The trail of god follower, a annual event for every mage base god follower. These was sort of the event to show off how well off in magic and holy training each was. This was normal to draw in new prayers or make changes to those whom were lacking their duty.
Not all devoted god follower took their title to heart, especially those of these past 2 generations. Many choose to live normal lives and only attend some religious events when they were needed to. It wasn't that they were faithless to the god whom choose them, it is sometimes that the connection between a mortal and their god was to vague reaching.
This years breaks records of holding the ceremony not on the colour cathedral grounds, which was under the sea abyss. This year it was held in the largest gathering of mages that there is. It is the skyscraper muti-floor market, owned by the MAC and shared with local companies holders. This is the United Kingdom branch, in a city in the East Midlands. Not to large to chock the markets here and not to big to be considered a intu (they are UK versions of USA malls).
This wasn't about showing off magic as it was previously. It was more about capturing a new public to the religions of mages. Some preached verses or handed out snacks. A richer family had managed to have a temporary statue be the highlight.
For Mattu, he was ordered to not take part in this year. Not by his friend host but the title of his lord. The shadow of godihood has cling to Mattu and the host during this... eyeing down the potential threats among the normal people. Even normal people were a threat in a different ways not clear to Mattu or his friend host of omens.
Mattu paced at safe distance away from the other god followers, keeping out of their business. Not many bothered him back for it. He wasn't bothering them by being around.
"There... there is now something dangerous following us." Mattu noticed the cloaked figure that eyed him. This same person spoke to something beside and then was walking suspiciously in following Mattu.
"There... You should warn the boy. He can't be careful enough with such things." The host directed to how James was in a store with some school friends. Each were talking about clothing that was sold. Mattu didn't know how to make it around there without passing another freak to follow him around. He couldn't alter bird in front of normal no magic folks either.
In consideration, Mattu knew then to set something up that the boy couldn't ignore. That was putting feathers around in strange places. A plan well executed with some quick tricks, circled around.
"Hey..." Mattu walked into one the class students. He pets her head, tucked a feather in her hair and shoo her away from harm. He very quick to ensure she wasn't caught up in the strange. Sly of him to default to spilling her drink on her. But it would force her into a toilet or shop to clean off. She was angry at him but he continued being mute and odd. He looked past her childish manners as he knew she was a strong woman underneath.
"You have time to ease last regerts... your a brave lady past the pain." His oddity of wisdom giving before disappearing. Evaded a near notice of another stranger.
"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" Caught in the last possible chance, "I need a moment of your time." hand offered out in a sort of greeting. Mattu having to many years of pain to ignore foolish tricks, stares them square and made his own gestures of warding. The stranger across pouts a moment for what that was all about, lowered the hand for now.
"Mmm... Not a Clothus. A something else." His lord host coos cooling down the greeting.
"The eyes of something that doesn't normal tangle among living mortals." The title sneers.
"A beyonder from outside the inner rules." Mattu made clear with his host whom wouldn't have hear the damned. The step back as the more to take in about this being, or at least what it was hiding, "What does the things beyond time seek to snatch from the law and order and chaos and dismantle? I give you none my life's time... but I give you a moment to speak with me. Anything more and you break the fragile nature of mortal and time." The nod of his lord host in agreeing to Mattu little speech of awareness. These things that bend time and space. Gap holes of void that could disrupt exist freely. Its sort of how the thing at the edge of time, the claw finger tips of a fragement of James snatched things from this world. That same void cut from reality being temporarily snagged.
"We are looking for a monster that makes gods scream in fear."
"The ender for sure... something I can't help you well with. My timeline isn't as stable as you think it. The thing that breaks the rules is cleaning other timelines. The Elder as other enders call it." The unnatural being snared at the meer cold and acceptance Mattu held. Not many souls was this stupid to speak so careless, "There are however plenty of enders hidden among the damned... Plenty whom may or may not be useful. I doubt they know anything more then us. You could be lucky."
"We do not bind to rules like luck or chance. We are not life or death. We aren't undead or reborn. We seek the God fear whom is responsible for this clashing of boarders. We will take redemption of souls if we are forced."
"That sounds like something twilight would say." Mattu tilts trying hard to look at this thing and yet can't. No light or darkness with make shape of the features enough to make sense of this mass in mock form. Mistaken as a cloaked figure. There was no edges of where clothes or skin met. They were a single colour anywhere on them.
"You should take the Clothus... take those whom likely caused the rifts." The title suggests. That of the stare direct to the shadow image can be off.
"The title said something?" the host asked in whispering.
