@rechonq

Rhona was startled by one of the gods asking for her name and was hesitant to answer his questions but answered anyway. "M-my name is Rhona and I have come to help the other gods... I am a goddess of fire, light, and healing... However I am afraid I am useless and a dead weight in this situation...." She replied quietly as she looked out the window. "The human world is a lot smaller than I was lead to believe... But... I suppose that is why they worship us gods... To expand there world more..." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, as she watched the rioters attack the gate outside. "So these are what humans look like... They look so similar to us gods yet we are very different as species... How curious..." She then snaped back to reality and realized that she had zoned out. "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I went to my own little world, I suppose... I'm sorry...!" She blushed again embarrassed at herself.

@BlackPanther

It was then that Rhona noticed the angry 8 foot tall jackal humanoid. She worked up the courage to speak to him though she was clearly scared by the angry giant. "Um e-excuse me...? May I ask as to why you are so frustrated...?" She asked sheepishly and was extremely intimidated by his tall stature. Rhona didn't want to get yelled at but she had to try to calm him down.

@Ace of flames01
Alec looks down at rhona frustration still clear in all of his features but it seems as if he is slightly calmer. "The mortals are dying in mass...the souls are traumatized...and they aren't...behaving like themselves" he points outside with his spear. "That is not normal" he puts the staff down and sighs heavily. "None of this is normal and it is very frustrating." He doesn't sound angry at her in particular more like angry at the situation. "These creatures are interesting and entertaining and complicated." He goes to the window and seems to be watching the rioters his ears slowly go back up as he watches them. "Of one of us did this then they should be punished...if one of them did it then they need to be shown the error of their ways and something needs to be done about this" he turns and looks back down at her. "I assume the rest of you are gathered due to a human doing this and that we are close to said human?" He still sounds frusterated and probably shouldn't be let near Sven right now. He has a tendency to take humans who did evil to the Egyptian underworld to show them what their actions can lead to....it's effective but probably not what's needed right now.

@Ace of flames01@BlackPanther@Slendy

"That's fine our own worlds are the best aren't they. We just had a meeting full of gods who couldn't do anything, but are to mighty to admit anything close to that, so I'd say you being here makes you more useful than most." Rhona and Landon continued to stare at the humans with a sense of wonder. Both losing themselves in their thoughts. How is the light? Is it good for making worlds? I'm sort of the opposite from you, but they say you can learn a lot from your opposites. The dark seems so full of potential just waiting to be filled. The sad part is that once you put something in it disappears. Light can fix that, but then the darkness goes away and there's nowhere for that something to go. The balance between the constant creation of light and dark to sustain things is incredible and the fact we can change that balance is even more so."

At this point Alec showed up bellowing angrily with an extremely negative aura. Rhona succesfully calmed him, but he did seem like he could still snap. He was right though. Whoever did this needed to be punished. An accident could be forgiven, but hostile intentions of this level without the Merged's permission needed to be put in their place.

Yet another entity showed up, but not by means of the portal this time. A mortal with two spirits bound to him. This must be a rather lucky mortal, or unlucky I'm not sure yet. "Welcome to the party!" Landon sarcastically exclaimed. "This is Rhona, that is Alec, I am Landon and why are you here now?"

@Slendy@BlackPanther@Ace of Flames01@Rechonq@ActRaiserTheReturned

Cia had been watching from a smaller portal before and had seen what had happened. After finally having enough time to keep the portal stabilized Cia stepped through the portal herself. "I was able to have it stabilized for now." Cia said in her own gentle and calming voice. She really was an innocent child. She had her shield on her back incase she needed to defend herself. "I'm afraid the outcome of this little endeavor wasn't as we hoped. The Scientist was turned into a gorilla. The Scientist took no help from David angering him. Sven then found the cure moment's later after that David turned him into a gorrilla. Would you call this a failure or a success?" Cia asked the others as she approached them from behind.

At this point Sven let out a roar in his new gorrilla form. He looked back up at David with a look of vengence in his eyes. "You gods are nothing but cruel! You will rue this day." Sven said before leaving the lab on the second floor to another lab on the second floor. There were a few screams from his other assistance after seeing Sven in his new form. They calmed down after a bit though after Sven had explained to them what had happened. They started to work on the Vaccine immediately it would be spread throughout the population within a day. This entire plague would end within a month.

@OtomostheCrazy

South Africa, Survivor's Holdout

"Undead!" Someone screamed, one of the lookouts on the roof. "We have a horde headed this way!" Frightened murmurs rose from the survivors. What were they going to do? There were injured, and people too tired to run. That didn't stop some though, a family quickly gathered their things and left without waiting. No doubt they were hoping the large group here would distract the undead long enough to escape.

Hannah's nerves spiked again, fear causing her grasp on her form to ripple across her skin ever so slightly. This was not good, she had barely kept her human form on the journey here, and she was so desperate for water she didn't think she could keep her cool throughout the whole battle, and it did seem there would be a battle. People were arming themselves with whatever was at hand, some even had firearms at their disposal.

Hannah quickly left the sisters and approached her friend, Harry, the co-pilot. He was awake now, and pulling himself to his feet. He ony had a small handgun, but it was more than she had. Beside himwas her bloody bat, propped against the wall. She'd taken it from the middle of a road in a destroyed town. She didn't even know they played baseball in South Africa.

Gripping the weapon tightly she offered Harry a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a etermined nod. One way or another they would survive this, even if she had to sacrifice herself to the Bloodforger to do it.

"Sonuvabitch." said Claire in annoyance.

Her day was bad in the beginning with the whole godly meeting idiocy she partially sat through, now the humans that she was trying to protect were being attacked, and some had already begun to abandon everyone else and flee. She'd help them if they could, considering they were a family, but unless she wanted to reveal herself as a goddess, she'd have to focus on one task at a time. Problem was that if she helped one, she'd have to leave the other to fend for themselves for a while.

