Sitting on the ground against the statue's base, Norbert flicked the coin into the air, higher than usual, as it paused next to the mote of light before falling back into his hand again.
Holding his hand out for the coin, he counted to three as it still hadn't landed in his hand. Norbert closed his eyes as he reached for a gold coin from his pouch. Fingering the markings and the weight in his fingers before flicking it up into the air again. Once more, the coin didn't return to his hand.
Like clockwork, Norbert reached for his pouch again, flicking the coin into the air as he waited for it to return. He felt three coins land in his hand, the tinkle of his coins music to his ears.
He smiled, opening his eyes as Luck's smile shone back at him. His golden hair alighted in the darkness around him, a blazing torch in the city of darkness and decay.
"Fancy seeing you here of all places," Norbert whispered, not wanting to interrupt the quiet engulfing him. Luck sat beside him, reaching for one of the coins in his hand. The gold coin flicked into the air as she held her hand out in the same way depicted in the statue above them.
Norbert nodded as he looked toward Luck. "The other gods not playing nicely?" Norbert asked as he wondered what would have caused the goddess to come down here twice in a row, and no motes of light appeared as well for most of their journey.
"Just the usual mischief and mayhem," Luck notified him, sighing as she finished. Norbert wondered what was happening; the person he usually saw was not like the person now.
"That bleak?" Norbert asked.
"The Future always seems bleak when looking at it. Once it's the past, it all seems easy, the proper path, the right path, the correct path clear." Lady Luck replied to Norbert's question.
Nodding his head, seeing nothing good in progressing this line of thought, Norbert looked to the other statues next to them. "Who are all these guys?"
"What is known as lesser gods. These ones forgot to the races, and everyone else. Statues and other structures are set up for the forgotten and lost gods. Ones that fall out of favour for one reason or another are lost to the sands of time." Luck explained to Norbert.
As she finished, the wind blew more robustly than before, whipping her hair around. Norbert felt sandblast against his face before swirling off into the air.
Staring at it as it rose higher and higher, swirling before Norbert lost track of it, he turned to the goddess, "Is that melodrama necessary?"
"It adds a nice touch. Don't get pissy with me. If you could, you would do that all the time." Luck said, poking his arm.
Norbert shook his head as he turned towards her. "Then how come you're here with them? Your able to have your own champion and not be forgotten like these others?" Norbert questioned, wondering how the specifics of the gods worked from one deity to another.
Luck laughed at Norbert, a thrill of pleasure coming out of her voice. "That's due to a funny conundrum," Luck spoke aloud. “Nobody wants the Luck I provide, unless they are desperate. You would say, looking down the barrel of a gun. Only the void of the chamber looking back at you, unsure if it will be a bang or a click."
"Is that because if they follow you, they will lead themselves to increasingly dangerous situations until they get themselves killed or something like that?" Norbert asked, remembering the multiple times he had been chastised by others about his selection and what to expect from others he had already told.
"But with one stipulation: Though they are brought to more dangerous situations, the payoff is always worth it, enabling them to get through the next one. If they choose the right path, that’s part of the Luck" Her voice trilling to Norbert.
He nodded, understanding that he was returning to his adventures in Morenas. "And I can attest to that, but why do people despise you so much for it? I've made it out just fine, but from what I've heard, others have been pulverised by that decision.
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Holding a finger to Norbert, Luck said, "Just because you're lucky doesn't mean you can't make a wrong decision in the situation, propelling yourself closer and closer to your demise at an alarming rate." Luck notified Norbert.
Turning to look at her, stumped by what she was saying “How is that luck at all. Just seems like your blasting your way to your own death.” Norbert asked her, not seeing how it was lucky at all.
"It's finding the solution that shouldn't be possible." Luck told Norbert.
Still stumped, Luck stared up, and Luc thought of how best to explain it to her champion. "Take your casino adventures, for example," Luck said, looking back at Norbert as he nodded slowly, recounting his epic wins there.
