Gods of All Sorts

Off in a large, open field, a pair could be seen sleeping under the shade of a tree, exhausted from their trip. A young man, with multiple tatoos all through his body, and a small winged fairy-like creature in a blue jumpsuit. The man was leaning against the tree, with his companion sleeping on his shoulder.

The man was known as the Demi-Fiend, an extremely powerful entity that had found itself in this world after his own had collapsed, by his own hand, no less. While the world was nothing like his own, it was filled with demon-like creatures, and that led him to believe that his goal could remain the same:

Removing gods who abused their powers for their own benefit.

The two hadn't found anything of the sort yet, and he hoped that, perhaps, this world wasn't under his invisible guidance. If anything, they weren't really feeling any sort of godly presence in this world. It was truly an alien experience for the both of them. Maybe they would be lucky enough for that. Maybe, just for once, things wouldn't have to be ended through violence...

From the distance, growing slowly closer was the tall silhouette of a woman? No the distance must be trickery to the eyes that was a small tree... As the figure drew within a reasonable distance it was easy to discern that it was indeed a tree and equally true to be woman in shape. A creature commonly referred to as a midara, a dryad. Her skin the color and texture of birch bark, her hair a tangled mess of branches and soft green leaves. This nature being stands a towering 7'8", modesty covered by a burgundy shawl and a white wrapped dress.

After taking a very nice break between traveling the last of the nine worlds back home, this Dryad known as Æona a name gifted her by the Norns. She walked in this new world continuing her journey to curate the sort of beings she wanted to put into worlds that she hoped to create. She was at the very least a little hopeful that this new world, untainted by the myriad of deities would hold some interesting subjects.

Her curiosity peaked when she noticed this boy against a landmark-like tree in the middle of an open field. He looked different from anything she'd seen before, he looked.. Unnatural. It both disgusted Æona slightly, and gave her a great deal of intrigue. A curiosity that she looked to satisfy, by getting a close look at this smaller humanoid creature and.. as she noticed, its assumed companion.

Pixie had grown rather fond of this world in the short time that they had been here. Many of the people were nothing like those in their old world. Many of them were friendly, and open. Sure, there was a few that were similar to the demons of back home, but for the most part, there was peace. Peace that, while Naoki had experienced in his life at least once, she definitely hadn't. It reminded her of how Naoki described his old world, before the Conception.

Something awoke the pair from their slumber. As the strange figure giving off a strange, yet familiar aura, approached, the Demi-Fiend's eyes sprung open, the bright, almost glowing red pupils simply observing this creature before him, making no action, in an almost judging manner.

The tension was cut off by Pixie's yawn as she slowly roused herself from her sleep, stretching on his shoulder. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she noticed the...incredibly large figure that was surprisingly close to the both of them. She jumped with a squeak, falling behind him, before fluttering back out, a pout on her face.

"Hey, hey! Personal space, lady, geez!" Getting a good look at the new figure, she was able to make out a few...tree like features. Plant people aren't exactly uncommon to them, but nothing quite at this scale. She was incredibly tall, and had an appearance that was more human-like than plant like. And there was something that was eating at her in the back of her mind about this person. She couldn't quite nail it though. She'd felt this somewhere but for the life of her she couldn't tell what...

Æona took a step back, watching the two of them with an intense scarlet gaze. "My apologies, tiny creature. I did not mean to cross your boundaries." Æona's voice was smooth, soft, and sounding seemingly distant While she spoke to the tiny winged woman, her eyes returned the studying glance before she put a rather large hand to her chest in a more formal gesture.

"I am Æona, daughter of the Great Tree Yggdrasil. I journey this world's young soil, to catalog the life here. You are different to what I have seen previously, what do you call yourself young one?" This one, this rune covered humanoid gave her a sense to act with slight caution as out of the two of them he certainly looked likely more dangerous than the butterfly woman at his side.

Pixie took a second to observe the strange tree creature. She didn't seem hostile, at least. She knew better to assume anything at first glance, but maybe she had gotten off on the wrong foot.

