But the Fjords! D:

[Lion]

[I suppose I can jump in now.  I waited because I didn't want to interrupt the posting pattern.]

It had been six days of travel since he set off toward the coast of the continent, having tired of the small village whose residence decided they didn't want to be too friendly with a demon that just happened to cause half the townspeople to lose their minds.  But all Deimos did was declare that he had done it in self defense against certain pitchforks of flesh-poking death and set off without a second thought.  It wasn't like he had anything to take with him though so leaving a place behind became pretty easy these days, taking with him only the black leather clothes on his back and the shadow that clung to his shoulders in the fashion of a dark, smokey cape.  It would be an easy and common sight to see his tall form walking away toward the sunrise with silvery white hair and crimson sash ends flowing freely in the wind.  Then again there wasn't much to do in a thousand year exile on some world these humans called Earth.

Deimos, other than not wanting to be driven through with giant forks, traveled because he had long wanted to see something mortals called 'the sea'.  He had a vision of what this might be but things were different in the Netherrealm of Etheros.  There, time had no corporeal relevance, everything seemed pretty much as if in an eternal sunset and that which were considered oceans on Earth were seas of red on Etheros.

After scaling the many cliffs and wandering through many confusing footpaths, he made it through the mountains and the sound of small pebbles crunching beneath his black leather boots told him that he had reached the shoreline.  He had trialed through blistering cold, a small gang of would-be thieves, large bloodthirsty animals, and other dangers that could quite possibly prove to be lethal even to an immortal creature as himself.  Deimos squinted slightly as he moved through a small patch of trees before moving further onto the uneven layout of the sand.  And before his sight came the edge of the land and beginning of the infinite ocean, flooding red with the sunset.  And what might have proved to have been a glorious sight to others only caused a scoff to escape the demon's thin pale lips and his red-orange eyes to burn in triviality.

"I walked all the way toward here for this?!" he exclaimed loudly, leaning on one hip in disappointment.  But as he gazed more closely as to how the waves crashed against the shore and rocks to the left of him and washed away the sands into their eternal depths he suddenly reconsidered his first evaluation.  There was a certain beauty to be found in this sight, something he knew that couldn't be found in the deathly still oceans of Etheros, thick with screams and terror of lost souls.  These waters were blue with life, almost green at the correct angle, and moved with the same recklessness that coursed valiantly through Deimos himself.  He smiled slightly, a menacing smile on a considerably pale face crowned in long white hair, braided at the front to keep it from his face, and walked toward the shore, wading until he was waist deep into the water, sash floating.  It was such an unusual feeling, this coolness, but not one that he wasn't completely unfamiliar with.  It was strangely soothing and thus caused him to toss his entire body into the water, shadowy cape and all.

After about ten minutes of swimming and letting his body drift southward while keep the waves from carrying him away, Deimos opened his eyes when he felt his body hit the shore once again. And with the fading sunlight disappearing over the ranges, he climbed to his feet to find two strange figures before him.  They were but about ten feet away.  Deimos took three precarious steps toward them, clenching his fists in alertness with the shadow hanging on his back hissing viciously in his head.  His steps covered about six feet of the distance between them and he spoke warningly toward the short hooded figure, "Who are you?"

[Anonymous]

Before the strange, rude man appeared, Releah had been enraptured, trying to think of something that felt like that, and She though deeply for many minutes before exclaiming, "It's like starting a tornado! Or a sand storm!" And indeed it was, because you twirled and twirled and twirled and soon you were off, and nothing else mattered because you would just go around and around and around for what seemed like forever, dodging things caught up in your swirl and eventually burst out the top and continue on your way. Releah had done this often, and had unknowingly cause many, many deaths. Not that this really meant anything to her, because Releah would never die. She might fade, might forget, might become so bored with the world that she "slept" for a very long time, but she would not die.

She was about to say to him that no, she didn't know if there were, but that they should find one(because it would be fun!) when someone came out of the ocean and wanted to know who they were!

If Releah had been a normal human, she would have been offended--after all, he was the one to climb out of the water and be all wet and creepy! What right did he have to act like they had threatened him? But Releah, obviously, was not at all a regular human. So, instead of feeling vaguely threatened and insulted, she felt excited! Because look, a third person that she would now know!

