Dark Crow Rising

"So why am I dressed like this?" I ask as I miserably approach the door out of here. Undwote grasps the doorknob and looks back towards me with a ponderous glint.

"When you stopped being you, that is how you were dressed." he answers as he turns the knob so we can leave. But, first, his Pack of Seven rushes out onto what must be wooden decking, going by the sound.

"So, where am I exactly?" I ask the pipe-smoking child as we then walk out into a strange open space, reminiscent of a tunnel.

The door closes behind us with a modest thud, "You are on my Father's ship, the Vightorhian."

What sounds like lightning is coming from over the side of the ship. Strings of blue brighten up the edges in an aura of the same colour, yet, on the vessel itself, light is normal. As if the Orbital-Halo is up in the sky on a clear day like I experienced with the aelenvari. I know I have never been on a ship before, but this looks very different to what I have heard.

There are pole-like towers, but no wind-grasping sails mounted to them. I cannot even catch a hint of oars on the synchronised move, it's just those tendrils of what must be magic. This thing is more so crawling its way through this subterranean tunnel than sailing. Watching the ship's means of propulsion some more, I watch as it slings out at a forward angle, steadily moving the other way.

The process repeats again and again across a dozen different arcane ropes a side.

This is quite the grand water-goer as well, as it looks like the distance is far enough that I would exhaust myself running from end to end. Walking, not running. It's not as wide as it is long, though, thankfully. With the room I was in only being neighboured by a dozen other doors.

One door, in particular, stands out. A mixture of plentiful decoration and the fact it is at the exact centre of this wall I am facing. There's a small sign above this door, but, at this angle, I cannot read it properly. Though, if I step closer, I feel like I can read it, which surprises me as being able to read something is a first.

"This all seems rather empty." I comment as my eyes pass back over the open space of the top deck. They land on him just as he starts to pet one of his hounds, leaning over the side of the ship as he does so. A trail of smoke flows away from his pipe and mouth before he sounds off with a heavy-breathed snort.

"There's no crew for this ship as Father handles it all from up there on the helm," he explains as his now free left waves limply to the nearby set of stairs.

I nod as I spot another set of them even further on what is my current left.

"Everyone else is usually in their rooms doing something, most often their divine duties. Or, it's the kitchen or craftsman area." he explains further as he gently pushes himself up and off the edge.

"So are all the gods here or is it just you two, those seven and your father?" I ask as I gesture to everyone I have referenced, giving a general area at the end of my sentence.

"Not sure if all my brothers and sisters are present, but I know a few are here. But, it is in the realm of possibility that Father brought all of us here. Some might have just decided to stay secluded in their rooms or are intentionally hiding themselves away in other areas of the ship. As Father can be a handful at times."

"I heard that!" the God of gods in question remarks. I blink as that sounded as if He was right next to us, but He isn't.

"Counting on it." Undwote grumbles as he knocks some ash out of his pipe bowl.

"So... Which of your brothers and sisters do you know are present?" I ask, hoping I might be able to meet them so I can occupy my mind with something nicer. Even with a god invoking their power against me, I still feel miserable knowing what I do now. I am dead, it is as simple as that...

A bit of child-like wonder might do me some good, like how I was when I saw Anvil-Peak for the first time. Now I might get a chance to meet the Thunder God himself, he might be here! The one I am craft-bound to, the one you hear so much about growing up. All the stories of heroism and gallantry, the source is maybe only a short walk away.

"Let me think... Ihtuntar, God of the Sun, is up there with Father. Or, was, rather, he... Nevermind. There's Waionr and Thurnmourer, God of War and God of Creation. My ever so slippery sibling, Jaadagoren. There's the ever-opposite duo of Aahtha and Motrtha, the Goddess of Pleasantries and every kind of pleasure you can think of. Motrtha, as I am sure you are aware is ironically the Goddess of Motherhood. But, don't let her know I said that." he explains, smirking with sinister brotherliness.

"I have a feeling you are not even halfway done." I say as he seems to prepare himself for another round of names.

"You'd be right. The God of Life-Within-Water is here, Oceniater. Avanvenger as well, God of Vengence. Be mindful around him, he can be petty. Then there's Sraacdchammu who I believe is over there somewhere, exercising, keeping his form up, pointlessly. Clohniq is downstairs with the eldest making clothes, probably. Oramvaleood is likely talking to him-herself over some plight of morality. Well, if I keep going, even I might die listing off every sibling." he jokes at the end, smiling a little as I nod along.

"I am fine meeting your whole family, not much else for me to do, anyway." I say as I lean about to try and find the God of Masculine Form. Might as well and try and be a bit envious of what the perfect man looks like in person. Who knows, maybe he'll pass a compliment my way for how strong I got. I don't really care at this point...

