Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rosemary was a bit surprised at that present. It was harder to get that emotion out of a large crowd this time of year. Though honestly as time went on that fear aura feeding was becoming more of a bad habit/addiction than a necessity since she's been needing it less and less. Angels were supposed to not need food, but rather keep doing their habit of eating so it wouldn't stress them out. That particular eating habit she wouldn't mind to be rid of eventually.

Luckily it was more tame than worst fears. A bunch of Heeghs, Julizixes, and other really horrible stuff that no one wanted to see would have popped out if it was.

Daisy say the metal clad Gaia Easter Bunny who has went insane and tried to kill every one. Dan on the other hand saw a chainsaw wielding Jason bring down that blade on him. Veni heard his mistress talk to him angrily and felt like she was there. Willow had a swarm of bees, birds chasing her, and worse yet: Gerix decided she wanted to eat her.

"Dan! No more horror movies for you!"

"I am twice the legal age to see one! You'd jump if he suddenly popped out of that box too!"


-------

Adira got a bunch of items too from most of the others around there (my characters, don't feel like thinking of and listing everything), but it was mostly some spending money.

She actually wants them to explode on her? Thought Rosemary aware of what they were afraid of.

"Actually..." said Rosemary a little embarrassed about that need to begin with, "if only a couple people received that, the energy would only be barely a taste and thus worse than not having it at all. But giving it to everyone is like a gulp or two. That was a very thoughtful gift though. Thank you. You don't have any small fears do you, Xylanthos? That was a strong one."

Black saw evil GL, who seemed like GL, from the Black hunter illusion in the past and an evil Rosemary. "Sounds like you saw a Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jacob. That's the deity of a parody religion made to counter Intelligent Design for like atheists and stuff. Are there actually atheists in Limbo?"

She was slightly surprised to find out that there are with all the proof there seemed to be in that realm that God existed.

"That monster exists," said Dan.

"Yes," said Daisy, "Rosemary could become it."

"Veni could be it better than Rosemary."

Veni kinda looked at the two of them and said, "now now, neither of us is that good."

"It sounds like something similar to what you've done," said Daisy.

"Do it," said Dan.

"Yes, do it!" said them both.

Christmas night came and gone. Veni and Jacob excused themselves early, while Rosemary hung around until Black went to bed. Veni, sitting up, had propped Jacob against him with a pillow in between them and held and comforted the man while he ached and hurt. Morning came and Veni passed out in his current position. He didn't really resist it because Rosemary was there and she took and put Jacob into a similar position but didn't set up a pillow since she had a bosom to rest the necromancer's head on. Sadly though, he was more tempting as food for Rosemary than he was for Veni when he got like this.

When the cursed guy was almost through with the worst of aching, Rosemary massaged him with her soft hands and gave him comforting kisses in various spots on his body. She let him lay and rest while she did this and when she was satisfied, she laid down pulling him against her and gave him tender kisses allowing him to drift off if he wanted to.

Time passed as it always does. They decided to stay at the Soul Fortress a week more until after New Years. Staying there for four weeks was a long time to several of the characters since it wasn't their room or their bed. As there wasn't any holiday close to after new years their excuse was running thin.

New Years approached. It was only a day or two away. Another new year, more weird dangerous stuff to happen. Sometime during that time Eztli and Sephiroth got to sit down and have their discussion on personal hells (posts of which will be written up sometime... right GL? I'm looking at you. oO). Ma Jian Shen had went home after Xmas and was kept blissfully unaware about Adira being an escaped Hell demon that Heegh might want. Willow on the other hand passed out after Xmas and told Malos to wake her for New Years Eve otherwise she might sleep through it until spring. Even though they were on 'vacation' many characters like Sephiroth and Rosemary kept practicing their talents.

