Ashton's Story

Verivasia's eyes fluttered open, revealing the world around her. With each second that passed, she watched as flakes of white gradually made their way down to the cold, snow-covered terrain. Around her, Savia could hear the bustling of mortals. Cries, laughter, and hushed whispers made their way around the marketplace. "So," She began to murmur, her voice distasteful. "This is where they decided to dump us? Are they planning to freeze us? Hmph. Perhaps... I shouldn't complain. This could be worse. Yuuka, would---"

While looking around, Verisavia quickly realized that she was in fact talking to no one. Oh, she thought. Freezing and separated? Fantastic. Inhaling sharply, she ignored the cold as it pierced her fair skin, bringing about a chill most uncomfortable and stood up. If she'd awaken in the mortal realm, then that surely meant the banishment had been initiated. But the others would have been banished as well, and yet... They were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps because of all the mortals wandering around, shoving, running, and jumping to their heart's content? Savia couldn't go a minute without being pushed around. At this rate, she'd never find anyone. In fact, she wasn't even sure if they were around. It was far too loud and crowded, she'd never be able to navigate, much less spot them... But perhaps something smaller could?

A smile crept on to Verisavia's face as she looked to the sky. Overhead, she'd spotted a small flock of birds. She called out to them with a mere whistle, and only half of the flock bothered paying any mind to her, which was less than satisfying. Frustrated, she whistled again, but this time she made sure to be much louder and more aggressive. The whistle was loud enough to attract attention from a few by-standing mortals, but they quickly went on to their daily business. Though most of the birds ignored her call, a few went out of their way to approach their creator. Savia then went out of her way to stay on the sidelines of the busy market. She felt it might be strange if she was caught talking to birds.

Verisavia held out her arm, and managed a smirk as three birds gingerly landed on it. She tilted her head, as if she were greeting them. She then began to whisper in bird tongue, "ah, hello my lovelies. My sincerest apologies for the sudden request, but would you three mind doing me a quick favor?"

"What's in it for us?" One of the birds asked. The other two started to chirp in agreement, repeating the same question over and over. Rolling her eyes, Verisavia answered with a less-than-satisfactory offer. "What's in it for you? Oh, I'm so terribly sorry I forgot the reward. Maybe you would settle for the chance to continue living? Or is death 'what's in' nowadays?"

Verisavia was bluffing, of course, though they didn't know. The birds quickly shut their mouths, or rather, beaks, only to follow up with, "your request, madam?"

"That's more like it. Now, I'd like you to search the perimeter for eight people in particular. If you find them, do make sure to grab their attention by whatever means necessary and lead them back to me. A simple task, is it not?" Verisavia instructed. "Oh! Do not let me forget. Inform your little pals up in the sky of my task and reward. Do make sure they help." Surely enough, the birds flew up to their flock and it didn't take long until all the birds scattered and began to scan the area. Verisavia hoped the others weren't too far away...

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-----Yuuka felt the familiar feeling of cold, freshly fallen snow on her back and immediately knew she wasn't in the realm of the Gods any more. The weather had been much warmer over there, though she was complaining. She enjoyed cold weather, a given since she was the God of Ice. After a few moments of reveling in the comforting feeling of the snow, she opened her eyes. Her suspicions were indeed confirmed. She was no longer in the world she had grown accustomed to, banished for simply siding with the humans. Knowing that the Gods were abandoning their sole duty as Gods made her furious, and she immediately revolted. With this, the Gods had banished her. Well, them. The Gods had banished several or more other Gods who also sided with the humans into the mortal realm. Though, just where were the others? Had they been separated during their banishment?

-----The area Yuuka was in was was crowded with many humans, many trying to shove their way past others to get to where they needed to be. She hoped that the odd coloring of her hair and eyes wouldn't attract too many looks, as she wanted to refrain from any contact with anyone until she was able to find the other banished gods. Because of these traits she often stuck out like a sore thumb, and it wouldn't be too hard to find her if you knew what you were looking for. Although the weather was especially cold, Yuuka wasn't even slightly bothered by it. She has experience much colder conditions and this wasn't so hard to deal with. She veered off to the edges of the market, to keep herself from being noticed by too many people, trying to hide herself from the rest of the world as much as she possibly could. While making sure not to draw any attention, she began searching the massive horde of people and looked for any sight of familiar faces.

