Itzal led Cole down the hallway, heart beating faster and faster. He anticipated something terrible around every corner, but it was just more rock. After five minutes of walking, Itzal was feeling like they were going in circles. "Have we seen this rock before?" He asked Cole, gesturing to a vaguely familiar stone. He glanced over at the man, but a flash of light caught his attention. "What was that?" Itzal turned towards the source of the light, and took a few steps around the corner. A silver door appeared, set at the very end of the hallway. "Well, that looks promising."
(Happy late holidays!)
Cole was jumpier than ever as he walked down the hallway, the sword clenched tightly in his hand. There wasn't a minute that he was further than a few steps behind Itzal, and he figured everyone could hear how fast his heart was beating. If fighting the beings was stressful and nerve-wracking, this was fighting ten at once. Just the drawn-out silence as they walked was enough to make him nervous. Everything sounded like beings. everything but Itzal's voice when he finally spoke that was. "Well…I suppose that's our door?" He replied slowly as he glanced down the hallway, glancing up at the god.
(Happy late holidays! :)
"Yeah, I suppose." Itzal glanced at Cole, then started towards the door. His chest was a mess of emotions, fear and hope tangling together. As he got closer, it became clear that the door had no handle and no obvious way to open it. "Hmm…" Itzal sighed, stopping in front of the door and looking it over again. He hadn't seen any other passages, which meant that this was where they were supposed to go. But how were they supposed to get through the door? "This… why." Itzal took a breath, then reached out and tapped the door. Honestly, in hindsight, he should have expected something bad to happen. But there was nothing else to do, so it had to happen. Itzal's fingertips brushed the door– which was freezing cold and burning hot at the same time– but there suddenly wasn't anything solid there. The door seemed to grab him, pulling his hand in up to his wrist.
(Shieetttttttt I thought i replied to this >_< I'm extremely sorry…I'll have a response up asap…probably tomorrow morning)
(Oh, alright! You're fine!)
Cole followed behind Itzal, studying the mystery door with curiosity and fear as they got closer. The fact that it didn't have a handle made him wonder if they should even mess with it, but he held in his questions. Clearly, Itzal would know better. He watched the other touch the door, jolting with shock as he saw that it had sucked in his hand up to his wrist. Without thinking, he grabbed Itzal's other hand, holding it tightly in a feeble attempt to tug him away from the strange door or to even just get his hand loose.
Itzal was too shocked to react at first, and it was only Cole grabbing onto his hand that make him realize he should probably do something. He pulled back, but his hand was quite stuck. Thankfully, it stayed grabbing only his hand and didn't pull him in further. It was still a rather awkward situation to be in. "Um… I probably shouldn't have done that." Itzal glances back at Cole, his lips pressed together. A sharp pain in his thumb made him gasp, mostly in surprise. Another one came from his pointer finger, and then his middle finger. He tried to pull his hand out of the door again, but it didn't budge. The grip around his wrist only let go when all five of his fingers had been… pricked, maybe? Itzal quickly tugged his hand out of the door and inspected his hand. Each fingertip was bloody. The door made a couple of whirring noises, then swung inward with a soft click.
(Gonna be out of town for the weekend so my responses are gonna be sporadic if I'm even able to get any up)
(You're fine, I was out of town too!)
Cole somehow laughed halfheartedly at Itzal's comment, not once even thinking of letting him go. He jumped when he heard the following gasp though, eyes locking on the strange doorway faster than he realized. Something in him told him that it couldn't have been one of those beings, but every bone in his body told him to be wary. Cole didn't let go of the other's hand until he was sure that Itzal was out of the door. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking to the blood on his fingertips with obvious worry, "What was that?" His question was left unanswered as the door swung open and he frowned, looking past it nervously, and he wished he was holding onto Itzal's hand again.
"Yeah, I think so. It just pricked me." Itzal pressed two fingers together, hoping that it had just pricked him and not poisoned him as well. That would be quite unfortunate. He looked up, feeling a slight wave of doom wash out from the empty, very dark space behind the door. Or maybe that was just him. "I really, really hope that's going to be the end of the surprises," Itzal muttered, glancing over at Cole. "Are you ready?" His eyes darted towards the doorway, then back to Cole's face.
