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[h1][color=violet][b][u]Cadien[/u][/b][/color][/h1]
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[img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/divinus-mk4/images/3/3b/Afc6efa58bae4f9c3be8ed679a7ac131.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/310?cb=20200229065521[/img]
[h2]Gibbou[/h2]
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Clad in his armour, Cadien stood outside what he knew to be the portal to Gibbou’s realm. He recalled the words he had exchanged with Neiya, and the warning she had given him. But, he could not simply leave the issue at that. He needed to know more. He needed to resolve it somehow. He had considered many different ways to approach this issue, but ultimately concluded that the most direct way would be best.

So without further ado, the God of Perfection stepped through the portal. The scenery became dark and empty, the rotating Galbar visible above, contrasted by the hard rays of the sun on the moon’s horizon. The texture of the ground felt rocky and sandy, and the only sound was an oppressive lack of it. Up ahead, visible only with holy eyes, was a large, round dome of glass, within which there were numerous shapes - one of which was moving around.

[color=violet]“Gibbou?”[/color] Cadien voiced, as he approached the glass dome - the only structure in sight. The shape halted, then disappeared behind what looked like a door, which upon further inspection looked more like a tunnel. A door at the end of that tunnel swung open, revealing Gibbou in her usual midnight shirt and pants, bat slippers on her feet.

[colour=lightblue]”Oh, Cadien! Hi!”[/colour] She stepped out and closed the door behind her. [colour=lightblue]”It’s, it’s been a while! What’s up?”[/colour]

Cadien did not carry his usual smile. [color=violet]“There is a matter I must discuss with you,”[/color] he said. [color=violet]“It is quite serious.”[/color]

Gibbou put on a frown. [colour=lightblue]”O-oh, okay, uhm… Why don’t you come in and we’ll, we’ll talk about it?”[/colour] She pushed the door open for him to step inside.

The God complied, stepping through the door and turning back to face Gibbou. [color=violet]“I have recently heard some allegations against you,”[/color] he told her, in a tone that betrayed no emotion.

The moon goddess blinked in confusion and closed the door. [colour=lightblue]”A-allegations? Look, if this is about those vampires…”[/colour] 

Cadien’s eyes widened in shock. [color=violet]“Vampires?”[/color]

The moon goddess froze, droplets of sweat gathering on her face. [colour=lightblue]”Uh… Yeah, what about ‘em?”[/colour]

The God frowned. [color=violet]“Why did you just bring them up?”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”Becaaaaauuuse… They usually appear at night and, and do a lot of bad stuff.”[/colour] She groaned. [colour=lightblue]”Oh, me and my big mouth… I, uh, I may have had a hand in making them… I’m not proud… At all.”[/colour]

Cadien’s expression darkened. [color=violet]“A hand? Who else was involved?”[/color]

Gibbou glared. [colour=lightblue]”Hey, I ain’t no snitch! It’s someone or no one. Coulda been a figure of speech. Now, I’m sorry for doing it - might’a had a somewhat skewed idea of what a good, effective curse is, but on the brightside? There are fewer people who kill for power now.”[/colour]

Cadien returned the glare. [color=violet]“There are fewer people who kill for power [i]now,[/i]”[/color] he corrected. [color=violet]“But in the future? When they find out doing so will grant them eternal life, strength and speed beyond measure, and all they have to do is stay out of the sun and drink a few cups of blood a week?”[/color] He shook his head. [color=violet]“There will be more, not less. The very idea of it makes a mockery of my ideals.”[/color]

Gibbou rolled her eyes. [colour=lightblue]”Yeah, well, if I had to take into account everyone’s ideals, I wouldn’t be able to make jack, would I? Like, you’re free to just, y’know, change ‘em however you’d like. Besides, do you know how hard they have it after the curse? Like, even getting touched by the sun equals poof!”[/colour] Balled fists rested on her hips. [colour=lightblue]”If you want a better apology than ‘I’m sorry’, I’ll write you an essay on how sorry I am, for sure - or whatever else you want. But I have -just- done my hair and watered my grapevines and I am -not- in the mood for a lecture right now.”[/colour]

