Chapter 7, Day 5 AM, ...I...Love...You...

Odin was dreaming, but it was all black, he could hear voices and he recognized one.  It was an irritated voice but he knew that it was Raz, it sounded just like him.

“Grr … I’m tired of sitting here letting Odin do everything,” it was only a voice but it seemed to echo as if within a chamber, “he wasn’t even the first to emerge, so why does he get control?”

Another voice responded, “because if you were allowed to control we’d have been thrown in prison for murder.”  The voice was smug and condescending as it spoke.

Raz growled back, “nobody asked for your opinion, if you were in control our face would’ve been smashed in when you emerged.”

The other voice chuckled, “hey, I’m just honest, you’re the one who give everyone death glares.  I’m sure someone would shoot us because you looked at them wrong...”

Raz just growled louder, until another voice spoke up, “P-p-please S-s-stop...”  The voice wasn’t very loud and was shaky.

Raz sighed, “I wish Odin would wake up already, something doesn’t feel right … weird things have been happening in the world ... all the natural disasters lately can only mean one thing...”

Raz’s voice cut out as Odin opened his eyes, he was still dreaming though.  He was in a house, but it seemed much more advanced than Rheias’ home.  He was in a bed, it was a lot softer than Rheias’ but he was cuddling with Lea, which felt weird for him to cuddle a human.

Lea looked down at Odin then kissed him on the forehead, “Well good morning Odin, sleep well?”  Lea sat up and stretched, “well it’s already been a week and we’re already sharing a bed...”

Odin stretched as well, “don’t get ahead of yourself … you know I’m here because you offered, and I needed to get away from that asylum of a house...” Odin stood up, “...you’re gonna have to earn anything else...”

Lea got dressed and threw Odin his clothes, “let’s go for a walk... It’s relatively nice outside...”

Odin switched from shorts to jeans, and put on a goldenrod t-shirt, “Okay, as long as it doesn’t start hailing or raining fire...” Odin grabbed a card and a small device and stuck it in his pocket then walked outside into the bright sunlight.  When his eyes adjusted he saw humans riding inside metal boxes that made a lot of noise.

“Oh come on, the world isn’t going to end because of a few natural disasters...”  Lea tried to laugh it off, but he knew Odin was still worried about it.

“Lea, these aren’t just some Natural Disasters... it’s THE Natural Disasters ... Los Angeles is now underwater, Hawaii and Japan were wiped out by the resulting megatsunami … Yellowstone erupted, New York City is flooded...”  Odin was about to continue when the device in his pocket vibrated and started making noise, he pulled it out touching the flashing lights before holding it to ear, “I’m fine Mother, I’m over at Lea’s. Please stop calling me, I’ll come home when I need to.” He lowered the device and hit a light before putting it away.  “Gods, she’s annoying...”  They started walking away from Lea’s house when the land started to shake throwing Odin to the ground, “Oh Fuck!”

Lea stumbled over to Odin, “you okay?”  He toppled over as another shockwave ripped the earth apart around them.

“Now do you believe me that the world is going to Hell?” Odin ended up falling over a tear that shifted the ground. Odin looked up, he saw an Angel, but there was something wrong with his wings, they were black and distressed.

“Ah, silly Odin, Hell is coming to the world not the other way around...” He laughed as Odin leapt to his feet and away, “You have one of the Cards of Reason, correct?”

Odin was defensive, “I won’t let you get it Lucifer...” Lea jumped in front of Odin just in case Lucifer tried anything.

“Oh good, you’ve saved me the trouble of introductions, take this Inferno Card, you’ll need it to fight … Do me a favour and don’t die...” Lucifer laughed as he walked away from the two.

Odin was confused, “wait, don’t you want this card?  If you’re here that means you want a fight...”

Lucifer spun around and looked at Odin, “oh, I already have a Card, but it’s useless for me … besides, I’m interested in what your Reason will do to this world … and I want to see Michael’s face when he loses...”

As Lucifer walked away everything started to get fuzzy until all was black again.