"Sorry 'bout that. Used to people tryin' to kill us, ya know? Plus we're sorta kinda not used to this place yet. I'm Pixie, nice to meet you!" she said as she approached the tall woman, shaking her one hand with both of hers. "And this is Naoki, my partner!"

He slowly started to rise as well, mimicking the action Pixie had done when she had woken up. "...nice to...meet you.." His gaze never left hers, although it softened ever so slightly. He was feeling a similar reaction to this person in the same way that Pixie was, but unlike her, he was incredibly aware of what it meant. He wanted to see how this played out, however, in the chance that he was perhaps wrong in his assumption.

"Daughter of a...tree? I'm not sure how that works, but it sounds neat! So what's this whole deal about "Catalog'n" you're doin', hmm? Most of the people interested in that science-y stuff are usually humans, an' everything else always seemed to just be content livin' without worrying about all that kinda stuffs." That little comment about this world's young soil didn't escape her notice, the wording and usage shedding some light on things. Maybe that was why they ended up on this world specifically? "I guess we're a bit different from a few of the things here, aren't we? We're, uh..."

"Demons."

"Yeah, what Naoki said! We're uh, not really from around here. Still kinda figuring out how things work. Or how we got here, really!"

Æona's lips curl into a soft smile, these demons appeared to be friendly in nature.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Æona shook pixie's rather minuscule hand, attempting not to crush it or its owner in her large hands.

"Think of me of more of a great sapling than of my humanoid visage to aid your understanding. This world is of new creation, as are most within the new growth of the Yggdrasil. It is possible you were summoned for a purpose on this world and that is why you're here. Purpose that is unclear to anyone but the Tree of Life and the nurturing Norns. Perhaps you have no purpose at all. With more knowledge it would possible to find out." The dryad explained, her curiosity starting to get the better of her.

"I suppose to explain properly, my quest would be better described as... one of gathering. I must prepare myself for the coming of Ragnarok. The end of days. To save life as these native creatures know it. Everything you know now will be consumed by a great war and my mother will be felled; ending the existence of this universe." Æona was tentative to detail how and what went into her collection process as she was still unsure on this Naoki character. She was attempting to avoid provocation, should their motives and ideals be... Conflicting.

"Wooooah, that's a lot to take in, slow down here..." said Pixie, a lot of this talk of Tree of Life, Norns, Ragnarok, wars, all of it going clear over her head and it was making her head spin.

Naoki, however was definitely sure of things now. They were definitely in the presence of a god. And clearly one of high stature, or at least one related to one. Children of gods was a new concept for him, but perhaps the rules were different from world to world. Especially considering multiple references to some sort of "Great Tree" that seemed to be her mother?

"Okay, so...you're on some sorta quest to save souls from some inevitable war that will end the world, right? That's great and all, but...is this whole "Ragnarok" thing really destined to happen? All wars usually that I know of usually start 'cause of some some misunderstanding or disagreement or something like that. Feels like somethin' that could be stopped before it got started, yeah?"

Naoki had his mind on this "Ragnarok" as well. Everything pointed to it being a godly conflict that extends to every world, even ones that had no stake in it whatsoever, and clearly the results would be catastrophic. If her gods were wrapping innocents into their own petty squabbles, then...

"I'm afraid that the coming of Ragnarok, is fate. It is an unalterable destiny for the Yggdrasil to fall. However, the time between then and now is indeterminable. The bells may toll as early as dawn of tomorrow, or many millennia in the far future." Æona's face was darkened by a pang of sorrow as she detailed this inexorable future. "Shall I tell you more of the event?"

Part of Æona didn't want to continue, saddened by the eventuality of Ragnorak despite coming to terms with it. However, she did not wish to keep the end of the universe to herself; even the young daughter of the Yggdrasil could not bear the weight of this truth by herself.

Her leaves trembled softly or perhaps it was a light breeze sweeping across the field but the look that Naoki was giving her was unnervingly piercing, Æona was too proud to admit fear outright and with having to remain a sturdy trunk for the races that she intended to save here she could not back down.

