The two opposing colors began to collide and swirl around each other. Constantly swirling and mingling with each other, yet never actually mixing together. It was eerily quiet as everyone in the room was stunned into silence at the ethereal sight before the silence broke, but not by those present. Slowly, voices could start to be heard coming from the swirling amalgamation of colors, starting off as a barley audible whisper before rapidly ascending into a cacophonous scream before silence once more. Everyone had doubled over in pain. Standing back up from my keeled over position, hands still firmly pressed against my ears in an attempt to block out the deafening noise, I looked around to see everyone else also clutching their ears. My father was leaned up against the wall, jaw tense and eyes closed. Daphne was curled up into a ball on the ground, doing all she could to not panic to the best of her abilities, looks like dealing with Rays of all ages helped at least a little bit. Tesoro only had one hand, his left hand, covering his left ear; blood was starting to trickle out of his right ear, a grimace of pain smeared across his face as he began to speak softly to himself.
Shaking his head to get out of the stupor that he was put in, Tesoro also looked around at the scene I had just seen myself. Completing his observation, he looked at the still swirling lights. Following his gaze, I looked into the lights as well, only to notice that they were starting to separate. The yellow began to recede to around Tesoro, nit disappearing, simply encasing him. A similar action occurred with he blue, as it began to flow in my direction, slowly encompassing me until my world view was nothing but blue.
Almost as soon as that happened, I felt like something was ripped away from me as the blue disappeared from my eyes. Blinking several times to try and clear my eyes up, I recognized two additional figures within the room that weren’t there before. Their very presence felt like it caused the very air to shimmer with raw power. Without even thinking about what I was supposed to do next, my already hunched form from not fully standing up fell to its knees. Not fully grasping why, I stare once again at the figures standing in the middle of the room and notice something peculiar.
The figures, they weren’t touching the ground. They were stuck in the air, almost like time had stopped during a jump.
As I finally noticed that fact, I noticed shortly thereafter that the light that was filling the room not mere moments earlier, had all but vanished. With the only traces of the lights to be found dimly surrounding the figures rather than the room.
The figures themselves were vastly different in height, with one being masculine and the other being feminine in build. I had no idea who the masculine figure was supposed to be, but the feminine, the female, I recognized. And as this realization dawned on me, the figures of Luna and what I assumed to be another God, most likely Sol given the circumstances, began speaking.
“I knew you were incompetent, but this is reaching the ends of which I didn’t even know existed,” said a voice with a gruffness to it one would find in a grandparent or someone well-traveled.
The female voice retorted, “Incompetent is not the word I would use, more like trying to go fishing and coming back up with a boot. Why would I even willingly try and take one of your not so bright light bulbs that you’re oh-so-proud of.” Letting out a heavy sigh, Luna continued speaking. “Sol, you know I would never do this to you… without a good enough reason to back up me taking some one from under your care. But this time around I actually had zero intent on doing what happened last night. So stop being such a petty fragment and give me a break already.”
The figure who appeared to be a physical manifestation of Sol, pondered for a moment as his hand stroked the crimson hair that covered his chin in the form of a small beard, before responding. “You don’t think that I didn’t already know that? But the fact remains that it not only happened, but it just so happened to occur during your Saint ritual? Forgive me if I’m more than just a little bit on edge around you currently.”
“Forgiven. You’re still an Ass for only meeting me like this. I even apologized and everything to the…” Luna paused as she looked around for a moment before here eyes rested on me. “I’m sorry mistake… I mean mortal.”
“Adamas,” Sol interjected.
“Yes. Adamas. That word…” Luna said as she trailed off before turning to look back at Sol. “I contacted you when this happened last night Sol, it’s not exactly my fault that you didn’t respond immediately.”
“While you are right on that point, sister,” Sol said with copious amounts of disdain in his voice, much like I do to my little sister when she bothers me. “You also happened to leave your new charge in the middle of my worship area. If I was any other God, that would have been taken as an insult seeing as your Saint was left in not your territory.”
“You know damn well that no offense was meant. You also know that this situation had never happened before. Because if the fluctuations through the divinity stream affected me the way they did, with this Aspect of me being almost a minor God in comparison to your Aspect, I know for certain that you felt it as well. Something happened to change the flow, and if you think for even a second that I have capability of doing that just to screw you out of one follower, then you are far more shallow than I ever thought of you.”
