Chapter I: What does the Forest God say?! [Private]

On any other normal day like this one, Oski would be accompanied by his trusty horse drawn carriage driver, the horses and the carriage its self which is lavishly decorated inside with the finest red silk that Oski could find. Today however, Oski was on one of those personal missions that his subordinates would rather not ask Oski about because when he does something without telling his people where he is going it usually means he doesn't plan on telling them anyway and for the most part they accept that, besides...what other choice do they have? Oski was calmly strolling through the Planes in the Free lands, slaying any sad beast that dare attempt to get aggressive with him, he rather hated getting blood on his clothes however. Nearing the beginning of the Great Forest, the massive tree-line loomed over him as if it was in an attempt to make him feel like he was small, in that case however he knew he was very much so more relevant than those trees, he was 'The Great Oski' after all~ or at least that's what he'd keep telling himself until it was true, he had big plans. Oski stood before the forest in his usual attire which greatly resembled some form of military outfit, his eye patch securely on his face and his boots a little bloody from the monsters. Oski glared up at the trees with that devilish smirk he always had when he was up to something whether it be no good or not. 'Time to visit an old acquaintance~' Oski thought to himself before strolling into the forest.

He could hear the cries of monsters being hunted and killed along with the natural sounds of the birds and the other animals which adorned the forests old 'natural' feeling. Oski got no more than 30 steps into the forest before he walked up to the nearest tree to him and placed a hand on it, he leaned in as if to almost kiss the tree but whispered in stead a few simple words, "Come get me~!" in a tone that presented him as neither friend or foe, he was sure that the forest Goddess would remember his voice or at least feel the Godly presence that all Gods let out, it was never hard to spot the one that was simply brimming with the power that created them, the power he chose to use at great risk to the world. The other Gods, depending on their viewpoints saw Oski as either a great threat or an interesting and mysterious ally, he never made any effort to prove to the other Gods that he was one or the other simply because he didn't have the time of day. It was no more than a couple seconds after he leaned into the tree before he could hear the whistling of metal through the air aimed at him.

A small group of Orc bandits had chose him as their prey, "Why must you go and ruin your days?" Oski said as he turned his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the blade right before he ducked it and watched it soar over his head. The Orc was no doubt a decent swordsman and had trained himself hard to be as good as he was but it was a simple matter that Oski had thousands of years of power on the lowly monster. In one swift move, Oski rose back up to his full height and kicked the Orc square in the chest sending him flying into the pack of the other two Orcs which easily knocked them over. As the Orc flew through the air at his companions however, Oski used but a fraction of his speed to move up on them quickly, looming over the dog-pile of Orcs on the forest floor. Suddenly his facial features darkened as a great force seemed to fill the air within the area as if the air pressure had increased greatly. A weird golden yellow energy seemed to start to leak out of Oski and his surroundings as he walked towards them step by step. "Do you not fear for your life the powers that you threaten on a bad day?" Oski's voice boomed down on them, his figure seemingly glorified with some odd powerful energy that the Orcs seemed to be completely new to.

Walking forward through the trees, there was a strange silence in the forest that the goddess was not used to. With every step her bare foot took in the soft soil that made her toes curl into it, she took a deep breath as she looked around to see where all the usual life of the forest was. As Ferra flew around her, just as bewildered as she was, she took a seat on the shoulder of the child and frowned. "Where is everyone? Not even the sounds of the birds or crickets fill the grove with liveliness." 

Shrugging as she turned her head to face the path leading away from the forest, Rhiannon could feel strange aura from that direction. Powerful and a stranger to her, she immediately became alert and took a step forward. "We have guests, and they don't seem friendly," she murmured has her form had changed into that of a young woman. With her green hair growing and gliding down to her lower back, her green, tattered tunic slowly transformed into the beautiful silk of a white dress that flowed, fitting over her body in perfection.

This feeling was not that of an ordinary magic; it was one that was much more powerful. Much older. "A God has graced our beloved forest with his presence," she spoke in slight surprise. As she followed the path, the sounds of struggle became much more prominent as she hid herself within the shadows to watch what was taking place. Eyes widened as she froze in place, it was a God whom she had not seen since her days in the Aether - one who was tormenting some poor orcs--and while they did not belong near the forest, they did not deserve to be treated in such a way.

