"Stop," He did as she said, "I am Lady Dorana, the Goddess of the Day, my priests allowed you to enter my temple, they must have seen something in you, tell me, who are you, and why are you here?"
"I am Vidian, Vidian of the Great Desert, I have been tasked by Lord Eternum to collect the blessings of the gods, the gods on this world, to become stronger in order to end the Death of the World, the beast that you, and your brothers and sisters fought to imprison," She burst into laughter, "Lady Dorana?"
"You are Vidian?" She seemed almost childish, "You don't look anything like him," He removed his cloak entirely, revealing himself, she stopped laughing, "Oh, I am sorry, I thought you were an imposter."
"You are the god here, I have no need to have you ask me for pardon, I am just hiding my horn and my small lack of flesh and skin on my left cheek, Lord Fendian's blessing."
"I can see," She clapped her hands and three gods seemed to appear out of nowhere, "These are my sub-gods, Vidania, Goddess of the living, Morrius, God of Wake and Sanytanya, Goddess of Work," They all slightly bowed their heads. Morrius was a smaller figure, a little smaller than Vidian, he had goat legs and two standing horns on his head. He wore a piece of cloth that was cut to have a space for his head and a small, fabric skirt-like piece of clothing. Under his right arm was a bizarre looking harp. Sanytanya was slightly taller than Vidian, her body seemed to be completely built for any work task, she had a very female frame, and to add to that, she seemed extremely strong. Her clothes were leather, or of a similar material, with long pants and a sleeveless top, her black hair was braided behind her. Her skin was tanned, darker than Dorana's. Then, there was Vidania, the Goddess of the Living. She was as tall as he was and wore white robes. She had a crown of flowers in her brown hair, "Your first work will be Morrius's work," She stayed sitting on her stone throne. A massive tremor shook the entire temple, "What was that?" She got up from her throne and the doors opened and a wounded man stumbled in, Lady Vidania ran to him, "What happened?"
"A d-, d-, demon, it killed, killed, 5 paladins, and is still fighting."
"Vidian, you will have my work if you kill it," Lady Vidania said, "Morrius's work can wait, kill the demon."
"Where is it?"
"The main square," Vidian flipped on his hood and mask and ran out of the temple. The main square was at the foot of the temple. A massive creature stood, surrounded by mages and men armed with shields and maces. He took a deep breath, before markings appeared on his legs and his arms turned into wings, he leapt into the air and then dive bombed towards the creature. He slammed into it full force, knocking it off of its feet. The creature was quickly back to its feet and growled at Vidian, revealing two sharp fangs.
"Get the people out of the way! I'll deal the demon while you do!" Vidian shouted. The beast lunged at him, bringing down a massive clawed hand to the ground towards him. He rolled out of the way as his returned to their human state. He kicked off of the ground, dodging the tail sweep. The creature had a large tail with a spike that formed a sort of blade. It shook its frills and then roared as they stuck up. Vidian removed his cloak and tossed it to the side, reveal his Blessing of the Night. The beast roared again, and charged at him, lowering its head and using all four legs to run faster. Markings lit up over his body and he lowered himself. The two hit full force and simply stopped. Vidian spun, grabbing its arm and tossing it over his shoulder with it landing on its back. Large arms resulted from his arms mutation, the same as the demons, but slightly smaller, their claws clashed with an ear splitting sound, they fought in the main square. Every blow that the demon landed on the floor left small craters, breaking the cobblestone floor.
Vidian ducked under a swing and drove both his hands and their claws into the creature's chest, cutting right through its chest. The hole widened as Vidian strained, without any blessings, opening the wound, and pouring black blood onto the floor. Roaring as the wound completely ripped the demon in half. The beast roared as the wound ripped up to its head before Vidian slashed its head clean off. He fell to one knee as the beast collapsed before, simply, disappearing. Panting and sweating, he slowly got to his feet and walked, slowly, nearly stumbling to his cloak, before putting it back on. He breathed heavily as he walked, slowly, step by step, up to the temple. The paladins on the square looked at each other wondering what had just happened. He arrived at the doors and they opened for him. He nearly collapsed as he stepped down into the temple, catching himself against the door frame. Dorana was sitting in her throne, and Vidania walked towards him, "Lady Vidania," he said weakly, "I got rid of the demon."
"I know, I saw, thank you."
