by Megan Derr
It was Culebra who explained, "Licht was the god of order and Teufel has taken that power. This you know by now. Since Licht fell, order—fate—has controlled everything. But chaos was always there, waiting for its chance to break free. All things come due, and even Teufel could not stop the dictates of fate that chaos would eventually return to the world. He could delay it, but that's all. The moment the dragons returned to the world, chaos began to grow in power to return to its rightful place—equal in strength to order."
Raiden continued, "The child of chaos is the nemesis of fate. He is completely immune to order. When we were all Lost, those of our children who were powerful enough to read the threads of fate wrote down what they saw: prophecies. The most important of those prophecies goes:
To defeat Teufel and restore Licht will take a Child of Chaos; someone who can change, who wills himself to change, and instead of succumbing to the one who would instill Order, changes him."
Midori's brows shot up. "That sounds like it will not be a pleasant battle. It does not seem fair that it all will fall on one person. Can't you see how it will go since you're the Dragons of the Three Storms?"
"No," Nankyokukai replied. "We can see threads of various possibilities, but chaos is chaos."
"That aside," Zhar Ptitsa added, "Schatten is sealed from us. I can protect the child of chaos from Teufel for a time, but that same power means he can hide things from us. Whatever happens in Schatten, we will not know until it's over, one way or another."
Dario asked, "How do you know who this child of chaos is when even the dragons do not?"
"Because I noticed first," Zhar Ptitsa said with a smirk. "You may as well quit with the scowling and pouting, dragons. I already told you I'm not telling."
Kindan retorted, "I can and will pluck every last one of your feathers."
Zhar Ptitsa just grinned. "Pluck away, lizard. You won't hear a peep out of me."
"Bah."
"The fewer who know, the safer he is," Zhar Ptitsa said, levity fading. "It's not a matter of trust, merely a matter of never knowing what shadows are listening."
Kindan made a face, but nodded. "Fine. So now we must wait for the Faerie Queen to tip her hand. That's going to be a pleasant reunion."
"At least now we know what happened," Raiden said quietly. "So much betrayal, so little care. We all lost our way. Let us hope we can all make our way home again." He walked over to Culebra and Cortez and embraced them each in turn. "I'm glad you're back, and I hope you're happier this time around."
"We will be," Culebra said. "We'll keep watch over Verde. You keep your eyes on Schatten."
Raiden nodded and stepped back to rejoin his brothers and Zhar Ptitsa. With a rumble of thunder and flash of light, they were gone.
"So what do we do now?" Midori asked.
Cortez snorted softly and looked toward the main doorway and said, "We punish."
Midori frowned, confused, but the confusion cleared in the next moment when the four guards they'd left unconscious in the hallway stumbled inside. Their eyes had a dazed, glazed look to them as they stumbled in as though drunk or groggy.
They dropped to their knees in front of Culebra and Cortez, heads bowed. "Do you know what you have done?" Culebra asked, the words quietly spoken, but the tone hard.
When the men remained silent, Cortez said, "You helped a man who did not belong here try to steal the heart and soul of the country. Without the Basilisk, the very god who made this land, all would have perished. Piedre is the land of Death and Destruction. Take those powers away and you would have left an empty husk that would have died within days. You nearly killed every person in this country for your own selfish ends."
"Worse," Culebra continued, "You were going to hand that power over to Teufel, the Shadow of Licht, a being of pure evil. Not only would you have destroyed Piedre, you would have destroyed the entire world. Jürgen is dead, and you could very well join him. But Jürgen was manipulated by Teufel and never stood a chance of living a free life. You, however, are different. You had choices, and you chose to destroy the world. Death, therefore, is too easy a punishment for you."
As one, the four men looked up, eyes widening with panic. "What—" the man who tried to speak abruptly stopped.
Cortez stepped closer to them and touched the throat of each one. Magic flared, and the men screamed in agony as bands of black wrapped around their throats. It sank into their skin like ink being absorbed, leaving behind a tattooed collar of thorny vines wrapped around and around with a rose in full bloom nestled at the collarbone. The entire tattoo was black save for a single red petal at the center of each rose.
