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creation myth 3
Skull is the first one to break the silence. "Okay, but what is it?"
For the past few moments, a group of immensely powerful cosmic powers have surrounded him with blatant stares, but he hasn't been particularly insulted about it, just uneasy. Now? Uh, yeah. "I actually do, in fact, have a name," he offers cautiously, although most of the emotions focusing on him seem to range mostly from curiosity to bewilderment. "I'm also not an it. Just.... to put that out there."
No one actually seems to care up until Aria's fingers flick into place along his shoulders from behind. "Play nice! He's the first born child from any of us. That's worth something, don't you think?"
"It's definitely something," Lal Mirch says, mouth still twisted from incredulity, her gaze flicking from him to Aria to Chaos to him again. She doesn't seem to know what to make of it all. "But really, the two of you? Who could have seen that coming?" From the side, Mammon lazily raises up one hand.
Colonello leans over a little, surprise and confusion finally melting away into faint amusement as he snickers. "He has your hair, hey," he says teasingly to his unnamed companion, eyes glittering. It's obviously meant as a jab but instead of reacting like one might expect, the swirling entity of Chao- does something, many things, all hard to describe, but one thing is clear: he's preening. The only response to that is to laugh, apparently, since Colonello does so.
While the two of them exchange jabs, held back only Lal's exasperation, Verde finally takes the first step forward and leers over him with too sharp eyes. The skin on the back of his everything crawls, just a little. "Intriguing," he says, his fascination still wrapped around himself and shining in his eyes. "Continuation of a species is by far not an unknown thing, with anything of an organic nature reproducing and ensuring its lineage is carried on. However, by our very nature, there is no need for us to do such an act. In fact, up to this point, it was difficult to imagine any of us reproducing in the manner commonly done by animals of both terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial types, and flora seemed a more probable answer... Lal Mirch, while focusing on the wrong thing, certainly voiced the appropriate phrase. Who could have seen this coming indeed?"
This time, Fon is the one to raise his hand, and Mammon lowers theirs while looking distinctly offended.
However, he isn't really focusing on either of them. All he's focusing on is leaning back uncertainly from Verde's probing eyes. Only when there's crackle of heat at his back does the inquiring creature pause. An uncomfortable moment passes, tension thick in the air, as Verde and the creature which can now call itself a father eye one another, leaving the new individual stuck between them. The click of Luce's tongue is what snaps through it neatly, and both cosmic entities ease up.
"Now now, boys," Aria says breezily, brushing aside what surely must be a children's squabble in Creation's view, "let's not start up already. Dino deserves at least a decent first impression."
Lal exchanges a glance with Colonello. "Well, that's a problem, because I'm not sure any of us are decent at all."
"What's that mean, hey!?"
Yuni laughs at Colonello's indignant response, and Dino laughs along with her, their brightness entwined. For all that he's apparently his father's son, Dino has to admit that his connection to Creation in undeniable and impenetrable. He'd wonder if the rest of those gathered here notice, but he doesn't really have to. Mammon isn't making any secret of staring at him, apparently memorizing every detail of him down to the bone. Not far off, while they focus mainly on their fellow kin, Colonello and Lal's gazes keep flicking to him, on and off. Similar things are among the various members assembled, and each has their own way of showing it.
That's something to take pride in, he supposes. At least his mother is well loved, whatever face she wears.
"Well, I'll accept less than decent too," he says, shrugging lightly and smiling easily. "I don't think I could change any of you if I wanted to, either." But.... That begs a different question. Carefully, assessing, he glances back at - Luce, now- and weighs his question in his head before allowing it out his mouth. "For starters.... I'd have to know what you are."
Such a simple statement, but it makes them all pause simultaneously. Well, besides the forever twisting nature of Chaos, but even there's an idle consideration in him, so much as Dino can tell. He guesses that, for all that they know what they are on an individual level... Their connection as a group has never been questioned before. Well. That would have required someone to question it, huh?
Chaos is already starting to drift away for warmer fields, clearly bored and disinterested by such conversations, but Luce casually reaches back to loop a part of his essence inbetween her fingers. Not the kind of thing which could truly keep him if he really wanted to leave, but it stays his attention. With her other hand, she taps her cheek thoughtfully and glances to Fon. His shrug is utterly fluid, not matching the amused interest in his gaze. "I suppose we should find a way to differentiate ourselves from everything else," he muses, chin tilting downwards ever so slightly. "As distinct as we are from one another... We do come from the same source, and were once tangled together..." Smiling slyly, he glances over to some of the others, the pair of Loyalty and Mammon in particular. "Well, I suppose we're not too unlike each other in the end."
"You're revolting," Mammon says bluntly, a contrast to the way Lal rolls her eyes and Colonello snickers.
It's Verde who breaks the silence. "Arcobaleno." Rubbing at his chin, he gives a self satisfied smirk. "Yes, I think that should do nicely. We are the Arcobaleno."
"Wait-" Skull jerks his head from side to side as he looks at each of them, Dino included, blinking in bewilderment. "So is that it? Are we really just going to let him name us?"
"I have a feeling I should be insulted, but as it's coming from Skull, I don't think I will be."
"Hey!"
Fon chuckles into his sleeve again. "Well, I suppose it is fitting," he confesses.
"It's in his nature," Yuri says quietly, smiling as all eyes turn to her. "And who better to invent a name than him?" Verde's smugness really doesn't need anymore fuel, but her words clearly provide it. However, Aria continues, clearly not done. "But then, if we're the Arcobaleno, Verde..." And her hand rests in Dino's brilliant gold locks, a smile in her voice. "What can Dino possibly be?"
Aaaaaaaand he's back to being stared at again. Fantastic. Dino tries to not let it bother him too much, smile only a little lopsided as he weathers it out patiently. At least Verde is the only one truly intense; the others of the Arcobaleno only seem some degree of interested instead of scrutinizing. This must be what bugs feel like under the eyes of a bird.
"I'm not sure," Verde finally admits, eyes narrowed and his fingers rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "As I was saying, for the creatures created after the birth of this world, they have a reason to breed more of themselves. Their lives are finite, mortal- if they do not breed, then their species will die out. In the time we have existed, many of them have already perished, in fact. However, there's no need for any of us to do such a thing. I mean, after all-" Stepping back, he sweeps an arm out to gesture to, well- everything. "That's not a problem for us. And I don't feel the sort of connection which binds us Arcobaleno together."
"So it seems like you don't know everything after all," Chaos say smoothly. "What a surprise."
This, in contrast to Skull's words, seems to be the insult that sticks. Verde narrows his eyes at the other, lips thin.... before he pauses. "The rest of us might not have a connection," he says thoughtfully, glancing down at Dino, "but what of the ones who made him? In fact.... What does one get when you mix Chaos and Creation?"
"Let me guess," Lal says dully, "you're going to find out."
"And none of you are interested?"
After eyeing Fon, Mammon raises their hand again. "I suppose I am." Skull opens his mouth, clearly to express confusion, but all they do is give him a dead eyed stare, and he slowly closes it again.
And that is how Dino finds himself wandering throughout the world with Verde trailing along behind him, the subject of the Arcobaleno's new pet project.
"Just continue acting in the way that most feels natural to you," Verde says with a dismissive shooing gesture as they make their way through the world, Aria along for the ride and looking far too amused. "I'll take a passive observation role for the time being."
Dino quirks his lips up in a lopsided smirk as he glances to Aria. "Easy for him to say," he chuckles, even as he tries to do just that. What feels natural to him? In such an enormous world, still coming together and figuring itself out, full of oblivious animals that are learning themselves... Well. He's a bit on his own for this one. Still, Dino supposes, someone had to be the first of whatever he is. Might as well be him. So he lets himself wander, trying to find what most makes sense, what most fits.... And, in the end, that seems to be an enormous stretch of plain lands, more shrubs and dirt than anything else. Something about it.... Yeah. He's sure of it. It's in the light sweeping across every plateau and beating hot against the earth. Something else tugs at him, too, and he turns his head just in time to watch as a herd of beasts race across the land.
They're enormous, four legged and lightning fast, hooves beating the hard earth harder, and Dino can't help but keep his eyes completely on them. Something in him calls towards the creatures with their smooth hides and flowing manes. As he watches, it becomes apparent that they feel something similar, their pace slowing as they curve around back to their small group. At the head is a beautiful example of the species: his hair dark, hide mostly a pale white with dark gray spreading across its hindquarters like blood slowly dissolving through water. Dino touches the side of its face gently, and smiles.
From behind him, he can hear Verde mutter, "So is he the personification of horses, then....?"
"I don't think so," Yuni says quietly, Luce's laughter echoing somewhere among her words.
"Definitely not," Dino agrees, grinning, patting the horse a few more times before he starts to pass along through the rest of the herd. A pitch black horse catches his attention, hooves hard as diamonds and its body sturdily broad. It's a mare, one how nuzzles into his palm when he reaches out to her, and it's her that he helps Luce up onto. Verde seems a little leery as Dino guides a tan horse with kinky hair towards him, but still gets on it anyway.