This just reminded her of how the humans were strong in the sense that they made decisions on such things, knowing that there will be consequences no matter what. As a goddess, Claire could've made things easier on herself by using her powers to deal with the horde more quickly and effeiciently, but since she was disguised as a human, she had to make a disguise accordingly. She was a bit too stressed to make a clear decision, and it showed.

Luckily, Yuki saw her sister's expression, and instantly figured out the problem she was trying to solve.

"Go and help the family, Claire." said Yuki. "I'll help the others fight."

Claire looked at her sister for a moment, and then simply nodded at her in agreement. She gave Yuki her pistol, knowing that the tranquilizer thing wouldn't do anything, and that a magically conjured weapon would do more than raise suspicions. Claire rolled off to the family on her skateboard, and pulled out her knife. It wasn't much, but at least she could guide them away.

Yuki ran up to the other and looked out at the undead. There were a lot more than she expected, and some seemed old. Old enough to begin falling apart as they stumbled their way towards everyone. She fired the pistol a few times at the zombies that were closing in on them, but knew that there wasn't enough bullets to fend these things off. They'd need to find a window of opportunity, and flee altogether, maybe even scatter if push came to shove

Hannah took her place near the front, knowing her superior strength was needed there, and her melee weapon meant she wouldn't be effective anywhere else. The horde closed in rapidly, and Hannah just noticed Claire following the family to safety. Why had she left her sister like that? She was shocked the small family would take such a risk.

But then the undead were upon them and the front line of defenders almost buckled immediately, falling back from the disorderly straight line they'd been in to take better positions nearby. She readied herself to strike at an incoming zombie, but it's head exploded before it got close enough. At least the shooters were effective.

The next one she nailed with her bat, crushing the skull and causing half it's head to fall away. It was a disgusting scene as the zombie swayed and toppled over, even for Hannah. She had never seen anything so gruesome, not even at her job as a doctor. Everything was so clean and precise in a hospital. field work... not so much. "Yuck." she muttered. There was no time to even think of heaving her empty stomach though as soon the defenders were falling back even further.

Luckily the horde had hit them head on, not surrounded them, the back door was still a viable escape route. For now. And only if they survived that long, the survivors were being cut down- or more accurately, dragged down, one by one.

When the Zombies broke through, Yuki had to think fast. There were only so many bullets she had in the pistol, and everyone needed to escape as soon as NOW. She helped those she could, but those who were too overwhelmed were beyond the limitations of a human being. Luckily, she saw that the zombies were only attacking from one entrance, and the back was still open.

"Quickly!" exclaimed Yuki. "Escape through the back!"

As the survivors clambered and fled, Yuki looked around and found Hannah. Coincidentally, she and her friend were the closest non-panicking survivors to the water supply. The food was useless, but if people were to regroup, then the water would help with their survival. She began making her way over to Hannah...

Meanwhile, Claire was not far from the former hideout. She had told the family of a good place to use for shelter. She used the excuse of "I found it while I was getting food" with the hopes that it'd be enough for them to fall for it. Fortunately, given the current situation, the family would take what they can get. They weren't entirely defenseless, but they were not equipped for large hordes like the one attacking the others. As long as they kept quiet and avoided making stupid decisions, they should be fine for a while.

With Claire done with everything she could humanly do for them (heh. See what I did there?), she took off to return to the others and help out. When she got back, everyone was already retreating, and scattering apart.

It seems paradise comes early, Hannah thought distantly. She was now the only one at the front, Harry and the girl, Yuki, were coming towards her, but Hannah knew what she had to do. She would but the survivors more time, and she would make the Heartbreaker proud!

"Have fun in the Underworld, soulless creatures! Wickedeisos awaits me! Occus preserve me!" Her skin warped and twisted, it hardened into scales and for a moment she was nothing but a mutated mass of sprawling flesh, but then her true shape came into being. Part of her human disguise remained, her upper body was largely unchanged, except for the extra set of arms... And her body abruptly ended into that of a large snake, an impressively thick curl that immediately crushed the nearest zombies. Blades manifested in her four hands, the bat dropping uselessly from her grip, and she turned her fury onto the undead. Abruptly thunder boomed over head and it began to rain, the water empowering the Naga to fight with renewed vigor. She snarled a scream, fading off into a deranged hiss as teeth ripped into her scales and nails dug into her torso.

Harry froze, utterly shocked, backing away slowly. Clearly he had not known his colleague was not human. Regardless of her humanity, this was a battle she was going to lose. the length and size of her bocked the entrance well enough to buy them time though.

The scream was loud. Loud enough to scare off the survivors, and force them to keep their faces forward, away from the horde and whoever let out such a screech. Yuki and Claire, on the other hand were simply surprised. Yuki even more so, because she was near the now-transformed naga. It seems that she and Claire were not the only ones hiding the fact that they weren't human. Of course, Yuki knew little about Hannah in the first place, so the transformation did not have as much of an impact as her human friend did.

Still, she seemed to be losing the fight, despite being a creature of human fantasy. Her friend certainly didn't seem to think that she'd prevail, going by the look in his eyes. Yuki looked around for a better weapon, as the gun didn't have much left. She found the bat that Hannah had been previously using. It was cracked, but at least it was something. Yuki jumped into the horde, hoping that the mass would get in the way of the vision of those possibly watching. She began putting her training to good use, dancing about, knocking off the heads of, and downing several Zombies. The bat wasn't the best weapon for her style of fighting, but it was the best she could do at the moment. She sparingly used the pistol, but she knew to focus on bludgeoning the undead back to death.

Claire joined in as well, though hers was a more crude-looking style. It looked to be more of an actual human's untrained style of ffighting, overly-forcing an attack, and making unnecessary movements. It didn't help that she had forgotten to put her music on. It would have made things much easier for her.