He was going to kill them, and if not, he would surely torture them. "Oski," her voice was soft. Stepping out from the shadow as the sun touched her skin, her dress shimmered in the light as her grace followed her. "What business do you have here? Surely it is not to inhibit trauma to those foolish creatures," her brows raised in suspicion as her one hand grasped her staff tightly. Ferra stayed within the shadows, not wishing to get too close. She had never met another God before, but the stories she heard were not good. It was the reason that Rhiannon had decided to leave the others behind - not only was she only female among them, but she was also not a fan of being revered through fear and power.

Oski's Aether had only began to swirl around him as he looked down upon the poor creatures that decided to mess with him, he hated when enemies didn't read up on their opponent and clearly get owned, Oski wasn't one for mercy to lesser beings. Before he could completely let out his Aether Persona: Mad God to slay the poor beasts, which indeed would have been overkill but maybe that had been apart of his whole ploy to draw the Forest God out. Before he started to slice the creatures to bits he could feel the presence draw closer to him, stopping his ability and looking over his shoulder Oski could see the God hiding in the shadows and she called out to him. "So you could hear me after all I guess." Oski said in a low tone, lowering his threat level to the Orcs before him, his Aether aura shrinking away back into him. Oski turned to face the female God that had just appeared from the shadows, "I see you've heard of me then~ well I guess that makes this a bit easier." Oski said with some slight enthusiasm.

Quickly shifting his gaze back to the Orcs, his face grew scary one again and howled at them "Get out of here unless you wish to die."Oski then turned his attention back to the Goddess as he leaned against a tree. "So you wish to know my business here I suppose. Well you see it's not as simple as 'whats my business' really, that's a bit to basic for my tastes" Oski said with a slight smirk. "You are obviously just a bit out of touch with the world but something is going to happen and things are not alright like they were when we first got here. Don't get me wrong, im not exactly a 'good guy' but my name will be known by all races of this land or I will die trying. Despite what you just saw with those foolish Orcs, I wish to bring freedom to the monster race, they have been discriminated against heavily and maybe it would teach the humans a little bit of respect." Oski said as he stood up from leaning on the tree and started to pace around Rhiannon.

"Im locating my fellow Gods because I believe that the Fallen Gods may be up to something and I must make sure my campaign to free the monsters goes without a problem." Oski grinned a bit, "....And of course, if the humans keep on this destructive path who knows...they might come for the forest next to continue harvesting resources where as the monsters, they enjoy the nature for the most part. What will you do when that day comes Forest Goddess?" Oski said in a very inquisitive manner.

Furrowing her brows as Oski had approached her. She looked down and stayed silent, memories flooding back from when the two worked together rather closely at one point in their lifetimes. Taking a deep breath, she tilted her head in curiosity as she continued to listen to him, looking up and down his body only to see that not much had changed about him at all.... except for something seemed to have happened to his eye. When he finished speaking about freeing the monsters, she immediately cut him off before he could begin speaking again. "Surely the freedom of monsters is not your only goal? I don't remember you to be so kind without a gain for yourself in some way," she spoke sternly, stepping forward. 

She froze again when he spoke of the Fallen Gods being 'up to something'. Now, she was no fan of getting in the middle of political affairs between the Gods and the Fallen, but if they were truly up to something, that couldn't necessarily be a good thing. Her gaze hardened a bit when he then spoke of the humans taking a destructive path, but she sighed quickly and shook her head. "While the world continues to grow in technology, I am not worried for the safety of the woodlands. It is protected and holy ground and they shall respect it. Despite my respect for humanity, if they try to harm the grounds, I will stand in their way."

She paused for a moment, the guilt flooding in. Such a long time ago, but she was so foolish. The luxuries of power grasped her like a choke hold when she was so very young and naive. "If you're asking me to come with you, then you must understand why I must decline your request. The temptation is like a serpent's venom that slowly fills my veins and I have far too much to lose otherwise," her voice became rather defeated and she closed her eyes. "What happened to your eye?" 