"Is there a purpose to this...?"
"You said to do what's natural!" Dino calls over his shoulder breezily as he mounts the first horse, adjusting his legs and sending it off with only a pat.
On top of the horse, everything makes sense. It's as if he's come into the world a second time, his father's burning existence still thrumming in his veins and his mother's heart reverberating through him, only now it's wind whipping through his hair and light burning from his skin. Yet in a way that his first birth wasn't, he knows what he is, now. When he looks behind him, his mother is riding like she was always meant to and Verde is clinging with equal parts suspicion and burning curiosity, but neither of them give off the same feeling of knowing as goes through him. The only way he thinks he can possibly get them to understand is to show them.
So he does. Subtly, at first, although he thinks Luce knows immediately. He races across the land, showing them the new creatures that have been patiently working towards existence in this new world. They aren't like the Arcobaleno, nor are they like whatever Dino himself is. They are plentiful but finite in their existence, small but still pebbles rippling through the tide of the universe, and so very mortal... And yet, every time they pass by a group of these fragile creatures, Dino feels a throb in his heart, a connection almost as powerful as that to his parents.
Gathering berries. Clumsily carving sticks into tools, or homes. Picking up a child and moving on to the next part of fertile land.
So much effort, so much painful work, all to continue living and protect those they love. It's not easy, he can feel that, and even as they kneel upon the ground to gather or prick their fingers against wood, something in their souls whispers to him. He can hear every single one, a chorus song that rides on the wind alongside his racing steeds. I wish to find good food. I hope this shelter will hold. None of them know who it is that they cry, beg, and plead to- for all they know, their voices simply get lost in the wind.
But they don't. He can hear them.
His steeds, his physical connections to this world, truly are more fast than anything, and Dino can't tell if it's because they've naturally always been that way or because his attention makes them transcend their earthbound nature. Either way, the world has only dealt with a single passing of the sun since he first took off on his journey, and night lays heavy over all soon enough. Dismounting, he spares only a glance to the Arcobaleno who have been accompanying him before he steps away. It's a tiny little camp, with frail bodies pressing close to one another under messy pelts in order to keep warm. It's hard for them to stay safe; he can feel that in his bones. So, carefully, he walks among their sleeping bodies before, at last, he makes his decision and kneels besides some of them in particular.
The first reminds him of his mother in some way. Not in physical appearance, all comforting Creation confined to a simple form, but in how she feels. Experience is in the wrinkles that have begun to sag at her skin, crinkling the corners of her eyes. Even in her rest, the weight of many seems to lay across her shoulders. As gently as he's able, he brushes tangled brown hair away from her ears. What he has to tell her is of utmost importance, and so there must be no obstacles in his way. Not even the smallest ones.
And with that done, he whispers a gift to her.
The gift is: his offering to her, and her kin, and every frail mortal existence that walks this earth and will walk it in the times ahead. It is an offering of speed, and strength, and companionship. An offering of food, even, if such things come to that, so long as his own are treated well and honored.
What images swirl in her mind at his words, knowledge in its purest form passed on, he can't say. He can only give this gift, tell her of his offering. How she receives it is precious and known only to her. With the deed done, his words spoken, Dino shifts and focuses on the next.
He's a young boy, mismatched eyes hidden behind closed eyelids, dark hair a mess as it falls around sun-kissed skin. Yes, Dino thinks he'll do. In this, Verde's presence he thinks is useful. Ingenuity- and it is that which he thinks will spur on so much, which will keep his presence thriving for a good long while. The exact ways? Well, he doesn't think he's smart enough for that, but he doesn't need to be. All he needs to know are truths, and all he needs to do is pass such things on.
Plants can be sown. Soil is fertile. All life, not just that with a mouth and throat, thrives with the existence of water so close to it.
From there, well, he's sure that this race will prosper. They have the knowledge, now, and all that must be done is to put it to use. That much, he's sure of.
Satisfaction blooms in his chest as he pulls away from the mortals. Or maybe that's not the right word. It's something more fulfilling than satisfaction. Contentment, he thinks instead. Yes, that's right. This is how things are. This is how he is, what he is, and it must show in his confident stride as he returns to the herd where Luce and Verde await- so much more secure now that he knows his purpose.
Verde's expression isn't as conniving or overbearingly investigative as before. Instead, the Arcobaleno is lost in thought as he stares off towards the mortals, hand curled at his chin. Only when Dino finally pulls himself back up onto his steed does he speak. "It's a symbiotic relationship... I think I see now. Luce and I, we are, but an existence such as yours... Perhaps it could be more akin to overseeing."
"Uh," says Dino, silently amazed that something can both simultaneously make sense and absolutely none.
Running her fingers down gently along the ear of the steed he allowed her, Luce seems to have no trouble understanding her fellow Arcobaleno. She smiles to Dino, an expression that makes his heart swell, and the curl of her fingers going through that dark mane feels as though it's going through his. "You guide people in the way of a star illuminating a dark sky," she says softly, "and are there with every effort they undertake. Light and Labor... I think that suits you nicely."
"Not just Light and Labor," Verde interrupts, self satisfied as always. His words are definitive and final.
"You're a god."
There it is again- that trembling tension of a world about to snap, the spider's web of reality shaking violently under the weight of something bearing down too hard against it. It's an almost, a nearly there, and Fon breathes in the strain of it all eagerly. The first time, he hadn't been prepared, hadn't realized what such a sensation could mean. Now, however, he does, and he flickers through existence before taking form quietly.... right behind Skull.
"Hello," he says serenely, and gives his best innocent smile as Skull jolts forward with a wheeze so guttural he's surprised that the other's throat doesn't collapse in on itself.
Scrambling up and twisting around, his fellow Arcobaleno boggles at him before hunching up defensively and spreading his arms out as if such meager width can hide the twisting whirlwind of collective pain behind him. Skull's bodily representation isn't nearly large enough to manage that, but Fon supposes it's amusing that he tries. "Fon! What are you doing here!?"
"I simply got curious about what it was you were doing," he answers, which is honest enough. The smile which lays on his face, inconspicuous on a surface level and sly only to those looking for it, answers Skull's furrowed look. "It seems quite interesting, after all." And oh, that's putting it lightly. The way that swirling vortex of potential draws Fon like few other things do outside his own existence- and all of them would be his own fellow Arcobaleno, beings such as Mammon and Reborn especially. Honestly, it's for that reason that he's highly interested in what will come out of Dino- the one bore from the combination of the most volatile of existences in reality. The only thing which stays his hand has been the recollection of Chaos' expanding presence, a crackling and burning disaster within itself which had threatened to tear apart everything from Verde's cocky smirk to his toes.
That kind of power is something he wants to see set off at just the right time, no matter how much it might heat up whatever passes for blood inside his storming core.
Oblivious to what's really going through his head, Skull blinks in surprise at the answer before puffing up immediately. "Well, it will be pretty amazing," he boasts. "Do you know what it is?"
He has a rough idea, in fact, but it's the specifics which intrigue him, so he encourages the other. "Why don't you tell me?" Skull looks all too eager to do just that; it's hardly much of a request.
Standing tall, his chest swells out, and he sweeps an arm out towards the thing which he has concocted. "It's a- whatever Verde called Dino. A god! I mean..." Hand on his hip, he tosses his head to the side and lets his hair flip a little. "Luce and that guy made one just by accident. I'm sure if I focused a little, I could make one too."
It's actually quite a sensible leap of logic, and Fon is pleasantly surprised that Skull is the one to have tried it out first. Out of all of their number, he wouldn't have considered the origin of suffering to come up with it. He seems too rash and young to fit the mold. But then, someone had to think it, while Verde is off investigating all other manners of things. Why not him? Leaning a little closer to the forming energy that will soon be its own person, Fon hums. "Is it hard, then?"
"Pfffft. It's easy." Yet even as he says it, Skull has his mouth screwed up in the direction of what he's made. "Just... The finishing touches are proving sort of tricky. Just a little bit."
So not too easy. Well, it's for the best. Gods are still strange unknown things, and, for all his reckless desires, Fon knows they should exercise maybe a little bit of caution in such an area. "I see," he says, hiding his smile behind one of his long sleeves. "So you've hit a snag, then."
"A temporary one!" Skull protests, his sulk growing in strength. "I'll figure it out, I'm working on it!"
"Do you know what's giving you trouble?" he asks, watching as the deep purple energy twists in on itself.
Besides him, Skull taps his foot and paces, impatient and frustrated. "I don't know! I just need it to take a shape and stick, but every time I try to, you know, make it do that, it just-" His hands flap through the air. "It's like it's fighting me! Me! I'm the one who's creating it, so I don't get what this thing's problem could be-" Even as Skull grumbles and rants, Fon reaches out curiously to the mass with his fingertips-
Everything explodes in a whirlwind of pain.
