Though I speak with the tongues of Men and of Angels

[Mogar]

OOC note: This is where the "adventure" RP will take place, anything happening in Rapture will continue in that thread.
 
Ah, the bible. What an interesting subject. For some the Bible is the word of God himself, passed down to man so he may lead a righteous life and to others, merely a work of science fiction filled with stories of fantasy. The truth lay somewhere in the grey, just as most things did in this world. Mogar had thought of the bible for centuries it had felt like when Bangkok had fallen and he was brought into darkness, there was not much else to do but think in that place. Corinthians had always held a special place in his mind, the actual location of Corinth had been a center of trade and nationalities mingling, something he had always set out to create. This world in which he had skipped through time and interacted with was so full of destruction compared to the prefall world, the deaths of WW2 happened on a constantly basis, millions dying for no purpose, the leaders of this new world seemingly only interested in their own selfish desires over the health of the civilians they would ravage.

Every moment he had control over his memory, his thoughts, he repeated Chapter 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, it was what had kept his mind off the thoughts the darkness always brought out, Doubt, Despair, Fear, Hopelessness, the emotions the creatures fed upon. Billions of others were in the same place as him, he knew. How many kept their hope alive? He only had the belief that his guard was something other than what she appeared, something greater. It was years between his brief encounters with her, they never spoke but she always slowed her steps when she did. The written word kept him strong, kept him believing there was a way out. he would repeat it to himself constantly, every waking moment.

 

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
 
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
 
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.  And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

 

If he was to escape, it would be through love.

 

When he was alive, he had no belief in a "God", science was the only answer to life's questions. Faith. what an idiotic idea, a man in the sky will grant you wishes? There was nobody else in this world who will look out for you besides yourself. He had created a company from nothing, been at the forefront of research and development of technologies this world would never see again, why would he believe in a man watching the billions of humans on this planet like a twisted version of The Sims?

 

Hope. Hope is not something he felt often. He held confidence in his own ability, an expectation of success at anything he had set his mind to. But hope in others? A very rare occurrence, in his situation he realized he would need to have hope in others, there was only one alleged case of anyone escaping this prison, and that was a thousand years ago. Dante, a fairy tale, a book to give to school children to teach them classical literature.

 

He had spent decades going over everything he could of Dante's tale but that was a much different tale than his, he was given a tour, not thrown into the pit. The similarities were not lost upon him, it WAS cold, and it WAS dark. and Mogar WAS self-indulgent to the extreme, while not personally violent, he did not mind violent behavior so long as it furthered his goals, and malice? Malice was the hardest to come to terms with, A desire to take pleasure in another's misfortune. Not everyone's misfortune, but those who had wronged him previously he finally admitted he did enjoy schadenfreude, but who didn't?

 

That left him with Love. He had trouble remembering who he had genuinely loved in his life. His parents, of course, pets, certainly. But other humans? They had always found a way to hurt him when he tried to love them, the thought of them being down here beside him for their own betrayals in life. The occasional secretary, the mistress, the rare girlfriend, he had trouble ever loving someone for long, always getting rid of them before they got too close.

 

After a hundred and seventy years, based upon his internal clock at least, he finally called out to his warden. "Can I ask you a few questions?" she seemed taken aback, almost shocked that he was still cognitive it appeared. "I suppose I can spare a few moments, they usually ask far sooner than you did though." Mogar chose his words carefully, not wanting to offend her, needing any help he could possible pry from her. "I realize where I am, or at least have a basic understanding, but why? I would have thought I would be in one of the upper floors, Lust? Gluttony? Greed? Wrath? I fit all of those, but if I am correct, I'm on the bottom floor, why?"

 

She smiled, it took either millennia for them to admit to their faults, or was immediate, this was a rare case indeed just as she had thought when she first laid eyes upon this soul. "You had all of those sins, two of them more so than the vast majority of your species. your greatest sin however is the betrayal of your own people. You allied the wolves surrounding you to keep your people secure, but what do you think happened when you died?  As we speak your former ally has already torn apart your nation, used your weapons of defense for the destruction of other nations. your people died because you abandoned them. you had the ability to lead and you disappeared upon them."

 

He hung his head, her... species aside, there was no reason to doubt her words, there were many on the world above who would kill their own mother simply to have the more comfortable bed, and these are the people leading millions. "I understand now, thank you for telling me why I am receiving this particular punishment, and not one of the others I had figured I had earned if this place was real. Is this an eternal punishment, or do I get a sentence and then am free to go?" She laughed heartily, every other leader still functioning she had ever spoken to vehemently denied the claims against them, Mao in particular still refused to acknowledge the tens of millions his failed policies had let starve, still holding onto his own fractured ego. This one, he just agreed to it and continued the conversation, what a creature she thought to herself. "Every case is unique, and I do not decide these things, nor will I ask for you, I would get comfortable if I were you." she said, turning around to resume her rounds.

 

"One more question!" he cried out after her, she paused, turning back to him.  "What is your name? If you are going to be my only interaction for eternity I wish to know what to call you." She shot him a grin, his every action just fueling her thoughts further. "My name is Terazoharon, in your language the closest translation would be... Empress Venom Butterfly."

 

"A fitting name, beautiful and poisonous." he said, almost to himself.

 

She heard him of course, supernatural hearing had its perks, on top of the fact on this floor they tended to have come to terms with their fate.

 

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Back in the present, or the past, its hard to keep track, Mogar shook his head, he had used the Gate before, but that had never happened again, the memories of the darkness were always there, but rarely ever so vivid, it was like he was there again.

 

The rover sat a few feet away, Antasija stood next to him, he relaxed his grip upon her hand, "Sorry, these trips always make me nervous." he said to her, wanting to clear his head. "Don't worry about it, you can just make me a new hand if you break this one." She said flashing her smile, they were all alone so she was relaxed. A dense jungle surrounded them, the sounds of birds filled the air, with the occasional roar of an animal he hoped they would not run into.

