Floating Castles

Lady Aria of Beauty

"Lords and Ladies, please!" she cried out. Everyone turned to face her as she placed something on the table. "Might I remind you of what you are to protect."

She opened the box and a bright green glow warmed their awe-struck faces. Yes, the Yujin Emerald was indeed a sight to behold.

She snapped the lid shut and it was gone from sight. Everyone blinked as though they were waking from a trance.

"Jarlo," she said, and the guard stepped towards here. Aia handed him the box, aware everyone was watching her every move.

Jarlo and a cluster of guards left the room, taking with them the Yujin Emerald.

"We are here only to protect my father and the emerald. Not to start wars."

Lord Taivas of Myth

My violet eyes watched the crowd of guards march off, Yujin Emerald in hand. I took a greedy step forward, but managed to stop myself. I mustn't give myself away. My time to take the Emerald was not now, and I must wait.

When I turned again, Lady Aria's gaze now upon me. I resisted the urge to curse. Now she probably suspected me.

Suddenly, the sounds of an argument came to my ears. Curious, I strode towards it. Of course, it was Crisis. Her feistiness was the subject of many arguments. Raising back a hand, she unleashed a whip of pure fire from her palm, missing my face bu centimeters and cracking Ektorion hard in the ear.

Their petty argument continued, as anger rose in me like a charmed snake. My fists clenched as I looked Crisis square in the eyes.

"Do not throw your fire anywhere near my being, or the consequences shall be painful."

"Now now," came the warning voice of Axelle, only causing my anger to flare into fully fledged fury.

"Stay out of this, woman!" I spat at her, my violet eyes flashing menacingly.

--

Taivas gets angry very easily xD

Cypher - God of War

"All of you stop it!" I roared brandishing a large spiked warhammer. "All of you, just STOP!"
How could they keep up their petty squabbles at a time like this. A red mist decended and i lashed out with the hammer and smashed it down on the table, cracking its perfect surface.
"Cypher calm down" said Axelle calmly, ever the peacekeeper.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO WOMAN!" I roared at her lashing around me with my hammer at faces from wars long ago. Replaying battles had become an unfortunate habit during my frequent rages and they often drove me to greater acts of violence and heavy handedness.

*chuckles*
Jeez, he should cool it.

Lady Lutha of Deceitfulness

"There's one behind you!" she cried out, loving it. What a hot-head.

He growled threateningly at her and she grinned. Oh, she was right and Aria and Cypher were wrong! So far all everyone had done was argue. It was great.

"Lutha!" barked Axelle. "Please, now is not the time to aggravate us."

Us. The other immortals. The older ones.

Lutha's happiness instantly vanished.

Suddenly she was the one winding everyone up? She hadn't said a word! She'd just watched everyone argue, loving every minute of it. Now suddenly she was the trouble-maker?

Huh. If they believed that then this was just a waste of time. They might as well hand the emerald over to Sehre. It would save everyone a lot of bother. But no, they had to drag this out, running around like headless chickens. Snapping at her every time she had the tiniest bit of fun.

Lord Namason of Judgement

Returning from an inspection if the castle, Namason was horrified at the sight of bickering - even battling gods and goddesses. That they could allow their personal squabbles to rise up now was beyond comprehension. They had a common enemy, one who threatened their very existence, and they concerned themselves more with selfish disputes?

Thankfully, there seemed to be some who shared this view. Axelle, Syra, Aria. Even, unexpectedly, Cypher. One who Namason would have expected to be fighting himself - indeed, one who was fighting, although no other deity.

The lord of judgement remained still and silent for a time, then raised his voice above the clamouring of his peers, "Did none of you listen to Lady Aria and the others? Look at this, it is ridiculous to fight now. There is no sense in it whatsoever."

He gave Ektorion and Crisis - who seemed to be the instigators - a stern look, and even turned it on Lutha for a moment. "I will reserve making any kind of condemnation for the time being, as I do not wish for further conflict. But we must put aside our differences for the time being and, as Lady Aria noted, protect her father and the emerald."

It pained him to have to wait to carry out some kind of justice for this foolishness immediately, but he realised the value of postponing it, and indeed the hypocrisy if causing more conflict by passing judgement now. They needed to work together, not divisively.

**I'll post for Tosien later.**

Akira ~ Lady of Lust

She slipped elegantly from her position and found herself standing right beside Cypher unafraid. She slowly got closer to him, and as soon as he realized she was there, looked positively befuddled. She ignored the stern gaze that the Lord of Judgement has sent her way. Cypher was still breathing roughly, eyes darting around as if everything was a threat.