"Don't thank-"
"I must thank you, you did something crazy in your own free will."
"Yes, Lady Vidania."
"You have completed my work, you should take the rest of the day to rest, and you seem in a terrible shape, you look terrible, take a break."
"Thank you, Lady Vidania."
"No," He turned to Lady Dorana, "Come here Vidian, leave us, Vidania."
"Yes, Lady Dorana," Vidian slowly walked towards Lady Dorana.
"You look terrible, I must say, you must be tired from the works, you have arrived at your halfway point, so you have done a lot already, lean forwards, I will help you recover a little bit."
"How can you do that, Lady Dorana?"
"Just come closer," He took a step forwards and she pulled him forwards with one hand behind his head, pulling him close to her. She pulled down his mask and her lips pressed against his. He felt a large amount of energy force itself into him, his eyes went wide and as she let go, he stumbled backwards, "There, you should be able to get through today fine, you can have this day off."
"T-T-Thank you, Lady Dorana."
"Of course, Vidian of the Great Desert."
He pulled up his mask and turned around, heading to the door.
"Where do you intend on staying?"
"I don't need to sleep anymore."
"You don't?"
"I am a Child of the Night," He shrugged and walked out of the temple. The sun was already setting, shining brightly in his face, blinding him. He slowly walked down the steps of the temple. The main square had filled with people, it seemed that the demon had never been there. He noticed the damage that his battle had caused, "Well, at least I wasn't hallucinating," He stepped onto the square and was swarmed by the people who had seen him fight. He looked around and realized that he had attracted more attention than he wanted. He continued to walk as people bombarded him with questions, "I am Vidian, Vidian of the Great Desert, Lord Eternum's Trusted, I am here to gather the blessings of the gods on this realm, right now, I am after Lady Dorana's blessing, I still have a long journey still ahead of me, so I will only stay so long here, but right now, I need to nourish myself to continue my quest, I don't need this attention, so please, don't give it to me," The crowd surrounded him as he sat down, he noticed the overwhelming amount of Celenstials, then, as the crowd dissipated, he recognized a Darkkin man, "David Dawn."
"How are you doing, Vidian?"
"I am good, I am good, how is Julia doing?"
"She started school again, Heather is back in Luminosada, I am working, I already miss them."
"Got here recently?"
"A few days before you did probably."
"Well, you don't have all the stopping points that I have," He laughed as David sat next to him, "What do you do exactly?"
"Trade, all over the world, I have been to Atlantis a few times, but now they aren't as interested as before, you have a place to stay?"
"No, but honestly, I am just thinking of finding something to eat right now."
"Well, I would offer to eat with you, but like you said before, you feel bothered by it," He joked, "Come, I am inviting you."
"You don't need to."
"Why you wearing the cloak?"
"To hide how hideous I am, thanks to my blessings."
"Lord Fendian's?"
"Mhm, you guessed correctly, Lady Diane made this for me before I left, as some sort of gift, well, I think I will take on your offer."
"What was that thing?"
"A demon, seemed like some sort of Deathlord."
"Never seen one of those."
"I think I know why this is happening."
"I don't want to know," David responded.
"Then I won't tell you," David chuckled and handed Vidian a gourde of water, "Thank you," He drank and then handed it back, "Do you come here often?"
"Depends, I have to organize the trade between Luminosada and here, so I have done this trip twice before, I could've chosen to live here, but when I met Heather, I settled down in Luminosada, even if it means I have to travel more, it is worth it."
"Lucky you, you get to call a place 'home'."
"Well, it is nice seeing you again, Julia asked in her sleep, before I woke her up, if you would come back."
"I'll make you a promise, tell her that I will come back to see her, maybe not as the man she knows, I would've probably changed, but I will still be Vidian."
He sat at the foot of the temple, his body didn't need to sleep anymore, he could simply recover with the energy of the night. He sighed as Lady Diana slowly shifted across the sky. He heard a door shatter open. He got up and walked towards the noise. He turned into an alleyway and saw two men wearing white cloaks, Paladins, break into a house, he stayed out of sight for a second then hear a girl's muffled scream. He removed his hood and mask and walked towards the broken door, he was more intimidating that way. He peered into the house and saw both men pinning her down. He stepped into the door frame, where the broken door hung loosely on one hinge. The two men turned around as his shadow appeared over them, "What is this about?"
