nights you chase your shadow

the lullaby

It's with Finn's scarf wrapped snuggly around his mouth and nose that Remi approaches the shrine. Otherwise bundled in his own clothing and with a healthy layer of tawny fur covering his arms beneath his jacket to keep him warm, the alchemist takes the canvas sack from his shoulder and lets it fall heavily onto the ground. Pulling out a large log, Remi creates a rather flimsy memory-axe and hacks a large cross into the wood before the magic fizzles out. Filling the space with some snow moss, peppermint bark, and kindling, the alchemist sets it ablaze with the knowledge that this fire would remain self-contained and smouldering inside of the log for several hours unless otherwise acted upon.

Glancing over his shoulder where, jutting frozen from the sea of glass, were the remnants of the dinosaur who had taken his fingers, Remi sighs wearily. Gods, when did he start to feel so old?

"I have brought the things you asked for, to create my hourglass." Remi murmurs, pulling out vials of blood, a bowl of sand, and a bundle of bound together branches.

---

Quest turn-in for his hour glass.

Remi has received a quest from Ludo! He must:

1. Complete 3 threads: one collecting blood from a demigod of life (Vi or Safrin), one collecting blood from a demigod of nature (Rae or Frey), and one collecting blood from a demigod of death (Mort or Ludo).
Vi/Safrin: yours in the morning Ronin
Mort/Ludo: always more to learn Himself
Rae/Frey: if time is a river Sunjata

2. Complete a thread collecting branches from a sapling - it doesn't matter what kind of tree.
let it move through you

3. Complete a thread collecting sand from around the Miana Pool.
beside you, beside me

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

There are some shrines that deities prefer to others. Many of the Ascended have seen this much with the Voice, and others - Halovians, mostly - have seen this with Ludo. The Citadel is bad enough - why its chosen has decided to come out all the way to bumfuck nowhere is beyond it. And so when Ludo appears (as a black eyed, black fingered youth, as usual), it is to stand near the fire on bare feet, its hands extended towards the heat and a sullen expression on its face. "Were my woods not to your liking this time?" it wonders, even as the vials of blood and the other items are snatched up into the air, almost of their own accord. LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

the lullaby

"I will never prefer this place to your Woods." The alchemist replies, glancing up at the dark scowl appraising him from across the fire. "But Ronin and I came here to try and work out the details of a skyport, and..." As for why he was out in the middle of nowhere instead of the Citadel? "...it is quiet, here." He adds with an apologetic shrug before reaching into his pocket to reveal a small packet which he hands towards Ludo. Producing an identical one, Remi withdraws graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Raising his eyebrows at the herald to silently ask whether it knew what to do.

"The attack on the Tower in Stormbreak was a disaster." Remi says in a low voice as he reaches for a branch and skewers the tip through one of his marshmallows. "Ronin might have died and I had no way of knowing." Looking at his wedding ring, the alchemist smiles bitterly. "We have abilities that work together already and I wondered if we could not make some way of reaching out to one another, when we are needed." The alchemist knew it was a bold thing to ask, but that was why he had brought smores.

---

I would like to use 1500 MP for this:

Rescue (Mastered) | Remi can bring a fellow Old God demigod to his side in a time of crisis for three concurrent posts. One use per thread. If the summoned demigod also has mastered this ability, they can remain until the end of the thread

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ludo does not know what to do with the packet, and as its blackened fingers reveal the crackers, chocolate and marshmallows, it immediately discards the first to start eating the marshmallow, holding the chocolate out towards the fire so it will heat up and start to melt. "You want a skyport?" It assumes that's why Remi is here, after all. It isn't Safrin and it doesn't really care about shows of affection or whatever, but it would be nice, on occasion, for its chosen to come to a shrine just cuz. "It was not a success, no," it agrees about the Tower, even as the hourglass begins to take form over their heads. Blood combines with sand, the sapling branches warp and twist. "Ah, so you want a skyport and some fancy new abilities?" It raises its eyebrows, slowly pushing the marshmallow into its mouth. "You wouldn't have died," it says, the words muffled. Its point being that Remi would have been fine at the Tower, probably, and also that Ronin's death wouldn't have killed him. Not with his hourglass. Speaking of which, it hovers before the alchemist, the sand swirling and suspended within. Remi has completed his quest and has received the following: Doomsday Clock | An hourglass swirling with crimson sand which falls neither up nor down. When placed upon a 'dead' Old Gods demigod, the sand will form the number of days until the demigod awakens. LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

the lullaby

"Like this." The alchemist says gently, and it's with an instant warmth that his frustration and terseness melt away revealing Remi's rarely seen paternal side. Demonstrating how to toast a marshmallow (except the alchemist almost instantly burns his but never mind, he likes them crispy anyways), he sandwiches the charcoal sugar between the crackers and chocolate.

'I don't. But Mateo does, and Halo too." Remi clarifies with a small shrug as he devours his smore in one large bite. Watching the hour glass form, the alchemist can only shake his head slowly. "Not permanently, no. But next time? With as close to the war as we are, I do not want to take the chance that I might be caught on my own and taken out for a few seasons."