Hannah wanted to tell the girls to run, that they shouldn't be here when she was no longer able to fight, but the battle was too distracting. At least she could buy time for the rest. Then a clawed hand slipped past her defense and plunged through the thin material of her shirt and into her stomach. She gasped, the blades faltering, and the undead surged forward past the slight slip.

The exact moment of her death could be noted, she began screaming, in pain mostly, and then it morphed into the most divine song. A wisp of light, visible only to the immortals, rose up from her collapsing corpse, and faded into nothingness. Occus had claimed his end of the deal, Hannah's transformed soul would reside in a sort of paradise with him for all eternity.

Or so it was meant to be.

An ominous cloud of thick smoke rolled out from her body, a violet fog obscuring the area around the place of her final stand. It was impossible to tell how far the magical dust stretched, but it was fair to say anything within was unable to be seen from without. Despite the cloud light was not obscured, and those within could see around them reasonably well.

A portal formed within the horde, a swirling mass of violet nothingness, and then out stepped a tribal woman with a hooked blade and fire in her hands. She was the first of many though, and others were quick to follow her out of the portal. They were dressed in everything from modern American fashion to traditional Chinese garb. The warriors, or magicians given they all used magic to carve away at the ranks of the undead, quickly made their way towards Claire, Yuki, and the fallen Hannah.

Once a perimeter had been established and the zombies were bodily forced back another figure stepped through the portal. It was Occus, clad in plain clothes and clutching his spear-staff loosely. His first act was to narrow his eyes at the rising soul of his defeated subject. "You're time here is not yet done." He informed her, reaching out as if to touch the light and then directing it back into her body.

Hannah's heaved in a desperate breath as dark magic clung to her, knitting together her flesh and rebinding her soul to her mortal body. A string of incomprehensible words left her, they mostly seemed to be thank yous and expletives of relief.

Occus then took note of the sisters. "Immortals? What are you doing in the mortal world?" He asked suspiciously.

The African woman came up to Hannah's side, helping her with glowing yellow hands, healing magic by the looks, and restoring the blonde's human disguise. If the sisters were at all active in the Underworld battles of the war they would recognize the woman as a Occus' top General, Khulekani, who lead many a supernatural attack on the minions of the cthonic deities.

Claire let out a grunt of annoyance, and said,

"Crap. It's a guy from the meeting."

"Occus. I was not expecting to see you here." said Yuki.

"I was actually hoping we wouldn't see any of them at all."

"Alright, calm down, Claire."

The portal opening certainly was a surprise, though not one that was unwanted. It did, however, raise some complications and grievances, as Occus had revealed that Claire and Yuki were both part of the Merged. They had been working all this time to keep their disguise, but now they were revealed. Even if it was only to Hannah, and possibly her friend.

"I take it that the others have come to a decision on things?"asked Yuki

Ox raised an eyebrow, but he couldn't be too offended, he felt much the same most of the time. He frowned, "I do not know, I left them to their squabbling." He gestured to where Kani was helping Hannah to the portal and another man was coaxing her human friend towards the swirling mass as well. "Kani convinced me to aid these people, I do not care what the others have decided on the matter, but her heartfelt request was something I could not ignore. I owe her much for her help in the rebellion. It was she who healed me when Aeolus defeated Boreas and I, she was instrumental in my success."

Perhaps that was saying too much, revealing too much of his personality to the exploitation of the Merged, but having just come from the chamber in which Kani had plead the case of the mortals, Occus was feeling generous.

"I cannot help them all, that would bring the ire of others, but helping the groups in which my people hide is excuse enough for the cruelest of us, and if not... Well as I said, I care not." He stated, unbothered. "What of yourselves? Why do you mingle with the mortal survivors?" His tone was suspicious again, he was becoming increasingly wary of attacks on his mortal Fae. Certain deities had been meddling with his gifted and finding any immortals in their vacinity was enough to raise his interest.

"I'm here to be with my sister' replied Yuki.

She looked over to Claire, who was off trying to salvage whatever food and water was left in the place. She thought that some of the survivors would return out of curiosity or something. Yuki returned her attention to Occus.

"Claire's lived most of her life among the mortals, learning their arts, histories, and cultures. She feels more at home among them, than our own kind. Though I think it's another way to show her dislike for our mother and the old gods. She helped a small group of mortals survive, and we ended up becoming food and water-runners for them."

Yuki turned to Hannah, and tilted her head.

"In regards to those groups you've mentioned. I'm afraid you're a bit too late for this one. Most of them have either died or fled."

"Late for some, not for all," he looked to Harry, but then back to Yuki, "though I'm not entirely sure I needed to be here." He frowned at her, befuddled, and looked to the bodies of those members that been slain. "Why did you not save them? It was certainly within your power."

"Unfortunately, we haven't revealed our true selves to them. Claire has lived among them long enough to understand that many normal mortals would blame gods and goddesses for the misfortunes they have had to live through. The wars, the massacres, the outbreaks of diseases, the untimely deaths of loved ones, so on and so forth. They would blame us for allowing these things and many more for happening."

"That, and it'll make my relationships with my friends weird!" added Claire.

"Those who have allied themselves to you may be accepting, but most others are not. I'd rather we be friends with them until the end of their days, rather than have them curse our names at their deathbed."

He was clearly confused by that too, but after a moment of staring at her with puzzlement Occus hid the emotion and brushed it off with a resting smile. "Well, if it is so important to you then do as you will." He shrugged with one shoulder, dropping the point.

The horde was far from defeated, many had been killed but this was but the first edging of it. The spell casters were fueled by the God of Magic's presence, but even then they were not invincible. Occus had ordered them not to risk their lives, so they were slowly retreating closer to the portal. "We cannot stay here, would you like passage through Wickedeisos? You can reach the higher planes from there. Or, if you prefer, you could come with us? I have lost over 700 mortal bodies to this disaster, and that is only of the deal-makers, the human body count is much higher. I will not lose more of my people if I can help it." He stated with determination and a hint of annoyance. "Our next destination is not far, we will cross the border to Namibia."