Odin yawned and snuck out of the bed without alerting Rheias, making his way to the bathroom.  He drew up water for a bath and thought about the dream, he got in and cleaned himself, taking his time still thinking.  “What is going on?  Everyday just seems to get more and more complicated … where did I come from? Did I really used to be human?” Odin continued to soak and think; it was a good 10 minutes before he got out and toweled off, he walked back into the bedroom in only the towel.

Rheias tackled Odin, shaking and sobbing, “O-o-odin...” he held onto Odin trying to control his shaking as Odin carried him over to the bed.

Odin sat down with Rheias, holding him close, “Rheias, what’s wrong?  Did you have a nightmare as well?” He laid down keeping Rheias against him.

Rheias tried to calm down, crawling on top of Odin, “i-i-it was horrible ... Y-y-you never a-ap-appeared in the Plains...”  Rheias started shaking and sobbing again, pressing against Odin trying to stop the shaking.

Odin wrapped his tail around Rheias’ and held him tightly, licking and grooming Rheias’ face, comforting him the only way he knew how.  “It’s okay Rheias, I’m here for you … I just felt like taking a bath, I wouldn’t have if I knew you were having a nightmare like that...”  he continued to groom Rheias, “...I’m sorry, I’m going to stay here until you’re all better”

Rheias continued to sob, but nuzzled Odin before kissing him.  Odin was shocked but he returned the kiss and Rheias started to calm down, still crying but he had stopped shaking and his sobs were getting more distantly spaced before stopping all together.  “Thanks Odin … I … Love you … I wasn’t sure before but now I know I am...”

Odin kissed Rheias again, “I … L-l-l-l … damn it … why can’t I say it now? I said it yesterday...” Odin wanted to say it but failing to say it ruined his mood.  “ I’m sorry Rheias … I don’t know why I can’t say it...”

Rheias kissed Odin immediately to shut him up, “it’s okay Odin, I know how you feel...” Rheias nuzzled Odin’s chest before starting to relax, “we’ll … Just … lay … here...” Rheias eventually drifted off to sleep again, and Odin held him close and slowly managed to fall asleep.

Chapter 6 Day 4, Who are You?

Odin was back in the church looking at the gargoyle, the church doors swung open.  There was a flurry of white feathers as they opened, “Well Shit...”

“Heh, you really think you could hide in here?  I thought you’d know better Odin ... Prepare yourself...” Michael stepped towards Odin and Lea but immediately dropped to his knees, “...THE HELL IS THAT NOISE?”

Odin turned around and looked at the Gargoyle, it’s mouth was open as if it was screaming. Odin also noticed something else, it looked almost exactly like Raz.  He looked over at Michael, who was backing away from the church.

Lea went over to Odin, “see I told you it would protect us...” Lea’s mouth kept moving but Odin could not hear him.

Odin woke up suddenly, Rheias was already awake but still curled up next to him.  “Are you doing okay Rheias?” Odin was still concerned about him, he held Rheias close to him.

“Oh I’m fine now...” Rheias licked Odin’s muzzle, ”...We probably find Raz soon, he’s not too patient...” Rheias got up and put on a red vest and full length pants,  tossing  a blue vest and full length pants to Odin.

Odin caught the clothes and got up and dressed.  He walked over and hugged Rheias, “you sure you’re okay?” Odin equipped the katana and Rheias grabbed the Kama.

Rheias licked Odin’s muzzle, “yes, I’m fine … Are you?  It seemed like you were having another nightmare...” Rheias led Odin outside and to Raz’s house as they talked.

“Yeah, it wasn’t very long and nothing really happened...” he wasn’t comfortable with telling Rheias about what he saw.  They arrived rather quickly, knocking on the door immediately.

Raz opened the door, ”oh good you’re here … Let’s get going.”  Raz grabbed a halberd, then led the way out of the village.  “So is everything okay with you two now?”

Rheias stayed between Raz and Odin, “yep, I feel a lot better now... exactly where are we going to?”

“They want us to check out Prayer Mound ... there are rumours of some creature lurking about … nobody seems to know what it could be...” 

Rheias gulped and grabbed Odin’s arm, “N-no...” Odin pulled Rheias closer and Rheias looked at him.

“That won’t happen this time Rheias ... I promise...” Odin looked over at Raz who looked confused, “Look when we get there don’t try anything heroic … if I say run, you run, no questions asked til we are safe, got it?”