Following this vein of logic, Releah immediately and almost literally bounced over to him, words pouring from her mouth as well as Sarivi's, the kind of babble that reminds you of a large ball bit breaking--you see it coming, it fills you with dread, you know you should run--but you're so stunned that you just stand there.

"I'm Releah and this is Sarivi! What's your name? What are you? You're wet! Are you a water sprite like Sarivi? That would be cool. Do you like to swim? Why were you in the ocean, if you don't? Are you human? Do you know where we could find humans? Are you a mage? Did you see a lake on your way here? What's that, and why is it hissing at me? Maybe it's purring, is it purring?" She eventually paused to take a breath, because her body was still human, and then she started up again, "Are you cold? Are you hungry? I don't have any food, but I've never eaten before, either, is it fun? What's being hungry like? What's your favorite color?" She broke off rather abruptly, apparently realizing that the man would need some time to answer her questions. Was he a man? Maybe he was a woman! he didn't look like a woman, but what did Releah know? Seeing wasn't really her forte, after all, nore was telling the gender of someone by how they look.

[Anonymous]

Sarivi's immediate response to Releah's comparison was "What're those?" He blinked at the girl curiously, shifting on his feet as he tried to imagine. Obviously it had something to do with the type of feeling that came from swimming... But since she had literally been air, it was impossible to know for sure what she was talking about. Maybe some type of air currents! Or weather! She might not know, being as new to all this from this side of the spectrum, but he was sure that if he remembered to ask some land person they met up with he'd get his answers somehow!

He was perched on the edge between just waiting for her to answer and asking more questions about it when the new person appeared. The boy's head snapped towards the sound of words and he blinked at the man for a moment, a bit surprised. He looked a little bit different than Sarivi was used to humans looking like... And he had come out of the water! Not walking down the coast, but out of the water! Maybe he was some sort of water creature from the north? Certainly wasn't any type that Sarivi had seen before, but it was fairly likely that he would have not seen something in his as of yet short time in this region.

After a brief moment of surprised silence he started to burst out with questions, then stopped himself with a sheepish grin after only a couple of them as he realized that Releah was doing the same thing. It would be rather impossible for the poor man to catch anything, with them both barraging him like that!

The sprite's fins flared as he curiously fixed his eyes on the man, ears tilting a little to catch Releah's questions, grinning in slight amusement at some of them and agreeing with others that she asked. He could have told her that the man definitely wasn't another water sprite... But a lot of the others perked his interest as well.

Since he wasn't speaking at the moment... The boy's eyes flicked over the man, studying him and automatically trying to fit the pieces together in his mind as he would a puzzle. Only he didn't quite have enough pieces to classify the man the way he was trying to. He looked close to human, to Sarivi's inexperienced eyes, but he wasn't sure if he could definitely say that for sure. At this close distance he had to tilt his head a little to look up at the man and study his face, silently (at least for the moment) searching for clues.

[Lion]

Slowly but surely Deimos unclenched his fist when the hooded one, who Deimos could tell was a female human from experience and apparently called herself Releah, spoke to him in a burst of questions.  Of course a creature of his trained intelligence was wont to realize that if she or the slightly shorter being beside her wanted to attack him they would have done so already and would not have been bouncing around on their heels like silly children.  From what the demon could observe in the face of the girl, she was not young enough to be a child but young enough be beautiful, though not of his tastes.  His eyes flared momentarily as he studied her smiling face as she persisted in her barrage of questioning.

Instead of getting annoyed as he was wont to do in a situation as this, with someone he barely knew having to ask him, the Lord of Shadow, so many questions that would have made a less intelligent being's head spin.  He thought her actions toward him so utterly silly he smiled only a slightly, a thin contemptuous grin that went in unison with the way his eyes danced in belittling laughter.  She asked if he was human and this furthered his amusement.  No, of course he was not human and while he appeared as one who had been long dead for at least three whole days, he was not one in the least.  He had paled skin, as most dead did, and burning orange eyes and glistening white hair that now dripped incessantly with water.  Deimos slightly widened his grin as he waited patiently for her to finish for a breath and nonchalantly squeezed the water out of his hair before combing back the front with his long, slender fingers.  He answered slowly and that same cool politeness he awarded strangers in observing the human social structure.  "You ask a lot of questions for such a tiny person, but I'll indulge you.  I am Deimos, the demon of shadow.  That hissing you hear is my cape telling me what she thinks of you.  Don't bother talking to it because she can speak only to me.  The reason I'm wet is because I was drifting in what humans call the ocean.  It was only for a moment until I landed farther down on the shore.

