The Meeting of the New

The five foot nine inch tall male god walked through a stone portal in to a small area of Shangri-la, dressed in his usual black leather sleeveless vest with his arms exposed and his legs clad in a black military cargo pants with bare feet. He looked around with his solid gold eyes with no white or even pupils, dirty blonde hair swinging around his shoulders and smiled as the area suited his fancy almost to well. A large stone rimmed pool dominated the area, with green, yes GREEN grass growing around it. Green was rare in the Khyper-diorem and even rarer still once inside the actual walls of Shangri-la. Bend at the waist the male stretched his hand out. He slowly slide his hand along the top of the grass. He smiled and stood up. Walking towards the pool he sat himself upon the edge, looking with in it and tilting his head. He concentrated upon his friend, Stilia wondering what she was doing.

He blinked with surprise as the surface of the large pool suddenly stilled, becoming like glass and a image began to surface across the entire surface. He smiled as an image of Stilia surfaced, sleeping somewhere in her gorgon form before he stop thinking of her. The image vanished from the surface of the water and he grinned. So this was indeed the Pool of Visions where one could come and see what was happening upon earth at any point in time. How interesting. How very interesting.

He sat, swirling his finger around in the water smiling to himself. Shangri-la, it was everything the humans claimed it to be. Well, sort of. It was just as good as they said, but in a much darker, almost foreboding way. Everything was so cold and hard, made of stone and dead rock that had been carved and forced in to unnatural shapes. He shook his head. Seemed everywhere he went, people where doing that. Forcing things to fit their natures instead of working with what was around them. He understood the necessity of it, but still didn't see why they at least attempted to work with nature as well.

His ears twitched slightly, catching the sounds of foot steps upon the stones outside the Pool's area and he turned, staring at the entrance portal to see who else he might be sharing this calm reflective area with instead of spending it in isolation.

Chaos didn't exactly know what she was doing here, she just had a feeling that she should be here. Not that she had anything important to attend to, plus it might be nice to see if there was anybody around here. She was new to being a goddess, something she didn't even seem to get a choice in being, and a little guidance could be useful. Chaos walked up the stone path to the Pool of Visions, her bare feet barely making any sound, her jeans were the ones scuffing against the ground. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but strands still fluttered in front of her face no matter how much she pushed them back.

Chaos's blue eyes were slightly glazed over as her mind was farther away thinking about the goddess she had met in that little Japanese restaurant. That place no longer stood of course, and neither did the people in it, and Chaos couldn't help but wonder why Ishtara had chosen her. She now stood in front of the portal and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she stepped through and entered.

Though Chaos was hoping to find someone, she wasn't expecting to find anyone so soon. However, on the other side was another god. Blonde hair, golden eyes, and probably a little bit taller than herself, he sat at the edge of what seemed to be the pool. He was facing towards the portal almost as if he was expecting her. Or well he seemed to be expecting somebody. his eyes...unnerved her yet she tried not to show it.

"Waiting for someone?" Chaos asked, not knowing what else to say. He didn't look threatening so she proceeded to move towards the pool and away from the entrance.

Standing a little ways away from the god, she looked into the pool. For some unknown reason she wondered what a certain friend from her past would think about this place. Despite the events that happened and how everything had played out, the cyclopes boy was probably her one true friend. Was being the operative word. Suddenly the pool started to change. It showed the field where Chaos used to spend hours of her time at. Also the field where unfortunate events took place. Her face contorted a bit as she turned away from the pool sharply.

Those memories weren't ready to be surfaced as she closed her eyes and willed them away. She shook her head, laughing a small laugh. "Really shows you anything, huh?" She said more to herself.

She turned back towards the god. "I'm Chaos Mordecai, sorry for the late introductions. I'm apparently a little out of it today." She said with a sheepish smile, holding out her hand.