 

Mogar took a few moments to establish their base camp, the coffin sized machine to bring them back in case of an emergency, a chest containing a months food, tablets to purify water, and igniters to start fires. Of course the most important piece was a small chest containing a metal disk, this was the most important part of their kit, the way home, and for this Mogar dug a deep hole using the tactical shovel on his pack. a half hour later it was buried under 4 feet of dirt near their camp, he grabbed a large rock, burying it directly above the device partially exposed. he kicked around the dirt to remove the freshly dug look, and looked around contently, the natives may find their rest of their stuff, but the titanium walled vita chamber could survive anything the locals could use against it, and the chests were bio metrically locked.

 

He turned to Antasija with outstretched hand, "Let's see if those virgin sacrifices you saved actually taught me anything."

Edited May 15, 2014 by Mogar

[Mogar]

Another decade passed as quickly as time could in a place like this, Mogar had spent the majority of the time remembering proverbs, and thinking of what he could ask his captor. He was in a room of infinite darkness, only knowing where the door was from her travels by it and glances through the window. She should be coming soon he mused to himself, wondering if this was just a further game they wanted to play with him, or if she was actually interested in him. He knew that look from a woman, he had seen it hundreds of times before, but one of her kind could easily replicate it with no trouble, that was their entire reason for existence wasn't it?

 

Terazoharon walked by his "cell" if you could call it that, her lantern lighting the darkness surrounding all of them, she has long since gotten used to the chill of this floor. Mogar saw the light flickering and stood, hoping to catch her attention again. surprisingly she spoke to him first "Hey there, Waiting for me?" she said with a smile, she was used to the prisoners falling for her by now. "Of course Tera, you don't mind if I call you Tera right? It's not as though I have anything else to look forward to. I wonder, do you not get bored roaming the halls of lost souls?" She gazed upon him with a pleased look, wondering if he understood the shortened name literally meant Empress " Tera's just fine, and It does get repetitive, and few of our guests manage to hold onto their sanity as well as you appear to have done. but the occasional conversation with the crazy ones always makes for entertainment at least. Surely you have been thinking of other things since our last encounter than just me?"

 

"Just trying to remember anything I can from the bible, Qur'an, and every other religious text I've ever read, though I suspect that there's no loopholes or else this would be an empty Prison." he said sarcastically. "There are very few who ever manage to get out of here, but I will say your willingness to admit fault and failure is an admirable quality, there are billions of others who could learn a thing or two from your ability to take this all in stride." she was rather impressed with him but wasn't about to admit it. "It puts things into perspective left with no stimulation besides your own thoughts, The only thing keeping me sane is admitting to myself I must be crazy. My only source of conversation is a beautiful demon, accepting it at face value is the only way I could continue on in the spans of time I am not graced with your presence."

 

"I would be more careful with your words, I can bring you up a floor if you continue on that line of thought." she enjoyed the compliments and could tell they were genuine, lying was especially difficult in this place. "surrounded by shit or surrounded by nothing, I don't know which is the worse torture. How long have you been down here anyway?" It had been a long time since she was asked that, it gave her pause to consider how long had it been. "I started out as a lost soul like you, I was given a choice after... forever it seemed to switch sides, I would rather be the one doing the whipping than being whipped." Mogar thought upon her words looking her well formed body over "Lust, or Seduction?" he asked.

 

"Seduction," she said frankly, "I used men during my time as a human, and for that I was punished down here." a brief look of sadness came across her eyes, remembering what it was like to be human. "Perhaps our encounter was not a coincidence then, we both appear to have acknowledged to our sins, I'm not sure it counts for anything down here but if I am going to be down here for eternity, I want to be able to live with myself." A smile returned to Tera's face, he might just be the one she had been waiting for. "We'll have to see if it counts for anything for you. I must return to my rounds, It was nice talking to you Mogar, until next time." she said walking away from him, the light fading from the opening in the door, "I'll look forward to it, Terazoharon." nearly pronouncing it correctly.

 

A look of glee fell upon her face only when nobody would be able to see, she might have a way out of here after all.

 

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Mogar thrashed awake shouting "TERAA!", breathing heavily he looked around, he was in a tent, it was dark but not the pitch black of the pit, where was he? Why was he in a jungle? his mind was torn between two worlds it felt like. Antasija awoke to the noise and threw her arm out to the ground next to her, finding it empty of her weapon, "Wha? Huh?" she sits up quickly, confused, and turns around to look at Mogar, "What's going on?" Mogar shook his head, noticing the sound of the voice next to him, and the lithe form it was attached to, "Nothing... just a nightmare I guess. I think the time travel does something to me." sighing and wrapping his arms around her, the loud sounds of the night filling the air. Antasija laid back down groggily, "Alright, I guess." she says, closing her eyes to go back to sleep before a thought occured to her, "Who the heck is Tera?"

 

Mogar pulls her head onto his chest, brushing his hand through her hair he stares up through the nearly translucent ceiling of the tent upon the stars, the sky looked totally different, far more vivid without any of the pollution and chemicals of their original time. "I have alluded to my time, down there, Tera was the one who helped me keep my sanity, my star in the darkness that surrounded me down there. I kept myself going simply by knowing she would always come back, it was always over a decade between my encounters with her, I can't imagine how many prisoners she looked after, or what her job even really entailed."

 

"Oh..." she said, not sure how to respond to the statement. She instead snuggled closer to him, unconsciously posessive of him and wondering what this person must have been like who had cared for her lover. His mind however was stuck on the thoughts and he continued, "I just don't want to ever go back there, whatever you have read or imagined, it's far worse than that, I was left with no stimulation besides my thoughts, I spoke but my voice made no sound, there was no light, my hands were numb, i had nothing besides her. I had a... vision I guess when we first stepped through the gate, but this dream continued on from there, Am I to relive my time in the pits again?" he held her tigher, his body shaking at the thoughts of the torment he escaped. Antasija squeezed him reassuringly, a bit shaken by the obvious distress this was giving him. She briefly wondered if it would be the same for her when she finally was killed by something or the other. She had no doubt which place she was going though...