"B-But there's got to be something that could be done! Something like that would be terrible enough if it was just their own world, but engulfing all of them? There has to be som-"

Pixie was cut off by Naoki's raised hand, a gesture that was an unmistakable "Enough." Pixie backed off a little.

"...this "Ragnarok"...what, causes it?" If this creature was offering to give information, than he was going to take it. If she knows it is an unavoidable fate, perhaps she would know details. Fates can and have been overturned in his lifetime. He was fated to follow a "Reason" and remake his world, and he rejected that purpose. Perhaps a similar situation can be made here. "...is this...a conflict of gods? Or started...by something else?"

Æona had peaked their interest. She starts to retell the tale of Ragnorak as she'd read it many times over. "It begins, one winter which will be known as the Great Winter, the winds will howl and bring about snow from every which direction. Our world will plunge into an unparalleled winter as harsh as mankind has ever seen, lasting for the length of three average winters with no rest. Food will diminish, and the morals of Mankind will slip away and it will be a struggle for survival an age of swords and axes; brother will slay brother, father will slay son, and son will slay father."

The dryad watches Naoki's expression closely, he certainly had his own agenda here but to what purpose she could not read. She took this moment to wait for feedback before continuing, an attempt to discern whether he was still a neutral party.

Pixie had taken a seat on Naoki's shoulder, staying quiet during the exchange. Naoki had clearly wanted to take an initiative in this situation, something that was rare for him.

Naoki himself had an unreadable expression on his face as the dryad described this "Ragnarok" to the both of them. He was determined to find answers now.

"...you say that...this winter causes the war. Are your gods...not in control of these elements?" Perhaps they were also victims of the true enemy as well and didn't even know it. But while that thought was potentially a good thing, it also didn't give him the answer he was looking for right at this moment.

"...how will this winter...affect other worlds?"

"All worlds will suffer the effects of the great winter, as all worlds connected to the Yggdrasil experience seasons simultaneously. The goddess of Winter Skadi, inhabits the land of Frost Giants, Jotunnheim. She herself is one of that chaotic race." Aeona paused, then continued the tale.

"The might wolves Skoll and Hati, will catch their prey the sun and the moon. The stars will flee and the sky will become a deep void. The Yggdrasil will tremble, trees and mountains will fall flat. The chain imprisoning Fenrir will snap and it will once again run free to devour the land and sky. Jorgmandur will rise from the depths of the sea and the oceans will spill over as he makes landfall, spitting his venom over the world poisoning earth air and water alike. Naglfar will be freed from its moorings, manned by an army of giants and captained by no other than the god Loki himself." Æona's smile slowly turned, a grim look crossing her face.

"The sky will crack and the Fire-Giants of Muspelheim will march across the Bifrost lead by Surt wielding a blade as bright as the blazing sun, the bridge shattering after their crossing. Then will the call be heard, Heimdall sounding the grand Gjallarhorn. Sounding the coming of the twilight of the gods. There will be a great battle, nearly all will die and the world will be undone." Æona moves to stretch slightly, her timber creaking softly beneath her clothes. "That is of what the Norns have foretold."

As she finished her story, the two of them had a lot on their minds from it. Naoki in particular was more sure than ever, that this conflict was the acts of gods dragging in others in petty squabbles, to the point where it'll rip them apart. The two looked at each other, a silent understanding between the two of them, before nodding and facing Æona.

"I..reject this fate."

"Yeah! Okay, so, you keep doing what your doing, and keep gathering souls, and we're gonna go hunting! If we kill everything you just described, before that time comes, then there wouldn't be anything left to actually cause the Ragnarok, right? And then we wouldn't have any of this war stuff and people would be happy in their own current lives! Okay, so that's Skadi, Skoll and Hati, Fenrir, Jorgmandur, Naglfar, some army of giants, Loki, fire giants and some asshole named Surt...is there anything else we should know about? Yggdrasil's basically your mom, so we should probably leave that one alone. I need details, woman!" she said, shaking what she could of the dryad's head in exasperation.

