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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Fraag
    Fraag

    Player 
    Lineage : Progeny of Arcanos
    Position : None
    Faction : The Luminous Covenant
    Posts : 1038
    Guild : Luminous Rose
    Cosmic Coins : 60
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 3,401,904

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Arcane Fate Magic
    Second Skill: Night God Slayer
    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 5th December 2022, 7:57 pm

    Ms. Delight seemed to approve of how Nita responded to Arlecchino's question. For her part, she simply felt it would be doing Tim some degree of disservice if she agreed to hear a story about him behind his back. If it was that he was he was not in the area, that may have been a different case entirely. But if Tim was close enough to be asked his opinion on whether or not he wanted Nita to know something about his past, which as she had noticed, he seemed to be somewhat guarded about, then it would be best to have him give his permission before she would be comfortable listening to the story. In any case, Nita wondered why Ms. Delight had considered Arle's question a test. Had there been, all this while, some secret evaluation of her qualities and characters of which she had not been aware? She listened to the discussion between the two, and then to Ms. Delight's apology in mildly confused silence, but she did not say anything yet. Perhaps by listening she could get to understand a few things.

    It was interesting, though, to hear that one of Ms. Delight's domains involved hope. While she would have loved to know the full extent of domains that the 'girl' before her had possession of, something told Nita that now might perhaps not be the best time for her question. Arle did seem eager to tell his story, and went ahead, before being silenced by Delight. But Nita had been able to get a bit of information, though she wasn't certain how useful it was. Tim had likely had an altercation with an Iser deity. Judging by the fact that the Silver Wolf mage seemed quite alive and well was probable proof that things had likely not gone the way that this deity from Iceberg would have liked, unless they were the crafty, subtle sort, who liked to slowly, imperceptibly, wreck havoc on those who displeased or offended them. While Nita knew just a little about deities, she was sure that most of them were not that obscure in their dealings with mortals, seeing as they often tended to look down on beings made of flesh and blood... often to their detriment. Nita was a prime example of this.

    Silence reigned for the meantime, allowing Nita to more ably focus on the match. She was quite interested in seeing how Tim fared in this battle, mostly because she wanted to see him use his magic (it seemed to have been light-based from what she could recollect, although there were a number of things she still didn't get about it). For some reason, she was sure he would win; or perhaps, not as sure as she was hopeful. Even though Samsa had assured the mages that the fights would not be mortal combat, Nita was quite unwilling to see Tim lose. As she watched the mechanical lioness prowling and stalking the dark-haired mage, Nita felt uncomfortable with the understanding that Tim was at a disadvantage here. But he seemed intelligent enough, and Nita suspected that despite all his claims to not being a very efficient fighter, he would prove such claims wrong when he had his back to the wall.

    If Nita were to voice her opinion, she thought the lioness was making a mistake. One was never meant to underestimate an opponent, unless one could say with absolute certainty that one knew everything they were capable of, their strengths and weaknesses, their powers and flaws, their habits and patterns of thought. And even if one could claim to know all these, the fact that people could be very unpredictable made Nita make the habit of doing no underestimation of her own, although she did encourage others to do so concerning her. It made it all the more satisfying when she surprised them, and they were less inclined to be prepared for her game changing plans, when she enacted them. As the lioness continued to talk with Tim, Nita had to admit that she was impressed to hear that Tim had vanquished the physical manifestation of a deity. That was certainly no normal feat, and in her opinion, it was supposed to be all the more reason for this lioness not to underestimate the tall mage.

    The sight of the saw eating into the tree caused a look of alarm and concern to register on Nita's face. Wasn't this supposed to be a non-fatal battle? If the saw had managed to hit the Silver Wolf mage, wouldn't that have resulted in a rather bloody and messy outcome? Still, Nita hoped there were safety measures in place to ensure that being hit by the saw did not result in some gory death. The attacks ceased again, and Tim seemed to be trying to pinpoint the lioness's position, before the saw came again. Nita gasped rather audibly, too audibly, in her opinion, as the saw struck Tim, sending him flying. He did managed to dodge the second attack, and he seemed fine so far, but the way the saw cut through the trees and the state of his clothes seemed to suggest that getting hit by the saw was probably going to yield the same results as getting hit by a mechanical saw in a place where all the rules of nature worked just fine. Tim seemed to be bleeding, but it didn't seem to be much, or at least, Nita hoped so; she could not make out the best of details from this distance.

    "Samsa," Nita said, the worry quite evident in her voice, "you did say that these matches are meant to be non-lethal, right? Just trying to clarify, because that saw looks anything but." Tim did seem to be rather fast on his feet, causing Nita to smile approvingly as he deftly avoided the saw coming at him again. His request for the lioness to aim at his head made Nita laugh, in spite of her worries. That was one of his positives, his sense of humor. And then Tim made his counteroffensive. Nita could not see what he had done, but the mechanical feline was soon revealed where it had made its hiding spot at the top of two trees. Tim had found it. Although the place darkened again, like every sound strategist, Tim was unwilling to allow his advantage go to waste. He was planning something, with the little light show he had just put up, but Nita did not immediately discern what he was doing. Another attack came, and was deflected, and the saw refused to work. And Nita realized what Tim had done, her eyes slowly widening as the worried look changed into an exultant smile. "Yes, yes, yes!" she muttered encouragingly as Tim turned the tide.

    As Ms. Delight did the dramatic cheering, Nita managed to compose herself, though if anyone had been looking at her, her expression would have been one of eager pleasure. If the other goddess hadn't been there to cheer vocally, Nita was sure she would have been the one doing the squealing and fist pumping. Ms. Delight being here helped her pretend to possess some level of decorum, she admitted to herself. The discussion of his strategy proved that he was quite a sound strategist. A well-aimed throw, and the chase was brought to an end. If there was another thing Nita would add regarding her positive evaluation of Tim, it was that he was not violence-prone, seen by his attempt at persuading the mechanical cat to forebear fighting. The cat did not seem too eager to concede with so little effort, though. Nita did not expect that it would. And it was down to a more visceral, hand-to-claw fight.

    Nita gasped again, as the obviously sharp fangs of the lioness attempted to close round Tim's neck, but his chains had managed to save him from getting his throat torn out. Nita was a flurry of nerves once again. Tim kicked the robotic beast off, but it pounced again, going for the same maneuver, although with a different twist. And for a moment, Tim was in danger of getting his face blasted off, but he stalemated the lioness by using his sword to threaten her core. And finally, the lioness conceded that the match was over. Nita let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding in. They ended on cordial terms, and Tim got sent back to the ballroom.

    As soon as Tim arrived, Nita was all over him. "Tim Timotheos Timson! Did you want to have me killed? That fight was so worrying to watch! You were very very reckless!" she exclaimed. "Very reckless... and quite incredible too! Are you hurt? Do you have any open wounds? Bruises? Possible signs of internal injuries? Dislocations? Fractures?" As she made her enquiries, she was prodding him quickly but gently in various places, to see if he registered any sign of discomfort or pain.


    WC: 1500
    TWC: 8314

    @Rodadnuf


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Rodadnuf
    Rodadnuf

    Player 
    Lineage : Anathema to Divinity
    Position : None
    Faction : The Ironheart Pact
    Posts : 248
    Guild : Silver Wolf
    Cosmic Coins : 100
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 2,561,089

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Rollins & Schwartz-Brand
    Second Skill: Heaven God Slayer
    Third Skill:

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 11th December 2022, 9:02 am


    Not even a moment passed when Tim teleported back to the spotlessly glistening ballroom and he was already ambushed for a second time! This time, the attacker was very aggressive. She was picking and prodding all over him as he stumbled back in surprise. Tim was looking at his assailant with half closed eyes. He was blinded from the sudden bright light of the ballroom, a stark contrast from the barely lit green house of the vessel. But, unlike the fight with the lioness, Tim was smiling from ear to ear, laughing as he recognized his assailant’s singsong voice as she badgered him about his injuries. The rush Tim felt from almost having his heard burned off of his neck was still present, giving the young man a faux feeling of relief and excitement.

    “I know I said don’t want to go against you earlier, Nita, but this is just completely underhanded of you!” Tim waved his hands against her prodding, mock despair in his voice. “Has it finally happened? Have you finally betrayed me, partner?”

    But his adrenaline high did not last long. His fast-paced breathing became slow and ragged, his body finally caught up with him and reminded him of the bruises he sustained from the fight. Tim went from a laughing mess into a fatigued man clutching his side. He remembered letting his wounds heal, from both his knuckles and his torso, but moving as erratically as he had been during the latter half of the fight? The wound on his hip, the largest one from the chainsaw tail, opened up.

    “That smarts…” Tim hissed. “That robo lion might have gotten one or two good hits in.”

    He slowly took off Servant’s jacket, letting his torn and crimson stained dress shirt in full view. Between the torn bits of his shirt was his gaping wound. Tim wanted to let his body clot up with his Aid spell, but he knew when it would be useless. There was a large difference between scraped bits of skin and surface tissue and an outright patch of ripped flesh. His sides suffered from the latter, and the only reason he hasn’t keeled over dead yet was because of his body. Somehow it had physically improved drastically throughout his career as a wizard. But that didn’t mean he was vulnerable to getting injured, and the pain that came along with it. Though, having shown it to everyone else. Tim knew there was one worrywart who had just been buzzing around him who would have a horrible reaction to seeing his injuries.

