The Star, The Demon, and The God - 18. Gods and Man

Tobias

Last night might have possibly been the longest night I have ever experienced.

Luno was crying his eyes out in silence. He was scared out of his mind. So much so that he gave the option of him leaving far away so that no harm comes to me or any of the humans here.

I immediately told him to fuck off with that statement. No way in hell am I letting him do something like that.

Never have I ever fought a God; not even for practice. Most of them never bother with getting their hands dirty.

Besides Raiyo of course.

Even then, he does not do combat. He is more of an assassin than anything honestly.

They all use others to do their dirty work. The Angels, Demons, Automatons, other things...the Gods are a bit lazy when it comes to that regard.

One of the thing that irks me the most is how they sit up high and mighty when they mostly create whispers that cause all kinds of panic in Thymestrys. Raiyo at least owns up to it and admits he does the same. He even says that the other Gods should be kicked off their high horse.

I couldn't agree more.

Now here I am, waiting for a Moon God who has spread so many whispers.

The dawn is coming soon, why has he not shown up yet? What could be possibly be waiting for? Is it for me to leave? I sure as hell won't be doing something as stupid at that.

Part of me is thinking that maybe he is too scared to come out here, that like all Gods, he will not even try to put in the effort of making a move for Luno.

Another part says that maybe he did not notice Luno in those few seconds that he was outside.

I am praying it is that one.

Thymestrys is a big world. Surely the Moon God would not notice every little thing that comes out into his light.

Sure, Luno is a Star and apparently a attempt at a clone of Raiyo, but would it be that easy to find him in a world full of so many things that dance around in the moonlight?

I think not.

It is when I see the slight orange tint to the skies that I think that maybe he truly did not see Luno outside. I thank whatever Gods of luck are out there. It was truly a close call.

I notice that it has gone quiet in the tent now.

Luno is underneath the table and fast asleep on the grass. His eyes are a little puffy and pink from crying, but he has his two creatures asleep with him to protect him.

I managed to get him to make a new set of clothes for himself. Having him in his underwear in the cold would not be a good idea.

Now he is wearing a loose, white, long sleeve shirt that is tucked into brown pants. He also has some nice knee-high boots.

He still has the jewelry on as well, but it surprisingly looks alright on him. The rings and bracelets look normal. The belly and thigh chains look interesting but not tacky. I will say though that the anklets do not look particularly comfortable. They are bulging inside the boots.

For once, I approve of his choice in clothing. Mostly the actual clothing part. Not the jewelry. That is just too much in my opinion. More power to him I guess.

Sighing at the image, I turn to the skies once again, checking to make sure nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Just a bunch of clouds as the sun begins to rise. Good.

Since we have the necklace now, we are supposed to hurry back to Halehigh again.

Whatever the humans have planned for the necklace, I do not know. What I do know however, is that the necklace freaks me out.

I heard voices coming from it when I held it. Whispers. Some of them, I swear I have heard before. One was a little girl's voice. She was the one that stood out to me the most.

There was another voice, it almost sounded like Raiyo. It was telling me to wear the necklace. It kept whispering sweet things like how I could get my memory back from wearing it. It both spooked me and filled me with hope.

Could I finally get some grasp of what my mortal life was like? I so badly want to know, even if I was the most boring person on Thymestrys.

Something tells me that something happened though, Raiyo gave the hint to that as well.

If I were to try on the necklace, would I truly be able to learn about my past? It could be a trick! A trap set by Raiyo himself. He had his servants guarding it after all. So obviously it is trapped. It was in Raiyo's possession!

Yeah, I should not put on the necklace, no matter how much it tries to tempt me.

It is still very strange that it sends voices out. I don’t like that.

Just as I am about to turn back into the tent, I see Vlad making his way towards me. He has a worried expression on his face.

“How is he?” He asks, trying to walk past me into the tent.

I block him off.

“He is fine,” I say. “Leave him alone for now.”

Vlad chuckles and steps back to look up at me.

“You have a funny way of showing your affections, Demon,” He winks.

At that, he pretty much asked for a punch to the face.

Once he stands again and he calls off his guards, he rubs on his jaw. “Quite a punch you got there,” He huffs a laugh. “That proves it enough for me though.”

“What do you want, human,” I say it as if it was a curse word.

He shrugs. “Only wanted to check on the flower boy...and also to see the necklace we have been after.”

