Tired.
I skipped Rain. I'll get to her. I swear I will, because she's interesting damnit! But right now I want to go to bed.
"If your path has no obstacles, then your fight is not fair..."
“You forgot the rest.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Has it? I wouldn’t know, I was dead for most of it.”
“Which is a good point, what did your father do exactly? Elves are a subspecies of humans aren’t they?”
He perked up from his tea and listened more closely. They’d all gathered in the kitchen, the child sitting at the table in the swordsman’s lap and devouring whatever leftovers Vincent had scrounged from the fridge. Cloud and ‘Squall’ had sat down facing each other, the brunette flanked on the left by the large dark man and his child, on the right by his mage. The woman identified as Rain leaned against the wall idly petting her demon beast, err, cat.
Chaos and Vincent were cuddling together next to the counters, glaring at everyone. That left he and Zack to take their places next to Cloud, mage facing mage, swordsman to swordsman.
It was like a chess game with mixed pieces.
“Not a sub-species, a side branch. As for what he did… We were dying off anyway. By the time the Theurge Plague hit we didn’t even have a viable breeding population left. Less then two hundred scattered all over the planet. So he used his death to make a pact with a thing from the lifestream and brought me back.”
“He made you a demon?”
The brunette shook his head and took off his cloak revealing a thin white shirt. Beneith the near transparent cloth black runes were visible. They fell like a mantle over shoulders and chest and he thought they might well continue on the man’s back as well.
“No. I’m me. I’m one of the last two elves on Gaia. But I’m also the vessel for something else. And that thing keeps me alive. As far as I know if I die again I stay dead. I haven’t exactly tested the theory though.”
“What is it?”
“You’ve seen them. Creatures born in the Lifestream, who have never lived or died anywhere else. Most are fine living in that environment, some are not. They’re… aspects. Aspects of Gaia and people and life itself, given form.”
Ah. He’d never heard of this, but it made sense in a way, for magic to beget a style of life within itself. Interesting. And potentially useful. If the elf was who he’d always been… then his soul was not changed or altered merely his body… yes, this might indeed prove very useful knowledge.
“Why?”
They’d all focused on the discussion and so when Ashura spoke up it cought most of them unawares.
“For me. For the blood of Ashura and the Shura blade. The twice born rose from the ashes to guide the sword that will cut him down and end the world in fire.”
Hir eyes glowed and power wrapped around hir in waves, an aura of fire making hir seem much larger. None of the newcomers seemed upset or disturbed by this new change. Choas snarled and Vincent had a gun raised but neither made a move as golden eyes stared into the souls of everyone present.
“Ashura.”
“Yasha.”
The man stroked hir hair and shi purred under his touch, settling down again, the fires banked until gold eyes blinked and shi was again a young child.
“The elves are dead Cloud. Everything that we ever created is lost. Ashura has a mission and I have to make sure that mission is fulfilled. Thus is the will of the Goddess.”
Squall looked tired. Like the time worn look Cloud sometimes carried after a long day dealing with assholes and diplomats wanting to hire a bunch of killers.
“Your Goddess is a prick.”
“........”
"If your path has no obstacles, then your fight is not fair..."
“You forgot the rest.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Has it? I wouldn’t know, I was dead for most of it.”
“Which is a good point, what did your father do exactly? Elves are a subspecies of humans aren’t they?”
He perked up from his tea and listened more closely. They’d all gathered in the kitchen, the child sitting at the table in the swordsman’s lap and devouring whatever leftovers Vincent had scrounged from the fridge. Cloud and ‘Squall’ had sat down facing each other, the brunette flanked on the left by the large dark man and his child, on the right by his mage. The woman identified as Rain leaned against the wall idly petting her demon beast, err, cat.
Chaos and Vincent were cuddling together next to the counters, glaring at everyone. That left he and Zack to take their places next to Cloud, mage facing mage, swordsman to swordsman.
It was like a chess game with mixed pieces.
“Not a sub-species, a side branch. As for what he did… We were dying off anyway. By the time the Theurge Plague hit we didn’t even have a viable breeding population left. Less then two hundred scattered all over the planet. So he used his death to make a pact with a thing from the lifestream and brought me back.”
“He made you a demon?”
The brunette shook his head and took off his cloak revealing a thin white shirt. Beneith the near transparent cloth black runes were visible. They fell like a mantle over shoulders and chest and he thought they might well continue on the man’s back as well.
“No. I’m me. I’m one of the last two elves on Gaia. But I’m also the vessel for something else. And that thing keeps me alive. As far as I know if I die again I stay dead. I haven’t exactly tested the theory though.”
“What is it?”
“You’ve seen them. Creatures born in the Lifestream, who have never lived or died anywhere else. Most are fine living in that environment, some are not. They’re… aspects. Aspects of Gaia and people and life itself, given form.”
Ah. He’d never heard of this, but it made sense in a way, for magic to beget a style of life within itself. Interesting. And potentially useful. If the elf was who he’d always been… then his soul was not changed or altered merely his body… yes, this might indeed prove very useful knowledge.
“Why?”
They’d all focused on the discussion and so when Ashura spoke up it cought most of them unawares.
“For me. For the blood of Ashura and the Shura blade. The twice born rose from the ashes to guide the sword that will cut him down and end the world in fire.”
Hir eyes glowed and power wrapped around hir in waves, an aura of fire making hir seem much larger. None of the newcomers seemed upset or disturbed by this new change. Choas snarled and Vincent had a gun raised but neither made a move as golden eyes stared into the souls of everyone present.
“Ashura.”
“Yasha.”
The man stroked hir hair and shi purred under his touch, settling down again, the fires banked until gold eyes blinked and shi was again a young child.
“The elves are dead Cloud. Everything that we ever created is lost. Ashura has a mission and I have to make sure that mission is fulfilled. Thus is the will of the Goddess.”
Squall looked tired. Like the time worn look Cloud sometimes carried after a long day dealing with assholes and diplomats wanting to hire a bunch of killers.
“Your Goddess is a prick.”
“........”