 

Mogar lets out a sigh and looks down at her "I hope these dreams stop, or at least we find this city soon so I can go back to Rapture and drug myself into a dreamless sleep. I am not even sure what will happen if I die, I escaped the 9th floor, there isn't a harsher punishment for me. If they ever get their hands on Tera's soul though.... I can't begin to come up with ideas for her punishment." Antasija opend her eyes and looks up at him, curling her legs a bit closer to herself, "Mogar, you're scaring me, please."

 

He kissed her forehead "I'm sorry my darling, that was not my intention, lets try to go back to sleep." he whispered as he nuzzled her, having no desire to return to slumber, he could go days without sleeping but she required her rest to continue the trek they had before them, his calculations had been off and required much more travel than he had wanted. Antasija tried to go back to sleep but fails for about an hour, the question recurring within her until her mind was too tired to continue and she finally fell asleep.

[Mogar]

Of course, sleep returned, the background sounds of a jungle was white noise and the humidity that never seemed to disappear was exhausting to him, and her regular breathing against his chest quickly caused his struggle to be a hopeless one. The jump from unconsciousness to the dark reality he had seemed unable to escape was rapid, back into the bit he went. At least this time he was brought back right before another of her visits, as she walked closer to his door he saw her peer in, she spoke but he could not hear a word, right before he woke up he finally managed to hear it, barely a whisper "Come back to me Mogar."

 

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Mogar stirred awake again at dawn, another trip down to the pit had haunted his dreams but this time he was much quieter than the last, running his hand through Antasija's hair, still asleep, hopefully in nicer dreams than his own he thought to himself. they should be only a few miles away from the city, easily making it there today, how they would treat them was unknown but he had enough weapons to ensure it wasn't too bad. Antasija was indeed wrapped in dreams more pleasant than her employer had been within, but only marginally so. She walked down a hall, a little girl again in her old house, carressed by an unseen touch and haunted by an intrusive silence. She hurried along towards what she knew to be her parents' room and opened it... She woke up in Mogar's arms, held tenderly against him. Her awakening was heralded by no movement aside from a slight tensing of her hands as if she were attempting unconsciously to hold him tighter.

 

Mogar smiled down at her softly, his harm gently squeezing her closer "Good morning darling, hopefully we can get out of here today, though I will say I have been enjoying the environment to fall asleep in." he whispered looking around, there were all sorts of colorful birds in the trees surrounding them. "It's rather nice, I'll freely admit." she says, taking a deep breath with her eyes still closed, "Never thought that the air would be so fresh in the past." Mogar uncovered himself, letting her sit underneath the blanket for a few moments longer, their tent was spacious enough to allow him to stand freely, he slipped back into his adventuring gear, just a black t shirt and cargo pants, he sat down next to her to put on his boots "you have to think, there's probably triple or quadruple the amount of trees as from when we're from, lots more oxygen, could also be why we always feel cheerful, unless I'm sleeping at least." he said with a pained smile, sarcasm was always his favorite deflective tool after all. Antasija groans as she sits up, "Tell me about it, couldn't hardly keep myself asleep with worrying about you." she puts on her tanktop, "Hope tonight is better."

 "I hope we're home by tonight, At least back in the city i can ensure I don't dream." Antasija looks over at him at that statement, "Does this always happen when you dream?" He shook his head, "This is definitely new, I had a similar thing happen when we first got out, but that disappeared within a week, this is something else entirely, maybe going through time broke something in my head." knocking on the side of his skull for effect. "I don't know." she says, standing to put on her cargo-pants, stretching and standing on tip-toe for a moment before sighing, "It's definitely worrying me though. Suppose it persists even when we go back?" Mogar shrugged, beginning to deconstruct the tent, careful with the material it was made out of. "We'll cross that bridge if we reach it, we can't just quit when we're so close, we've journeyed for days now, let's meet these people and see if this is where the Gods live."

 

 "I'm nervous is all. Supposing they don't like us very much? That's a lot of people to try and get away from you know." She puts her bag on her back and helps to take down the tent, "I can't say that I'd like to try and escape from such a place." Mogar put on his own pack with the folded up tent inside, taking her by the hand "I wouldn't worry too much, I have a few inventions that will ensure we don't get into too much trouble." Antasija squeezes his hand, "I hate running is all." she continues, despite his reassurance. Begining their hike along the rarely traveled path, Mogar laughed in front of her as he was finding himself having to use a machete in some parts simply to get through, "I prefer a steady jog myself, though I would prefer you wearing those shorts you have at home to work out in..." turning back with a smile he holds a thick branch to the side to allow her through "After you."

 

 "Those are hardly good for jungles!" she says, failing to suppress a laugh all throughout the statement, "My legs would get all covered in scratches and mud and bugs!" Mogar grinned as he stepped in front of her once again, glad they maintained their banter even while tired. He continued to clear the path, stifling it quickly when he heard a "ROAR!" coming from in front of them. "Shhh." he whispered, pulling the Glock G18 from his side holster, it was a small gun but contained more than enough rounds to put down any beasts of central america. he walked slowly into a clearing, taking his time with every step to not make any more noise than possible.

 

In the clearing there was a young girl, he guessed perhaps 16, cowering before a mighty jaguar, easily 350 lbs of pure muscle, the beast looked upon her with hunger in his eyes. Mogar knew he had only moments, shouting "Here Kitty Kitty!" the cat turned itself around and let out another loud roar, the birds surrounding them flying away in fear, thumbing to semi automatic he lined up his shot at the beast ran towards him, putting it down 10 feet away, it sliding before his feet. Antasija rushed from the undergrowth with her gun out right after him put the beast down, "Are you ok?" She says urgently to you before looking at the girl and biting her lip, unable to communicate with the girl in her native tongue yet.

