(open)Stuck to the Anvil

DARKEYE

Darkeye looked at her with curiosity. "I spoke openly and honestly with her as I do with my god. My god doesn't demand worship, he wants you to make the best of your life, you can even yell at him when it suits you." Darkeye grinned. "He doesn't ask you to lick his ass."

He now looked at her resolutely as he flipped back through the book to the conversation,"I was just speaking frankly, I wasn't making a demand in my opinion. Just because she is not comfortable with the subject does not mean that it can be forgotten. Everything has consequences even for a god. I will continue to fight for you because your extermination is more than just exaggerated in my opinion. I will not cringe in front of her. Especially not after the curse. I don't have to like her to help you. I might have been able to help you better with the answers she gave." He let it pass again. From the outside, it could have been interpreted that way. But for him it really didn't seem that way.

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

The bemused expression lingered, and the young woman slowly shook her head, unsure what to make of it all. "While I am grateful for the support, I'm not sure you grasp what it means to help us." Reclining against the door, she gazed down at the toes of her boots. "It will turn many people against you, some with powers beyond comprehension. It will be dangerous." How many times a day did she have to pause and think, realizing all over again that she was now among those whose existence hung by a thin thread? It never ceased to both amaze and unsettle her, how events had unfolded.

"In any case... if you intend to converse with any of the gods, I would recommend that you wrap your words in a bit of silk. If nothing else, it might keep you from being cursed." Maea gave him a lopsided smile. "If it's any consolation, it should wear off, in time. You just have to be careful until it does - no more work in the forge, for a while." She wished she could call it unfair, or exaggerated. But he had been really blunt, and she couldn't think of any god that might enjoy that.

Well. Perhaps Frey was an exception. Maybe.

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye smiled. "I know what that means I have already spoken to Ronin Remi as well as Noah. I know their attitude and I'm trying to find a way to help you. It won't be easy, I know that, but my faith demands that I at least try. Many believe that an oath does not count in this world, but I see it differently. In my world I have sworn something and I still remind me always that means it still exists. I am a man who tries to honor his word and his convictions." He said emphatically.

He nodded in response to the comment. "You might be right about that. I'll have to choose my words differently. I'm not afraid of the curses, they just make it more complicated. I tell the truth as far as possible. It's no use for me to hide the truth from a god, so what's the use of talking? But you're probably right," he said frankly.

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

It was an admirable mindset, and Maea gave him a smile that spoke of quiet gratitude. "I hope you are successful in your endeavors," she told him. "I know The Voice has done questionable and terrible things in the past. There are consequences I may never forgive her for, that cost me everything I had. But the people who follow her are not all bad. I am still coming to terms with this, and with what I have become... and it is a comfort to know that there are still those with tolerance left in the world." Touching her fingers to her own chest as she spoke, the girl's expression softened.

"I made a promise, too. To Amun. I'll do everything I can to keep it - even if it condemns me in the eyes of some. So I believe in your oath - as long as you see value in it, that's all that really matter."

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye nodded at her. "Yes I am doing this for the people not for them. I will try to keep the peace as best I can. It was very questionable, so I didn't want to let it go and tried to get an answer. So I could have fought for them too, but this way I have to find a way to protect you. You have priority. The problem is that you are dependent on her. Without her, you strive... I'm fighting for Kor and innocents, I'm not as strong as I used to be and I just have to get that through my thick head." He looked down at the ground.

He looked at her questioningly, curiosity getting the better of him again. "May I ask what kind of promise it is. Or is it too private?" He had a clear opinion of Amun, and if he were to involve Maea in his thirst for revenge, he would have to talk to him again.

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

"Realizing your own weakness is a difficult thing. That I know. Perhaps there are times when we will simply have to accept that there are questions that will never be answered, and problems that will never find a proper resolution. It is a difficult thing, to know that not even the gods always do the right thing. I wish I could offer some solution..." But she had none. Only more questions and worries, and what good would that do?

She shook her head at the question. Reaching up to tuck a strand of white hair behind an ear, Maea gazed off along the street. It both was private, and not. Worthy of screaming from the rooftops for all to hear, as well as to keep safe and close to the heart.
"I promised not to leave him. And he promised me the same. That's all." Only that. It was only a simple pledge - yet it meant everything.

