—The Moon god & [Error - Fe#dba4k l!o/0p] & @4gf251 & a$56 q—

  When I clapped my hands, the pair were whisked away, the magic I imbued into this mountain an age ago taking them to one of the many randomised exits to the dungeon.

  The first cog has begun to spin. I felt them whisper to me, and they returned the partial control of my mask that they'd borrowed to talk to the pair.

  The potential for chaos those two carried within them was practically endless, and made them excellent vessels for change.

  Stirring sticks for the stagnant pond.

  It only took a couple of words to prick Sally's pride, to make her feel desperate enough to do many things she otherwise would not have, actions that wiser creatures wouldn't dare to. Desperate enough to bite the poisoned apple I had offered her, and become the first host of the framework for the Path I wanted this world to have. It might not be as powerful as his, but it'll be a return to how the power of Fate should've been used.

  Lord Sun will no longer have sole claim over the Path, if my introduced framework spreads, he'll have competition for his currently uncontested framework.

  The Cleaner water creeps. Seeps into the Synchronicity.

  But an unexpected boon came with the child. The mental mesh that'd been put around her brain was simply a masterwork—a craft of such a high degree that I hadn't been expecting to see anything of its quality in this world. Not even with Fate's guidance could either of us have anticipated this boon.

  It's maintaining all of her brain's higher functions from before the physical switch, while allowing the infant's drakeling brain to manage the bodily functions. As time goes on, I'm sure the new physical medium will integrate the brain scaffolding maintained by magic. But all the fleshy brain was being used for at the moment was motor control, sensations like hunger and pain, and some small parts of her personality. Though what little ego it's able to support has already been imprinted with small parts of what I assume is Sally's pride. That part of her is already draconic in ferocity.

  I'm tempted to use it for a future project, but I'll have to use a heavily copied version, as most of its finer details are completely beyond my understanding.

  Though Orion had a task just as vital as the soon-to-be dragon, and will be our trojan house for the metaphorical city of Order. He will-

  Hush. The Its are listening. My fellow conspirator warned me, and I promptly stopped thinking about spoilers, I would hate to ruin the story for those reading.

  To make sure that my thoughts didn't idly wander to things I shouldn't reveal, I decided to continue onto the next stage of the plan. I had to retrieve the all-important item just within reach.

  The butter knife, stained with the extremely dangerous black blood of the Ulun'suti, would be the tool I'd use to kill a god.

  To retrieve it from where it was discarded on the floor, I had to use the painfully mundane method of pulling it in with my cloak. My prison was designed to keep my essence tightly bound within its dimensions, but thankfully he never considered needing to physically restrain my access to the metre of outside world. Well, the metre I could reach through my cloak.

  However I would need to engage in the miserable task of physical labour to reach just outside of my prison's vertical bars. I threw my robe onto the knife—the sound of my coins clattering disgracefully—and I dragged it closer. The act made me want to turn someone inside out, the usually graceful noise my robe made had now been turned into a mocking scrape against stone.

  After a few attempts, I successfully dragged the tarnished steel blade within the bounds of the prison. The previously subdued droplet of black blood staining the knife awakened, and attempted to stain my non-corporeal essence with its taint.

  I quickly flexed my assigned authority over all things of the night to restrain it, stopping it from being able to reach me. The Ulun'suti was truly a terrifying entity, though what made its godhood so threatening was not the myriad of poisons it could attack with, but its deadliest weapon, kept hidden in its blood. How are you meant to kill an entity that contained a cataclysm in its veins? With every wound it takes it sheds a corruption that could kill gods. Especially a reduced one like myself.

  Ah, but I'm getting lost in memories again. Time to focus.

  "Do not resist, black blood. For if you remain in hiding, you shall have a chance to stain a sun." I spoke to the essence within the blood, promising it a prize much more tantalising than a mere reflection of the unspoiled light it'd been chasing for millennia.

  While there was no intelligence in the blood, the concept that puppeteered it didn't need such a thing to function.

  While it would not bend to my will, it did allow me to work what magic I had left to bind it within the knife, hiding that corruption deeply enough that even I could barely sense it. To finish off the deceit, I let my co-conspirator change the memories of Fate, hiding the cursed nature of the knife from the data-files of the Path.

  We'd done this trick before, to hide the Black Blood, what it was capable of, and that it was found in the Ulun'suti's veins.

