?"

Fog nods her head. Doesn't really matter, it'll sail either way.

The training session was too confusing for Hyperion. He shook his head. With all of the casualties, there was too much going on for him to make heads or tails of how exactly they would train anyone in these conditions. His quick thinking, fueled by his sobriety, seemed to think of an answer.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to continue here,” he suggested, “we’re going to train individually with Coatrisquie later this evening, or tomorrow. Either way, we need to bring people to the infirmary to heal, and I need your help.”

All in all, the two deities understood quickly that toughening the students was going to be a long and difficult affair. They had to learn where these students had been, and they were on a long spectrum of readiness for the sort of danger the storm god had described.

And none of them were ready for Moboyas.