"Cypher, I would appreciate for you to calm down." Her eyes fluttered up to him for a breif moment then settled themselves down to her feet. She would try to seem humble infront of this being so that he would not be alarmed. Cypher alarmed was never a good thing. "I believe you are scaring me. I have the best intentions for everyone, and I don't want to see them all get hurt."

"Hah! All you want to get into the God of War's pants." Malik called, standing up from where he was, settling his emeralds on the table. His scythe raised. He did not care for Akira's tricks.

Akira, alarmed at her brother, turned and gave him a fierce glare. "Cypher, I have one person you can kill though, and it would prove to be helpful in this world." Her voice came out in a slight growl. "Malik, I do not approve of you speaking such profanities."

"But it is true. All you are good for is being any of the multiple Lord's lapdog." Malik's voice came out as if he was enjoying this, embarassing his sister in front of everyone. She felt herself flush, and was extremely angered, she would not take it anymore.

"If we all do indeed have to work together, I will not join this procession if he is a part of it." And with that Akira stormed out of the room.

Malik ~ Lord of Greed

Malik watched his sister leave the room satisfied that he had won that spout of anger, but he was eagerly distracted. He had saw that jewel once more, and felt himself wish to hold it in his hands once more.

"To protect the jewel, m'lady," Malik turned to face Aria, "I believe it would be best if it were in the hands of one person, and that person has proven loyal over the years." He eyes the door to where the guards had left. "Might I suggest, that I be the bearer of the stone, as only I could be responsible enough to safe guard it battle." And as proof, he swiftly moved his large scythe and barred it infront of him. "Shall we organize something of this sort?"

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

~Incognito

Cypher - Lord of War

I was lifted from my violent haze to face the sintilating and seductive face of Akira the Goddess of Lust. Ever practiced in calming my bloodlust from centuries of practice. Her beauty was unmatched and that always confused me. Women and were rarely happened toghether. I could face grisly, sweaty and scarred leviathans armed to the teeth but beautiful women were my achilles heel.
Malik was uneccessarily rude and sent Akira running from the room.
"Shall we organize something of this sort?" He asked calmly.
"No We Shall Not!" I roared, once again barely keeping my anger in check. "The Emerald is safe where it is and you have a more important matter to attend to."
"I do?" He asked looking confused.
"Yes. You need to go grovel to your sister before i crush you into a bloody pulp. You just want the Emerald for your collection you greedy fool."
He stared at me gobsmacked as my chest heaved with deep calming and my muscles bulged, squeezing the handle of my huge hammer. I turned away from his fishesque face and marched sternly through the halls toward Akiras room. She was not the whore of the gods. She was the embodiment of a natural feeling not the consumation of it. Malik would pay for his rudeness but right now i was going to be her shoulder to cry on.

Lady Aria of Beauty

"Oh! Oh!" she said. Lutha had been right. The immortals would never be able to work together. How could they face Sehre as an united force when they could not even speak civilly to each other?

My Father we have failed you.

She stood up, her hand pressed to her mouth. She turned away and faced the Great Room's stone walls. Vines draped themselves over the four walls, hiding the small waterfall which she could only hear.

She went to the closest wall and let her hand trail over the drooping, yellow leaves. Be beautiful, she thought. Ad they were. Almost immediatly the lush green invaded the sickly yellow and the leaves sprung up, once again alive.

Wow. Crisis, what have you gotten yourself into now?

Lady Crisis of Fire-

The sounds of the other deities couldn't be heard through the pounding fury that clouded my mind. Almost sub-consciously, I unleashed whiplash after merciless whiplash towards Ektorion. I made a mental note to have someone teach him how to insult people a little quieter. I was calming down, until I heard him in his failed attempt at a whisper telling other gods about how "annoying, hot-headed and immature" I was. Calming down is a difficult task when you're listening to someone talk trash about you. Someone who you just got through fighting with.

Taivas' threat was quickly ignored; almost immediately as he had made it. Just to spite him, I lit up a fire ball and prepared to throw it when Axelle looked at me fearfully, and for an instant, I realized that toying with Taivas was incredibly unwise. So, instead, I hurled it at Ektorion. It must've been a relief after what he had been getting.

All gods who made an attempt to stop me gave up on the first try after receiving third degree burns once they touched my flaming arms. Most of them were able to heal them right up, but the pain that ensued when they touched me was enough of a hint to stay away.

Only Syra, who thought of herself as my 'guardian', knew immediately how to put it out. My arms were immediately engulfed in an eerie purplish smoke. The flames were extinguished and the only trace was the rising steam from my arms. I turned to Syra severely, my eyes literally on fire, as they usually did when I got mad enough.

"Not so tough without your fire, are you? Not so easy when your 'babysitter' is around, is it?" Suddenly it became all too clear. Ektorion wanted to get turned to ashes. His taunting gave it away.