"On one condition." said Yuki. "You bring that human over there with us."

Yuki pointed to Hannah's pilot friend.

"Of course," Occus agreed immediately, "he has witnessed the Fae, we cannot just leave him. Besides, Hannah would not be pleased if he were left to die." His eyes softened, "I will always act in the interest of my people, they're friends are my friends, whether they know it or not."

He turned, gesturing to the portal with the intention of walking with her side-by-side to the portal. Seemingly knowing it was time to go without being told, the ring of defenders began retreating faster. In reality, Occus had communicated with them telepathically, but it was more impressive to think they just knew.

"We are leaving? Good, something evil is about." The Heart commented in distaste. As The Heart and Ocus were linked, only he could hear it's mental words. His eyes narrowed at the device's observation, what was the evil thing it could sense? It didn't matter though, it was time to leave.

"Come on, Claire!"

Claire ignored Yuki.

I am not going to up and abandon our own group. Even if they're scattered abou- thought Claire.

suddenly the wind became strong around Claire and picked her up off her feet. Yuki's dance manipulated the winds to float her sister through the portal, Yuki herself following quickly.

Occus grinned, finally, someone who was amicable. Immortals are always so touchy, it was refreshing one of them was easier to get along with. He followed them with a relaxed stride, stepping into the portal a second before his magi did.

---

@Slendy

Jotunheimen, Norway

Scott inspected his ritual circle critically. He was never very good at this kind of magic, not that he'd actually summoned anything before, but any magic that didn't cause things to explode into flames was difficult for him.

Everything seemed to be in order, the ashes sat in a circle of thorny vines he'd gathered by hand, and several other herbs and vials of colorful liquids were set in similar circles in a pattern around the floor. In the very center was a large circle made of Selkie mucus, a very expensive and rare goop given there were so few of them in existence.

Scott took a steadying breath, and then in true warlock form he began to chant. Most of his words were half sung, coming from the language of the Lamensch in Wickedeisos, but many strings of words came from Gaelic, Germanic, and Greek spells. As his chanting began to pick up pace, a charge filled the air, a collective of energy being shaped into a spell to first find it's target, and then to reach across the world and pull that target to the spell's origin.

A surge of magic signaled the spells completion, and then a form shuddered into existence within the ritual circle.

---

@Lugubrious

The woman's dreams were dull, like her thoughts. Her mind was becoming sluggish and the few emotions she felt were stronger than a zombie's, but weaker than a human's. Echoes of dreams, of a family and a husband, of a diploma and a large house, were all given up immediately, her hope dying and hopelessness setting in. Then her breathing faded and she was the same as any other of the mortal's undead creations.

@PerseusArchean

Belle was surprise that he was discovered that easily even with Arai's cloak. There's no wonder the elder gods fell to their offspring. Belle was about to release the cloak but felt his body relocate. It was an unusual feeling for a slight moment. As if he moved across the Earth at a speed he couldn't comprehend. He opened his eyes and his scenery was completely different. It didn't take him or his spirits long to notice that he was summoned, but how? This was the first he's ever seen a being similar to himself being summoned that wasn't from another dimension or Realm.

Belle would of quickly opened his books and began writing but the person that summoned him also grasps his attention. "You there how were you able to summon me for I must know so my book can receive this marvelous breakthrough!" Belle shouted walking towards Scott. Even if it turned out to be a regular summoning technique Belle still had something to write in his book. Ask him why are we here!

Nobu demanded which instantly snapped Belle out of his enthusiastic mode and quickly wen to his serious and emotionless mode. "Why am I here and please choose your words carefully." Belle spoke with a hint of threat in his words. "Belle don't drop your guard he's no ordinary user of magic." Arai warned Belle. He knew this plus he had the book on him so the stakes of the situation escalated way higher in Belle's case.

Thalios. God of the shadows, master of nightmares and scourge of the unwaking world. His presence alone could kill most mortal creatures while others were shown the greatest of nightmares. Few wake when met with his displeasure. All save the children. Thalios was many things to many people but to children he was kind, almost nurturing. His mother taught him compassion for those unprepared to handle the gift he gave. Strong men and women could survive his power but a child was fragile.. Gentle. They did not deserve such cruelty so early in their lives.

Thalios ran in terror from the grim sight behind him. Thousands of rotting corpses shambled after him, led by the dead gods who refused to bend the knee. They roared for his head even as Anubis caught Thalios' shoulder. The dead god spat upon his face even as it crushed him into the ground.
"MERGED FILTH. YOU WILL SUFFER FOR ETERNITY" it roared, throwing him into the throng of corpses. Thalios screamed as he struggled to escape, he knew he must fight but no strength found his limbs. He glimpsed at the faces of the dead and knew his end would come soon. A great axe swept for the merged gods neck.

His whole body jerked as Thalios snapped back to reality. He gasped for air even as he fell to his knees, grasping his wand for dear life. A nightmare. A NIGHTMARE. Thalios tried to calm himself from the implications but could find no rational thought.
From behind they grabbed him. The gods! The fallen! His scream was a muffled cry as one of the dead gods slammed their fist into his face over and over while another robbed Thalios of his wand. Not a moment later he felt the sharp talons of his own weapon tear open his chest.