Sephiroth kept up with his practicing in both the sword and other things he could do with his new abilities. Rosemary visited Bithmar for shooting practices and other lessons from him. She also made sure Muerte didn't get lazy and made him practice regularly often fighting her in which he'd win about half of the time since they were generally bladed fights and Rosemary tried not to cheat by using other means to win. Veni continued growing more skillful with his shadow talents learning things he had never thought of or couldn't do before. Like one time he threw a knife into a shadow and had it come out of another zipping by Cian. He used to have to hold onto the blade to have it jab someone from one shadow to another.

Dan and Daisy who were growing bored and didn't really practice in such things, would often bother Veni into trying to get him to surprise Tiamos by turning into a Toe-Eater. When they weren't bugging Veni, Daisy would do things like jump rope with Black who could usually keep up with that until the vampire would whip the rope too fast and give the fox girl a red rope mark on the lower part of her back legs. Dan played Battle Ship with GL who had to be careful to not look into Dan's eyes or else the boy would read his mind and win more easily than usual.

They also asked their creepy and unusual questions every once in a while. One question they asked, "why don't adults jump rope for fun? Why does it seem like a chore to them?"

They were also curious on adult behavior and asked strange theoretical questions to like Tiamos and Xylanthos, "If it's wrong for a parent to mate with an offspring, than why is Rosemary's and Veni's relationship considered acceptable? Incest between siblings is considered wrong too isn't it. So if she ended up with her brother Ma Jian Shen instead would that be considered acceptable or wrong? What about us two, what if we became a couple?" (I want these answered GL... pretend that one question came at a time, they were answered and then the next one came instead of this being a series of questions...if they need to be updated to fit the response than I will.)

The two of them didn't bother Daphne or Cian and avoided them when they could. The did however give them due attention when either of them approached and spoke to them.

Dan tapped his fingers against the chair handle a little irked that they didn't directly answer the last question and seemed to somewhat beat the bush with it. He was in his almost school boyish doll attire while Daisy was in her cute dress doll like attire. It was probably difficult to seem more like a young man with the body of an 8-10 year old and he was trying really hard to not seem like a child through and through. They looked that age, but mentally they were older and still at that age at the same time. They couldn't finish developing and it was frustrating.

"I would argue the biological part because that's how vampires reproduce: they take and give some of their blood to their victim, they don't have sex like you do. Sex seems to be just a fun bonus for several of them. Mommy or daddy vampire has authority over their children like any other parent, and something prevents them from flat out killing a kid if they end up not liking them. Though, like with humans, you end up with some bad parents. It's as close to biological as you're going to get unless a whole family is vampired."

"And if what you said and we said is true, it is okay for daddy Veni to mate with daughter Rosemary or daddy Cian to mate with daughter Daphne because they can't produce any offspring that way and because they weren't biologically related when they were human even though they are now? Though really... you should know... does no emotional sense of close family grow, with time, between vampires like say with adopted kids and their human 'parents'?"

"So you're saying that ultimate book of morality and the plan to destroy sin that's supposed to be God's word on it doesn't cover everything when it comes to ethics like certain people claim it does, that praying isn't a way of talking with God, and that the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, part of God doesn't really speak to you which is what God is supposed to send to his children? And that that book has exceptions for other cultures even though they're obviously wrong according to that book, which now makes it not the word of God since it says to the contrary of what they do... like one where a girl gets raped and she's the one blamed for it, shunned by the family for bringing them shame.

Now if that's the case and there are cultural exceptions to what's right and wrong and it somehow still gets them into heaven since it's what their culture accepts. Now since it's not frowned upon for vampires to have sex with what we defined as siblings among them, then it shouldn't be shunned if us two did that together like I originally asked and now we apparently shouldn't go to hell for it if we did such an act."

"One more main question, which you are the only ones we can think of who can answer this. Veni says that it isn't acceptable to turn children into vampires because they tend to go insane for some reason as time goes on and die one way or the other. He doesn't know this answer... What does the majority of us go insane of?"

