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Jan. 25th, 2014 02:32 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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estdeus_innobisWe knew it would come.
For four years, ever since the dream of the red city and the blue, we knew it would come. For three months, ever since the dream of Nanshe telling me what we must do.
And yet we always thought we would have more time before we had to be ready.
We very nearly were ready, that night that the earth shook.
I gathered up everything that I had been crafting and collecting, and went to find my family. I hugged Marie and Luc very tightly, and told them that I loved them. And then I told Valmont, and held him for as long as I could. We were both so full of fear and hope and love that we could barely find words, but we did not need to speak to know how the other was feeling. "I love you," I said once more, and kissed all of my family.
I dared not think of what might happen if I did not come back, what might happen if I failed. I could not think of that.
And then I ran.
Down to the river I speed, between the crashes of thunder and tremors of the earth. 'It is already raining,' I think, with a giddy, hysterical gasp of laughter. Do the Adversaries know that they have done some of the work for us? Do they care?
I know that I do not need to send word to Syl or Chester or any of the others who have been working on this great spell. Our magic has been twined so closely together over the last few months that I can sense them all, if I listen hard enough, and I know that they are all coming.
One by one we arrive at the banks of the river, just as we have planned to do for so many months. A little thrill still runs through me when I see everyone gathered. There are so many! So many who have come together for this cause, who never might have even spoken to each other were it not for their love of Excolo, and desire to keep it safe. Even if we are not all friends with each other - for Syl and I still are not, even though our respect for each other has grown as we worked together - we all love Excolo, and that is enough.
I have brought silver and mistletoe for protection - the same things that Chester taught me about in my very first lessons with him! I spread them in a wide circle around us to shield us from as much harm as possible while we work.
Our magic winds together, and we start to draw Nanshe's essence out of the earth, out of the water…
The instant that my magic touches the river, I can tell that there is something different. Not just Nanshe's essence that we have been concentrating in the water - there is something else. More divinity, more power. Something new and fresh, something that feels like spring and growth and fertility. I do not know its source, but I know at once that it is good. The new power flows into our spell, filling it with new life.
I am so deep into the spell that I do not even notice the thunder anymore. I see nothing but our threads of Power; I feel nothing except the growing magic and the rising tide of Nanshe's essence, each of us adding our own strand to the spell. Water and earth and fire and air and divinity, all coming together as one.
Air is mine - as we draw Nanshe's essence into the sky, I send out more and more threads of my own Power. We bind our Power together to make a bridge between the earth and the heavens, between the water and the sky.
The bridge is Nanshe, and the rain is Nanshe, and the earth is Nanshe. And now we are Nanshe too, as her divinity washes over us in the rain. I smile as the rain touches my skin, for now I know that we will succeed.
We have helped Nanshe give the gift that she wished to give to the people of Excolo: herself.
Est deus in nobis.
[Open to anyone working to stop the apocalypse]
For four years, ever since the dream of the red city and the blue, we knew it would come. For three months, ever since the dream of Nanshe telling me what we must do.
And yet we always thought we would have more time before we had to be ready.
We very nearly were ready, that night that the earth shook.
I gathered up everything that I had been crafting and collecting, and went to find my family. I hugged Marie and Luc very tightly, and told them that I loved them. And then I told Valmont, and held him for as long as I could. We were both so full of fear and hope and love that we could barely find words, but we did not need to speak to know how the other was feeling. "I love you," I said once more, and kissed all of my family.
I dared not think of what might happen if I did not come back, what might happen if I failed. I could not think of that.
And then I ran.
Down to the river I speed, between the crashes of thunder and tremors of the earth. 'It is already raining,' I think, with a giddy, hysterical gasp of laughter. Do the Adversaries know that they have done some of the work for us? Do they care?
I know that I do not need to send word to Syl or Chester or any of the others who have been working on this great spell. Our magic has been twined so closely together over the last few months that I can sense them all, if I listen hard enough, and I know that they are all coming.
One by one we arrive at the banks of the river, just as we have planned to do for so many months. A little thrill still runs through me when I see everyone gathered. There are so many! So many who have come together for this cause, who never might have even spoken to each other were it not for their love of Excolo, and desire to keep it safe. Even if we are not all friends with each other - for Syl and I still are not, even though our respect for each other has grown as we worked together - we all love Excolo, and that is enough.
I have brought silver and mistletoe for protection - the same things that Chester taught me about in my very first lessons with him! I spread them in a wide circle around us to shield us from as much harm as possible while we work.
