Somewhere deep within the shadows, a creature hissed. You couldn't see anything in the darkness, except two unnatural eyes. They were too bright, a sickly yellow-green, with dilated pupils, rather like a cat's. Or, more accurately, a snake's. "Well?" It came out in a soft hiss. Whatever it was sat down on the dark soil of the Dark Realm. Taking out a match, he lit a small lantern, which he placed beside him. The flames, in the Dark Realm's poisonous atmosphere turned green. He smiled, narrowing his eyes at it. It had been a while since he had been here. It had been a while since he had been anywhere, really. Well, his corpse had been left in that ruined cathedral, until the Beast Lord had reintroduced his soul to his body. It had been easy, according to the Beast Lord, who had kept his soul from entering the immortal's realm. Same with all the other beast kings of limbo. The arrogant Beast Lord was rather proud of the accomplishment, but he suspected that the Immortals hadn't wanted him there anyway (Not that he was going to tell the Beast Lord that, he was much too smart to do any such thing.). The creature known for eating the inhabitants of Limbo probably WOULDN'T be welcomed into their lovely little spirit garden of happiness and joy. Well, that was fine by him. He didn't care. He was the Serpent King, after all, lord of snakes. He didn't need any annoying ghosts to keep him company, he just needed his snakes. Actually, he didn't need them either. Something landed behind him. The Serpent King hissed with surprise, then, after making sure his face was as impassive as possible, he looked behind him. Nothing. He had poor vision at the best of times, and in the darkness, well, he couldn't see a thing. The green fires here were not nearly as bright as those on the Sun World, or so he had heard. Supposedly, everything was bright there. He disliked bright things, they stung his eyes, which were so used to the shades of gray and black in his home in Limbo. "Hello?" He asked. The voice that answered him was much darker, laced with venom, deeper, too. "What's a little Darkling doing out here? Don't you know it's dangerous to be wandering about on your own? So foolish. Maybe I'll eat you." The Serpent King raised an eyebrow. "Now I AM offended. I'm from Limbo for one thing. And for another, I think that you will find me much harder to eat than an ORDINARY creature, from Limbo or from here." He waved his hand vaguely around at the area. "Wait, did you say eat? That IS intriguing. Nice to meet you, I'm-" He paused, searching for a good name. He wasn't about to say, "Hi! I'm one of the Beast Kings of Limbo, specifically, a giant snake with a more humanoid form, nice to meet you!" Nope, not happening. "I can eat anything I want, including insolent fools who strut into the Dark Realm as if they're taking a walk to the markets just a few streets away. You're what? My new servant? You'd never make the cut. Then again, my last one didn't either. Foolish blokes. And to think they're coming here, to stop Deyxtre's revolution. Who asked those bloody surface blighters to start poking their stupid noses into our business." The voice in the shadows spat. "Oh believe me, I do-" The Serpent King was interrupted by the voice, whom he decided he would call Grumps until it told him his (Her? Its?) name. "You're WHAT?" Lime green spittle flew from The Serpent King's left, possibly from the mouth of Grumps, and burned his skin. "Grumps, would you so kindly make sure you DON'T spit acid all over me? Really, it stings, and its gross too. Who I am is none of your concern, now that I think about it. I might tell you my name, but only if you tell me yours, Grumps. Maybe. Depends on how trustworthy I think you are. I'd like to inform you that I don't trust you at all right now. But that's just me." Grumps snarled, which he had to admit was rather amusing. Although also a little unsettling too. It was as old and as dark as the ground beneath them. "Where did you come up with that stupid, INFERNAL NAME? I should rip your skull off for this. Very well, you may call me the Dark King. Now, wh-" The Serpent King interrupted Grumps in the middle of his thought. He still felt like calling the Dark King Grumps, simply because it seemed to annoy him. "You're one of the Beast Kings of Limbo as well? Nah, you probably would have recognized me, in that case. Also, the Dark King is a mouthful, I'm still calling you Grumps." Maybe this was the current king of The Dark Realm. In which case, he was probably a pushover. Stronger than most, but still easy to beat. Then again, if that was indeed the case, what was all this talk about eating him? Nah, that didn't make any sense, unless the current kings were also cannibals, or another race entirely, which could explain the revolution Grumps had mentioned earlier. Still, although he didn't know how much time had passed since his death, it probably wasn't enough time for a whole new race of people to come out of the shadows and conquer the Dark Realm. The Beast King told him it had only been a few hundred years. The empire of the Dark Realm was no pushover. He highly doubted that these creatures could have taken it over, definitely not the entire realm. Or maybe they had only taken over a