Sequel

This upset me. Because it took forever to write and because I have a gap in my events and none of the characters want to work out for me and I just want to scream.

Grar.

I was considering posting a certain story that a good deal of effort is going into, onto AFF. But at teh saem time, the one I am posting on AFF has been decided (this is for AFTER Sequel and Partners end) and while at work today, in amongst the panic attack that has ravaged my system for the past three days, I realised there was a person wandering about crying.

And it wasn't me.

Bit of a background. Panic attacks cut me off from my worlds, which explains the gap in the events of the story and the odd ramble below. At the same time, because I can't reach my worlds, all I see is me wandering around crying. Mainly because I can't reach my worlds and that in itself is frightening enough. So I hear this person crying and I go searching because, while I feel like it, it's not me crying.

And I find someone whose life is so wholey effected by the results of Sequel and Partners that it will never be the same again.

And I found myself wondering.

Would you guys be interested in hearing about the aftermath of this? Through the eyes of someone who doesn't know any of the program members or Sidhe but may come in contact with Una as a result of his happening... would you be interested in hearing from someone who grew up in technology, only to have it stripped away just before they came of age?

Anywho.

Hopefully the next chapter isn't so difficult.

Read, Review and Enjoy.





By supper time, Ashun was no longer happy about growing up. Apparently what Muan fed her was disgusting, even to a Sidhe, and bitter and dried out her mouth so much that she was constantly drinking. At Supper, Muan laid out a huge amount of food and Ashun ate all of it.

She even tried to take what was on Rel’s plate.

Raoh and Osht seemed a bit stunned by this, but after Mn explained what Muan was doing, they calmed down a bit. A little bit. Rel had never known such a little person to tuck back so much food. She ate so much that when supper was done, all she could do was toddle over to the nest she had made for herself, curl up in it and fall asleep.

She snored when she was full.

Through Mn, Raoh and Osht explained that the next night the tribe was having a meeting to discuss some things. Why through Raoh and Osht? Because the two males still didn’t seem to grasp the concept that Rel could speak their language.

Rel went to shower, leaving them all alone in the living room. He showered, shaved and brushed his teeth before he walked back into the living area.

Una was testing out a new cane as Mari glared at him. Raoh and Osht were curled around Ashun’s nest. Not quite touching it, backs to Ashun and fronts to the rest of the room. Eyes closed, both males seemed to be trying to sleep, despite the fact that the sun was still up.

“How did you…” Rel jabbed a finger at Una.

“Same way I got in,” Una muttered in response, turning away from Mari as he leaned heavily on the cane. Mn blinked innocently when Rel shot her a look.

The female had Rel’s control unit in her hands and was playing with the buttons. Rel wasn’t really concerned with it, as she had proven she knew something about electronics. Muan sat beside his sister, watching over her shoulder and murmuring every once in a while, questioning this or that.

“You came up the…” Rel watched as Una limped over to him, “thought your leg was broken.”

“It was.”

There was a long silence as Rel summed up the fact that Una’s leg was not broken. It was obviously still paining the immortal, but it was fine.

“So… you…”

“Committed suicide.”

“Isn’t that a sin?”

“For a mortal, yes.”

Another long silence, “you do that often, do you?”

“Do not analyse me, Whisper.”

“Do you do it often?”

“I said do not analyse me, Whisper.”

A silence during which time Mari and Rel met eyes. The pair of them had one of those moments, that people are supposed to have, wherein there was some sort of silent agreement. They agreed to keep an eye on that and both decided together that Una was, perhaps, a bit too lonely.

Which was creepy.

Because Rel was thinking it and then Mari was thinking it and then Mari directed her thought at Rel, expecting the young man to pick up on it even though she broadcasted across the entire room like a leaky hose.

“Well. Then. What are you doing here?”

Una walked a bit, leaning heavily on his cane and frowning. Ignoring Rel, it seemed, the immortal was struggling to find out what was wrong with the cane. The cane was just a little to short, which Rel was certain was Mari’s way of getting even with Una.

The immortal sighed and sat on the couch across from the television, motioning to Rel to join him. Rel sat beside Una and settled down beside the immortal. Once he was settled, he looked at Una and presented the look as a question.

“Let us, you and I, speak of the gods.”

“The. Gods.”

“If the world is going to end, you should know about the gods so that you can perform your jobs as Whisper. So. What do you know about… say the underworld?”

“The underworld.”

“Yes. If you insist on repeating everything I say, this will take forever.” Una sighed, “what do you know about the underworld?”

“The underworld is where all souls go to be cleaned between lives. If you are bad in this life, you suffer in one of the seventeen hells for a given amount of time and then are giving another chance.”

“What are the exceptions to the rule?”

“There is none.”

“I believe his name was Euleclese. Have you heard of the Empire?”

“Empire?”

“The Empire. The… oh, what did they call it… Koshnikov Empire? The men who founded the Empire are exceptions to the rule of rebirth. One may be born at a time and only in such a position as they serve the gods. We can discuss the punishments they face later. I want you to spread it around, myth wise, I mean.”