    “Now before you get angry, Nita. This isn’t going to get me killed.” Tim didn’t even try to defend his case to her, because from the way she was checking his injuries it really did look like she was unflinchingly concerned. And, while he does enjoying his attempts at joking with Nita, the last thing he wanted to make anyone do is genuinely worry about him. Granted, his words and his bleeding sides was like an open faucet didn’t coincide, at all. “Just let me sew this up and I can use my Aid spell to plop this back together.”

    He winced as the general feeling of fatigue was slowly taking over him. “Samsa, would you mind bringing me some equipment here? I think I’ll need some suturing tools.”

    “Of course!” Samsa’s voice echoed. “My friend asked me as well when I beamed her for repairs.”

    “That’s mighty nice of her.” Tim huffed out a laugh, before clutching his sides again. “Please hurry.”

    Tim smiled nervously at Nita, making small conversation to keep himself from looking even more helpless. “My match ended up a lot uglier than how yours went, huh.”

    Words:
    Post 620
    Player 5,194
    Total 8,934
    @Fraag


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
    Fraag

    Player 
    Lineage : Progeny of Arcanos
    Position : None
    Faction : The Luminous Covenant
    Posts : 1038
    Guild : Luminous Rose
    Cosmic Coins : 60
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 3,401,904

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Arcane Fate Magic
    Second Skill: Night God Slayer
    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 11th December 2022, 10:06 pm

    Tim was evidently in high spirits, which was expected of him, seeing as he had handled himself rather impressively in the fight that had just been had. And yet, Nita felt he was making light of his wounds, too much for her comfort. That saw had been obviously capable of turning fleshy creatures, of which Tim fell snugly into said category, into mincemeat in seconds, and he had taken more than one hit from that brutal weapon. Still, his laugh did a little to relieve Nita, only just a bit. She couldn't be certain if he was laughing because he was fine, or because he was trying to detract the attention from himself. While it was quite noble of him, in her opinion, to not want her to worry over him, and thus he was trying not to show he was in pain, Nita was not going to cease her prodding and probing until she was sure he was fine. And if he wasn't, the plan was to heal him as much as she could. She did, after all, have a number of impressive healing spells, and she also did have equipment that made her even more of an outstanding healer.

    Eventually, it seemed he could not continue to maintain his cheerful front. "You think?" the Pergrandian replied in a playfully sarcastic tone to his statement about the robot cat doing him a number. Still it was obvious that she hadn't stopped being worried. His side had been injured. It had been the major point the lioness' saw had hit. And while Tim seemed to have some high quality armor in the deceptively commonplace signature formal wear he often had on, from observation and experience, Nita knew that armor did not always successfully stop all attacks that came its way. There were armor piercing attacks, after all, and if the quality of the weapon used, and the power behind the attack, were beyond what the armor could endure, there was no way it would stop such an attack effectively. As Tim removed his jacket, it was quite clear that there was an open wound somewhere. The blood, and the freshness of it, told that something somewhere was not properly closed. Of course, the mangled state of his shirt did nothing to make Nita feel any better about his present state of physical well-being. But Nita had managed to remain as composed as she could manage, until her eyes fell on the actual spot of the wound.

    "By Arcanos...!"

    Her hands instinctively rose to cover her mouth, as her eyes grew saucer-wide, fixed on the ugly gash in his side. Tim's mentioning that the wound was not going to get him killed only made her annoyed; a part of her knew she wasn't supposed to be angry with him, seeing as mages like herself often had such injuries, and they could easily be termed occupational hazards. But having her friends injured, and having them obviously trying to hide the fact that they were really in poor operating condition, when she could help heal them was a bit infuriating. Perhaps what made things even worse was him asking for suturing equipment. Honestly, that was the best thing for him to order presently, if he wanted to handle his wounds by himself, but Nita had a feeling that he would probably try to sew himself up. Was that him just 'being a man'? It was reckless, infuriating, but deep down, a part of her had to admit that it did seem cool.

    "Arcanos save me from this annoyance! You're still trying to chat about your match!" the blonde mage exclaimed heatedly, her face a mixture of annoyance and worry. "And not while I'm alive, you're not suturing anything!! I'm not going to stand here and have you just sewn up like some zombie flesh golem thing. I won't allow it." Moving round him till she was standing directly in front of him, Nita stood on tiptoe and held both sides of his head. "Damn it, why are you this tall?" She pulled his head lower, and then kissed him quickly on the cheek. Arlecchino and Delight were sure to bother either Tim alone, or the both of them over this gesture, but it was how she cast one of her most potent healing spells. Her cheeks flushed as she pushed him gently away. He would begin to feel the wound close up, and the pain would reduce but still be very much there.

    "I'm beginning to think you got wounded on purpose because..." Nita started, before pausing. "Never mind," she continued briskly, as she huffed. "Your wound is not totally healed, and if you move about too much, you might have things opening again. But I would think it feels better now, and you might not need to have yourself stitched up like some grisly macabre puppet." Nita turned, before suddenly remembering that Samsa was practically everywhere, being the ship, and so turning to look for a target to whom to speak was redundant. "Are there any more matches, Samsa? Not today for Tim-Tim, I hope. I would most vehemently suggest that this dashing knucklehead here be kept under house arrest, if possible, to prevent him from doing anything silly until his wounds are really and fully healed." She sighed, then turned to cast a sidelong glance at the dark haired mage. "You're really a piece of work, you." But she was smiling.


    WC: 910
    TWC: 9844

    @Rodadnuf


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Rodadnuf
    Rodadnuf

    Player 
    Lineage : Anathema to Divinity
    Position : None
    Faction : The Ironheart Pact
    Posts : 248
    Guild : Silver Wolf
    Cosmic Coins : 100
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 2,561,089

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Rollins & Schwartz-Brand
    Second Skill: Heaven God Slayer
    Third Skill:

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 14th December 2022, 2:40 pm


    “Sorry.” Tim said when his golden-haired partner chastised him for still talking about his match. “I’ve done it a lot, it’s not as bad as you’d think—”

    But she was having none of it. Nita pulled his head lower, closer to her. Tim knelt on one knee when Nita complained about his height, muttering another ‘Sorry’ as he leaned closer. Even though he knew what she was actually trying to do to him, he was still flush from how she casted her healing spell. He only hoped his complexion hid it better than Nita’s, because her fair skin was betraying her quite a bit. He heard Miss Delight audibly gasp when he felt a familiar warmth over his cheek, and there was a part of him that remembered the number of times she teased him. But Tim felt too grateful for her to pick another jab at her kiss when it healed him, not to mention it just saved him a half-hour session of trying to suture himself. Instead, he held the petite wizard’s hand as she pushed him away.

    “I appreciate you being here, Nita.” He let out a breath, but still half wincing at the remaining pain over his torso as the healing spell did its job. “I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this, but I really do.”

    Arlecchino kept his level gaze at the two wizards, but underneath his mask his lips thinned. Mistress Nita huffed as she started to tell the young master about his current state. She went on about how he was still not totally healed. The man wondered if this was the lioness’ fault for how roughly she went against the young master? Or if it was Master Tim’s tendency to go out of his way to ruin his body half to death trying to fight his opponents every time? His wounds might not be fatal but was a needlessly dangerous thing to try and do, even if it was still technically a non-lethal fight. From how Lady Delight told Arle of how the young master defeated the wolf deity, this wasn’t the only time this has happened for him too. Despite how he might try and think of holding his safety as a priority, in the heat of battle? This line of thinking always goes out the window. Worse, the young man doesn’t feel worried about this at all. In fact, all while Mistress Nita was expressing her dislike about seeing him trying to stitch himself up like a flesh golem, his take away from her complaint was:

    “You’re a bit squeamish, huh?”

    Arle fought the urge to swat his young master’s head with a roll of paper as he had done so in the past. Back in their old penthouse, the young master earned this little punishment from Arle when he would skip his sessions with the hire tutors. In the years he had not seen Master Timothy’s son, the young man had become very dismissive of his own wellbeing. This is something he would want to rectify, with his pride as the Timson family’s former head butler on the line.

    “Honestly, he reminds me of the first Timόtheos.” Lady Delight huffed, careful not to make the young master overhear her. “Fighting without regard, only realizing the irreversible damage he had done when it was too late.”

    “He will not meet the same fate,” Arle muttered, almost a promise to himself more than anything. “I will personally see to that.”

    “I know, Arle.”

    Mistress Nita then insisted to keep the young master from fighting anyone for the rest of the day. Even telling Samsa to keep him under house arrest, or room arrest in this case, until he fully recovers from his wounds.

    “Of course, Miss Nita. I wouldn’t want to strain my participants too much. I am reprimanding my friend as we speak too. She insisted she knew what she was doing, but I was already a second away from teleporting both of them away from each other earlier.” Samsa’s voice echoed. “That being said, both of your matches were invaluable for me! I already have the initial data I need.”

