[center][h3]Ialu[/h3] Level 4 Demigod [b]Astarte, Goddess of Magic, level 7 with 0 Might and 5 Free Points[/b][/center] [hider=Summary] - Ialu stumbles upon Astarte, who upon finding out why he was worried, offers him Ryak's immortality in exchange for a few things. - Ialu accepts, and Ryak is given back his youth plus health and immortality in exchange for Ialu's shirt and being forever bonded to Astarte's Hero, Kuro.[/hider] Deep within a forest, the birds chirped and sang their joyous songs. Sunlight danced through the leaves and gleamed off the beads of morning dew. That little detached world semed thrumming with life, yet there was one figure as silent and as still as a cold stone. The demigod simply stared into the meandering waters of a creek for hours on end, for time was of little significance to him now. After a long time of meditation---even through a heavy rain that eventually came---he at last broke his statuesque stillness. One of Ialu's hands, great and brawny from his younger days as a warrior, picked up a tiny pebble. Suddenly overwhelmed by the anger and denial that he had been fighting so hard to bury, he effortlessly crushed the rock between two fingers and violently hurled its broken shards into the water. Seemingly frustrated at how pathetic a splash the pieces made, even with such unimaginable strength in the arms of the one that flung them, Ialu reached out with his Wi and leveled a dozen nearby trees. The forest creatures that had darted about near Ialu now fled with a wild terror in their eyes, and the birds' beautiful songs ceased as they all fluttered away or were crushed as the trees that they perched within were suddenly uprooted and thrown to the ground. His spontaneous need for destruction sated, Ialu stood to his feet and found a soft bed of leaves. He waved a hand and a flash of golden light shined out before the comatose body of an old friend appeared from thin air. As a demigod of greed, Ialu found that he could simply hoard objects (or people) within his very thoughts to make them appear whenever he desired them. That had allowed Ialu to prolong the life of his comatose friend: Ryak was now an incredibly old man and his health had been failing, yet by enveloping the man within his mind and removing him from the physical world, Ialu could help to prolong his friend's life. Unfortunately, defying time and reverting the Ryak's aging process was not within his realm...he would only be able to suspend Ryak in an indefinite state of worthless and painful torpor. It wasn't worth it. His meditation done and his pent up anger unleashed, the demigod could now say that he was finally at peace. He simply stared at the barely breathing husk. There was nothing more that he could do now, save prolong Ryak's suffering. It was time to leave him. The demigod turned and prepared to fly away and return to hiding. Ironically the god of emotions was rather heartless: this was amongst the only times in his memory that he had felt such a thing as 'sadness'. Pride, envy, greed, and anger were his elements. He commanded them and felt at home with those; this 'sadness' was disorientating and confusing, almost crippling. Suddenly, the very ground shook. For moments, nothing but the roar of falling trees and panicking animals could be heard. And then it all fell silent. No trees had fallen, and the animals were acting normally. Astarte walked out of nearby shrubbery. Her aura wasn't that of a goddess this time, and she was wincing and straightening and cleaning her current battle dress. It was Astarte's avatar. As she used her magic to repair a broken plate, she perked up not unlike a frightened deer. Then she turned to see Ialu and for a fraction of a second, she smiled. She was quick to cover the smile up with a scowl, though. "Oh there you are, Ialu the Demigod of Insults and the Master of Oversized Lizards." She rolled her eyes, but afterward, she chuckled. "Are you sad, Ialu? Who'd have imagined the demigod had human feelings?" A rather surprised and yet equally irritated Ialu turned to see what had just stumbled upon him. Even after so many years, he still recognized [i]her.[/i] While what he had once said was out of spite in the moment and he held no true grudge, he still held Vestec in poor regards and that included astarte by extension. [color=Gold][b]"I see now that I was foolish,"[/b][/color] he stated almost regretfully, as if he were about to apologize. But of course he was too proud for that. [color=Gold][b]"...foolish for not concealing my presence more throughly as I have been of late. Why have you come to disturb me?"