When the stars behind his eyes stop popping, Fon finds himself a good mile from where he'd first been standing, gouges left in the earth from where he'd held his ground. Half that distance from him, on his right, Skull has been flung through at least three trees. Ignoring his fellow Arcobaleno's bewildered yelling as he scrambles out from the mess, Fon looks straight to where the vortex of energy had been. The distance is no obstacle to him.
Standing there among the rocks and dirt, body drawn tense and eyes viciously bright, is a boy who could almost be called Fon's double. There are differences, of course. His hair is considerably shorter, no braid swinging through the air, and his eyes are a glimmering silver instead of suffocating black. Yet in everything else, from the shape of those eyes to the curve of his jaw... He's a perfect mimic.
Okay, well, the expression isn't Fon's- an imperious sneer before he suddenly twists on his heel and bounds away into the wilderness- but that's fine. In fact, it's a lot more interesting outcome than he ever could have imagined.
"Whups," he says, in no way apologetic at all, and smiles at the flabbergasted look on Skull's face as his kin stumbles into place besides him.
It takes a moment for Skull to find and utilize his voice again. "What was that?!" he squawks, flinging his hands at the now empty spot where the boy stood not a few minutes prior.
"That," Fon answers simply, still smiling, "appears to have been the god you were making."
"But-!" Skull looks from the spot to him in rapid succession, distinctly distressed. "He looked like you!"
"He did." He can't even hide how pleased he is about that. "But I didn't feel any connection to him like Creation and Chaos spoke of. I suppose it's merely a superficial connection." Skull's expression says he'd rather there be no connection between the god he made and Fon, but it's too late now. What's done has been done, so they should just flow with what's happened. At least, that's how he views it, and he's quick to cheerfully point it out as he moves forward. "It wouldn't be very responsible of us if we just left your newborn god to run about unattended!"
Skull stumbles after him, groaning. "This wasn't supposed to happen....!"
"So he just helps these creatures?" A tone that is very distinctly disappointed is laced through Chaos' words, and Aria flashes him an amused smile from the side.
She bets he was probably hoping for something a little more... exciting. Yet for a god whose parentage can be directly traced to the personification of chaos, Dino has proven to be a very industrious being. He seems at his happiest surrounded by mortals at work, soothing horses in the field and whispering ideas into napping craftspeople.
Verde, at least, she thinks is pretty happy about it all. As it turns out, when this particular type of mortal creature gets industrious, they start getting new ideas, and that keeps Verde's existence thriving with purpose.
"Look on the bright side," she says cheerfully, swatting her hand through him playfully, "have you seen what the humans are making now that they've become more aware of his presence? I have. They're cute, and they add something new to the mix." They're spreading like wildfire, in fact: tiny little constructs, at least one in each town, with trinkets shaped like horses decorating them. Sometimes about as elaborate as a child's toy of sticks, other times carefully carved out of wood with a master's patience, but there, always. It hasn't escaped her notice that their creation makes energy flow, weaving around Dino and making his eyes shine bright.
Arcobaleno like her will exist in the world whether they're acknowledged or not. It is they who make the foundation of all that is. However, as a god, an overseer of his particular dominion, it only makes sense that he would grow stronger when others pay him mind.
Well. She's not lying, in any of her forms, when she says that it makes the world more interesting.
Chaos, in an ironic fit of predictability, doesn't seem entirely won over by the idea, so Aria turns to the two who step out from a nearby river and grins to them. "What do you think, Lal, Colonello?" she asks, as the sky mixes in signal of their gathering- steady blues mixing with brilliant orange and yellow, stretching far and wide.
Lal cracks her neck, looking exasperated. "I think Skull did something stupid."
As if on cue, the very same arrives, ice crystals scattered along his skin and precipitation clinging to the strands of his hair. "Has anyone seen a kid with silver eyes and a bad attitude!?" he blurts out, looking more than a little.... frazzled, to say the least. In the clouds that are now reflecting strange purples and pinks, something rumbles through them, and Fon arrives besides him. It's a good thing Mammon is one of the few in their number who's not yet here, doing whatever mysteries they're focused on. They wouldn't be able to stand his all too pleased smile for a single heartbeat.
"Oh, is that who that was?" Aria asks, shaking her head fondly and flicking her fingers through her hair. She'd felt the ripple of something new being born, knew its shape, but she hadn't been paying too much mind to the origin.
"Do you even know how to make a god?" Verde questions, forming from the ozone thick in the air with his expression already skeptical.
Skull bristles, offended. "Well he's obviously running around, so, yeah, I do!"
"I helped," Fon offers casually, and a groan runs through their collective. The only one who doesn't would be Chaos, and even then there's the feeling of eyes rolling although they're not so clearly seen. Aria can't blame any of them, really. Skull and Fon are a dangerous combination with what they represent. Frankly, with Chaos as he is, it's a miracle that Dino has come out so.... well adjusted. A good bit of luck, really. Yet suffering and catalyst are not so loose. Really, the only surprising thing to be said about this whole thing is that Skull's fledgling god has run away on him. Down in the slowly growing town, cradled against the slopes of a forested mountain with water not far off, she watches as the mortals move hastily in preparation against the storm. More importantly, what will he be to the people which populate this world who make it more than the basic exchange of hunt and hunted?
It's a question for her to ponder later. Around her, the Arcobaleno are abuzz with conversation- most of it Skull trying to defend his decision to the rest of them. "Nothing horrible has happened yet!"
"Yet is the key word," Colonello says sharply, almost as much as the impact of his hand to the side of Skull's head in a light cuff. "What were you even thinking, hey?"
"I'd ask why you encouraged him," Lal says to Fon, not missing a beat separate from her other half, "but it's pretty obvious."
From her shadow, a voice says smugly, "So I hear Skull and Fon messed up." Mammon steps out, neat as anything, and their plush lips form the most satisfied smirk. There's something a little strange about the petite Arcobaleno, a darkness they wrap too neatly around themself, but Luce doesn't have to think too hard on why that is. Desire was the last to be dragged out from the Void, and that which was clung to strongest. There's a little bit more of it in them than any of the others, something that makes desire monstrous as much as it is intoxicating. Luce, or any other part of herself, can't say it's a bad thing.
It's Yuni who reaches out, lacing her fingers inbetween Mammon's, and smiles at them. "Just a little surprise," she says, a bit kinder than some of the others. "I'm sure it will all work out in the end."
Down in the human settlement, screaming starts up, and Skull perks up.
"I believe that can be called a 'presumption'," Verde sighs, even as he, like everyone else, turns to see what the commotion is about. Just about all of them can guess, judging by the way Skull is hopping a little to look down into the gathering of humans and muttering distressed but incoherent things to himself.
Down in the human settlement, what few mortals have taken to working in the forest- whether to harvest wood, hunt animals, or whatever else- are fleeing from it in a way that Luce has only ever seen when they were being hunted themselves or if fire was ravaging a place. But for all of Verde's presence and how heavy the clouds were with thunder and rain, no lightning has struck anywhere. There is no fire here, not yet. Just humans fleeing from.... something, back across the plains and back towards what fragile home they have made for themselves.
It only takes a moment for their threat to reveal himself, and, at the sight, Colonello drawls dryly, "I think I found that god you made, hey."
Luce is more interested in watching the god in question, all her selves stirring with curiosity. As much as he wears Fon's face, it's certainly Skull's presence that surrounds him. Only he could say better, take that suffering in his mouth and discern each individual bit of it by taste, but Luce knows what she's wrought by bringing the others into this world. She knows their touches and the weight of their existences.
"He's chasing them out of the forest," Mammon says lazily, leaning comfortably against Lal Mirch's steady frame. Their eyes are hidden now, unlike at the start of the world, but it's clear to see that they are focused right on Skull's young god like everyone else. "That's what he wants."
"But why!?" Skull bemoans, flinging his arms out towards where the nameless god is prowling the outskirts of the forest. He whirls to Fon, missing the way silver flickers in his direction. "Is this your fault too? I don't have anything to do with forests! I wasn't even-"
In one smooth movement, Fon sweeps his foot out to knock Skull off of his feet at the same time he brings an arm to block a foot slamming straight towards his face.
Skull's young god uses it to push off of him, flipping into a landing some distance from the gathered Arcobaleno and drawing himself up proudly. In his hands, he's crafted some manner of weapons from branches: strong and straight with handles protruding from one end each. They're rudimentary, but Aria imagines they get the job done. At least, in this god's hands if nothing else, for he certainly holds no fear or uncertainty in his vicious smirk. Or, to be more exact, at Fon. "So you ended up coming to me.... That saves me the effort."
"What is he DOING!?" Skull whispers, scrambling to his feet so that he can duck behind Lal and Colonello, wide eyed and mildly horrified. "Does he know who he's trying to pick a fight with!?"
"He knows exactly," Mammon says. "That's the whole point."
If anyone would know, it would be Mammon, and yet three of their number still stare at the new god in bewilderment. Luce doesn't, nor do any other aspects of Creation, and Chaos is focused right on Fon.... who, in turn, is focused on their little runaway god, wearing a deceiving smile on his face. "Hello, Hibari Kyoya," he greets quietly.