Raz shrugged, “this has something to do with Kexin’s death I guess?” he saw Odin nod, “Got it, if it’s dangerous at all we run...”

They made their way up the hill, there was nothing suspicious that Odin could detect, this worried him more than it comforted him.  “Be on guard... anything can happen...”  Odin turned around in time to see White feathers swirling in the air.

Suddenly the feathers burst outwards, revealing Michael, “ah, there you are Odin, I’ve missed you so much...”  Michael smirked, “...and you found Raz … should have known you had a dragon in you as well...”  Michael looked at Raz, “...odd how the main persona is the last to awaken, oh well time to die...” Michael stepped forward, but quickly dropped to his knees. “AGAIN WITH THAT DAMN NOISE!”

Raz’s mouth was open and he was growling that Odin could tell, “So shall we run Odin?” he was still growling, and glaring at Michael.

Odin unsheathed the Katana, “Stay away from me and Rheias you bastard,” he swooped the blade and sliced at Michael’s head.

“Argh,” Michael disappeared in a flurry of feathers, “this isn’t the last time we’ll meet Odin, I will take you and this blasphemy of a world out...” Michael’s voice faded out slowly.

Odin resheathed the katana, “well shit ... This isn’t good...” Odin turned to the others, “well, looks like my situation is pretty screwed ... Sorry for dragging you both into this...” Odin gasped as Rheias jumped up and hugged him tightly.

“Don’t say that Odin ... We’re in this together … We shouldn’t let him get to us...” he tightly held onto Odin, trying to not shake like a leaf.

Raz got closer to the two, “Rheias is right ... He didn’t like my presence … so we should be safe is we stay in one group...”

Odin pried Rheias off of him, “Okay, we’ll have to stick together … Thanks Raz...”  Odin hugged Rheias back, and kept him close.  “Let’s check around one last time then head back...”

Raz nodded and led the way, “so what was that thing anyways?  I’ve never seen anything like it...”  He was more cautious than ever, looking out for more creatures.

Odin looked around, sniffing for traces of anything odd, “I think his name is Michael... I think he’s called an Angel...” Odin shook his head, “...I just thought it was a bad dream...”  Odin looked around and sighed.

Raz looked over, ”So you’ve had dreams about him?  I’ve had dreams where the name Angels came up ... but I never really could see what was going on ... I do remember kicking a little white creature in the face and it shattering...”

Odin shivered, “did it say anything about a Mother?”  Odin was getting freaked out, he could not figure out how he would have had the exact same dream.

“Hmm...” Raz looked up in the sky, “yeah, Everything was black and then I could see the creature as it said that...”  He looked over at Odin, “and then I kicked it’s face in...”

Odin’s fur stood on end, and squeaked, holding onto Rheias.  “That’s some dream...” Odin got rather uncomfortable.

Rheias could see that something was bothering Odin, “that’s a lot like one of your nightmares huh?” He returned the hug, trying to comfort Odin.

Raz came over, “okay let’s head home...” he looked at Odin, ”...this has gotten rather uncomfortable accidentally...”

“Yeah...” Odin nodded and started back to the village, holding Rheias close to him.  Odin wondered about what Michael had said about Persona.  He also wondered if there was a connection between him and Raz.

Chapter 5- Do I Know You

Odin shot up in the bed, sending Rheias off the edge.  “What … the?”  He was out of breath, his heart beating like crazy.  Odin noticed a lack of Rheias on the bed and saw him on the ground, “Oh, sorry Rheias … nightmare again…”

Rheias rubbed his back and base of tail, “Ow … must’ve been one hell of a dream…”  He crawled back onto the bed still rubbing his back.  “Lets not do that again, that really hurt…”

Odin pulled Rheias to him and licked his muzzle, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to launch you off the bed...”  Odin laid down and pulled Rheias down with him.

“It’s okay Odin, we still have some time to rest, so let’s.”  Rheias scoot closer and rubbed his muzzle under Odin’s.

It wasn’t long till Odin started to dream, but yet again he was in a different spot.  He was in the middle of the ruined city again Lea was panting.  “Lea you didn’t have to run so fast...”