 

Mogar glanced at her, "I'm fine, he's not though." nodding over at the cat. he closed his eyes a moment concentrating on what he could remember from their native tongue, learning a 4,000 year old language was not exactly an enjoyable experience. "Are you injured?" he finally managed to ask her, the girl trembled before them "Howdidyoudothat?" she spit back out at him, making him go over the phrase in his head a few times before understanding it. "Slowly, I am not good at this talk yet. This is a... weapon, it brings death to those I aim it at." their language was too primitive to fully explain himself easily, "Are you spirits?" she asked, looking at Antasija, "No, Not ghosts, we are like you, but different." she shook her head, "You are gods, I am not worthy!" she sputtered out, throwing herself upon his feet. he looked over at Antasija. "Uhh...."

 

Antasija looks down at the girl groveling before her, "What the hell did you say to her?!" she asks incredulously, looking quite miffed, "Look at the poor thing..." she kneels down and helps the girl stand, significantly shorter than she was; Antasija reasoned because of the general increase in average height over the last few millennia, not to mention the dietary differences between mostly corn compared to the varying meats and assorted calorie packed foods the modern era provided..

 

"She um.... thinks we're gods, your skin and my magic weapon I suppose." he turned to the girl, "What is your name?" she looked at her feet, unable to look either of them in the eye anymore. "My name is Nenetl, please, I am in your debt forever, you have saved my life and for this I owe you my life in return." Thinking of her words for a moment he simply replied "Can you take us to the City of the Gods? We are searching for someone there." she bowed her head even further, "Yes, Yes, would you like to leave now?" she looked up at Antasija, still unable to look him in the eye but the Mistress's condition caused thoughts to stir in Nenetl's head. Antasija looks from her to Mogar, and back again, repeating this once, "Why is she looking at me like that?"

 

Mogar shrugged, replying to Nenetl "Of course, let's get started, though first, why do you look at my companion that way? it looks to me as though you know her." the girl bowed her head to the dirt in front of them, "Please, I meant no lack of respect, she... her eyes, I have seen those before, she is touched by the Gods," Mogar simply replied "Thank you for your honesty, lets get moving. " taking Antasija's hand into his they followed the girl, he whispered "It seems they have some of your kind even this far back in time."

 

 "Oh. Wonderful." she says sarcastically, sighing and shrugging, "I guess there's nothing for it. Fine time to be recognized as a member of the undead. So wait, if she thinks we're both gods, does she think I'm like, goddess of vampires or something?" Mogar nodded, "If I understood her phrasing correctly, vampires to their people are like, the equivalent of a demigod, which makes sense, undying and requiring "sacrifice", it also explains her prioritizing you over me, considering I just dropped a cat that would have snacked upon her in two bites with nothing but my hands seemingly.' he snorted as they continued, the path had been gradually getting clearer and wider as they walked. "For the first time you may get treated with more respect than I do." looking into her eyes with a smile,

 

 "Oh, well that's fun." she says, looking at the girl with an eyebrow raised, fascinated by the thought of being considered divinity. She thought of all the things she could possibly do with the power of just the simple perception of it, "Could be very fun." Mogar pushed her teasingly, "Don't be getting too much of an egooooo-oh." he said as they finally reached the summit of the hill they had been climbing, a massive temple filled the bowl the city sat in, surrounded on all sides by tall trees, the pyramid was easily 400 feet tall, surrounded by thousands, possibly tens of thousands of people, there were houses, shops, and the rare smithing place, only copper and gold were being worked, but all of that gold... judging by the size of the temple and how much gold was upon it everywhere, there had to be easily billions laying around, if not trillions.

 

 "Wooooow." Antasija says, gawking at the city and whistling, "What my professor wouldn't do to be standing here right now." Mogar walked with her down the slope down what appeared to be the main street of the city, ducks, geese, and turkeys roomed in pens in most of the houses, dogs barked throughout the city. He was overwhelmed at the size and scale of the place, "I think I'm in love wit-" he trailed off staggering, he leaned himself against Antasija, steadying himself for a moment. "I don't feel so good, is there a pla..." his nose began bleeding, legs collapsing underneath him. Antasija is shocked by Mogar's sudden collapse, "Mogar!" she screams, catching him and laying him down on his back, trying panicked to figure out what was wrong with him. She looks up at the girl they'd saved, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "Get help!" she cries at the girl, checking her employer's pulse.

 

Mogar laid limp on the ground. He was right, something was broken in his head when they came through. stirring in and out of consciousness, he mumbled, "I need... to." eyes closing for a moment, "she kisses me," he laid back down, only unconcious for now. "Who kisses you? Mogar!" she puts her hands on either side of his head, delerious from fear. She looks around at the people of the city, anyone nearby was beginning to circle around them, their strange appearance combined with his collapse making a good spectacle. She picks him up gently, "Mogar please!" she kisses him. Maybe he meant her? She was too afraid to think straight.

 

Mogar shook his head, her sloppy kiss stirring him, "not.... you, the doll."letting out a grown he rolled onto his side, feebly attempting to stand. Antasija presses him gently back down, her strength far superior to his, "What? I thought I was... But who else..." she looks slowly back at the girl they'd saved, "But..." she hesitates before standing and grabbing the girl's arm with lightning speed, "Kiss him, now!" she shouts urgently at the girl. Nenetl looked down at his unconcious body, still struggling under Antasija's arms, she didnt understand what she wanted from him, but she had watched her put his lips to his, so after a few moments looking at her wide eyed she leans down and kisses him slowly, his tongue finding hers, through his salivia, nanites entered her body, flowing through her blood stream. putting her hand to her temple she had a pained look upon her face looking at Antasija, confused as to what she had done to her.