"It would be impossible," he huff bemusedly, "I am having trouble remembering them all even with my never-ending age and wisdom. A wealth of knowledge so vast you would not even be able to comprehend its scale even if I sat you down in a manifestial library."

"How come you don't know everything, then? You live forever, you have literally all the time in the world to learn." I ask, slightly curious as to why a god would have trouble recalling something.

"Technically, we all do know everything. But, in reality, no. Father does not like it when we are true to our nigh-omnipotent selves and he often shackles what we can do. Only Chaos and Order get out of this mollycoddling, but those two are a unique case compared to the rest of us." he explains as he rubs one of his hounds by the snout.

"I always found that odd... That Chaos and Order are just named after basic words, unlike the rest of you." I say as I recall some mythological trivia, barely.

"Well, they are really called Cuhayos and Ordoar, but those two words literally mean Chaos and Order. So, as mortal tongue developed, so came different words." Undwote explains as I look up the stairs that apparently lead to his father.

"Why not just call them Chaos and Order from the get-go, then?" I ask and the God of Death shrugs casually as he teeths the mouthpiece of his pipe.

"Go up and ask Father yourself, then, He's right up there. But, my personal theory as to why He changed their names the way He did is because He wants to hide something. Strange as it might sound, Father was a former mortal. Despite His eternal age, He has never seemed to let go of that. His past still haunts Him, even though His family keeps trying to help Him. Though our love isn't enough it seems." Undwote rather miserably finishes with.

"Well... I guess I will go an introduce myself? Or does everyone already know who I am...?" I say as I start to get bogged down in my wondering. Undwote taps his pipe on the ship's side and puts it away into his vest.

"No, no one here knows who you are, in theory. I was never able to do what I needed to do with you so we are not formally met either. You are still a mortal soul I found wandering a youthful battleground." he explains to and I nod down at the small god.

"Okay, then, uh, I am Nin Urtuan, nice to meet you two." I greet, looking at Undwote and then Apahthein who is showing an impossibly rare moment of interest.

"Same to you, then. As you know, I am Undwote and this is Apahthein, say hello again, Brother." Undwote says then encourages as his cloudy brother seems to float away.

"Hello." they go as they disappear into the wind.

"Now these seven are Atarifuge, Segaansallis, Hadeshstation, Apothriox, Inteneshgal, Stadhelia and Perspluotco." Undwote explains as he pats each of the hounds in turn. The one who's been with me since I woke up, one with a pointy face and one who is the largest by far. One with an elongated body and the three who are mostly just different shades of shadow.

Like a deep darkness, a shadow bathed in light and a fairly typical one.

"This is a lot of names to remember... Feel like I am going to end up using nicknames for everything." I say, shaking my head slightly as I start to regret not taking up religious philosophy. I am now in awe of the priests who have to memorise each god and goddess as part of their recitals.

Undwote chuckles lightly as he reaches for something, "You best find a way to remember their names or they won't answer unless you blow on this," a small whistle spins around his extended index finger.

"Well, guess I am doomed." I say as he puts the whistle away and then gestures them off.

"Can't be worse than your current situation, now, let's go meet Father. As He is the one responsible for your current predicament." Undwote explains as he starts to ascend the steps up to the back of the ship.

My boots hit the wood as I walk after the deceptively young-looking diety. With each step, the sound of someone humming a rather instrument-sounding tune becomes louder. Thinking back to the names Undwote gave me, the first name sticks out. The God of the Sun and Stars, Ihtuntar.

The Dead God.

"So... Uh... I thought Ihtuntar died? Like, wasn't that the reason the Orbital-Halo was made? It was a memorial for him?" I ask Undwote quietly, just in case this is the sort of question I shouldn't be asking. The God of Death turns to me and frowns deeply, his focus shifts about and it becomes clear he is thinking.

"No, Ihtuntar did not die." he answers slowly.

"Then why...?"

"We gods cannot die unless our concept disappears. For example, as I am the God of Death, the very concept must vanish before I can die. Though, ironically, that would keep me alive, me dying. However, with say... My sister, Motrtha, if all forms of motherhood in every conceivable fashion were to vanish, she'd disappear." he explains.

"Ihtuntar is a special case?" I ask as I awkwardly tap the handrail.

"Yes, I guess you can call it that. When what happened, happened... His dream and what he wanted to do with the mortal world died. All traces of everything he made within all of the universes we created are gone. Stars are but a word now, a synonym for the betrayed, the backstabbed, the gone. Though... To get it off my chest to someone outside of the family, while I do not want to blame Father... It is His insistence that we be in these limited, child-like states around Him that prevents Ihtuntar from moving on with it. If my younger brother is always a small child, he will always be a terrified, small child."

"I'm sorry I asked..." I say with uncertainty.

"Do not worry, Nin. I try to honour my younger sibling by being optimistic, as, did you know, he is actually the God of Optimism? Maybe he has his own reasons for staying uninvolved with the mortal world now, but, I hope he tries again."