Being named- and he is newly named, Yuni can feel the blossom of creation falling from Fon's lips and weighing on Hibari's body- make the young god bristle. His eyes are sharp as he glares at one of his two parents, vicious as a wolf's maw. Fitting, then, that his next words are, "I'm going to bite you to death, and take care of you once and for all."
Is it the act of being named or his connection to Fon in general that has earned such ire? Difficult to say. However, what's more important in the moment is Colonello's low concerned murmur. "Could he actually kill him?"
To kill an actual personification of reality, of what makes the universe turn.... "We're about to find out," says Chaos as the clouds rumble with an incoming storm and Hibari leaps forward-
A rope snaps out from the side, wrapping around one of his weapons and jerking him back straight through the air.
Such unpredicted force has Hibari tumbling head over heels before his feet dig firmly into the earth. His glare immediately goes to find its new target.... Dino. The blond flicks his wrist, drawing the rope back to him, and smiles dryly. "I can't say I exactly know what's going on here," he says, "but I'd appreciate if whatever it is could stop right now."
Fon's shoulders droop a little as he drops his fists, no doubt disappointed. However, it seems he's still keenly interested as he watches the pair of gods interact. Hibari doesn't say anything immediately, only cocks his head while staring at the interloping god. Helplessly, Dino looks to the Arcobaleno with his eyebrows raised, a silent inquiry of no, really, what is going on, I'm completely lost.
"You," Hibari begins, drawing Dino's attention back, "are the one responsible for that." His arm sweeps out, pointing accusingly at the small mortal settlement. Dino blinks.
"I mean.... I did encourage them to settle down and start cultivating supplies around them instead of constantly going from one place to another, so I guess- "
There's no need for him to say anything else, at least according to Hibari. That much is obvious as he lunges towards Dino with a vicious swipe right at his head, which gets ducked from as the blond god scrambles for some distance.
"Hey!? What's your problem?"
Another swipe, another miss, and Hibari seems to be getting annoyed. "You're the reason why the forests are plagued by trespassers and becoming ruined! I'll snap your neck for that."
"Listen, just-" But Hibari isn't letting up in his assault, and Dino has to jerk to the side so that he can grab Hibari's leg to fling him away for even a little respite. "Jeez... You really are pretty feisty, aren't you?" He glances down to the rope in his hand, no doubt taken from the settlement he had been watching over. "This is clearly not going to cut it."
And just like that, something in the air changes. At her side, Chaos shifts in active interest as heat all too similar to his own pulses through the air. There's a heaviness to it, affecting even beings such as the Arcobaleno with energy crackling up their arms and into their hair. All of it swirls around Dino as he grips the rope in his hand tightly, where sparks- embers burn and crackle bright. Despite his earlier alarm, casual confidence radiates from Dino and, just as easily, he pulls the rope sharply through the grip of one hand. It's like stone grinding against stone in just the right way, flame blazing as it grinds out from his grip and transforms simple rope into something all the greater. When he snaps his wrist, his new weapon cracks through the air loud as thunder, and he smiles.
"Now let's break you in before you cause anymore trouble."
It's a challenge, made clear and direct. Still leaning against Lal, Mammon purrs quietly in time with the way Hibari's eyes light up. "You have a lot of nerve," are the only words he bothers voicing before he dives back into combat once more. Sky and earth don't shake from the force of their clashing, no ominous rumble with every wipe of leg or the smell of ozone heralding an attack, but that doesn't mean their fight has no impact. In the distance, hundreds of animal eyes watch their champion's vicious assault and the very trees seem to ache for him. Dino's connections are more difficult to see. What strengthens him are the people who have hidden in their fragile homes, no doubt huddling together in tight groups and lacing their fingers together as they have so many times while passing by their little idols to him. Who knows? Perhaps it is exactly that which makes his hair practically glow golden and his eyes burn bright.
Whether it's that or what little age and experience he has over his opponent, there's something interesting to his movements, and it's Fon's curious voice which points it out. "He's leading him further and further away from those mortals..."
Lal Mirch sighs, reluctant as she admits, "I guess there's something to him after all instead of just Luce's tendency to involve herself with every other person in the universe."
Luce smiles, Aria's laugh behind her lips, and Chaos would probably be preening again if he wasn't so interested, much like Fon, in the battle that's raging now through the meadows and alongside the river. Glancing up, she takes in the sky: still mostly cloudy, but with bits of the sky now showing through its gaps, and the brilliance of a rainbow is arching past it all. "Well," Yuni says quietly, hands lacing together, "it's still happening yet. Let's go see how they're faring and how it will end, okay?"
Organizing feral cougars is easier than herding along the Arcobaleno, but she manages after a short spell. All around them, the trees are marked with signs of the gods' battle: lashes where Dino's whip has snapped against it, or broken branches from Hibari's tonfa. As they venture further along, soon, Dino's voice can soon be heard.
"Listen, I understand you have a little bit of- " A grunt, a displeased growl. "- a little bit of possessiveness towards what's apparently your territory." Through the trees, the pair of gods soon become visible. Dino's hands are gripped tightly around his whip, which has wrapped impressively not only around one of Hibari's weapons but also the hand and wrist holding it. The former seems to be making an attempt at persuasion, a trait she thinks is more her speed than the one who fathered him. "But consider letting up on this act of trespassing just this once, and I promise you'll get something worth it in exchange."
Hibari tugs his arm, eyes narrowed and the set of his jaw determined, but, for all that the whip strains and keens at the power trying to tear it asunder, it holds strong. "And what exactly would be worth it?" he says, voice steely, free hand twitching in a clear desire to fling his other weapon right at Dino's face.
Such a thing doesn't get past those bright eyes, and Dino only smiles, still perfectly self assured. "Tribute," he says simply. "Given regularly. All it would take is a little whisper into their dreams, and they would start setting up shrines to leave offerings in exchange for venturing into the places you've claimed as yours. I would know, because that's exactly what's been happening with me." He tilts his head to the side, one eyebrow quirked up, still smiling. "What do you think?"
A tense moment passes between the pair of gods as Hibari goes over the proposition, weapons still raised stubbornly. When he finally lets his free arm swing down in silent agreement, Dino's relieved exhale is audible all the way to the small group spectating. "I'll accept that," Hibari says grudgingly, and watches as Dino loosens up his whip's grip to tug it back to him fully. "However, consider this the only mercy I'll offer in the future."
"Fine by me!" Dino coils up the whip so that he can hold it in one hand. The other he offers to Hibari as he strides closer, accompanying it with a wide grin.
Hibari smashes his foot into one of Dino's knees and, as the older god hits the ground cursing and hissing, bolts back into the foliage to disappear again.
"And that's why you don't get into your opponent's range," Chaos says, his many voices all dry as deserts.
Still holding onto his knee, Dino looks up at them with more than a little exasperation to match his father's tone. "I'm now well aware, thanks. Ugh- little menace packs a kick..." The sound of hoofbeats draws their attention, and Luce recognizes the horse Dino first road weaving through the trees. It seems even more exasperated than its rider as it comes to a stop, lowering its head to huff into his hair. Dino pats his snout. "I'm fine, Romario, I swear..."
"You named the horse?" Skull asks in bewilderment.
"And you unleashed an aggressive little mess of a god onto the world without thinking about it," Lal Mirch shoots out, her tenuous patience finally snapping, "so I don't think you have a leg to stand on when it comes to strange or idiotic life choices, Skull."
Dino's eyebrows slowly rise as he decides if he wants to be offended or not. "Horses are a perfectly fine life choice..." Yet Lal is done with all of them, apparently, turning on her heel and sweeping Colonello up in her wake as the pair of them take their leave. Luce watches her in amusement, shaking her head slightly, and Dino can only sigh before his gaze turns to Skull. "Anyway... Skull?"
Skull is still tugging his fingers through his hair, staring in aggravation and offense in the direction the Mirrored Pair disappeared to, but he pauses to blink curiously at the golden haired god. "Huh? What?"
"I'd like to say this as politely as possible... But, honestly, could you maybe stop making other gods for a while? Or ever?"
"Hey, I wasn't the only one, why is everyone getting on me and not Fon-!?"
"Technically, I didn't create him. I only touched him."
"You can't just leave me to-"
As so often happens when they're collected in one spot, bickering starts up, and Aria locks eyes with Dino. He's still slumped against Romario, tired even as he grins a little. Much like her, she supposes, he thrives in the presence of others no matter how disastrous their varying personalities are. Another pat to Romario, and then he's drawing himself up onto the horse's back once more with a wave to her.
What catches her attention most, however, is a lingering glance past her, Dino's brows slightly drawn together and his lips turned down in an uncertain frown. As he trots off, no doubt to his many shrines and those who pray to them, she follow where his gaze had gone.... and finds herself watching Chaos, whose attention is trapped by the scene the two gods have left behind in their wake. The torn grass left scattered, branches broken along the ground, trees left with scars of the battle....