 

Antasija is completely unconcerned with the girl's expression, only looking to see if it had done anything to help her master, "Mogar, Mogar please, be alright." she's crying in ernest now. "His name is... Mogar?" she said in english, her hand jumping to her mouth as the words escaped her lips.  Antasija's head whips around to look at the girl intensely, surprised by the sudden articulation, "Y-yes, it is." she looks back at him, and then at her again, "You can understand me?" Nenetl nodded, "What, did heee doo to meee?" she was obviously scared at whatever magic allowed her to speak this new language, the sounds of it were alien to her. "Woah, woah, calm down." Antasija says, standing and holding her hands in front of her neutrally, "I don't know what happened, I just need your help." The girl was unable to control her words well, "We can take him to the mediiiiicin wooahmaaaan, she heals evaryoneee." pulls on his shoulder to try to lift him up.

 

Antasija picks him up with ease and looks at the girl, "Lead me to her." she orders, looking extremely concerned and more than a little hysterical.  Nanetl walked quickly through the city, hearing Antasija clearly behind her she didnt have to look back, leading her through the maze she brings her into a small house, pushing the curtain aside that served as a door way "This isss my mothurrrr." the R sound fascinating to her. "Sheeeee will heeeeal himmm." pulling the sheets off the bed inside she gestured to the bed. "Puuuut him heereeee." Antasija puts him down on the bed and brushes his hair out of his face, "Go get her, please." she says quietly, searching for some sign that he was recovering.

 

 An older woman walked into the room from the kitchen, speaking to her daughter she asked why there were spirits in her house, the daughter replied, not spirits, gods, and this one was sick, he killed a huge jaguar that tried to eat her, she promised herself to him in exchange. the Mother nodded and looked upon his unconscious body, still trembling. "He has demons inside him, this other one, the girl," the mother nodded at antasija, "Is she his lover?" the girl shrugged, "I do not know momma, but I want to make him better," pausing for a moment, the mom looked upon Antasija, "She will know what to do, tell her to release the demons, the jaguar is taking revenge, you must help her with him, or else the demons will consume him." the mother walked out of the room, not wishing to see what her daughter was about to do.

 

 "What is your name, Goddess?" My mother told me that we must release his inner demons, has he been troubled lately?" Nenetl asked inquisitively.  "Yes, he has, v-very much." she replies, having paid rapt attention to their conversation, though she could understand little of it, "I'm Antasija." she adds as an afterthought, "Do you mean we should..."

[Mogar]

Mogar's eyes flutter open, finally waking from the delirium he had disappeared into, Nenetl and Antasija were on either side of him, "Wha-Where am I? what happened?" he asked, thoroughly confused as to why he was in one of the shacks and not on his way to the temple like he last remembered.  "You fell down." Antasija says, happy that he was awake, "You were pretty out of your skull for a while, something about spirits and that jaguar you killed I guess. We took you here to be healed and it seems to have done the trick." Mogar sighed, rubbing his temples, his head was still throbbing something fierce, "So now I have to worry about dreaming of demons, cat demons possessing me when i'm awake, finding a vampire that isn't you, and then also getting them to give me a book that we need to do the rest of this whole plan? Sounds so easy, the fates have given me such an easy path."

 

 "Hey, it could be worse." Antasija smiles at him, "It could be raining or something. That would make my sinus' clog up and who wants to listen to be blabber on sounding like Donald Duck?" Mogar sits up, returning a half hearted smile before looking out the window, "let's get going doll," he said looking at Antasija "I obviously need rest but I fear what will happen if I spend another night back here, I mean killing a big kitty caused me to get posessed from what you said, I'd hate to see what happens if I have to kill a human." Antasija puts her clothes back on, "It's a good thing I already had these off or you might have decided to rip them." she laughs, "Then I'd have to dress like a native."

 

Mogar shrugged at her, eyes getting wider at her statement "Was I that out of it? I had thought I was dead to be honest, I relived my whole life every tryst, every mistake, every cheerful moment... just everything." finally noticing their companion, "You can understand me now, right?" Nanetl nods vigorously and stands, beginning to dress herself as well. Antasija pulls down the collar of her shirt and points to the jagged bite in her neck, "Yeah, I'd say you were that out of it." Mogar looked away from Antasija, hanging his head a bit, "I think I told you I was once like you, perhaps the scent of your blood made me want to return to that state..." shaking his head, "I just hope I didnt hurt you too badly." grabbing his pack off the floor next to him, he pulled out a small bottle of painkillers to stop this blasted headache offering her one.

 

 "It'll stitch itself back up in a few days." She shrugs and pops the painkiller in her mouth, "Don't worry about it too much, it's not the worst I've gotten. Hell, it's not even the worst I've gotten while doing that sort of thing." Mogar nods, still feeling guilty but she was right, they'd done worse to each other. He glances at Nenetl, "you think you can bring us to where we need to go, now that you know why we're here, I hope you are still willing to help us." Nenetl nods, "Oof course, I swoore myself to you." she says slowly, still unused to the language. Mogar smiled at the girl, highly entertained by listening to her tongue play with each syllable, "Then let's get going, my dolls, unless you two don't mind having to bring me back a second time."

 

 "As much as I would love to make sure the spirits were thoroughly gone, we should probably get going." she giggles, looking at Nanetl as the girl blushes  modestly and nods. Mogar exhales slowly standing in the doorway, walking back out into the street, he was quite lost of course, it wasnt as though the town was set up like New york with easily traversable streets, far closer to bostons maze of roads going every which way. he looked at nenetl, gesturing in front of him "After you, of course, let us meet your god." 

 

"Yes Lord." she says, the subtle emphasis on 'Lord' being hard to miss. She deftly leads them through the maze of streets as if she knew them by heart, leading them towards the temple at the center of the city. Mogar followed her, holding onto Antasija's hand, fearful he would collapse once more he didnt want to risk being apart from her. Nenetl began ascending the stairs in front of them and Mogar couldnt help but enjoy her sultry movements with every step, nearly tripping up the stairs as he was far more focused on her backside than his own feet. Antasija is pulled off balance as he trips up a little, hitting his arm lightly, "Eyes on the stairs loverboy." she says, sticking her tongue out at him.