"I did see a few humans down that way but they were all strewn across the ground and covered in something red."  He paused for a moment and pointed across the beach to the east.  "But that was three days ago.  I'm sure they've all rotted by now.  Cold and hunger are not as fun as you may think, but thankfully demons don't need to eat as often as mortals do."  He stopped for a moment, thinking about what she meant by asking him if he was a mage.  His brows furrowed into a what appeared as contemplative grimace, and his eyes burned.  "I've--er practiced various magics in my travels.  What do you want with a mage?"

It was then, quite suddenly, that his attention momentarily turned to the creature standing beside her whom she had called Sarivi and, apparently, was a water sprite.  Despite his immense knowledge, Deimos couldn't say that he had come across such a creature before but he wasn't in a hurry to get to know it.  After a second of consideration, he figured the sprite to be male.  Out of habit, the demigod sniffed in contempt him and gave him a nasty glare before spitting out rhetorically, "And just what the hell are you looking at?"

[Me: Deimos.
Deimos: Yes?
Me: You are such an asshole.
Deimos: I know.]

[Anonymous]

It took her a moment to remember what being covered with "something red" would look like. Like being covered in red water, right? But she'd never seen red water, or paint, and neither she nor the mageling had been injured before, where she could see. She also didn't know what "rotting" would look like, but thought that it was probably really icky because it didn't sound like something she'd want to happen to her.

But! That was not what needed to be addressed at the moment! Instead, the reason that she had left for the more populated areas should be addressed. It was important, after all. Just as cheerful--taking his smile to be a friendly thing, because she did not know emotions well and she could not reed them in facial expressions except that she knew that people were happy when the smiled, weren't they?--she said, "It's nice to meet you, Deimos!" She was grinning at him, not, and her bouncing had upset her hood, and it began to slip from her head, revealing her green eyes and her nose that was just a little too small.

The former wind spirit continued, "Am I really that small? The mage child is the only other human I've met! Have you met a lot of humans? Do you like them? The books I read said that some demons eat humans, are you going to eat me? I don't think that I really want to be eaten, it seems like it would be uncomfortable." Releah paused for breath, and then launched into the part of her babble that actually mattered, "Well see up North on the big, cold flat place, there's this child mage that lives there and I was just minding my own business blowing some snow about and having a good old time and then she had this out burst of magic and there was a whistle and now look at me!" she gestured to her apparently normal body, seeming a little upset about it, "I mean being able to see is nice but I don't like being conscious all the time unless I'm sleeping, and the sense of touch and hearing is so much worse and less spread out and I want to go back to how I was but the mageling didn't know how and there wasn't anything in her books, so she said that I should go south because there were more mages there that might be able to help me!"

By the end of this, Releah was a little frantic, bouncing on her heels again and giving the impression that if her hands weren't tucked inside the cloak she would be waving them around emphatically to try and explain what had happened to her. Seeing stuff and learning stuff was nice but she wanted to fly again. She wanted that feeling of freedom back, the kind that you can't feel when trapped in a human body. Releah hoped that he would help her; he seemed nice enough to her. This was probably because she didn't know enough to hear the meanness in what he said to Sarivi or the mocking way in which his eyes laughed.

[[Me: Releah.
Releah: What?
Me: Shut up.
Releah: What does "shut up" mean?]]

[Anonymous]

Sarivi kept his eyes fixed on the strange man as he was speaking to Releah, wondering what a demon was. He'd never heard of those before, and they certainly weren't something that he had ever run into under water... Unless they went by a different name there? That was always possible! Though Releah's comment that she's read somewhere that demons ate people was a little disturbing. And the description the man gave of the dead humans and what Sarivi was pretty sure was blood was even more disturbing... At least it didn't sound as if the demon was the one to kill them? It was odd, hearing someone caring so little over death, and the boy wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

The sprite took a step back, though fat lot of good it would actually do him if the stranger was dangerous. Now he was rather glad he had chosen to quiet up until the other was done talking... Though maybe Releah didn't know that it was good to give space to things that may or may not be dangerous. She certainly didn't seem to be reading anything into the strange man's manner. Maybe the boy was overreacting a little, but he'd figured out pretty early on that he was rather delicate on land, and the stranger was between them and the water so he'd err on the side of keeping his fins intact.