[Varos Talantos]

"No worries." Forgery cooed as he jumped down from the top branch of a grey-blue leaved tree that stood firmly beside the pool. His feet made a soft thud as he landed beside the male. "You're actually quite in time, lady." He looked to the man beside him. "Ca'guuror DelaSangre. It's been a long time since a God turned over their powers and here we have two of you." He turned back towards the female. "You're quite the delightful one, aren't you, Chaos?" His face eased into one of a smile as he seemingly floated towards her, feet in graceful harmony. He stopped twelve inches before her, examining her face carefully for any emotion. "I'd heard of your famed beauty," he spoke softly, "But the legends are nothing compared to the person of truth." His eyes and face reflected his sincerity, adoration decoration his features. He leaned closer towards her to speak in her ear and whispered, "You know... we're meant to be together."

He turned suddenly to Cag'uuror again and laughed intensely as if he had just heard a grand joke. "You know, chap, you're supposed to be having fun, right?! It's Shangri-La! You're a God before men! Drink, be merry, laugh, live!!!" His hearty laughter reverberating cheerily still as he pulled a silver pitcher from seemingly nowhere. He poured a deep red wine into a similarly-appearing goblet that he handed to the man. He poured more into a diamond chalice and handed it to the lady with a bow. A flagon of ruby appeared and more wine was poured until the vessel had been filled. Forgery placed the flagon carefully at the edge of the pool and pulled a small wooden cup out, filled it, and smiled, his laughter faded to mere merriment. "Welcome, friends, to the land of the Khyper-Diorem. May your lives be long and your names longer." With that, he downed his wine and placed his cup onto the ground, where it was absorbed. "I am Forgery."

[Solemn Creed]

Sol frowned to himself as he stepped through the portal to Shangri-La. The first thing he had done once he had 'ascended', as he liked to think of it, was to cleanse his mind of the voices. Sol was now dreadfully sane, and found himself making all of his decisions without the input of emotional extremes for the first time in centuries. He liked this feeling, the feeling of being in control. But also, his new found godhood had made other aspects of himself more pronounced.

Sol was dressed in a plain black t-shirt with faded black jeans and worn, scuffed black combat boots he hadn't bothered to polish. He was in his human form, which was like a second layer of skin to him after becoming so accustomed to it for so many years.

Sol glanced around the entrance area, running one hand through his ebony colored hair. His blue eyes had a bored look to them, he yearned to go somewhere and spread panic and chaos. Sol's eyes lit up when he realized something. He smiled slightly, every god had a domain and his was entropy...

He blinked when he realized that he had wandered a bit from the entry area and was standing a few feet or so from a pool with an almost glass-like surface surrounded by green grass. Sol realized green was a common color for plant life on earth, but from what he had seen in the KD and Shangri-La so far, it seemed wrong in this place...

Sol was not alone and around at the faces. One seemed vaguely familiar, another more so, and one he did not recognize at all. He sighed, they seemed to have been talking and now he was interrupting things. "Eh, don't mind me..." he told them offhandedly as he walked to the far side of the pool and laid down. Something about the pool relaxed the boiling turmoil within his mind, and with his recent transition having been so exhausting, he could use a little relaxing...

[Aine Erotes]

It seemed to her, as Varos’ bare feet padded lightly against the grass, that everyone was gathered. By the Pool of Visions, no less, a place she frequented often. She had her scales in hand, as she had planned to sit there as she usually did and watch the world, occasionally interrupting the flow of events to balance it out slightly. It was very important to the Goddess that everything had an equal reaction, something the humans had dubbed ‘karma’. But this seemed as if it would not happen, not with everyone gathered there. Was there a meeting in place? If so, why had she not been informed? If it was indeed a meeting, she would probably be slightly peeved at Forgery afterwards, as the newcomers could not be expected to know such things.