My head snapped back to him. The flames on my eyes licked up my face, past my temples, intertwining in my hair. I started running towards him to physically attack him, when Syra yanked her smoke 'gloves' back. I forgot that she could control it any way she wanted to.

She pulled my next to her face and her monotone, yet calming, voice whispered to me. "You know you're no match for him without magic, and you're not getting out of this trap for the rest of the day."

My eyes widened and my jaw fell slowly. I blinked and the fire went out, bringing back my magma-colored eyes. Now I remembered. Using magic, Ektorion was no match for me whatsoever. But physically, he was much, much stronger, and wouldn't hesitate in beating me to a pulp. Instantly, my tensed body fell, and I was completely relaxed. Syra sat me back down at the table.

She wagged her finger in my face. "This is all your fault," she said.

I glanced at her and quickly replied, "No it's not."

"Oh yes it is!" She exclaimed. "You started all of this! And look what's happened." I looked around the Great Room.

Nearly all my fellow gods and goddesses were battling each other. I looked towards Aria. She was walking out of the room. Her face was very distressed. Namason was looking at me furiously. I sighed and looked at Syra apologetically.

She hugged me quickly. "We're going to need to cure you of that," she said, and I knew immediately that she was talking about my quick temper. I sighed again.

Tisiphone~Lady of Vengeance & Luxe~ Lady of the Sea

Tisiphone walked in smirking at the Gods and Goddesses surrounding her. "Everybody, calm down. You'll get nowhere like this." She scolded in a mockingly soft voice.

"Since when were you peace keeper?" Crisis challenged.

Tisiphone whirled around and knocked her from her feet. "Since nobody else had the capability." She gave the impression of a stalking leopard. "What is this I hear, about the Emerald?"

Luxe came up between her and Crisis, to stand between them in case of a fight. She glanced at Lady Aria in hopes of reinforcement.

"Only that it's in the utmost danger." Crisis rolled her eyes. "Don't play stupid."

Ektorion, Lord of Courage

Ektorion stood in the corner of the hall, staring spitefully at Crisis.

I will kill you.

The hall had gone suddenly quiet as Tisiphone made her entrance, supposedly unaware of what had happened. He considered taking the bull by the horns and challenging Crisis to a 'fair' fight there and then, but Palaeron saw him make a stride towards Crisis and suspected his motives.

"Stop, brother." Palaeron whispered, not wishing to draw attention to them. "Now is not the time."

"What are you talking about?" Ektorion replied, a little less cautious of his voice. "That vile creature humiliated me! I must restore my dignity-"

"By challenging her when the very source of all life is at risk? What are you, a hero, or a fool?"

Ektorion glared at his brother, struggling not to cry.

"A hero."

"Then the best thing for you to do right now is to ally yourself with your rivals against the common enemy. A hero must be wise as well as brave, you know."

With that, Palaeron left Ektorion to calm down, unaware that, as far as Ektorion was concerned, he had only postponed Ektorion's intentions.

Palaeron

Having prevented his brother from making an even greater fool of himself, Palaeron decided to take the initiative of the relative calm that had fallen on the hall with Tisiphone's arrival and spoke:

"When Lord Khan was well, such events as had just taken place were rare, and even when they did take place our leader had no difficulty in taking control of the situation. Now, Lady Aria is now our leader, for as long as Lord Khan is ill, may he be restored to health soon."

This perhaps over-optimistic comment met numerous snorts from among the crowd, who had little doubt that Lord Khan was as good as dead already.

"Therefore," he continued, "I propose that we all put aside our differences, at least while the threat posed by Sehre persists, and obey Aria. She may not be as experienced as her father but she is of the same blood, so it only makes sense to assume that she is the best leader among us. My lady, I am at your service."

He bowed before Aria, and sank back into the crowd. Some of them applauded with approval, while others made their dissatisfaction perfectly clear.

Tisiphone~Lady of Vengeance & Luxe~Lady of the Sea

"Palearon, dear, I find that she is hardly suited for the position," Tisiphone replied smoothly. "Bloodlines don't matter any more, to none but you apparently. Aria is weak, helpless, and only lives to flaunt her beauty."

This blunt opinion was wholly looked down upon, but, as none would directly challenge Tisiphone, most just looked down at their shoes.

"I resent that opinion." Palearon growled.

"Fabulous. And what do you propose to do about it?" Tisiphone replied, coolly.

Luxe glanced over at Aria, who had a look of anger on her face. Only one of the more violent Gods or Goddesses could have achieved that. "She's only trying to gain the power for herself. You're fair, intelligent, just... you've all the virtues she lacks."

"Not competition." Aria murmured.

