Forum Thread

Melez crosses her arms. "I was taught to forgive quickly so as to move on. So I forgive you." She closes her eyes so she won't have to "look" at him, and so he won't catch on hopefully. "Incase what ends up being different?"

"Well, the future isn't set," he told her. "So we could be on the one I want, the one were we end happily. Or we could be in the one where you slit my throat and Eona ends up in a cage for the rest of her life. I really hope this isn't the one where he comes in and takes you from me," he said, holding his head in his hands. "It's complicated."

Melez opens her eyes and tilts her head, not facing him completely. "Excuse me? Be in the one? What in this world are you talking about? If you keep ticking me off I might slit your throat, but as you've not shown yourself to be a threat I think you're safe for now... Who is the 'he' that is supposedly to come in and take me?"

"Yes. The different paths of the future. We can be in one of the many branching roads. Think of time like a road. But you can't go back and once you pass a fork in the road, the other branches end. And the he is my dad," Azazeal told her, looking up at her face and giving her a funny look. He couldn't figure out why she was looking past him. Turning, he saw nothing but the wall. Looking around, he spotted the still glowing rock and let out a frustrated growl. "Really? You would rather blind and potentially knock yourself out then accept my help? Melez! What am I going to do with you?" he asked, managing to sound hurt and unaffected at once.

Melez stood there only blinking as he yelled at her, seemingly not caring. "Your father would come and take me? Okay, three questions. Who is your father, how do you know all this, and lastly, how do you know me so well?"

"Yeah, well, I'm not answering any of that until you take this," he said. "Put your hand out, Melez." He was not going to answer until she had taken the energy and recovered.

Melez furrowed her brows and blinked a couple times before very hesitantly put her hand out palm up. "What are you giving me?"

"Energy," he said, setting the stone in her hand. The glow faded, sinking into her skin and traveling up her arm, making everything glow as it crept over her. Once ever inch of her was covered in the glow, it blinked out and she was healed from any injuries she'd obtained that day. "See? I'm not bad," Azazeal stated, sounding like he needed someone to say he wasn't. Squaring his shoulders, he cleared his throat. "Anyway. My father is Death. I know this because I have visions and can cast myself into the future or past. And I don't know you well. Just some things. Things I learned from the visions and my castings."

Melez's eyes widened as she regained her ability to see and she shook her head slightly as she looked over to him. Her naturally reddish skin started to look pale. "D-Death? The Death... Is your f-father..." She took a step back from the man as she began to feel very strange. So many emotions and feelings racing through her mind and bloodstream made her fall to her rear as she lost her balance. She put a hand to her head and looked up to him. "W-why me?"

He sighed, pulling back. He didn't want to try to help her up. He was afraid he'd be pushed away or rejected. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't. He only comes for you in one of the paths. I don't talk with him so I don't know his motives. He is...things are..." he looked away, clenching his jaw. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Things won't change. They don't ever change and I just don't seem to learn," he said, smirking at the wall. His sarcastic smile there out of habit. "So, sweetheart," he said, reverting to the pet names in an attempt to keep himself hidden. "I guess I'll be off. We'll meet again but I have a feeling this time it'll be when our paths cross, not because I initiate it."

Melez nodded listening to all that he said, almost in a state of stupor. She heard his words, knew he was speaking, but was having difficulty putting it all together. "A-alright..." She slowly got back to her feet, looking at him like a lost puppy would a person with a treat in their hand.

He sighed, looking both frustrated and unsure. He wanted to hug her, to tell her just exactly how he felt. But at the same time, he was terrified of being hurt, of having his heart thrown down and stomped. "Melez..." he began, opening and closing his mouth. Then he sighed again, then closed his eyes and blurted, "I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can to try to protect you. I...things are so messed up...not you but...me. Everything about them hunting her is wrong. And now they want you, too. And I want to rage and stop them! I want to tear it all down! But I can't. Not unless they told me I could."

Melez looked so very confused and lost. "Azazael... Who is keeping you from doing what you want? Why are you here? What is all this talk of paths?" She shook her head and basically facepalmed. "You're the offspring of Death, you follow under the other gods rules and so on. I suppose you're lucky that you're allowed the freedom to move through time..." She sighs, any semblance of anger seemed to be gone.