"MMMM!" The girl tried to break free.
"I thought you were good people, you paladins, but clearly, you rape, and of course you get out with no problems, huh, you are crazy," His arms began to mutate, "Let go of her."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Kill you."
"What?" They seemed terrified at the calmness Vidian said it with, they drew their weapons, steel maces, "You are a demon, there is no other explanation for your body."
"Let's take this outside," Two hidden tentacles wrapped around their legs and they were flung outside. Vidian nodded at the girl and walked out of the house, closing the door. The two paladins tried to run, but the tentacles caught up with them and pulled them back, slamming them into the ground, "You really expect to get away with that?" He lifted them by the ankles, holding them upside down in front of him, "How many times have you done that?"
"Why would we tell you?"
"HOW MANY TIMES!"
"O-O-Okay, th-three times."
"How many times do you think you can die?"
"O-O-Once?"
"How many times do you think the girls that suffered from you wanted to die?"
"I d-d-don't know."
"I'll answer, the whole time, probably even now," The tentacles flung them to the floor. They rolled and tried to run once more, "I am NOT DONE WITH YOU!" The tentacles reached them and wrapped around them, pulling them back, "Do you have a code, as Paladins?"
"Y-Y-Yes."
"And rape is allowed, am I correct?"
"What?"
"Answer me, and don't play dumb."
"N-N-No," One of them said weakly, the tentacles squeezed them, "NO!"
"Well, why did you do it?" They went to answer, "Don't answer."
"Hold it right there!" He turned and saw 7 paladins around him, "Let those men go," Two of them had bows and the rest were armored and armed with maces and shields, "What have they do to deserve this?"
"Is rape allowed in your Priests of Lady Dorana's code?"
"No, of course not, why?"
"How about you two explain what you told me," He dropped them and his arms returned to normal before flipping his hood on and lifting his mask on, "Speak."
"We tried to rape a girl."
"And we have done it before."
"Three times."
"That is what they did to deserve it."
"Thank you for telling us this, we will deal with them."
"No," The paladins looked up at him, "How will you deal with them?"
"Giving Justicearinaian's Hand the choice of the judgement."
"Then I will deal with them."
"What?"
"I am Justicearinaian's Hand, the man that got rid of the Darkkin lord that killed his wife, the man that judged him, I am Vidian of the Great Desert, Lord Eternum's Trusted."
"You are lying," One of the bowmen aimed at Vidian, "He would never trust a human," He loosed the arrow but something caught it in the air. A ghostly figure appeared before them, "What is this?" VIdian kneeled.
"I am Eternum, the God of gods and the God of time, clearly your god hasn't told you that he is harmless, but then I will tell you that, he is the man I trusted to gather the blessings of my gods," He walked to the men on the floor, "I will deal with these ones," He placed his hands on their heads and their souls drained out and left their bodies, into the air, "Now, may this never happen once more," His ghostly figure disappeared, leaving the two dead bodies and the paladins with Vidian, who stood up. The Paladins grabbed the bodies of the men and disappeared into the city. Vidian looked around and walked towards the house that the men had broken into.
He knocked on the door then heard the girl walk to the door, "Who is it?"
"Vidian, I wanted to talk to you."
"I don't recall your name."
"The man that saved you."
"Oh, sorry," She opened the door, "What do you want to talk about?"
"I just wanted to talk," She let him in and sat down at the table in the room, "Sorry about that, I didn't react fast enough."
"No, no, no, you saved me, I would've been helpless against them, but who are you exactly, you like, your arms?"
"Ever heard the stories of Eternum's trusted?"
"Yes, as a young girl."
"I am Eternum's Trusted, I roam the lands of the Eternal Domain to find the blessings of his gods, I would never be able to do his quest without any help at the beginning, my help is this blessing."
"You are really cool, that is amazing, I am Katie, Katie Solar."
"Are you married?"
"Yes, but my husband is out, working."
"Well, I see why you were alone tonight."
"Thank you again, thank you so much."
"Don't thank me, it is nothing."
"Where are you from?"
"Kyyieshnomad, a small town across the Great Desert."
"Yeah, okay, you certainly as from the same place as the stories say."
"What? Where did you get that book from? You had nothing a second ago."
"Hmm? Oh, this is a copy of the Epic of Eternum's Trusted, wait, you have been to a Natura Community?"