small portion. Still, it didn't make sense. "You're a Beast King?" Grumps said incredulously. "You look a bit scrawny for that. And don't you DARE call me 'Grumps'. Don't. You. Dare. Because if you do, I will throw you into the acid seas and feed you to the fish. Actually, I think I will right now, especially if you ARE a beast king. I don't have time for petty distractions like you." Grumps lunged. He was a man with navy blue skin and piercing green eyes. Emerald, not acid green like the Serpent King's eyes. Grumps also had two knives, he swung them right at the Serpent King's throat. He smiled in his eerie fashion. No wonder he was said to be the creepiest Beast King, he smirked often, never showed his fear, and talked in absolute riddles. Crouching down, he grabbed Grumps' wrists, flipped him onto his back, and then fled into the dark. But it wasn't a defeat. Oh no. Nor was it a surrender. He was tired of this gloomy pit, the shrieking noises in the background. He hadn't gone far, in fact, he had been lying a short ways away from the rifts before he started running. He could feel their faint hum getting louder and louder. Within moments, he had leaped back into Limbo. He wasn't foolish, like several of his compatriots, he knew that anything brave enough to attack a Beast King were either off their rocker or really, REALLY strong. He certainly was not going to fight that person, even if they were a brave fool or merely a loony, he might have been able to crush them easily, but they had moved faster than anyone should have been able to, when they lunged at him, and they didn't seem crazy or stupid. He was NOT about to sacrifice himself on a hunch that he was not indeed facing someone powerful. "The Dark King?" He wondered aloud. "What did he mean by that?"~
Rage was locked in a prison, hidden away before she could destroy the world. Asleep, far from the immortals who feared her and the guardians who loathed her. But she, Eynkotu, would never be able to stay asleep forever. Nothing could ever work out like that, all happy and joyous. That wasn't the life Eynkotu believed in. Some people did, some people didn't. Their belief could lead them to try to fix it, ignore disasters on the foolish hope that everything would work out, or just make it worse because they thought that no one, not even the immortals, could every make it better. (Well, not EVERYONE, but certainly the majority, if ever faced with something major.) Eynkotu was the third type. Kagnoze had made her out of anger and pain -HIS anger, HIS pain- he would pay for that. When she woke up, that is. She was far, far away from that. She had been for a long time. But then she would awaken. Many, many hundreds of years before Rielana tried to kill Mana just as a test of her abilities, and definitely at least a thousand years before the fourth arch Manaling was born, a creature formed from nothing but primal energy and fury slept like a stone. But soon after a surprising defeat, she would awaken, and quite possibly burn everyone to ashes. Maybe even destroy the whole world, if she could get to Dorogos, the lizard at the center of the bright world. But she was nothing compared to the three plotting in Limbo.~
Three enormous tentacle monsters hovered, arguing. One was purplish pink. He floated, looking at a several maps of the three worlds. He had black stripes running down his dragon-like snout, down his neck, and finally down each tentacle. His sister was indigo. The underside of her neck as well as the underside on each tentacle were all also midnight black. She was waving her tentacles about furiously as she floated. Beside her, a dark gray horror was arguing with her animatedly, waving her tentacles at the maps and vaguely pointing to different areas, making squelching noises as she unstuck the black tips of her tentacles from the walls and paper. The indigo monster snarled at her gray counterpart. "The void is too powerful! We can't have them oppose us! Go for them first, especially if those rebels are crushed soon!" The gray creature shook her head. "The rebels are too strong right now for that, even though I doubt that they're ready for war, there hasn't even been any real fighting, just lots of cursing, thieving, and unflattering messages scrawled on walls or in buildings. No, it would be best to take the Bright World first. I want somewhere to go before Dorogos dies and takes the with him. Then everything will be so much more crazy in the Dark Realm. The little revolutionary force is growing by the day, give them time to start fighting among themselves." The purple creature spoke. "Why do you even think that we'll escape? Now or even ever? We're stuck here for eternity." The blue one grinned, distracted from her argument. "That's where you're wrong. I've got someone who promised to free us." The other two stared in stunned silence.~