[color=violet]“And I wasn’t in the mood for this conversation, but here we are,”[/color] Caiden said. [color=violet]“You inflicted this upon my creations without telling me. They already have enough to deal with as is - trolls, iskrill, vrools, vespians, witches, even each other. You’ve created another foe for them to fight, and now I must deal with it. I can change them, yes, but so can others - already someone seems to have reduced their dependency on blood. So I must find another way to strike at them,”[/color] he sighed in disappointment. [color=violet]“What about you? Do you have any plans to fix this?”[/color]

She scoffed. [colour=lightblue]”Oh, I’m sorry - do we have to ask permission to do our jobs nowadays? And why are you speaking of my trolls as though they are a pest? Do you even know that only two out of four kinds actually kill people? One’s even really nice! Oh, and by the way, vampirism isn’t exclusive to humanity, so stop acting like this is just -your- issue.”[/colour] She took a moment to taste her words. [colour=lightblue]”Okay, I realise I’m not selling my case well here, but I’ve already got plans to give mortality their shields against the vampires. Alternatively, you know, they actually learn how to kill them. Isn’t that your whole shtick? Overcoming challenges through improvement?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“Within reason,”[/color] Cadien argued. [color=violet]“Some challenges are so great that they destroy the opposition before it can improve. That doesn’t lead to improvement; only more destruction. Now tell me, what is your plan?”[/color]

Gibbou groaned and snapped her fingers. In the blink of an eye, the dome they were in dug itself under the ground, tunneling through the entire moon until it appeared on the other side, right in the inferno of the sun’s light. The moon goddess flinched and summoned a pair of sunglasses for herself and Cadien. The blazing rays turned the surface around them an eerie white, and the moon goddess turned to dig through a nearby chest, throwing lumbs of rock and metal over her shoulder while searching for something.

Cadien remained silent, glancing down at the sunglasses in his hand, which he did not need. Gibbou eventually came back to his side, holding a copper plate in her hand. [colour=lightblue]”Observe.”[/colour] She reached out and grabbed some of the sun rays that broke through the glass ceiling and smeared them all over the plate until it turned a brighter version of itself and sported an odd inscription saying, “Example”. [colour=lightblue]”Sunplate. The method isn’t perfect, and I have no idea how mortals’re going to make it, but the plan’s to offer some to a group of warriors brave enough to seek out a vampire. If it works, the vampire should disintegrate upon contact.”[/colour] She paused and shrugged. [colour=lightblue]”Work in progress, obviously.”[/colour]

[color=violet]“And how long will this take to develop?”[/color] Cadien asked her, looking at the plate with something akin to curiosity.

Gibbou shrugged again. [colour=lightblue]”I’unno. If you got a group of warriors in mind, I’m sure we could test it right away.”[/colour] She left the plate in his hands and went to clean up the mess she’d made.

[color=violet]“There is no shortage of warriors in the Highlands,”[/color] Cadien said. [color=violet]“Or among the Merelli and the Goblins, for that matter. Any group of them could serve, if they are willing.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”I’ll get to it at some point, I suppose. You kinda caught me in the middle of, y’know, gardenwork, so I didn’t plan on making anything today...”[/colour] She snapped her fingers and the dome travelled back to the dark side of the moon. [colour=lightblue]”Right, now that -that’s- over with, I’m going to make myself something soothing to drink. Feel, feel free to sit anywhere.”[/colour] She stepped over to a different part of the dome with some cupboards on the wall, from one of which she extracted a cup. [colour=lightblue]”You want anything?”[/colour]

Cadien shook his head. [color=violet]“I’m afraid our business is not yet concluded. As I said earlier, there were… other allegations.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”Can you at least pretend like you’re here for a nice visit -just- for five minutes while I make my tea?”[/colour] She conjured forth some hot water, poured it into the cup and a teabag dropped into the cup out of nowhere. She flicked her free hand and a beanbag rolled over to Cadien’s feet like a lonely pet. [colour=lightblue]”Sit down, by sunlight - you’re stressing me out…”[/colour]

[color=violet]“It was not my intention,”[/color] Cadien said, as he sat down on the… ‘chair’, [color=violet]“but this conversation is necessary. For what it’s worth though, you do have my apologies. Just let me know when we can continue.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”You ever notice that? No one just comes for a nice visit. Everyone always wants something - ‘Gibbou, make this’, ‘Gibbou, you screwed up’, ‘Gibbou, we need to talk’. Illyd and Orey alone know how to be nice nowadays.”[/colour] She sat down on her own bean bag and gave her tea a sip. [colour=lightblue]”Alright, what is it?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“To be completely fair,”[/color] Cadien said, sidestepping the main issue for now, [color=violet]“you’ve only ever visited me once, and that was when you needed something.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”I did say everyone, didn’t I?”[/colour] She attempted to smirk. [colour=lightblue]”No, you’re right. Wrong timing.”[/colour]

[color=violet]“Don’t worry. You were pleasant company regardless,”[/color] Cadien said, with a reassuring wave of his hand. [color=violet]“Much better than that Aicheil fellow, anyhow,”[/color] he shuddered.