Our magic winds together, and we start to draw Nanshe's essence out of the earth, out of the water…
The instant that my magic touches the river, I can tell that there is something different. Not just Nanshe's essence that we have been concentrating in the water - there is something else. More divinity, more power. Something new and fresh, something that feels like spring and growth and fertility. I do not know its source, but I know at once that it is good. The new power flows into our spell, filling it with new life.
I am so deep into the spell that I do not even notice the thunder anymore. I see nothing but our threads of Power; I feel nothing except the growing magic and the rising tide of Nanshe's essence, each of us adding our own strand to the spell. Water and earth and fire and air and divinity, all coming together as one.
Air is mine - as we draw Nanshe's essence into the sky, I send out more and more threads of my own Power. We bind our Power together to make a bridge between the earth and the heavens, between the water and the sky.
The bridge is Nanshe, and the rain is Nanshe, and the earth is Nanshe. And now we are Nanshe too, as her divinity washes over us in the rain. I smile as the rain touches my skin, for now I know that we will succeed.
We have helped Nanshe give the gift that she wished to give to the people of Excolo: herself.
Est deus in nobis.
[Open to anyone working to stop the apocalypse]
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Date: 2014-01-26 06:48 am (UTC)Even before the storm started, there was a crackle of power in the air. Enough to start the dull ache in my head and tell me that it was sure to start soon. My rounds lately have had an air of finality to them, and now the moment we've been preparing for these last few months- years really- is here.
I take the long way there, nodding to those who feel the pull or know that they can help. Waving others back into their houses. Telling them to stay safe, to stay inside until it all blows over. I'm sure some people have figured out what's happening, but they mostly do as I ask. A few thank me, and it seem so sincere- one of the girls who helps at the Miskatonic now actually hugs me before she runs inside.
Finally make it to the riverbank and stand near Hermia while she works- my friend has grown so much since she started down this path, and it's pretty damn inspiring to watch. Feel the circle she casts and I concentrate on that and push what strength I can toward those Working. Nanshe wasn't my godess, but I've served Excolo, and so I've served her all the same. It seems right to be here.
Feel it when the rain changes from pelting down and soaking striaght to my bones to something cleaner. Something refreshing. Suddenly it's like a veil has been lifted and everything seems sharper, clearer than it has in ages.
I step forward now and offer Hermia my hand, "What next?"
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Date: 2014-01-26 03:04 pm (UTC)The touch of another hand on mine calls me back to my body, making me feel something beyond magic and rain and divinity. It is Mab
Her power is another thread that adds to the great weave we have created - I can pick it out of the group now that Mab is touching me. It is a strong bright line, with a hint of a glittering spark to it, and something akin to a sunrise in the way that it grows brighter with every passing moment, leaving the darkness of pain behind.
Yes, this is the Mab I know. This is Mab as she truly is, and truly should be.
"What next?" she asks.
I smile through the rain. "Hold on," I tell her, my hand grasping hers tightly. "It is working, but we must keep the bridge in place. The longer the rain lasts, the more people it will touch, and the more strength it will give the spell."
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Date: 2014-01-27 03:42 pm (UTC)"Hold on. It is working, but we must keep the bridge in place. The longer the rain lasts, the more people it will touch, and the more strength it will give the spell."
I think for a second before the simplest thing hits me- I keep my grip on Hermia but take a step toward the nearest person, reaching out toward them, "Hey! Grab my hand! Hang on tight and grab someone else- if we can all stay physically connected it'll help us focus together."
Everyone out here is will to do anything- even if it seems a bit silly- to make this happen. I look down the bank and see everyone reaching out- a few people holding things offering elbows and shoulders to their neighbors. But each person linking in adds more strength to what they were already putting out, and shares the burden among us.
The rain already feels warmer.
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Date: 2014-01-28 01:13 am (UTC)I can hear more sounds through the rain - water rushing in the river, beautiful ethereal singing, all the people who have gathered here murmuring to each other.
And I can sense a new source of power now. Something akin to Glass's magic? No, she is working on her own part of this puzzle; and I know that this is not her. But there is still something of death, even in the middle of all of the life that we are creating and renewing.
Excolo's dead are part of the earth, too, and they are here with us.
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Date: 2014-01-29 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-26 10:57 pm (UTC)"Go back t'sleep, love," I say t'Edmund, lyin' next to me. Slip out o'bed after a bit an' fumble me way to the bedroom door. Faith finds me then, grasps me 'and, so I can see, though it's still dim - think the storm's knocked our power out - an' we go downstairs.