Pixie's expression was one of confidence and hope, which contrasted with her own thought process right now of inflicting death of many extremely powerful people across multiple worlds. One wonders how Æona would react to the thought that she had just encouraged these two to run rampant through these worlds and maybe go killing a couple important figures.

Æona shakes her head slowly, "Fate will find one way or another to ensure the destruction of our cosmos. However, I will not disagree to your idea. While I cannot say I have hope in it, it makes me curious on what the world might be if Mother Yggdrasil is not felled."  The dryad adjusts and stands up a tad straighter, she looks down at the pair with a face that could only be described as.. Amused.

"If the Yggdrasil is destroyed, the existence of everyone you know, everything you see and countless more will also be obliterated with it. Keep that in mind small demons." Æona warned, taking a minute after she said this before coming to a conclusion. "How are you, so small and young... To take on the gods of chaos?" She said this quite intently, now allowing her curiosity to start pressing the pair for her own answers.

Pixie pouted a little at her answer. "Fate's a butt! And we killed Fate once! Granted, it was a little different and more of a physical concept than what we're going off of right now, but still!"

Naoki was considering multiple options right now. Clearly, Æona is from some other world as well. That means she must have gotten here from somewhere. The few names she mentioned were likely from other worlds, to boot. He was able to pick out a few names of interest. Clearly, those worlds had to be eliminated to prevent this "Ragnarok" from coming to pass. All of it seems to hinge on the tree, though, which Æona was related to.

"...so...all of this starts...with the tree, falling...right? If we...give the tree...new life, then..."

"Hey, yeah, that works, Naoki! That, and removing anyone that would want the tree to fall in the first place! So that's everybody I just listed, but there's probably a lot of others. Those "Norns" people predicted it in the first place too, right? Better get rid of them too just to be sure. And there's bound to be others, we just gotta feel around and see what we can find!"

At her question, Pixie looked back at Naoki, a little concerned. "...should we tell her?" Naoki nodded to her, a silent acceptance that telling her about them might be beneficial. Her look was one of pure happiness. "Perfect!" she said, hugging Naoki before fluttering over and plopping on to Æona's shoulder.

"Okay, so Naoki here, was once a human, in a normal, non-magical world. But then, some other humans brought in The Conception, which was essentially the world remaking itself overtop of the current one. Most of humanity died, but he was saved by two people, which turned out to be avatars of Lucifer. They made Naoki into the Demi-Fiend, neither human nor demon, and more or less set him loose on the world to do what he pleased. Originally, he was looking for his human friends, but each of them ended up finding a Reason, which is like, an ideal to remake the world into, since everything was a blank slate. Some wanted it to be constant fighting, others wanted a world of stillness, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I met him shortly after had just awoken and we've been together ever since."

"We eventually met up with the two again, and told us that there was a greater purpose to it all that everyone had been not noticing. That there was a true enemy that was pulling everything from behind the scenes, and only saw the universe as just a toy to him to use and break as he saw fit. And that Naoki was made to eventually tip that scale and do something about it! So we avoided all that Reason and did what he wanted, which was to gather the essences of the world to him, and eventually work ourselves up to the cause of The Conception itself, the Kagatsuchi, which was basically the concept of new life and creation in the world. And we killed it! Killed it good, too! Doing so kind of collapsed space-time and wiped out our world and everything in it, but it also freed it from the cycle of his grip. And apparently Lucifer did us a solid and pulled us out before we ended up like that too, since we're here now!" With her story over, Pixie looked over at the dryad, still sitting on her shoulder. "I'm gonna be honest with you, we've killed a lot of gods."

Æona's look of amusement faded in an instant as the Norns were mentioned. She got defensive. "The Norns did nothing more than see the future. Not only are they ones who raised me but are the ones that keep the Yggdrasil alive as it is plagued with rot. You will not harm them." Her gaze, once calm and soothing was sharp and piercing directed only at Naoki. Who was definitely the real threat here.

The goddess was not going to back down from this decision, the Norns were part of their livelihood she could not allow the pair to destroy these mystic caretakers.