In a blink he was back in that same room, no gods attacked him, no corpses screamed his curses. It was darkness. The landscape was pitch black as he stood in the center of his dwelling. His wand was gone, he felt it keenly, and knew he was still in a nightmare. Each time he was punished or killed he would return. Thalios moved to the door and glanced out over his realm.
The dead gods stood with stiff limbs, some twisted grotesquely, all of them blank faced like a marionette. A lone figure towered over all of them, in his hands were the strings tied around the neck and limbs of all the dead. The twisted puppeteer laughed as it flicked its pinky. A great lightning bolt exploded through Thalios' chest to launch him clear across the room with a singed hole through his chest.
In a blink he was standing in the centre of the room once more. "please..." He whispered to the darkness. "someone. Anyone.. FREE ME"

@BlackPanther

Rhona listened to Alec's complaints and noddded in agreement. "I see... So by the sounds of it you must be a child of Anubis... Y-you must be Alec...! Th-the son of A-anubis and V-venus...! I-It's an honor to meet you...!" She replied a little bit louder smiling, her expression was filled with awe. Her parents had told her stories about him but to have finally met him was truly incredible for her. After the initial wave of awe subsided, Rhona's expression turned to a warm and calming smile as she gently held Alec's hand. "I-it will be OK... We are finding a cure as we speak so everything will return to normal and the souls will calm down, too... I promise...!" Her voice was soft but kind and warm, like sunlight on a spring day.

@rechonq

Upon hearing Landon's kind words, Rhona blushed yet again in embarrassment. "Th-thank you very much...! Y-you are very kind...!" She replied quietly, then paused for a moment. "T-the light cannot exist without the dark.... And the dark cannot exist without the light... One cannot exist without the other and so long that one is present the other will also exist... Both are needed to create a world... I-I do not believe that the darkness is empty... Rather you cannot see what lies inside it... A-and sometimes you just need to shed a little light to see what is inside the darkness.... Ah... I-I'm sorry... I must sound ridiculous to you..."

Not long after, another newcomer entered, a mortal man followed by 2 spirits. She was quiet at first but upon learning who Landon was, Rhona loudly interjected. "Y-you're L-landon...?! A-as in th-the s-son of A-aisoyimstan and M-mahina...?!" Rhona was once again in awe to meet yet another god from her parent's stories. However, she quickly realized that she had accidentally spoke much louder than she had intended, causing her face and the tips of her ears to burn a bright red as she looked down. "I-I'm sorry..." She mumbled much more quietly than you moment prior. "I-it's an honor to meet you all..."

A few moments later, Cia had informed them that a cure had been found.... And that the doctor responsible was now a gorilla. "I see... That's a relief..." Rhona murmered quietly as a wave of relief washed over her. She then looked up at Alec and smiled reassuringly, squeezing his giant hand slightly. "See...? Everything is all better... Now the souls will calm down..."

@Ace of flames01
Alec blinks at her his whole form seeming to calm down as she speaks. His head tilts and he looks surprised at having been talked about. That in and of itself surprises him to calmness...and speechlessness. He focuses on Cia as they speak. His head tilts again and relaxes the rest of the way his tail waves back and forth once as of shaking off the rest of his frustration. "A cure...good. Now, since the doctor came up with the cure someone should turn him back...and someone should do something about David. Turning people into animals generally does not get them to like us." He shrugs and looks back at rhona. "It is an honor to meet you. It's not very often that I meet someone that can talk me out of anger" his jackal face seems to be smiling. It's somewhat hard to tell. With a sighs he becomes his human form clad in jeans and a heather grey t shirt. "I hope I did not scare you" his voice sounds a lot better as a human and right now it seems hushed as if he is talking only to her. Then his attention goes back to the others as he waits for them to come up with something.

@Slendy

Scott mentally cheered, a wide grin stretching across his face. Victory! The Book! It was massive, and it was here! He knew witches who would... well, they would sell their souls if they hadn't already done so. This was fantastic! Finally a plan that didn't blow up on his face! Immediately after thinking that his head snapped around the room, checking all the dried herbs just in case something had caught fire. Everything seemed okay, but he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the candles around the room. Hmm, maybe I should put those out soon? He waved his hand in their direction, extinguishing the flames.

Which then immediately relit themselves.

Scott pretended not to notice.

Something strange was happening in his circle, there was... more than there appeared. The man was talking though, he must be Belle, and to think Scott was expecting a beautiful woman! Clearly that was not the case. The man flipped from excited to threatening in a very short span of time. Why was he threatening Scott again? Oh, of course, Scott had just kidnapped this man from wherever he was.

I really hope there were no humans present, that could be bad... Scott muttered a small prayer, not focused to anyone in particular, that he wouldn't get in trouble for snatching a man from thin air out of a big metropolis with cameras all over the place or something.

Deciding not to offend the man by turning him into a toad so Scott could read the book in peace, he tried the diplomatic approach. "I've spent ages looking for that," he pointed to the book in the man's hands, and then continued in what was definitely not a pathetic-pleading-child-wants-another-bedtime-story voice, "I was hoping to maybe take a quick peak at it?"

He paused.

"Please?" He added hopefully. "I wont break it and I'll totally pay you in like demon's blood or something!" He said in a rush, he was now committing to the diplomatic route. Of course demon blood was valuable to a practitioner like Scott, but unless Belle was planning to change colors or grow horns anytime soon then the stuff was useless to him. Realizing this, Scott added, "And-... and- Well I don't know, what do you want?" He couldn't think of anything that was valuable that he was both willing to part with and worth something.

Finally that niggling itch in the back of his mind that something was not right here snapped into focus. Immortals were present. As soon as he realized this Scott focused his magic, it was peculiar seeing the two spirits seem to suddenly glow into existence. Their malevolence made him pause his immediate response of 'Can I help you?' to silent consideration. "You are aware of your parasitic tag-a-longs, yes?" He asked after a moment. He was eyeing them appreciatively. They would make excellent fuel for a healing spell. Their deaths would be such a shock of light energy he could probably even resurrect something. Just the possibility was telling, Scott was many things, but a talented healer did not make that list.