    “So you can send us back right away?”

    “Not before I make sure your injuries have fully recovered!” She shot back quick. “Let me offer you a good night’s rest first before sending you back, at the very least. Please.”

    “Well,” The young master sighed in resignation. “Okay.”

    Lady Delight skipped towards them, a smile over her face as wide as Mistress Nita’s when she gave another sidelong glance over the young master.

    “He really is a piece of work, isn’t he?” She started, folding her legs together as she sat down beside the two. “But we would be lying if we didn’t enjoy the match. You really should have seen dear Nita cheer for you, Timόtheos.”

    “Mistress Nita and Lady Delight both, young master, truly. They were mesmerized by your match.” Arle added, much to the slight irritation of his creator.

    “Really?” He quirked a brow. “I didn’t think it was so dramatic, at least compared to how deities fight?”

    Arle paused. It seemed the young master didn’t forget their little discission before he went to his match. The jester waited with baited breath, looking over Lady Delight. But his posture relaxed considerable when he saw the Lady’s face still bearing a warm smile.

    “You think so, as well?” She tilted her head slightly. “I have seen more impressive duels, and I have seen more important battles too. But, somehow, yours took my breath away. Well, figuratively…”

    “I suppose even I do not truly see between distinctions. I just like making them.” With a final giggle, Lady Delight stood up.

    The young master laughed, but was cut short when he held his side in pain. “I guess I can understand if it’s like that.”

    Arle let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and faced the two wizards. “Shall I carry you back to your designated room, young master?”

    “I’ll just let Samsa teleport us back.”

    “Shall I do so now, Mr. Timόtheos?” The A.I’s voice echoed. “I can send you and Miss Nita to you designated rooms.”

    “Would you?” Were the last words of the young master before he was beamed away. Mistress Nita shortly followed leaving Arle and Lady Delight in the now silent grand ballroom.

    The two of them were looking at the pool of blood left by the young master.

    “I have much to learn.” He heard Lady Delight whisper.

    “Milady?”

    “Treating him conventionally, like a deity—it’s just going to push him further away, isn’t it?” She said, slightly louder.

    “Yes.”

    “I hate that more than if he doesn’t accept what he is. Our family is splintered enough.” She said with finality before disappearing. Arle noticed her presence reappear where her designated room should be.

    “I suppose, milady.” The jester sighed to himself. “But there is a path where he could do both.”


    Tim was teleported back to his room, the very same room he found himself in when he arrived in this ship. He didn’t know how long it had been since he was beamed back, but he spent the entire time laying on the bed with everything but his trousers removed. His injuries did not hurt as much as he thought, but with everything that had happened? It took a bit from him just trying to keep everything making sense.

    “Okay, just another recap. Just to keep myself sane.” Tim spent the entire time in bed trying to think out loud. He balled his fists over his forehead, hands clasped trying to cover his eyes. “Miss Delight turned out to be Hemera’s and Timόtheos’ sibling. I’ve met her as a kid in the Neutral Grounds, back in the old penthouse…back home…”

    He never thought a job where he was kidnapped by a living space vessel would end up being a trip down memory lane. But whenever he would recall Arle’s face, the floodgates in his mind would siwing open and his memories would come pouring down.

    “I thought I’d forgotten everything else back home.” Tim muttered, still closing his eyes. “Shows that I know, huh.”

    He laughed dryly ay himself.

    “To your credit, young master, you held yourself quite well in front of Mistress Nita and Lady Delight.” He heard a voice, followed by a presence beside him.

    “It’s not just from them, Arle.” Tim didn’t bother opening his eyes.

    “If you’re referring to Miss Samsa, she truly does deafen herself to provide you privacy in your quarters.” Tim heard a chair being moved. “Until you call her, that is.”

    Tim sat up. “Then it’s just us two right now?”

    “It’s just us, Tim.”

    He didn’t know if it was because Arle addressed him the same way when they were alone back home, or if it was because there was nothing else holding him back. Regardless, his face felt hot and it wasn’t long before a tear fell down Tim’s cheek.

    “I…know what I said earlier, Arle.” Tim began. “But I wonder…sometimes…if we’ve both have been there. If you were there to tell me that father was going down that road…”

    “Would you really have stopped him?”

    Tim gritted his teeth. “Maybe if—”

    “Hindsight is a bigger enemy than pride. It tells you things would have gone different, had only one small matter was known beforehand, or if one person was present.” His old friend said evenly. “Tell me, would you truly have stopped Master Timothy had he told you Lady Timson would be resurrected?”

    Tim slammed his fist over the bed, sending it crashing down into the floor. The wizard slowly stood up and stepped in front of Arle, he was wearing a suit reminiscent of the uniform he was wearing when he served Tim’s family all those years ago.

    “I would have, Arle.” Tim looked at him, face completely blank.

    “You missed her, Tim.”

    “I would have!”

    “It was true back then, and it is true now!”

    “I…”

    “You were only a boy,” Arle caught Tim as he fell on his knees.

    “That night. I—” He sobbed. “She died again…I killed her!”

    “She already died because I was born.”

    “That was not your faul—”

    “I killed her twice, Arle!”

    Tim’s sobs echoed; his old friend didn’t say anything else.

    After a while, Tim finally let go of Arle, letting himself sit on the ground. He gave a long sigh and a shake of his head. “I don’t even want to know what my father wanted with me when he sent a letter to Silver Wolf when I tried to join.”

    “Lady Delight went to Lord Erebus when she heard of that night.” Arle said. “He did not seem concerned for either of your well-being.”

    “He told me he wanted someone to access his domain and any of us from Timόtheos’ line fit the bill.” Tim recalled. “I doubt that’s the whole truth of it, but…”

    “I know.” Arle sighed. “This is why I came along Lady Delight after hearing about your participation in Miss Samsa’s predicament. I wanted to offer you my assistance.”

    Tim quirked a brow.

    “That power you accessed to defeat that deity.” Arle explained. “We might be able to force you to enter such a state if we recreate your circumstances when you first used it.”

    “Wait, you mean try and kill me?”

    “No!” Arle frowned. “You need absorb a large amount of energy, specifically similar to the element you are attune to.”

    “So…light? But I always do that.”

    “It is a very large amount. And you need to be in a specific mindset to do so.”

    “How come you know about this?”

    “I may have borrowed a few tomes from Madame Fate’s library.” He smiled.

    “I don’t know what that means, but I guess if you’re sure about it?” Tim slowly stood up.

    Arle nodded. “Very sure. But I will not promise it will be painless.”

    Tim huffed out a laugh. “Nothing I can’t handle.”


    Samsa’s alarms flared and the A.I ‘woke up’ to try and see what caused it. The alarm was because of a flare of magical pressure inside Mr. Timόtheos’ room! Had her friend caused more damage than she thought? The A.I accessed the cameras and found herself seeing Mr. Timόtheos’ room in shambles! The room’s bed was utterly broken and Mr. Timόtheos himself was pinned to a wall and a very dangerous amount of magical energy was being driven directly into his body by Sir Arlecchino!

    “Miss Fortune!” She quickly let her voice echo to where the blonde wizard was staying. “Sir Arlecchino is attacking Mr. Timόtheos!”

    Words:
    Post 2,110
    Player 7,304
    Total 11,954
    Tags@Fraag


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
    Fraag

    Player 
    Lineage : Progeny of Arcanos
    Position : None
    Faction : The Luminous Covenant
    Posts : 1038
    Guild : Luminous Rose
    Cosmic Coins : 60
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 3,401,904

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Arcane Fate Magic
    Second Skill: Night God Slayer
    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 17th December 2022, 9:35 pm

    Presently, if there was anything Nita was praying for, it was that there wouldn't be anything scandalous attributed to the healing spell she had cast on Tim. With the way Delight had gasped, Nita took great pains not to turn in the goddess’ direction. She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be flustered more than she already was, and that was what she was trying to avoid. Even though a kiss on the cheek was, in many circles, a rather platonic gesture, this wasn’t always the case. Especially when the two parties involved were unspoken for, were of, by human standards, marriageable age, and did find each other physically attractive. At least, Nita knew she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel some degree of attraction towards the tall, dark haired mage. It had even at some point been the subject of their flippant verbal spats, the question as to whether she found his charms irresistible. The answer to that was not something she decided to think about; there seemed to be more important things that she found more worthy of her attention. Or maybe she simply was not used to considering matters of romance, despite the fact that she was considered by many to be rather good looking.

    As Tim held her hands after the spell, when she pushed him away, she paused, watching him with wide eyes as he said his thanks. He may not have realized, but holding someone’s hands while kneeling to her did paint a very interesting picture, didn’t it? She nodded briskly, before giving him a gentle smile. "You have said it before, I remember," the blonde mage replied. "I’m not sure, but I also think you knelt down then. Do you know what sort of imagery doing something like this evokes?" The teasing tone had come into her voice again, though the smile on her face was replaced by a reprimanding glare when Tim had asked if she was squeamish. "I’ll make you squeamish if you continue being frivolous about your injuries,", she warned, although her voice wasn’t as ungentle as her face appeared, and her expression soon mellowed shortly after. "As big and strong as you look, you’re not made of diamond and steel, you silly goose. So please try to be nicer to yourself, and have mercy on your friends, if you don’t consider yourself deserving of it. And I know people say that scars are manly, but I think you presently have enough."

