[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/fTD5yRH.png[/img] [/center] [hr] The door to the house opened softly, revealing the quietness and dust that covered things. Orvus peered in, unable to cross the threshold. Once he had thought leaving would have solved all his problems, now he returned, having done nothing to show for it but slaughter and cause pain. He bowed his head, then took a step inside and another. He crossed into the room, looking at nothing as he went before coming to a stop in front of the table. He lifted his head to see the familiar orb, still floating in the spot he had left it in. Orvus sighed. [color=black]”Hello little Orb.”[/color] The orb seemed to soak in what light it could, refracting the gloomy atmosphere into tiny runes upon its surface, [i]"Hello, how are you?"[/i] [color=black]”Not well.”[/color] he stated, the words sounding cold. [color=black]”I left to forget, yet I return having failed.”[/color] he said again, pulling out a chair and taking a seat before the orb. The orb seemed to think, if it could, and then suddenly broke into more runes, "[i]Why forget, when you can accept?[/i]" [color=black]”You always have a way with words, little one.”[/color] Orvus stated flatly. It did have a point however. Why was he trying to forget when everything reminded him of her? But to accept it, meant that she was truly gone. She was gone though, wasn’t she? Silver was not coming back, no matter how much he wanted it to be so. [color=black]”I suppose you are right. It’s just… Difficult to do.”[/color] [I]"When is it easy?"[/i] The runes glittered. He cocked his head, surprised by the answer he received from the orb, before nodding. [color=black]”It never is.”[/color] [I]"Why not?"[/i] The runes persisted after a long pause. [color=black]”I do not know. I am a God. One would think we would have all the answers, but we don’t. We don’t and we never will. You’d think I wouldn’t have emotions, being what I am, feeling as I do, but I do have them. I’ve changed from the first day I entered this place, I know that, but I did not expect how these changes would come about it. A dream, a daughter, a friend, another daughter, and now a son. She almost died, you know. Laurien, and I was so angry. Protective even. I did not want her to die, because… I care. I’ve always cared… even about Arya. And now Laurien hates me, and Arya… I have no idea.”[/color] he blinked, another tear falling to the ground. He did not watch it shatter. [color=black]”I am sorry, little orb. That was… probably a lot for you to process. If that’s what you do.”[/color] he said softly. The orb rotated in place for a while, the mist wrapping around it. Finally the mist parted and the light hit it again. A scattering of runes fell upon the surface, but one in particular stood out: an open hand. [I]"But you love them?"[/i] [color=black]”There was a time when I would have said no. I would have said that I could not feel such things but i’ve felt joy, happiness, contentedness- and many more emotions that I never thought possible. I’m beginning to feel things I did not think I ever would be able too. I think I do, little orb, love them. If you knew what I’ve done and who I’ve hurt, you would call me delusional and a monster. But for some reason, I think of them and that is what I feel.”[/color] The orb immediately followed up with a new order of runes, but kept the hand, [i]"What is love?"[/i] Orvus slumped in the chair, letting out a sigh. He had been foolish to think that the orb knew what he was talking about, now he had to explain it? [color=black]”Well,”[/color] he began, [color=black]”Love is something that is… Hard to explain. You have to feel it for yourself to truly know, I think. It’s like, wanting what’s best for your children, doing anything for them, protecting them but letting them grow all the same. Like a flower or plant, you nurture them, watching them grow and you grow to care for them deeply, you want to see them bloom. That is but one type of love, little orb.”[/color] He was rather surprised by himself and the answer he had given, but it felt right somehow. [I]"Does it end?"[/i] The orb asked, light bending inside it. He glanced down at the table, [color=black]”The love one has for their children never ends, but other types can end.”[/color] he said. [I]"Then is it love?"[/i] The orb pushed. [color=black]”I’m not sure little orb, you’re asking the wrong person about love and what it is and isn’t.”[/color] he mused. There was a gentle pause as the mist overtook the orb. After a while, the mist parted again and light bent into glittering runes, [I]"What should I ask you?"[/i] [color=black]”I have a better idea, why don’t I ask you something?”[/color] he asked the orb, sitting up in the chair and placing his arms on the table. The orb seemed to crackle with light as it soaked in all it could. No runes appeared, but neither did the mist, as if it was waiting. [color=black]”Why did K’nell leave you here?”[/color] he asked. The orb seemed to pulse for a while until finally it resigned and the light bent into more runes, [i]"Why."[/i] The snake eating its own tail appeared, [i]"When. Where. What. How."[/i] the final rune was the hammer he saw the other day. As if to finish the sentence, runes appeared between them all. [I]"What if I was always here?"[/i] [color=black]”What do you mean, always here?”[/color] he said, sitting up straighter as he squinted his brow at the orb. The mist appeared for a while until finally it parted again, runes breaking from the light, "Why don't you remember me?" A confused expression ran across his face, as he thought about what the orb was saying. [color=black]”I’m sorry little orb, I do not think we have ever met. If we have, then I have no memory of it.”[/color] [I]"What else do you think of me?"[/i] The runes glittered. [color=black]”You? I hardly know who you are. You ask me questions and I answer them, and when I ask you questions you give me cryptic responses. I think you are curious, more than anything, but I want to know more. Who are you? Where did you come from?”