“Well. The underworld is ruled by Ill.”

“Named so because…”

“Uhm…”

“Her mother was a devote follower of Illuva. The gates of the underworld are guarded by…”

“The gates of the underworld are guarded?” Rel asked, surprised.

“Yes, by six guardians, to which each as a lock and only one guardian and one key can be born at a time, never the key to the guardian. Ashun could very well be a guardian of the gates of the underworld, though I’ve never been good at guessing. Who is Ill seeing?”

“Mated to. She’s mated to Ringe.”

“Ringe is god of…”

“Daemon.”

“Ehm. And he has been given over the rights of the lower gods.”

“What lower gods? There are none, have not been since the elder gods, Shay-har and Harella-shay.”

“Elder gods. Boy, in my coming of age they were young and in love and expecting once more. Harella had miscarried so often before, it was a terrible thing for Vera to live through again. And just as we thought the children were dead… there they arose. What is Illuva goddess of?”

“She was proclaimed goddess of Life.”

“Goddess of culture, more like, for she represents what the people believe in and not life itself, Ayato and Rava, are more for the relation of life and they are not called gods. De.”

“God of chaos. And Tahl-ra is goddess of healing and motherhood, Rahl-ta is of the dark, father of the gods but only father to two sons, proving himself useless for the ruling of the throne for the fact that it passes from mother to daughter. What is your point?” Rel snapped out.

“To teach.”

“To teach me what? All you’ve done is proven that I know nothing at all of the gods!”

“Exactly.”

What?”

“No man can ever claim to know the gods. You do not know where the path to the heavens lies, nor where the key is, a thing that at any time, any citizen may request, should they be willing to pay the price to Ringe. Or the existence of the seal of the heavens, also known as the key to the heavens.”

“The what.”

“The,” Una sighed, “When the gods fell. What is said of Illuva?”

“That she arose.”

“That. That’s all? That she arose? Nothing of the zombies that arose? Of the madness and the sickness.”

“Yes, of that.”

“Of what happened to those who had power and turned on their own families? How no weapon could stop them? Of how Illuva, at Rahl-ta’s begging, used that special ability that all godlings have and created for her high priest and his lover a weapon to thusly protect them from all people?”

“And what does that have to do with the seal and the path to the heavens.”

“The Path to the Heavens, it’s all capitalized, a name. Is a broadsword. Black as black could be, inlaid with silver, the constellations of old and half of the map to the opening to the heavens. The seal of the heavens is like… well it’s… like a rapier. Thing but not as stupidly flexible. Hard and silver, inlaid with black. And in the broadsword is a slit and into this slit slides the seal of the heavens, thusly pointing out the way for any who wish to gain access to the gods themselves.”

“Oh. Special.”

“Not. Special,” Una snapped, “lost and very vulnerable. The broadsword has at its end a jewel about the size of a child’s fist, blood red in colour that pulses,” Una’s hand made a motion that signified a heartbeat, “in time with Illuva’s heart.”

“But… Illuva’s heart was lost when she became a godling. Rahl-ta snatched it from a mortal and handed it over to De, who then handed the heart and love of Illuva over to her father, gaining Illuva’s love even as he threw it away.”

“And Illuva’s father was the man I put her into the hands of, Rava. The only man I would trust with a godling. Her heart, is on the end of that path.”

“So. What’s the bloody point?” Rel snapped.

“The Rahluen lost it in a poker game to a three year old.”

“Three year old at the time,” Rel growled out a moment before he actually remembered the conversation, “wait…”

“What?” Una asked, annoyed.

“They lost it to Raya, to he who is Rava, or could be Rava, Rava’s only born to the line of the name of the most ancient line.”

“Which is…”

“It varies…”

“Which is…” Una hissed out, annoyed.

“That name which means ancient in the oldest tongue. It is said, by some religions, that the gods did not create us, but accepted us to their bosom when we arrived here from another world. Which is incidentally how the government funded the exploration of the stars. Looking for the so called Glarusea, where the Glendar, meaning us, arose from, can you believe that?” Rel chuckled.

Una looked very serious.

“You have got to be joking,” Rel muttered.

“I never said anything,” Una murmured, looking away, “But. Tell me. Mari. What is the word for ancient in the oldest language you know?”

“Savel,” Mari responded, stepping up to the side of the couch, “which is also the name of the Tele corporation, before Norash was founded. So?”

“Did. Did the Tele corporation’s little,” Una fluttered his hand in the air, “thing come out?”

“Yes,” Mari murmured, “that is what Mn is playing with at the moment.”

“Oh. So the Tele heir, named Raya, created something like that,” Una jabbed a finger at Mn.

“Yes.” Mari said, matter of factly.

“And… we are all still alive.” Rel said. A moment before it dawned on him, “why are we all still alive?”

“Exactly the question I find myself wondering,” Una muttered.


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