  It took a few moments, but the blood seeped deep inside the butter knife, and even Lord Sun would struggle to find or notice the threat, even if he was told of its duplicitous nature.

  The next set of cogs approach. Upon hearing their warning, I hid the knife in an aggravatingly mundane fashion, tucking it within a fold of my robe.

  In the circular landing zone where the soul-bound pair landed, a rainbow of shining colours manifested. Inside the shimmering haze, a pair of doors became visible, though the magical mirage made it hard to see them clearly.

  When the misty colours began to fade, the wooden shapes inversely became more defined. They remained even as magical phenomenon faded, the Bifr?st doors settling into this skin of reality without issue.

  The two grand cuts of wood had the same vague shape as saloon doors, the flat planks of wood creating two symmetrical rectangles. They were flat on all sides except the top, where they formed one grand arch.

  Carvings of runes were hidden inside the flowing shapes etched into the wood, the Viking art telling a tale of Ragnarok, of a hammer-wielding warrior fighting the largest and grandest of the ancient Uktena, the world serpent J?rmungandr.

  The doors swung open, and instead of showing the empty cavern air behind them—as reality would typically demand—another location was shown. Through the rift in space stepped the group of people who'd kill this world.

  The dozen or so teenagers looked weary, the vile children were still recovering from the 'Boss' I placed in the room they'd just emerged from. That bear was from a particularly vicious breed of man-eaters, tough enough to weather centuries of hunts to put down the child-snatching Ursus.

  "Welcome victorious challengers!" I greeted them with falsified cheer. While my voice sounded like its usual androgynous droll to me, the distance it must travel to reach the mask, and be emitted, would distort it heavily.

  The party slowly made their way towards me, and as they limped closer, I began to feel the weight of Lord Sun's attention. He must be keeping a permanent view of his favourite toys open at all times, anchoring it to the frameworks he placed inside their souls.

  "Would you like your reward?" I innocently asked, my co-conspirator watching my words closely. It made them uneasy, but we'd agreed to let me take this second group—mostly for my own vindication. The boy leading them was wearing an uncomfortably tight black body suit with dirtied white robes over the top, the sight of the Sun god's priestly order's uniform filling me with disgust. No matter how many centuries passed since I helped design it, I never felt any less put-off by it.

  'So that they may serve me in body and mind' he had requested when in the design process—what a spoiled man-child of a god he'd become.

  "Yes, give it to us." The petulant child demanded, his rudeness—while completely expected—still made me want to punish him in some way. I fervently wished I still had the power to turn humans into animals, he'd make for an entertaining rodent. Maybe I could feed his transfigured body to an eagle?

  Do not.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I laughed internally at my colleague's seriousness, turning irritants into animals went out of fashion centuries ago. I was much more into the Fey punishments before being imprisoned. Besides, my urges were under control—especially given my knowledge of what would happen to him in the end. That's enough to soothe my anger.

  "A dagger—capable of killing anything!" I declared loudly, tossing that butter knife into the centre of the group. The teenagers immediately scattered like I'd thrown an irradiated piece of Chernobyl at them, which wasn't far from the truth.

  I had been tempted to keep it, as even that drop would be enough to weaken my bonds, but I would get another chance soon. No need to ruin the plan for a short term gain, one that he might notice and punish me for.

  "This isn't-! Where's the watch?" The boy spat, and I finally remembered the name of the child I’d use to-

  What I'd use him for doesn't matter—yet. But his name was Elio, the spark lost in the dark.

  "The watch was the reward for the first arrival… Which you are not." I answered, the boy's features becoming twisted with confusion and petulant anger.

  Complexity, only functionable when factors follow Fate.

  Another child stepped forwards, a wiser Japanese girl named ōhiruna, who wielded the shining light of a forgotten heaven. Using Fate's gift, the practice runs we had run of this scenario always had the best outcome with her as the fulcrum between the volatile elements.

  "Could you please explain your statement? And who was first? If you do not mind my impolite questioning Lord… ?" She asked while perfectly bowing at the waist. An immaculate showing of what good manners look like.

  "My position was never near Lord Sun's, Once I was Servant Moon, but now I am Imprisoned Moon." I answered, the girl muttering her thanks as I continued to talk.