"The clothus are known to be rule breakers too... so if these beyond time walkers want the folks whom likely caused the changed of boarders, they should take the trouble ones that made it happen." This flicker of reality needing to return normal was forcing these being to disappear. This figure here was stabbed through the gut and pulled back. The only trace landing on Mattu... a flake of stone. Mattu pockets this stone for safe keeping, doesn't want something untoward to happen to either the stone or a normal human finding it. On further remark... it reminds him of the strange place of statues that moved only when one looked away. Those statues that he was a sooty like crow on visitation.
"Matthew! Weren't you?" James running over looking about his friends and back, "Your feathers... I noticed."
"You or a version of you has sorted the biggest worries." Petting the kids hooded head, "Mustn't look like you up to anything rule breaking. Someone will fuss about your hood being up." James pouts at Mattu for this lowering childish manners. Mattu being all clingy with the lad and listening around to these friends. These each whom held a fragments of living gods... a dangerous situation. Playing around with bending the rules. Not breaking anything that was ready done.
"You spilt my drink on me." Mattu having then just plucked a note of money to her and she stared confused.
"You must have walked off before her could apologise for it. Your always quick to temper, Jade." The note take and put away, "Forgive my sister she all about making thunder over some justice." Its interesting that the note didn't go to the rightful owner and instead the purse of the speaker. Some traits are universal, like siblings playing pranks.
"I am sure the little miss will go at great lengths to have something important returned to her... even if it meant dressing up as someone else and taking evidence as disguise." Mattu snickers at such Norse story being true to a life situation... how weird that some aren't the gender they were depicted as. Although a trickster like Loki, didn't care for which he was. James hits Mattu in the arm for that. The last thing James wanted was these children out of his sight, "What? It wasn't hard to sumize."
Mattu played about with James hair having now full lean on both James shoulder. The burdens of feelings in a deep rooted sense was now felt by James.
"Why is that your always the one whom is the most hurt? You look so happy." James now was catching Mattu off guard, all those burdens of things to do in little time did impose a strain on Mattu's heart.
"There is always a time where I have to fail at my job... it always happens when I am to late to warn those whom needed to know. That blame has to go somewhere." Mattu not wanting to be out done at his weirdness, so this was spoke a little off key to his normal cheery bright tones, "Maybe it was always to be that way, I can't change that. I sure tried once."
It was true. A time he failed as a follower for a very important event among gods was some of why it lead to a god war. It was before James was born at all as a normal soul... before the tome of souls was the compendium as it is now. The history of being a ex-ender, whom failed at being that title. True to his words of wisdom, James makes note of the life lesson this turned out to be. James was doing so well as a shattered soul across many worlds... keeping it all from falling as a headache to the Ender. But this can't last forever, the ender has to return here at somepoint. James in some fragments doesn't want that to happen... but there is a majority that wants for the day he can't.
Mattu can read this out of James so easy. It was always a burden to fail... every host whom has been the ender, has always failed at somepoint. Which was why time spaces were a mess... assumed war. It wasn't war. It was recovery from a storm.
"The next thing to fail is the native North American lands... the creatures whom had enough. I may be prevented a worse outcome... but I can't stop it from happening." Mattu continued his strange talk of things beyond normal. A sort of notice of looking back now, "Your step mother... mother... the daughter to be whom will be your sibling. The world of magic will burn... another tragic story I can see and not stop. Removing the child before would be worse and repeated outcome." He got off James. He straights up his uniform, "Always to late..." Mattu frowns and edged with poking each child here, "They need to be returned and restored. That is going to happen this lifetime or their next... whenever it is time to give gods their powers back. I will not be there. I know so." He springs about in a more happier tone and giving everyone here whip lash on how to turn things on a flip, "What a fancy prom it will be! A great time of dressing up and fancy dancing. Braving love." He really did mess with them. Being a pretend goof, sing song about the dreams of teenage clouds.
"And... disappear." His lord collars Mattu through a doorway, from man to bird in a swing. Mattu didn't care in the slightest, even in bird was still talking about tv drama troupes from sitcoms. He couldn't help himself with the hilarity that the fragments of God soul were living human lives, enacting modern versions of past folktale. He wanted in the action of watching them but he had business away. It was meant to be that Mattu would be to busy to prevent the outcomes of natural timeline falls.
"Its time that you pay back that favour." The host sighed... Mattu finally shutting up. Listening with full intent, "So you asked me to deliver a dress to a random host goddess. Well there was a outcome to that... which was she was then picked on by the most jealous of others. I want you to retrieve something stolen from her... call it a apology for meddling in host affairs." Mattu sees why he was asked...
They stood currently at a warehouse which was labeled all over with the logo of Hermes. No, not the human delivery logo. The symbol of Hermes in the ancient Greek way.
