Into the Evening's First Darkness

[Shadow]

Shadow, immensely curious clambered onto Dau'Pay's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the newborn.

"Shadow look hand."

In DP's arms, the child reached for Shadow, interested by his enormous eyes and scaly skin. The Grendel continued to stare, just out of reach of the child's arms.

[Shaon]

Now was her time.

It seemed innocent enough, at first.

The windows outside (if there were any) noticed that there was mist.

But then the mist seeped through, tentacles moving slowly and carelessly.

Then, if they had ears, they heard the conversation.

"It appears that your son is a healthy baby boy."

Then, they struck.

They weren't mist, they were quite solid.

The shot towards the infant, attempting to wrap around the child and avoiding the others completely, phasing entirely through them if needed.

[Goron40]

"What? NO!"

So soon had this child been bestowed upon him that it was to be taken away?! Goron's eyes widened and his fists clenched. The sword relit itself, and Goron lunged with a fierce uppercut at the tentacles. It was a swing full of rage, speed, and precision. And that was its downfall.

The blade cut clean through a tentacle, but only a single tentacle was severed. Goron twisted to swing at the others only to find them as mist.

"Who-? What IS THIS THING?!"

[Shaon]

The tentacle faded into mist as Goron's blade sliced through it, reassembling itself before solidifying once more.

The tentacles of gray took a hold of the crying child, lifting it into the air and dodging any further attempts to hit them, as they reached the roof...

And promptly dissolved to mist.

A laugh echoed through all of their minds, a distinctive, feminine, echoing laugh.
---

~Kazumaru. Kaimyr. Genkaku. Get here now.~

[Goron40]

Goron lunged at the ceiling, literally tearing it apart with his blade. The metal melted away at the heat of the plasma, creating an opening to the the roof. Unwilling to fail, Goron burst through the still scalding metal opening. It tore his clothes and singed his skin, and he arrived on the roof in time only him to see his child vanish into nothingness.

Goron fell to his knees.

"No!" he exclaimed, tears rushing from his face, "No..."

He pummeled the roof with his sword, melting more metal, but unable to vent his anger.

~Who would do something like this?~

[3kul]

Genkaku, puffing and wheezing, practically collapsed through the entrance to Paranesia's lair.

"I came as soon as I heard your summons, almighty Paranesia!"

He'd been running as hard as he could for the past 15 minutes, but it was worth it - he was the first one here. Genkaku struggled to contain his joy at this realization, as if getting here before them showed that he was better than the other disciples. He couldn't resist trying to please Paranesia as best as he could, as to put it quite simply he was the teacher's pet of her disciples.

"What would you command me to do, oh great one?"

[Shaon]

Genkaku was disappointed, however, for Kaimyr was by Paranesia's side.

The goddess was lying on a throne made of mist.

Before her was the child, clothed in the tentacles that kidnapped it, still sobbing.

~I assume you know more about caring for children than I do.~

She lifted her head up, looking at Genkaku.

~This child is to become one of us, and I expect much battles to be fought over him.~

She turned her head to her daughter.

~Kaimyr and Kazumaru will be leading the defense.~

Kaimyr, at the mention of her enemies name, snorted angerly, shuffling her wings.

~And you, being my only mortal... minion, will be in charge of caring for the child until further notice. Do you understand?~

[3kul]

((Wah, Shaon, you cheater, Genkaku was totally there first D: ))

Kaimyr, Genkaku thought with a sneer, wondering when his ultimate rival in worship got there. She couldn't have been there for much longer than he.

The fact that his job seemed far more important than hers cheered him immensely though - instructing a future worshipper, now that was a job not many had the honour of doing! It was enough to make his brain skip over what the confusing riddle that Paranesia had posed to him, the suggestion that he was better than her at something (which was a riddle in the sense that he could not disagree with her, as she was the almighty Goddess of Illusions, but he could not agree with her for the same reason, as she was infinitely wiser than he was).

"With pleasure, oh powerful one... I mean, yes, I do understand. Perfectly."

He approached the child, his large third arm reaching out from the shell on his back and plucking him up out of it's crib. Genkaku's sickly thin face and complexion along with the large blindfold covering his eyes seemed to do very little to comfort the child, and it continued bawling uncontrolably. Ignoring it's cries, the Gei'ei examined it closely, scrutinizing it, as though he might find some hint of talent or something, then looked slightly confused and turned back to his mistress.

"What is the child's name, my Goddess?"

[LordPsycho]

Don't worry Goron, that child was under my protection. I'll return him to his parents.

*turning to Monica*

I suppose it's time you found out my true identity...

*DP himself started to dissolve, becoming mist himself, though noticably different from the one that just abducted the child.*

I am the King you know as Dau'Pay, but I am also the God you know as Au'Marui. That is the reason you only hear of me as the only ruler of Psychotopia. If the child is in my realm, I will find him, and I'll exact revenge on the half-banished thing that dares call herself a goddess.

