"Asha'ruun," sighed Brutus as he and his God sat across from Nox and Sarah at the dining room table, "Now there is a name I haven't heard in so long."
"Quite right," agreed the Ageless with a nod as he turned towards his family, "The world we departed to was one which mirrored our world of Terra before we claimed it all. Such a thing held much in the way of nostalgia that we forgot for a time with what we were supposed to do there."
"Like helping the Lizardfolk?" inquired Sarah as she lifted Nox out of his high chair in order to place him upon her lap. There, she allowed him to explore her clawed hands, and even light chewed on a few digits as his tails wiggled from the story.
"Yes," once again, the God King nodded, "That world was far too much like our own, as even the lay of the land was similar. In that my soon-to-be Chosen desired for us to return home as quick as we may."
"Uh," the Lich King rubbed the back of his metallic skull slowly, "They were quite disappointed when we found only an untouched mountainside, though."
"So were you, if I recall correctly," replied the other with a slight grin, "You even blew away a metric ton where your chambers were, in the hopes of finding something of yours to take away from it all."
"Yeah," the old Skeleton sighed as his head hung low, but was soon brought up in order for him to point out, "But you, my Lord High God, used much of your strength in order to separate the mountain into two parts."
"Yes, in order to view the insides," once more, the Ageless nodded with agreement.
"What did you find?" the Goddess inquire as she leaned back against the chair. For she had caught herself leaning a tad too far forward, as though enjoying the pair's reminiscings.
"Exactly what many would expect," replied Brutus, whose lights flared softly in his sockets.
Of which was picked up by the other, as his own eyes flashed with great disappointment at his past, "Nothing."
*****
"This was our home," my voice grumbled as I watched those under my person scour over the mountainside. They searched for that which was not there, and returned with broken hearts. Figuratively speaking, of course.
"This is not Terra, Master," came the voice of Rojaahn, who sighed whilst standing to my immediate left as his own eyes watched the others return. He was, by all accounts, our "Voice of Reason" within the group, and was the only one of my servants who only bowed towards my person. However, such an action was not in worship, but a general regard that I was far superior to himself.
"Be that as it may be, Rojaahn," my voice was full of disappointment for what was beholden to us all, "It is far too similar to what we had." For all around us were many a tree which held the same amount of flora and fauna our Gardeners cultivated with expert care. Of which resulted not just in a sea of vibrant green, but also of every spectrum of colour.
Yes. The forests around our mountain home was far more beautiful than anything upon our world, and this one was a near exact copy of it. For such a thing did not have our Gardeners to tend to such growths.
This was so, as we actively looked for them in the beginning, believing we were finally home. Only to find they were missing, and even a few places where they would gather appeared abandoned and overgrown as though such a place had been abandoned long ago. Therefore, our minds ran around in circles, trying to find some semblance of what might have caused them to flee as we journeyed to our home.
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To this end, I did sigh whilst collapsing upon the soft earth and green grasses, much to the dismay of those under my person. Whereas Melephas looked on with a curious expression, but shrugged whilst turning back to whatever task he was performing before I called forth his attention.
"My Lord," cried out more than a few, and soon found my person surrounded by all of them.
"Are you alright, my Lord God?" asked Brutus, his four metallic, clawed hands reaching down and lifting my illusory body upon its feet.
"I am well enough, my Lich," my voice was neutral as I lifted one of my hands to pat his head slowly, "I am simply coming to terms that this is not our world... Well, not yet anyway."
"My Lord?" Sia's skeletal head cocked towards her right as her bone-tail swayed slowly from left to right. For I believed, at that time, that she knew of what was on my mind, but desired to know more before proceeding with her thoughts.
"I would enjoy having this world, Sia, and rename it after our own whilst we do our best to remove all threats."
"But it's not our home," her voice contained a whine, one which had not been heard since she joined the ranks of my Undying.
"No, it is not," my voice dropped to a more somber level as I waved both of my arms in order to encompass the halved mountains and the gorgeous forest before our eyes, "but it could be. It'll take some time, yes, but it could be our home instead of being sent to wander through the varying worlds Azzarath's Hub world has to offer.
"However," I held up a single digit, "we must all accept this as our new home. For if even one voice speaks against such a decision, then we must all seek out a new world in order for us all to call it home." This was what I left to them all, and though a few were ready to jump and proclaim this world our new Terra, there were still a few who desired our Terra and not some substitute world which only looked like it.
"Ah," I continued, calling forth their attention once more, "There is also Roj and his Tribunal of Fools."
"Master," called out Rojaahn with a slight frown upon his beastial features, "I wished to ask who they were, and why you desired their deaths so much."
"From what I was able to glean from their speech the first time, they were instrumental in my removal of our world of Terra," my voice was a light growl, but those closest noted that such a tone was hollow, hiding the absolute loathing I had for such individuals. "In that they conspired with whatever God or Goddess which was near so that they may claim what was rightly mine and ours by rights. Of which caught the eye of a God King called Azazel, but only after I was able to summon forth Brutus in order to remove the life force of such a group.
"Whereupon she did descend from on high in order to restrain my person whilst explaining that I was removed from our world due to the eradication of the species of Humans. For it seems that such a race was her chosen people, and was none too amused I had taken the effort to remove such people.
"However," I held up a forefinger in order to calm their minds, which worked as effectively as many would assume, "she spoke saying she enjoyed the show I gave her whilst performing thusly. Which confused my mind, but even more so when she gave me a single wish to make."
"A wish, my Lord God?" Brutus's jaw dropped, almost to the point of falling upon the earth below. Of which would have stirred more than one chuckle from the group, as such a thing almost never occurred.
"Yes, Brutus," my illusory head nodded once, "A single wish, and I used it in demand of the return of our world to my control. To which she sighed, and with a shake of her small head, denied my desire.
"And yes, I did ask why such a thing was impossible. To which she replied with, 'Because you broke the rules.'"
"What. Rules?" demanded my Lich, not at all understanding what he had heard. Of which was reflected in the eyes and bodies of the others.
Whereas my own features held scorn as I explained, "She spoke of how there were rules for every God or Goddess who ascended within the Pantheon. Of how the local deities were to come and explain such things to the new ones on what to do and not do. No. No one came to visit my person to explain to such a thing, and yes, I told her thusly. To which she replied stating that there were many an instance where someone came and spoke to my person, but I denied such a thing.
"In any case, I could not have our world of Terra, but I could have you all by my side. Though, I did desire more, you were all that she was able to gift my person."
"I want... to go home," murmured Shauu, who desired to cry, but could not due to her body being unable to produce such a thing.
"I believe we all desire such a thing, Shauu," came my hollowed voice, "but we can only move forwards."