Enro, guardian of death, eater of spirits, and psychopathic griffon, was currently visiting the library in the realm of the immortals. It had every book ever written in any of the worlds and in every language, plus a few in languages long forgotten. He was currently looking for information the the Three soul-eaters. He HAD promised to free him. But, that certainly didn't mean he was going to keep said promise. It wasn't in his nature to keep promises. No, He preferred to avoid them, put them off for as long as possible, and then break them. He would only ever keep his promises if they seemed to hold some kind of benefit for him. He knew what those creatures would do, once they escaped, but he also knew that if they were defeated, he would be able to eat three very powerful souls. Not just their power, but the whole thing. Three times. Yeah, that was a very, VERY tempting deal Just two minor problems. He wasn't sure if he could get away with it or if they could even be defeated. All he knew was that Et had tricked them into a prison in his realm so that they could never suck all the life and energy out of the worlds. That would suck for a great many people. He had been scanning the shelves for hours now. Or was it days? He could never tell. Smiling crookedly with his beak, he pulled out an interesting-looking book whose appearance had caught his eye. It probably had nothing to do with those creatures, but he had all the time in the world... at least, he was pretty sure he did. Renha HAD told him that, unless someone killed him, which was very unlikely, he would live forever. He had asked her how exactly she knew this, after all, no one had died of old age yet, but that didn't mean that none of the guardians would EVER die of old age. You never know that it can't happen until it does. That's a basic rule of life. Just because nothing happened doesn't mean that nothing WILL happen, Kagnoze, guardian of time, had never bothered visiting the future or the past. He never did like to trifle with time. Enro couldn't blame him, time was a difficult subject, one small death could lead to a terrible future. Also, the Avatar of Fate liked the thought of time travel even less. Kagnoze said that they were just really good friends. Enro said that Kagnoze was lying about this. That didn't matter. He flipped through the book lazily. It was about Limbo. Limbo was boring, if you were to ask him, that is. The Beast Kings had been interesting, of course, but they were all dead, at the moment. The Beast Lord, thick as he was, had still managed to hold onto their souls. Enro disliked him for that. He had really, REALLY wanted those souls. Then again, the Beast Lord had also known to play dead, so maybe he wasn't a complete and total moron, just half of one. Enro sighed and smacked the book aside with his tail. Enro had a long beak, huge black wings which could, when necessary, double as front limbs or clumsy talons for holding things like books, swords, and other miscellaneous trinkets and weapons. His own spine grew out of his body, vertebrae poking out from between feathers, black as night. Ribs poked out from the spine as well, like a demented version of stripes made just for him. He also had bones INSIDE his body, which seemed to surprise other people. He wasn't really quite sure why. Well, sure, he did have what appeared to his ENTIRE rib cage PLUS his spine sticking out of his feathered body, but still, surely it was obvious that he had a skeleton that resided inside his body? It was like the two skeletal structures were stacked on top of each other. Then, of course, there was his tail. It ended, well, the fleshy part, at least, in a stump. But the bones continued, tapering to a point. He wasn't sure HOW he could control the other half of his tail, for he was pretty sure that there were no nerves there, but still. Whatever, he needed to get back to the place quickly. There was to be a banquet soon in honor of, well, nothing really, just for the sake of a banquet, he supposed. Still, as a major guardian, he HAD to show up. Renha and Seletose loved their banquets. At least he didn't have to help in the preparations. Several hundred years ago, he had been forced to play such a role in the feast. It had NOT gone well AT ALL. Sighing, Enro lifted the gold and navy book, put it back on it's shelf, where it belonged, shook his wings, then hurried out the door to the annoying banquet.~
"I heard that Vorkorumna was angry." "Bloody dragon's ALWAYS angry, dunno what we have to do with it." "Well, I HEARD that she wanted the tiny little races gone, that us Ancient Ones should rise up and wipe every Manaling, Dracken Person, Human, and lizard monster off the face of this world, personally, I'm not interested, but a lot of us are. Some think we should leave the little creatures alone," the enormous eagle ruffled dark grey and teal feathers and lowered her voice, "I heard that Strife was coming back from wherever, and that SHE'S going to lead the charge against them." The great Sea serpent beside this mountain of a bird sigh'ed. "So? WE don't need to get involved in THEIR blasted mess. I honestly don't even bother showing up to those stupid meetings, too much trouble. I don't think anyone cares, they'll all forget about it soon enough." The eagle huffed. "No, they won't. And they do care, loads of Ancient Ones showed up. More then normal, I mean. Shield didn't, but he never does. Blitzfang did though, and that bloody Sandwyrm NEVER gets involved in other matters." The Sea serpent looked up, surprised. Proudly, the great eagle continued to speak. "She said that it would all be more trouble then it was worth, but