Of course... The man was smiling at Releah, so maybe he wasn't near as dangerous as Sarivi's overactive imagination was telling him. One little comment, and off his mind went, assuming things and trying to fit them in. Hardly a good way to think, letting himself get biased about his puzzles like that. And since he still didn't know what a demon was, and asking lots of questions wasn't a good idea until he knew if the much taller man was dangerous or not... He got to be a puzzle. Either that or something to pepper with questions from far away, though Releah certainly seemed to be doing a good job at that!

The sprite blinked in surprise and took another couple steps backwards as the man's attention suddenly switched to himself. And judging by the glare, didn't like him for some reason. It had the boy utterly confused, an expression which no doubt shone through clearly on his face. The man had seemed almost nice towards the girl, why was he suddenly glaring at him! After a moment of just blinking up at the man in confusion, Sarivi answered, voice tinged with nervousness, "Um... You? Isn't that sort of obvious since I am looking up that way..."

Okay, probably not the best way to say that. He glanced over towards Releah and took another step back, fins twisting a little. His arms crossed as he moved, limbs and fins partially covering his bare chest and fingers half grabbing onto the fins of the arms opposite in a nervous habit he didn't actually know he had. After half a moment's pause he asked hesitantly, "What are you? I know you said a demon but I don't know what those are..."

((Hehe, assholes are fun to play with though! At least for me, Sarivi probably wouldn't agree >.>;;))

[Lion]

Deimos quirked an eyebrow at the girl with a stoically hardened face.  Cold flat place?  He supposed she meant the tundra.  Why would she be out in the middle of a tundra, a hundred miles away from any possible civilization at least from what Deimos assumed.  But she said there was a small mage child that she encountered, so that meant that there must have been more people around, parents or guardians of some kind to care for the child.  Then Releah had his full attention when she referred to her body and he recognized the fact that she seemed to be disgruntled because of it.  Of course his natural maleness took over for a moment as he admired her face, smiling like a serial killer, when suddenly his curiosity claimed him.  So she wasn't human before?  He didn't know exactly how one became human, other than by spiritual means or religion or something stupid like that, but as it was: Releah stated that she had just recently been turned human.  And by magic!  Perhaps she was trapped?  Deimos was just about to ask what she was before she 'turned human' when Sarivi's comment made his head swivel in the water sprite's direction.

His white brows furrowed on his paled face as he recognized his question.  Deimos was almost appalled inside, though his face did not show it, at the question.  What was a demon?  Did he really ask this?  Sarivi must have because Deimos was neither deaf nor stupid and was reported to be an excellent listener.  "Demons are the creatures of the underworld, otherwise known as 'Hell' to humans.  They are the dominant creatures of monstrous entity, power beyond your wildest dreams," he answered tentatively.  "I am not just any demon.  I am a demigod, not of complete divine status but of immense power.  It is the lesser demons, which bow to me and do my bidding.  To put in short, a demon is a monstrous creature, dangerous and destructive....  May that quell your curiosity for the time being."

With that he turned his attention back to Releah and asked the question he intended to ask before Sarivi spoke.  But before his opened his mouth, he moved stopped her incessant bouncing by clasping hardened hands on her shoulders. "Stop bouncing...  Now, Ms. er-Releah, what, exactly, were you before you 'turned human'?"  Deimos let go off her accordingly and furrowed his brows curiously, no longer smiling, but looking to her expectantly.

[Ahh, short and sucky post!  Sorry for taking so long guys, writer's block and laziness, a bad combination for any weekend.]

[Anonymous]

"You're not a monster!" Releah told him cheerfully, "You're really nice!" Ah, Releah. Ever and always completely oblivious. It was likely that she didn't even really grasp the meaning of 'nice'. Not that that was really important. Releah didn't grasp a lot of things, but really 'mean' is something that would be more important for her to understand, because at the moment she was assuming that everyone was nice, and was therefore reacting like everyone was being nice to her--which, in fact, they weren't, always.

This hadn't yet gotten her in any trouble, but doubtless trouble was eminent. She was assuming Deimos was nice, after all.