"Most people who have been helped out in that regard, like yourself, would have themselves caught by the house," Luck said to him.
"Which is what happened?" Norbert said to her.
"That's precisely my point. You were caught, but through sheer luck and whatever cogs you have in that noggin of yours, you did not only escape but can now get coins whenever you need them. The only cost is adding a bit of a show."
Norbert nodded as he remembered. "And others who would have taken the wrong path would have just been caught. Eventually, coins being returned to where they belong and the person left out to hang?" Norbert asked.
Luck stood up as she gave him thumbs up. "Now you're getting it."
"Then how do I prevent that from happening? I'm not looking forward to having an early grave," Norbert asked Lady Luck, staring up at her as she moved to stare at the other statues next to her.
"Just follow the advice I gave you last time," Luck told Norbert, whipping her head around to face him, the sea of golden locks flying about before falling. Norbert opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off by Luck. "Now, enough about that. Time is ticking, and don't you need to give those candies you promised?" Luck asked him.
Norbert looked at her in confusion as he looked towards the sky, seeing the sunlight come up on the horizon.
He was blasting out of the position, not believing how he had just flown flew by. Norbert sprinted as he tore down. The street sprinted watched her champion move on the broken cobblestone as he exited the temple district.
Luck turned towards the statue behind her, letting a single finger reach out and touch it. It slid down the arm before falling off, her hand lying beside her body. She smiled at her predecessor as she looked at the other gods of luck who were lurched from their position. Even to her and the other gods, those stories and what happened to them now were forever lost.
Luck turned to where Norbert had run off to, hoping she herself would be lucky enough to avoid the same downfall. Something that the gods of luck always see to do, but none of the others. Their temples still reaching high into the air and people coming in and out of them, offering their blessings and their bodies.
Sitting back down Lady Luck sat with a straight back, a tune escaping from her lips as she started to whistle, following her champion. His habit having finally rubbed off on her, though she had more sensibility to not make a tune that clashed with itself.
***
Norbert burst through the gate; approaching the mansion door, he paused again. Having returned from giving the candies to Korn and his group, there is only one left to ask others about. Looking down at the snake handle in front of him, the eyes once more watching his actions. Reaching out his hand, Norbert knocked on the door using the handle.
THUMP THUMP
He quickly let go when he finished it, not wanting to remain in contact any longer than necessary. The door slowly opened without a sound as the butler was presented to him. "Ah, just in time for breakfast."
Norbert moved past the butler. "No time and no need!" he said as he rushed up the stairs, knowing he didn't have much daylight to burn, as he needed to come back here anyway to swap his garb. To his room, Norbert reached for his leather garbs to put on the outside. Throwing them on himself, he grabbed his belt and throwing knife holders, took the extra knife he hid under the pillow and put it all on him.
Reaching for the mask and helmet back, he clipped it to his head as he breathed out, closing the door and his chest as he left. He then headed to the stairs, walking past the mirror in his usual fit, the red light from his mask shining back into his eyes.
Standing there, the eyes of the reflection flashed red, the flesh off his arm torn off, only the bone remaining as he danced his fingers around something Norbert could not see. The purple-stained nubs dancing around rhymitcally, Norbert envisioning a coin rolling up and down between his fingers. His mask once more ripped in places, others his skin growing around it, pus breaking out on the hard edges of what he wore.
His leather armour was gone, replaced by a grey, colourless armour. Runes of blood red rushed around the pieces that remained intact. The daggers on his leg were long gone. The sword on his hip was shorter than the one he currently wore and thinner.
The only pieces that it could see that were depicted the same were his coin pouch and the knife's handle popping out of the sheath that lived in Flare-dew. A hand touched his own shoulder, Norbert did not see it at all, only felt it as it shook him out of his stupor.
The butler stood there, looking at him before walking away and heading down the stairs. Norbert briefly glimpsed the mirror in the hallway on top of the dresser; only his expected reflection was shown there. His helmet pulsed rhythmically with his breathing red light, his leather armour on his body, and his weapons strapped where they should be.