[/color] he said. The orb fell dim for a while, perhaps the longest it had ever fallen dim. Finally it lit up again and a certain warmth radiated from the tiny orb. A hand appeared on its surface, its skin of cosmic light. Slowly it came to touch an orb of fractured light. The two runes shimmered away and the orb stayed in place, rotating. He leaned in closer to the orb, his eyes going wide as he watched it with curiosity. He reached out to touch the orb, whispering, [color=black]”Beautiful…”[/color] A warm sensation traveled up his arm and into his head, as if seeking a certain approval. Orvus knew this feeling once before, a tiny spark right before he had fallen asleep so long ago. It asked him to close his eyes and against his better judgment, against his mind screaming no, of the dream that he had received from K’nell so long ago, his curiosity got the best of him and for the first time in an age, Orvus shut his eyes. It was different: as his eyes opened, he knew he wasn't truly asleep and yet here he was-- dreaming. He stood on a endless void of nothing, a strange silhouetted figure staring back at him. The figures form was obscured in a flowing robe of colours, beads, feathers and dust. The sleeves of the robe were pressed together, hiding any hands as it waited patiently. He looked around at the nothingness, feeling a strange pull. It was familiar to him yet, now it felt wrong, somehow. As his gaze turned to the figure, he gazed upon its form for a long time before speaking. [color=black]”Are you what is inside the orb?”[/color] The figure raised a hand and under it appeared an endless overlap of scenes -- all increasingly familiar. He saw every second of his dream, and even a scattering of dreams he never knew he had. Woven between them there was a certain light that his eye could recognize, if only barely. Noticing his gaze, the figure pulled up three characters from the scenes. One was Rowan, one was Big Hank, and the other was one of the pull Oxen. They glittered in front of Orvus and the figure folded its hands back into its robe. The god's eyes saw past the physical appearances of the mirages, it slowly sinking in. They were blueprints, exact instructions for a god on how to bring them truly to life. He could see it, inside, complex memories in each, life histories. It was infinite and all before him. At once he felt a series of emotions as the images came before him. He had told K’nell that he had been unworthy of such a thing, yet, now looking at them in appearance… A certain longing took hold of him. He saw their entire lives, memories, and it was beautiful. The god fell to his knees before the display, overwhelmed by the raw data. They were at his fingertips. His gaze fell upon Rowan, and he was taken aback by just how beautiful she was. Her smile was joy, itself. Reluctantly he turned away from her and looked back at the figure. [color=black]”Am I truly worthy of such a gift?”[/color] he asked it. The ever familiar runes glittered across the sky, [i]"Are you?"[/i] [color=black]”I want to be.”[/color] he said. [I]"How will you know when you are?[/i] [color=black]”I… I don’t know.”[/color] he said sadly. The figure spread its arms as if saying 'well there you have it, then' or perhaps a 'then you know where to start' but either way as it did, the scene began to fade and at last a sentence appeared that held no question, finally a straight answer. [I]"The choice is yours."[/i] Orvus blinked and he snapped from his daydream, his fingers around the orb. The visage of Rowan smiled at him briefly before sinking back into the fractured light that bent in the orb. He bowed his head, and slowly released the orb to sit back in the chair. Was it selfish if he wanted her with him? The woman he had only known from a dream? What would Arya, Laurien, even Ikarus, think of him if he did such a thing. Could he bring himself to be happy, while his daughters hated him? What would Rowan even think of him? Here he was a god, here he did not look like his appearance from the dream. Would any of them accept him for what he was? Could he? It was temptation. His notion of self worth suffered from the consequences of his actions past and present. A part of him realized then, that he could never be worthy, at least not to his own standard. If he even had such a standard. What was he to do? And her smile came to mind once more. A smile he could only bare to see if all was well in his own life, he didn’t even look remotely like she did anyways. He stood up, and turned away from the orb. Not yet he told himself, it was not the right time, but soon. He had other tasks at hand, and he did not want to disappoint another. He left the orb behind, and closed the door to the house behind him. He sat down on the porch steps, intertwining his fingers together. His thoughts ran rampant, but there was no use dwelling on his own happiness. His thoughts fell to the battle with the avatar, this Vrog. Laurien’s weapon, her sword, would have proven incapable wielded by her. No, she needed something more. Something with enough power to be feared upon sight. She needed a sword that was an extension of herself, through mind, and body. It was time to get to work. [hr] [hider=summary] Orvus arrives back at his estate and goes to talk to his old pal, the orb. Once again he finds it easier to open up to an object that only asks questions rather than living beings. They talk and talk and eventually the orb answers one of his own questions but really cryptically. It begins to do something funky and Orvus sees a hand and goes to touch it. He can feel that it wants him to sleep but he hesitates at this before his curiosity gets the best of him. He opens his eyes to see a nothingness and a figure. The figure shows him images, information, and raw data that he knows as blueprints to his dream world. Rowan, Hank, and his oxen are displayed before him. He wants nothing more then to being Rowan to Galbar, but he knows he it isn’t the right time. He wakes up and contemplates this for awhile, and comes to the conclusion that he has to put his own happiness aside for the time being. He goes outside, leaving the orb behind, and gets to work on creating a new sword. [/hider]