His attention leaves Yuni uneasy.
For the past few moments, a group of immensely powerful cosmic powers have surrounded him with blatant stares, but he hasn't been particularly insulted about it, just uneasy. Now? Uh, yeah. "I actually do, in fact, have a name," he offers cautiously, although most of the emotions focusing on him seem to range mostly from curiosity to bewilderment. "I'm also not an it. Just.... to put that out there."
No one actually seems to care up until Aria's fingers flick into place along his shoulders from behind. "Play nice! He's the first born child from any of us. That's worth something, don't you think?"
"It's definitely something," Lal Mirch says, mouth still twisted from incredulity, her gaze flicking from him to Aria to Chaos to him again. She doesn't seem to know what to make of it all. "But really, the two of you? Who could have seen that coming?" From the side, Mammon lazily raises up one hand.
Colonello leans over a little, surprise and confusion finally melting away into faint amusement as he snickers. "He has your hair, hey," he says teasingly to his unnamed companion, eyes glittering. It's obviously meant as a jab but instead of reacting like one might expect, the swirling entity of Chao- does something, many things, all hard to describe, but one thing is clear: he's preening. The only response to that is to laugh, apparently, since Colonello does so.
While the two of them exchange jabs, held back only Lal's exasperation, Verde finally takes the first step forward and leers over him with too sharp eyes. The skin on the back of his everything crawls, just a little. "Intriguing," he says, his fascination still wrapped around himself and shining in his eyes. "Continuation of a species is by far not an unknown thing, with anything of an organic nature reproducing and ensuring its lineage is carried on. However, by our very nature, there is no need for us to do such an act. In fact, up to this point, it was difficult to imagine any of us reproducing in the manner commonly done by animals of both terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial types, and flora seemed a more probable answer... Lal Mirch, while focusing on the wrong thing, certainly voiced the appropriate phrase. Who could have seen this coming indeed?"
This time, Fon is the one to raise his hand, and Mammon lowers theirs while looking distinctly offended.
However, he isn't really focusing on either of them. All he's focusing on is leaning back uncertainly from Verde's probing eyes. Only when there's crackle of heat at his back does the inquiring creature pause. An uncomfortable moment passes, tension thick in the air, as Verde and the creature which can now call itself a father eye one another, leaving the new individual stuck between them. The click of Luce's tongue is what snaps through it neatly, and both cosmic entities ease up.
"Now now, boys," Aria says breezily, brushing aside what surely must be a children's squabble in Creation's view, "let's not start up already. Dino deserves at least a decent first impression."
Lal exchanges a glance with Colonello. "Well, that's a problem, because I'm not sure any of us are decent at all."
"What's that mean, hey!?"
Yuni laughs at Colonello's indignant response, and Dino laughs along with her, their brightness entwined. For all that he's apparently his father's son, Dino has to admit that his connection to Creation in undeniable and impenetrable. He'd wonder if the rest of those gathered here notice, but he doesn't really have to. Mammon isn't making any secret of staring at him, apparently memorizing every detail of him down to the bone. Not far off, while they focus mainly on their fellow kin, Colonello and Lal's gazes keep flicking to him, on and off. Similar things are among the various members assembled, and each has their own way of showing it.
That's something to take pride in, he supposes. At least his mother is well loved, whatever face she wears.
"Well, I'll accept less than decent too," he says, shrugging lightly and smiling easily. "I don't think I could change any of you if I wanted to, either." But.... That begs a different question. Carefully, assessing, he glances back at - Luce, now- and weighs his question in his head before allowing it out his mouth. "For starters.... I'd have to know what you are."
Such a simple statement, but it makes them all pause simultaneously. Well, besides the forever twisting nature of Chaos, but even there's an idle consideration in him, so much as Dino can tell. He guesses that, for all that they know what they are on an individual level... Their connection as a group has never been questioned before. Well. That would have required someone to question it, huh?
Chaos is already starting to drift away for warmer fields, clearly bored and disinterested by such conversations, but Luce casually reaches back to loop a part of his essence inbetween her fingers. Not the kind of thing which could truly keep him if he really wanted to leave, but it stays his attention. With her other hand, she taps her cheek thoughtfully and glances to Fon. His shrug is utterly fluid, not matching the amused interest in his gaze. "I suppose we should find a way to differentiate ourselves from everything else," he muses, chin tilting downwards ever so slightly. "As distinct as we are from one another... We do come from the same source, and were once tangled together..." Smiling slyly, he glances over to some of the others, the pair of Loyalty and Mammon in particular. "Well, I suppose we're not too unlike each other in the end."
"You're revolting," Mammon says bluntly, a contrast to the way Lal rolls her eyes and Colonello snickers.
It's Verde who breaks the silence. "Arcobaleno." Rubbing at his chin, he gives a self satisfied smirk. "Yes, I think that should do nicely. We are the Arcobaleno."
"Wait-" Skull jerks his head from side to side as he looks at each of them, Dino included, blinking in bewilderment. "So is that it? Are we really just going to let him name us?"
"I have a feeling I should be insulted, but as it's coming from Skull, I don't think I will be."
"Hey!"
Fon chuckles into his sleeve again. "Well, I suppose it is fitting," he confesses.
"It's in his nature," Yuri says quietly, smiling as all eyes turn to her. "And who better to invent a name than him?" Verde's smugness really doesn't need anymore fuel, but her words clearly provide it. However, Aria continues, clearly not done. "But then, if we're the Arcobaleno, Verde..." And her hand rests in Dino's brilliant gold locks, a smile in her voice. "What can Dino possibly be?"
Aaaaaaaand he's back to being stared at again. Fantastic. Dino tries to not let it bother him too much, smile only a little lopsided as he weathers it out patiently. At least Verde is the only one truly intense; the others of the Arcobaleno only seem some degree of interested instead of scrutinizing. This must be what bugs feel like under the eyes of a bird.
"I'm not sure," Verde finally admits, eyes narrowed and his fingers rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "As I was saying, for the creatures created after the birth of this world, they have a reason to breed more of themselves. Their lives are finite, mortal- if they do not breed, then their species will die out. In the time we have existed, many of them have already perished, in fact. However, there's no need for any of us to do such a thing. I mean, after all-" Stepping back, he sweeps an arm out to gesture to, well- everything. "That's not a problem for us. And I don't feel the sort of connection which binds us Arcobaleno together."
"So it seems like you don't know everything after all," Chaos say smoothly. "What a surprise."
This, in contrast to Skull's words, seems to be the insult that sticks. Verde narrows his eyes at the other, lips thin.... before he pauses. "The rest of us might not have a connection," he says thoughtfully, glancing down at Dino, "but what of the ones who made him? In fact.... What does one get when you mix Chaos and Creation?"
"Let me guess," Lal says dully, "you're going to find out."
"And none of you are interested?"
After eyeing Fon, Mammon raises their hand again. "I suppose I am." Skull opens his mouth, clearly to express confusion, but all they do is give him a dead eyed stare, and he slowly closes it again.
And that is how Dino finds himself wandering throughout the world with Verde trailing along behind him, the subject of the Arcobaleno's new pet project.
"Just continue acting in the way that most feels natural to you," Verde says with a dismissive shooing gesture as they make their way through the world, Aria along for the ride and looking far too amused. "I'll take a passive observation role for the time being."
Dino quirks his lips up in a lopsided smirk as he glances to Aria. "Easy for him to say," he chuckles, even as he tries to do just that. What feels natural to him? In such an enormous world, still coming together and figuring itself out, full of oblivious animals that are learning themselves... Well. He's a bit on his own for this one. Still, Dino supposes, someone had to be the first of whatever he is. Might as well be him. So he lets himself wander, trying to find what most makes sense, what most fits.... And, in the end, that seems to be an enormous stretch of plain lands, more shrubs and dirt than anything else. Something about it.... Yeah. He's sure of it. It's in the light sweeping across every plateau and beating hot against the earth. Something else tugs at him, too, and he turns his head just in time to watch as a herd of beasts race across the land.
They're enormous, four legged and lightning fast, hooves beating the hard earth harder, and Dino can't help but keep his eyes completely on them. Something in him calls towards the creatures with their smooth hides and flowing manes. As he watches, it becomes apparent that they feel something similar, their pace slowing as they curve around back to their small group. At the head is a beautiful example of the species: his hair dark, hide mostly a pale white with dark gray spreading across its hindquarters like blood slowly dissolving through water. Dino touches the side of its face gently, and smiles.
From behind him, he can hear Verde mutter, "So is he the personification of horses, then....?"
"I don't think so," Yuni says quietly, Luce's laughter echoing somewhere among her words.
"Definitely not," Dino agrees, grinning, patting the horse a few more times before he starts to pass along through the rest of the herd. A pitch black horse catches his attention, hooves hard as diamonds and its body sturdily broad. It's a mare, one how nuzzles into his palm when he reaches out to her, and it's her that he helps Luce up onto. Verde seems a little leery as Dino guides a tan horse with kinky hair towards him, but still gets on it anyway.