This was a high security surveillance facility with a family drama unfolding within. It seems the host of one goddess was being reprimanded for stealing other host items. The loud shouting was quiet the give away.
Omens has managed to reach in view of this small window. Beside his lord sits two other god hosts. Mattu peered in checking the clothing and tattoo styles. Loki and Thor. Tricks and Justice. Very fitting for the moment and a little freaky that Mattu was just speaking to the two living human girls with those souls fragments of the titles.
" We want ours back too." Mattu softly look back to his lord with scratching some feathers.
"Yes... I understand." He was helped through the window creak and hops around the facility. There was a lot of paper messages, some relics and a not yet anything stolen. He lingered in the hiding toward the argument between parent and child. The host of Hermes is the father of the host of Leto. Meaning the god of delivering messages has relation to the goddess of motherhood... Leto is meant to be the mother to Apollo and Artemis. That in itself has not logic, Hermes telling Leto off. Not a human forseen legend. A host thing only.
He watched enough of this unfolding to gather the whereabouts of where the items had been stashed. Fitting for a child to carelessly tuck things in notice
able but fitting hiding areas. There being enough clues from the talk of which relics were messed with to retrace how Leto sneaks in to hide stole things. Out of jealous childish manners does it seem fitting that she would also play around with objects she shouldn't have. For a host under the name Leto, this little host wasn't acting her part so well. Still early years.
"A crow... mmm... a soul carrier. No... You aren't." Mattu was taken back by the sudden voice that caught him in the act. His beak on pose to take Hara's lost necklace. He looked right over to the damned that caught him... he looks around worried. Its hard to say that the damned of the god realms are visible due to being native, "Your a mortal follower and... I take it that you have something to do with birds." Mattu looks around and hides as there is other presence near. The worker of this warehouse of mail... going about the job. Placing a new crate at a coded section... leaves, "You are not here for any of the relics. Only what shouldn't be here. The stolen necklaces... by the child." The damned makes loud obverse notice, "I will inform the master of the warehouse that you are only returning what wasn't to be here. The necklaces... yes." Mattu steps gently with picking the items up. They altered into feathers, added to his wings, "Very good little mortal. A good soul. If you were here for the intent of taking things... I would have murdered you."
"Well... this was all because of a dress. Back where I am from I know the follower that was requested by her goddess for a beautiful dress. This follower is my friend and a royal... higher status. But still a very good friend. I wanted to do something good for my friend. So I said I sort this dress out. I did... but I of course can't deliver it. I asked my lord to help secert but not secerts to deliver the dress. My friends goddess was very grateful for the dress, credits her follower. I promised my lord that I do a favour for him as I asked him to hand over the dress. So... Well something happened between goddesses. Must had been a girl fight. Necklace stolen. My lord asked me to fetch the stolen necklaces... since it was me with the dress idea." He scratched some feathers.
"Mmm... I get it. You are a very trusted mortal. Its not like gods to allow mortals to see the gods in lesser light."
"It doesn't change my faith in believing you all doing your jobs. Like me a god follower, to live devoted to protecting or whatever it is the faith is about." He wags tail and looks around to leave, "I must leave... I have talked your ears off. Forgive me."
"Its fine, mortal. Its nice that someone talks to me not as a object but as a being." Mattu posed confused but then again he didn't see whom he is talking to. Only just the damned mask hovering in watching him.
"May your regerts find their peace. Thank you."
"Strange bird. Go. This is the moment." He gives light bow and hovers carefully around. If he had land, it was shelving and never a crate or object. He flutters a few times and makes it back to the hole in a top window. Hops gentles across, sitting on his lords head.
"Forgive me for taking so long." Softly and with now nesting carefree. Tilts in listening to the three here... sleeping. A posed foot in confusion of why they were sleeping. He looks around for a answer. He didn't wish to resort to something undignified as peaking them or flapping wings at them. He hops down the head and followed the arms... around to the ground part roof these were sitting on. Mattu looks for injuries. Any clues. Anything. Climbing up and back around his lord. Coos very nosy in the ear. Hop around perplexed.
"I see... the follower of omens. As in, the mortal follower." Mattu fluffed as a puff ball in the shock of being title dropped so sudden, "I take it that your here because he asked you to fetch necklaces." Mattu looked to a broken masked damned. A lot of hard study and glaring. The peer the eyes area. This one does have eyes under the mask. A soul. But these it off tells about this one.