"Death is necessary to the continuation of life," Culebra said quietly. "It is not something to be callously used for selfish ends. All life is sacred and should be treasured. You will live until your good deeds make up for all the wrongs you have committed. When the roses are red, return to us. Go."
Stiffly the four men rose and left the temple, pale-faced and trembling. When they had gone, Midori shook his head. "Harsh."
"But fair," Cortez said. "So I am a god, now. This is going to take getting used to."
Fidel shook his head, staring at her in wonder. "I cannot believe you are ... there was a knife if your throat, caro."
Cortez held out her hand and when he took it, she tugged him close and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed his brow. "I am sorry. I do wish events had played out less dramatically, but I do not think we gods know how to do anything in non-dramatic fashion. I hope you do not mind too much that I am a god."
"I don't care what you are," Fidel said. "Just do not disappear or die on me again."
"That I will not do, I promise," Cortez said. "Now, come, let us explore this place further and find you some suitable rooms." She winked at Culebra over his shoulder and led Fidel away, vanishing through one of the doors on the far side of the sanctuary.
Midori stared after them. "I find all of this hard to believe myself." He reached up to touch his hair, but it felt no different, and it was too short for him to see for himself that it was black.
"It does look good," Culebra said with a smile. "I like you belonging to me, Midori."
"I ... it is very strange," Midori said. "Have I really changed so much?"
Culebra shook his head. "Not so much." His eyes shimmered and suddenly he was holding a small mirror framed in silver. He handed it to Midori. "As I said before, it's just a side effect of being under my protection, rather than under the protection of the dragons. If Dario wanted to belong to Verde, say, he would take on the traits unique to them. Changing your appearance does not make you mine, it's not even necessary. It's just that the process of making you mine changed it. It is my power that protects and guides and sustains you, and that power is reflected in the way you look. But if you do want your hair and eyes changed back, I can do that."
Midori did not immediately reply, too startled by his own appearance. Though they had warned him, it was still quite the shock to see that he had, indeed, changed. His face was the same shape, but his skin had taken on more of the dusky shades of Piedre, rather than the somewhat lighter, more sun-gold tones of Kundou. His hair, as they'd said, was black, and he could only just tell that his eyes were blue they were so dark.
It was unusual, but ... he rather thought he would get used to it quickly. He liked the idea of starting fresh, of having a chance to be someone new. Not a captain, not a noble. Just Midori.
Glancing up from the mirror, he looked at his new life. Culebra and Dario watched him. "It will take getting used to, but I think I like it. If I decide I don't, I'll ask you to change it. So what do we do now? You have to admit this—" He gestured to the three of them. "Is a bit sudden."
"More than a bit, I'd say," Dario said, mouth quirking in amusement. "I have no idea. A god hardly has any use for a bodyguard."
"I'm not even that much," Midori said. "I don't think I'd be much of a priest or anything, either."
Dario laughed.
"I cannot see us as priests."
"We'll work it out," Culebra said. "Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. You may both decide you do not want to be so close to a god. No one did before; people are more intimidated by me than my brothers and sisters. It's not an easy life being the beloved of a god, and it's only more complicated when we are three rather than two. We can only give it time."
Though the words were lightly spoken and matter of fact, Midori knew pain when he heard it. He knew how that loneliness felt, at least in some small measure. As one he and Dario stepped closer, wrapping Culebra in their arms, holding him close, holding each other, coiled like snakes basking together in the sun.
Stone Rose Fin
The Lost Gods will continue in Poison ...
Verde is ruled by the mortal reincarnations of their Lost Gods: the Faerie Queen, the Pegasus, and the Unicorn, slain nine centuries ago at the base of their Sacred Oak. Every one hundred years, the tragedy repeats itself, plunging Verde ever deeper into despair.
Now, the Tragedy of the Oak draws near and Gael, the Unicorn, grows increasingly afraid because of a dark secret kept by the Three: If he cannot find a way to break the tragic cycle, the Twelve White Beasts and his secret lover are cursed to die right alongside him.
About the Author
Megan is a long time resident of m/m fiction, and keeps herself busy reading, writing, and publishing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. She loves to hear from readers, and can be found all around the internet.
maderr.com
maderr.livejournal.com
lessthanthreepress.com
@amasour