Ugh, Crisis is annoying! XD FaceEngine, since you mentioned that Ektorion could switch sides if persuaded, this could be the perfect opportunity. Sehre could promise him the opportunity to get his revenge on Crisis or something

Lady Syra of Death-

Crisis, who had always been rather fond of Aria, was quite obviously getting madder and madder by the second. Her eyes started to smoke and the burning orange color of her irises began to flood her entire eye.

I sighed, getting fed up. "You know what?" I said angrily. "Come on. I've had enough of you making trouble. You're such a child!" I pulled Crisis forcefully up off her seat and dragged her out of the room.

She made no attempt to escape, but she made it very clear that she did not approve of her being dragged all over. She let her feet hang loose and let them drag under her as I struggled to pull her along.

"This isn't funny," I snapped.

"Not supposed to be," she replied curtly.

I sighed and released her arms. She fell to the floor with a thud. She growled as she stood up and walked behind me to her room. I opened the door for her and she stalked in, tall and proud.

"Now stay here. I'll let you know what we talk about when we're done." She flopped on her bed angrily and stared at her smoke-covered arms. I smiled with satisfaction and left her, closing the door on the way out.

When I got back into the hall, I was greeted with many relieved faces. "There won't be any more interruptions from her," I assured Aria. "I promise."

She nodded gratefully and went back to the meeting.

---

Someone can go into Crisis' room and bug her, if you want She can't do anything except mouth off because the smoke keeps the fire out. Just don't...murder her or anything X) Feel free to smack her around a little though XD Nothing serious or fatal, okay?

"FaceEngine, since you mentioned that Ektorion could switch sides if persuaded, this could be the perfect opportunity. Sehre could promise him the opportunity to get his revenge on Crisis or something"

I was thinking of something along those lines

Ektorion, Lord of Courage

Ektorion watched as Crisis was dragged out of the hall. When Syra returned, he approached the door, looking round to see if anyone was watching. He didn't see anyone looking at him, and continued towards Crisis' room. He pushed the door open and drew his sword in one motion. Crisis was standing by the opposite end of the room, staring out the window. She glared at him as he stalked his way into the room. At first glance, her face seemed to be expressionless, but Ektorion thought he saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

"You humiliated me." Ektorion growled.

"I was just giving you what you deserved."

"What I deserved? How dare you? Fall on your knees and beg for forgiveness, wretch!"

Crisis cocked her head, smirking.

"Or what? You'll kill me? A little immature, don't you think?

"Why you..."

Ektorion raised his sword above Crisis' head, ready to kill her, when a golden arrow hit the tip of his sword, chipping a piece of metal off.

"That was a warning shot." Ektorion turned to see Palaeron standing in the doorway, two bowmen standing beside him, all three of them aiming at his head. "You may be my brother, but I would rather kill a murderous kinsman than allow an innocent to die."

Ektorion turned towards Crisis, spitting at her feet.

"Consider yourself lucky." He growled, barging past his brother.

Palaeron, Lord of Honour

"Are you alright?" Palaeron asked Crisis, handing his bow to a servant. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No. I'm fine."

"I saw him leaving after you were taken out of the great hall, so I came as soon as I could...why are there no guards at your doors? Archers! Guard this room until dismissed. Take no orders except from me, Crisis or Syra."

"Aye, sir!" The two bowmen saluted and assumed defensive positions outside the door. Palaeron made his way out the door.

"Thank you." Crisis said.

"I was merely performing my duty." Palaeron smiled. "Be careful."

"I will."

Palaeron closed the door, and returned to the great hall. There, he looked around for Ektorion, but he was not there.

Tosien, Lord of Sleep

Like many of the 'younger' gods, Tosien found himself excused from the meeting on some minor technicality. When he'd tried to enter, the god of judgement had blocked his way. When he'd requested permission, Namason had simply told him that he was too unpredictable and left it at that. Tosien knew that the real reason was his youthful appearance. His situation was the same as Lutha and some of the others - he looked like a kid, and so they treated him like one. Sometimes it made him resent them.

He had been wandering the hallways for some time when a shout caught his attention. "Archers! Guard this room until dismissed. Take no orders except from me, Crisis or Syra." Came the voice of the Lord of Honour. Curious, Tosien drifted towards the room. He reached the hallway in time to see Palaeron's back vanishing into the great hall.

The archers eyed him warily, wondering if they were watching the Lord of Dreams or of Nightmares at that moment. "He should watch his brother more carefully." He said, apparently addressing the guards behind him, "He dreams of glory far beyond his means to reach. Dangerous thoughts creep within the shadows of his mind."

"What are you here for?" One of the guards asked.

"I need to speak with my aunt." Tosien replied, his voice soft, "No doubt she will come to speak to Crisis soon enough, and I must talk with her when she does."

**I'll post for Namason later**