*The mist dissapates, leaving the room in stunned silence.*

----------------------------------------------

The form of DP walks out of the wall like some splash in reverse and address Paranesia directly.

"You had no right to take that child. Give him back or I swear to the Order of Things that I'll finish what Chronos started!"

To back up his threat, DP held up his armband, already prepared to fire an immortal trapping capsule

"And I bet you know exactly what I mean"

[Shaon]

~His previous parents did not get a chance to rename him before I was given ownership of him.

I was thinking of Satyr, myself-~

Before she could finish, however, Au'Marui appeared.

She stood up suddenly, in an offensive posture.

The mist that usually was the most identifiable feature of the cavern completely vanished, leaving the room as clear as day.

"You cannot harm what you cannot find, Au'Marui!"

The ground rumbled, as a labyrinth rose before the two of them, constantly shifting and reaching the ceiling, with several floors of maze.

"You know where I am, don't you? You can't go through these, either. You're not the only one with a few tricks up their sleeve, Au'Marui!"

Meanwhile, on the pedestal upon the four stood, Genkaku and the child vanished from view, hidden by an illusion.

~Genkaku, make yourself and Satyr unknown. Kaimyr, follow my instruction.~

Kaimyr stood at the only entry into the area, a three story drop, ready for any combat that may occur.

((Damn, DP, slightly powerplayish of you? It's obvious that Para would've put protection on her lair so random gods don't just randomly teleported in. They would've had to find their way in like a mortal would.))

[3kul]

As always, Paranesia's own illusions were a sight to behold, but there was little time to marvel at the Goddess' handiwork now.

"As you wish, my Goddess."

He hid himself and the child in the most distant corner of the room, figuring that this was the best that he could do for now. The fact that Paranesia had just thwarted another God in mere seconds combined with the knowledge that she was continuing to trust him with such an important job caused Genkaku to feel a surge of confidence from within himself.

Not that the confidence was really helpful, it doesn't take much for one to sit in a corner.

So the Gei'ei sat, baby in his arms, quietly watching and waiting to see if anything else might happen. The child was not being so quiet, but with the help of a quick illusion from Genkaku it's screams were replaced with quacks. Not that incessant quacking was much better than screaming, but it made for a nice change of pace, and Genkaku could always change it to something else later.

[Mitsukai]

Nynaeve had opened her mouth to offer her congratulations to Monica, but never had the chance to get the words out because of the sudden change in events. She tensed up, taking a step forward but what could she have done?

Nothing. Nothing because she might accidently harm the child.

And so, all that was left was a stunned silence and a hole in the ceiling. Sighing softly, she closed her eyes and focused on the roof of the Citadel.

Concentrating, she felt the unsettling feeling of moving, of wind rushing past her. Gasping out loud, the feeling finally stopped as nausea kicked in. Eve opened her eyes to see that indeed she was now one the roof, not too far away where Goron was in anguish.

Ignoring the sickening side effects of translocating, she moved closer towards him, staying away from all the melted spots.

"DP has left to retrieve your child," she said softly. "Right now you should be down there to comfort your wife."

She hadn't meant for it to come across as scolding of any sort, but what she said was sincerely meant. There was nothing else that could really be done now, and the best comfort for the couple would be from each other.

[LordPsycho]

((Um, forget about that special computer in the meeting house? You don't think he can't access that from my armband? And do you honestly think DP would have built it and forget to add an ability to track immortals? I thought that would have been obvious...He did find it as a mortal would, and if it's in his realm, I'm sure he could find a way in. Anyways, you were just as powerplayish. I was holding the child, and I didn't even get a chance to defend it before you ran off with it. Your lucky I don't call you on that...if Goron requests it, I very well could and should))

[Shaon]

((That's not what I meant, DP. You just teleported into the main headquarters of Paranesia. By 'finding it like any mortal,' I meant that he had to enter manually by finding the entrance.))

[Goron40]

((They're not technically married, Mits...

DP, don't call Shaon on it... this is a most interesting turn of events... Who needs another simple birth story?))

Goron could not speak, but took Nynaeve's advice and returned down the hole. His sword hung limp at his side, useless. What worth was he in this fight amongst immortals over a child? The plasma scattered into the air as the magnetic field degenerated.

Goron dropped to the ground, and shuffled to Monica's side. She was sobbing just like her son (except you know... not in "quack" form). Once more Goron took her hand.

"I... I could not save him..." Goron said, feeling hopeless. He took Monica in his arms so that she might have somewhere to hide her tears.

Sensing the displeasure, but utterly clueless at what had just occurred, Shadow leaped onto the bed and rested at Monica's side, emitting that pitiful dying sound for effect only.