Æona was rigid while she listened to Pixie explain the rest of their history to her, the more the midget demon spoke the more questions she had. "You destroyed your own world, and all of the people in it? What was the point in saving it if you destroyed it by your own hands?" Perhaps these people weren't worthy of safety within her vessel... She would make a decision with small amount more information.

"Oh, they keep the tree alive? Oh, then they're fine. There's clearly a lot of these gods to keep track of, after all!" She showed no real remorse for pointing their ire at certain targets. Gods were gods, really. Most of them made things worse for everyone else.

The two of them listened to her reaction to Pixie's story. "Oh, that's simple! Every other outcome would have just made him that much stronger! The world was basically barren, nothing, filled with demons that just wanted to spread it to other worlds. And every outcome would have made things worse, really. One person's Reason was a world where everything is still and stagnant till the end of time. Can you believe that?!? Just nothing, nothing at all. Only a few humans remained too, and all of them felt that their Reason was the one that would make everyone happy, all of which would have been an even worse place than when they started! And most of 'em didn't even realize it!"

It was here that Naoki spoke up. "...YHVH...would never let a world exist...that isn't built to worship him...if we hadn't...he would have...but doing so, gave him...fear. Worry. Concern."

Pixie clasped her hands over her mouth with a gasp, at Naoki actually uttering the name. He had never told anyone of their true purpose at length. Either that meant that he trusted her, or...

"You...came from another world...right? That means...you have ways..of moving between them. Would you...show us this pathway? For the sake of...your "mother"..." His gaze was piercing, and powerful. Part of his essence was flooding out at the possibility of all of this, and she would be able to sense just how powerful the being in front of her was. If she was open, then this would be much easier, but part of him couldn't contain the rush he was feeling.

"It is quite the trek from here. But how far exactly are you planning to take this runed one?" Æona said, her voice cold as mountain stone.

His energy was like nothing she'd felt before he would be an enemy she'd have to put effort into destroying. She would not let him simply destroy the worlds themselves and all the gods involved. For not all were guilty of crimes, perhaps he wouldn't think that but she knew that. While Æona understood nearly all gods were going to be killed in the forthcoming event but she felt the very least ending their lives prematurely would be... Unnatural.

Here her posture changed, it was stiff as an oak slowly posturing herself for battle. Her leaves rustled slightly, his next answer would determine his standing on the situation declaring himself friend or foe.

Pixie had left Aeona's shoulder and went back to Naoki's side, noticing the change in her posture. Naoki did as well, and it was unmistakable: she was ready for adversity, potentially readying herself for a fight.

"...as far...as it needs to be taken. I believe that...you would understand that much...am I correct?" he said, holding out a hand to her in an open gesture. In truth, Naoki meant every word that he said. To free a world from it's inevitable fate was paramount to his own goal, no doubt a fate put into motion by him for his own desire for worship and subjugation. And now, he was sure that it was something he was capable of stopping.

Pixie had a concerned look on her face, her fists balled up near her face in worry. She knew where this could potentially go, and she had started to grow fond of the dryad in the short time they talked. She really didn't want to see her become another tally on the wall of "gods that have been rejected" but it was rapidly reaching that point, and there wasn't anything that could be done about it, at least by her.

The dryad looked at him, down at his outstretched hand. Despite her sharp gaze she was deep in thought. He does not look like an enemy even I would be able to defeat alone...

They stood in silence for a solid couple of minutes, the tension in the air grew thicker as the seconds ticked by before Æona finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Allow me to aid you, as you do not know these beings' history and demeanor as I do. Not all are guilty of the heinous crimes you would like to accuse them of. Some of them are simply more likable than others." Æona began to relax if only slightly, reaching out to reciprocate and shake Naoki's hand.

Pixie could only float and watch as the two stood there, motionless. If a fight broke out between them, there wouldn't be any stopping it, The sigh of relief she let out as the two shook was palpable and blew away all of the tension at once.

"Oh, thank goodness! I'm gonna be honest, I was worried things were going to get ugly for a second there!" she said as she hugged Æona's head affectionately.