When Deimos' hands rested on her shoulders, Releah attempted continue bouncing, until he asked her to stop. Which she did, and immediately cataloged that someone placing their hands on her shoulders meant that they wanted her to stop bouncing in excitement. Honestly, though, quelling her bouncing didn't do any good, because she was still bouncing on the inside and so the result of this was that it still seemed as if she was bouncing when she spoke. And besides that, she now had more energy, which she used to talk faster, words occasionally blurring together.

And then came the question. That was a mistake, because when you asked Releah a question, she found it hard to simply give straightforward, concise answers. When she did give a concise answer, she felt the need to elaborate on it. And she did. It was unclear why she did this; it's possible that she thought that other people were as curious as her, and so would want to know everything even vaguely related to what they asked about. It's also possible that she enjoyed being able to talk.

Never the less, Releah launched into the story of what she had been and how, exactly, she had come to be standing on that particular piece of beach with Sarivi. Of course, she gave entirely too much detail, and started with the most oblivious statement, which didn't really explain anything.

"I was the wind!" she crowed, in the sort of joyful tone that made you imagine her waving her hands above her head while she said this, and also bouncing. She continued, words coming out faster then they had to in some places, "I-was-the wind for a really-really-really longtime, see, and-I-just blew and blew things-all-around and I explored-mountains and forests and everything but-then-I-was up in that big-flat-cold-place and there was this whistle-and-then-I wasn't the wind anymore, I was human!" There was a pause for breath, and then Releah started back up, "See, what-happened-was-that there was this mage child up there in-this-big-drafty-house and she-was-alone and she-accidentally-made-me-human and then she didn't know how-to-make-me wind again, so she said 'Go-south-and-find-a-mage-who-knows-stuff'! So I-have-to-go-south-and-find someone who knows how to fix me because I miss being-the-wind!"

[Anonymous]

Sarivi watched the demon with wide eyes while the man gave his explanation, feeling more and more like he should have kept his distance with each additional word. He might not have known what some of what the demon mentioned actually -meant-... But one thing was obvious, and that was that whatever the man -looked- like, he was definitely dangerous. Very dangerous... Granted, on land Sarivi was horribly weak compared to just a human, so if this person was so dangerous to -them- then he would probably be able to take Sarivi apart like wet paper. Which wasn't exactly a wonderful thought.

His curiosity was far from quelled... But his sense of self preservation had kicked in enough to keep him quiet. The demon-man-god-person really didn't seem to like him anyways, so until Sarivi could figure out if Deimos was actually likely to live up to the explanation he had just given should the sprite annoy him... Well, it was probably just better to keep his mouth shut and let Releah ask questions for the both of them.

She certainly wasn't scared of the demon, -that- was for sure! Sarivi grinned faintly at her outburst, glancing between her and the demon to see how he would react. Maybe Deimos -wasn't- as dangerous as he said he was... After all, he hadn't actually done anything, just said things that were vaguely frightening. And Releah didn't seem to find him threatening at all!

[Lion]

The demon almost couldn't believe his ears.  Was she so naïve and oblivious to the fact that he was a dangerous being and wouldn't wince at the thought of tearing through her like parchment?!  Deimos' face had not changed and would likely not reveal the amount of offense she set upon him.  Though he was not beyond mindless violence, which he considered never hurt every now and again, he was also intelligent enough to recognize an advantage when he saw one.  While he wanted to wipe the achingly cheery smile from Releah's face with a quick strike, he did not quite yet understand what she meant by being the wind and therefore did not yet understand that being human was something foreign to her, he also considered what advantages could be gained from her presence.  He was never one to discard a situation quickly unless he saw immediately that the prospect had nothing to offer him.

He thought about what she said for a moment.  She was in search of a mage, or at least someone powerful enough in magic to turn her back into "the wind" as she so carelessly referred to herself.  He could not yet understand how one could be the wind because as far as he knew, the wind was nothing but itself and comprised of tiny particles that floated through it.  He was as of yet oblivious to anything he couldn't perceive with his senses or at least understand conceptually in his mind.  Though Deimos' primary power was shadow manipulation, able to transform darkness into corporeal objects to defeat his enemies or creating realistic illusions of the fears, causing insanity, he had exception experience in magics unknown to this world.  He considered certain possibilities for a moment.

