"Chronos?" Asked Alfred. "I did not have much chances to enquire to his nature." He chuckled. "I spent too much time in my tea shop, I'd guess."
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.As Renard spoke, Will busied himself with finishing off the last of his rather unappetizing cookie. He nodded absently in assent to the French Inheritor's words, taking a rather large bite out of the snack and doing his best to chew and worry the hard pastry without cracking his own teeth.
When he heard the final words the Inheritor of Inari uttered, however, Will suddenly found himself inhaling—and in short order he began to cough, gagging as he attempted to dislodge the large chunk of cookie which had found itself lodged in his throat.
The Danse Macabre CodexIt seemed like a spark had ignited in Elian's eyes, Greek mythology was one of his favourites, so he wouldn't mind at all explaining a little about what Chronos actually was. "Well..." He said with a nearly indistinguishable chuckle. "Chronos is a primordial god, one of the protogenoi, the first born gods. The most common believe is that he came from Khaos, the void that was before this universe, but in the Orphic cosmogony it's said that Chronos gave birth to Aether and Khaos, meaning that he himself was the first of all greek gods."
It was obvious that Elian was quite proud to have been chosen as the Inheritor of Chronos' essence. "Basically, he is time itself." He said, putting emphasis on the two last words. He once again brought his hand up to stroke his goatee. "Considering what I have heard about this... Cube, the possibility that Chronos has been around longer then our old universe, and perhaps even longer." He reached for his instrument from inside his inner pocket and showed it to Alfred. "I found out about this instrument as I explored his memories, which are so vast that in the time that I've spent in here;" He tapped his own forehead. "I feel like I've only explored a bank leading out into a vast ocean the size of the sun. Only reason I found this instrument in there was because He liked it quite a lot."
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca LoquiturInwardly, Alfred cursed his inability to smile. He trilled softly instead, and said, "I rather liked that tune, as it had a most triumphant quality; it reminded me of an old friend."
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home."Yes..." Elian said, looking down as if reminiscing the beautiful sound. "It was magnificent, and it was just what I needed." He nearly whispered the last part of the sentence. To Elian, music was quite important. He often found his mind trailing off so far that he'd lose touch of what reality was. To help him with this, he had music, and usually never went anywhere without his MP 3-player. It had come with him to the cube, but had been broken when he first attempted using his wings. Having not had any music to listen to for several days, Elian had needed to use all his energy to concentrate so that he wouldn't go, for the lack of another word, insane.
A weary look crossed his eyes as he, for a short moment, reminded himself of the strong feeling of emptiness that he felt when it had been a long time since he listened to any form of music. The feeling wasn't bad in and of itself, Elian did not care much about the emptiness. No, it intrigued him actually. The concept of true nothingness had always intrigued him. It was how distant reality became that he didn't like. He could still distinguish what the difference between thought and reality was, but reality would be like looking at it from a very distant place, dark and blurry.
It was Will's coughing that brought him back, and light suddenly sprung back into his eyes as if it never had trailed off down the mind's path. Elian turned his gaze to Will and looked at him hesitantly, and then at the one whom walked up to help him. ~Herakles.~ A voice in his voice said. This was the Inheritor of one of the third generation of Greek gods.
edited 21st Jun '11 4:50:16 PM by AustralAnima
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca Loquitur-The demigod slaps Will on the back, just hard enough to avoid bruising.-
Renard turned to the newcomer. He had seen her arrive yesterday, but he hadn't caught her name.
"What do you mean, "take" them? It's not like they're rations and supplies, exactly."
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!These words of Siobhan's reached the ears of Elian, and he couldn't say he hadn't thought of this. Personally, he thought the answer was rather obvious, but few people looked at it the way he did. He did not care much about getting followers or power.
"It is because they felt that it was inappropriate, both in the memory of the one who died, and for the sake of both the angel and the congregation. They have their own beliefs. Their hope in 'God' is what helps them in these tough times, and robbing them of this hope, even though they might have been safer under our protection, would have been the wrong thing to do."
He spoke clearly, so that his voice carried all across the deck. His eyes was piercing and unwavering as he watched the blood-coated lady with a convincing air about him.
edited 21st Jun '11 4:58:03 PM by AustralAnima
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca Loquitur"I believe I answered you quite clearly already, young on—" He broke off, not knowing exactly why he was about to call the woman 'young one'. He shrugged it off and assumed it must have something to do with the essence within him.