Naoki's expression had softened as well. She seemed knowledgeable of the worlds waiting for them. It'd be a lot easier if she was open to the concept, especially since the link to the worlds would probably be only known to her. A thought was on his mind though...

"...will you be willing...to walk the same path as I do? Are you prepared...for that?"

"Naoki's kinda got a point here, Æona. I can imagine the people you're with would necessarily be happy about you helping us slay random people because a prophecy said so. And it's not gonna be easy, either. I can imagine we're going after some pretty dangerous people. I trust Naoki to handle himself, but are you going to be alright?" she said, not actually breaking the hug. Pixie was really happy they could be friends, but chances are figures in a prophecy wouldn't be necessarily easy to kill. She'd made her first new friend in this world! She really didn't want to see her die, or worse, disowned by people she's fond of.

Briefly, the dryad smiled as Pixie was a reasonably sweet creature. Much like that of an intelligent bird.
When Pixie mentioned the concept of being punished, Æona took a moment to mull the idea over then chuckled. It was a soft, but hearty chuckle.

"What is the world, if it is destined to be destroyed and all of those I hold close to my heart are to be extinguished? It will be interesting to see that fate avoided, however I have no hope on it's prevention. I will accompany you, as well as bring you the new universe when this one crumbles." Her young, sunset eyes filled with mirth at her new.. Companions. She would continue the collection of souls as they went along their journey ... two birds with one stone as some would say.

She was so happy to hear Æona's willingness to travel with them. There was so much she wanted to learn about her! She seemed really smart, and composed, and honestly a part of her envied that, if at least a little. She detached from the hug and plopped herself onto her shoulder. "Just wait, we're gonna stop this thing before it even gets started! All we really gotta do is keep Yggdrasil from falling, right? That should be simple enough, and the whole "killing certain people" thing is just to be sure." She bounced a little in her makeshift seat in excitement. "Oooh, it's gonna be great!"

"Wait."

Naoki's words snapped them out of their discussion, his expression thoughtful, but not exactly as piercing or hard as before.

"...before we go, I'd like to be sure...how strong you are. Pixie is right that...we're going to be fighting many strong people. Knowing what I will be working with...will let me plan ahead for the future."

"Naoki, I know you're always thinking about stuff like this, but I'm sure it'd be fi-"

She was cut off with a raised hand, as Naoki was clearly determined with this. Making sure he was prepared for every possible fight was always on his mind, especially considering what they were going to be fighting against. If they were anything like the gods he had fought back in his own world, then it was going to be exceedingly difficult. Pixie dejectedly left her new seat and floated back over to his side.

"...don't worry, I trust you. This is simply...for my own state of mind, I suppose. And for the future..." he said, readying himself in a stance that showed he was waiting for her to make a move. If they were going to start things off right, and go hunting for the figures that would bring about calamity, then this was a necessity.

"A fine idea, we certainly should share a friendly duel. I certainly would be pleased to know what you're capable of Naoki. " Æona said, it would be a good test of strength for her as she hadn't had a proper battle in quite some time as most of the mortal races were quite weak.

Æona reached out towards Naoki, in similar fashion as one would reach out to pick up a child.

(Impale)

(Impale - 55)
(Break Chance - 62)

Naoki was smart enough to not fall for such an easy trick, and was able to quickly move out of the way before a few sharp branches shot out from her fingertips, before retracting just as fast.

"Woooooah, that's so cool! You're amazing, Æona!" said Pixie, who was a safe distance away, but enough that she could jump in at any time.

"Good...don't hold back. Treat me like you would...an enemy."

(Heat Wave - 70)

Slowly, Naoki put his hands in front of him, seeming to draw a long shining, sword like shape from what seemed like thin air, as a glowing, spherical object seemed to glow on his chest from inside him. It was about 2/3rds as long as he was. In a fast motion, he slammed the blade of light in front of him, shattering it and sending out a bright red wave of hot energy at Æona's direction, too fast for her to evade. It was clearly very effective on her tree-like nature, and left a dark burn on the side of her arm, one that she'd have difficulty removing.

Naoki: 40HP, Marogareh at 3 turns
Æona: 36HP, Burn