"Is there a purpose to this...?"
"You said to do what's natural!" Dino calls over his shoulder breezily as he mounts the first horse, adjusting his legs and sending it off with only a pat.
On top of the horse, everything makes sense. It's as if he's come into the world a second time, his father's burning existence still thrumming in his veins and his mother's heart reverberating through him, only now it's wind whipping through his hair and light burning from his skin. Yet in a way that his first birth wasn't, he knows what he is, now. When he looks behind him, his mother is riding like she was always meant to and Verde is clinging with equal parts suspicion and burning curiosity, but neither of them give off the same feeling of knowing as goes through him. The only way he thinks he can possibly get them to understand is to show them.
So he does. Subtly, at first, although he thinks Luce knows immediately. He races across the land, showing them the new creatures that have been patiently working towards existence in this new world. They aren't like the Arcobaleno, nor are they like whatever Dino himself is. They are plentiful but finite in their existence, small but still pebbles rippling through the tide of the universe, and so very mortal... And yet, every time they pass by a group of these fragile creatures, Dino feels a throb in his heart, a connection almost as powerful as that to his parents.
Gathering berries. Clumsily carving sticks into tools, or homes. Picking up a child and moving on to the next part of fertile land.
So much effort, so much painful work, all to continue living and protect those they love. It's not easy, he can feel that, and even as they kneel upon the ground to gather or prick their fingers against wood, something in their souls whispers to him. He can hear every single one, a chorus song that rides on the wind alongside his racing steeds. I wish to find good food. I hope this shelter will hold. None of them know who it is that they cry, beg, and plead to- for all they know, their voices simply get lost in the wind.
But they don't. He can hear them.
His steeds, his physical connections to this world, truly are more fast than anything, and Dino can't tell if it's because they've naturally always been that way or because his attention makes them transcend their earthbound nature. Either way, the world has only dealt with a single passing of the sun since he first took off on his journey, and night lays heavy over all soon enough. Dismounting, he spares only a glance to the Arcobaleno who have been accompanying him before he steps away. It's a tiny little camp, with frail bodies pressing close to one another under messy pelts in order to keep warm. It's hard for them to stay safe; he can feel that in his bones. So, carefully, he walks among their sleeping bodies before, at last, he makes his decision and kneels besides some of them in particular.
The first reminds him of his mother in some way. Not in physical appearance, all comforting Creation confined to a simple form, but in how she feels. Experience is in the wrinkles that have begun to sag at her skin, crinkling the corners of her eyes. Even in her rest, the weight of many seems to lay across her shoulders. As gently as he's able, he brushes tangled brown hair away from her ears. What he has to tell her is of utmost importance, and so there must be no obstacles in his way. Not even the smallest ones.
And with that done, he whispers a gift to her.
The gift is: his offering to her, and her kin, and every frail mortal existence that walks this earth and will walk it in the times ahead. It is an offering of speed, and strength, and companionship. An offering of food, even, if such things come to that, so long as his own are treated well and honored.
What images swirl in her mind at his words, knowledge in its purest form passed on, he can't say. He can only give this gift, tell her of his offering. How she receives it is precious and known only to her. With the deed done, his words spoken, Dino shifts and focuses on the next.
He's a young boy, mismatched eyes hidden behind closed eyelids, dark hair a mess as it falls around sun-kissed skin. Yes, Dino thinks he'll do. In this, Verde's presence he thinks is useful. Ingenuity- and it is that which he thinks will spur on so much, which will keep his presence thriving for a good long while. The exact ways? Well, he doesn't think he's smart enough for that, but he doesn't need to be. All he needs to know are truths, and all he needs to do is pass such things on.
Plants can be sown. Soil is fertile. All life, not just that with a mouth and throat, thrives with the existence of water so close to it.
From there, well, he's sure that this race will prosper. They have the knowledge, now, and all that must be done is to put it to use. That much, he's sure of.
Satisfaction blooms in his chest as he pulls away from the mortals. Or maybe that's not the right word. It's something more fulfilling than satisfaction. Contentment, he thinks instead. Yes, that's right. This is how things are. This is how he is, what he is, and it must show in his confident stride as he returns to the herd where Luce and Verde await- so much more secure now that he knows his purpose.
Verde's expression isn't as conniving or overbearingly investigative as before. Instead, the Arcobaleno is lost in thought as he stares off towards the mortals, hand curled at his chin. Only when Dino finally pulls himself back up onto his steed does he speak. "It's a symbiotic relationship... I think I see now. Luce and I, we are, but an existence such as yours... Perhaps it could be more akin to overseeing."
"Uh," says Dino, silently amazed that something can both simultaneously make sense and absolutely none.
Running her fingers down gently along the ear of the steed he allowed her, Luce seems to have no trouble understanding her fellow Arcobaleno. She smiles to Dino, an expression that makes his heart swell, and the curl of her fingers going through that dark mane feels as though it's going through his. "You guide people in the way of a star illuminating a dark sky," she says softly, "and are there with every effort they undertake. Light and Labor... I think that suits you nicely."
"Not just Light and Labor," Verde interrupts, self satisfied as always. His words are definitive and final.
"You're a god."
There it is again- that trembling tension of a world about to snap, the spider's web of reality shaking violently under the weight of something bearing down too hard against it. It's an almost, a nearly there, and Fon breathes in the strain of it all eagerly. The first time, he hadn't been prepared, hadn't realized what such a sensation could mean. Now, however, he does, and he flickers through existence before taking form quietly.... right behind Skull.
"Hello," he says serenely, and gives his best innocent smile as Skull jolts forward with a wheeze so guttural he's surprised that the other's throat doesn't collapse in on itself.
Scrambling up and twisting around, his fellow Arcobaleno boggles at him before hunching up defensively and spreading his arms out as if such meager width can hide the twisting whirlwind of collective pain behind him. Skull's bodily representation isn't nearly large enough to manage that, but Fon supposes it's amusing that he tries. "Fon! What are you doing here!?"
"I simply got curious about what it was you were doing," he answers, which is honest enough. The smile which lays on his face, inconspicuous on a surface level and sly only to those looking for it, answers Skull's furrowed look. "It seems quite interesting, after all." And oh, that's putting it lightly. The way that swirling vortex of potential draws Fon like few other things do outside his own existence- and all of them would be his own fellow Arcobaleno, beings such as Mammon and Reborn especially. Honestly, it's for that reason that he's highly interested in what will come out of Dino- the one bore from the combination of the most volatile of existences in reality. The only thing which stays his hand has been the recollection of Chaos' expanding presence, a crackling and burning disaster within itself which had threatened to tear apart everything from Verde's cocky smirk to his toes.
That kind of power is something he wants to see set off at just the right time, no matter how much it might heat up whatever passes for blood inside his storming core.
Oblivious to what's really going through his head, Skull blinks in surprise at the answer before puffing up immediately. "Well, it will be pretty amazing," he boasts. "Do you know what it is?"
He has a rough idea, in fact, but it's the specifics which intrigue him, so he encourages the other. "Why don't you tell me?" Skull looks all too eager to do just that; it's hardly much of a request.
Standing tall, his chest swells out, and he sweeps an arm out towards the thing which he has concocted. "It's a- whatever Verde called Dino. A god! I mean..." Hand on his hip, he tosses his head to the side and lets his hair flip a little. "Luce and that guy made one just by accident. I'm sure if I focused a little, I could make one too."
It's actually quite a sensible leap of logic, and Fon is pleasantly surprised that Skull is the one to have tried it out first. Out of all of their number, he wouldn't have considered the origin of suffering to come up with it. He seems too rash and young to fit the mold. But then, someone had to think it, while Verde is off investigating all other manners of things. Why not him? Leaning a little closer to the forming energy that will soon be its own person, Fon hums. "Is it hard, then?"
"Pfffft. It's easy." Yet even as he says it, Skull has his mouth screwed up in the direction of what he's made. "Just... The finishing touches are proving sort of tricky. Just a little bit."
So not too easy. Well, it's for the best. Gods are still strange unknown things, and, for all his reckless desires, Fon knows they should exercise maybe a little bit of caution in such an area. "I see," he says, hiding his smile behind one of his long sleeves. "So you've hit a snag, then."
"A temporary one!" Skull protests, his sulk growing in strength. "I'll figure it out, I'm working on it!"
"Do you know what's giving you trouble?" he asks, watching as the deep purple energy twists in on itself.
Besides him, Skull taps his foot and paces, impatient and frustrated. "I don't know! I just need it to take a shape and stick, but every time I try to, you know, make it do that, it just-" His hands flap through the air. "It's like it's fighting me! Me! I'm the one who's creating it, so I don't get what this thing's problem could be-" Even as Skull grumbles and rants, Fon reaches out curiously to the mass with his fingertips-
Everything explodes in a whirlwind of pain.