-----A bird was circling around her immediate area before it flew off. Wondering if it Verisavia who had sent the birds to go find her and possibly more of the other Gods, she knew that some of the others may have been in the same predicament she was in. Maybe the Gods that had banished them had deliberately separated them, hoping that they would never be able to find each other and band up again. She was still quite irritated that they had thought to do such a thing, thinking that it would do them any good, throwing their problems away instead of dealing with them like responsible people. Some of the Gods have always been that way, acting like they don't have to do anything and just be praised and worshiped by the humans they'd ruled over. With the rest of the Gods adopting this bad habit they those few gods simply used that as an excuse. At times Yuuka had to fight to stop herself from freezing them in a huge block of ice and leaving them that way.

-----After a few minutes of searching, she managed to find Verisavia, Selena, Morengar, Chiz, Ashton and Aaron. On the inside she relaxed a bit, glad to have actually found her lost companions, though her expression didn't falter on the outside. She didn't greet her fellow banished gods, instead she simply sat down next to the little group they had formed on the edge of the market. Some knew that she didn't talk very much, with the exception of a few little words here and there, and they shouldn't have been surprised that she didn't greet them or anything, as she wasn't keen on formalities either.

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The halls of Wisdom, the epicenter of knowledge was brimming with life. Twelve gods surrounding one god who was sitting upon a large sphere. The little god smirked as he watched his ignorant brethren begin to take action against him and his colleagues. Ze knew that the foolish gods would attack him and his comrades at some point but he wasn't expecting it now. No. He should've expected it. IT was his own fault for not. "You all seem confident," he said as he held his hand, a violet glow surrounding his childlike body,"but don't forget who I am." Large rays of violet shot off into the many gods, knocking them back as he prepared barrier to surround him. He had to act quickly, they were caught off by his sudden attack for now but who knew how long it would take them to reorganize themselves. A defense against the many powers that each god would bring is needed and as he crafted his barrier a familiar presence revealed itself. He turned his up to meet the eyes of his king. The God that had taken the role of being their sovereign was obscured by some type of shroud but a sense of danger told Ze that something terrible was about to happen. He looked around himself and black rodes of dark energy were releasing some kind of dark power. "DAMN!" Pitch, black, darkness surrounded the age old god of Magic and Wisdom, his power restrained by the power of the gods that attacked; giving him no hope to escape from its grasp. It was an ancient form of magic that was made to use for punishing gods that went against the natural order. A surge of dark lighting came from the black sphere electrifying him and knocking him unconscious.

Two multicolored eyes fluttered open, as the child-like god Ze searched his surroundings, absorbing in the information of the place from where he awoke. He was sitting against a crate, some kind of decorated wool was inside that was meant to be shipped off or sold. It was also freezing, with small white flakes of snow falling all around him. He tried getting off the ground but an immense surge of power coursed through him, shaking his body violently as he felt his powers leave. "Agrh." 1... 2... 3... He counted slowly in his head. A golden chain brimming with power was wrapped around his small right arm. He could feel the raw magic of the king of gods restraining his power. He knew what the chain was. The golden chain was an item he had proposed of making eons ago, to reign in a few troublesome gods, but the notion was dismissed. "So you banish me and take my power away." Ze said, his voice venomous with hate, "and give me this thing." He rose his chained right handed and shook it at the sky. With those words said Ze tried to get off of the ground and away from the crate. His legs struggled to keep him up, threatening to give way as he finally began gaining control of his body. It was a challenge but he managed to take a single step before falling.