As she approached, she counted her steps in her head. One two, one two. One… It seemed she had reached the edge, but her left foot had had one more step than her right one. Frowning slightly, she lifted her right foot and placed it down again before transferring to the soft green grass. She approached all the other Gods, listening to their words. Forgery was there, yes, but he always seemed to pop up where there was the most excitement. And there was the new girl Chaos, Forgery’s new opposite. She wondered how he would treat her, and if she would give up like Ishtara. She certainly hoped not, as Lies needed an opposite. Everything needed an opposite. Even herself, as much as she hated it, had an opposite, that black-haired God laying down, one of Chaos, one who disrupted her beloved Balance. How wretched, her work would have to be doubled now that someone was trying to undo it. And then there was the new golden eyed God of Nature, the only one who did not have a physical manifestation of an opposite. No, he had to fight civilization in it’s entirety, and he could not simply kill it like one could do to a God. Poor darling, if the fight got too hard, she may have to lend her assistance once in a while to even out the odds. She may also have to help Chaos- The Goddess, not the God of Entropy- as she settled in. Make sure she could stand on two feet. She wouldn’t help her win, just prevent her from losing.

Her blue eyes grazed across the motley assemble. She noted absently how short she was compared to the others, she was the smallest of them all. A meager five foot five, a nice, even, balanced height. All of them were much taller though, several inches taller. She resisted the urge to sigh, wondering if she should start to take a taller form. Perhaps six foot six? But that seemed a tad too much. She let the inconsequential matter go, before noting the cups. She resisted an urge once more, but this time it was the one to laugh. “Now, Forgery, you are not trying to poison the new Gods and make them sick, now are you?”

Before even awaiting an answer, she turned her eyes to Ca’guuror and Chaos, smiling lightly. “Welcome. I am Varos.”

Ca'guuror took the hand the female offered him and shook it firm but gently. He released it as the other male god leap down from a tree, landing beside himself. Then the other male engaged with Chaos and introduced himself and Cag simply stood there smiling, revealing his sharpened top and bottom canines. Then a another male entered, somebody he remembered perfectly well though not by name. A man who was not playing very fair so he had stepped in. He chuckled at the sight of him and shook his head slowly. Turning to Forgery as he spoke to his own personage Cag nodded, taking the ruby red goblet that was offered to him.

"Oh, I am quite enjoying myself. I enjoy many things in many different manners. I just don't seem to show it as most others do." He turned to Chaos, raising the glass ready to introduce himself as another goddess walked in, carrying a old fashioned scale. He smiled at her, taking in her magnificent red hair as she talked about poisoning and came up and introduced herself as Varos. He looked about, seeing no other cup for her and promptly took a sip from his glass then offered it to her own.

"No poison, no worries. Here, you should have this as there seems to be no other. Besides, I prefer to steer clear of alcoholic beverages. Never had a fancy for them." He extended the still full glass towards her and smiled as he offered it to her. He hoped she would take it so he didn't feel required to drink the liquid inside. He looked between the other people one at a time, taking in all their faces and save them to memory. They where indeed all gods before men. However, they didn't always have to act like it. They could all still be killed, as could be accounted to for Ishtara, and Locutus who had both given their lives by transferring their powers to mortals.

Forgery Zaytsev, god of deception. She had never met him, but she had heard enough stories about him to know who he was. He came down from a tree and Chaos almost jumped out of surprised and turned fully to see him, pulling away from the other god. He came towards her offering her compliments on her appearance before leaning in and saying they were meant to be together. Chaos knew that she was Forgery's opposite like Ishtara used to be so it made sense, but Chaos wasn't sure fate was gonna decide her love life for her. She gave him half a smile as he turned to the other god, Ca'guuror DelaSangre. Chaos was curious about him as well; Forgery had mentioned that he had become a god the same way she had.

Chaos took the chalice from Forgery with a smile. And then another being walked into the small area. Chaos felt her eyes widen in surprise as she took in the individual. Solemn Creed. There was a face she hadn't seen in a long time. Ever since...she decided not to reminisce on those memories. However, she was under the impression that he was a demon when they had met. She wondered when he ascended. She watched as he took the far side of the pool, a bit a ways from everybody. She could bug him later.