"I hope so too," Cole mumbled as he stared at the darkness, the twisting feeling of fear threatening to grow. Slowly though, he nodded his head, pulling his hands behind his back to hide the trembling. The sword never once left his grip either, if anything, he held onto it tighter as he looked to Itzal, setting his mouth in a thin line and nodding again. He had to be strong, for Itzal. Fear wasn't going to get the god home after all. "Let's go see what waits for us in the spooky unknown."
(Sorry this is so late, life has been interesting lately.)
This time, the lights came on automatically. The second Itzal crossed the threshold, a loud whooshing sound came from all around them, and a dozen touches blazed to life. The room illuminated by the flickering light was round and of medium size. In the center was some sort of fancy table, and sitting on the table was something shiny. As Itzal drew closer, he saw that the thing was a simple-looking amulet hanging on a silver chain. The amulet was black and circular, slightly larger than a quarter. It was quite unfamiliar, as well.
"Huh." Itzal stopped in front of the table, staring at the amulet. "This must be it?"
(I totally get it…life is hell on wheels for me atm)
Cole stayed hesitantly outside of the doorway to start, only crossing it when Itzal was getting too far away for comfort. "This is what you were looking for?" He questioned as he stared at the amulet. A confused look crossed his face and he looked to Itzal, "A necklace is going to help us get you home?" Temporary frustration washed over him as he looked at the amulet, unsure of how it would help them. It wasn't something they could use like a sword, that would've been much more useful. Unless it had powers to help Itzal, or warn them of nearby beings. He shook his head as he sorted through his thoughts, looking around the newly discovered room for anything else that could help them.
"I… I guess so?" Itzal inspected the amulet from all sides, not wanting to pick it up just yet. "It doesn't look very impressive, that's for sure. But maybe it has some sort of hidden power?" So far, he didn't see any traps or inscriptions that would make picking up the amulet unsafe, so he took his chances and lifted it up. It felt exactly like a normal, totally un-magical amulet. Not a good sign, for once. "Uh…" Maybe it needed to be woken up? It had probably been there for a while. Itzal carefully sent the tiniest bit of magic into the amulet and waited. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the amulet started giving off a pulsing, tiny light. Itzal moved it closer to his face, trying to see what it was. The next second, his consciousness was sucked out of himself and into the amulet. His body collapsed, still clutching the amulet, and Itzal was taken to the past.
Even as Itzal studied the amulet, Cole was still wary of the simple stone. He stayed back, letting the god do what was needed, though he never let him get more than a few strides away, any more and he was sure that the beings would come back and attack. "Be careful, please," He said, messing with the handle of the sword as he watched the bit of magic seep into the amulet. The longer Itzal held the stone, the more confident he became about how simple it was. Nothing this boring could help them.
It seemed like Karma as Itzal collapsed, the reason for the collapse something Cole didn't know. He rushed to his side in an instant, thrown out of his thoughts as he set the sword down and frantically looked over Itzal. "Hey! No, Itzal, not the time for collapsing. Are you ok? Answer me, c'mon." His words were frantic as he figured he had passed out. From what, he wasn't sure. Whether it was his magic, or the stupid stone, it still left Cole here alone, to keep both himself and the unconscious god safe.
He was back at the beginning. When he and the other gods had first decided their home. He remembered this moment clearly. They had walked in, finding nothing but empty land and… ruins? No, that couldn't be right. He didn't remember those being there. And yet, there they were. The other gods were still acting as if they couldn't see, chatting among themselves. Itzal took a few steps forward and knelt down in front of the nearest crumbling wall. There was something stuck in the dirt there, something shiny. He reached out and started digging, eventually unearthing a crown. Exactly like the ones the beings had floating over their head.
"You were not the first ones," The crown murmured. "You made yourself believe you were to mask the true horror you used to be."
Itzal's eyes flew open, his heart beating in his throat. 'You were not the first ones'? What was that supposed to mean?
Cole crouched nervously next to Itzal, waiting for the god to wake up. He wasn't sure how long it had been when Itzal finally woke up. It could've been hours, or mere minutes, there was no way to tell where they were. He jumped slightly as Itzal's eyes opened, scared but more than relieved that he wasn't dead.
"Thank the lord," He murmured, sighing before turning back to his companion, concern still clear, "Are you alright? What happened? You passed out and fell pretty hard, are you hurt?" Cole spoke in a rush, barely any break between his words. He paused, taking a deep breath and looking back at him, "You scared me."