Sol stopped stroking his chin, and letting out a heavy sigh, turned his head to look at the ground and placed his hand on the back side of his neck. “I… I know that Luna. But you also know that the last time anything like this occurred was during the Era of the Great Crusades. You and I were both Involved, even if these Aspects themselves weren’t.” Looking back up to Luna, Sol brought his hand down and motioned to around him. “Something of the magnitude that just happened tells me that one of the Major’s has died. But if that were the case, then we would have at least heard rumors about WHO it was that was involved. Yet, nothing. Not a single whisper from anyone indicative of what actually happened. The only things that have been heard so far consist of others complaining that miracles that others were attempting to perform either ended up like your where they happened but occurred elsewhere, or they were small enough miracles that they simply fizzled out.”
“Well, that’s certainly a form of comfort.” Luna stated, her shoulders relaxing to an obvious degree. “But for as reassuring as knowing that no Major was actually involved in this, either as the perpetrator or victim, it is still more than a little concerning that no one even has an inkling as to what happened. I mean, stuff like this doesn’t just happen for no reason.”
At that, Sol began to settle on the ground from his floating position and looked around the room. Noticing the pained expression resting upon the faces of those present, he grimaced slightly as if realizing what had occurred. “Oh dear little sister of mine,” he said as he looked back to Luna. “It does appear that our… conversation… was a bit to much for those present to varying degrees.” Sol moved, almost gliding with each step taken, to Tesoro’s side and placed a hand upon his back. With a helping motion, tilting Tesoro up from his almost doubled over position and placed his fingers within Tesoro’s palm where the yellow light originated from. Within mere moments of this motion, a soft orange-yellow glow began to emanate from the point of contact between Sol and Tesoro. Traveling through Tesoro, the light spread with swiftness through his body before coming to rest in several spots, with the largest amount of light being concentrated around the ear which Tesoro left unguarded upon the arrival of the two Gods. His once pained expression had disappeared, leaving in its wake one of excitement and wonder. Raising Tesoro to his feet and patting him on the shoulder like a father would do to a child that fell over, Sol spoke out loud. “I can handle the others under my care, but you should really look into yours. Not that I couldn’t heal him myself, but I can’t go around fixing all of what is yours like I used to.”
As he began his gliding walk to my father and Daphne, Luna turned to face me as she touched the ground. “I see that you’ve had a rough morning, huh? Not that I was expecting this meeting to happen the way it did. I was actually expecting our next meeting to be after you started your pilgrimage.” As she finished talking, she placed her hand on the side of my face in a gentle caress before moving it to my forehead and pressing the ‘Eye of the Moon’. Just like what happened with Sol when he touched Tesoro, I saw a light, a pale blue color this time, start to expand from where I was being touched. ‘See’ really isn’t the right word to use as I couldn’t see my own face, but I could definitely see the light emissions. As it traveled over my body, I felt a gentle cold start to embrace me. Just as soon the feeling appeared, it began to fade as Luna removed hand. “Aside from general exhaustion, you had no major malady’s afflicting your body; which considering what you’ve been through in the past few days, is actually quite surprising.”
Finishing her statement and examination, she moved back from her spot in front of me to her original position within the room, minus the floating this time. Not long after, she was joined by Sol after two flashes, corresponding to my father and Bright Daphne respectively. Upon joining his sister in the center of the room, Sol and Luna motioned with their hands in an arcing motion in front of them. This motion radiated power from both, and without knowing how, why, or when; everyone in the room that wasn’t a God was suddenly in front of the two Gods seated on the chairs that had originally sat around the room.
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Sol, taking a dignified stance with one hand behind his back and the other hand free to move, began to speak. “Aside from Tesoro, this should be the first time that the other three will have met my physical presence. And to that I say that I am Sol, God of the sun; and in this form to you I am a nurturing fatherlike figure. Both giving of praise and help when asked, as well as meting out punishments as required just like any father would.” Both Daphne and my father immediately tried to move with swiftness to show reverence to their God. Not that they wouldn’t have shown any reverence to Luna who was also a god, but Luna was not their god as Sol was. In their attempt to do so, Sol raised his hand to stop them in their tracks. “That is not required, from either of you. Seeing as I have also already healed you directly, I’d say that we are just slightly past the initial phase of ‘awe’, wouldn’t you think?”