When the stars behind his eyes stop popping, Fon finds himself a good mile from where he'd first been standing, gouges left in the earth from where he'd held his ground. Half that distance from him, on his right, Skull has been flung through at least three trees. Ignoring his fellow Arcobaleno's bewildered yelling as he scrambles out from the mess, Fon looks straight to where the vortex of energy had been. The distance is no obstacle to him.
Standing there among the rocks and dirt, body drawn tense and eyes viciously bright, is a boy who could almost be called Fon's double. There are differences, of course. His hair is considerably shorter, no braid swinging through the air, and his eyes are a glimmering silver instead of suffocating black. Yet in everything else, from the shape of those eyes to the curve of his jaw... He's a perfect mimic.
Okay, well, the expression isn't Fon's- an imperious sneer before he suddenly twists on his heel and bounds away into the wilderness- but that's fine. In fact, it's a lot more interesting outcome than he ever could have imagined.
"Whups," he says, in no way apologetic at all, and smiles at the flabbergasted look on Skull's face as his kin stumbles into place besides him.
It takes a moment for Skull to find and utilize his voice again. "What was that?!" he squawks, flinging his hands at the now empty spot where the boy stood not a few minutes prior.
"That," Fon answers simply, still smiling, "appears to have been the god you were making."
"But-!" Skull looks from the spot to him in rapid succession, distinctly distressed. "He looked like you!"
"He did." He can't even hide how pleased he is about that. "But I didn't feel any connection to him like Creation and Chaos spoke of. I suppose it's merely a superficial connection." Skull's expression says he'd rather there be no connection between the god he made and Fon, but it's too late now. What's done has been done, so they should just flow with what's happened. At least, that's how he views it, and he's quick to cheerfully point it out as he moves forward. "It wouldn't be very responsible of us if we just left your newborn god to run about unattended!"
Skull stumbles after him, groaning. "This wasn't supposed to happen....!"
"So he just helps these creatures?" A tone that is very distinctly disappointed is laced through Chaos' words, and Aria flashes him an amused smile from the side.
She bets he was probably hoping for something a little more... exciting. Yet for a god whose parentage can be directly traced to the personification of chaos, Dino has proven to be a very industrious being. He seems at his happiest surrounded by mortals at work, soothing horses in the field and whispering ideas into napping craftspeople.
Verde, at least, she thinks is pretty happy about it all. As it turns out, when this particular type of mortal creature gets industrious, they start getting new ideas, and that keeps Verde's existence thriving with purpose.
"Look on the bright side," she says cheerfully, swatting her hand through him playfully, "have you seen what the humans are making now that they've become more aware of his presence? I have. They're cute, and they add something new to the mix." They're spreading like wildfire, in fact: tiny little constructs, at least one in each town, with trinkets shaped like horses decorating them. Sometimes about as elaborate as a child's toy of sticks, other times carefully carved out of wood with a master's patience, but there, always. It hasn't escaped her notice that their creation makes energy flow, weaving around Dino and making his eyes shine bright.
Arcobaleno like her will exist in the world whether they're acknowledged or not. It is they who make the foundation of all that is. However, as a god, an overseer of his particular dominion, it only makes sense that he would grow stronger when others pay him mind.
Well. She's not lying, in any of her forms, when she says that it makes the world more interesting.
Chaos, in an ironic fit of predictability, doesn't seem entirely won over by the idea, so Aria turns to the two who step out from a nearby river and grins to them. "What do you think, Lal, Colonello?" she asks, as the sky mixes in signal of their gathering- steady blues mixing with brilliant orange and yellow, stretching far and wide.
Lal cracks her neck, looking exasperated. "I think Skull did something stupid."
As if on cue, the very same arrives, ice crystals scattered along his skin and precipitation clinging to the strands of his hair. "Has anyone seen a kid with silver eyes and a bad attitude!?" he blurts out, looking more than a little.... frazzled, to say the least. In the clouds that are now reflecting strange purples and pinks, something rumbles through them, and Fon arrives besides him. It's a good thing Mammon is one of the few in their number who's not yet here, doing whatever mysteries they're focused on. They wouldn't be able to stand his all too pleased smile for a single heartbeat.
"Oh, is that who that was?" Aria asks, shaking her head fondly and flicking her fingers through her hair. She'd felt the ripple of something new being born, knew its shape, but she hadn't been paying too much mind to the origin.
"Do you even know how to make a god?" Verde questions, forming from the ozone thick in the air with his expression already skeptical.
Skull bristles, offended. "Well he's obviously running around, so, yeah, I do!"
"I helped," Fon offers casually, and a groan runs through their collective. The only one who doesn't would be Chaos, and even then there's the feeling of eyes rolling although they're not so clearly seen. Aria can't blame any of them, really. Skull and Fon are a dangerous combination with what they represent. Frankly, with Chaos as he is, it's a miracle that Dino has come out so.... well adjusted. A good bit of luck, really. Yet suffering and catalyst are not so loose. Really, the only surprising thing to be said about this whole thing is that Skull's fledgling god has run away on him. Down in the slowly growing town, cradled against the slopes of a forested mountain with water not far off, she watches as the mortals move hastily in preparation against the storm. More importantly, what will he be to the people which populate this world who make it more than the basic exchange of hunt and hunted?
It's a question for her to ponder later. Around her, the Arcobaleno are abuzz with conversation- most of it Skull trying to defend his decision to the rest of them. "Nothing horrible has happened yet!"
"Yet is the key word," Colonello says sharply, almost as much as the impact of his hand to the side of Skull's head in a light cuff. "What were you even thinking, hey?"
"I'd ask why you encouraged him," Lal says to Fon, not missing a beat separate from her other half, "but it's pretty obvious."
From her shadow, a voice says smugly, "So I hear Skull and Fon messed up." Mammon steps out, neat as anything, and their plush lips form the most satisfied smirk. There's something a little strange about the petite Arcobaleno, a darkness they wrap too neatly around themself, but Luce doesn't have to think too hard on why that is. Desire was the last to be dragged out from the Void, and that which was clung to strongest. There's a little bit more of it in them than any of the others, something that makes desire monstrous as much as it is intoxicating. Luce, or any other part of herself, can't say it's a bad thing.
It's Yuni who reaches out, lacing her fingers inbetween Mammon's, and smiles at them. "Just a little surprise," she says, a bit kinder than some of the others. "I'm sure it will all work out in the end."
Down in the human settlement, screaming starts up, and Skull perks up.
"I believe that can be called a 'presumption'," Verde sighs, even as he, like everyone else, turns to see what the commotion is about. Just about all of them can guess, judging by the way Skull is hopping a little to look down into the gathering of humans and muttering distressed but incoherent things to himself.
Down in the human settlement, what few mortals have taken to working in the forest- whether to harvest wood, hunt animals, or whatever else- are fleeing from it in a way that Luce has only ever seen when they were being hunted themselves or if fire was ravaging a place. But for all of Verde's presence and how heavy the clouds were with thunder and rain, no lightning has struck anywhere. There is no fire here, not yet. Just humans fleeing from.... something, back across the plains and back towards what fragile home they have made for themselves.
It only takes a moment for their threat to reveal himself, and, at the sight, Colonello drawls dryly, "I think I found that god you made, hey."
Luce is more interested in watching the god in question, all her selves stirring with curiosity. As much as he wears Fon's face, it's certainly Skull's presence that surrounds him. Only he could say better, take that suffering in his mouth and discern each individual bit of it by taste, but Luce knows what she's wrought by bringing the others into this world. She knows their touches and the weight of their existences.
"He's chasing them out of the forest," Mammon says lazily, leaning comfortably against Lal Mirch's steady frame. Their eyes are hidden now, unlike at the start of the world, but it's clear to see that they are focused right on Skull's young god like everyone else. "That's what he wants."
"But why!?" Skull bemoans, flinging his arms out towards where the nameless god is prowling the outskirts of the forest. He whirls to Fon, missing the way silver flickers in his direction. "Is this your fault too? I don't have anything to do with forests! I wasn't even-"
In one smooth movement, Fon sweeps his foot out to knock Skull off of his feet at the same time he brings an arm to block a foot slamming straight towards his face.
Skull's young god uses it to push off of him, flipping into a landing some distance from the gathered Arcobaleno and drawing himself up proudly. In his hands, he's crafted some manner of weapons from branches: strong and straight with handles protruding from one end each. They're rudimentary, but Aria imagines they get the job done. At least, in this god's hands if nothing else, for he certainly holds no fear or uncertainty in his vicious smirk. Or, to be more exact, at Fon. "So you ended up coming to me.... That saves me the effort."
"What is he DOING!?" Skull whispers, scrambling to his feet so that he can duck behind Lal and Colonello, wide eyed and mildly horrified. "Does he know who he's trying to pick a fight with!?"
"He knows exactly," Mammon says. "That's the whole point."
If anyone would know, it would be Mammon, and yet three of their number still stare at the new god in bewilderment. Luce doesn't, nor do any other aspects of Creation, and Chaos is focused right on Fon.... who, in turn, is focused on their little runaway god, wearing a deceiving smile on his face. "Hello, Hibari Kyoya," he greets quietly.