Right. They need it. What they will do with it, I do not know.

“Wait here,” I say before entering the tent to bring out the necklace. It is stuck in Luno’s hand. I left it there because I did not want to hold it.

Vlad brings himself inside anyways; completely ignoring me.

I sigh.

“Should I even ask why he is sleeping under the table in only his underwear?” He laughs.

Luno startles himself awake at the sound of Vlad’s voice. He looks up at him with eyes filled with fear. Only when he realizes who he is, he calms down.

“Hey don’t be scared! It’s only sweet, old me,” Vlad winks.

My hands clench up into a fist, trying their best not to pummel this man’s face in. Nobody should talk to Luno like that.

“He came for the necklace,” I say, hoping it will make Vlad go away sooner.

Luno glances at me and nods before looking for it. When he sees that the necklace is in his hand, he looks a little confused but still hands it to Vlad anyways.

“Is this really it?” Vlad asks, raising an eyebrow at it. “It looks so...normal.”

“You should see when nobody touches it,” Luno says. “Drop it and you will see what I mean.”

At first he looks unsure on checking that, but he eventually does drop the necklace. As soon as he does, it begins to glow a soft white light and float in the air.

Well, if that does not scream ‘Magical Necklace’ then I don’t know what will.

We all stare at the mysterious necklace for a moment before Vlad breaks the silence.

“I’ll...tell everyone to pack up to get moving,” He says, still staring at the necklace. “We need to get to Halehigh and soon.”

He grabs the necklace and nods to us before marching out of the tent.

Luno turns to me and releases a shaky breath.

“You’re still scared?” I ask. “It is morning now. He won’t be coming for you.”

“How do you know?” He whispers. “He could be outside right now for all we know.”

To prove him wrong, I open the tent flap and find a lovely empty space in front of us. Clearly no Moon God is here.

He gives a small shriek when I shove the tent flap aside. When he sees there is nothing, he sends me a frown.

“That’s not funny,” He says. “What if he was actually there and you just let him in like that?”

I laugh. “You think I would let him try and get you without fighting him off?”

He blinks at me in silence before he almost shouts, “You would fight a God?”

I shush him and glare at the possibility of others hearing him. The last thing we need are more annoying humans in our business.

“Tobi?” Luno says.

“Yeah?”

“I’m starving,” He whines. “I want potato soup!”

I smirk and make my move to find the cook. Surely they can make a quick soup for their savior. If not, then I bet if I send a few threats it will get the job done.

Pushing the tent flap open, I am about to walk off when a bird screeches and flies right into the tent.

Luno screams inside and I run back in.

His screams turn into laughter.

A brown eagle is rubbing the side of its beak against Luno’s cheek. They are both on the table and Luno is giggling at the eagle’s onslaught of beak snuggles.

It is disgusting. Also, why am I jealous of a bird? When did this shit even start happening?

I notice the eagle has a case attached to its leg.

A messenger? I did not know they used eagles for that. Interesting.

Reaching for the case, I pull a rolled up envelope from it. It has a strange symbol on the wax seal. Two axes crossed together.

Luno screams, jumps off the table and gets behind me.

What was once an eagle now stands a woman. She wears a brown feathered dress. It has golden jewels that are scattered along the top.

She has brown hair and pale skin. I guess I could say she was beautiful. That possibly means she is a bitch though. Most of the gods are afterall.

I pull my weapons out and aim them at the Goddess.

“Oh it is so nice to finally meet you,” The Goddess does even look at me. She opens her arms to Luno.

“My, my! I see Morgoren really liked the face I made for Raiyo,” She giggles. “Obviously he is not as talented as me, but damn...he sure was close to my work. He messed up on the cheeks, nose, eyes, and chin. I supposed some practice would have been needed to make the perfect face I had done for Raiyo.”

I push Luno out of her sight and keep my pistol aimed for her head.

“What do you want Altiba?” I glare. “Must I call Raiyo to keep you away from the Star?”

She smirks and looks down at me. “So it is true. A Demon really is the Star’s pet feline! Imagine what will happen when you remove that mask you hold now.”

I just about pull the trigger but Luno’s hand falls over mine, keeping me from hurting her.

It would only hurt her. Gods are unfortunately hard to kill.