[colour=lightblue]”The Dreamer Boy? Met him once. Didn’t say much and was a bit grabby right away. I thought you two’d get along.”[/colour] She winked. [colour=lightblue]”Sorry, but it was right there. Anyway, what happened?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“I welcomed him into my sphere, as I generally do,”[/color] Cadien shrugged. [color=violet]“He demanded access to my mind. I said no, because he was being quite rude, and I insisted on a regular conversation. He continued to refuse, despite my attempts to help him learn, and then seemed to be in some sort of pain, so eventually I gave him what he wanted.”[/color] The god scowled. [color=violet]“He then got himself hurt in the process and saw fit to insult and criticize me, before fleeing after I told him to leave.”[/color]

Gibbou frowned. [colour=lightblue]”That’s disturbing, sure, but… Well, when I met him, he wanted to do the same. I mean, he didn’t exactly say ‘I demand access to your mind’, but he kept saying ‘connect’ over and over again and held his hands out. He didn’t do much up there - I think that’s just how he talks to people. Sure, he’s, well, weird, but I didn’t take him to be much of a critic.”[/colour] She sipped her mug again. [colour=lightblue]”How’d he hurt himself? Must’a been something fierce if it was enough to hurt a god.”[/colour]

[color=violet]“I do not know,”[/color] Cadien shook his head. [color=violet]“Perhaps my mind was simply too advanced for his. There is one detail I have withheld, though. After the encounter, a number of mortals on Galbar were driven to madness. I suspect this was his doing, for when he hurt himself, he let out an immense amount of power which seemed to reach even beyond my realm. The fact that he would do such a thing, from my own realm no less, is a grievous insult.”[/color]

Gibbou gasped. [colour=lightblue]”Wait, what?! Madness?! But…!”[/colour] She sprinted over to the window of her dome and stared searchingly down at the planet below. [colour=lightblue]”B-but then I have to help them! Helping people relax is, is my purpose!”[/colour] She conjured forth a model of Galbar with moondust and started scanning the whole surface for outbreaks of madness and hysteria. [colour=lightblue]”How long ago was this?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“A few days,”[/color] Cadien said, as he rose to his feet. [color=violet]“On Galbar, I mean.”[/color] He stepped up behind her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. [color=violet]“If they need you, then I’m certain they or someone close to them will pray to you. Your druids have spread your name quite far, haven’t they?”[/color]

Gibbou sighed. [colour=lightblue]”I mean, I… I guess… I haven’t heard anything, though. Most just complain about not being able to sleep or all the horrors that happen in the night.”[/colour] She cast a sideways glance at the hand on her shoulder. [colour=lightblue]”By the way, could you… Not?”[/colour]

Cadien instantly withdrew his hand. [color=violet]“My apologies,”[/color] he said, somewhat sheepishly. [color=violet]“Uh… anyhow, I do believe I have gotten off track. I meant to discuss the reason I first came here.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]”After berating me about my screw-ups and nearly giving me a heart attack, how could we forget?”[/colour] she replied with a roll of her eyes. [colour=lightblue]”Go ahead, talk.”[/colour] She dipped her lips into her mug again.

The God took a deep breath. [color=violet]“It’s about your feud with Neiya.”[/color]

In an eruptive move, she spat tea all over the window, coughing violently afterwards. She collected herself bit by bit and rubbed her nose which was runny with tea. [colour=lightblue]”On a roll today with picking terrible topics, aren’t we?”[/colour] she groaned, followed by ‘ahs’ and ‘ehs’ as she snorted everything back inside.