Oski began to chuckle as he listened to what she had to say and waited for her to finish, "Rhiannon, this isn't some silly God love story....'ask me to come with you'" he mocked slightly, he just found it kind of funny, these were the types of things the humans would write about when talking about the gods personal affairs. The humans had quite silly thoughts about the Gods, Oski had done plenty of reading from the humans work. "If you refuse to think of the humans taking your precious forest, imagine then when a war breaks out, Gods will chose sides and the destruction could be pretty catastrophic and I know you haven't seen my power lately but if I was forced to fight, I would ruin whole ecosystems with my power."

"But no, im not asking you to come with me. You may have noticed that my right eye is covered by an eye patch, I want you to see this. I finally did it, I gained the power of Aether." Oski said, Rhiannon would be able to tell his joy level at the moment though it wasn't really visible. Oski leaned his head down and reached up towards his eye patch and pulled it off slowly. As he pulled on the eye patch light seemed to seep out of it to reveal a rather special looking golden eye which was in his eye-socket. It was marked with all sorts of scribings of the Gods, I was Majoris Arcanis which was an ancient God weapon that was used long ago to make the Gods stronger than they had already been. To not only find such an object but to fuse it with your own body was something that had been thus far unheard of and very dangerous.

"You see, I have Majoris Arcanis's power flowing through me, remember how long we searched for it, how hard we fought to find it...well now... I have that power." Oski said as he clenched his fists and made eye contact with Rhiannon. "All im saying is, for both your sake and mine.. If I call you when the time is right, will you come to my aid?" Oski wasn't one to make requests like these from anyone but other Gods, it was odd and somewhat humbling when Oski asked anyone a favor. "You folded from our endeavors because you could not handle the temptation of power but it was only because you forgot, while the power is much like a poison there is only one anti-venom...more power. Im going to be building an army soon and times will become dangerous possibly even chaotic and I would hate to see you fall in the war because you did not ally yourself with the right people or even anyone at all, do you think the Fallen Gods would show you mercy simply because you are a loner?"

Upon hearing Oski's words, Rhiannon rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she sighed. "Do not confuse me for a fool who is blinded by love. But when times get desperate, I know that soon I'll be expected to choose a side. I can't stay neutral forever." How could he assume this of her? Because she was a woman, immediately it was treated as a petty romance, when it was the farthest from it. There was much more to worry about than whether she was to be involved in a petty love story.

When Oski began to talk of the eye though, her interest peaked once more as she slowly brought her head up with curiosity. Her stomach dropped when he talked of the power of Aether, and her eyebrows raised as her one hand dropped to her side as the other immediately tightened on its grip on the staff. As he lifted the patch, she could immediately feel the power reeling her in, as though it was just too beautiful to stop gazing. "You actually found it," she murmured in awe, unsure of whether to be afraid or amazed. "How... that's not..." 

She stopped herself when he began to speak again. So he wasn't asking her to come with him, but if in the future he perhaps needed her, she was to decide then. Pursing her lips as she took a deep breath, taking everything in as she closed her eyes, she thought about this carefully. She hated the fact that it would have to come to this. A storm was brewing and this time, she'd have to get involved. The Gods would need to come together, take a side, and fight for what they believe in. She couldn't hide in the forest and wait it out.

He spoke of her fear of power once more, and she felt her stomach churn in apprehension. If she were to come to his aid, she had the feeling that the serpent's bite would only latch harder. "You really believe that the Fallen Gods will be rising to attack?" she mumbled quietly, more to herself, than to him, though she said it loud enough for him to hear. The mental conflict was overwhelming her. She hated these pressures of war, though despite the fallout she and Oski had and their incredibly opposite characteristics... he really was the only one she trusted out of all the Gods. He knew her best. "Fine, but do not come unless it is absolutely necessary..."

"Calm down Rhi, it was just a joke jeeze..." Oski said as he stopped pacing around her and looked off into the distance into the forest, clearly she hadn't found his little comment all that amusing, he could tell she hadn't been around the humans as much as Oski had, he went to them several times not telling them he is a God but simply a powerful human and showed them what true power was. Oski looked at her with his one golden eye, the power they sought after for so long, he wondered why she didn't let her curiosity take her on a mental adventure to see how Oski attained it but he figured he'd let her do as she please. "I was just commenting that I could see where these humans come up with these stories and it's rather amusing, it's like one of those moment where you just finally understood a joke, or have you not learned what those are yet?" Oski asked, turning his head to the side slightly.