Magra, that bloody great Skywhale, Nigovos, the chimera brute, and Yeirgoth the Quetzalcoatl all said that they would defend the landlings and their cities. Should we help them?" Behind them, a creature with a turtle shell, a short snout, four fins, and far too many tentacles shook his head. "No Squall, we can't provoke them. Let their fire die, not even Strife will be able to keep it going. Stupid phoenix is too arrogant. Besides, I don't like the idea of us fighting amongst ourselves." Squall rolled her eyes. "What about you and Typhoon?" She asked innocently. The leviathan looked slightly sheepish. "That's different. We just argue, and stuff." Typhoon looked regally down his snout at Squall as she laughed. Then his serious face broke and he joined in, along with the enormous Leviathan. The three ancient ones, creatures almost as old as the worlds themselves, as big as hills and rivers and mountains, three of them, almost like siblings, (In fact, they were, although their appearances were very, very different.) laughing around a rock out at sea as if it were a fire.~
Strife, the great phoenix, the burning wrath, paced within her volcanic lair. What would she do? Her enemies may have been like gnats against a chimera, but Ancient Ones before her HAD died. She couldn't let that go. Not now, not ever. No. She would fight them until she keeled over from exhaustion. She would wipe them out, she would kill everyone who stood in her way or threatened her kin. But how? War, it was the only answer. But against who? Both Yeirgoth and Magra had promised to defend the humans. Blitzfang had, of course, decided to stay out of it, but Strife figured that she would side with the races below, just to save her own miserable Sand Serpent scales. Honestly, no courage in that miserable little lump of flesh. Nigovos would side with her eventually. She knew he had no sympathy for the little horrors that roamed this world. HER world. Not theirs, HERS. And she was going to take it back. The dragons were safe, but that was only because she needed to humor Vorkorumna. Shield would fight against her cause, but he was too lazy and grumpy and mopey to be worth speaking to. Best if the wimpy little crocodile just wallowed in some mud. Then there was Squall. The oceanic trio, Cyclone the Leviathan, Typhoon the Sea Serpent, and Squall the Thunderbird, they really did worry Strife. Hopefully, their disintrest in the affairs and difficulties humanoids faced would keep them passive, but if they DID side with the wrong side, there would be trouble. Those three were verystrong when they worked together. Jurgovis, the ancient Hydra, he was on her side, a loyal follower, a true believer, the perfect follower. Jurgovis was always known to be tricky, she didn't trust him. But he didn't much like Cyclone. This automatically extended said dislike to his two little friends. She disliked Jurgovis, but she had to agree with him there. Those three buffoons were a nuisance, a hassle, and a complete nightmare. Squall especially. The crazy little, well, mountain sized, bird was the most annoying of the three. She had been hoping that Squall would join her, for she was powerful, despite being the odd one out. In fact, Strife had hoped that for Squall, being the third wheel, the bird who followed the two biggest fish in the sea, would make Squall more likely to join her, tempted by the promise of a bird like her. Sure, Strife was a daughter of Renha and Seletose while Squall, Cyclone, and Typhoon were all children of Mana and Dorogos, but still. Squall was cool, in her own obnoxious, feisty way. Strife let fire ripple along her amber wings. Why did she CARE? It was hot-headed, impulsive, snide, rebellious Squall. Whatever. It didn't matter anyway. She knew perfectly well that Squall was too loyal to join forces with her. It was unlikely that she would leave her brothers to hang out with Strife, a phoenix whom she had squabbled with on numerous occasions. Why why why why WHY? Sometimes she confused herself. She returned to pacing, listing her possible enemies and allies.~
Et drifted. "Should I tell them?" He was talking to himself, of course, he always was. It was his creepy little habit. He doubted that anyone appreciated it, though. Right now, he was taking care to do it in private, away from everyone else. Not that they normally WOULD converse with him, if they they had been given the choice. Oh no, stupid little Et, creator of the three worlds, the immortals, their bloody tiny realm, and EVERY OTHER BLEEDING GOD AND GODDESS IN THE FOUR REALMS was too STUPID to speak to. Sure, he looked like a gray bat with no wings or legs who could float through walls, could never touch anything, only pass through it, and yellow streaks in his fur, BUT STILL. He hated how they could never seem to take little, weak Et seriously. He had some pretty important things to say, too. Something was coming. Something big. But he knew what their response would be. "Aww... that's cute, Et learned to read!" He already knew how to read, but they didn't know, they had never seen him read. Ever. He hissed in his own, unnatural, creepy, snake-like way and grimaced at the light far in the distance, signaling that the stupid feast was already well underway. Et was