Snippet #1719112

Craneo grinned as his eyes rolled back into his head, the two skull gloves lifted his hands to the same height as his head and began swaying in place as they gazed into Eden's eyes, "He is right you know, Death intends to betray you." One skull spoke and retreated slightly for the other to sidle near her ear in a calm manner, "It was not Death that brought you and the Hounds together," With that it leaned in to whisper in her ear, "that was Lord Hadrian." The heads would continue this exchange of speaking head from one to the other as they conversed, "Hadrian intends to end the tyranny, to bring about true balance in the world and place the power in the hands of the masses." "Hadrian looks to give power to the powerless, something that Death only gives in empty promises."

Eden watched the heads with a raised eyebrow and backed up to the wall and replaced her broken and missing scimitars with a shield and a short sword. "I don't really care who brought us together. I'm here to help them out. Death is inevitable, like paying taxes. Everyone dies. its the cycle of life. If i can help move it along, all the happier I am. Even Hadrian, the god of War, knows it all ends with Death. Balance is only possible in an Utopia, and I'm not one for peace myself"

The skulls let out a simultaneous hissing chuckle, "Is that the lie that Death has everyone believe? My dear, look at usssss....We live outsssssiide of Death'sssss clutchesssss." "In ancient timessssss, Heroesss were granted immortality through the memoriesssss of thosssse around them. We merely offer you the ssssame chance we were, to sssseee falssse godsss fall and Truth reign assss it shhhhould alwaysss have." Eden touched her chin, and looked thoughtful "No one dies in memory, true. But those who are forgotten...." shrugs "I'd rather die peacefully, and stay dead than be at the beck and call of someone else." The skulls nodded, "Truly sssspoken young one, but no matter what sssside you placcce yourself, you will be ssssomeone'sss ssservant. Hadrian alowssss you to act on your own accord. You ssssay you'd rather die peacccefully, but we have ssssseeeen the othersssssiiiide, it isssss nothing that one would hope for."

Eden smiled coolly "If Hadrian wanted to speak with me, he should speak himself instead of using hand puppets. On the subject of death, you dont know what I hope for, so I'll ignore that" The skulls replied "Hadrian sssspeaks of hisss own accord. We are but the guardiansss of hissss word. Now, Recccceive our gift to you!" With that, the two skulls converged on Eden's forehead, driving in a point of light into the center of her skull. Upon impact, the light would spread throughout her mind, a sense of warmth would fill in the gaps left behind by the madness. Within her mind would sit the War-god as a goat anthromorph. His horns were dressed in gold, his fur appearing pure white. The shining creature leaned in to look into her eyes with his burning ruby orbs, "You wished to speak with me, well then, here we are. Ask your questions, the time is now to ask." The creature's voice was soft and calming as it addressed her. Eden gazed at the glowing figure nonplussed "I'm here for the twins, I dont really have any questions, besides will they stop freaking out now? I thought you were a sheep by the way. Am I their Shepard now?"

The being leaned backwards, sitting within a concentration of the whiteness around them, "You will be the Shepherd if you choose to be. It is the route of the Mercenary to choose something simply because others want you to. I look to avoid this concept of forcing anyone to do things for my cause, the twins have chosen their path. The only one who can determine your path is you." Eden heaved a shrug "I dont really care what side I'm on, as long as I have the twins with me. I'll be your Shepherd. One side is as good as the other I guess." The creature smiled as it stood, "That's the ticket," With that the creature shifted into a man with long hair and a scruffy beard dressed in old robes carrying a pure white shepherd's crook, "I believe this belongs to you now. As does this," As the being spoke, his soft hand reached behind Eden's head and pulled forward over the air, creating a white hood that shaded over her eyes, "I will not force you to take on all the powers and responsibilities of your position just yet, I will hold on to this until the time is right. Now then, let us return, I'm sure the twins' arms are tired from playing those drums eh?" The wargod's demeanor had shifted since his entrance into Eden's mind. This being was a mix of the War-god and the original Shepherd. As the man winked and turned to walk away, Eden's vision would return and she would be standing before Craneo who smiled with folded arms and a look of mild approval. The blade she had driven into him had faded and the gash across his arm looked as if it had never been there.

Nodding slightly to Craneo, she skips over to the twins, pulling them away from the drums and hugging them to her. "Y'all ready to go?"