"Crap, they really did a number on me." Ze looked around the area for any assistance but none of the merchants or travelers seemed to pay him any attention. I'll have to find the others if I want walk, but the question is where are they, and more importantly is how do I contact them.... oh speak of the devil A lone bird flew in sky above him searching for something, he could tell. He knew who was controlling it, Verisavia goddess of nature and a ally of his. Bringing two fingers to his lips, a small high-pitch whistle resounded through out the place, but unlike a ordinary whistle this one was embedded with magic. Howl of the earth - a basic earth magic that brought the attention of any animal that it was directed at. The bird landed on his shoulder, chirping away at him, though he didn't understand the language of animals that well he caught the word 'scary woman' and 'death', and knew that it truly was Verisavia bird. "Go and tell Verisavia that my powers are being restrained and that I am unable to move. Go now." The bird flew off his shoulder but not before chirping some thing that he didn't quite understand. "I hope that bird gets to Verisavia before this cold gets to me." Using his hands to bring himself against the crate, Ze hugged his small kid knees and blew hot air to keep warm. Hopefully they can make it to me. Hopefully.

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Verisavia smiled as she watched her friends gather, pleased that her birds had done the job."How charming. Since we're all here now---" Her sentence was cut short as she spotted of the birds she'd recruited earlier flutter down and chirp on to explain how Ze's movement was bound. Her pleasant smile was replaced by a look of spite, inspired by the Gods who'd banished them in the first place. "Alright then... Perhaps we are not all here. Ze's powers are being restrained... I'm afraid he is unable to move. And I've decided, with this new development, it would probably be best if we were to go out and find Ze. I'm not sure if it's necessary for all of us to go, but that's simply up to everyone else. What kind of person would I be if I decided everything?" She twirled to the bustling of the market and motioned for the bird to show her the way. "If anyone wishes to accompany me, I implore you to come along."

As Verisavia flashed a wave to her allies and twirled to face the busy streets she spotted a group of merchants, weapons drawn and lips curling to form a snarl. Seconds later she heard a male mortal cry out from behind. Turning around, Verisavia spotted a blonde male leaping from a roof and heading straight for Yuuka. Even Verisavia cried out in warning, though by the time a yell managed to escape her lips the boy had already made contact with the Goddess of Ice. "A graceful landing, yes?" Verisavia found herself murmuring.

She listened as Caleb spoke and crossed her arms, a small smirk finding its way onto her face. "Uh... sorry, I didn't mean to run into her, or you all. Just, trying not to get killed, or arrested right now," She looked to the group of rather unhappy merchants and snickered. Verisavia nodded her head in the direction of the merchants while eying the flock of birds from earlier. With another loud whistle she got their attention and they caught her stare. She once again nodded toward the group and smirked in satisfaction as they got the message. Within seconds the flock of birds darted toward the merchants, pecking and jabbing at them. Verisavia watched as the merchants scattered, shooing away the birds and swinging at them over and over again, but to no avail. "I do hope that fixes your problem for now. Now, if you will all excuse me, I am searching for Ze. Join me if you must, I really don't mind," and with that, Verisavia was off.

One by one, several of the other deities managed to find their way to the mortal settlement, thanks to the birds Verisavia had called upon to do her bidding. With the rune emblazoned on Morengar's forehead, the others had been able to recognise him. While not all of their associates had managed to arrive as of yet, the fact that more than half of them were here already was very good news indeed. The pantheon had made a grave mistake putting them so close together instead of having them scattered across the entire world. It would only take much less time for them to be reunited.

The only one of the gods that had given Morengar more than a glance in his direction was Chzo, the god of pain. The deranged deity's wide grin was met only by a look of blank disdain from Morengar. Suffice to say, he did not share the sentiment. While wondering what their plan of action was going to be from here, it was Verisavia who ended up providing one. Ze had been restrained, and they had to go find and assist him. Plain and simple, just how Morengar preferred it. Before they could set off, however, a wild mortal appeared from one of the rooftops overlooking them, landing right on top of Yuuka. Verisavia dealt with the mortal's accompanying adversaries without delay before going to find Ze, although the god of the dead couldn't help but wonder if this man might have actually been a known criminal that they had unwittingly aided.

Regardless, there was little need to trouble himself with the affairs of mortals. Morengar followed the nature goddess with all due haste, his long strides covering a surprising distance with each step.