Being named- and he is newly named, Yuni can feel the blossom of creation falling from Fon's lips and weighing on Hibari's body- make the young god bristle. His eyes are sharp as he glares at one of his two parents, vicious as a wolf's maw. Fitting, then, that his next words are, "I'm going to bite you to death, and take care of you once and for all."
Is it the act of being named or his connection to Fon in general that has earned such ire? Difficult to say. However, what's more important in the moment is Colonello's low concerned murmur. "Could he actually kill him?"
To kill an actual personification of reality, of what makes the universe turn.... "We're about to find out," says Chaos as the clouds rumble with an incoming storm and Hibari leaps forward-
A rope snaps out from the side, wrapping around one of his weapons and jerking him back straight through the air.
Such unpredicted force has Hibari tumbling head over heels before his feet dig firmly into the earth. His glare immediately goes to find its new target.... Dino. The blond flicks his wrist, drawing the rope back to him, and smiles dryly. "I can't say I exactly know what's going on here," he says, "but I'd appreciate if whatever it is could stop right now."
Fon's shoulders droop a little as he drops his fists, no doubt disappointed. However, it seems he's still keenly interested as he watches the pair of gods interact. Hibari doesn't say anything immediately, only cocks his head while staring at the interloping god. Helplessly, Dino looks to the Arcobaleno with his eyebrows raised, a silent inquiry of no, really, what is going on, I'm completely lost.
"You," Hibari begins, drawing Dino's attention back, "are the one responsible for that." His arm sweeps out, pointing accusingly at the small mortal settlement. Dino blinks.
"I mean.... I did encourage them to settle down and start cultivating supplies around them instead of constantly going from one place to another, so I guess- "
There's no need for him to say anything else, at least according to Hibari. That much is obvious as he lunges towards Dino with a vicious swipe right at his head, which gets ducked from as the blond god scrambles for some distance.
"Hey!? What's your problem?"
Another swipe, another miss, and Hibari seems to be getting annoyed. "You're the reason why the forests are plagued by trespassers and becoming ruined! I'll snap your neck for that."
"Listen, just-" But Hibari isn't letting up in his assault, and Dino has to jerk to the side so that he can grab Hibari's leg to fling him away for even a little respite. "Jeez... You really are pretty feisty, aren't you?" He glances down to the rope in his hand, no doubt taken from the settlement he had been watching over. "This is clearly not going to cut it."
And just like that, something in the air changes. At her side, Chaos shifts in active interest as heat all too similar to his own pulses through the air. There's a heaviness to it, affecting even beings such as the Arcobaleno with energy crackling up their arms and into their hair. All of it swirls around Dino as he grips the rope in his hand tightly, where sparks- embers burn and crackle bright. Despite his earlier alarm, casual confidence radiates from Dino and, just as easily, he pulls the rope sharply through the grip of one hand. It's like stone grinding against stone in just the right way, flame blazing as it grinds out from his grip and transforms simple rope into something all the greater. When he snaps his wrist, his new weapon cracks through the air loud as thunder, and he smiles.
"Now let's break you in before you cause anymore trouble."
It's a challenge, made clear and direct. Still leaning against Lal, Mammon purrs quietly in time with the way Hibari's eyes light up. "You have a lot of nerve," are the only words he bothers voicing before he dives back into combat once more. Sky and earth don't shake from the force of their clashing, no ominous rumble with every wipe of leg or the smell of ozone heralding an attack, but that doesn't mean their fight has no impact. In the distance, hundreds of animal eyes watch their champion's vicious assault and the very trees seem to ache for him. Dino's connections are more difficult to see. What strengthens him are the people who have hidden in their fragile homes, no doubt huddling together in tight groups and lacing their fingers together as they have so many times while passing by their little idols to him. Who knows? Perhaps it is exactly that which makes his hair practically glow golden and his eyes burn bright.
Whether it's that or what little age and experience he has over his opponent, there's something interesting to his movements, and it's Fon's curious voice which points it out. "He's leading him further and further away from those mortals..."
Lal Mirch sighs, reluctant as she admits, "I guess there's something to him after all instead of just Luce's tendency to involve herself with every other person in the universe."
Luce smiles, Aria's laugh behind her lips, and Chaos would probably be preening again if he wasn't so interested, much like Fon, in the battle that's raging now through the meadows and alongside the river. Glancing up, she takes in the sky: still mostly cloudy, but with bits of the sky now showing through its gaps, and the brilliance of a rainbow is arching past it all. "Well," Yuni says quietly, hands lacing together, "it's still happening yet. Let's go see how they're faring and how it will end, okay?"
Organizing feral cougars is easier than herding along the Arcobaleno, but she manages after a short spell. All around them, the trees are marked with signs of the gods' battle: lashes where Dino's whip has snapped against it, or broken branches from Hibari's tonfa. As they venture further along, soon, Dino's voice can soon be heard.
"Listen, I understand you have a little bit of- " A grunt, a displeased growl. "- a little bit of possessiveness towards what's apparently your territory." Through the trees, the pair of gods soon become visible. Dino's hands are gripped tightly around his whip, which has wrapped impressively not only around one of Hibari's weapons but also the hand and wrist holding it. The former seems to be making an attempt at persuasion, a trait she thinks is more her speed than the one who fathered him. "But consider letting up on this act of trespassing just this once, and I promise you'll get something worth it in exchange."
Hibari tugs his arm, eyes narrowed and the set of his jaw determined, but, for all that the whip strains and keens at the power trying to tear it asunder, it holds strong. "And what exactly would be worth it?" he says, voice steely, free hand twitching in a clear desire to fling his other weapon right at Dino's face.
Such a thing doesn't get past those bright eyes, and Dino only smiles, still perfectly self assured. "Tribute," he says simply. "Given regularly. All it would take is a little whisper into their dreams, and they would start setting up shrines to leave offerings in exchange for venturing into the places you've claimed as yours. I would know, because that's exactly what's been happening with me." He tilts his head to the side, one eyebrow quirked up, still smiling. "What do you think?"
A tense moment passes between the pair of gods as Hibari goes over the proposition, weapons still raised stubbornly. When he finally lets his free arm swing down in silent agreement, Dino's relieved exhale is audible all the way to the small group spectating. "I'll accept that," Hibari says grudgingly, and watches as Dino loosens up his whip's grip to tug it back to him fully. "However, consider this the only mercy I'll offer in the future."
"Fine by me!" Dino coils up the whip so that he can hold it in one hand. The other he offers to Hibari as he strides closer, accompanying it with a wide grin.
Hibari smashes his foot into one of Dino's knees and, as the older god hits the ground cursing and hissing, bolts back into the foliage to disappear again.
"And that's why you don't get into your opponent's range," Chaos says, his many voices all dry as deserts.
Still holding onto his knee, Dino looks up at them with more than a little exasperation to match his father's tone. "I'm now well aware, thanks. Ugh- little menace packs a kick..." The sound of hoofbeats draws their attention, and Luce recognizes the horse Dino first road weaving through the trees. It seems even more exasperated than its rider as it comes to a stop, lowering its head to huff into his hair. Dino pats his snout. "I'm fine, Romario, I swear..."
"You named the horse?" Skull asks in bewilderment.
"And you unleashed an aggressive little mess of a god onto the world without thinking about it," Lal Mirch shoots out, her tenuous patience finally snapping, "so I don't think you have a leg to stand on when it comes to strange or idiotic life choices, Skull."
Dino's eyebrows slowly rise as he decides if he wants to be offended or not. "Horses are a perfectly fine life choice..." Yet Lal is done with all of them, apparently, turning on her heel and sweeping Colonello up in her wake as the pair of them take their leave. Luce watches her in amusement, shaking her head slightly, and Dino can only sigh before his gaze turns to Skull. "Anyway... Skull?"
Skull is still tugging his fingers through his hair, staring in aggravation and offense in the direction the Mirrored Pair disappeared to, but he pauses to blink curiously at the golden haired god. "Huh? What?"
"I'd like to say this as politely as possible... But, honestly, could you maybe stop making other gods for a while? Or ever?"
"Hey, I wasn't the only one, why is everyone getting on me and not Fon-!?"
"Technically, I didn't create him. I only touched him."
"You can't just leave me to-"
As so often happens when they're collected in one spot, bickering starts up, and Aria locks eyes with Dino. He's still slumped against Romario, tired even as he grins a little. Much like her, she supposes, he thrives in the presence of others no matter how disastrous their varying personalities are. Another pat to Romario, and then he's drawing himself up onto the horse's back once more with a wave to her.
What catches her attention most, however, is a lingering glance past her, Dino's brows slightly drawn together and his lips turned down in an uncertain frown. As he trots off, no doubt to his many shrines and those who pray to them, she follow where his gaze had gone.... and finds herself watching Chaos, whose attention is trapped by the scene the two gods have left behind in their wake. The torn grass left scattered, branches broken along the ground, trees left with scars of the battle....
His attention leaves Yuni uneasy.