After a long time of not speaking, he gave her a look that was both condescending and confused, his eyes sparking at irregular intervals.  "So you were the wind....  Then suddenly you became human and now you need someone who can turn you back into the wind..." he clarified for himself.  It may have been ironic of him, an exiled demon, to think of this girl as strange but it was a concept that wasn't far from his mind.  Surely, he had come across people who were able to maintain a thirty minute conversation with a piece of bread, but never one who actually believed themselves to something as incorporeal as the wind.  But, he sighed to himself because there was no point in arguing the inarguable.  She seemed innocent enough to be completely honest, this was a concept he understood early on in his time on earth.

He considered a thought for quite a while before deciding to speak of it.  Deimos chose his words very carefully.  "Ms. Releah...I have only one thing to say and it is a binding offer which pretty much means that once you take it, there is no going back.  If you understand what I am saying, then listen to me very carefully—and stop bouncing, it is very difficult to talk to you when you're practically jumping right out of your skin—I will help you, but only if you agree to give me something of my choosing when I decide.  Deals with demon are things involving equivalent exchange.  But my offer stands, I'll help you return to your normal form if you agree to whatever it is that I decide to ask for.  What do you say?"

[Sorry for taking so long guys.  I was just being lazy and procrastinating a lot.  Again, I apologize.]

[Anonymous]

Yes.

Yes, she was so naïve and oblivious to the fact that he was a dangerous being and wouldn't wince at the thought of tearing through her like parchment. In fact, had the occasion been right, Releah wouldn't have hesitated to hug him. Luckily for her, however, the moment was not right. In the future, though, she would surely make a mistake of some sort like this--and hopefully by that time, Deimos would like her enough to only maim her. None of this passed through Releah's mind, of course. She didn't think like that.

His long silence might have unnerved someone else, but to Releah it was nothing odd and she just kept grinning inanely as if nothing was wrong. Because, to her, nothing was. She was talking to a nice man about what she used to be and how she'd like to go back. He was momentarily stunned into silence or he was thinking or he had nothing to say. For someone who had spent centuries without "talking" to others, without even really thinking, a moment or two of silence was almost pitifully short.

Almost everyone thought that Releah was strange, and that's because she was. She was out of place. her true place, she was sure, was in the sky and the air, making it go, go, go, and twirl and blow. Creeping into every cranny she could and speeding across plains and crashing into building and stealing people's head scarves. Tugging at flags and helping ships along and feeling the texture of the world. Not stuck in the mortal coil.

At his offer, though, Releah did stop the bouncing that she hadn't even noticed, and giggle, for two reasons. One, the comment about trying to jump out of her skin(that was exactly what she was trying to do, you see--not with the bouncing, specifically, but that was really her main goal. She wondered if the pun had been on purpose but didn't ask.), and two--"You can't make deals with the wind, silly! I dunno how binding it is, but i wouldn't remember once I'm the wind again!" Just the thought of being the wind again made Releah give one of those annoyingly bright smiles, the ones that make you want to hide behind something or at least put on sunscreen and tinted glasses. Releah thought for a moment, and then said, "Unless it was something you wanted me to do in this body, but it's so weak and so odd... What did you have in mind? Is it something fun? Releah glanced behind her, at Sarivi, "What do you think?"

((uck... mines a little short, too, but i have to go to bed. I won't be on for a week; vacation.))

[Anonymous]

((I'm so sorry that it took me so long to answer! The 'net at home seemed to have decided that anytime I tried to reply was a good time to go boom so I finally gave up on it. I actually don't have 'net here yet... But as long as my neighbors don't secure theirs then I can just steal that! >.> At least until I figure out whatever thing I'm supposed to do to get my own))

Sarivi frowned a little at the offer, shifting uneasily on his feet. Maybe it was that the demon was already intimidating him more than a bit but... It didn't seem especially safe to make an open ended deal like that. The sprite might have been rather clueless most of the time, especially about how things were up here on land, but he wasn't stupid.

Or maybe binding deals were normal up here. Releah didn't seem to be overly worried, but maybe that was because she was used to things how she used to be, and not because the deal couldn't harm her... For all he knew, Deimos meant it was magically binding, and he had absolutely no idea how that might affect the girl once she managed to change back.

His mind whirled as he tried to think of what it was Deimos might want her to do. From everything the man had said, Sarivi figured that he was definitely far more powerful than he was, and probably more so than Releah, so what was it that she could do that he would want help with?

When Releah asked him his eyes jerked back to her, though his expression stayed a little worried. "I... don't know." He answered, hazel eyes flickering back to the demon, "You wouldn't ask her to do anything... bad, would you?"