 

Mogar rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Well, she's just so cute, her name really is fitting, she is like a doll." forgetting the girl could understand him perfectly for a moment. He managed to keep an eye on the steps to not kill them both though.Antasija gives him a half-smile, "Can't even take you into the past without you finding some fresh little girl other than me to stare at. What ever shall I do with you."  Nanetl blushes and glances over her shoulder for a brief moment, "Thank you Lord." she says quietly as she continues to ascend.

 

Mogar shakes his head, "How am I supposed to talk about you behind your back now Nenetl?" he says chuckling, "How much have you interacted with this god that is like Antasija anyway? Is there anything we should know before walking into their home?" realizing he should probably find out what he can before just waltzing into a deathtrap. "She is far too divine for one so low as me to speak with directly." Nanetl says, "I don't know much about Her except that She watches over us and protects us from harm."

 

Mogar elbows Antasija, "sounds like your twin then, eh?" noticing Nenetl reached the top of the structure, she turned around and waited for them, looking uncomfortable. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" she turns to give him an bemusedly challenging look and almost falls on her face for her trouble on the final step. Mogar holds firmly to her arm, ensuring she doesnt bring them both down the stairs they just climbed, "And here I thought I was the one who is having trouble focusing on walking." he says with a smile, "I wonder what the proper etiquette is for gods meeting each other back now, do you think it would be similar to what your kind did in our time?"

 

 "Avoiding eye contact and trying not to smile too widely?" she says nervously, "I don't know, as far as I know gods didn't generally meet each other where someone could write down their behavior even if they had the means to write things down." Mogar shrugs, "you know, if someone was watching our adventure they would wonder why we are so ill prepared for this." looking at Nenetl, "do you want us to go in first so they dont think you're simply a sacrifice?" pondering what the creature inside might think. "If it is all the same to you Lord, I would prefer to await your return out here." she says nervously, bowing her head slightly in différance.  "That'll be fine for now, but if we need you, I hope you will assist us, we can ensure nobody mistakes you for a snack, you are mine afterall." glancing at Antasija, "Shall we?" he says walking into the temple's entrance. She nods, standing by the door and watching her new master and mistress walk past. Antasija begins to tense up a bit as they walk through the door.

 

 The room was incredibly dark, a few candles were spread throughout the room but only enough to ensure they didn't walk into anything. A table was set up in the center of the room, covered in dried blood. Past the table there was a throne of sorts, a native girl with red eyes that almost glowed through the darkness sat upon it, she recognized the pale girl as her own kind instantly, the man however... there was something strange about him. "I am Eztli, Goddess of these people, who are you and why have you entered my sacred temple?" Mogar shook his head, "You don't need to put on the act, We know you are Vampyre, not a god."

 

Antasija looks at Mogar nervously, an eyebrow raised and a questioning look gracing her features, "You sure that's the route you want to take?" she asks quietly. Mogar glanced back at her, "I don't wish to play games." Eztli looked upon the man, stunned at his forwardness, she had not been spoken to in such a way in hundreds of years. "And what are you? I know she is of my kind, but you... I don't know what you are." Mogar nodded, "My name is Mogar, you are right, I am not of your kind, I was once, but I have transcended that period of my life. My companion is Antasija, we have traveled a long time to meet you Eztli, I have heard you are in possession of a certain tome that will assist me in the quest I have been put on."

 

 Eztli looked at Antasija, rarely getting a chance to see another undying, she ignored his comments for now. "How long have you been a... vampyre as I believe he called our kind?" it had been a long time since she had seen another immortal, she was always fascinated by them. "About a hundred and fifty years." she replies, looking at her counterpart's mouth as she spoke, "Though as years go they're slightly longer than those you know."

 

 "Your skin is so pale, like a ghost almost. Are you hungry? I have many for you to consume if you require." turning her head back to Mogar "I do have such a book, but why should I give it to a stranger? you walk in here and expect a prized possession?" she shakes her head, "You must prove yourself worthy to receive such a treasure." Mogar sighed, realizing letting Eztli continue her banter with Antasija was the only way he would get anywhere. "I'm on a diet." Antasija says, dodging the question lightly, "I wouldn't want to deprive you of one of your own."  Eztli laughed heartily, "Surely you have seen how many surround me, I will never be in want for as long as I stay here. Tell me, are you treated as gods where you are from? It only took them a short time to do so here, I can understand why they would assume us gods, we are eternally youthful, never changing ever as they grow old and die, their children doing the same, we don't age a day."

 

"Where we come from they know too much about our kind to think us gods, on the contrary they've developed specific methods for dealing with us, as if we're pests." Antasija says bitterly with a certain gleam in her eye. Eztli looked shocked, the very thought of mortals standing up to one of them almost behind her comprehension, "Methods? They can hurt us?" she asked questioningly, Mogar quickly retorted "They can kill you with the right information, it's just a matter of knowing where to strike. now about that book...?" She dismissively waved her hand, "if it is so important to you, you can journey down into the catacombs and go get it yourself."

 

Antasija crosses her arms over her chest, "And what is in these catacombs exactly that might prove a hindrance?"  Eztli smiled at the both of them "Snakes, Spikes, plenty of things child, if your lover is worthy of the book you will find it, if not... you'll end up just another skeleton down there." Mogar shook his head at her words returning to English over the native tongue. "It doesnt sound any more difficult than what we've been through already, I guess."

 

 "It's still a pain in the ass." Antasija says annoyedly, "Don't see why people have to booby trap everything instead of just posting a !@#$@#$ guard." Pushing against the stone door that would bring them down to the catacombs below he smiled at her "You make it sound as though people want to do anything the easy way." Antasija follows him through the door, "They could at least do it the cheap way." she grumbles, "Traps are expensive." Mogar lit a flare from his pack, allowing them to at least be able to see as they began their descent "They might be expensive, but I have a feeling this is designed as a source of entertainment for our host."