Altiba eyes Luno for a moment, they flick back and forth between me and Luno. After a small while, she gives a warm smile and nods.

“Forgive me if I was rude,” She says with a bow of her head. “I had only judged based on the outside, not the inside. It is clearly more than that.”

Not too sure how to take that honestly. I can tell is leaves Luno confused as well.

“Well! I have news from my brethren,” She says. “I require an audience with the leaders of these humans!”

Luno and I glance at each other before turning to the goddess.

“Very well,” I say, not at all bothering with trying to decline her. She would probably turn me into a toad or something.

Wouldn’t Luno just love that.

~~~

We do not escort. In all honesty, it feels like she is the one escorting us.

When we arrive to the King’s tent, a handful of soldiers pull their weapons out on her. She just smiles at the scene.

“I mean you no harm,” She says with a small curtsy. “I only wish to speak with your King. I bring urgent news.”

Some of the soldiers give each other uneasy looks. One even sheaths her weapon. She also walks into the tent, no doubt to call Vlad out here.

Coughing can be heard inside and it gets closer and closer.

The tent flap is pushed to the side as Vlad comes out with a piece of bread in his hand and coughing into his fist.

One look at the Goddess and Vlad’s face goes pale.

I suppose it is not too hard to tell that she is not human. She gives off an aura that suggests she is powerful. Is it the same feeling with Raiyo, only Altiba’s aura feels softer.

“Greetings, I am Altiba, the Goddess of Beauty and love,” She blinks her eyelashes to Vlad. “I have information that I am supposed to share with you and your cousins. If you would be so kind as to come with me, we may speak about urgent matters.”

A green portal opens next to us, making some of the soldiers nearby to panic.

Looking through the portal, I see that it leads back to the castle in Halehigh.

Vlad’s eyes are wide and his mouth hangs open.

“Would you please step through,” Altiba gestures to the portal.

At first he is hesitant, but eventually he walks through. Altiba then turns to us.

“You two are needed as well,” She says. “Please, join us.”

Frowning, I grab Luno’s hand and pull him with me, making sure he is always behind me so that the Goddess does not try something.

Once we step through, I look back into the portal as Altiba walks through. The soldiers on the other side stare back at us with shock on their faces.

“I will bring your soldiers back as soon as I know your side of the deal is confirmed,” Altiba says. “Come with me!”

Enfi manages to fly through just as the portal closes. She immediately goes to her perch on Luno’s shoulder.

We follow Altiba through the castle. Again, it is strange that she is making us follow her in a place she couldn’t possibly have been in before.

“What’s happening,” Luno whispers, a bit too loudly.

I shrug and shush him.

“You will know in due time,” Altiba says over her shoulder with a smile.

Luno bites his lip and keeps a grip on my arm. I do not bother with forcing it off, even if his nails are digging into my skin.

Speaking of skin, I am glad that he managed to heal his skin back up. There are faint lines of the damage but other than that, he looks good as new!

Thank the gods for that. I did not want to see him all battered and messed up.

We arrive in the war room. Luno did not look particularly excited for that.

Now I expected to see the other Bancrofts in here, what I did not expect was to find myself staring at two other Gods.

One has on fur and leather armor. It is a blend of grays and browns. A strap across his chest holds a set of throwing knives. His belt has swords on both sides of his hips and a pouch full of who knows what. His boots have spikes over the knees.

The part that sticks out to me are the animal tails that hang across his shoulders and back.

One look at Luno and I see a glare on his face and his flowers turning red.

I grab his hand in hopes that it will calm him. He looks up at me and I give him a look that says to calm down and try not to let us die right now to the God of War.

The other god in the room would be the God of the Sun.

There is no way any other god would wear golden armor and have red wings like a bird attached to his tanned arms.

Not only that, but his presence is literally lighting up the room.

“What is this,” I say with a scowl.

All these Gods present and I am the only one able to defend Luno? They could easily take him away! I need to get us out of here.

“We need help,” The Sun God says. “Our very beings have been threatened by a source of hate. It has killed two of my children. It has gotten to the point that we must kicked away the hateful embers and be rid of it forever.”

The Kings and Queens look confused. Can’t say that I blame them. I am as well.

“What are you talking about,” One of the Queens says as she bows her head.

“Yes,” I roll my eyes. “If you fucking spit it out, we would be grateful.”

Luno smacks my chest and frowns at me.

