Defiance

Avis' eyes snapped open just in time to see Sithis materialize and grab the intruder by his throat with both hands, hefting him into the air with relative ease.

	"You've got a lot of nerve." The black haired man hissed and Avis hurriedly crawled out of bed.

	"Oi! Stand down!" Sithis glanced over his shoulder at her, his expression bored and his grey eyes piercing. They stood like this for a long moment, until Marne appeared bewteen them with a pout on her lips and hands on her hips. Eventually the dark haired spirit relented with a huff and disappeared in a puff of black leaves. Avis let out a quiet sigh.

	"We should really get him out more." she murmured with a sigh an glanced at the intruder with a deep scowl. "I just saved your life, capische? You know what that means?" She strode over and knelt down so she was at eye level with the young man. "You. Owe. Me." She said, jabbing her finger into his chest with each word. "Now who are you? Speak."


	||

	Denus smiled. "There's something bittersweet about it." They said simply, tossing their final card out with a raised brow. Idly, they wondered what it was that had truly driven them to create Creators. It was partly out of petty jealousy, sure, but it seemed like a lot of trouble to create something to contain a single soul. Their brow furrowed. Had they forgotten something?

	For a moment, they thought back to his embrace, his warmth. Something stirred on the forefront of their mind, yet they couldn't think of what it was. Slowly, it came back to them. "I wanted to see the potential of a spirit so strong. There were things in the world, but he was the most interesting. He and the black haired man he always had with him. The Rose and his Thorn." Their gaze grew far away for a moment. "I wanted to see if they could defy me, those two. With how close the hourglass is to running out, I believe I'll be seeing the fruits of my efforts and theirs very soon." They glanced at Mod and tilted their head. "They've been at this a while yet. Soon, there will be no need for Creators, I think. Creation will have it's Guardians and I will have my peace. I see that a win, no matter how bittersweet it may be."

	It was nice to talk. To remember. They tended to forget a lot. "It's been a long millenia. And no, my stuff isn't yours when I'm gone. Unless you're gonna read each and every one of those books. For some reason, I doubt you will."

	||

	"Ray, where are we going?"

	"We're going to see a giant chicken, kid." Rayana said, to the small girl holding her hand as she followed what looked like giant chicken tracks. "And your big brother?"

	"We're gonna see Sagi?"

	Rayana smiled a strained smile and nodded. The little girl beamed, her silver eyes shining in the sun. Her dark hair hung messily, stopping at her shoulders. "Yeah, we are."

	Rayana would never forget the stench of scorched flesh. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the sounds of those tortured screams out of her head. Something had told her to go to the manor and luckily she'd listened, arriving just in time to see the group of men barge in. Luckily Mako had been playing in the backyard when everything had gone down and Rayana had grabbed her and ran as hard as her legs would take her. "Will my mama and papa be there?" She was so young, only 5. She wouldn't understand. Rayana didn't want to tell her the truth, so instead she only nodded.

	"They'll catch up, promise." She lied with a smile. "We gotta get you to Sagi first, alright?"