Better survival skills might have told him to just keep his head out of it, since the man already didn't seem to like him much... But he had gotten to really like Releah in the rather short time he'd been talking to her. She was nice, and fun! He didn't want anything bad to happen to her just because he'd been too wary to make himself bring up the possibility. It was rather obvious that the thought hadn't even crossed her mind!

[Lion]

Deimos, for starters, was not often wont to question the wherefore of a fortune that graced him, especially when said fortune took the form of something that would further his power.  Despite his ingenuity and self-imposed brilliance, he had not yet concocted a method of breaking through the hell gate and into Oblivion to investigate certain familial matters.  The reasons behind his desire to do so had nothing to do with his children, whom he missed dearly and, to the surprise of others, did in fact love.  No, the reasons concerned his father and the plotting against him.  It was true that the vying for power was existent in all the creatures of the Netherworld and such instinct was exacerbated further when offspring were favored as was the case with Deimos.  Albeit the youngest of Crydion's children, it was no secret that Deimos was the favorite of his father, evoking the animosity between his three older sisters, Hecate, Iris, and Ragna.

Deals with demons were sensitive things and he was yet to decide what he would want Releah to do.  But he would be sure to make it something evil and unscrupulous as was his nature.  He was well aware that he could ask for the typical soul, but knew that once she was allegedly the wind again such a promise would go unfulfilled.  He cast a glance at the water sprite and wrinkled his brow as he answered, "That remains to be seen, little fish boy.  I'll let you know when I make the decision."  He turned to Releah next.  "And don't worry Releah, you in human form is well enough for me..."  He smiled menacingly in response to her cheery grin, thinking in such a brief silence.

"I don't plan to make this deal beyond our time together.  So when you turn back, Releah, you don't have to worry about any debts; that I can assure you."   The terms were set as far as Deimos was concerned and were quite simple enough to be understood by even the most simple-minded of creatures.  He would help her attain her previous form of being 'the wind' (she was still a little nuts as far as he knew) as long as she agreed to carry out whatever it was that he wanted her to do.  Still, however, there had to be an agreement, a solid affirmation that would mark the beginning of his time with her.  "Both ends of the deal will be carried out; I give you my word so long as I have yours.  So do we have a deal?"

[Anonymous]

You know how sometimes, you bring out the Christmas lights, and you string them up, and one of the bulbs is out? Releah isn't that bulb, but she is the bulb that you replace the bulb that's out with. And it's just a little off color or a little too bright or dim, because the other bulbs have been there since at least the last ice age, and any new bulb is strange and out of place just because it's new. That's how Releah is. It's not that she's stupid; it's just that she doesn't have everything that she needs to be smart. She's new, fresh, very much a child in a world of adults, and she doesn't realize it. Everything, to her, is new and exciting. Even mundane things—the smallest corpse of trees might fascinate her for hours, though someone else of Releah's apparent age would no doubt pass it by without a thought.

Sarivi had offered his advice, and of course Releah took it into consideration, because he was her friend, wasn't he? She was fairly certain that she understood the concept of friends, if nothing else. It was when you liked someone and they liked you back, even if they wouldn't admit it. Or, that's what the mageling had told her. So she really did like Sarivi, and she was fairly certain that he liked her, too, so that made them friends, right? Still, there was something she didn't understand: "What's 'something bad', Sarivi?" But Deimos didn't seem upset by the possibility of "something bad", and he was really nice, so she wasn't too worried.

If Releah knew anything about anything, she would know that the smile on Deimos's face was not a nice, kind thing, but in fact would probably kill flowers if there were any about. But it was hard for her to connect the things that she had seen and heard and smelled as a wind spirit to situations. But this situation was one that she knew at least what to say, if not what to do. She spoke strangely confidently and seriously, as she had heard it spoken before by many voices, "In return for your help, I will give you something of equal value to you. So I speak, so I intend." Even her sweet alto voice, the intonement lost none of its gravity. It had that sort of sparkle to it, the one that might just be in your mind but still made you want to follow through—not that Releah, daft though she was, would consider breaking the agreement.