I sigh and cross my arms.

The God of War decides to speak.

“We are going to stop Raiyo from tormenting us any longer!” He slams his fist onto the table. It ends up making the corner of the table snap completely off.

The Kings and Queens look at the table in horror, no doubt thinking about the same fist connecting with their heads.

“Why do you need to stop him,” I say, a bit hesitant. “What could he possibly have done to force your hands?”

“They killed Mother,” Luno whispers next to me. In such a quiet voice that none of the others hear it.

The War God slowly steps up in front of me, standing another two heads above me.

“Figures a demon would say something like that,” He sneers. “A shame the star chooses to have such filthy company at his side.”

Luno bows his head, not wanting to make eye contact with the God. I for one do the opposite! I hold my fucking ground. I will not let this asshole push on me.

“Your beloved King,” He says with chuckle. “He has killed the Gatekeeper and the God of Darkness. You think we are just going to sit idle any longer? No. Now we are taking action. He wishes to go to War, then we will go to war! Together, we will all bring him down.”

My eyes widen at hearing that.

He killed two gods? When the hell did he do that? I never even knew what happened to the God of Darkness. I just assumed he was a loner like Drulai or Raiyo. Apparently he was fucking killed!

And the Gatekeeper? Oh my Gods. Poor Luno. Though I will admit, she had that one coming.

All of this just makes me realize that Raiyo really isn’t all that good.

I get it, demons prioritize with cursing the innocent and trying to trap souls for us to harvest, but do we really have to stoop so low to being bad all the time?

Raiyo set rules to keep us sated but to also keep us from causing too much harm. I was more than happy with those rules.

This is all leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

“What makes you think we would want to help you?” Vlad says. “For all we know, this could be a trap! You could be trying to kill us like everything else in the world!”

“Oh please,” The God of War laughs. “You think we want to come to you for help? That is pretty much the last thing we want to do.”

“Then why the hell are you here?” A Queen says.

A loud argument follows after that between the Gods and humans.

I just stand here thinking over all of Raiyo’s actions.

Killing innocent with their own rulers turned into werewolves, finding the wisp in the village, killing gods! What else has he done? What other torment has he brought to the world?

Oh gods. Does everyone here even know that Raiyo is behind all the human deaths? Surely the gods must know. They are gods! What don’t they know?

“Silence,” Altiba shouts.

At once all voices stop shouting as well.

“You look like you have something to say, Demon,” She nods to me. “What is it? What is creeping on the end of your tongue?”

I bite my lip and glance down at Luno, wondering if I should really tell them. If I do, it is completely betraying my kind and my King. I would practically be committing treason!

Does that even matter though? Why should I defend someone who is clearly going against all morals they have been trying to teach us?

With a deep breath, I tell them all about what I found in the village. How the wisp was trying to move the body out to the pile of corpses. Pretty much telling them that Raiyo is behind it all.

It is unfortunately true. He is behind all these deaths.

Luno also shares about his experience in the Jailhouse. He tells everyone about how Raiyo’s Automatons were guarding the necklace.

At the mention of the necklace, Vlad pulls it out for the Gods to see.

They stare at it with narrowed eyes.

“What did Drulai wish to do with this?” The Sun God asks.

The Kings and Queens glance at me before answering.

“We were to try and place it around Raiyo’s neck,” Vlad says. “We were never sure why, but we believe it was to bring everyone back. Apparently it was also supposed to...bring back the past...we were never sure what that meant. All we know was that it should also be able to incapacitate him. Again, not sure how. Drulai only told us to place the necklace on him and all will be fixed.”

That seems to grab the attention of the War God the most.

“You mean to say that it can stop him? For how long?” he asks, almost sounding hopeful. “Is there only one necklace?”

Luno and I nod.

Altiba holds the necklace between her fingers. “Perhaps I can ask our blacksmith to try and replicate it and its magic.”

“You can do that?” Luno asks in awe.

She nods with a smile.

“I will have him create over a hundred necklaces by tomorrow,” She says. “We need one in everyone’s hands. Your soldiers must try their hardest to get these necklaces on Raiyo.”

King Twine raises an eyebrow. “You think we would just hand over our armies just like that? We are going to need something in return.”

Vlad scoffs and nods to the Gods.

“We will,” He says, the Queens nodding with him. “It will be an honor to fight alongside you all.”