Landon was rather in shock at all of the events taking place in front of him now. The mortals weren't even a blip on his radar now. Rhona's description of light and dark were true in a basic sense. I guess maybe even she has more to learn about the powers behind the light and dark. He thought to himself. He was also surprised as she mentioned his parents. They gave allegiance to the Merged, but weren't completely active with them. I guess that's where the great stories come from. The gods did a lot before the Merged and even know some continue their roles thankless, losing more and more believers to the idea of science. This was something he wouldn't agree with his father on. Landon planned on making his name known. He wouldn't be a god who would be called on a whim to solve every problem or continue tirelessly performing a role in the world. He would demand to be known or chaos would ensue. Although he still had a long way to go and he knew that being a relatively new god.

@Cuccoruler
After Cia's explanation of the events that took place upstairs, Landon had quite a few questions. One was the mortal with spirits that showed up and then disappeared in a flash again, but that wasn't pertinent to anyone here so that would have to wait for later. He wasn't even sure where to begin here. After a few moments of thinking and incredulously watching Rhona calm Alec down so easily, he figured what his first question should be. "So does this cure actually bring those infected back, because I thought they were actually dead? Or is it just a preventative measure that needs to be spread to the rest of the worlds population?"

As all of this happened Landon couldn't help but feel he thought he heard someone call for help. It was faint and would come and go and was hard to discern amongst all of the chatter and the protesters outside, but it stuck out to him. Mostly because he would hear it coming from the wrong direction. It always seemed to come from the darkest part of the room.

@BlackPanther@Ace of flames01@Zelosse@Slendy

An error. Rather than some profound truth about humanity delivered by an individual losing it, Aforgomon received only a dull and unremarkable vision halfway between a human's despair and a zombie's hunger. Really, though, this revelation should not have surprised it. Rumbling with guttural utterances, Aforgomon pushed the wriggling corpse through a tear of light to a dying realm. With its other hand, it reached imploringly across the gaps between worlds to a place where the woman had lived but her family had died. Its invisible digits curled around the woman and pulled her through, producing from empty air a still-breathing but otherwise exact replica of the human whose death it caused.

Blinking, the woman gained her senses back slowly. From her hopeless and horrible fate she'd been rendered unconscious by the power of some unseen savior and pulled away from the mobs of indefatigable undead. She discerned herself to be in the same village, though in a better state, and mercifully free of zombies in the immediate area. When she heard, “Mama?” she froze. From their hiding places in the partially-ruined house emerged her two children, her husband, and her brother, who only moments ago imagined their loved one snatched away by an incomprehensible force. Tears ran down the woman's cheeks to see her family alive; she did not understand anything about what happened, but she knew she was grateful. “Thanks be to God, ” she said before fainting from exhaustion into her family's arms.

One of her tears never reached the ground. Aforgomon wiped it away like a mother for her child and placed it on its tongue. A dream restored from hopelessness to happiness soothed—a kind of delectable rapture that no bloody art could replicate. Then Aforgomon sensed something else, and disappeared.

In the shadowed halls of Mount Olympus, it manifested from brilliant light, in doing so scaring the wits out of some minor deity goddess, a little more than a spirit of music. With its eyeless skull the Great One regarded the girl while her fear paralyzed her limbs, recalling her dreams. This gentle soul had sided with the old gods when conflict first arose, for she loved her parents, but after the revolution of the powerful but irresponsible Merged this music spirit had been deprived of her heart and made a janitor as punishment. Aforgomon left her behind, trekking with lethargic movements toward the source of the blasphemous signal that washed across its mind.

At length it pushed open the door of a shadowed room and entered. Though unlit, this chamber held no secrets for Aforgomon. It could tell how the room's objects and furniture lay in disarray, and the writhing figure at its center. Unseen to any other god's eye, the place exhibited a thorough saturation of rainbow-hued dream fluid, enough to make the Great One titter in anticipation. Wading through the enticing, many-colored molasses, Aforgomon knelt by the twisting body of Thalios. By the handful it scooped its syrupy food into its mouth, relishing the knowledge and imagination of a god, though it grew increasingly disturbed by an offsetting twinge in the flavor. After a few moments, it slowed and then ceased its consumption. Something about the nightmare of a nightmare god rubbed Aforgomon the wrong way. Intrigued by this idea, the Great One laid its fingers across Thalios' forehead, as if taking a sickly child's temperature. The next moment, it vanished, traveling through parts unknown to the place where Thalios dreamed.

Aforgomon appeared in the dark room of Thalios' mind, waiting and watching.

@BlackPanther

Rhona watched in awe as Alec's body morphed into a human form. His voice was hushed but she could tell that it was kind and gentle. "I-I was a little scared but I could tell that you are not a bad person... You were just angry and confused... It's perfectly understandable. Everyone, even gods, get frustrated. I am just glad to have been of some help." She replied with a warm smile, her voice matched Alec's in volume. It was then that Rhona had noticed that she was still holding Alec's hand. Embarrassed, she quickly released his hand and yanked back her own. "I-I'm sorry...!!" She squeaked, reverting back to her shy nature.

Today had been an interesting one. She went to Olympus, went to the human world for the first time, met some new gods, and perhaps even made a few friends. However, all of this excitement was bound to have a negative impact on her body later. In fact, she was not even supposed to come to the meeting, but she had snuck out anyway. However, Rhona didn't want to leave quite yet, she wanted to stay and talk more with the gods with her.

@Zelosse

Through all of this, Rhona could hear a faint plea for help in the back of her mind, getting louder as every second passed. "H-hello...? C-can you hear me...? W-who are you...? A-and how can I hear you inside my head...?! Where are you?" She wanted to help the voice but at this point could only hope that her thoughts could some how reach the voice... Where ever it was.

Days had passed. As the time passed, David felt regret for what he had done. A ghostly form appeared before David, on one of the few days he had slept. "It is I. I have decided to restore you into your Human form. Because your transformation has already been shown throughout the world." The young teenage man wondered what he was supposed to do. "Well, I had thought to punish you, but perhaps I should have done something else. Nevertheless, I believe that I can lend you aid, rather than punishment."