  "Mere minutes before you arrived, A ranger and his draconic companion claimed the prize and departed." I hinted, stoking the hateful flame inside Elio, and drawing Lord Sun's attention with the mention of his favourite species to hunt.

  The Sun's excitement caused damage to my unprotected essence. It was as if a desert sun had begun to weigh down upon me, the force of his gaze enough to singe the edge of my very soul. Without the body, memories, and identity he'd stolen from me, I had been left unprotected and naked to outside influences.

  I must be careful now, because Lord Sun would know if I lied, by levy of the contract I signed. I must toe the line between vague truths and outright lies, catching and misleading his attention without him growing suspicious.

  "Orion! He must've stolen it from us!" Elio spat, childishly incensed that someone stole what wasn't his yet—only one of his could be so petulant. Though the watch was important enough to warrant such anger.

  "Don't jump to those kinds of conclusions! I don't think Orion is capable of such things." A priestly girl interjected, and wore the same garb as Elio. That must be Becky, it was nice to put a face to the one I'd nicknamed 'Little Miss Home-fire'. I almost pitied Lord Sun, familicide is not a desired trait in any god's most devout priesthood.

  As Becky made her way to the front of the group, she picked up the butter knife and tucked it into her robes. The weapon had reached the hands it needed to be in.

  She was the strongest fuel for the pyre I'd-

  Do not be so childish, or open, about what I've showed you. My ever excitement-sapping companion chastised me, stopping me from spilling the beans to the audience listening to my thoughts.

  "Well, I do not believe Moon would be dishonest with us." ōhiruna defended my statement, fulfilling her purpose of speaking the words I could not get away with saying.

  "Well, how would Orion even get here before us? It's not like there was another way here, and we didn't see him!" Becky pointed out, making a valid point that would've swayed the group—if I wasn't there to intervene, of course.

  "My bindings prevent me from saying falsehoods, and there is more than one way down. An experienced pathfinder would've been able to navigate a shortcut." I obfuscated, muddying the truth and painting Orion as a turncoat. I could not lie, but that did not mean I had to be honest.

  A hint of confusion sprinted across Becky's face as Elio spitefully grinned at her, believing that my words proved him right.

  "I still don't think Orion would've done such a thing—on purpose at least." Becky hastily added, and ōhiruna shook her head at her.

  "You see too much good in people. He was always lurking at the back of the group and creepily staring at us." She shuddered, a number of people in the party nodding and quietly agreeing with her.

  "That? Orion was just a bit… socially awkward. That's all." Becky continued to defend him. I suppose the most dangerous member of the party would know better than to blame Orion, it's only natural given her training.

  "Stop defending that dick-head Becky, he was an asshole who refused to listen to simple instructions, and wanted to put us all in danger so he could keep his untrainable murder-lizard. And he'd already decided to ditch us because of that, so why wouldn't he go on ahead without us to steal the reward?" Elio argued, pointing out a number of debatably correct but bad-faith statements.

  "I would not say it with such strong words, but I think most people here would agree that he did behave sketchily for most of the time we knew him. I don't think it's a real surprise to anyone that he'd steal the first-place reward after running off in the middle of the night." ōhiruna agreed in much more polite terms.

  "I- Ah- But-" Becky stammered, displaying a mixture of reluctance and innocent naivety to the group.

  "How about we go with 'innocent until proven guilty'? At least until we have some real evidence." Becky asked.

  "… I don't believe that we'll ever get better evidence than a witness who cannot lie. But that'll have to do for now." ōhiruna pointed out while nodding her head towards me. I respectfully mirrored the acknowledgement, amused by how theoretically correct, yet wrong in actuality her statement was.

  The priestess looked at my wooden mask, her eyes gazing into my flames before she admitted defeat with a sigh. She huffed childishly before retreating to the back of the group

  "We're going to have to hunt him down, we need that item to save the world." Elio carelessly revealed.

  "… Why do you know so much about this reward? And why did you not reveal that critical piece of information earlier?" ōhiruna dutifully questioned, once again serving as an excellent tool to tip the conversation.

  "I was going to tell you guys when we got it… I didn't see a reason to bring it up before we had it?" Elio answered while looking at anything but the witch's eyes.

  "Can we leave and talk about this stuff later?" A drenched assassin complained, his thin clothes had been sopping wet from the moment he stepped into the room.

  "Your wish is my command!" I sighed, clapping my incorporeal hands before any of the loud-mouth ones could stop me. They all disappeared in an instant.