Their next guest was a woman with red hair. Chaos stared at her in awe, she was so beautiful. Chaos loved red hair, loved how it looked on people. The woman mentioned something about poison and Chaos looked down at her chalice in question. It was fine. She brought the cups to her lips. Very fine. Chaos wasn't one for red wine, but she could make an exception. The woman was introduced as Varos, the goddess of balance if Chaos was right, and Ca'guuror offered her his wine with a smile. Chaos decided to walk over to where Sol was and looked at him.

"Solemn Creed. How have you been?"Chaos asked, leaning against the pool as she looked around, taking everything in. Gods before men, huh?

[Varos Talantos]

Forgery smiled warmly at Varos as she approached and released a slight chuckle after her poison joke. It was obviously a joke as Forgery wouldn't kill these pups before they knew how the game worked; it wasn't sporting. Afterwards he might poison them, but not now. He shook his head slightly, a slight smile on his face. "Hello again, Varos. Still counting your steps to no neurotic end?" He snickered about his soft jab. Locutus' replacement offered his drink to the Goddess of Balance and Forgery interrupted his motion by pulling an opal mug filled with warm red liquid from his robe and tossing it at Varos for her to catch.

Turning on heel, he swooped up the ruby flagon from the side of the pool and stepped to the entropic being at the end of it. He handed the drink to him. "This one was for you." He cooed with a smile. "Drink up, comrades. Today we might celebrate but, as your mate pointed out," he said, indicating Solemn, "We do have opposites and you may well be slain by the red-haired beauty upon the morn's entrance." His eyes glimmered and his single working eye flashed an odd look, a strange emotion or expression that was hard to understand (let alone explain). He turned his eye mischievously to Varos. "Being the case, enjoy your nights with her while you can."

His eye returned to Chaos, looking her over and slowly bobbed his head as if nearly entranced, repeating, "Enjoy it while you can."[/color]

[Solemn Creed]

At the approach of yet another god, this one a red haired female, Sol sat up and leaned back on his arms. The color red had always caught his eye better than any other, so it did not surprise him when he felt the urge to stare. Suppressing this feeling, he looked at his feet and kept his neutral expression.

Sol sighed, he was a bit wary and apprehensive of being here. He was God of Entropy and that could make things a bit difficult for him. Chaos was a thing commonly misunderstood by those who were not quite as intimate with it as himself. When the red haired goddess arrived, he could almost sense who she was. Varos, Forgery Zaytsev said, goddess of balance. Sol's first thought was that maybe she was his opposite, as Forgery and Chaos were.

After a quick look over though, Sol shook his head slightly to himself. She was not his opposite, he quickly realized, despite whatever others may think, he could feel it in his essence, his soul. Her presence neither attracted nor repulsed him. She was just another god present. Varos was balance, he was entropy, an extreme, but only one extreme of many. Order, that would be his opposite, and balance was not that. But any extreme could technically be an enemy of balance, such as deception, truth, or nature even... Sol looked at each god in turn as he thought this.

Sol looked up at Chaos when she approached and attempted to engage him in conversation, Sol held the same blank expression on his face, showing no recognition. Of course he remembered her, it would be difficult to forget a person so tied to some of his most recent, vivid memories. "I have been well enough." he answered briefly, in response to her question. Sol hesitated to ask how she had been, but he asked anyways. "So, how has fate been treating you as of late?"

When Forgery offered the ruby flagon to him, Sol forced a small smile and accepted it. He made a slight bow of his head in respect, never keeping his eyes off the other god, and he set the flagon next to him. "Later, maybe.." he said almost apologetically, but also in a tone that implied he had no intention of drinking it.. ever.

Sol sighed again and stood, realizing how rude he had been to all the other Gods. He put on a genuinely warm smile and did a small, graceful, respectful bow to the others. "Greetings all, I apologize for my poor manners earlier. I am Solemn Creed, God of Entropy. It is a pleasure to meet such fine beings as yourselves." he looked at each god in turn, and once finished he remained standing but turned back to Chaos.

