Darkness















Thick, impenetrable darkness.


















Burn... my eyes... burn. Everything hurt to Astaroth, he tried to move but found his movements blocked by a seemingly impossible weight. He began to panic W-Where am I??? I'm trapped! I need to get out! He breathed heavily, his eyes darting back and forth, barely seeing light through the cracks between... bones? I'm in Canis... He calmed down a bit, knowing he was in the cavern he knew of as home. He looked through the cracks, seeing that he wasn't quite as far down as he imagined... he was just too weak to do anything to get out easily. He tried to do something he never had before, he tried to use the dark magic he knew so well to and twist it to something good, a source of healing.

"Speaking."
Thoughts.

[/quote]

As the wolf, a shadow of the night, felt new power surge through his old bones, he felt the pain less and less. He growled, pushing himself up through the pile of dust and bones, his eyes glowing a bright violet. He cringed away from the bright lights from the ceiling. What had happened?

He only had dim recollections of the events leading up to his entombment. He could remember trotting away from the lizard, happy with himself but guilty about leaving her so along for so long. He wondered how she has been faring while he was gone.

He remembered trotting to the top of his den and concentrating, trying to practice his newest found ability. He remembered losing control, putting too much power into his creation. He remembered flying through the air, feeling weightless as he crashed into a stack of bones, his creation vanishing in the blink of an eye as he rolled to the bottom of the stack. He remembered how the bones covered his broken body. He remembered slipping into abyssal darkness.



He dragged himself back to his den, laying down inside before taking an assessment of his wounds. Even walking over, he could feel that he had injured his already lame paw, the twisted limb now sent sharp stabs of pain down his boy every time he put his weight on it. He refused to take that pain into account, however.

After a moment, he howled or at least tried. He found his voice was harsh, raspy, he could barely make a sound.

"What was I thinking?" He croaked out painfully.

"Speaking."
Thoughts.

[/quote]

Another trip to the boneroom always did Reseda some good. She was still an alien to Orion, still a fish out of water. It was as comforting as comfort could be to a lizard without emotion, being in the room of bones. It was as normal as normal could be, munching on the bones she collected.

But this was just another trip to get some more bones. It was a labored trip, the wound on her stomach from her fight with Blueberry not fully healed yet, but it was necessary. She was out of bones again.

As she collected and gathered some good pieces in her mouth, she caught the sound of an achingly familiar voice. A voice she hadn't heard for many cycles and it took her a moment to believe that it was really him.

The deep one, as she had called him, although she had given up her foolish, silly name game long ago. Astaroth is what he called himself. Her master, for a time, the one that had set her on this path. Her tongue flickered with interest and she began to lumber her way to where the voice was coming from.

She approached from behind, seeing the dark pelt of the wolf among the littered bones. She remembered the last time they had met - he had frozen her with magic. Although she didn't know that same spell, she thought that she could replicate it, for irony's sake.

She focused on the wolf and willed her magic to lock him in place. Stop him from moving. Hold him down, at least for a moment. She took another step forward so that she was in view if he would only turn around...or if she would let him turn around. She remembered the same words he had used on her before and repeated them, in the same tone and voice he had used many cycles ago. "Well well well, what have we here?"

@Astaroth

While the spell certainly affected Astaroth, it did not do so very well, if he was not so weak at the moment he would have easily been able to break it. He chuckled as he heard the voice of the lizard. "Ah, young child. Reseda, was it? I was just wondering how you have been faring in my... absence. My hubris seemed to have gotten the best of me, the last thing I remember before my err.. accident, is speaking to you.. how long ago was that?" He croaked out, his voice raspy and weak. He focused once more on trying to bring the magic pulsing through his body, trying to heal himself further. His breathing evened out, his fur seemed to regain some luster and his muscles continued to flush out as he felt his strength return to him more once again.

"Speaking."
Thoughts.

Notes: @Greed

She released the magic as Astaroth began to speak and stared at him with her cold, uncaring eyes, no mask covering her features, no cover up to show a better creature. Young child? A strange title to give her, considering that she was neither. Perhaps young to him, but definitely not a child. Perhaps all the time along was scrambling his brains as it seemed to do to many.