Sighing before she could answer, "Ahh never mind it, it's only trivial matters." Oski put his eye patch back on to conceal the rather bright light emitting from his eye. "The Fallen Gods are always up to something and when I start my rebellion im sure they will side with the humans who are against the union of humans and monsters, they will try to stop me simply because we are enemies. I think you fear too much going back to the old ways, I am a living testament that you can get over the initial and powerful grip of gaining so much power that it consumes your mind, I seek not power but fame now, I wish for them all to know my name."

Oski was rather dead set on this goal of his, to become a God that is refereed to in the human texts, one that changed the tides of the world for better or for worse, Oski would do what he wanted to do like he always had. Oski strolled over to a rock and took a seat on it as he gaze upon Rhi and bringing a fist to his chin to rest his head. "I have been busy you know, doing things we once only dreamed of, meeting people of the human race, they really have come a long way ever since Maldrean taught them how to use magic, what will become of our future if they were to become as strong as us I wonder?" Pondering that thought after he said it out loud to Rhi, simply posing a random thought he had burning in his mind for some time now.

"I know what a joke is, I just don't find that one to be funny. If humans are going to remember me as something, I don't want it to be as your pet," her gaze was cold, still looking forward into his eyes with a serious demeanor. Listening to what he had to say about the Fallen Gods once more, she took a deep breath, breaking off her stare and looked down at the grass, but then she scoffed at his next words. "Living testament? The stories I've heard, Oski, are you so sure you've changed? Maybe you wish not to seek more power because this is no more power to attain, so now you've gone after the next best thing - reputation. To be revered and worshipped. That is still as corrupt as the rest."

Taking a step forward, she walked past him, brushing her shoulder against his gently as she narrowed her eyes, taking his appearance in to see just how much he'd really changed. She then began circling around him as she spoke. "Do not be a fool, many know your name, though it is more in fear than in praise. At least, that is from what I've heard from the neighboring villages of the woodlands, anyways. I have not visited the cities in many years, because I did not wish to accidentally run into another God, like today," she nodded. "Though, this isn't accidental is it? I suppose you did seek me out..." she trailed off.

When he spoke of the humans, she sighed and shook her head. "Humans are full of curiosity and are cunning in their ways. Magic will come naturally to them and I would not under estimate their abilities through the years of practice," she halted in front of him again. "But enough about that, how in the world did you manage to obtain the Majoris Arcanis?"

"My pet? Are you even listening to yourself right now Rhi? Those cold eye's don't scare me not do they caution me. This whole Forest camping trip you've been on has really made you quite the stick in the mud." Oski said, finishing off the last part of his sentence under his breath though loud enough for Rhi to hear it anyway. "Stories you say?" Oski laughed out loud a bit at Rhi, "Stories are called stories because that's what they are...nothing but 'stories' that you probably heard in a more literal sense through the grape vine." As she stepped forward and walked past him, brushing her shoulder against him, Oski ran his hand through the end of her hair. "If the humans fear me then that is at a fault of their own, I haven't even needlessly or unnecessarily killed anyone."

"You are right, this was no accident like I said. You seemed to be stuck on the past, could it be that you liked the old me better?" Oski said, glancing back at her with a smirk. "Rumors spread you know? I would be careful of what you say." Oski looked at her as she halted in front of him, now asking him how he attained the power the two of them had went through heaven and hell to find to no avail. The thought made him smirk, he thought he could taste a hint of jealousy in her inquisition or maybe it just what he wanted to taste a hint of.

"Well since you asked, shortly after you left my side I watched as Maldrean left the Aether on a personal mission of his own, I thought he may be seeking power but instead he taught the humans how to use magic and so this sparked my interests. I decided that I would also go to the human world and seek adventure but not before I did something I promised myself I would do. Being the last place we never went, I went into the Shell alone and stepped into the darkness. That place is something that even us Gods should fear and alone, it is a terrible place. Being there made me feel as if I was a scared and lowly human all alone in the darkness but I conquered it myself. I pressed on deeper and deeper into the Greater Void, following my pure instincts to lead my to Majoris Arcanis. I read an ancient text that said the last place it had been was in the Aether kingdom until one of the Creator Gods cast it away into the Greater void so it is there that I found it. It was there that I attained the power to use the Aether as my power though it was at great cost, since I had no one watching my back I sustained several injuries and even lost my right eye and right arm. I decided the replace the eye with Majoris Arcanis and with my new found power I healed my right arm."