  ***

  It is my time. He approaches. They warned me, and I happily ceded control of my mask's voice to them. I had no interest in interacting with him ever again. Not that I'll be able to maintain my calmness long enough to fulfil my obligations.

  My control over my physical implements faded by a few degrees, my ability to feel and interact with the world through mundane means transferred to the hand. Once upon a time, they hadn't been able to use my tools without extreme clumsiness—their unfamiliarity with existing in the physical plane obvious. However practice had quickly solved that hindrance.

  The power of a sun began to manifest, a wave of heat emanated from the centre of the room, and I quickly ordered the last remaining shard of the Bifr?st to retreat before he could incinerate it.

  The doors disappeared an instant before he descended with a fiery bang of light. All of the torches he'd used to bind me flared in recognition, the undying flames roaring in jubilation upon recognising their Lord.

  The Sun god was a beautiful man, he had tanned and oiled olive skin, long near-platinum blonde hair flowing to the waist. He still loved to show off his muscles, the predator's lithe form on full display through the toga. The white robes left little to imagination, his chest, legs and arms all visible through gaps in the cloth.

  His eyes were a vibrant red, the colour of brightly burning embers. It was the pupils—his unearthly androgynous beauty another clue—that made it impossible to mistake him for a mortal. It'd been overwhelming enough, that at one point, I'd been madly in love with him. However, his actions had been vile enough to extinguish any sort of attraction to the man.

  "Moon Servant." Sun addressed them, breaking the silence that'd held since his arrival.

  "Greetings, my Lord." They loudly responded, and patiently waited like the good little servant they were pretending to be, the one Lord Sun still expected me to be.

  "My children were meant to receive that watch. Why have you failed me?" He blamed me, like I was somehow responsible for the situation. I would've shouted that at him if I could've, but that was why they were in control now anyways.

  "… This servant apologises, the bounds placed on my actions-"

  "Disappointing." The Sun god interrupted my companion, silently casting a spell to punish me. In an instant the bars placed on my prison ignited with a fiery radiance, sending the power of the sun directly into every aspect of my being.

  Waves of agony rolled through my existence, my very soul losing many of its outer layer as it was peeled back, becoming scorched and burnt. Every moment of existence becoming a torturous one.

  "… Lesser Thing, was your statement about the dragon honest?" He asked.

  "There was such a creature accompanying the Ranger. A thing of scales and wings that could one day endanger your Order." My companion misled. Even while experiencing the most extreme agony one can ever feel, I still felt amusement at their statement. She would birth the threat that erodes his empire, but only because she is one of the first cogs in our Rube-Goldberg machine. Not the threat exactly, but-

  He then left, much quickly and subtler than his arrival, cutting off my need to distract myself from the pain any longer. I waited a few moments before stitching my soul back together, his punishment for my 'failures' only as permanent as I wished it to be.

  I fully shed my mortal instruments, allowing the robe and mask to fall to the floor with an ungraceful clattering of metal. While I did love them, the way it forced my essence into such a shape was unforgivable.

  Originally he'd meant to punish me by stealing away my form and identity—its shape, physicality, name and even my sex. All that was left of the entity from before I became the Moon god was faint, eroded, and scorched memories—only the barest of details had survived the baptism of Sun-fire.

  But as I languished under this mountain, I came to enjoy what I'd become. That I was nothing, yet held multitudes, my formlessness was now as much a part of me as my role, memories or goal.

  Without a body to bind me together, I’d been reduced to cobwebs between trees that rustled in the breeze. The awe-inspiring sight of moonlight shimmering off a lake and the whisper of gentle winds through ancient caves.

  With my humanity taken away, godhood has sprouted through the cracks. It bloomed without the baggage of mortal morality that—I now knew—hindered divinity.

  But was I truly a god, if my divinity couldn't give me the one thing I truly wanted above everything else, even revenge? What was a god without their freedom?

  What was the point of being the moon, if I couldn’t witness the still summer's night, illuminate the land with my pale light, or guide the dead.

  Was I still a god if I can't embody my meaning?

  Soon, freedom shall come soon. They reassured me, and I looked up, eager for my next opportunity to escape to seep into reach.

  But I didn't fret, we knew that we’d soon both be free, and how could we not be?

  Fate has decreed it to be, so it will happen.