[/b][/color] As he spoke he positioned between Astarte and the limp body of Ryak, who was fading closer to oblivion by the second. "Me? Come to disturb you? I've been here for hours practicing with this new body," Astarte said with a huff before setting her gaze on the limp body, "is that one of your followers? He seems to be near death." She raised an eyebrow. [b][color=Gold]"Once he was a great warrior and a close friend. Yet time has weathered him and yes, he nears death. I cannot defy time and restore his youth, only prolong his suffering, and so I must sit and watch as he fades away and becomes nothing. It is more infuriating and humbling than any pathetic curse your Vestec could inflict!"[/color][/b] Clearly the demigod was becoming angry and distraught, but it was directed more at his predicament than at Astarte. "Hmm..." Astarte put a finger against her lips. "And I assume you want to go against Nature?" Astarte pointed at herself with a grin, "I happen to do that a lot! I just want a few things in exchange for Ryak's health and youth and immortality and whatever." His eyes narrowed. As tempting as it was to just leave right now, he doubted that he'd be able to evade a goddess. Bah, the least that he could do was indulge her. [color=gold][b]"And what 'few things' would you ask that the Lord of Greed depart with?"[/b][/color] "Easy, I want your shirt, a taste of your soul and Ryak to be bonded to my Hero, Kuro, until Kuro deems it fit." Astarte said as she floated up to Ialu and curiously felt his shirt. Texture, shape, scent, she took it all in before looking Ialu in the eye, a dangerous grin showing on her face for a split second. [color=Gold][b]"My soul is not some wine to be tasted,[/b][/color] he spat without a second thought. He nearly said that a life bound to another was one hardly worth living, but what did he know? Maybe bondage was better than...the nothingness of death. He waved a hand and there was a great flash if light on the air. A massive pile of gold and jewels fell from the flash above and almost landed on top of Astarte. Ialu had of late discovered that his power over avarice allowed him to transmute mundane objects into gold and the like, and so he hoarded stored an absurd amount of the stuff in the unreachable depths of his mind, just as he had stored Ryak. It was useful to be able to bribe someone with a mountain of gold at a moment's notice. [color=Gold][b]"You can have all of those gold and jewels instead,"[b][color=Gold] the demigod offered. Astarte teleported out of the way of the falling mountain of gold. It was a shame Ialu would not let her have a taste of him. 'Oh well, at least I can have hie shirt.' She shrugged to herself. "At least I get your shirt and friend, right? I've no interest in gold or jewels." Indifferently he gestured back at the heap of wealth. It shimmered and then melted away into a golden vapor that rushed to his hand and was absorbed into the demigod's flesh. In a second the pile of gold and jewels was all gone. [color=Gold][b]"My shirt is worthless and Ryak is surely better off bound to your 'Kuro' than dead. You have a deal.[/b][/color] Without another word, he ripped off his shirt (literally) and threw the balled up thing to Astarte. Astarte chuckled at the exaggerated gesture, catching the shirt and snapping her fingers. Ryak convulsed and for a moment, he was still like a corpse. Then he breathed once more, and with each breath one could see the vigor and youth returning to his body. Astarte's crown jewel dimmed for the duration of the divine magic, but went back to its normal brightness once the spell wore off. Ryak was now a man in his late thirties. He sported long, unkempt body hair and a single new addition... A tattoo, on the inner side of his left wrist. It was a crescent moon with a cross in the middle. An Astartian Mark. "Done." Astarte grinned. Quickly Ryak began to shudder, his eyes opened, and he soon bore a hilariously bewildered expression on his face. He felt strange, he was in a forest, and before him was the crazy goddess that he had heard about and the demigod that he had served decades ago. Ialu took a moment to explain to Ryak the bargain that had been made for his renewed youth as well as the costs. When that was done, Ryak asked, "So now we give our thanks, smash her skull in, and leave without paying her?" [color=Gold][b]"No. Such days are in the past, as my father warned me against attracting the ire of the gods. I move slowly and carefully now, and only in the shadows. But now, I must leave. Something demands my attention..."[/b][/color] Ryak eyes widened at the mention of Ialu's father. So the Mighty One was real, then. At least he had been given an explanation as to why the demigod hadn't shown himself to the world in almost half a century. In any case, Ialu was already invoking some sort of strange magic to teleport away and leave Ryak to Astarte. He hoped that he hadn't made some sort of grave mistake. As Ialu left, Astarte stared at Ryak for a long moment, a smile forming on her face.