Turning to look at me, Sol began to speak. “And judging by your lack of reaction, I see that my sister was telling me the entire truth this time around.”
“The entire truth? Really, Sol? Have my words ever been so unreliable as for you to make a statement of that magnitude?” Luna asked, attitude starting to seethe through her words.
“I never once said that you ever lied to me, Luna. I simply said the entire truth. Because much like what you represent to the mortals, you do tend to leave certain bits of information within the shadows. I was just pleasantly surprised that, as of right now, you actually told me everything the first time around.”
“Oh,” Luna responded. “Well… thanks? I guess? Though it would be nice if you don’t end with such an easy to misunderstand statement next time.”
“I’ll take that under consideration. Anyway, judging by your reaction Adamas, or lack thereof, it appears that Luna has told you at least a bit about what we are. To a certain degree anyway. Knowing that you have an idea of what we are gives me a decent idea of where I need to begin speaking. The information I provided shows me that you know that I am not the only me out in the world, but I am the only me with these aspects of my overall self; same with Luna, Gaia, Nocturnus, Dremargo, and any other God out there. In terms of myself, this is one of my tamer manifestations all things considered. With that in mind, allow me to give you your charge young Adamas.”
Without skipping a beat, Luna chimed in with a hint of smugness in her voice, “If you’re talking about sending him out into the world to search for what happened, I’ve already done that.”
After pausing to look at Luna for a moment as if thinking of something, then grinned slightly before speaking. “That is in fact NOT what I was about to tell him, but good idea though.” Luna looked at Sol sideways as if to say ‘I can’t believe you just lied like that with a straight face’.
“Allow me to continue,” Sol said as he cleared his throat. “I charge you with following my sister and doing as she would have you, but to never stray from what you have learned under my care. In your unique case I will permit you to continue to live within my bounds as it is unfair for you to receive punishment for an action no one knows the cause of. Live your life as you would otherwise do under my care, but know that whenever my sister calls upon you, you are obligated to answer to the best of your abilities. With this, your charge is delivered.” Walking towards me, Sol covered the large distance in a few steps. “Allow me to be selfish and grant you a boon of sorts. Not that you would ever forget where you came from, but…” Sol paused speaking for a moment before raising a hand and placing it on the center of my chest. “So that you can always have a piece of home with you, more than a simple Solar Slice would be able to do.” With that, a surge of power flowed through my heart but not my body, swirling in place before calming down.
Sol removed his hand from my chest to reveal a burnt-out circle area on my shirt and a brand where his hand had been. The brand was different from what Tesoro had on his hand, being a circle with a solid dot in the middle, and another smaller circle along the big circle located directly above the dot near the top of my chest. “This is simply a mark for you to remember where you came from when you are out on your pilgrimage. It will also serve as identification if ever you came across others who also worship me, meaning that there will always be people who will help you progress, if only to give you a place to stay and a meal to eat.”
Stepping back to join his sister’s side, Sol continued to speak. “I expect this conversation to stay between those of us here for the time being. Yes, even the mortal female called Daphne and the mortal male Daimos. As irrelevant as you are to this conversation as a whole, you can consider yourself lucky to have met the being of your worship, putting in and amongst an elite few throughout the world. Not that that’s much of a consolation prize, but know that it’s either keep quite about this, or I attempt to seal your memories. And as I am the God of the Sun and not Thoughts and Dreams like Dremargo, I cannot guarantee how far back your memories would actually be sealed; it could be this conversation with a relatively slim chance, or you would more likely lose about a month’s worth of memories. I figured a vow of Silence would allow you two to live much more normal lives going forward rather than missing a chunk of your lives for no real reason. Wouldn’t you both agree?” Sol asked my father and Daphne.
Both nodded vigorously in response.
“Good. Past that Daimos, do your best to convince Justicia that Adamas was reprimanded by Luminous Tesoro, that he got a slap on the wrist, and that Tesoro was simply curious as to what happened and nothing more. I know that Justicia is hard to fool because she glints so much information from so little, but her knowing Tesoro’s habit of being curious, she should more easily accept that as the reason.”
“Daphne, just make sure that everything that was discussed today and the evets that transpired within, including the arrival of both myself and my sister, stays with you unless otherwise informed by Tesoro or myself.”