    It seemed Samsa herself had been just about to stop the match before it had ended the way it did, so Nita could console herself that she had not been overreacting while watching the Silver Wolf mage’s battle. It also seemed that the ship AI had been able to collect the initial data needed for whatever purpose it was that Samsa had organized this gladiatorial setup. Nita had no idea as to exactly what sort of data Samsa was trying to collect, nor did she know what sort of analysis the artificial intelligence would be running on said data, but it seemed, to some degree of satisfaction for the blonde mage, that the battles did not necessarily need to continue. At least not for tonight… or was it daytime? It was very hard to tell how time flowed when outside the planet which based its time reckoning system on how those on its surface viewed the sun. Standing outside the planet, viewing the sun from an entirely different perspective made Nita realize that unless there was some time piece of sorts, she would have to ask Samsa for the time. Fortunately, the AI talked about them having a good night, so Nita was going to assume that it was night.

    Nita’s face reddened slightly again when Delight talked about how she had been rooting for Tim’s success, during his fight against the mechanical feline. "Well, friends should cheer for their friends, right?" she asked, trying to deflect attention from herself. Arle’s statement about both young ladies cheering Tim was hopefully the deflection she needed, and she chuckled slightly at seeing Ms. Delight’s irritation at being called out, so to speak. When Tim spoke of his fight not being as dramatic as a battle of a god would have been, there seemed to be some bit of tension that seemed to prevail for a bit, but it was gone almost as soon as she sensed it, and Nita had to assume that it had just been her imagining things. Ms. Delight eventually confessed that she had been quite impressed by Tim’s battle, and Tim’s attempt to laugh was stymied by the healing wound in his side. Fortunately, it seemed it was time for everyone to retire to their quarters, which Nita was sure Tim very much needed, as rest was good for recovery from injuries.

    First the tall, dark haired mage vanished, and then Nita felt that temporary feeling she always felt on her skin as she was transported instantly from the gigantic ball room to the one into which she had been teleported earlier today. It had been a long day. She would gladly take a bath and have a good sleep, and check on Tim in the morning, to be sure he was doing okay, and his side was better. Undressing and stepping into the bathroom, she had a hot shower, and went to explore the clothing selection in the wardrobe present in this room. Samsa did seem to run a very effective system, as Nita noticed that everything in the wardrobe was more or less her size. There had even been a fresh towel in the bathroom, she had noticed. Picking a simple and relatively decent night dress (compared to some of the other things in the wardrobe), Nita put it on and prepared herself for sleep. While this wasn’t a hotel, it very much had the feel of one, and the bed was really comfortable. Refusing to imagine what might have gone on in this very bed years ago, the Pergrandian girl closed her eyes and let out a long, contented sigh…

    …and that was when she heard Samsa’s voice. AI, though she was, the voice was heavy with worry. But what Samsa said made Nita’s blood run cold. "Get me to his room, now!" Nita yelled, as she summoned her Pegasus spear and shield to her. In a moment, she was standing in Tim’s room. He was pinned to the wall by the incredible amount of energy which Arle seemed to be blasting him with. Without skipping a beat, Nita sprang across the room, straight into the tall, thin man, using her small shield as a battering ram to bowl him over. Then sitting astride him, and holding her spear aloft, its tip pointed downwards and ready to be thrust, she glared at him with cold angry eyes. "I will give you a moment to explain yourself, or by Arcanos, I will stain both of us with your blood, if you have any."


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    Rodadnuf

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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 19th December 2022, 2:28 am


    The old butler of the Timson family wanted to arm the son of his former master anything that could sever his ties with the primordial family of deities that plagued their lineage for so long. The young master wanted this for himself and his father, Arle knew that now, but even back then he wanted nothing more than to see their freedom. He spent the better part of more than a decade in trying to find a solution to this problem. But each new information he found would only lead him to the truth: Master Timothy, Tim’s father, was already too far gone. He loved serving him and his son, but trying to save them both was nigh impossible. So, when he heard about Lady Delight’s plan to finally meet the young master again, Arle resolved himself.

    He entered this vessel with one sole purpose: to unburden Tim.

    Whether this was about unburdening him of his doubts about how people he became close to felt about him or about helping him acquire a potential breakthrough of his magical prowess, he would do everything in his power to keep Tim from meeting the same fate as his father. No one knew this purpose he set for himself, not even Lady Delight herself. Should this incur her wrath after he successfully severed the young master’s bond with Erebus, he would accept his fate willingly. He failed Master Timothy; he will not make the same mistake ever again.

    Maybe if the young master was with me back then… Arlecchino had this regret since the day he found out about what happened to them. And when the young master said the very same thing not even a few moments ago, his remorse finally resurfaced.

    Arlecchino, without the cover of his mask, had his expression completely exposed. His unflinching smile against the golden-haired lady’s threats might be sending the wrong signals, but he was never good at keeping a straight face. It was the sole reason he never lasted working with Master Timothy, despite the man singing praises about his work ethics. After years of serving him and his family, the man confided to Arle his plan, his desire, to resurrect his long dead wife. Tim was too young to remember this, but they had an argument about it. Master Timothy saw clean through Arle’s feelings about his plans, and when they finally confronted each other, it ended with Arle leaving them.

    Arle pulled himself out of the memory and faced Mistress Nita’s anger. Even as she threatened him, he never let up the spell he casted over the young master.

    “I never had any doubts about your friendship with the young master, Mistress Nita.” He looked up at her, keeping his free hand balled up while his other hand was trying to keep her shield from pinning him down even further. “But I will not stand down, not when I am this close to unburdening him!”

    His balled fist glowed a pale white as he exerted even more power, the energy from his hand and into the misty glow clasping around Tim showing its true form: a clutter of thin magical strings floating so close together it looked like a clump of mist. The strings were piercing through Tim, stabbing him through every single crevice of his being. And as his fist’s glow reached its brightest, the young master’s screams followed suit and reached its peak!

    The room flashed and when it subsided Tim finally stopped screaming; or rather, he was no longer capable of it. His face was contorted into an open-mouthed grimace, his eyes were dull and his body stopped shaking. Arle let go of his spell and Tim’s body ragdolled into the floor.

    The room was filled with a pregnant pause and his words was the first to break the silence.

    “We did it.”

    There was nothing but pride in Arle’s face when he saw Tim’s body lathed with a swirling unholy aura of bright purple and pitch black. Two overbearing presences filled the room not a moment later. One was from Tim’s unconscious body while the second, he could only tell, was from a very angry lady.


    The last thing Tim remembered before he fell unconscious was Arle getting rammed by Nita. Tim wanted to explain to her their plan, and how he trusted him to make sure it worked. But his body was too battered by the fight and failed on him in its most crucial moment. He just hoped Arle was quick enough to explain everything. Knowing Nita, she might actually skewer Tim’s old friend because of this misunderstanding.

    Or maybe it really wasn’t anything to explain…?

    There really wasn’t, was there? Arle was provoking Tim’s body for a response; one so powerful it made him defeat a deity. Once that happened Tim would try and feel the sensation, the power, in order for him to fully recreate it fully consciously. This was how Tim had been able to use another deity’s domain as his own. Before Tim utilized this domain into his light magic, he was already using Hemera’s domain as a magical suppressant for his inklike curse. And like before, he would do the same to this unknown force his magic had been locking away.

    Is this…it?

    Tim felt a strong emotion from within himself.

    No.

    This emotion wasn’t from his magic, it was just him. Tim’s rage, at everything that happened to him. It was a petulant, almost child-like, akin to a temper tantrum that boiled over and was kept unused, but still burning. But its intensity could not be denied; it was extremely powerful.

    I’ve…felt this before. Tim tried to recall. He knew this! He— Quanny village. My first proper job outside of the guild house.

    That job felt like a lifetime ago now. Quanny was a remote village near some old ruins, and that attracted a gang of bandits who wanted to dig through the place looking for who knows what. Tim took on a job to clear the place of any pest and, being Tim’s first proper job outside of doing chores around the guild house, it resulted with Tim getting pinned into desperation. He almost lost Asena back then too—wait, back when they were about to get killed by the deity he faced, it was him wanting to protect the she-wolf made that unknown power force out of him!

    Thatch did tell me she brings the best in me, Tim then felt the presence inside him. …and the worst, as well.

    He faced the presence. I thought it was Erebus that took over me that time. But thinking about it now, it was this, wasn’t it?

    Tim pulled the presence close, the same way he did long ago when Hemera first tried to burn his curse away. All I need to do, is understand what you—

    Not even a second after Tim absorbed the presence, he already felt his body reject it! He felt himself burning! As if his very soul was against this presence’s very nature. And as an involuntary defense against it, Tim felt a power flare around his body. This was the same power in the Lycan Woods! What the hell was happening to him?!