"No," he said, his sarcastic smile on, but not aimed at her. "I don't get that dignity. I'm a god. Yet I was born into the servitude of foolish, stupid human and mortals. Not the intelligent kind that are actually nice. No, I got stuck with the bottom of the barrel. Moving through time is something they can't make me stop doing. Essentially, I'm a gene in a bottle," he told her. "I'm forced to do their every beck and call. Azazeal! Go bring me this. Azazeal! Go get that. Azazeal! I'm hungry! I'm tired! I'm bored! I was not meant to be a slave! At least, not by my mother. He decided I would pay off his debts! Because he is way too good to actually do it himself! It's so much easier just to send in a son! Or daughter." He wasn't looking at Melez anymore. He was pacing like a trapped jungle cat. His wrists were out in front of him as he shook his hands, as if to get something off. Frustrated, his hands flew to his neck, tugging at something there. But his fingers closed around something invisible. "And I can't even change it! The power to cast myself back, into anyone! But forced to watch helplessly as they mess it up! No other path exists. How many times I watched it happen over and over again..." He tugged at whatever was in his hand. "I'd like to tie him to his own, 'masters'! Let him feel just how wonderfully his been treating his children!" Azazeal seemed to grow shadowlike, dark tendrils of shadow seemed to solidify around him, looking like massive black snakes but with no eye or mouths. They went to Azazeal, wrapping themselves around him as if to comfort him. When he finally noticed them, Azazeal lost steam. He ran one long, slim hand down the length of a tendril, murmuring some strange language to it. Slowly, they dissipated, returning to normal shadows. Sighing, Azazeal took a deep breath, his back to Melez. After a moment, he turned back, his eyes big and sad, waiting for Melez to tell him he was a freak and to get the hell out of the cave. He'd go. Azazea, would go, if she ordered him to. More then likely, he'd go sulk and lose himself in his castings.

Melez stood there watching him pace back and forth, understanding it in her own way. She wasn't a slave in that sense, but she lived under her father's reputation. Everyone treated her differently because of her father. She was looked down upon for a choice her parents made. She was brought into this world alone, even among her parents she felt alone. For she had heard of no one like her. She took a step back as she watched the tendrils grow from Azazael's back as if they were a part of him that he had trouble controlling sometimes. When he turned to face her, that look, that emotion, she had felt exactly that. Every time she left a town after they had discovered her identity and race. She had felt that desperation for understanding. Now she finally did. She dared not speak for fear she'd have no sound come out. Instead she simply strode the couple of steps over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She had found someone who felt a similar pain, who wouldn't berate her for what she was. In that moment, though she grieved for his pain, she was happy.

Startled, Azazeal didn't do anything at first. Then his hands, shaking slightly, wrapped around her, one pressed to the small of her back and the other to the back of her head. He bent his neck, putting his head on her shoulder. A long, shuddering breath made it's way out of his throat as he breathed in the smell of her. I love you, he wanted to say. I know you don't know and my never love me, but I have loved you in a thousand lifetimes. For a thousand years. And now you are real and in my arms! You are here! I finally get to hold you, to protect you. To be understood. But he wouldn't. Fear of her being uncomfortable and trapped kept him from saying any of that. Instead, he just held her, his slim hands firm and gentle. They were a musicians hands.

One of Melez's hands pulled on a shoulder, and the other held just below the other shoulder as her arms were to short to reach all the way around. She simply stood there feeling complete. She had found someone who understood the pain she felt. Eona sort of understood, but could never truly relate. You know that he is creepy and the son of Death right? Yeah I know. But you're not the one driving, I am. So bugger off and let me have my moment you mewling spawn. Excuse me? Mewling spawn? Where do you get off telling me t- I'm the one who invited you aren't I? Now be quiet and go be a good guest. Fiiiiiine. You're mean. I know. Her arms began to shake slightly as she realized she was crying when a tear ran down her cheek.

He pulled back just enough to look down at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you..." Azazeal didn't know what to do, but he pulled his hand from the back of her head and cupped her cheek, brushing away her tears with his thumb. "Please don't be upset. I won't hurt you. And I won't hurt Eona either," he murmured.
"Melez! I'm ho-Oh!" Eona called, coming into the room. She stopped, staring between them. Her first thought was that Azazeal was hurting and had hurt Melez. But that didn't feel right. "He didn't hurt you, did he? What happened? What did I miss?" Eona asked, holding a few rabbits.

Melez jumped slightly as he placed his hand on her face, but smiled up at him as she realized what he was doing. She had just opened her mouth to respond to him when she jumped again and turned to see Eona in the mouth of the cave. "N-no, he didn't hurt me..." She glances over at him before taking a step back and fully smiling at Eona. "Actually, quite the opposite. It turns out we're not that different from each other... I just had to open my eyes." She giggled slightly as she joked slightly as she looked back to Azazael, her red skin a little redder.

Azazeal smiled at her, nodding. "Yes. Once you did that we were good."
Eona eyed them, sensing something more. She smiled, stepping closer to Melez. "Well, that's good. So...is Azazeal going to stay for dinner?" she asked, holding up the rabbits.
Azazeal didn't answer, not wanting to force himself on them. If they wanted him there, then he'd be happy to stay.