not known for being grumpy, mainly because no one noticed. He hated that, the fact that everyone thought that he was so useless and stupid and carefree that he could never muster an angry thought in his... life? Could a patch of nothing that had gained sentience and a physical for be called living? Could nothing ever be alive? Again, he desperately wished for another void monster, or at least someone who could understand him and maybe even help answer his questions. Et sighed, and thought about the horror resting below the four worlds, a dark and bitter enemy. A hungry one, too. He drifted past islands of glowing white stone and looked into the great blue mists. He did not dare venture in them, he did not know the dangers within. Or maybe he did, maybe there was only one danger, but he feared that he might awaken it. "Rest long, great demon, rest forever..." he said softly to it. But he knew, it probably would not rest much longer. Creatures were awakening, triggered by the Annihilator herself as she slowly rose from her slumber beneath the mists.~
The guardians didn't usually mix with people. It was sort of an unspoken guideline, as their children came out... well... odd. The guardians HAD a human form, but their true form was much more beast-like. That MIGHT have been why Enro's son came out the way he did, at least when it came to looks. No one was sure about where the psychopathic tendencies came from, Enro certainly hadn't RAISED his child. In fact, both parents, had, for the most part, ignored him. One out of fear (It's mother.), the other out of just not caring (Enro.) Knovoro HATED that. His father only payed attention to Thalassis, guardian of water and daughter of The Swordfish and The Viper. (The god of water and the other goddess of magic, respectively.) Knovoro cursed under his breath and spread wide his enormous black, feathered wings. Perhaps the only good things that came out of having the guardian of death for a father, Knovoro had inherited wings, fangs (Enro didn't have teeth, but his parents, Seletose and Renha both did. He was pretty sure his came from Seletose.), and claws. He thought briefly of his plan. Currently, he had imprisoned a VERY annoying sky serpent named Nightmare. Her name certainly reflected her personality, that was for sure. Not only did she actually HAVE bad dreams, she was hard to take care of and he could not help but claw her every now and then. He was experimenting with her, trying to figure out how to remove her soul. Enro had soul removal powers, so why not him? He snarled as he heard the voice he had grown so used to over the past month. It was a sort of warbling, buzzing voice and it DROVE HIM UP THE WALLS. SERIOUSLY, Nightmare was very lucky that she was still mostly in one piece. It was her horrible shrieking voice, and it shouted the same words as always, a warning to any and all nearby. As if anyone would DARE come near HIS roost. But she screamed it anyway. He would have to cure her of this odious tenancy to TORTURE his EARS. Preferably with violence. "Ruuuuuuuun. RUUUUUUUUN!" She pronounced it almost as if she was trying to say ran, but not quite. It always had a horrible, buzzing tone to it, and the warbling cry made him want to tear out her organs in alphabetical order. He had already visited several colorful punishments on other, earlier subjects. The different stuffed organs hung around his nest were a testament to that. Each a gruesome example of his almost constant RAGE when it come to infuriating test subjects.
Rage was locked in a prison, hidden away before she could destroy the world. Asleep, far from the immortals who feared her and the guardians who loathed her. But she, Eynkotu, would never be able to stay asleep forever. Nothing could ever work out like that, all happy and joyous. That wasn't the life Eynkotu believed in. Some people did, some people didn't. Their belief could lead them to try to fix it, ignore disasters on the foolish hope that everything would work out, or just make it worse because they thought that no one, not even the immortals, could every make it better. (Well, not EVERYONE, but certainly the majority, if ever faced with something major.) Eynkotu was the third type. Kagnoze had made her out of anger and pain -HIS anger, HIS pain- he would pay for that. When she woke up, that is. She was far, far away from that. She had been for a long time. But then she would awaken. Many, many hundreds of years before Rielana tried to kill Mana just as a test of her abilities, and definitely at least a thousand years before the fourth arch Manaling was born, a creature formed from nothing but primal energy and fury slept like a stone. But soon after a surprising defeat, she would awaken, and quite possibly burn everyone to ashes. Maybe even destroy the whole world, if she could get to Dorogos, the lizard at the center of the bright world. But she was nothing compared to the three plotting in Limbo.~