@rechonq@BlackPanther@Ace of flames01@Zelosse@Cuccoruler

Reese yawned walking down to the first floor of the Laboratory scratching his half closed tired eyes. "Why the hell is there a gorilla upstairs...." This was the last time he ever wanted to be this close to science. It bored him so much that he feel asleep. Fully awakening Reese started the notice the number of gods in the room increased. "Did I miss something.....ehh when can we go back to Olympus....Earth isn't much of exciting right now?" He asked walking over to a wall and leaning against it slowly sliding to the floor. He let out another yawn tapping his finger against the floor. Reese felt kind of sad that slot happened during his cat map but he quickly avoided pouting he already looked like a child and the last thing he wanted was to further his appearance as one.

@PerseusArchean
Belle listened to the man and held the book out in his direction. "You may read it in return I ask of no pay but to spread the word of the book." For some odd reason Belle sat down watching Scott as if he was still hostile towards himself. But his tense defensive nature died down when Scott asked him of his awareness of Arai and Nobu. He couldn't be an ordinary mage to notice them. "You must mean Arai and Nobu, and yes I'm aware that they are here but they aren't tag alongs they're what's allowing me to live for as long as I have and provide me with information of things that existed before my birth." Belle responded. He owed the two spirits a lot of credit for his book. "Why do you want the book!?" Nobu questioned demanding an answer. Belle looked at her then back at Scott woundering if he can hear them as well.

@Slendy

Jotunheimen, Norway

Scott snatched the book like a giddy child, plopping down cross-legged on the floor right where he stood so he could settle in to read it. "Shame, would've been fun to sacrifice them. The Bloodforger would have been quite happy, I think." He commented absently. He didn't take his eyes off of the three even as he opened the book to it's first page. There were several ways he could read the book without looking, but the technique he used was a form of psychometry, by running his hand along the words it was as if the words were being read to him within his mind in the voice of the writer. The magic voice would carry the tone and, if the magician was unskilled, the first language of the writer as well, however skilled wizards could filter it into the language the words were written in.

He turned to the table of contents, and his fingers lingered hesitantly on the list of titles. Hmm, the biography sounds interesting... but I'm a Warlock! He turned to Chapter One: War.

"That sounds weird, why not make a deal with Ox? He could totally sort out the whole immortality thing for you, and information isn't that hard to come by, just..." Scott was going to say just summon a demon, but then he realized that that was almost exactly what had happened. "...yeah. Well, just ignore me. What do I know? Just a lowly Warlock in the shadow of the Nine."

Then one of the demons spoke, demanding something of him. Scott had to pause his reading to properly focus his magic on her to discern her words. He stared at her in puzzlement for a moment for the words seemed to make sense. "Oh, I... don't know?" He shrugged, why wouldn't he want the book? It contained knowledge on countless things! The power he could gain from it could be immense! "I'm a Ravenclaw at heart." He commented, then paused, "Unless you're too old for that reference..." All too often he would forget there were beings who had not read the same books as him, or played the same games. It was actually quite an advantage to invest some research into Human fiction, their imaginations were great inspiration for budding spell casters. Now that he thought about it though, what would he do with the knowledge he discovered in the tome? "I'll probably... well I don't know, do I?!" He threw his hand up in an exasperated gesture. "What would you even use it for? I just want to know things. Everythings."

@Slendy@BlackPanther@Ace of Flames01@Rechonq

Cia looked to the others giving them a slightly lesser smile now, almost a frown. "Unfortunatly it is just a vaccine. It is impossible to bring back a fully functioning human being I'm afraid. But the virus should die out within a few months with the vaccine about to come into effect." Cia said. With that Cia opened a portal back to Olympus. "I suggest we return for now, the earth does not need this many god's in one place. We may overwhelm something." Cia stated as she stepped through the portal.

Now was the next step of the Reign of Merged. Making a system of rules if at all possible. Better yet, choosing a leader or a group of leaders may be for the best.

Cythlla in the meantime seemed to be busying herself with a little side project of hers. No one knew what this was, only that she was working on something, which was rarely a good thing.

@ActRaiserTheReturned
When Sven was returned to his normal form a week later he looked up at David still with a look of hatred in his eyes. "I appreciate returning me to human form. But I'm afraid your far too late to help the human race. We do not need the gods anymore as we just proved. I suggest finding another race to help, maybe monkeys." Sven said turning away from David to leave the room he was now in. He had work to do, and it had to do with defying the gods.



Within the realm of earth a rather strange man had appeared. He seemed to be mad as nothing he said made sense of anyone. "Come on! Come face me in this pit of cheese!" He yelled at a group of teenagers who quickly ran away from him in fear of this crazed man. "Pah! No respect for Sheogorath it seems!" The man said. This man was indeed Sheogorath, the deadric prince of madness, come from an entirely different planet. He was not an earth god, no. He came from Tamerial. Why he was here was anyone's guess.

"Pah! Forget you lot I'm going to Switzerland, I hear they have nice cheese there." Sheogorath stated to passer bys. That was when something strange happened. He tapped his cane to the ground, and suddenly a portal appeared, but not a normal portal. One that lead to switzerland and was oddly enough, made out of, milk? Yes this strange portal was made of milk. On the other side however it was made of cheese. Once there Sheogorath entered what seemed to be a diary farm. From there he was pointing his cane at cows, turning them into cheese, one of them turning into Brie cheese. And lo and behold, the internet got wind of this as well. The news however believed this to be false and payed it no mind.

Occus, South Africa (Region)
Month One

@OtomostheCrazy

Ox did not speak much with the two sisters, and mostly did not actively participate in the rescue missions. Instead he lent quite a bit of his power to sustain and improve his sorcerer's magical might. The undead may be resistant to the arcane, but a conjured flame was still a flame, and a flying rock could still cave their skulls in. His focus was primarily elsewhere, projecting his presence to answer prayers to him across the world, mostly of those in the afflicted regions so he could determine where the next portal would take them.

