Crusade inc.

At this, she stopped immediately and stared at the long space in front of them. Micah butted his head into her hand and she petted him gently as she thought.

“You’re right.” Myrina said after a long pause, blinking slowly and turning to look at him, “You’re right. They are normally deemed untrustworthy, and yet I can find it within myself to trust them.” After she said it she realized that was a partial lie. She trusted them when it came to their feelings for Eulalia but she had no real reason to trust them outside of that.

Deciding that keeping this to herself was useless–since he had already looked into her mind  and would know what she felt—she continued on with her speech.

“Since I trust them with so little reason to do so…well, then I’ll choose to trust you.” With that said she continued on the current path. At his question she shrugged.

“I simply wonder what your human friends were like and why you chose to be friends with them. Though were they really friends? Did you mourn their deaths?”

“So easily? How strange.” He said with a chuckle of contentment. She struck him as an odd duck when it came to personality, but that was strange enough for him to hold interest. The woman acted on her own accord more often than not, but the others were too blind to recognize her worth. In his eyes, however, he saw great power, if he could temper it right...

“Hm. Apt questions. I suppose that’s up to perception. Very rarely have I ever actually revealed whom I was until they grew suspicious. There were time where I considered them friends, and they did the same. But those days were quiet, and I acted like a normal human, marveling at what humanity was willing to do for the sake of progress. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve become more...active in my true self.”

Her exasperated expression only deepened at his response. Somehow she knew he would look at it that way. Myrina knew that it would be hard for him to see it her way but for the sake of keeping things from being awkwardly silent, she continued.

“Alright.” Myrina stopped then to turn and look at him, obviously tired at the thought of having to explain it. So then why was she? Even she didn’t know herself. Hands set on her hips as she began to explain.

“You did all of the things you say, and instigating a fight between Torven and Arancel aside–this does not mean that trust is automatically given. If anything causing that fight derailed any possible trust…” She muttered the last under her breathe a little. “More than that, the air you give off is not one of trustworthiness. Wait, do you want us to trust you? Why?”

Somehow she wasn’t surprised at his response either….”So you did have human friends.  Hmm, interesting…” her hand curled around her chin slightly, and she turned on her heel and continued to walk on towards Trocuria. It seemed she would give no indication on what she was thinking without being asked first.

“I believe you’re thinking of it a little too hard. This is not a matter of concern for myself, so you may relax. This is simple curiosity, a query of where the line is drawn for the ‘trustworthiness’ of individuals as deemed by a group of murderers, thieves, and assassins, those who would normally be deemed ‘untrustworthy’. Hypocritical or not, such fallible judgement is what entertains me about mortals, amongst other traits. ”

The smile on his face did not lessen an iota, as though observing Myrina’s speech like a moderately entertaining show. She spoke to him as though he was entirely unused to human culture, when in truth, it was likely he had more knowledge on their nature than she did. However, due to his distance from it all, instead of taking it to heart, he analyzed it as though discussing a work of art.

And of course, he would follow after her, for that’s what he would do even if the conversation wasn’t going on. He waited a few moments for her to speak, but with no such thing coming, he was quick to begin as well.

There was a pause after his question, a palpable one as she thought carefully about her answer. However, if he had looked into her that closely there was probably reason to believe he’d know if she was lying. At this, she decided being honest was the best choice.

“You’ve given me very little reason to trust you and even more to not trust you. I don’t much care about moral high ground, and it isn’t fear either…if you wanted to kill any of us you obviously could have at any time.” Her expression changed to that of a flat, exasperated one at the very thought of it.

“Do you have no friends?” She asked suddenly, glancing to the side at him.

“Oh? Have I not done everything that I said I would? I helped your queen, and I helped your cause. The only time I impeded your progress was when I was exacting my end of a bargain. The fool asked me to find his bag and I did. Then I played with them for a bit, as I earned. A simple little exchange between two who are very clearly only working together out of necessity.”

A haphazard shrug in simple frustration. To him it was the simplest equation, so why did they have such difficulty understanding it? It wasn’t science, it was simple business. But his thoughts were dragged off their train as her next question actually managed to catch him off guard.

“…I should’ve known that you and I would never see eye to eye. For someone who freely enters the minds of others and manipulates them to his own ends, you’re surprisingly sensitive about others doing the same to you. The typical hypocrisy of Gods, I suppose.”

He stands facing the starlight still, fingers idly plucking at strings that only he can see and feel, producing music only he can hear. The symphony of the cosmos, the music of reality…nothing was more beautiful or soothing.

“You’re not special, you know. You’re just another person that has no faith in them, in their abilities, or their feelings. Other ‘gods’ may live as mortals, but there must always be a throne and one who is seated in it. Even if they don’t act, the very act of their existence must be upheld. The ‘paradigm’ I uphold is existence, that is all. I don’t give half a damn if mortals raise themselves up….no, in fact I welcome it. But if Gods wish to live as mortals, they will do it as mortals, and they will leave their power within their godly shell.”

“And let me make one thing clear, Nyarlathotep. My name is ‘Leos’. You aren’t someone that I’ll allow to speak to me so casually. We are not friends, not equals, and I have no need nor desire for your condolences nor your sympathy.”

He allows the full power of his existence to fill the space around him, to surround Nyarlathotep. The full power of all of creation and destruction fills the imaginary space, the stars in the distance flaring brighter as he turns to face the arrogant Elder God.

“Perhaps it’s because you only hold the power of the End in your hands….but that’s all you can see or care about. I pity you for it. You are so short sighted that you fail to realize what lies beyond the end of something, that the end of one world can simply lead into the birth of another. These are the things I see, the infinite expanse of eternity, the sway and swell of the currents that are time, space, and reality.”