But after she had said this, she was back to her bubbly self, peering at him curiously as he smiled maliciously. Although she had swept across many faces and knew the feel of different expressions, she didn't know what they looked like. She couldn't see the little differences, only that the smile Deimos wore looked right on him, and so that was what prompted her to tell him with a sweet sort of cheery excitement, "I like your smile!" And she did.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Releah didn't know how or why to be or act scared. If she did, she would simply appear dim. Because she didn't know fear, because even if she felt it she would not be able to name nor act on it, she did not appear dim so much as absolutely off her rocker. Hitting stupid people is commonplace. Hitting crazy people is stupid, because crazy people are likely to go apeshit on you if you provoke them. And though Releah was neither stupid nor crazy (not permanently, at least) she did very, very much appear to be insane. This, perhaps, was the only thing that might keep her safe.

[Anonymous]

Sarivi had expected... He wasn't quite sure, but it wasn't for the demon to actually say it was a possibility. Granted, of course it would be, but he had... Didn't people usually at least try to lie about things like that?! Somewhere in the back of his mind he had been expecting an 'of course not' or -something-. Not 'that remains to be seen'.

And he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that the demon said he would let Sarivi know about it. That could end up being bad for the little sprite, if what he had seen of Deimos was any indication thus far.

"I'm not a -fish-" He muttered under his breath, shifting nervously on his feet. This whole entire deal had his nerves on end... He wasn't sure that Releah knew enough to even recognize that it could be threatening! She seemed so... so... Well clueless was the less than nice way his mind was putting it, but it really was true. Way too true.

And with his mind on that track, it caught him totally off guard when Releah agreed to the deal how she did. He blinked at her, utterly surprised at the tone. If anything it was -comforting- how she suddenly switched back to the cheerful cluelessness he had come to expect in the very short time he'd been talking with her. And it was comforting how she'd phrased it... Though if the man managed to find a way to turn her back, he was pretty sure that would be a pretty big thing to repay.

"Something bad is... Like... Uh... I don't know. Like killing someone or... uh... stealing something or... something." He answered, rather belatedly, considering she had already agreed, "I guess it doesn't matter now though..."

[Lion]

As far as Deimos was concerned, a deal sealed was a done deal.  With a menacing grin on his wan face, he quickly clasped Releah's hand and shook at violently with his own pale one.  "Then let us begin, wind girl, and may our journey be fruitful."  He felt his red eyes burn as he moved past the water boy, whose own fading voice would have amused Deimos due to it being a sad attempt to save his friend from an agreement that could cost her her life; which she didn't seem too perturbed about.  Well, he would have if the comment about his smile hadn't made his face screw into a morose frown, the muscles of his jaw protruding from long use.  He didn't feel like beating the crap out of her just yet, but would store the offense for later; you know, when he could use a good punching bag.

He strode away from them for a few steps before swiveling about and suggesting in a voice that bequeathed no mercy, "I say we get a move on if we want to make it to the nearest town before sunset.  Most beings have a tendency to...become frail by the heralding of nightfall."  He shot the Sprite a dirty look, red eyes narrowed in an obvious show of distrust, before turning back around and persisting in his path down the beach.

[Anonymous]

The former bit of wind shrugged, and motioned to Sarivi to follow. As they walked, Releah continued to try to understand what something "bad" was. "I don't understand," She said frankly, frowning oddly. "This concept of... 'bad'. Killing... Stealing... What's... wrong?... with that? I took things all the time, when I was the wind. Scarves and papers and words and I take--took-ships off course all the time. Smashed them into rocks to feel the sound that they made. I joined my kin in great whirlwinds and killed millions."

She lapsed into silence, apparently remembering this. To humans, tornadoes were terrifying, strong, destructive. To Releah--to wind spirits--they were revels, a meeting and joining of wind spirits, sharing what they had seen, anything new, the only times when they really spoke. They had been the point of everything. That an hurricanes and storms, where they would sometimes converse with other elementals and elements. Wind spirits didn't die. You can't catch the wind and you can't control the wind, and so you certainly can't kill it.

She spoke again, hesitant, "And so I... Why is that bad? What does that mean? Undesirable? Is that right, Sarivi? But I've never minded if before." Killing or stealing in the horrid human form she was wearing would be harder, though, no doubt. But she could manage it.

[Lion]

[Hmm, is Whisper still here?]

[Anonymous]

((Yeah. Don't be impatient. :P ))

[Lion]

[You sure?  I haven't seen her around much lately.  Oh well, I'll be patient and wait.  *grumbles incoherently*]