Oski spoke as if it were the most terrifying thing in his life and it actually had been. "I crawled out of the Greater Void with those injuries and made it back to the Aether before I could be killed. I looked for you in the Aether while in my great agony because I could not implant Majoris myself. After running into some of the other Gods, they had told me you left for the human world and that they wouldn't help me implant Majoris and so I left the Aether and had a human doctor do it for me though something bad happened. When it was implanted it started to suck the Aether out of the small village as the eye was healing me on its own, sadly everyone there was ridden lifeless and I couldn't stop it, it's need to keep it's new host alive was to great...." Oski said as he trailed off. It was probably the only story he had thus far that he cared about and unfortunately it was a sad one.

Huffing out a breath in annoyance, Rhiannon shook her head with a sigh at his responses on her being his 'pet'. "My endeavors with you were fun while they lasted, but I couldn't handle the amount of power I was given. Over time I learned that you're not the type who just makes friends or helps others unless you gain something out of it, so I'm sure there must have been something you were using me for... but it obviously didn't hold you back from attaining the power you were so set on reaching. I'm glad I didn't slow you down at all," she meant in all seriousness. She spoke as genuinely as possible so that she wouldn't sound as annoyed. "I'm not trying to scare you, I just... don't really know what to make of this reunion. It's complicated."

When his hand had brushed up against her hair she felt her body tense up as the muscles in her jaw tighten while she moved around him. When he began to speak again, talking of rumors and liking the old him, she crossed her arms loosely as her staff leaned up against her inner elbow in front of her. "I barely know what you've become, so I have no judgment on that. Obviously I only know the old you, but I'm not much fonder of him either." She immediately quieted herself and rolled her eyes. She was a generally kind and innocent person who spoke with grace and respect. Oski brought out the frustration in her though, because it only reminded her of what she used to be.

He began to tell his tale of how he obtained the Majoris Arcanis and she listened intently, watching him carefully. As he continued to speak though, it was as though something changed in his voice. It became more timid almost, and she could feel the dread from his words as her heart sank slightly and her gaze had softened. Letting her arms loosen, she took a step forward slightly, almost as an invitation for comfort, but she stopped herself. She knew true fear, and if what he faced was what he said it was, and what legends told it was, then nothing she faced ever compared to it.

It didn't stop there, though and when he spoke of his search for her, she immediately felt the guilt plummet into her chest. People died because she was nowhere to be found, and she felt her voice become slightly strained as it shook. "If you had called for me, had me summoned, I would have came to your aid. I would have helped you, you know that," she said sadly. "But... must it be covered at all times? Does it cause harm if it isn't protected?"

Oski was caught in a moment of weakness, he didn't like telling people about how he obtained his most prized object because it brought back those dark memories, he literally had to go through hell and back to attain it. Oski's common grin shrank away into a more stoic and emotionless look as he moved forward slightly and embraced Rhi gently, "The pain I endured to get this, the pain I feel at this very moment because of this eye is much more than I would ask anyone else to bear, it feels as if my entire body is submitting the the pain of the eye, the power it wants from me...sometimes I feel as if it might just swallow me whole and kill me though I am still able to smile.." Oski trailed off as he whispered into her ear. "Sometimes I feel as if I can hear the voice of Majoris speaking to me, telling me terrible things, reminding me of all the people that died, trying to make me feel worthless and weak, I can feel the incredibly violent nature of the eye within my being."

Oski held onto her tighter for a moment then let go of her and letting his arms fall to his side, turning away from her and taking a few steps away he began to speak again. "I keep it covered because I don't want anyone to see it unless I show them myself, I can feel a dark and terrible power hidden within Majoris Arcanis's ability to manipulate Aether, as if it has some deep and dark secret that its keeping from me, hiding it from me at all costs until it thinks I am ready for it. Im not going to lie, sometimes it scares me...but I will master it and then I will not fear it." Oski said, sounding slightly choked up. He was very happy that he had found Majoris but at the same time, there truly was something about it that terrified him.