    I think we overdid it, Arle… Tim felt nervous. All that meditation by myself, not even a morsel of these being awaken. But now? They’re not even trying to get along!

    God-slaying magic. That was the art he used Hemera’s domain for. He never really thought about it as such. After all, he only killed one deity with it, and only its corporeal form. But, laying out the facts, this magic was an unholy magic. After all, killing gods was something that was considered one of the most heretical things a person can do. The question remains, why would an unholy magic reject this presence? This presence Tim has within himself was raw; an unchiseled mess of power he barely understood. Calling this ugly thing unholy…was it the complete opposite?

    What are you?


    Outside of Tim’s mindscape, everyone who was looking over his body saw nothing but a humanoid shaped abomination torn between two distinct presences within it: It was pitch black on one moment, but then its inklike skin would then peel off like paint and would reveal a purplish flaming body underneath. Around the body was a grafted mess of overly large mouths and eyes boiling out of the tarry skin. The mouths, which housed tongues longer and larger than human limbs would stick out and lick the peeled parts of its inklike skin to repair it, only for the purplish flame to burn it. Its face was still distinctly Tim’s, but his hair was floating around as if he was underwater. His face was contorted into a grim grin, as if the transformation was a total surrender of everything. The being was a physical form of an ongoing battle between the two presences that washed over it should one was perceptive enough to feel them; one presence made anyone who tried to feel it retch, and the other presence made one feel a burning warmth.

    “I have never felt so much holy and unholy presences tied to a single being,” Arle confessed.

    The abomination pulled itself back up, its humanoid limbs holding onto thin air as if it was perfectly solid. Arle focused his gaze. No, not thin air. The light from inside the room! The being’s hand was leaning against the light emanated from the ship!

    “What manner of thing have we awakened?”

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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
    Fraag

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    Lineage : Progeny of Arcanos
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    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Arcane Fate Magic
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    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 20th December 2022, 8:36 pm

    Despite her threat, and her physical intervention, Arle refused to let up on whatever it was he was doing to Tim. Worse yet, he was smiling. She could not interpret anything from that smile. Nita did not know which was worse, the fact that he seemed to absolutely disregard her warning, or that he had that smile on his face. And yet, for it all, she could not sense any apparently hostile intentions from the man. Whatever Arle was trying to accomplish, it seemed he believed to be in Tim’s best interests, unless he was quite capable of hiding his intentions, which would be a difficult thing to do where Nita was concerned, due to her extrasensory abilities. But perhaps what prevented Nita from attempting to run him through with her spear was the statement he made regarding unburdening the dark-haired mage.

    "Unburdening him?" Nita asked confused. "Unburdening him from what?"

    The Pergrandian girl turned her gaze from Arle’s inscrutable smile, to the tortured form of her friend. At first she saw what had seemed to be a strange mist surrounding him, but Nita was soon able to make out that it was actually a mass of tendrils emanating from his body… or were they stuck into him? Tim’s screams reached their zenith, just as the light being released from Arle’s fist reached its own peak, and then the screaming stopped. And then Tim fell to the floor, apparently out cold. He did seem to be alive; Nita hoped he was alive, but Arle seemed more elated than concerned, so perhaps there was supposed to be something good that had happened that she had missed? Confusion evident on her face, Nita turned to look at the man in the jester outfit, and then turned back to the unmoving form of her friend on the floor. At his exultant statement, Nita wondered who the ‘we’ were; probably would be himself and Tim. But her greater interest was not in the parties at play in this (at least not at the moment), but in what exactly had happened.

    "What did you do?" Nita asked, pulling herself off of the tall thin man. She could sense two different energies emanating from Tim’s fallen form. And then Tim’s body began to be engulfed by the energies; Nita was unsure as to whether these two different forces were at war, each trying to vie for superiority in the body of the young man. At least that was what it looked like to her. The first was quite distinct from the second, appearing as inky, tarry stuff, while the second seemed to be made of bright purple flames. She had to admit, though, that the black stuff was rather unsightly. The unearthly sight of horrid mouths and eyes bubbling up from the strange black goo was reminiscent of something untoward that the elder gods she knew as the Primordials would be capable of creating. The strange mouths seemed to be trying to coat Tim with their blackness, but the purple flames were burning them off. So, it was most likely that these two different powers were competing for the preeminence in Tim. Nita was curious about something, though: did Tim have any say in the matter?

    "What is going on, Arlecchino?" she asked, her eyes still on the strange form before her, the form that was supposed to be her friend. "Are there two different divine domains which are wrestling over control of him? From what Tim, Ms. Delight and you have been saying, he does have some affiliation with a deity, right? So why does it look like two different things? Is there another deity involved?" A nice explanation would be really helpful here. The more and more Nita watched Tim’s form, the less she liked the black stuff. She had sensed it with her unnatural senses. Its aura was, to put it simply, disgusting. To her it felt reminiscent of chewing the skin of raw fish, or slurping the raw yolk of an egg, if one had a very sensitive tongue. The other presence, the purple fire, felt more acceptable, although Nita suspected that it could become overwhelming if one was exposed to it in all its fury. She turned her gaze to Arle as he spoke, establishing that the two forces at war here were practically opposites, one being holy magic, and the other being unholy. And then the humanoid mass before them began to rise. Nita watched in an almost spellbound state, as what was supposed to be Tim seemed to be using the air as handholds as he rose to his feet. There was, as of yet, no indication of which of the two powers had prevailed, as the unholy tar still flowed off his body, while seeking to obscure his form, while the purple light all the while burned at it.

    Nita wanted to tell Arle that it was he and he alone that had awakened this thing, whatever it was, but she knew that there would be little use attempting to cast accusations at another. While Tim was somewhere in there, was he still in charge of his own faculties? Was the being standing before them still the man she had grown to be somewhat fond of, or was this a stranger in Timotheos’ body? Nita had a feel of the latter; having had a divine being trapped somewhere in her mind, who could, at times of mental weakness, attempt to take over her willpower and thus control her body, she was no stranger to having her body taken over by a foreign entity. Fortunately for her, she had learned to reach a sort of consensus with the goddess now known as Maria, and they presently had some sort of symbiosis going, something which Nita was very fine with. But she wondered, if the one standing before them was not actually Tim, could the alien will that had taken over his body be then exorcised? She had performed a few exorcisms in her day, but she had never tried to exorcise a god. Would that even be possible?

    "Tim?"


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    @Rodadnuf


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    Rodadnuf
    Rodadnuf

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    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Rollins & Schwartz-Brand
    Second Skill: Heaven God Slayer
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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 21st December 2022, 7:11 am


    Like what an old angler would say: Hook, Line, and Sinker.

    “What I did? This was nothing more than to allow the young master to see himself face to face.”

    Arle sympathized with Mistress Nita’s respect and the way she gave ample privacy to the young master’s personal life. She trusted him enough, and the jester wanted to reward her for her faith. Only, he gave it in a form of a little sleight of hand, figuratively speaking. Had he explained his intentions well from the outset, Mistress Nita would have calmed herself well enough to decide to keep herself in the dark yet again. He understood she trusted the young master to that extent. But keeping her as worriedly with so many unknowns in such a seemingly dangerous situation? Humans and gods alike are curious beings, in the end, and he was counting her to be the same.

    “Yes, I thought you might recognize them as domains.” Arle hummed as he stood up, straightening himself and his wrinkled outfit. “But it would be inaccurate to call it wrestling control over him. It’s more of him finally trying to take a good look of what he had been keeping under wraps all these years.”

    He stepped between the young lady and Tim, slightly cautious when the transformed thing finally moved. He summoned his mist of strings and let it slowly crawl around the room, keeping them an arm’s length over the abomination’s aura but close enough to restrain it should the worst came to pass.

    “Would you believe me if I told you the burning light is the unholy one between the two?” Arle then paused. “Hm…I think I am making less sense this way. Let’s see…let me start with telling you the young master, ever since I could remember, had an uncanny ability of understanding a divine’s domain. And I do not mean the conventional way mortals do too, I am speaking of the fact when he was but a boy, he took hold of Lady Delight’s domain for a brief moment to cheer up his mother who was horribly ill at the time. He conjured something out of thin air—a wooden clown—and made her a fried to keep her happy. I doubt he remembered such an event, but that was why Lady Delight and her family took such an interest to Tim.”

    “And when Lady Hemera—Lady Delight’s younger sister—tried to burn off Tim’s curse when he was a teen, he took hold of her domain as well to fight her off. He had not let go of his grip over Lady Hemera’s domain to this day, and as you can see…” Arle looked at the purplish flame. “Her domain even comes to his aid without him calling for it from time to time.”

    “At first, Tim and Lady Hemera thought they could exorcise the Timόtheos line’s curse with it. A god’s light magic being used to get rid of a curse, it made sense.” Arle looked at the abomination and couldn’t help wince. “Well, their attempt had unforeseen consequences. You see, he is what one would call a God slayer now. One who bastardizes a god’s domain—in this case, Lady Hemera’s domain over light—and turn it a twistedly unholy mirror of itself. And when he tried to use it against a fellow descendant, they didn’t make it.”