The few times he did intervene were against the monstrous undead with huge bat wings and exaggerated claws, or sticky black fur and lupine forms. The Fae's souls were safe, would always be so, but their bodies were not immune to the plague. When these monsters were encountered on the battlefield he tapped into his anger at Humanity for doing this to his people and blasted the horrors apart with torrents of flame or swarms of flesh eating insects. Every time he would cast a look at the steadily growing number of Humans they had rescued, and he would debate turning his own Necromancy on them and unleashing them in a major city as retribution, but then he would dismiss the thought as needlessly cruel, and remind himself that these Humans in particular were innocent. It helped that Kani was always nearby offering them compassionate assistance.

Once he had collected all the Fae in South Africa he cast a spell of secrecy over the Humans and left them just outside of a safe zone, they would be disinclined to share what they had seen, and soon they would even forget the details, putting behind the magic and the gods like a bad dream. The Fae were not finished, but now other things called Occus' attention. He left the sisters behind in Africa, and sent the Fae on to America.

Humanity, Earth
Month Two

The vaccine was mass produced in every medical facility in the world, Humanity taking a sigh of relief as supply drops carrying the preventative treatment landed among military positions and survivor outposts. The zombie advance had been confined in Indonesia, and the works of a pan-American organization began to slow the spread in the central states. Africa was still losing ground, but at least they could fight the menace like any other now. The apocalypse had been averted, by Human genius no less. Truly they were capable of great and terrible things, much like the mythical gods of old...

But still there was the matter of Sven, creator of the plague. It may not have been solely his fault, but the blood of millions were on the hands of him and his assistants. Nations across the world were calling for his head, trials for war crimes would commence soon. The man's punishment by the gods was strange and investigated of course, but few believed his claims. It was more likely he had been experimenting on himself and something had gone wrong, yet another hint at his untrustworthy and immoral practices. Those who believed in divine intervention named such gods as the Christian God or the Muslim Allah, others pointed the finger to Hindu or more local gods. Few even knew of the Merged still, and those that did kept their mouths shut. The fact he was cured only lent further disbelief to his tale.

Humanity had never been more united; Polish volunteers helped construct defenses in Oklahoma, Japanese watercraft hunted stray swimming zombies, and Chilean soldiers stormed the beaches of Maputo. A new age was dawning among the mortals, and none could yet see the result of such events. None, that is, except one. A mad being was on the hunt for cheese, for where there is cheese there is darkness.

Thalios felt a new presence more than he saw it. A mind unlike any he had seen, young but vast. It was a reminder that he was either very much in trouble or someone had taken interest in his plight.
Anubis towered over Thalios, its face a snarl of rage as it attempted to crush the life from the nightmare god. Thalios never felt its blow, falling into his own mind. Knocked to the floor, body limp, he communicated outwards.
A long bladed sword sliced Thalios' chest from neck to stomach, but no blood rushed out this time. Beyond flesh and blood, this being wasn't just a creator of nightmares. He was nightmares. Every twisted monster of your imagination ever conceived was what flowed through this creatures veins. Exposed ribs marked his anatomy but a writhing mass of darkness and hungry red eyes squirmed inside. One such monster retaliated with a jagged lance of white bone impaling Anubis through the eye.

The dream wavered for a moment before it returned to just minutes prior. Alone in the room again Thalios stood. Phobetors words had always seemed like a taunting message when he was young but they came unbidden to his mind now.
Even gods can dream, he had once said. Thalios hadn't understood the meaning then but it dawned on him now. Thalios ran from the room with purpose, unassailes, and made the balcony overlooking the entire nightmare plane. In the distance they stood, more dead gods on twisted limbs and bloody strings, with a figure behind them laughing.
The dream reset as revelation came.

Thalios' wasn't just having a nightmare, he was sharing a dream. A hope and conscious thought of every god he could see. A premonition? A warning?

"I must leave. I must escape! The gods must be warned, the pantheon must be told!" He whispered aloud, mind racing on the implications presented here. The dream felt different now, not pleasant, but half finished. Like something had eaten a part of it.. The madness? The terror? Yes that was it. The nightmare had focused on merged being afraid. It had effected Thalios like a virus and forced him to experience its demand.
"Whatever you are. Whoever you are. You feed on nightmares. Tell me then.. Are you hungry?" A grin took his face even as the puppet gods shambled into his home.
"I hope you are.." It was a gamble, but it had to be done.
As the others shambled forward it happened. The transformation from this 'mortal' form was an explosion of darkness and screams that swept the puppets away like flies.
Thalios stood in the centre of the room with his wand in hand, elongated to a staff. In its centre swirled his essence, a concentrated form of pure nightmares. To touch it would render you completely mad. Thalios was a skeleton now, cloaked in a swirling stream of shadows and memories bubbling across his chest. His face was a freakish mixture of bone and flesh, black eyes gazed from the sockets while goat horns curled from his cranium. His cloak was an unknown type of grey fur decorated with skulls of animals and humans alike.

The darkness of his being, like his staff, was the essence of dreams. "Come, eater, and sample to main dish! Deliver me from this place!" He roared as he destroyed the staffs hold in his captured essence. What could be tastier than the true essence of nightmares?

One month later
Alec roams among the humans a large black coffee in his hands. He was watching their progress but also enjoying being among the living. A smile swept across his face as he stops at a park and watches parents and their children. He finds it odd that he loves life but most likely it is his mother's genes. He takes another large sip and walks past to a dog park where a few owners struggle with overly active dogs.
With the zombie threat gone the souls that came to him were peaceful and the amount was back to normal. Which means he could walk among mortals like this again. He was a bit curious as to what the others were doing...especially rhona. He liked her as a potential friend. He takes another sip of his coffee. He pondered this some more as he continues people watching.