"The feeling is a lot like the one I had when I couldn't find you, like a child desperately trying to do something it clearly could not do. Up until the point where I actually had the eye implanted into my body, I thought that I might die before that happened." Oski took in a deep breath as he kept himself faced away from Rhi, the expression on his face was something he didn't want her to see. Clearing his throat and fixing his face, Oski turned back to face Rhi once more, "Rhi, I need you. I don't know what will happen but something big is going to happen soon I can just feel it within me, I need you because you are the only one who can save me if I become what I fear most, if I become my own demons." Oski took this as no joking matter, he would take every precaution that he needed to in case something went terribly wrong with Majoris Arcanis.

Something changed in Oski. Not just in that moment, but altogether. With a raised eyebrow in concern, Rhiannon could see that whatever he had gone through to get the Majoris... it changed him. She had never seen such fear in his expression before, but when he had moved forward to embrace him, that was what really caught her off guard. Usually, she was the soft one - the one who was desperate and afraid, begging for his aid. She was the youngest; the least experienced. She felt like a naive child who was begging an older sibling for guidance when she had first traveled with him - he was a protector of sorts.

So when he had moved in and wrapped his arms around her, the only thing she could do at first was slump into him in shock, her arms falling limply to her sides as her staff fell to the ground, eyes staring forward in complete awe. As his words murmured into her ear, she looked down against his hair as the worry flooded back. Whatever changed in him--it was actually scaring him, which was something she was not used to. This power actually overwhelmed him. As her empathy toward the situation grew, her arms slowly rose and wrapped around him, hugging back in remorse. "It isn't going to take you. It won't control you. You just have to work towards blocking the voices out..."

As he slowly let go of her and turned around, speaking once more, she frowned, nodding quickly when he spoke of mastering it. "I'm sure you can do it. If you could master finding it and managed to take it and get away alive... then I don't see how you couldn't. You've come this far already," she nodded, but became quiet once more as he spoke of trying to find her. Her eyes grew small and the guilt started to weigh down on her lungs once more, tightening her throat in apprehension.

"Were you really that hopeless when you could not find me? I figured you didn't care that much," she spoke in genuine surprise. During their time together, despite their ability to get along, there was not much that showed he was actually fond of her company. She figured he was only using her as a means of service while he showed her the world and introduced her to her potential. She figured her absence would have only been a miner set back in the long run. He was already powerful enough, and if he was one of the oldest of gods... he had a considerable amount more of power and experience than she did.

"You don't need me," she muttered, looking down as she kneeled to pick up her staff and balanced her in her arms once more. "I'm not powerful. I haven't attempted to become more powerful since our time together. And we haven't seen each other for centuries. I doubt I could have that kind of affect on you if some power takes hold of you..." she grumbled. "I was just a lost youth who gave service to you when you felt necessary."

Oski listened to all that Rhi had to say as he turned back around to face her, as he listened however he could not help but to let out a little chuckle, he really did think sometimes that she was still to naive for her own good. "I guess maybe you don't understand enough about the world quite yet to understand what im saying but that's okay. You really do look at things from the worst case scenario don't you?" Oski chuckled. "I never said I needed you for power, I have or can get all the power I need so stop telling yourself that your too weak now, it's rather silly." Oski said, letting out a sharp sigh though keeping his grin, he had now fully shook the fear he had displayed no more than a few seconds before.

Oski was quite for a moment, he sorta ran out of things to say or at least he was at a lack of words for the time being since it was his first time seeing Rhi in quite some time. Oski looked at the ground for a moment, he thought about saying something as he slowly looked up at Rhi and opened his mouth, Oski then began to laugh as he caught himself, "Nevermind." Oski trailed off with a soft chuckle, "I'll stop wasting your time now, im sure you have forest things to attend to anyway Rhi, I'll see you sometime soon im sure...." Oski trailed off as he called for his Nether Drake which seemed to swoop down from the heavens and made a pass just above the trees. Oski winked at Rhi and gave her a little wave before he jumped up above the tree top's and was swooped up by Ryoushi and flew off.

[Exit]