Three enormous tentacle monsters hovered, arguing. One was purplish pink. He floated, looking at a several maps of the three worlds. He had black stripes running down his dragon-like snout, down his neck, and finally down each tentacle. His sister was indigo. The underside of her neck as well as the underside on each tentacle were all also midnight black. She was waving her tentacles about furiously as she floated. Beside her, a dark gray horror was arguing with her animatedly, waving her tentacles at the maps and vaguely pointing to different areas, making squelching noises as she unstuck the black tips of her tentacles from the walls and paper. The indigo monster snarled at her gray counterpart. "The void is too powerful! We can't have them oppose us! Go for them first, especially if those rebels are crushed soon!" The gray creature shook her head. "The rebels are too strong right now for that, even though I doubt that they're ready for war, there hasn't even been any real fighting, just lots of cursing, thieving, and unflattering messages scrawled on walls or in buildings. No, it would be best to take the Bright World first. I want somewhere to go before Dorogos dies and takes the with him. Then everything will be so much more crazy in the Dark Realm. The little revolutionary force is growing by the day, give them time to start fighting among themselves." The purple creature spoke. "Why do you even think that we'll escape? Now or even ever? We're stuck here for eternity." The blue one grinned, distracted from her argument. "That's where you're wrong. I've got someone who promised to free us." The other two stared in stunned silence.~
Enro, guardian of death, eater of spirits, and psychopathic griffon, was currently visiting the library in the realm of the immortals. It had every book ever written in any of the worlds and in every language, plus a few in languages long forgotten. He was currently looking for information the the Three soul-eaters. He HAD promised to free him. But, that certainly didn't mean he was going to keep said promise. It wasn't in his nature to keep promises. No, He preferred to avoid them, put them off for as long as possible, and then break them. He would only ever keep his promises if they seemed to hold some kind of benefit for him. He knew what those creatures would do, once they escaped, but he also knew that if they were defeated, he would be able to eat three very powerful souls. Not just their power, but the whole thing. Three times. Yeah, that was a very, VERY tempting deal Just two minor problems. He wasn't sure if he could get away with it or if they could even be defeated. All he knew was that Et had tricked them into a prison in his realm so that they could never suck all the life and energy out of the worlds. That would suck for a great many people. He had been scanning the shelves for hours now. Or was it days? He could never tell. Smiling crookedly with his beak, he pulled out an interesting-looking book whose appearance had caught his eye. It probably had nothing to do with those creatures, but he had all the time in the world... at least, he was pretty sure he did. Renha HAD told him that, unless someone killed him, which was very unlikely, he would live forever. He had asked her how exactly she knew this, after all, no one had died of old age yet, but that didn't mean that none of the guardians would EVER die of old age. You never know that it can't happen until it does. That's a basic rule of life. Just because nothing happened doesn't mean that nothing WILL happen, Kagnoze, guardian of time, had never bothered visiting the future or the past. He never did like to trifle with time. Enro couldn't blame him, time was a difficult subject, one small death could lead to a terrible future. Also, the Avatar of Fate liked the thought of time travel even less. Kagnoze said that they were just really good friends. Enro said that Kagnoze was lying about this. That didn't matter. He flipped through the book lazily. It was about Limbo. Limbo was boring, if you were to ask him, that is. The Beast Kings had been interesting, of course, but they were all dead, at the moment. The Beast Lord, thick as he was, had still managed to hold onto their souls. Enro disliked him for that. He had really, REALLY wanted those souls. Then again, the Beast Lord had also known to play dead, so maybe he wasn't a complete and total moron, just half of one. Enro sighed and smacked the book aside with his tail. Enro had a long beak, huge black wings which could, when necessary, double as front limbs or clumsy talons for holding things like books, swords, and other miscellaneous trinkets and weapons. His own spine grew out of his body, vertebrae poking out from between feathers, black as night. Ribs poked out from the spine as well, like a demented version of stripes made just for him. He also had bones INSIDE his body, which seemed to surprise other people. He wasn't really quite sure why. Well, sure, he did have what appeared to his ENTIRE rib cage PLUS his spine sticking out of his feathered body, but still, surely it was obvious that he had a skeleton that resided inside his body? It was like the two skeletal structures were stacked on top of each other. Then, of course, there was his tail. It ended, well, the fleshy part, at least, in a stump. But the bones continued, tapering to a point. He wasn't sure HOW he could control the other half of his tail, for he was pretty sure that there were no nerves there, but still. Whatever, he needed to get back to the place quickly. There was to be a banquet soon in honor of, well, nothing really, just for the sake of a banquet, he supposed. Still, as a major guardian, he HAD to show up. Renha and Seletose loved their banquets. At least he didn't have to help in the preparations. Several hundred years ago, he had been forced to play such a role in the feast. It had NOT gone well AT ALL. Sighing, Enro lifted the gold and navy book, put it back on it's shelf, where it belonged, shook his wings, then hurried out the door to the annoying banquet.~