Sol's smile widened. "It is wonderful to see you as a Goddess, Chaos. Surely there could be none more worthy. May I ask the details of your ascension?"

[Aine Erotes]

She smirked slightly when both the new Gods assured her it wasn’t poisoned. She had thought she had actually gotten modern Earth humor right for once, but apparently not. She knew full well they were safe, although she half-wished they weren’t. If all the Gods dropped dead, balance would be so much easier to obtain. Not that she would do that though, as they did have uses as well.

Ca’guuror seemed to be offering her his glass, and she frowned a slight bit. All she had to do was wait, for surely Forgery would- Ah, yes, there it was. Forgery had stepped in, of course, throwing her an opal mug full of the red liquid. He mocked her as well, but she simply ignored the small taunt instead of summoning a bit of her anger. It would be pointless arguing, and with these new Gods present it was a day of peace. She gave a smile instead, giving a small nod of her head as thanks for the cup, also giving the same gesture to the Nature God for offering her his cup. She sipped on the liquid, a wine of exquisite taste, better than many of the human’s productions of it. She did not down it, but merely continuously sipped on it, her eyes following as the black-haired Goddess walked on over to Entropy, apparently already knowing them.

It was a tad awkward, holing her cup in one hand and her scales in the other, so she tucked them away as if they were never there, before returning her attention to the others. She frowned once more when she listened to Forgery’s talk. He spoke of her thoughts, as if she had said them aloud for all to hear. The other Gods probably hadn’t been paying a lick of attention to her mind, but Forgery was informing them now. He even had the audacity to call her Sol’s mate of all things, causing the corners of her lips to tug down as she sipped upon the red wine once more. But once he mentioned her slaying him, an amused smile quickly replaced the expression. “Oh, Forgery, if I had had plans to slay any Gods, I would have rallied with Ishtara to slay you before she decided to die. The new Gods would have been simple matters to care of. So one must not worry, I shan’t kill any of you.”

She gave an amused laugh and finished off the wine, setting it down to the ground. Really, the Gods would not be beings to slay, not unless they spiraled out of control. Varos would be their enemy, and their ally. Never shall she let them lose, but neither will she let them win. If one were to use Varos, it would be a double-edged sword. Both harming and helping them. A step forward and a step back.

The male god of nature sighed and retracted the glass of wine as Forgery tossed the female a glass of her own wine. Seeing that he had no way of pawning his drink off upon another now he sighed and dipped his finger in to the liquid. He swirled it in a counter clockwise way thrice before removing it. As his finger left the liquid, the ripples that expanded outwards from it went from ruby read to crystal clear. Smiling he sipped the now crystal clear water and nodded in contentment. He looked over at the two gods and one goddess. Chaos seemed interested in attempting to strike up a conversation, while Forgery was intently hitting upon the female. Cag rolled his eyes and spoke softly in their direction.

"Easy Forgery, hit much harder and the female will shatter like glass." He chuckled and sipped his water again, then raised his eyebrow upon Varos. He had no opposite, not truly however this female intrigued him slightly. Why? Simple, because of what she was. As the goddess of balance, he had to respect her slightly. Nature thrived upon a delicate balance between life and death, destruction and creation, as well as the balance between humans and nature itself. So although they where not the same, many of their goals would lie with in the same direction. Which gave him a sense of belonging with her. Not in any intimate sense, but in a way of I scratch your back your scratch mine. They could work towards the same goals. Or at least slightly.

(I know...it sucks. I have major writer's block and I just kinda sorta slapped this together)

Chaos had turned to look at Forgery as he talked about Varos. He made her sound as if she would kill all of them if they became a nuisance to her precious balance. Chaos could have laughed, for her mind seemed to think that since she was a goddess of balance, shouldn't it be her right to remove anyone who tries to disrupt it? She seemed to be on no side and Chaos was intrigued with the goddess to say the least. Forgery also referred to Varos as Sol's mate. They were opposites, as were her and Forgery. She glanced over at Ca'guuror and wondered what exactly was the opposite of nature. Varos reassured everyone that she wouldn't be killing anyone any time soon, she was amused.