 

"Where do they keep the cameras I wonder." she mutters sarcastically, displeased with having to delve into a dank smelly catacomb where traps are guaranteed.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Mogar

[Mogar]

"Honestly, she seemed really familar to me, I feel like I had seen her before." Mogar said as they walked slowly down the ramp bringing them into the pyramids internals. "Maybe she resembles someone you've seen before." Antasija kept her eyes open for traps or other such nonsense. Mogar shrugged, taking careful steps. The ground leveled out, obvious pressure points in the narrow hallway "watch your feet, I don't think we should step on the raised rocks." he said, reaching his leg forward he pressed one down, immediately moving backwards. Arrows shot out of the side of the hallway into the wall right where his head would have been if he had actually been walking and stepped on the plate."Arrows, arrows are pretty standard." she says, "Next thing you know there's going to be a wall of spikes activated by interrupting an errant sunbeam." Mogar laughed as he stepped carefully through the hallway "Don't give them any ideas, I don't want to run from boulders today, I'm still quite exhausted from earlier thank you very much."
 
"Don't get your hopes up, so far this temple is pretty much straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark." she steps forward, hitting another pressure plate but dodging out of the way of the arrows which fly out towards her, "They're a bit more crafty though." Mogar shakes his head as they continue on through another slope, probably the closest thing to stairs they'll find inside, "Sometimes I wonder if I should have made you catch up on pop culture, next we'll end up fighting some guy with a sword and end up having to shoot him." looking back at her with a smirk. the flare was about to run out, he took the brief moment of relief these "stairs" appeared to give them to pull out a lantern, though he prefered keeping technology use to a minimum, walking around with a backpack full of flammable materials was not something he intended on doing. "Pffft, I saw it in theater, good movie." she says, "I've not seen any of the other ones though, were they good?"
 
"I liked the original trilogy, then they tried making a new one and it was just... not good. Indy's son was a terrible act-" the floor below his feet crumbled, he could see a pungee pit, "terrible actor, but anyway, looks like we have our first test of skill." he walked back far enough to get a running start and leapd across the chasm, one foot catching the edge he fell upon his face, but managed to land successfully, he turned around and looked back across at her. "I was never one for gracefulness." he said with a laugh, standing up and waiting for her to join him. Antasija walks back a few steps before taking her own jump, throwing herself across the chasm and doing a roll on landing, standing up and throwing her arms outwards, "Tada!"
 
Mogar smiled at her mocking display "Well we don't all have superhuman agility yaknow!" he said sarcastically, "Alright, arrows, death pit, boulder next, or do you think it'll be something more creative?" he asked rhetorically as they continued deeper into the temple.  "Nah, it's going to be the little patterns on the ground with all the darts shooting across the hallway like a swarm of angry bees of course." she says as they turn a corner. Lo and behold, what she said was exactly what was there, "Typical."
 
Mogar was beyond exhausted, not having slept well in days, and being cleansed of jaguar ghosts was tiring as well, he couldn't help but laugh for probably far longer than he should have. "Have you been here before? Why did I ever come along with you, I should have just stayed in bed with Nenetl and you could have managed this all by yourself." finally sighing and dashing through the silly trap, one of the darts managed to tear through his shirt but not hitting his skin, he inspected it. "they're only poisoned anyway, not a big deal."
 
 "Oh come on, this is bull %^&*!" she says, throwing her hands up incredulously at the almost exact replica of the Indiana Jones traps, "If there's a !@#$@#$ boulder I swear." she mutters as she rushes through the trap herself, almost taking a dart in the cheek but rolling before it hits her and coming out on the other side. "You know what I always wondered about the boulder trap, wouldn't it just destroy whatever you're trying to protect?" Mogar asked, wondering if they had actually gone to an amusement park instead of 2,000BC.
 
Another narrow hallway stood in front of them, a simple alter holding a book lay at the end of it, light shining down upon it from somewhere unknown, it had been nearly sunset when they came in here, so it had to be dark by now.  "Unless they had something to protect it yeah, but with all the advanced machinery I wouldn't doubt that the real deal would just have a retractable pedastal. What perplexed ME was, why didn't they just hide the damn thing instead of putting a bunch of traps around it?"
 
Mogar snorted "Perhaps we have visited, or will visit the 1970s and hung out with George Lucas, threw him some ideas from our experiences. This time travel stuff is kinda complex to think about." he looked carefully, not seeing any trip wires, pressure plates, or any other annoyances between them and the book. He stopped in front of it, looking over at Antasija, "So what do you think, surely the book wouldn't be booby trapped, right?" his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well obviously." she says, "But if we try the sand thing I don't think it's going to work, since Obviously it didn't for Indy." she considers it critically, "Maybe we should just grab it and run."
 
He held the lantern up, looking around the room, he didn't see any boulders. Lifting the book up slowly, it didn't appear to be trapped. he let it sit there, opening it up he looked through the first few pages, they seemed to change every few seconds, one moment written in pictographs, maybe ancient Egyptian?, the next Latin, the next an ancient form of Mandarin, then Arabic, it was obviously magical, he wasn't certain it was what he had been seeking but it obviously was still quite valuable. picking it up slowly he listened for any rocks falling. "I think.... we might be in the clear, now how to get out of here?"
 
Antasija looks around, the only way at first seemed to be to turn back, but her eyes were sharp, and caught on an unnatural formation behind the alter, "Wait a second." she says, going over to it and tapping on it, "It's hollow, I think this is a door somehow." Mogar put the book in his pack before running his hands over the walls, searching for a button or a lever, there had to be some way to open it. after a few minutes he found a button he could just barely reach about 3 feet to the left of the door, "I wonder how they expected one of the people from this time to reach that..." he said as the door rumbled, dust filling the air as it slide inwards, opening up into another dark room.
 