"Your not a god in damned form... so you have to be something else." Mattu does his clothus gesturing to be extra sure his not talking to one. This is a god realm... things don't look recognisable here, "Not from my timespace. You dont hold chains like those I know. Not a normal damned." He continued, "Not someone I know. You have to likely be a time visitor or something. Someone whom doesn't belong."
"Your the elders Matthew." It took out a book to be sure. Torn off its own flesh.
"That be the tome of souls... but those don't belong here." Mattu couldn't help looking at the book binding and the inconsistent pattern those pages flicked themselves with. The off it seems the less good this whole event is, "Your very wrong in someway that I can't quiet name it. You're too alive to be a dead or undead."
"I dislike you judging me. Please stop." The book closed and melted into itself, "You are indeed Mattu. Not my business. What is my business is a item that you obtained from Hermes warehouse... a lost item that didn't belong to your time. A necklance among them you collected."
"Does it really belong with you? How can I be sure it does? I get the whole not being able to enter the warehouse thing. There is a god lock... I see the patterns." Mattu was directing a wing to such pattern, the damned peers and can not see it, "I guess your not a religious person. Those of faiths can see god patterns. You are faithless and don't belong. How do I even know that you haven't stolen those pages... your not a ender. No... you seem very off."
"If I knew I was going be lectured by a god follower about curses then I would told Hades of my timeline to stop soul snatching. Sheesh." That very off. Hades isn't a god for such practices. However other timelines have odd history's. Mattu can't assume things. He should. But he wants to be sure things were going to the right places. The more he stared at this damned the more sickly it made Mattu feel. There is to much wrong. Off about the textile textures. Mask... a blue grey. Like whatever it was, was wearing a corpse. Which made Mattu do a weird thinking idea.
"I don't trust you but if you be honest with me. I will know for sure that things are fine. If you are not a good enough answer, I will summon help to rid of you."
"I am not threatened in the slightest. I don't have to tell about my history." Mattu sits on his lords head and waved a foot for attention.
"No... I want to know about soul stuff. I want to ask, what is a shape or texture or colour... of a soul. Yes... you get what I am asking. I am want to know if you seen a soul outside of a body before."
"And you have?" It stared hard at Mattu, gazing eye to eye... squarely, "Its clothy but smoke. Whisp like... but not cloud. There isn't any shape as it changes. Its colour is hard to say." It stops there.
"And..." Mattu knew a key bit that all whom deal with souls know. How all whom work with souls always suffer with.
"And what? what about it? you asked about a texture of a soul." The shape thing was hiding in wasn't working well when it was angry. Snapping something about body it was using, "Souls are souls."
Mattu had made his choose now... He knew this was stupid but he can't leave a book of souls with a creature like this. It wasn't good enough to protect that book. Mattu knew that even now with the pages stuck to his skin. Its the madness of soul voices that is the complaint of even Death gods. Souls are fickle and scary things. Souls are loud when they are ignored and broken. Its what made finding James easier. This thing was a soulless that can't hear the souls of that tome it plucked from that corpse it using. The eye sockets behind the mask was the soul of the corpse pleading.
"Protecting souls is more important then the risk of my own life." Mattu knew, he torn the pattern of the barrier... so it may alert Hermes of this creature corpse. As he forced himself to alter in a land he should. Taking his own lifeforce to grab the three god hosts here... to carry them away from this soulless. He felt flesh tearing as it wasn't a full form and it wasn't meant to with the realm laws not sharing mortal realm laws. Aspects of life weren't regulated here. Not that these three souls are safe, his attention is back to the creature looking for him. It was cheated of some soul names to steal.
"Mortal god follower!" The damned from inside... here with the kind gesture of healing him back to a bird shape, "What have you..." They stop as Mattu jumps talon frist to sherd the through the dead corpse. He was more hoping to find the thing puppetting the corpse. The damned guardian knew it instantly from sight that Mattu did what he did because he wanted to protect and warn others. The damned puts protection around the three hosts, omens being one the three. It makes quicker work to send other security measures out. Golem.... Like those in Death's domain watching the scythes. Now it was Mattu aiding the Golem, fighting the creature.
To tare through the body and find anyways possible to bite down on the parasite within. There isn't time to care for what affect on himself. This was urgent and this was a unwelcome soul snatcher. Soul Snatchers are written as a page dedicated within the compendium... a remarkable fact that leaked into his mind as he was looking for weakness to rid or snatch those souls back.
"How dare you! I will eat your soul next you little mock bird." The creature was slapped downwards, making the corpse it wears impossible to recover for hiding in. The golem then had its own internal mechanisms to crush all the souls out of this body. The vomit spray of blood, fuilds and ink... the skin unfurled out as paper. the binding of the book was the real soul snatcher, which Mattu doesn't allow it to escape or be assumed to be dead yet. Ripping the 'leather' and spray out more gunk.