He releases the power, the stars dimming in the sky behind him as he stares down at Nyarlathotep.

“You can not, and will not, ever understand me, Destroyer. Don’t ever presume that you do. Now….get out.”

“Do not PRESUME you know me, BOY. I do only what is asked of me, what people desire to grant by me and then I take a price. Everything in equivalency, the most honest exchange between gods and men one can hope to achieve. You sit on your throne above them and then profess to know them, to understand them. How can you EVER hope to understand from such a lofty place of power.The arrogance of it is sickening.”

“You pathetic troglodyte, you pretend to try and remedy the error of your fathers ways and yet PERSIST in creating his same mistakes. Damn the throne of the Gods, and its hierarchy. Damn the misguided belief that we must be caretakers in a world that we could thrive in as equals. And Damn YOU, Leos for spitting in the face of the change you could have created.”

An explosive force emitted from Nyarlathotep, the violent power of the Apocalypse contending with the Creator’s strength to fill the space around them. It was a resolute force, but even he knew such an encounter would end poorly for him. He was but one half of the equation, whereas the boy before him was the answer itself. Traces of his more monstrous visage nearly slipped by the facade, the mask of rage on his face twisting his humans features to their limits. However, as the power was silenced, so was his.

“For the record, ‘Simon’, I don’t care if you find me boring, nor what comparisons you draw between my father and I.”

He rises from his chair, dismissing it and the desk with a snap and returning them to ethereal dust. As if conducting a symphony, he spins the dust through the air before, with a sweep of his hands, casting it to the sky and filling the night with countless new stars.

“There. The deal is sealed in starlight, and will last until those stars go out. We’ll meet again when that happens to renegotiate…and if you’ve abided by the deal with no problems, we can talk about lessening your restrictions.”

He sighs quietly, bringing a hand up to brush hair away from his eyes. Another motion allows the ponytail at the back of his head to fall loose and he conjures a comb through it to straighten out the tangles.

“I am not my father, Nyarlathotep. I have no interest in flaunting or abusing my power. Absolute power, as your mind so eloquently put it, is frankly…boring. And tiring. So please…don’t give me any more work than I already have….and….”

“Be good to them. The family that chose me.”

Annoyance was clear on his face now, as it became obvious that the Second was reading his mind without so much as a warning. Distaste was evident as he rose from his seat, keeping his thoughts clear, but his anger persistent on the currently human features he had.

“Well, if you’re going to be so rude as to intrude upon my mind, then I might as well speak it regardless.”

“You’re a farce, Leos. A God that no one has any faith in. Were it not for your impeccable pedigree, you would be in a situation very similar to your friend, Kaathion, having to work your way out of the dirt of obscurity. What’s more, your fallacy of the Gods place in all things remains just as outdated as ever before. You and the Gods of this realm just don’t seem to realize it yet.”

“Wake up, boy. You’ve lived in the dark for too long, suffocated by beliefs that need not be continued. Gods can live like mortals, mortals like divine beings.The paradigm of power you’re enforcing is a relic. Give it up, and recognize what the world could truly be. Or don’t, and entertain your archaic ideals until the inevitable destruction of those you hold dear comes to pass.”

…well this was something he had hoped to avoid. This space was somewhere he had created for himself, and for those he cared for, the ones who had raised him into the man he was now. For this being to be there….

“Let’s make this clear from the word go: This world has rules. Rules that even I am bound by. I am not my father. I will not bypass the rules, nor allow others to do so.”

He gives a wave of his hand, the very stardust of the universe’s birth forming into a chair and desk, and even forming a true chair beneath the Destroyer that now sat across from him.

“First: Limit your use of powers that go beyond the scope of this world. Even my own have the possibility of ripping reality, so I’d rather not give any more entry points to…well, your kind, if you’ll pardon my wording.”

“Second: You are free to observe as you wish, but limit your direct involvement. This isn’t a world of Gods, this is a world of mortals. Their history should be shaped by their hands. The time of Gods creating history has passed.”

“Third: No more playing people against each other. Conflicts come to a head on their own, and there’s more than enough conflict in this world without you pushing people towards it.”

“….Fourth, and final: If you break any of these rules, or try to find a loophole in them to abuse the privilege of entry into this world that you’ve been given by my family….you go back. Either willingly, or by my hand, and you will be forever barred from leaving the Far Realm.”

His eyes glow momentarily with his full power, the oppressive force of the absolute god, the Second, filling the whole of extra-dimensional space. It’s a brief moment, but it’s a pure show of force and willingness to use it.

“If you can abide by those rules, you and I will have no problems.”

Well, this was already mind numbingly boring. At the very least, Eslo had some class, some style to him. This boy lacked both. He may have all the power of a Creator to him, but he had none of the finesse that made Eslo enjoyable to be around. And now, as he went on like some sort of cosmic parole officer, he couldn’t help but miss him more.

“I’m not new to this, Leos. Just because you’re a spring chicken in your position does not mean the same for me. The only reason I’ve ever even had to play with Eslo before was for sheer enjoyment. I’ve been able to stride in and out of this world before without issue and without leaving a real mess. Why? Because I knew my limitations and the limitations of my subjects. There’s no enjoyment in breaking them.”

He leaned back in his chair, unamused and uncaring of the Second’s threat. Of course he had to accept this request, lest he be thrown out before he could truly enjoy the company of the party. But needless to say, there were some idle daydreams splashing about of what he would do with the power of the Creator. But, he snuffed them out as quickly as they came. Complete and absolute dominion over all things...nothing could be so boring.