“And now,” Sol said and then sighed heavily, “Tesoro. My dear saint, I know I picked you because of your curiosity among your many other traits, but more than once that same curiosity has put you in a situation similar to what you just went through. I’m glad you try to bring light to whatever intrigues and confuses you, but you really must learn the limits of both your mortality and luck. I can’t be there to heal you every time something like this happens. Continue to be curious, and to teach the curious minds of those who follow you, but know that not every question can be solved by putting your hand into a fire when putting a lid on it would have a similar effect.”
“Lastly, we get to young Adamas. Your life has shifted greatly into a direction into a direction that even only a few of us Gods could have been able to guess at. Know that though your path may be thorny, you can always ask for help. And as my sister has already charged you with but with a few changes I’d like to add as your original patron, if that is ok Luna?”
With a curt nod from Luna, Sol continued. “Help those in need but try your best to never take on more than you can handle. Punish those who are deserving of punishment, but try to hear the full story first. A person may be doing bad for good reasons, and a person may be doing good with bad intentions. Always be curious until all facts come to light, for it is only when the light reveals all that a sound decision can be made. Aside from that, use these next six days before your graduation from Ray to Beam to converse with your father about what to prepare for on your pilgrimage; and to converse with Tesoro about how to better protect yourself from others like you, those being Saints and other God chosen.”
“Coming back around to us,” Sol said, “we were never here. You all simply had a conversation about a youngster coming of age and wandering through the night.” Sol trailed off into silence before Luna spoke up. “To make sure that none ask of the mark on my Saint, on Adamas’s forehead, I will be giving him this.” Lifting her right hand into the air in front of her, a bright flash of pale blue light blinded the room. As soon as the light faded, a long pale-yellow scarf with bright silver trim was laying in her hand. Without moving, the scarf began to move from her hand towards me at a steady pace. Coming to rest in front of me, I reached out to grab the long piece of cloth. It was smooth to the touch, almost like water in cloth form, a feeling I had never felt before. Bringing it to my forehead, and tying it around as was its purpose, Luna continued speaking. “Once again Adamas, your thoughts are mine as well, next time you are curious about something, simply ask. The sensation you are feeling belongs to the fabric called silk. This is a special silk that I will tell you about later.”
From that, Luna turned and looked at each of us one more time. “You all now know that something is happening, something that we don’t have all the pieces to solve, and that is why we are sending Adamas out into the world. To solve this puzzle one who was affected by it needs to search, and as Gods we cannot enter into the areas required for searching with ease. Do your best to prepare Adamas for general potential troubles that he may come across, and pray for his safe travels.”
Luna looked to Sol and spoke. “I think that about covers everything, don’t you think?”
“I do believe so. So with that, we shall take our leave.”
Turning to speak to the rest of us, Sol spoke. “With that, we will depart. And with all my deepest sincerity, I do hope that you all have a pleasant rest of your day.” At this closing statement, both gods started to glow their corresponding colors and dissipate in front of our very eyes. And moments later, almost like they were never there in the first place, both divine being were gone, leaving not even a trace. “Well that was certainly something,” Tesoro said as he got up from the chair he was in to stretch.
Finally I spoke. “And they are gone just like that, like the information they just dropped wasn’t completely earth shattering or mind boggling in the slightest. Is this how dealing with divine being usually goes?” I asked to no one in particular, and not really expecting an answer in return.
“For the most part, no, but the cryptic nature of messages is not uncommon from any faith, not just in ours,” Tesoro responded.
“Well, time to get going then, I’ve got a lot to deal with and six days to try and get it done in,” I said as I followed Tesoro in getting up. Turning to look at my dad, nothing was said but an agreement was reached and a story was made. “So I got scolded, got a slap on the wrist, and fell asleep next to a cup by my head. Think mom will by that?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “But any and all questions I had for you did get answered. Just know that your mom isn’t going to like not knowing anything.”
“… or the fact that the sun is setting now. She’s not going to like that either, as that means that she had Elaine and no help from us at all.” I said as I opened one of the windows behind the desk.
“Well if it’s not the devil from the outside, it’s the devil of your own making… might as well hurray home while Sol still lights the path Adamas. I’ve no clue how I’m going to explain this to Justicia…”
“You explain? How am I going to tell her that I’m leaving suddenly?”
Sharing a look once again, we both laugh at our unfortunate fate in the near future. Saying our goodbyes to Luminous Tesoro and Bright Daphne, my father and I began our long trek home. Out of the frying pan and all that.