"I can't speak of it."
"Oh, well, um, you have been to Atlantis?"
"Yes, I have."
"So you visited Lord Orn, Lady Structania, Lord Inventaariy, Lord Aquariusinariun, Lord Fendian and now Lady Dorana, that is so cool, I dreamed of meeting Eternum's Trusted as a little girl."
"Well, you met him."
"I know, I am thrilled, that is so cool, wait, wait, the demon, wait what?"
"Let me see that?" He leaned over the book, "This is actually what I have done, the works, the events, let me see, go to the part where I travel to Nocturnus."
"In this part, you met an entity of evil, a child of the Death of the World, like the demon you fought here, but it doesn't give details."
"Okay, now go to the rest of the book?"
"Okay, but, wait, it is empty now, I swear I have memories of it as a kid, why is it empty?" She flipped frantically through the pages.
"Because I have yet to write the rest of the book, that book isn't a regular book, it is magic, it is actually a book of me and it is the same events as what I have done, the demon, the entity of evil, maybe you will see when I complete all the works, wow, I didn't this they would have created something like that."
"That is so cool."
"Well, thank you for that insight, follow my journey if you want, good night Katie," As he left the house, she flipped through the pages and a new page had been written, one of their conversation. She smiled and closed the book, placing it next to her bed.
"I met my hero."
He pushed open the doors of the temple. Lady Dorana wasn't in her seat but walking around the room, pacing restlessly. He closed the doors and knelt, "I am here for my next work."
"Ah, Vidian, well, Morrius will give it to you, good luck," Lord Morrius appeared nearly out of nowhere.
"How are you Vidian?"
"I am fine, what is my work, Lord Morrius?"
"I am the God of Wake, I wake all the beings, well, most of the beings on this realm every single day, with a simple, very simple thing," He was holding his harp, "The music it plays begins to wake people, all races, until everyone that needs to be awake is awake."
"I need to learn how to play it?"
"No, you need just to play it, if you can play any tune for that much time, you have my work."
"How much time is it, Lord Morrius?"
"Until Lord Zenith reaches his peak," He placed the harp on the floor and it grew, creating a large golden harp, "Play, any tune will be audible and beautiful to the people waking up," Vidian stood in front of the harp and began playing, "Just like that, keep going until I tell you to stop."
"How will you tell I am playing?"
"I can hear my instrument's music, you can too, but no one else can really hear it, it just wakes them up."
She woke up, still without opening her eyes, grabbing next to her, "Vidian, I thought you left to-, Vidian?" No one was in her room, "Um, is this a trick? What is that music? That sounds like the Great Desert's tune, I miss him already."
"Julia!" Her mother's voice woke her up, "I wish Lord Morrius would wake you."
"I am already downstairs, mother!"
"Oh, what is that music?"
"I hear it too, Lord Morrius is trying something new, I think."
"Let me prepare breakfast."
"I made some for you already."
"Lord Morrius woke you early today, huh."
"Just sit down and eat."
The soft music played, she turned onto her back, "Mmmm, morning already?" She sat up and yawned, rubbing her eyes with her hair magic, "I have a shift today, huh?" She held her breath, "Music? Wait, that tune, he can't be back already."
"Vidian? Is that you?" She opened her eyes and saw no one, "Are you here? I can hear you humming, wait, Vidian?" She stood up and looked around her room, "Is it just me?" She sat down in her room and a servant walked in, "Do you hear that?"
"The music, Lady Tea?"
"Yes, the Great Desert's tune."
"I do, my lady."
Vidian continued to play the only music that was familiar to him, the Great Desert's tune, a song that was never sung, only hummed, the words were ancient, and no one pronounced them, it was something that was just not done. He hummed the tunes as the strings gently vibrated, playing the tune. Lord Morrius sat in front of him, "Playing the only tune you know, a familiar tune, I created that tune."
"You did? But what do the words mean?" He said as his hands seemed to move on their own, continuing the music, "I never found what they were."
"The words, when pronounced perfectly, wake the beast."
"Which beast?"
"You know exactly what beast I am talking about."
"They do?"
"I will write the words for you, if you ever just whisper them, you will summon the beast, so I warn you keep it for when you need to."
"I will keep it with me, the beast will only rise when I choose to do so."
"Good, now keep playing, you play surprisingly well."
"I don't know how."