He turned to Will and waited for him to give his own answer; he wanted to know what the leader of this group thought about that kind of conversion. Personally, he believed that, much like friendship, respect and love, worship would have to be earned, not bought with promises of protection and other bribes. He also thought that, since the Parishioners already felt content with their belief in 'God', they shouldn't attempt to do anything to diminish this belief, as it brought them a protection that one cannot get by flashy creatures like themselves.
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca LoquiturEoin tapped his thigh with two silver fingers. Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump...
"We didn't try it because that angel was off his nut. He's a little better now, we hope, but it would've been a crap idea to do anythin' to set him off."
He paused for a moment, trying to recall what felt like a distant memory.
"Also... Having worshipers means we'd have to protect them.... We'd have to either stay there or take them with us, and we don't have enough supplies as is."
edited 21st Jun '11 5:40:15 PM by Diamonnes
My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.Will staggered under the impact, and out went that chunk of cookie; it sailed over the edge of the deck and landed in the water, the splash it made all but inaudible over the gentle rolling of the waves.
The young man, breathing heavily, slumped against the railing and reached up to massage his throat in an effort to regain his breath. He was only dimly aware of what was being said around him, which was understandable, given that he had almost choked to death, and as such he did not realize that Elian was waiting for his input on the matter.
The Danse Macabre CodexRealizing that it would be best to leave Will be, he returned his gaze to the bloodied lady. "Anyhow, we are now far away, and brewing over why one didn't do something in the past is quite pointless. Let's forget about them for now, and you can ask your question again next time we encounter a group of..." He paused, a little unsure of what words he should use. "...A group of humans, if you still find it necessary at that time."
edited 21st Jun '11 5:59:32 PM by AustralAnima
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca LoquiturAlfred clicked his beak. "I..." He paused, unsure of what to say. "I must say I agree with Elian. I doubt you," he looked pointedly at Siobahn, "Me, or any other Inheritor can force people to believe in them." He trilled briefly; in sounded somewhat like a weary chuckle. "It is as senseless as Pascal's Wager."
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.Having now recovered, Will straightened up and took a deep breath. Now that he was no longer in any danger, he had been able to catch the tail end of what had been said between his fellow Inheritors, and he realized—somewhat belatedly, perhaps—that they had been discussing the acquisition of worshippers or something similar. While they words of Elian and the strange, bird-headed newcomer were encouraging, he was unable to keep a slight frown from spreading across his face; such an issue could become quite divisive, given time, and he wished to prevent further conflict within the group. It was clear that the integrity of their fellowship teetered precariously on the edge of a knife as a result of the previous day's events, and if he wished to keep the group from fracturing altogether he would have to make an effort to exert his authority to a greater extent than he had done thus far.
"Personally," he began, stepping away from the rail and coming closer to the group, "while we may have the power to force worship from m—from normal people, I don't believe that we should. After all, people don't take kindly to being subjugated, and if we forced them to adhere to belief in ourselves they would probably come to hate us; we need to earn their faith, to show them that we have their best interests at heart."
He paused then, watching as the pirates busied themselves with their daily routine. It looked as though they were making ready to unfurl the sails, and two of them were winding a massive crank to drag the anchor up from the sea floor; obviously they were preparing to make way, though the way they milled about—almost like ants without a queen, he thought—indicated that they had no real destination in mind.
The young man turned back to the rest of the group and gave a slight. "Of course, that's simply my opinion on the matter, and as Elian pointed out, until we actually find another group of people it remains just that; an opinion. Now then, if you'll excuse me..."
And with that, he walked back towards the captain's cabin, tossing the orange up and down in one hand and whistling faintly to the tune which Elian's flute had been playing a few minutes earlier. His purpose in returning to the cabin was twofold; first, he intended to bring Jamie some breakfast even if she wasn't awake just yet. Second, he wanted to have a look at whatever maps the late Captain Frankbeard had made of these waters.
The Danse Macabre CodexElian could almost sense the stress that Will was experiencing as the leader of the group himself, and decided that he should think of some ways to lessen this. He pondered long on it, only a slight creaking reaching his ears as everything around him moved slowly on the ship's deck.
~I could not help by answering every question like I did with that woman, it would undermine his authority as a leader. What could I, or rather, we do then to help him? Something that would make it easier for Him...~ He was quite satisfied with Will's answer, and he felt as if he could trust Will to become a great leader; he could clearly see the potential in his eyes.