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye tried to smile. "It's our weaknesses that make us what we are. If everything were always good or perfect, we wouldn't appreciate it. Gods are no exception, even they make mistakes. Perfection is an illusion, it is not possible to achieve it. Still, you can try to make the best of your situation. The solution must be found by each of us. Of course, you can help, but the things I asked Voice, I don't think you can answer." He said with a friendly grin.

Darkeye looked at her kindly. But it seemed to him that Amun wanted to drag her into his abyss, and if that should happen, he would try everything to prevent it. "A good promise - you need people you can rely on."

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

Maea nodded slowly, frowning softly and deep in thought for some time. "To make the best of a situation... Perhaps you might be able to give me some advice, then?" She sought Darkeye's gaze, then looked out over the yard. "I used to swear by Ludo, in the past. All of my life, from birth... until I died. Then the Voice reached into Mort's realm and offered a second chance at life. I accepted, and returned in the belief that I would have a lover and my old life waiting for me."

Her hands tightened around the fabric of her shirt, suppressed emotions spilling over despite the calm of her face and voice. "I was wrong. Now those old gods despise what I have become, and I feel like a traitor to myself, my old beliefs, and every other Ascended as well. Because I cannot seem to feel anything but reluctance when it comes to The Voice - whom I am dependent on for sustaining this existence. What, would you say, amounts to 'making the best' of my particular situation?"

The question was sincere, and she waited to see what he might offer. Willing to answer questions - she was sure he might have a few. Not many died and came back, after all.

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye looked at her with wide eyes. The look, however, quickly became friendlier than usual. "You must have suffered greatly my poor friend. I have some questions for you but we'll put that on the back burner for now. You are not alone my dear. I thank you for your honesty and openness." He spread his arms and offered her a hug, which was more important for now. She had opened her eyes to him and wanted to thank her for that and give her comfort. The movement towards her shirt had not escaped him and she did what he had always feared the Ascended would have to go through. If she accepted the hug, he would just hold her and help her calm down a bit. If she didn't want that, that would be okay too.

Then he started his questions. "Does Amun know how you feel? Where has the love and your old life been? I can try to help you if you want. But I have a condition. I want you to go with me to a shrine of Ludo and tell him the whole thing, or we can go to Remi either way. But it could backfire and Ludo could kill you directly as well as Remi. But I want to try to clear the fronts between you. I will protect you as good as I can and if I have to fight against a god or Remi for it. But if they listen to you, you must accept their judgment. The oath to Ludo was before the oath to Amun. I know it sounds harsh. But that's what I would advise you to do. You face your past. Maybe then you can be happy. At least you'll have a clear conscience, if you want to do that, I'll write a letter to Remi. "He said, thinking that he had already said a lot.

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

Taken aback by the sudden shift in his tone, she stood stiffly through the embrace. Too shocked to move, and not so free with her affections that she thought to return it. After a moment she freed herself, and gave Darkeye a bemused smile. The tension in her hands remained, much as the gesture was appreciated.

If only his advice had not been so dangerous. Her lips thinned into a line, and once more Maea's gaze traveled off. Roaming the surrounding buildings, tracing patterns in the cobbled street.

"Amun knows," she replied in a subdued tone. "My former lover is here in the Hollowed Grounds, waiting for his husband to wake from a death-sleep. We have agreed not to speak of the past anymore. My former life is a rotting house here in the region, in fields no one tends, among apple trees and empty barns. My family is gone. My friends are gone, or grown so distant they might as well be. Amun is all I have left." It was stated matter-of-factly, yet the tension around her eyes suggested it was far from over, no matter how cold the ashes of that past might be.

"As for Remi... I met him, some days ago. Out in the Wilds. He told me that I should not be, Darkeye. As the demi-god of death, he should not allow me to be. Why I was allowed to leave I don't know, but I have a feeling that there will not be a second time." Pushing herself away from the door, the slender girl turned to Darkeye, palms opening towards him in a helpless shrug.

"I can go to Ludo. But I fear death is the only outcome I can expect from that encounter, if it will see me at all. Is that truly my only option?" Her mouth trembled, fear a haze over her eyes; not of death, so much as leaving behind only pain and bitterness. Again.