"I heard that Vorkorumna was angry." "Bloody dragon's ALWAYS angry, dunno what we have to do with it." "Well, I HEARD that she wanted the tiny little races gone, that us Ancient Ones should rise up and wipe every Manaling, Dracken Person, Human, and lizard monster off the face of this world, personally, I'm not interested, but a lot of us are. Some think we should leave the little creatures alone," the enormous eagle ruffled dark grey and teal feathers and lowered her voice, "I heard that Strife was coming back from wherever, and that SHE'S going to lead the charge against them." The great Sea serpent beside this mountain of a bird sigh'ed. "So? WE don't need to get involved in THEIR blasted mess. I honestly don't even bother showing up to those stupid meetings, too much trouble. I don't think anyone cares, they'll all forget about it soon enough." The eagle huffed. "No, they won't. And they do care, loads of Ancient Ones showed up. More then normal, I mean. Shield didn't, but he never does. Blitzfang did though, and that bloody Sandwyrm NEVER gets involved in other matters." The Sea serpent looked up, surprised. Proudly, the great eagle continued to speak. "She said that it would all be more trouble then it was worth, but Magra, that bloody great Skywhale, Nigovos, the chimera brute, and Yeirgoth the Quetzalcoatl all said that they would defend the landlings and their cities. Should we help them?" Behind them, a creature with a turtle shell, a short snout, four fins, and far too many tentacles shook his head. "No Squall, we can't provoke them. Let their fire die, not even Strife will be able to keep it going. Stupid phoenix is too arrogant. Besides, I don't like the idea of us fighting amongst ourselves." Squall rolled her eyes. "What about you and Typhoon?" She asked innocently. The leviathan looked slightly sheepish. "That's different. We just argue, and stuff." Typhoon looked regally down his snout at Squall as she laughed. Then his serious face broke and he joined in, along with the enormous Leviathan. The three ancient ones, creatures almost as old as the worlds themselves, as big as hills and rivers and mountains, three of them, almost like siblings, (In fact, they were, although their appearances were very, very different.) laughing around a rock out at sea as if it were a fire.~
Strife, the great phoenix, the burning wrath, paced within her volcanic lair. What would she do? Her enemies may have been like gnats against a chimera, but Ancient Ones before her HAD died. She couldn't let that go. Not now, not ever. No. She would fight them until she keeled over from exhaustion. She would wipe them out, she would kill everyone who stood in her way or threatened her kin. But how? War, it was the only answer. But against who? Both Yeirgoth and Magra had promised to defend the humans. Blitzfang had, of course, decided to stay out of it, but Strife figured that she would side with the races below, just to save her own miserable Sand Serpent scales. Honestly, no courage in that miserable little lump of flesh. Nigovos would side with her eventually. She knew he had no sympathy for the little horrors that roamed this world. HER world. Not theirs, HERS. And she was going to take it back. The dragons were safe, but that was only because she needed to humor Vorkorumna. Shield would fight against her cause, but he was too lazy and grumpy and mopey to be worth speaking to. Best if the wimpy little crocodile just wallowed in some mud. Then there was Squall. The oceanic trio, Cyclone the Leviathan, Typhoon the Sea Serpent, and Squall the Thunderbird, they really did worry Strife. Hopefully, their disintrest in the affairs and difficulties humanoids faced would keep them passive, but if they DID side with the wrong side, there would be trouble. Those three were verystrong when they worked together. Jurgovis, the ancient Hydra, he was on her side, a loyal follower, a true believer, the perfect follower. Jurgovis was always known to be tricky, she didn't trust him. But he didn't much like Cyclone. This automatically extended said dislike to his two little friends. She disliked Jurgovis, but she had to agree with him there. Those three buffoons were a nuisance, a hassle, and a complete nightmare. Squall especially. The crazy little, well, mountain sized, bird was the most annoying of the three. She had been hoping that Squall would join her, for she was powerful, despite being the odd one out. In fact, Strife had hoped that for Squall, being the third wheel, the bird who followed the two biggest fish in the sea, would make Squall more likely to join her, tempted by the promise of a bird like her. Sure, Strife was a daughter of Renha and Seletose while Squall, Cyclone, and Typhoon were all children of Mana and Dorogos, but still. Squall was cool, in her own obnoxious, feisty way. Strife let fire ripple along her amber wings. Why did she CARE? It was hot-headed, impulsive, snide, rebellious Squall. Whatever. It didn't matter anyway. She knew perfectly well that Squall was too loyal to join forces with her. It was unlikely that she would leave her brothers to hang out with Strife, a phoenix whom she had squabbled with on numerous occasions. Why why why why WHY? Sometimes she confused herself. She returned to pacing, listing her possible enemies and allies.~