"Daphne sure can imagine being stuck in perpetual puberty or is she slightly older than that?" Dan didn't mention Veni's age because he wasn't sure if the other vampire constantly presents himself as a 20 year old with his skills to Cian over his 16, 17ish age.

"Yeah children are almost Id ridden, loving instant gratification over waiting for it, impulsive, little sense of responsibility, and this annoying urge to want to be more like the adults around us especially in things that seem fun and pleasurable," said Daisy.

"And at the same time our super egos are grossly underdeveloped and, for the most part, all we care about is not getting in trouble for fear of the punishment of it from Veni or someone else rather than the morality behind it. There are a few things we think is wrong but..... eh in the end we really don't care what you adults think is right, wrong, or morally acceptable...nor have we been able to when we try."

"And according to the same guy who came up with that theory of id and ego: I have p***s envy and he has castration anxiety. What we really wanted to know is if there was like a trigger before they went insane, the thing that sent them over the top."

Eztli sat back in the comfortable chair, sipping his drink as he pondered on where to start. He promised Sephiroth he'd tell him his story in exchange for the man's. Currently Rosemary, Sephiroth, and he were in one of the more secluded rooms, It was lit and warmed not only by energy light crystals, but by a nice fire place as well, the place offering comfortable seating. A few bookshelves were setup against the walls, providing reading material for entertainment and knowledge purposes. Somewhere, quietly, seemingly appropriate music was playing from an entertainment device.

“I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I'll go from the beginning I guess. A little bit before, actually.

“My family was poor. Really poor. We lived in Black Merchant Center... sort of. We were homeless, to be honest, living in an abandoned building here or there. We had to struggle to survive each day, and I took up stealing to help support us. Nothing major, just enough for some pocket change to put food on the non-existent table.

“Well, one day I found this expensive looking dagger that seemed to literally call out to me. I should've known better than to take it, but I stole it anyway from some black merchant. I thought with it, that all our troubles would finally be over. Malos even said I shouldn't have taken the thing before he left to go live with Githar. We were buddies at one time, small time thieves that helped each other out. Anyway...

“Something changed in me after a while when I took that blade. Maybe it was the act of sin that enabled the trapped spirit of Heegh in it to possess me when I stole it for a time. It was long enough that the b*****d was able to get ahold of me and...
…
...killed my family. If Malos hadn't left to live with Githar, he would've been dead too. From what I could gather from my memories, because at the time I was doing it I was in a trance, I then did some sort of dark ritual with my family's bodies that ensured Heegh wouldn't loose his grip on me. He laughed at me the entire time, letting me have moments of full consciousness before taking back control to make me more full of guilt and horror at what happened. From then on, he kept making my body do more and more evil acts to gain stronger footholds on me, and I felt more and lost, confused, and helpless.

“The rest you can find in Limboian history texts and news articles, but I'll share with you anyway. For the next century, Heegh began stealing demons from Hell, using the Void as his base of operations. He knew enough dark magic and plain brute force to keep them in line. Soon, he started to attack Limbo. He started small, testing the waters, until he started going all out. Apparently this was also starting to fulfill a prophecy of sorts in Limbo.

“Each failed assault only made him come back even stronger, and while my home realm could withstand them, overall they were growing weaker. Waging war on the place I called home for so long... tore me up inside. Heegh only got a twisted sort of satisfaction from my torment of course. The next one was a massive hit, a little over a decade or so ago. He'd gotten ahold of the Abomination demons in Hell and bent them towards his will. This was a bit after the time Inazuma fell into Limbo as a strange sort of physical spirit form. Githar rescued her from some Black Merchants while she was still suffering from confusion and disorientation.