He decided to give it more thought just as his stomach gave a surprisingly loud roar, he had spent way to long and was now extremely hungry; who knew how long he had spent bending the time around himself. Everything around him suddenly sped-up: Will entered the captain's cabin and Alfred's trill reached his ears. He felt dizzy, most likely because of the hunger. He wondered what he could find to eat out in the middle of the ocean which would satisfy his hunger. Fish, that was all, or possibly birds? He looked up only to see an empty, cloud-filled sky. He let out a weak sigh, he didn't like fish that much.
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca LoquiturAlfred reached to his pack, and pulled a wooden box out. He opened it, revealing some berries; they were blue and somewhat small, and a sweet aroma lingered around them. He ate a few, then offered the box to Elian.
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.A good while later—it might have been three hours, but Will wasn't entirely certain as he had nothing with which to mark the passage of time—the sun had climbed high into the sky, shining brightly down on the endless ocean and causing the water to gleam and glitter a deep shade of blue with its reflected light. Seagulls and other waterfowl could be heard, screeching and crying out as they circled and wheeled through the air above the galleon, and a strong breeze gusted along the ship, mitigating the sun's heat and filling the nostrils of those on deck with the pungent aroma of salt and putrefaction. The ship's sails had swelled with the wind, propelling her away from the island and Evangel's church, and already the tiny spot of land which served as the home of the Power and his former congregation was dwindling to an indistinct splotch of green and yellow on the horizon; where the galleon would sail next was still a mystery, even to her crew.
It was a mystery that Will sought to solve. Sequestered in the captain's cabin, the young man had busied himself with pouring over Frankbeard's collection of maps and charts; most of these were fragmentary and incomplete, owing to the vast expanse and unfamiliar geography of this watery world, and as such it was difficult for him to triangulate their position, let alone chart a course for their next destination. He fiddled aimlessly with a graphing compass, slowly and absently walking the tool across one map as he tried to figure out where they were and where they should go, with little success in either objective.
He had been quite earnest when he had first begun this task, but after three hours and no results to speak of, he was beginning to grow rather frustrated.
What the hell am I doing? he thought to himself, letting the compass fall from his fingers in disgust. I don't know anything about making maps or plotting courses...
Reasoning that more people would be awake at this point, and that he might have better luck with the added perspective of a second person, Will rose to his feet and stepped outside, intending to look for someone willing—and more importantly, able—to help him with this matter.
edited 22nd Jun '11 2:26:32 PM by SullenFrog
The Danse Macabre CodexElian had gone back to sleep, as for him it had been a lot longer since they left Evangel's island then for the others. The screech of a seagull woke him up, and his wings gave a start as he jumped up to his feet and looked around. The presence of seagulls would surely mean that land was somewhere nearby, but as he looked about him there was nothing to indicate land of any kind; only water as far as the eye could see. He raised his gaze to look at the seagulls as there could be a possibility that they were in fact not seagulls at all; he had seen weird things that reminded him of animals from the Inheritors' old world, but which were distinctly different, though the seagulls looked like ordinary seagulls to him. Of course, seagulls were known to swarm around boats at times, but they never went out to sea by themselves. He could only come to the conclusion that they must have passed close by an island of sorts and the seagulls had followed their boat from there. "Seagulls only go out to sea to die..." He muttered as he watched a seagull perch itself on the top of the mast.
"Perhaps..." He looked towards the captain's cabin and walked up to it after a few seconds.
Knock knock
The sound reverberated through the captain's cabin, but was still almost swallowed by the gentle song of the sea. To make sure that Will heard him, he knocked again.
edited 22nd Jun '11 2:36:42 PM by AustralAnima
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca LoquiturAlfred was still sitting where he sat in the morning. He smoked his pipe, and blue tobacco haze surrounded his avian head.
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.

Elian absentmindedly brought his hand up to his chin and began stroking his goatee after shaking Alfred's hand and hearing his answer. "Yes... Yes, they were an interesting culture indeed..." He said, apparently deep in thought. He barely even registered Alfred's question, his mind had raced off trying to recall all that it could remember about the Egyptian deity Monthu.
"Ah, I..." He seemed a little taken aback, as if he'd just been startled awake after a deep sleep. "Oh, I bear the essence of Chronos, the Greek primordial god of time." He answered in response to Alfred's question, and unconsciously brought his hand over his right wrist as if touching an invisible clock strapped there.
Vir Sapit Qui Pauca Loquitur