"So the Orbital-Halo..." I say, to get the topic changed, if only slightly.

"Yes, we built it so that the last mortal world would still have light while being protected from the nothing it is settled in. I am not talking about space, your world exists in a backdrop of truly nothing. No dimensional walls or time to place it in, nothing." he nearly spits with some aggravation in his behaviour. Little jumps and a firm grip.

"Why not just... Fix everything, then? Have Thurnmourer be what he is and just... Fix it." I say and Undwote's mood falls even more.

"After the betrayal of the... Fourteen Moon Gods," he starts of with, rolling his eyes as a distasteful tone spits out but one name of the Fourteen, "Father banned our involvement with mortals. To prevent something like this from happening again. I blame myself, somewhat in this regard. The Fourteen... Ah, they said no at first, but, we should've let him get involved when he did show interest. That envy that built up within him fourteen times over has done none of us any good."

"So... I am walking on eggshells talking about Ihtuntar and the Moon Gods?" I ask as I carefully watch his mellowing expression. It is rather interesting to hear a god's side of things when it comes to myths and the stories I was raised on. But, it's also clear that even these ancient beings have their limits on certain subjects.

"Nothing is stopping you, if that is what you are asking. You are already dead after all, a soul given temporary form once again. An outlier if there ever was one to use as the accompanying example to the dictionary definition." Undwote explains and I nod, slowly.

"So nothing bad will happen if I ask?"

Apahthein's influence over me trembles ever so slightly.

"I can offer you no certainty, Nin. Just know that my Father's ire can be troublesome in a way nothing else can be." the God of Death warns as we take the final steps up the stairs, coming near-enough face-to-face with the father of all of reality.

Surprisingly, He is quite human looking and He doesn't seem to be that much taller either. The clothes He wears are unmistakenly foreign in design but they have a slight similarity to them. I swear I have seen something like it in my ancient history textbooks back from when I was in school. Rimmed and squared by golden threads, a largely lapis lazuli set of robes covers Him from head to toe.

A few polished silver buttons here and there along with a plethora of many kinds of gemstones.

His skin is pale with an almost blue undertone that seems to draw out a reddish tone from me, somehow. With eyes that look like a cloudy sky and hair that makes me question if it is the blue or grey that is dyed on. The towering hat He wears hides his hair mostly, but, this thin, jaw-rimming beard of His that ends on a sort-of goatee gives me some insight. A very strange mixture of blue and grey, almost like a precious stone of some kind.

Blue granite, is that a thing?

Something moves near the leg of the Equilibrium, revealing itself to be a small child. With eight balls of light orbiting him harmlessly, this kid's clothes strike me as dangerous. And bright. So, very, very bright.

His hair is something else, though, an abyss of pitch-black speckled with dots of white and other colours. Bright, colourful clouds are spread over some patches like weird birthmarks. All on a small package of tanned-esque skin with a pair of burning eyes. Two swirling masses of yellows and oranges that I can almost seem to hear burn.

The Father of All opens his mouth, "Well, well, would'cha lookie here mah boys! We got ourselves a wayward mortal!"

"Because of you..." Undwote grumbles as he pulls out the smoking pipe once again. His father spins the wheel carelessly and the younger brother starts to hide behind the captain's legs once more.

"Uh, hi." I go with a slow wave.

"Nice to meet ya! Now, what in the bloody flying fuck are ya doin' on me aftcastle?" the God of gods asks with continued, aggressive enthusiasm.

"That's enough now, Father. I am bringing the mortal up here so he can be properly introduced to you. Seen as you insist I not be allowed to finish my job before dragging me along!" Undwote goes as he steps closer, blasting a cloud of smoke up at the wheel-holding god.

"Right, sorry, Undies." Equilibrium smirks out as Undwote growls quietly before stepping back.

"...I... I am Nin, Nin Urtuan." I say awkwardly as I watch the two go for each other's proverbial throat.

"Nice to meet ya, I be this miserable sod's Pa. But, as you probably already know, you can either call me Equilibrium or, maybe even my old name, Kyarverin!" Equilibrium... Kyarverin goes. The Father of All starts to nudge Ihtuntar away from his leg.

"No..." he sweetly whines.

"Don't worry, he won't do anything. Say hi, Sunshine." Kyarverin encourages quietly against his ear with playful shakes.

"H-H-Hello..." the boy stammers before retreating to the safety of his father's legs once again.

"Well, you have any questions for Father?" Undwote asks after he taps me with the mouth-end of his smoking pipe.

"Maybe later, I think you can answer most of my questions for now." I say as I continue to pick up on the tension between the two divine beings. The God of Death smacks his lips as he nods once, firmly.

"Come on then, I will give you a tour of the Vightorhian." the God of Hasty Walk-Outs tells me as I follow him back down the stairs.