"Maybe they didn't..." she replied, "You said that book contains knowledge throughout time, what if this place wasn't designed to keep you out, just anyone else?" He thought about this for a long moment as they both walked into the next room, standing on a platform over a seemingly bottomless chasm. a 20 meter long bridge was their only way across. "After you Angel, you're much lighter than I." She looked at him with concern but knew better than to debate at this point, simply nodding and began to cross. Small bits of rock fell off the bridge as she crossed, she was trembling by the time she reached the other side. Reaching into her own pack she pulled out a length of rope, throwing it over to him. "Tie this to yourself, I'm not about to lose you to a poorly made bridge." he shook his head, tying it to his pack instead. "Make sure this is safe first." she dragged it back over to her, throwing the rope back over to him, he wrapped it around his waist. taking his first few steps onto the shady bridge.
 
The first few steps of course, are usually the safest in these types of situations. near the midpoint of the bridge however, the size of the rocks falling from the bridge became far bigger, it quickly began to crumble from where he had begun this journey, he picked up his pace but only got about three quarters of the way across by the time the bridge collapsed beneath him, the rope yanked against him violently, his organs would feel those bruises tomorrow, looking up at Antasija with a grin, he yelled, "A little help here?" she pulled him up rather easily, even though she was only half his size.
 
When he was able to he grabbed onto the edge of the platform she stood on and pulled himself up, laying on the solid ground for a few moments just to breathe. "Well that was enough excitement for me today." She looked down at him a bit angry "Can we go more than six hours without me having to worry about you dying?" He climbed up off the ground, brushing her hair behind her ear and kissed her slowly. "Let's go home and then you can have a few days of worry free life at least, this book is going to take me a while to figure out I think."
 
Another hallway and they were at the back of the temple, the sky above them dark, a full moon lighting the town up brightly. "You brought up a good point, let us go talk to Eztli and see what she knows about this book, it is her temple after all." Mogar said as they reached the outside once more. They walked hand in hand back to the front of the temple, climbing the steps once more, this time not as distracted, Nenetl sat by the entrance, not noticing them until they were nearly at the summit. "How did you...?" she started to ask, Mogar put up his hand to stop her, "It's a long story that I'm sure we will have time for later, the Goddess has not walked by you at all, right?" Nenetl shook her head, "No Master, I would have surely seen her, one person did enter, she wore the paint of sacrifice."
 
Mogar and Antasija entered the temple again, a young girl's corpse on the sacrificial table in the center of the room, Eztli was nowhere to be found. "I thought the being able to turn into a bath or mist was only a myth?" he asked. "So did I..." she muttered, Mogar stood in the room wondering their next move, a look of horror slowly dawning on his face. "W-We came here right before sunset... Didn't we?" she nodded at him, "What if... she wasn't a vampire like you?" She looked at him puzzled, "What are you saying?" He began pacing trying to put it all together. "When I was in Rio, I heard the story of La Llorona, it was based upon Aztec stories of Cihuateteo, women who died in child birth, they remained as spirits. They still ate souls, I had wondered why there was so much blood spillage on her table, didn't you find it odd for a vampire to be so wasteful with their food?" Antasija looked upon the dead girl with sadness in her eyes, "You mean to tell me she only pretended to be a vampire?"
 
He shook his head, "No, No, she may not understand what she is, but you are undead and she could sense that, just as you could sense she was unnatural, I think we just made the assumption, but they disappear when the sun goes down, leaving to haunt crossroads, according to legend at least." She looked back at him "So what do we do? stand around and wait for her?" she asked, not really wanted to go through another night of him suffering beside her, it had caused her own sleep to be very distracted, almost as though his own dreams being haunting was rubbing off on hers. "No, lets get going, we can make it back to the base camp by sunrise if we hurry, I will come back if I require her assistance." he walked back out of the temple, Antasija following just behind, "Let's go Nenetl, Do you want to say goodbye to your mother before we depart?" he asked her, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I would like to."
 
The group traveled on to Nenetl's home, her mom was sitting by the fire pit, she ran over and hugged her mom tightly talking in their native tongue "Mama I am going to travel with my new master, he wants me to go with him to where he is from. I do not know when I will return so I wanted to say goodbye to you, I love you so much." Her mother looked over the girl's shoulder at Mogar "How can you trust this stranger so easily my child? He comes out of the jungle pale of skin, and yet there is something dark inside him. Those demons that overtook him will only be kept away for so long, eventually they will return, stronger than before, he needs more help than you can hope to give him." Nenetl cried into her mother's shoulder, "That's why I need to go with him, I can help him, there is good inside him, even if there is darkness as well, I may not be able to help him alone but I need to try."
 
Mogar looked at Antasija, shaking his head slightly, they both could understand the conversation unfolding in front of them, but it was meant to be private and he wished to respect that. Her mother replied "If you feel it is your destiny I will not stop you, I only hope you are not brought down the same dark path he has chosen. There are forces at work here I do not understand I had a vision after you left about this pale one. I pray to the gods you can save him from Mictlan. I sense he has been there before, and he will return there, this time for good, and that girl he travels with will suffer the same fate." Nenetl pulled her mother away enough to look her in the eyes "I want to help him from this fate mama, he saved my life, I owe him the rest of it to try to save his." Her mother brought Nenetl's head down, kissing her on the forehead. "Then go my child, save him." She smiled through her tears, hugging her mother one final time. "Thank you for your blessing, goodbye mother, I love you!" she walked back over to Mogar and Antasija. nodding, saying in english "We can go now."

 

They traveled back out of the city, and through the jungle, Mogar had left small metal beads along the path back to their base camp, a technological trail of bread crumbs, giving them a very easy path to travel along, it took twelve hours of rapid hiking, but Mogar and Antasija refused to sleep again in this time period. Nenetl was exhausted by the end of it, the three of them constantly yawning, Mogar dug up the disk that would bring them back to their own time, setting it up and putting all of the things they have brought with them from the future onto the disk, they had to ensure nothing was left behind, Mogar had seen the Terminator, gods only know what would happen if they figured out the microchip 4,000 years ahead of time.

 

"Breath in deep and exhale slowly Nenetl, You'll feel a tug in your stomach." the only advice Mogar could manage. A bright flash of light and then....???

Edited May 19, 2014 by Mogar