    “What they both failed to realize and the fact I only knew quite recently, was that the Timόtheos line’s curse? It wasn’t so much a curse and was more an out-of-control attempt of their lineage’s domain to manifest. How can this be, you ask? Well, the first Timόtheos—the young master’s ancestor—was the son of Nyx.” Arle closed his eyes. “Not only that, every single descendant of the first Timόtheos shared the very same domain he had. And when one does not understand what they have, such a potent thing within them lashed out. It becomes an eternal cycle of fear and loathing which manifests as nothing more than a curse to anyone who doesn’t accept it. You know better than anyone, Mistress Nita, how understanding is crucial when it comes to the matters of anything about the gods and their ilk.”

    “What was once a sacred domain now manifests as an ugly mess that could only barely keep its intrinsic holy existence.” Arle, with a sigh, opened his eyes and looked back at his old friend. “I take fault in this…I was never there for Tim and his family when they needed me most. I was away. And when I tried to return, he was barely a shell of himself living a life far removed from the one he had. He no longer had the desire he once had to understand the divine, that spark of curiosity that birthed me in the first place. Now? He loathed them! By the gods, he would only ever use his domain over light in such a miniscule manner, reducing its value to nothing greater than light magic used by other wizards. But that does not matter to me, I only need him to free himself of his lineage’s domain.”

    “I want him to be free of all this, Mistress.” He made a sidelong glance. “And him facing all this directly? I spent the better part of a decade away to look for a better alternative. But, again, you know better than anyone else how effective this can be.”


    Tim was looking at himself, two of himself. They didn’t take a shape like his body; they remained two distinct tints in and overbearingly vast horizon. One was purple, while the other was pitch black. He spent the better part of his live running away from this. But looking at it now, without the mental barriers he might have unwittingly put up for himself, it looked docile. It wasn’t doing anything. In fact, it was the purple tint of Hemera’s domain he had which was trying to devour the pitch-black tint.

    You don’t look hostile, Tim finally decided. You don’t look like anything I expected you to be.

    He wanted it to say something, anything. He wanted it to try and tempt him, try and reason with him, try to accept him, or even try to devour him like it had been physically manifesting for the past decades of his life! But all it did, was try and fending itself off from the purple threat that was his unholy magic.

    What even are you? Tim finally asked.

    Nothing.

    Were you the one who made father insane? Tim started to heave. Why did you ruin everything…?

    Again, nothing.

    Tim took a risk and dabbed his finger over the pitch blackness. And in turn, the black tint slowly crawled along his hand. Each inch of his arm it covered; Tim would only find a sensation, feeling of what it was. What it truly was, before Timόtheos went and corrupted it in trying to fight Erebus eons ago. Tim was caressing the pitch blackness with a frown. He was doing nothing but reject it when it did nothing but exist. His other fellow descendants—especially the ones he met not too long ago—all he did was taught them how to fear this. When in reality it was as threatening as a kitchen knife laid against a table. Try to hold it by its blade and swing it around in fear? It will end up cutting you eventually. But understand what it is and keep it sheathed? It becomes harmless.

    Tim did just that, and he finally understood.

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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
    Fraag

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    Lineage : Progeny of Arcanos
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    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 21st December 2022, 8:55 pm

    Arle’s words were still not very clear to the young Pergrandian, although by this time, she was convinced that he was not trying to kill Tim, or cause him willing harm. ”I see…” she muttered, though there was still a lot she was trying to understand. So far, it seemed that Tim had been avoiding aspects of his magic; that much she had learned from the discussions between him, Arle and Ms. Delight. And Nita knew better than most that rejecting one’s powers would lead, at best, to one merely hobbling themselves and not living up to their full potential. Worst case scenarios had quite a wide range of conclusions, and none of them would end well for the one trying to bottle in their powers. So, Nita thought, she had not had it right then. The strange conflict of light and darkness was not as a result of two domains trying to vie for mastery over him, but more like two domains which he had natural possession of, which he had been forced to consider in a way he never had, by Arle’s weird jumpstarting of this strange event. In the end, it did seem a profitable venture if it all turned out well, if Tim was able to accept these two different and strange forces which he actually had had at his disposal for quite a long time. Of their origins, Nita was not entirely sure she would know all the lore, but she did know at least that Tim was descended by blood from one or more deities. It was natural that he had their domains to control.

    It seemed that Nita’s assumption of the two domains being in conflict to take over him was not the only thing she had wrongly concluded, as Arle pointed out that, despite the feel of the dark, tarry stuff, it was the purple light that was the unholy magic. That was interesting. But what was more interesting was the fact that Tim seemed to be able to ‘lay hands on’ another deity’s domain, so to speak, and use it as his own. It even seemed that this could occur without his express intention, as his body could react to the deity’s domain by involuntarily hijacking it. And as such, he had gained the powers of a light godslayer. Nita did not know whether Arle realized that he was talking to a godslayer as well, and as such, she understood perfectly of the workings of a magic so powerful it was said to be able to destroy a god. Nita had fought one or two crazed godlike beings, those being of the same essence of the former Primordial who had tried to kill her, and had ended up becoming a part of her. So far, the Godslayer magic had lived to be true to its reputation. But what made Nita’s magic different from Tim’s apparently was that her magic had been acquired by the possession of powerful lacrima which she had managed to acquire on her many journeys. Tim’s was more natural, for lack of a better word.

    If there was something Nita had taken notice of, it was that although Lady Hemera and Lady Delight were sisters, there was a possibility that their domains were not similar. So far, Hemera’s was light. But Delight’s couldn’t be immediately inferred from what Arle had said to Nita, seeing as she couldn’t particularly imagine what sort of divine domain had to do with summoning wooden dolls. ”Out of curiosity, would it be alright if I asked what Lady Delight’s domain is?” she asked the tall thin man.

    The story about Tim and his ancestry progressed, and Nita learned that he was the descendant of a goddess named Nyx. She wasn’t familiar with the deity, but she thought she might have come across a similar name, which had been used to name an ancient goddess of night. That seemed to make more sense now, seeing the black, inky stuff. It was very likely a manifestation of the night-inspired attributes of Tim’s divine ancestress. ”I understand,” Nita agreed honestly. The months after acquiring her powers had been incredibly difficult for her, and she had been unable to live to her full potential, because she had been afraid of accessing her powers, due to the fear that the former Primordial goddess would hijack her body and cause untold destruction. Even though the being now called Maria had become a fundamental part of her, Nita had feared that she had an enemy living somewhere inside her, and as such, she had held herself back, until the day she had to face her fears. And then not only had she realized that she had been holding herself back, she also began to get stronger as she allowed herself to understand her powers more fully.

    Whatever Arle was, he wasn’t exactly a ‘flesh and blood’ human, was he? As a matter of fact, Nita began to wonder whether the summoned wooden clown devised by Tim to keep his mother happy was not Arle. He did wear a jester’s outfit, and when Nita had first met him, he had been wearing a wooden mask. Still, she didn’t want to ask; she thought it felt a bit impolite to ask him if he was actually human. It was quite interesting though, to hear that Tim’s usage of the purple light was far below what he had the potential to use it to do. She had been impressed by his use of the stuff when they had had their first mission together, beneath the streets of the capital city, Crocus. If there was potential to use it to become greater, Nita was quite interested in seeing just what sort of magic it would evolve into. But for now, the hope was that he would get out of this alive. Even though Arle was standing between her and the strangeness that stood in Tim’s place, the being had not attacked. It had actually not made any response of any kind, either, not even when Nita had called Tim’s name. Maybe he couldn’t hear them. It was probably unwise to attempt to touch the monstrosity, and so Nita decided to wait this one out, hoping he would be fine. She did not put away her spear and shield though, in case the might be needed for any unexpected hostilities. One could not take chances.


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    Rodadnuf

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    Posts : 248
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    Cosmic Coins : 100
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    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Rollins & Schwartz-Brand
    Second Skill: Heaven God Slayer
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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 23rd December 2022, 1:58 am


    Arlecchino considered her question. Figuring out a deity’s domain was one thing, but outright telling someone else it was another. He already explicitly went against his Lady’s wishes by helping Tim, he didn’t want to upset her any further.

    “I can answer her question for you.” But it seemed he didn’t need to.

    “What’s one more act of rebellion from you going to do at this rate, Arlecchino? Talking behind my back like this while all of you enjoy a little sleepover.” A voice echoed from the room before Arle felt a familiar presence wash over him. “Did you really think you could think you could keep this little surprise a secret from me when I am only a few rooms away? Even I could feel your presence, Hemera—”

    Lady Delight yawned as she said her piece, walking daintily towards them while seemingly appearing from thin air. She was wearing a light blue nightdress along with a frilly silk night cap to keep her hair well kempt. The deity rubbed her eyes after yawning, trying her best to stay awake. But when she finally looked around and found the young master standing idly with his current form, she froze.