"Alright... its fine..." Mattu scooped up at arms length away, "Just what was it?"
"Soul snatcher." The golem answering, "They are soulless beings that don't belong anywhere or anytime. They are for the ender to fight with." It posed with looking to Mattu, "Where is our ender?"
"The scythe is having a headache with discrepancy of soul placement it the tome. The one whom should be host is soul shattered... so his location everywhere. The title... Well. Both of them claim it dealing with Clothus. Its all I know. That of course your asking about our tome. That is under the scythes protection." Mattu fussed with getting out the hands and back to the floor. Hovering wings with collecting the soul tome pages of some other timelines books. As he did, the souls contained in them were so thankful to him. They healed his injuries that the gods couldn't... even his cut eye was soothed... but not entirely perfect.
"Mortal follower of omens... you know to much." The golem hissed.
"We have to." His lord host in their defence, "We are helping Twilight... a ex‐host of our time. She is looking after any extreme duties while the title is away. She may not have expected us to deal with a soul snatcher." Putting Mattu up once more, Mattu has collected the pages, "We are also helping the current ender host, the shattered soul. We had to know this understandings in order to help them... even if we don't full ever understand. Someone like us has to work together... or no true title will ever be doing their jobs right." The golem and several folks around. Now that there was a investigation of why the site was a battlefield momentarily.
Statements given... all cleared of any criminal actions. Not praised either. They did trespass and steal back stolen goods. But these kids also prevented a soul snatcher from blood bathing this part of the realm. They are released from any other questions. Or it was for Loki and Thor - whom weren't true god titles.
Omens being the true title had to stay to oversee and directly explain things with the true title Hermes. This was however smoothed with the god relics that was the damned possessing a object. This object is a mirror that used the golem body as a way of security for the warehouse. The mirror showed from the view points it has of what it witness of everything. Including the honest conversation it had with Mattu when he took the necklaces.
The whole drama about dresses rung to Hermes very clearly and there was no problems between the true titles (well the hosts of true titles). The powers of the titles were hovering in a gloom not far, talking to each other about how bad things were almost were. Some culture clashes can sometimes save many souls. Mattu was allow free, but just ended up sitting on his hosts shoulder.
"Best you head back. There wasn't much damage to worry. Your follower cleaned up mist of the corpse." The look at Mattu, "You eat it?"
"Not at all lords. Its not as it seems. I would recommend giving it a good burn before disposal. Just to be sure. We don't need a soul snatcher making mess in a weaker world." He fluffed in worries, scratching himself carefully, "It be a havoc for us all if it when somewhere dangerous." Omens stops mattu scratching deeply, petting his follower instead of letting talon claw into himself.
"You should go visit a death god with that death tome you took from the creature. Let a death god sort out the souls. Its not my or our duty." Hermes reminds.
"Yes... let's. I like to visit silver eyes." Mattu coos so happy with being a bird shape and being pet by his host friend.
It was a heavenly feeling that soothed him, the indirect calming a god has over souls. Mattu was highly jittery of everything. Tucking himself as close to his lord as possible, distrustful of things. The madness of voices just to muffled to be spoke clear enough for him.
"It makes me wonder what a soul snatcher was doing in my home realm. Creatures of soulless types evade the god worlds due to the protection of power."
"My lord... the titles are not as they are normally. The very act of purification could turn one into ashes." Mattu coos lightly in whispering to the ear.
"I didn't think of that." This host lord ponders, "True titles would literally break into soul dust if they wee to preform any precent of holy acts. They can only test them vaguely to the hosts and command-"
"Host can't hear the damned. They would have to ask the follower like me to translate that order."
"Which isn't happening... baring only folks like myself, life and nature."
"Does it really take a long time for a true title to be reborn?" Mattu asked innocent of meaning. His host had to think a long time.
"I as the host my die... only something like broken time, borrowed space or shattered reality would explain how immotral titles that do not live or die - be cursed in a negative manner." Mattu tilts with brushing himself over the side of his good freind, "So in other words... the power to true titles is connected to the soul tome condition."
"Does that mean our pages of our soul pages are damaged in someway?" Mattu asked, "Would this also have a affect with the ender... the powers behind the title of the protector?"
"I don't like to think of such possibilities. If the ender we are meant to be protected by is... unable." The long silence.
"We should ask Twilight of this possibility. It would make everything that James has sacrificed mean nothing."
"Why do I have this bad taste about it? about all of this conversation..." The door summoned through to Deaths realm. No faffing with going straight to the basement and golem security clearance.