"Hmm… Cole?" Itzal blinked at the man, feeling very disoriented. "I… I think I'm alright." He carefully sat up, rubbing his forehead slowly. At the moment, the thing that hurt the most was his mind. How could what he'd seen… how could that even happen? That wasn't what happened! They'd been alone! The place had been empty when they'd arrived, he was sure of it. Itzal's attention snapped back to Cole at his last words. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't expect that to happen," He sighed, feeling guilty that he'd made Cole worry. "I don't think it was for nothing, though. I…" Itzal paused, his mouth suddenly dry. "I saw something," He finally managed, his voice barely above a whisper.
He sighed at Itzal's apology, opening his mouth to tell him it was alright when Itzal spoke again. "What..did you see?" Cole asked after a moments pause, eyes wide. Yes, the entire situation had freaked him out, but any information they could get was useful. Or at least he hoped it was useful. "Was it something bad?" He could only hope whatever he had seen was something good, something that would let them know why in the world these beings were chasing them, or maybe it would let Cole know more about the immortal's pasts, maybe where they had to go to bring Itzal home.
"It…" Itzal opened his hand and stared at the amulet. "I don't know." He honestly didn't know what that history he'd seen meant. He didn't know how it could help them. Except… maybe it meant… maybe he and his godly family had already defeated the beings. But that couldn't be. The first time he'd seen them, they'd been totally unfamiliar. And they were obviously more powerful than he was. So that couldn't be true. "Um… we should probably go. This is what we came for." Itzal closed his fingers around the amulet. He didn't know how it could help just yet, but something told him his words were true. The amulet, and the memories that had gone with it, were what they had been searching for. Somehow, it would help him take out the beings.
Cole nodded slowly, a little disappointed by the lack of an explanation to what had happened, but knowing it wasn't smart to push it. If Itzal wanted to share what he had seen, then he would, he was sure of that. "If you're sure…then let's get going," He stated, a tight-lipped smile on his face. Reaching for the sword, he pulled it to him, looking around just as a precaution for any of the beings. Slowly, he got back to his feet, offering out a hand to the god, to help him up.
Itzal noticed Cole's expression but knew that he couldn't tell him what he'd seen. Not yet. Not when he didn't even know what it meant. He nodded instead, accepting Cole's outstretched hand and standing. Itzal headed back towards the exit of the room, absentmindedly hanging the amulet around his neck. It might have been his mind playing tricks on him, but it felt… familiar, somehow. The feeling distracted him so much that he didn't notice the beings until it was too late. An unnaturally cold hand closed around his neck and he was lifted into the air before he could react.
"Well. You found it." The sharp voice of the being stabbed into his mind, making him wince. Itzal could see two more beings walking around either side of him, heading for Cole. Itzal gasped, trying to get out of the being's grasp– to no avail.
"You have me!" He yelled hoarsely. "He has nothing to do with this! Let him go!"
Cole walked alongside Itzal, his focus on searching for beings in front of them instead of Itzal or the room they were leaving behind. he kept the sword in a tight hold in his hand, keeping him focused on where they were. A new sense of calm, mixed with worry settled over him. They had gotten what they needed, and so far, it seemed like they were still alone. Maybe they had managed to lose the beings in the city.
The slight hope didn't last long though, as he turned to look back for Itzal and felt two sets of freezing cold hands grab onto him tightly. Instantly, his eyes went wide and he froze, looking to the god with a sinking horror. "Itzal?" He got out, albeit shakily. There was no doubt in his mind that there were two beings holding him where he was, keeping his arms at his side and rendering the sword in his hand useless. He spotted a third behind the god, a grip on his neck that looked painful from where he was. "Let him go, he's done nothing wrong," He finally got out, worry and faint anger in his voice.
"He's done nothing wrong?" The being holding Itzal made a strange sound that might have been a laugh, directing a cold stare at Cole. "You obviously have no idea who he is."
"Fine, fine! I know I've done something to offend you, but he hasn't. He's just a mortal."
"He has hurt our own."
"On my orders! I made him!" Itzal shouted, pulling at the being's hand.
"It was still blood spilled. He must pay. And hurting you is never a bad thing." One of the beings holding Cole yanked the sword out of his hand and held it against the man's neck.
"Stop!" Itzal screamed, using all the power he could to try and get out of the being's grip. He had to save Cole. He couldn't have him die. That was an impossible thing. But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't overpower the being. It was too powerful. He was too weak.
"Hmm… It appears that you haven't figured it out just yet." The being laughed again and made a motion towards the other two beings. The sword was raised, poised to cut Cole's throat.