Reaching for the hourglass, Remi turns it over in his hands, marvelling at how the sands seem to swirl but never fall. "Thank you for this." He says sincerely, before tucking it away in the pocket of his jacket.

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

With a mouth still half full of marshmallow and chocolate melting in its blackened fingers, Ludo's attempts to emulate Remi's s'more is rudimentary and messy, but it does manage to create a likeness. "Mateo can come and ask then," it reasons. "Or the people of Halo can. I do hate Halo." Sucking chocolate from its fingertips, it nonetheless seems to soften, as if a belly full of candy is all it needed. (Ain't that the truth). "You suppose you enjoy being alone," it admits, as if the chance of Remi being caught with his pants metaphorically down is pretty high compared to others. Heaving a sigh, it shrugs and leans over, through the flames, to press a sticky, chocolatey hand to Remi's forehead. "Fine, here you go." No skyport though, evidently. Remi has received (i.e. paid for with MP) the following: Rescue (Mastered) | Remi can bring a fellow Old God demigod to his side in a time of crisis for three concurrent posts. One use per thread. If the summoned demigod also has mastered this ability, they can remain until the end of the thread. LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

the lullaby

Nodding at the mention of Mateo and remaining indifferent on what Halo would do, Remi licks at the melted sugar from one of his fingers with all the grace of some massive predator savouring the remaining gristle off a bone. Shrugging duly at Ludo's interpretation, the alchemist stills as chocolate (and might) are smeared across his forehead. Knowing better than to wipe it off, Remi instead reaches for yet more chocolate and hands it across the fire to the herald.

Whereas before the alchemist might have said something about collecting relics as a way of keeping the catastrophic ramifications of war to a minimum, with memories of Isla gone, so too was Remi's inclination to be anything even remotely like fair or kind. "I have two relics thus far..." The alchemist begins, his eyes focused on the firelight for a moment before raising. "..and for all the gifts you have given me...for everything I have done..." His upper lip twists as spite and confidence flicker in his gaze. "...I want more of them. No part of me thinks that in a fair fight between us and the ascended that we would lose, but I am not so naive to think that this will be fair."

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Accepting the chocolate and squashing it between the s'more that it has already tried to make (Ludo has just made a mess, in reality), the deity licks the melted marshmallow from its blackened fingers in an echo of Remi's gesture. And it looks just the same, despite their differences in appearance. Tilting its head as relics come into it, Ludo passes its fingers through the flames as if that might warm them (it won't). "You didn't get my relic," it points out. "And now the dolly is gone forever." Is it salty about that? Yes. It absolutely is. "So do you plan to sprout tentacles and wield all these relics at the same time? A one man army?" it inquires, its tone quite clear: you already have one too many. LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

the lullaby

'I received a note specifically saying to avoid the location your relic turned out to be." Remi murmurs, and then with uncharacteristic defensiveness, he adds, "You might have told me if it was one you wanted me to find." Perhaps it's the cold that has made the alchemist's skin thin enough for Ludo's barbs to reach him, but in the firelight Remi clenches and unclenches his jaw hard enough that his teeth whine.

"If you want something other than that, say so." He grumbles, nearly on the verge of snapping at the herald, before deflating and pressing a finger quite intentionally against his forehead as if cautioning himself. "If you want the relics I have spread around, tell me to whom you would see them go. If there are more to be found, tell me and I will bring those back to you as well." That Remi had gone from subservient to becoming wildly selfish in an effort to never be used again, had apparently brought him around full circle.

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"You might have known it would be one I would want you to find," Ludo snaps back, the deity looking nothing so dangerous or tricksy as it is, petulantly licking its fingers clean. Looks of course can be deceiving, as Remi well knows, and as Ludo's black eyes flick up to watch him across the flames, the Lullaby is right to check himself. They sit like that for seconds that might as well be years, before Ludo seems to soften. "It is less that I do not think you capable," it says, "and more that, as you have just said, if you are caught out, you may lose all of those relics at once to some thief. You know yourself and those you trust. Do what you will." But there might be more yet to be found, and Ludo shuffles closer around the fire beside its chosen, like they're about to share a secret. Because they are. "Do you know what lies at the bottom of the Maw?" it asks. "It might be worth going to find out." LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

the lullaby

Words bubble not unlike the molten marshmallows on his tongue, burning and demanding to be let loose. Wisely the alchemist manages to keep them caged, glaring into the fire until white blurred his vision and tempered his annoyance. "Okay." He breathes after the silence is done and he feels safe to speak again. "I can do that." The herald wasn't wrong, and despite what a hoarder Remi had become as of late, there wasn't any good argument to be made for him to carry as much power as he did.

Turning, his body still relaxed despite the literally and metaphorically nearness of death, Remi raises an eyebrow. 'Legends say it is a kraken." The alchemist returns with a slow smile.  "It would be nice to meet another of my kind." He whispers. Free of tension and upset, the alchemist now brims with anticipation and eagerness. Only paternal instinct keeps him rooted in place that Ludo might finish its s'mores before Remi departs.

~FIN

---

Critical plot info used for the Maw mention

i collect scars because I want proof
I've paid for the sins I've committed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!