There was no movement in her features to acknowledge any of what Astaroth was saying. She didn't care for his absence, she had been fine on her own. In fact, she was sure that she had done more in her time then he had done in his. She was almost there, almost at the top, where she had always wanted to be. "I am Reseda," she confirmed, coolly, "But many call me Greed now. You can call me either, it matters little to me."

She thought back to the last time they had spoke and counted the cycles. It had been a while hadn't it? "It has been 7 cycles, if I am correct. You have been sleeping a long time."

@Astaroth

"7 cycles.... by the caves that's a long time.. that would make me now 24 cycles in age...." He sighed, shaking the dust out of his coat and rising. "Greed? That's funny. A petty title. Holds about as much meaning as the fact I used to be called Demon." He let out a short barking laugh. "So what have you been up to these last 7 cycles, child? And yes, I will call you child, as that is what you are in comparison to me." He sat back on his haunches, he let the magic surge through him once again, feeling refreshed, better than he had in a long time now.
"Speaking."
Thoughts.

Notes: @Greed

Reseda had forgotten how much of a talker Astaroth was. Did she talk like that back in the day? Had he rubbed off on her at all? She knew that she certainly didn't talk that much now, but perhaps back then had been a different story.

She wasn't sure why he laughed at the name of Demon. Her title of Greed, of course, was not something he probably knew about. She was simply one of the Seven and she needed the proper title to go along with her position as greed. And his degradation of her, of refusing to call her by her proper names and instead calling her simply "child" told her that he was proud and arrogant. And an idiot.

"As I said," she repeated in the same cool tone, "it matters little to me. Call me the title that suits you." She paused for a moment, thinking about what she would tell Astaroth. Her tongue flickered a little bit and she settled on something that she knew would, perhaps, make him angry.

"What have I done these cycles..." she whispered, as if thinking. She began to slowly crawl down the pile of bones she was perched upon to pace around the gray wolf. Carefully, she let lose a thin trail of magic to connect their minds. She wanted to know his reaction to what she was to say but was careful to keep her presence hidden. If it was successful, he wouldn't even know she was there and she would be able to hear what he was thinking. It was her turn to do some talking. "I have practiced my magic, I have met many creatures, I have seen the many caves. I got into fights, some I lost some I won. I have listened to talk and did some talking myself. And..." She stopped and stared directly into the wolf's face. "I have done what you could not. By my own workings I have created a kingdom from the shadows. I have put a weak-minded fool on the top, a fool that will be replaced when the time is right. There are many strong creatures in this kingdom. We have allies. We have enemies. And I was the one who created it. While you were here, failing your magic and sleeping for cycles, I was working hard. And soon...soon my work will pay off."

@Astaroth

Astaroth was not ashamed to be mildly impressed. "Interesting, and what do you call this society?" he said, stepping forward and meaning to touch a paw to her foot, all he needed was the slightest amount of contact and he would see everything she had done in his absence, and possibly even things from before. Trying to reach back, let his magic surge through her and back to see what he had missed.

"Speaking."
Thoughts.

Notes: @Greed

Reseda was mildly disappointed that she had not managed to make Astaroth mad. He was actually impressed with her. It was a bit of a surprise and Reseda found no more use, then, in listening to his thoughts. She cut the magic off. She happened to notice Astaroth's paw moving towards her foot and with a flick of her tongue she could sense the magic. She didn't know what spell it was but she wasn't going to have him casting anything on her. Just in time she moved her foot away and smoothly began pacing again.

"The "King" of this kingdom calls it the Sinful Seven. I searched the cave for those that would make good sins and found most of them. It's a fitting name for us."

@Astaroth

Astaroth snorted in derision. "Sinful Seven, that's hilarious. I suppose you never were too imaginative though. I can only assume your companions would be just as straightforward." Astaroth attempted another feat of legerdemain now, trying to stealthily flick her with his tail to get a glimpse at the past. Her avoidance only made him all the more curious.

"Speaking."
Thoughts.

Notes: @Greed