    “Was this all him?!” She demanded, her face flaring up as she snapped her attention to the jester. “I felt Hemera’s and the first Timόtheos’ presences and thought Samsa brought them in. What are you playing at, child?”

    She moved her hand to one side and, seeing this, Arle steeled himself on what was about to happen. Lady Delight snapper her hand quickly to the side and plunged it inside a seemingly folded space, making it vanish. In the same breath, a large set of fingers appeared from thin air! The finger moved as quickly as they came and pulled Arle into nothingness, only to reappear in her hands as a miniature. To the ones looking, the deity quite literally pulled him and turned him into a doll sized version of himself. He had seen Lady Delight do this to many, but this was the first time she had done this to him—a testament to her anger at his deed, he supposed.

    “Explain.” Lady Delight lifted him up by his scruff with two of her fingers.

    “You wanted him to accept his domain, did you not?” Arle said simply. “I accelerated the process.”

    “This?” She snapped a hand over to Tim’s form. “This isn’t even how the first Timόtheos’ form when he fought father!”

    “Even after generations upon generations of his line never understanding their domain?” Arle shot back. “Milady, they collectively shaped this hollow of a god unwittingly from their failure to understand it.”

    “I…no, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Lady Delight pursed her lips. “I just want him to be safe, his domain be damned. I believed he could’ve done it, but I don’t want to risk it.”

    Arle looked at her, baffled. She said she cared for the young master earlier, but denouncing a domain for him?

    “I can have that chat with you later if you’d like, Nita.” She smiled at the wizard. “But I need to help Tim.”

    She threw Arle aside and when he fell into the ground he was back to his usual size. He stood up and straightened himself quickly before he positioned himself back between Nita and Tim.

    “Brother.” Reaching up, she held the figure’s cheeks together. “Please, listen.”

    Lady Delight called; a small echo left her lips as she addressed the abomination.

    “Delight…” The figure answered, but the voice came from the mouths all around its body. They all chorused her name before answering back.

    “…it has…” One answered from its back.

    “…been…” Another answered from its leg.

    “…a long…” A third answered from its nape.

    “…while.” Finally, the largest one from its torso answered.

    “Is truly has.” She smiled softly. “Listen. You have another one of your descendants access your domain.”

    “No!” The mouths screamed. “Please. Help them…whoever they are…”

    “It’s Tim, dear.” She wiped a tear leaving the figure’s closed eyes.

    “From Fiore?” The mouths morphed into a frown. “He always wanted to get rid of this stain. Hemera told me the lengths he went to burn this curse off him. I never thought he of all people would want to use it.”

    “Someone from my charge convinced him.”

    “They were foolish to do so.”

    “I agree.” She shot a glare at Arle. “But I want him to live through this, brother. Can you help him?”

    “Hemera’s light burns through his body as we speak, he is doing more to help himself than I ever could.”

    “I see…” Lady Delight frowned.

    “Katastrofí.” Another mouth spoke.

    The deity looked at the figure. “What did you say, brother?”

    “I said nothing.” The mouths all chorused.

    “Katastrofí…Olethros…” The voice spoke again but, looking closer, it wasn’t the mouths that were protruding who called. It was Tim’s mouths which moved! “…that’s what you are.”

    His mouth was covered by the inklike tint, but his muffled noise could be heard by Lady Delight and Arlecchino well enough.

    “Tim?” Arle called.

    “But nobody understood…not a single person got what you are and, instead, made up what they could from what they saw of you. And you believed them, us. You believed us because you didn’t know any better. You became a monster because that was easier to understand what you really are!” Tim spoke endlessly, but he didn’t listen to Lady Delight—or more likely, he couldn’t.

    “But I get you. Destruction. Timόtheos called you that once, I could feel it. But that was a fraction of what you are, isn’t it? You are Destruction, but that too is an oversimplification. That would be as accurate as one calling me a hairless mountain Vulcan.” He laughed at himself; his laugh made Arle smile. It seemed his dry attempt at humor earned a sigh of relief from Lady Delight. “Seriously though, I know what it’s like being a monster.”

    The two looked at his form, it couldn’t have been truer at this moment.

    “But even monsters like us deserve some mundanity in our existence. I lived my life hating you because I only knew how to fear you. Now? Let’s make a deal, if I make you understand yourself, will you leave me alone?”

    The mouths around Tim’s body smiled. “This boy…”

    “I knew he could do it.” Lady Delight’s eyes were sparkling.

    “I think the young master is close, Mistress Nita…” Arle muttered.

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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
    Fraag

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    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 23rd December 2022, 9:20 pm

    Nita had no idea where Lady Delight came from, the latter seemingly materializing out of nothingness, as she walked leisurely towards the assembled group. It was probably some sort of teleportation, the Pergrandian had to assume, which would not be altogether very surprising, as part of the abilities she enjoyed from the domains she controlled, thanks to her amalgamation with the goddess currently inside her head, was on-demand teleportation. Teleportation spells came in all shapes and sizes, but that still did not give Nita any helpful or insightful clues as to what sort of powers Delight possessed as a divine being. She would have to do a little bit of guessing, until someone just told her exactly what domain it was over which Ms. Delight held sway. In any case, it did seem that the goddess was angry, or at the very least, displeased, that Arle had gone behind her back to do a number of things. Although Delight made her words sound almost unbothered, the way they were used, as well as the undertones which Nita could pick, suggested that if asked first, Delight would have probably counseled that they did things differently, or at the very least, she would have preferred to have been involved in the unfolding of the events. Well, what had happened had happened, and there was no going back. Nita just hoped that, if Tim was incapable of bringing himself back from this present state in which he found himself, Lady Delight would be able to somehow rectify things.

    Delight seemed as though she had been sleeping, or trying to, before being aware of the shenanigans unfolding some rooms away, although when the little goddess saw Tim’s strange form, she appeared to become very wide awake. If she seemed angry or displeased before, now she appeared livid. She moved her hand to the side, and seeing as there was apparently nothing to be grasped there, Nita suspected she was trying to cast some spell, or do something unnatural. This train of thought was made all the more plausible when Nita sensed Arle stiffen beside her, though as of yet, she could neither see, nor sense, anything that was interacting with the thin jester. And then Lady Delight’s hand, the one that had been outstretched, vanished, a split second before giant fingers appeared and closed round the jester, pulling him into the same nothingness from which they had emerged. And Delight’s hand was no longer missing, but this time, there was a miniature Arle clutched between her fingers. Well, that was new. Could Delight do this to anybody at all, or did she have special authority over Arle? Also, with the miniature in her hands, and the statement that had earlier been made about how Tim had laid hands on Delight’s domain to summon a companion for his sick mother, Nita was quite sure that Delight’s domain had been responsible for the creation of Arle. So, was it some sort of creation magic, or did it have to do with animation and size manipulation?

    Arle seemed to be maintaining his composure rather well, for a puppet-like miniature. He simply stated that his actions had ultimately been in accordance with her intentions. There was a bit of back and forth between them, and then Delight seemed to concede. She turned to Nita and expressed in discussing with her later, but pointed out that Tim likely needed help. ”Is there any way by which I can assist?” Nita asked, momentarily looking at Arle as the latter regained his normal size, and moved again to stand between her and the form that once was Tim. Perhaps Arle’s positioning meant that she was not expected to do anything, at least not at the moment. If the jester and Ms. Delight could do something to help Tim without her aid, it was all fine by Nita. The goal was to have Tim alright at the end of it all. Delight was attempting to talk to whatever the tarry mouths were, and to Nita’s surprise, there was a coherent response. It was interesting that Delight had earlier strongarmed Tim into referring to her as his sister, and yet here was a being whom she called ‘brother’ and whom she referred to Tim as being his descendant. To be honest, Tim’s family tree was exceptionally confusing, as far as Nita was concerned, but she did not feel like it was polite to go snooping around at the roots of people’s family trees.

    Nita was also surprised to see that at Delight’s statement that one of this creature’s descendants had accessed his domain, the creature expressed frantic sorrow. And then at that point it clicked. This being of tarry darkness was the first Timotheos, or something of him. Nita realized she should have made the connections when Delight talked about Samsa bringing Hemera and Tim the First to the ship, although Nita wondered if that was possible. She knew nothing about Hemera, except that the latter was a goddess of light, but if Hemera existed in corporeal form like her sister, then surely Samsa could bring her just as Nita had been brought abroad the ship. As for Tim the First, wasn’t he dead? Or did he exist somewhere as some immortal being? Nita had assumed that the first Timotheos had probably died, seeing as this was his forty second descendant running about the place.

    As they spoke, another voice called out a strange name. It seemed to be the Tim Nita knew, although unlike his ancestor, he did not seem to be able to hear what was going on around him. He seemed to be speaking to the black substance that engulfed him, the thing he had formerly referred to as his family’s curse. And it seemed that what was not supposed to be a curse had become so, simply because the generation of Tims had failed to understand the essence of this domain. It seemed Tim the 42nd had finally been able to realize the truth of what it was, and that was a good sign. An old adage said ‘understanding a problem is halfway to solving it’. If Tim understood what he was dealing with, then it was just a matter of time before he brought things to a conclusion.