Know Edmund wouldn't like me takin' risks in my condition. But I also know 'e respects me to do what I think's best, an' I ain't ever goin' t'be able to 'ave this baby if the world goes an' ends. 'M only three months in but already I love it, the little thing inside me. Saw Nu last week, an' she said it'd be 'ealthy. She promised. An' I trust Nu. So I got to do this, fer Edmund an' our baby, an' fer Faith, an' fer everyone else I love. An' fer me, too. Cos I finally got the life I want, an' I ain't givin' it up.
Know some people're goin' down t'the river. But we 'ave gifts that wouldn't be no use out there. So instead we sit down at the kitchen table, lit only by lightnin' flashes, an' get out the cards.
Each one, when we turn 'em over, is the tower. Each card glows with lightnin', an' the corners are sticky with blood. Touch them, an' each one shows me death an' death an' death, Edmund broken an' bleedin', our 'ouse in ashes, carnival in flames, Genny coughin' blood an' Callie's baby dead in a ditch, an' I'm cryin' an' cryin'.
But I turn each tower card upside down. It 'urts, to do it, like I've got me 'ands in stinging nettles. But I turn each one. I invert you, I think, all fierce. I do. I'll turn each one of you over even if it takes me all night.
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Date: 2014-01-29 04:07 am (UTC)'at don't g'down so well. But we's both got th'same goal'n mind, th'clouds're already buildin', an' Nanshe's power comes t'm'call, jes's I knew't would. M'mouth's tasted hers, we's passed power b'tween us, tongue t' tongue, an' tongues don't ferget such thin's.
An' jes' like always, when th'spirits start t'rise, 'ey rise up inna swell'f music. But'is's diff'rent...never, not never b'fore's th'song been so bright, so full'a joy 'n warmth. I start t'laugh's th'song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nneCnUpgCuM) pours over'n through me wit' th'rain.
Can you hear me calling,
Out your name?
You know that I'm falling,
And I don't know what to say.
I'll speak a little louder,
I'll even shout,
You know that I'm proud,
And I can't get the words out.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Something's happening,
Happening to me.
My friends say I'm acting peculiarly.
C'mon baby,
We better make a start.
You better make it soon,
Before you break my heart.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere
Can you hear me calling,
Out your name?
You know that I'm falling,
And I don't know what to say.
Come along baby,
We better make a start.
You better make it soon,
Before you break my heart.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Oh I...
I want to be with you everywhere.
Hardly even notice's th'others arrive, b'cause'm dancin', dancin'n th'rain, dancin' wit' Nanshe.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-29 04:50 am (UTC)M' real proud a Hermia. I knew she'd be a helluva wizard someday. Guess that day's finally arrived. What we're doin' here is real ambitious n' I'm kinda glad 'bout all the help we got on this one.
My job in this is pretty simple. Keep everythin' together long 'nuff for the spell to do its work. That said, simple don't always mean easy, n'this job may be simple but it sure ain't easy. So I'm pretty happy to see Mab when she shows up an' links both herself an' everyone else up in one long chain. Makes my job a little easier now that all the threadsa power are better organized.
I greet her with a smile and a li'l head butt to her leg. "Hey Boss, s'nice to see ya here. Y'gonna stick around for the good part?" I sure hope so. I'd like for us to win this fight.
I turn back to the group, "You're all doin' real good folks, just keep it up a bit longer..."
no subject
Date: 2014-01-29 07:30 pm (UTC)"Wouldn't miss it," Rub my calf against his head as best I can before he addresses the group. Now that I'm looking for it, I feel his influence in the link we've made. But in looking, I see something else.
We are not alone on the riverbank- I feel the creeping, crawling sensation of menace and I know this has to the Tower's intervention. Look to the girl beside me as I slide my grip from hand to wrist, then tug her over and wrap her fingers around Hermia's arm so I can drop her hand without breaking the chain, "Whatever happens- don't let go of her. Keep her connected to the others."
I'm probably three steps away, but just in case, I dash back and squeeze Hermia on the shoulders, careful not to dislodge her neighbors.
"You're probably the best friend I've ever had, and you've cared about me more than I've ever cared about myself. You will do this. You are doing this," I let go of her and look down to Chester, "Take care of her, my friend. I'll keep them off of you until you're all done."
Pull my sword from her scabbard on my back as I run down the riverbank. I can still feel the connection, even now. But I know how tenuous such a working is- and I will not let it be stopped.
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Date: 2014-01-29 10:18 pm (UTC)We expected it and planned for it, and yet it still makes my heart turn over with a thump when I see the other figures rising near the riverbank. What can we do? Who can be spared? My mind races, trying to see where we can break the chain, and who can be subtracted…
…and then Mab is there in front of me, tall and strong, and embracing me.
"You're probably the best friend I've ever had, and you've cared about me more than I've ever cared about myself. You will do this. You are doing this."