Et drifted. "Should I tell them?" He was talking to himself, of course, he always was. It was his creepy little habit. He doubted that anyone appreciated it, though. Right now, he was taking care to do it in private, away from everyone else. Not that they normally WOULD converse with him, if they they had been given the choice. Oh no, stupid little Et, creator of the three worlds, the immortals, their bloody tiny realm, and EVERY OTHER BLEEDING GOD AND GODDESS IN THE FOUR REALMS was too STUPID to speak to. Sure, he looked like a gray bat with no wings or legs who could float through walls, could never touch anything, only pass through it, and yellow streaks in his fur, BUT STILL. He hated how they could never seem to take little, weak Et seriously. He had some pretty important things to say, too. Something was coming. Something big. But he knew what their response would be. "Aww... that's cute, Et learned to read!" He already knew how to read, but they didn't know, they had never seen him read. Ever. He hissed in his own, unnatural, creepy, snake-like way and grimaced at the light far in the distance, signaling that the stupid feast was already well underway. Et was not known for being grumpy, mainly because no one noticed. He hated that, the fact that everyone thought that he was so useless and stupid and carefree that he could never muster an angry thought in his... life? Could a patch of nothing that had gained sentience and a physical for be called living? Could nothing ever be alive? Again, he desperately wished for another void monster, or at least someone who could understand him and maybe even help answer his questions. Et sighed, and thought about the horror resting below the four worlds, a dark and bitter enemy. A hungry one, too. He drifted past islands of glowing white stone and looked into the great blue mists. He did not dare venture in them, he did not know the dangers within. Or maybe he did, maybe there was only one danger, but he feared that he might awaken it. "Rest long, great demon, rest forever..." he said softly to it. But he knew, it probably would not rest much longer. Creatures were awakening, triggered by the Annihilator herself as she slowly rose from her slumber beneath the mists.~
The guardians didn't usually mix with people. It was sort of an unspoken guideline, as their children came out... well... odd. The guardians HAD a human form, but their true form was much more beast-like. That MIGHT have been why Enro's son came out the way he did, at least when it came to looks. No one was sure about where the psychopathic tendencies came from, Enro certainly hadn't RAISED his child. In fact, both parents, had, for the most part, ignored him. One out of fear (It's mother.), the other out of just not caring (Enro.) Knovoro HATED that. His father only payed attention to Thalassis, guardian of water and daughter of The Swordfish and The Viper. (The god of water and the other goddess of magic, respectively.) Knovoro cursed under his breath and spread wide his enormous black, feathered wings. Perhaps the only good things that came out of having the guardian of death for a father, Knovoro had inherited wings, fangs (Enro didn't have teeth, but his parents, Seletose and Renha both did. He was pretty sure his came from Seletose.), and claws. He thought briefly of his plan. Currently, he had imprisoned a VERY annoying sky serpent named Nightmare. Her name certainly reflected her personality, that was for sure. Not only did she actually HAVE bad dreams, she was hard to take care of and he could not help but claw her every now and then. He was experimenting with her, trying to figure out how to remove her soul. Enro had soul removal powers, so why not him? He snarled as he heard the voice he had grown so used to over the past month. It was a sort of warbling, buzzing voice and it DROVE HIM UP THE WALLS. SERIOUSLY, Nightmare was very lucky that she was still mostly in one piece. It was her horrible shrieking voice, and it shouted the same words as always, a warning to any and all nearby. As if anyone would DARE come near HIS roost. But she screamed it anyway. He would have to cure her of this odious tenancy to TORTURE his EARS. Preferably with violence. "Ruuuuuuuun. RUUUUUUUUN!" She pronounced it almost as if she was trying to say ran, but not quite. It always had a horrible, buzzing tone to it, and the warbling cry made him want to tear out her organs in alphabetical order. He had already visited several colorful punishments on other, earlier subjects. The different stuffed organs hung around his nest were a testament to that. Each a gruesome example of his almost constant RAGE when it come to infuriating test subjects.