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    Rodadnuf
    Rodadnuf

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    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Rollins & Schwartz-Brand
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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Rodadnuf 24th December 2022, 2:56 pm


    “I have been wondering the same thing,” Arle confessed. “But I don’t think anything is needed at this point. Not until the young master returns as himself…”

    Tim, in the form of the purple and black mess of a creature, clad the entire room pitch black. Not even the lights from the ship could penetrate the layer of darkness around them. Still not noticing the others, Arle saw him move his hands slowly up.

    “Take everything I say with a grain of salt,” He began. “But, if this makes sense to you, you can go ahead and hold your end of our deal…not that you can answer me conventionally. In any event, let me show you how worlds are made.”

    In the blackness, lit only by the dimly purplish burning light of Hemera’s light, Tim summoned a substantial amount of magical energy around his hands. The energy swelled into something familiar to Arle, something that felt like when Lady Delight used her magic. The lady, in question, was told by the first Timόtheos to get away from them and ended up standing beside Arle. Tim, finally focusing the intensely created energy, released it! The resulting explosion spread out around the dimly lit room, not infinitely brighter after the explosion. The magical bomb Tim made didn’t damage anything else, much to Arle’s surprise. What was he trying to prove with this?

    “I’ve heard many tales, as many as the stars in the sky, about how everything came to existence.” Tim said. “I’ve read and heard the tales about this god and that deity creating everything. But I always liked the one which said the world was made because of a very intense explosion. One large boom! That was the push that started everything. The dust from that explosion turned into stars and others, some clumped together to make other things. I’m oversimplifying things at this point, but my point? Destruction. That’s what started creation.”

    Tim flicked his finger and their surroundings dissolved from the pitch blackness into the room they once stood on.

    “Islands, as well, are formed after an intense volcanic eruption.” He continued. “There’s a rhythm to creation, one that relies for more than one occasion to destruction.”

    “Olethros!” Lady Delight finally spoke. “Havoc, mayhem and destruction…a child from Mother’s domain.”

    She teared up. “So this is what you are, Timόtheos.”

    “We are destruction. And our domain governs not just festering corruption, not just mindless slaughter, but also the veins of creation, and the waves of change. We are the hammer that forms worlds, our domains casts over stars who revels in constant havoc to keep themselves alive. Our will looms over individuals, as well. Our influence whispers over the despaired who wish for tyranny to be overthrown, just as tyrants worship us to fuel their power. We are neither malevolent, nor benevolent; change rarely takes sides, after all.”

    With a sigh, Tim smiled. “What do you think?”

    In response, his body screamed as it clutched its largest mouth over its torso. Its hands pried the largest mouth open and practically vomited Tim’s body out of itself! Arle hadn’t seen such a thing happen in all his years. It looked disgusting, horrifying, and captivating all at once.

    Tim, who looked no worse than when they talked earlier, was wearing only his trousers. But the young master sat on the floor and looked up to the body left, a grateful smile was on his face as he looked at the abomination who was slowly dematerializing. “Glad we could finally settle things.”

    “I knew you were the one who could do it, Tim!” Lady Delight ran and jumped over.

    Tim laughed, but pushed the deity slightly away from him. “Careful, I think I smell a bit.”

    But she ignored him and clutched his neck from behind. “Welcome home, Olethros Timόtheos.”

    “What?”

    “It’s an epithet, don’t mind it.” She hugged him tighter.

    Tim sighed and muttered ‘Alright…’, then he finally noticed Arle and Nita. “I hope you didn’t beat Arle up too badly, Nita.”

    “I saw you lunge at him before I went down.” He smiled at his partner. “You were pretty protective with me earlier, thank you.”

    Nevertheless, everything seemed to have gone even smoother than he would have hoped.

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    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 M7VWYFe
    Fraag
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    Third Skill: Relativity God Slayer

    A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)  - Page 2 Empty Re: A trip to the Moon (Ms. Fortune, Tim)

    Post by Fraag 25th December 2022, 3:57 pm

    There seemed, according to Arle, to be nothing left to do, but wait for Tim to return to a more human state. At this point, perceiving that there was little to no threat of imminent danger, Nita’s spear and shield vanished, transforming into a single white feather, which she tucked behind her ear. Even when the blackness from Tim’s inky form seemed to be spreading across the room, Nita did not attempt to do anything in response. Yes, she was a bit uneasy about the black stuff, but for some reason, she was convinced that it held no danger for her, nor for the other people present in the room. Why? Because even if Tim could not hear them, he seemed to be in control now, and she trusted Tim. She just kept her eyes fixed on the black, gooey monstrosity, as its essence flowed all over the room, the lights winking out as the blackness flowed over them. Soon, the only light which remained was the eerie purple glow that emanated from Tim’s body, from the corrupted light trying to burn away at the inky darkness. It was quite breathtaking in its own way. She wondered whether Samsa could still tell what was going on in the room, although she could not remember if it was through the use of cameras, or other surveillance devices, by which the artificial intelligence kept watch over the rooms present in this vast vessel. Nita became a bit more focused on what was going on in the room, when she saw the humanoid form, which was presently the only source of light in the area, lift his hands.

    While Tim was not apparently talking to any of the others in the room, Nita was quite interested in his words. How worlds were created, he had said? There were many stories trying to explain the existence of all things, all ranging from the workings of the divine, to wars among interdimensional beings, to serendipitous mistakes and mishaps. In any case, origin stories always interested her, and she keenly observed the glowing form, as she sensed magic swirling in his hand. At a warning from one of the multiple mouths on the body of the form, Ms. Delight had moved away to stand beside Arle, as the three watched and listened to Tim’s tale. There was a miniature explosion that erupted from his hand, and the room became just a little bit brighter, with motes and patches of light spreading across the room, no doubt representative of stars and galaxies, created by the blast of some cosmic event. That great explosion, no doubt of destructive power of incredible dimensions, had, in essence, created everything that existed. Nita had no idea about whether there was a similar phenomenon that had occurred in all the myriads of dimensions and alternate planes of existence that were, but it was likely that there had been a similar event that had happened throughout each and every one of them. Destruction was the mother of creation.

    If there was anyone who understood this, it was Nita. After all, the domain of the goddess who shared her body with her, Maria, was the cycle of fate. A three-faced wheel, which always revolved, its comparisons quite evident in so many aspects of the natural world. Creation, preservation and destruction. Each one was necessary. Creation, which was considered, by many cultures, to be pleasant and beneficial, was necessary for a new start. That was the Spring and Early Summer, Birth and the time of Youth, when life came anew to the world, when flowers bloomed and the earth became green again. After this came Preservation, the time of Development and Maturity, without which the sustenance of life would not be possible. New life had to grow, get stronger, thrive. Preservation was also considered in a benevolent light by most sentient species. The seasons of Summer and Early Fall spoke for this. And last of all, and least loved was Destruction, the time of Senescence and Death, the end of Fall and Winter. And even though Destruction was often despised as it seemed to portend the end of prosperity, it was necessary, else life would be eventually wiped out. Nita remembered a little lake close to where she had grown up. In the summers, it would be teeming with life, and it was lovely to see. In the winters, it was bleak, and most people, herself included, preferred the summer lake with its vibrancy, and wished it was so all year round. One year, the farm closest to the lake had used a lot of fertilizer, due to fear of loss of the fertility of the soil, and the fertilizers had percolated into the lake. It had seen an incredible burst of life, especially algal life, and couldn’t have been more vibrant. But soon, Nita discovered that the presence of too much life quickly used up all the resources in the lake, and everything died: first the fish, due to lack of oxygen, and then the plants, and then the algal blooms themselves, leaving a brown putrid lake that saw no life for the next year. Every part of the cycle was important; too much of any, and the cycle lost balance, too little of any, and the balance was broken as well. In the end, balance was key. The destruction that had created nature had not been without some form of restraint. Destruction was good, when it was controlled.

    At the end of Tim’s homily, which Nita had to admit was very well rendered, the monstrosity of inky tar vomited the dark-haired mage out of a rather large mouth, and began to dissipate. Nita took a step towards him in joyful relief, and then stopped short. He was wearing nothing from the waist up. Although it wasn’t anything to be too bothered about, this was someone that she found attractive. She did not realize she had been frozen, staring at him, her moth slightly open, with a faint blush on her cheeks, until Tim addressed her. Then she realized she had been staring, and tried to pretend as if she hadn’t been, though her furiously reddening cheeks seemed unwilling to allow her that dignity. ”You’re welcome. You’re a friend, and I’m protective of my friends,” she muttered, praying that no one would notice her discomfort. ”Sorry if I was rough on you, Arle,” she concluded, turning to the thin jester, trying to remove her attention from Tim’s body on display. It wasn’t working. ”In any case, now you’re done trying to give me a heart attack, Timotheos dearest, please don’t do something so scary like that again. I’m not complaining about the present view, though…” there was a pause. That last part was not supposed to have been said. ”Samsa, my room now, please!”


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      Current date/time is 9th October 2024, 9:57 am