"Mab." I wish I could hug her back, but I cannot break the chain. I lean into her for as long as I can. "You have been the best of friends to me, too. It is only because you took me in four years ago that I am here now. You saved me, dear friend."
"Take care of her, my friend. I'll keep them off of you until you're all done."
I pray that this is not goodbye, but I speak as if it is, for it may be. For Mab. For all of us.
"Fight well," I say, because there is no use telling her to be careful, no matter how much I wish that she might be. And anyway, care is not what is needed now. Ferocity is, and that is what Mab has. "Be strong. We are behind you." I give her a swift sisterly kiss on the cheek, and step back, closing my hands tighter around the hands of the people next to me.
I feel Chester weaving Air in and out among us, and I send a thread of my own Power towards him to strengthen his binding; I sense Syl dancing with joy and full of magic, and I strengthen the bonds between us that keep our great spell going.
I never knew that I could hold this much power in me. I fear that I may break, or burst into flame, but I cannot let go. If I let go - if any of us lets go - the world will fall.
I see Mab's sword flash with lightning, and I hold the line.
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Date: 2014-01-30 12:15 am (UTC)I watched as the light was snuffed out by her own hand, and the world started to unmake itself. Watched in both admiration The will of the most beautiful of all of us and horror Made only to be a lamb for the Feast, the light of my own kind snuffed out. Why I did not think it would get this far...?
and then I watched as the mother called the light back and the Egyptian god, swelled large with new life in all their power, brought the life back to the mother. Watched in both admiration the love of the mother and the child overcame the will of the father and horror My Lord, oh my Lord, you will fail and you will fall again!
And that seems to be the way this era will end. The power released with Rose's return and the re-birth of the Egyptian God, and the working of both the humans in town and whatever powers control the Carnival seem to overpower the will of Iblis, and I can feel the tide turning in the air. And although I am grieved that Iblis will not achieve his great design, I am relieved to find that the world will continue to turn.
But now He calls to use, those that would serve him and have served him, and I pledged that I would answer if called. So I do. I walk amongst the men as my demon form, sniffing out those with darkness in their hearts. I will serve you, Beautiful One, but in my own fashion. I find them and snatch them still beating from their chests and devour them whole. Petty magic may work against the ghouls and wraiths and misshapen beasts, but they have little affect on me, more like the annoying buzzing of flies in my ears. I prowl my way along the shoreline, and come to a knotted group people---
"Hello, Sherriff." I growl, and smile at the Fae kissed woman with a feral grin. She can be good, but there is darkness in her, and she is spoiling for a good fight.
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Date: 2014-01-30 08:11 pm (UTC)My blade is flashing as I spin and duck and slash out against them. By protecting the casters, I'm still serving the spell and and part of it. The slips I've had in the past few years- not pulling a punch quite enough, the quick judgements, the too-harsh reactions. I realize now that it was just all getting ready for this- I've been running to this moment since the first day I crossed the town line.
Someone like me always had to be here to do this.
"Hello, Sherriff."
Yank my sword out of the man-thing in front of me and turn to the voice behind me. I don't recognize it at first, but then a thought strikes me, "You know, I don't think we were ever formally introduced. Don't think we met after you and Lucien broke up," shift my position so that I'm between him and the group, "I won't let you get to them.
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Date: 2014-01-31 01:51 am (UTC)"I felt that it was for the best we part ways, our relationship was unhealthy," I growl out though my feral smile. Call me sentimental, but I always enjoyed the witty banter before two people try to rip one another apart. I shift my shape to one of my human ones, the one of the school-teacher, but not as human as it could be. I keep my true nature close to the surface, forming a sword (http://www.barringtons-swords.com/swords/fantasy-swords/fantasy-swords/demon-sword-162.html) to wield from the hell-fire flowing from my hand. "Remember me now?"
"I won't let you get to them."
I have no real desire to stop the turning of the tides, but I cannot tell her that. Bow my head a little in salute to her. "I would expect nothing less. But still, try I must. My Lord commands me. Now, let's dance, you and I."
And with a wink, I lunge at her hard, aiming for her throat. She deflects me easily enough, and we begin to attack in earnest.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-31 01:32 pm (UTC)"I almost liked the Lion better," roll my shoulders and get ready for his attack. This will not be as easy as the others I've fought tonight. Maybe harder than any fight I've ever been in.
"I would expect nothing less. But still, try I must. My Lord commands me. Now, let's dance, you and I," he lunges at me and I catch his blade easy enough. But that was more akin to his wink and bow, though the shock rang up my arm, and I feel it as I feint at him then spring away.
"We all have our parts to play in this- best to play them well!, eh?"