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye held her in his arms. If only she knew how often he had felt so empty. How he so often had to bury his loved ones and friends. He had also been trapped in this twister once.

Sunjata and Nate how can you go so far and then try to keep the past dead. He would take them both to task for that. She had sacrificed so much and deserved not to be pushed away like a doll or a toy of which one has grown tired. Darkeye grew angrier and angrier the more he heard. "You now have one more friend Maea and that is me. Don't forget your past, it makes you what you are. But don't let it take you captive. I have the feeling that you have so much potential to be a great person but you don't want to use it.  You hold yourself back so much. The way we trained, your life doesn't mean much to you either. If you want to change that, I told you what I want to do. I will also support you in another way. But I think you should explain the situation to Ludo. I'll try to start a new village when I'm done here, if you want to help, I could use someone like you. We make a good team in my opinion." He said with a friendly and understanding tone.

His gaze turned serious. "I'm going to ask Remi who you allow it. You have an oath to Ludo that's something he can't ignore if he does, he's not a demigod. Then he doesn't deserve to wear that title. "

"He is dead, yes, but he will remember your vow and I believe he would be angrier if you did not face him. The chances of him killing you are there, but then you've kept your part of the bargain. That's how I see it. You said to yourself that it's something on your mind. I think the more you try to put your past behind you, the more it haunts you."

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

The more Darkeye went on speaking, the more worried Maea's expression grew. It would seem that she had poked a hornets nest here - or that this man might stir one up, with his passion. And while it was endearing and heartening to hear a relative stranger speak so well of her, it also made her recoil slightly. It was too much, and too sudden. A village? Convince Remi? Of what - that he should have killed her after all, before anyone could made a fuss about the past and a foolish girl's foolish decisions?

She held her hands up to stave off the tide, make him slow down.
"Darkeye... by your logic, my devotion to Ludo would demand me to die again. I can almost guarantee that you will receive that same answer from Remi. It doesn't matter why I decided to come back, not to them; my place was to remain among the dead. At peace and resting. There's not even a guarantee that my dying would see me back in Mort's realm - The Voice has a claim on the souls she touches, too." She chewed on the inside of her lip, troubled and worried that this might go horribly wrong.

"While it's true that I don't care much for my own safety... that just can't be how I act anymore. I need to stay alive, for my brother's sake, if nothing else. For all the things he's done for me, now and in the past - I owe him too much to give up and hand myself over."

Even though it hurt. Even though she would have loved to see Ludo again. It was simply too much of a risk.

And somewhere in the midst of speaking, Maea was beginning to realize that perhaps she already had found her middle ground. That, maybe, she already did the best she could in her situation.

Could it be? It felt so... insufficient.

Maea

DARKEYE

Darkeye grinned widely. "I said what I would do but that doesn't seem to be your way. I don't want to cause you any problems Maea. It's important to me that you are happy and if you choose another way, that's ok too. I will support you as much as I can and as long as my vow allows me. I never wanted you to die. I just wanted to try to help you close the issue because it's on your mind a lot,"he said with a grin.

Then his expression became serious again. "But please don't let the oath make you fall even further into the abyss. It is important that you put yourself first. No one likes mertyrs," he said seriously.

Then Darkeye's face became friendlier again. "I'm going to try to talk to all the heralds anyway, is it okay if I try to talk to them on your behalf? If you don't want me to, please tell me."

Everyone is the architect of his own fortune

Coding base by Sky

Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck

"I really appreciate it," she assured him, "and I am sorry if I come off as contradictory. Your view on the matter certainly helped me see things from a new perspective." Not only had she confirmed to herself for a second time that giving up was not an option - but Darkeye's last comment about making a martyr of herself truly made the girl cringe. Had she been doing that? No wonder Amun rolled his eyes at her all the time.

Her grimace was subtle and mirrored the complex emotions warring on the inside. "I won't keep you from asking them about my situation," she went on, more quietly. "But please... just don't make the mistake of claiming I had no choice in this. It would be untrue - even if it was poorly thought through and no matter any regrets I may have... to pretend I didn't know what I was doing would indeed be making me a martyr. And as you say, no one likes that."

She smiled at him, with a glint of humor coming back to her eyes.

Maea