“They'd realize that for some reason or other, they were all part of a prophecy of sorts, Inazuma and her friends... though mainly it was Inazuma. With help, they slayed most of the demons, except for Dieamos and his shadow goblins of course. She managed to talk sense into him. They'ed even managed to defeat Heegh in battle, forcing us back into the void. I'm pretty sure they thought us dead. Heegh was pissed, and I had hoped that they really did kill me at the time, but I had no such luck. From what I've heard, Inazuma then was returned to her own world. This was all before we discovered she was actually an angel of sorts.

“Then came the second time Heegh attacked, this time starting on Inazuma's world to draw her out. Some of her friends from Limbo were visiting at the time. Her own family revealed what she was then, and sort of sent her to Limbo in a way... by killing her physical body. She came back to Limbo in a new body, and the realm was under heavy assault by Heegh. Things got chaotic, very chaotic. Dieamos even ended up lending a hand to her, and he normally stayed neutral in matters back then.

“That was when Heegh eventually captured Inazuma with the mad plan of combining her spirit with his own... my body, which he had total dominance over, to give him enough power to start to take on Hell and the Heavens. He succeeded up to a point. I still have nightmares over what I saw myself do to Inazuma... cutting her open and doing that horrible ritual. It had to be one of the most evil things I ever witnessed, and I saw myself doing it. He... He cut her open, and slowly carved special runes and symbols on her innards while she stayed awake to keep her body alive while he took his time in separating her soul.

“During this conflict, a third party came into the mix. Lucifer. He came into Limbo under the guise of wanting to recover the demons that were stolen from him. In all actuality, he wanted to get back into Heaven... Heh, Thas.

“Thas was one of Lucifer's most trusted demons, on the mission to subdue and return the hellspawn. In the end, he ended up sacraficing himself to save that angel Delerium. Anyway...

“Things just got more and more insane, up until they hit a boiling point. Xylanthos lay dying, Satan had entered Heaven's portal, Heegh had nearly conquered Limbo and was on his way to the portals himself until I killed myself binding his soul inside my physical body, letting a until then unnoticed third party besides Inazuma take over... the former angelic of wind. I don't think he was of sound mind, and Inazuma wasn't strong enough to overthrow him. So yeah, I died, and my soul was trapped in Limbo with everyone else's because the soul portals were all shut down by Xylanthos to prevent Lucifer from getting into Heaven at the time. That didn't last long, the Satan pretty much convinced him in a cruel manner to reopen them again. So then I was pulled to Heaven's gate.

“It was there that I watched everything unfold. I remember not having to worry anymore, being at peace. Like a great weight was lifted off me. Something still felt wrong to me, however... I wanted to go back and help, but something in my head told me that my part was done for now, that I needed to rest.

“Anyway, this strange.... I don't know what to call him, other than part of some odd cosmic force. I'm not even sure if the boy was part of Heaven... I can't quite put my finger on what he was or was a part of, or even remember his name properly... Nathan's the best I can come up with. Apparently somehow he was guiding us “good guys” all along, and his power went into full effect from what I seem to recall. The souls possessing my body were purged, returned to their own forms. Lucifer got to go to Heaven, but he was denied entrance by a now angelic Thas, Saint Peter, and a number of other angels. And we all know what happened to Heegh. He was banished to Hell, eventually to take it over with how evil he was and with the lack of a Satan there, since Heaven and that strange Nathan boy or force decided to give Lucifer a chance at being mortal..

“After all this was over, I guess I went into a relaxed trance or daze... next thing I knew, it was a few days later, and some angels came to me. I was suddenly aware of my surroundings... or lack of. It was all... well sort of cloudy, but not really clouds. Just comforting, soft, more like a feeling and emotion that something physical. And bright, full of energy. Those angels must have sensed that I wanted to go back and do good, because they offered me Heegh's old position of fire angel, since he went corrupt, and then fell completely.”



Eztli sighed, and rubbed his face a bit, wings flexing. He had shared a whole lot of his personal life and what he knew with Sephiroth and Rosemary, and it seemed to exhaust him a bit. Reaching for his drink, he absorbed a fair amount to rejuvenate himself a little.