Chaos could feel Forgery's stare and she laughed as Ca'guuror made a comment about shattering like glass. She turned to look at him with a smirk. "Do I look that fragile?" She asked in amusement.

Sol didn't seem very interested in talking at all, but after a moment he introduced himself properly to the rest of the gods, with a warm smile. He continued to smile as he turned back to Chaos and asked about her ascension. She made the barest of flinches at the thought. It wasn't the happiest moment of her life, though she was proud to take Ishtara's place. She had worshiped the goddess her whole life, obsessing over the truth. Meeting the goddess herself was a blessing, but the fuzzy memory of watching her cry and then disappear from the world broke her heart.

"I was in Tokyo actually, hiding as usual." Chaos said, leaning against the edge of the pool once more. "To be honest, I never thought I would ever have a goddess seek me out. I don't really remember a lot of it to be honest, but I remember Ishtara kissing my head and then I was on my back and the destroyed restaurant surrounded me. It was...I'm not sure I can even put it into words." Chaos said as her right hand rested on her left forearm, nails biting into the skin. She shrugged off the bad mood. "And you?" She said looking back up at him. "When did you ascend? How?" She was very curious to how Sol became a god.

[Varos Talantos]

Forgery yawned. These new Gods were even more boring than the old ones... pretentious, too. Varos at least paid him his dues but these young ones thought they were some hot stuff. Maybe he should've poisoned the drinks.... Too late now, he supposed. He lolled his head over to look at Varos. "Boring party, Miss. I'm off." He shifted his gaze quickly to look at Chaos. "You'll see more of me soon, my Love. For now, I've work to do." He grinned at the Goddess and turned on heel, walking towards his hovel to think. Ishtara escaped, but would another? She was, after all, the only one to have escaped and if this girl couldn't do it, then why did it matter? It would be harder to do it a second time and he might take a beating in the process, but it would be worth it if she stayed where she belonged... "Damn you, Ishtara!!" He uttered loudly in the solace of his home. If only she'd stayed dead like the others, he would be in a wonderful situation. As it stood, he had new meat to deal with. It simply was unfair. He exhaled in a slow sigh, calming his frustrations as he decided he would deal with it nonetheless... as he always had.[/color]

[Solemn Creed]

Sol chuckled "More beautiful than the finest porcelain, but tough as a dragon, with a temper to match." He smiled, beginning to truly enjoy himself for the first time since arriving. When Chaos flinched at his question, Sol's beaming smile dimmed a bit. Apparently, he had brought up a rather unpleasant memory when he had not meant to. Feeling slightly awkward all of a sudden, Sol rubbed the back of his head nervously, looking down at his feet, he muttered "My apologies if I brought up any distasteful memories for you.."

At Chaos' question of his own ascension, Sol thought for a minute. "Well, being me, Im not sure when exactly I ascended. I have a poor sense of the passing of time," Sol admitted, his hands in his pockets once more. After living a few millenia, some moments seemed to fly by for him or halt as if ages were passing "Where exactly, I believe I was admiring the mountain view from my study within my castle in France." He rubbed his chin, a habit he occasionally developed when thinking. "All I really remember is being struck by some force. It attempted to overwhelm me, the feeling was of raw power, albeit unfocused, but within the sea I calmed myself and held what little identity had not yet been smashed apart by its currents. I know not if it took place within the span of seconds or days, but I awoke with a feeling of power I shall never forget. I still feel it now, the power of a god. I had not only withstood the force, but absorbed it and molded it into my own. Now I am who you see today. No longer a simple daemon, but the God of Entropy."

As his story drew to a close, Sol blew a strand of hair from his eyes, feeling a strange moisture building within him. He had not cried in centuries and he was not about to now. Reassuming a cheerful look, Sol smiled at Chaos. "And there you have it."