[color=violet]“Your words hurt her, Gibbou, more deeply than you might think,”[/color] Cadien frowned. [color=violet]“What I want to know is why. Until now I have never seen you angry.”[/color]

Gibbou blinked, lifting a small index finger to her chest. [colour=lightblue]”Wait… My words?”[/colour] She cocked her head to the side, suspicion darkening her eyes. [colour=lightblue]”Cadien, wha-uh… Wuh… what is this? A-uh, a bad joke?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“What do you mean?”[/color]

Gibbou scoffed in disbelief. [colour=lightblue]”A-are you actually…”[/colour] She breathed in deep and brought her right fingers to her face. [colour=lightblue]”Oh, my sis… Cadien, what is your relationship with this woman?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“My relationship with her is irrelevant to this discussion,”[/color] Cadien frowned uncomfortably. [color=violet]“I simply wish to see this feud resolved.”[/color]

Gibbou shook her head slowly. [colour=lightblue]”I… I can’t believe this. Has she actually… I don’t even know how to ask this, even. What exactly did she tell you, Cadien?”[/colour] Her eyes were round and erratic with confusion.

[color=violet]“She told me that you are not to be trusted, and that you spoke to her with enough spite and malice to cut her for millennia,”[/color] Cadien frowned. [color=violet]“That is why I am here. Until today, I never would have thought you capable of such behaviour, so what happened?”[/color]

Gibbou twisted the fingers on her face into a flat palm. [colour=lightblue]”Hold up… Let me get this straight...” She chuckled almost maniacally. “… She told you… That -I- was not to be trusted… And that -I- spoke to -her- with enough spite and malice to cut her for millennia?”[/colour] She then leaned in and looked at Cadien in the same way one studies a mirage in the desert to verify if it’s real. [colour=lightblue]”... And in spite of you already knowing me for the person I am, you believed her?”[/colour]

[color=violet]“I do not know who to believe,”[/color] Cadien insisted. [color=violet]“It is [i]because[/i] I already know you that I am here at all, asking you these questions. You deserve a chance to tell me your side.”[/color]

She drew another deep breath. [colour=lightblue]”I appreciate that chance -  really do, but…”[/colour] She reached out for one of his hands, taking it with her own two. [colour=lightblue]”Cadien, listen to me very carefully. Neiya is not who she says she is. Yes, we met two thousand years ago, and she spent the better part of a night telling me how useless and hopeless I was as a goddess. She tried to poison me into becoming some, some toy of hers. I swear this by that crazy guy Tekret, for what that’s worth to us. I am guilty in telling her I never want to see her again - which I don’t! But if this is the story she told you, you -need- to get away from her!”[/colour]

Cadien’s face was blank as he withdrew his hand. Then, his expression turned troubled. “I…” he looked away, unable to meet Gibbou’s gaze, as his mind searched through his earlier interactions with Neiya. [color=violet]“But she’s always been…”[/color] his voice trailed off. He recalled Neiya’s words. [color=8493ca][i]They will try to tear us apart... They think I’m a monster... She is not to be trusted.[/i][/color]

If Neiya was right, then the only correct thing to do would be to disregard everything Gibbou had said and leave immediately. But if there was even a small chance that Gibbou was telling the truth… or that both of them somehow were…

At last Cadien gathered himself, and found his voice. [color=violet]“I need to leave,”[/color] he said simply, in a stoic tone that barely concealed his inner troubles. He turned away and made his way toward the door. [color=violet]“I have… a lot to think about…”[/color]

Gibbou sighed. [colour=lightblue]”Cadien… One last things.”[/colour]

He stopped at the door. [color=violet]“What is it?”[/color] he asked, without turning his head.

[colour=lightblue]”Be safe.”[/colour]

The God only nodded, and stepped outside.

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[hider=SummaREEEEE!]
Cadien visits Gibs to talk about Neiya. Gibs misunderstands and thinks he’s here to berate her about vamps and casually drops that she had a hand in making them. Cadien’s pissed and asks how she intends to clean up her mess. Gib reveals a project in the working - sunplate - which will one day serve as an antivamp armour. They then sit down to talk about Neiya again, or not, as Gibbou says no one ever comes to say hi and Cadien’s like, yeah, I had this Aich over at my place. He then casually drops that Aich made lots of people go insane, which makes Gibbou flip her shit and immediately run damage diagnostics on the psyches of lots of people. Cadien tells her to calm down and they finally sit down and talk about Neiya. Cadien says “neiya said you a bitch” and Gibbou’s like “hol up I’M the bitch? Listen here sugar” and then explains that Cadien’s being bamboozled. Cadien leaves with lotsa new thots in his mind.
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