Lea was sweating even more than he had been. “Sorry … I didn’t realize you were friends with demons...” he stood up after he caught his breath, “You really should tell people that kind of stuff...”

Odin scratched the back of his head, his hair feeling much different than his fur he was used to.  ”Sorry, things happened so suddenly that I didn’t remember to share that little tidbit of knowledge.  You should know how much I forget things.”

Lea was tired, “look we’ve been running around all day. Lets find a Gargoyle Haven and rest...”  Lea led the way to a church with Gargoyle fixtures, “we’ll be safe here.”

Odin scoffed, “You’re kidding right? Gargoyles will do nothing to Gabriel, He’s an Angel remember?  He’ll just stroll right in and murder us to death...”

Lea chuckled, “well I guess that’s true, if he wasn’t out to kill us. the Gargoyles will protect us from demons and any Angels who wish to harm humans ... they work in the human’s favour, not the Angels...”

Odin went over to a Gargoyle statue, “Oh, okay...” Odin looked at the statue and everything began to fade, he was waking up.

Odin opened his eyes, the sun had risen and Rheias was drying off when he noticed Odin staring at him.

“Um,” Rheias stopped moving, “morning... can you stop staring at me?” Odin got up and moved closer to him, causing Rheias to step back, but he slipped, sending the towel flying towards Odin and his butt to the floor.

“Ah!” Odin rush over to help Rheias but only managed to slip and land on top of Rheias.  Luckily Odin caught himself and ended up bent over Rheias.  “Um, you okay Rheias?”

Rheias had shut his eyes upon hitting the floor, but upon hearing Odin’s voice he opened them. “GAH!” Odin’s face was centimeters from Rheias’ face, Rheias freaked out from the surprise, hitting Odin’s arm out.  

Odin fell face first into Rheias’ chest, “Rheias …  What did I do to deserve this?”  He managed to look up at Rheias,  “I’ve told you I won’t do what Kexin did...”

Rheias looked down at Odin, then started to tear up,  “Odin … I-I …”  Sobbing, Rheias squirmed out from underneath Odin and crawled into the bathroom, shutting and barring the door.

Odin got up and sighed, “Rheias ... I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you so much...”  Odin decided to get dressed himself, as he finished there was a knock on the door.  “who could that be?  If they’re anything like Kexin...” Odin growled but went and opened the door and was surprised at who the visitor was.

The visitor was a dragon, but Odin recognized it somehow, he was about a head taller than Odin with onyx scales all over.  He had charcoal on the underside of his tail and under his chin leading down to his chest.  His Ruby red eyes were fixated on Odin, his breath much warmer than Odin’s, “Do … I know you?” Odin and this dragon synchronized their speaking perfectly without trying.

Odin shook his head, he couldn’t know this dragon, but he did seem familiar.  “No, I’m Odin, I actually don’t remember anything past 4 days ago … Can I help you?” He stepped back, judging the dragon, then it hit him, this dragon was a Gargoyle.

“Oh, um I’m Raz … is Rheias around?” Raz knew the name Odin, but he had never met this one, or any Odin for that matter.

“Oh, yeah I’ll go check in on him...”  Odin went over to the bathroom door and knocked, “Rheias … are you okay?” Odin was worried, he could hear Rheias sobbing lightly but he had started to move towards the door.

Rheias opened the door fully dressed and suddenly hugged Odin, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...”  Rheias was still crying and buried his face in Odin’s fur.

Raz had snuck inside, and was growling at Odin, “What did you do you Ass?”  Raz was protective and seeing Rheias crying triggered his defensiveness.

Rheias shook and nearly collapsed, “R-raz! He didn’t do anything!”  Rheias knew Raz would easily put Odin through a wall.

Raz was still growling, “that’s the same thing you said about Kexin, and you still won’t let me skin that damn-”

“Raz! Enough!” Odin interrupted Raz, “Kexin’s dead and we don’t want to revisit that...” Odin was holding tightly onto Rheias who was shaking like a leaf.  “I scared him and he slipped, then when I went to help him I nearly fell on him. It scared him okay? He’s terrified already ... we’re not going to help him by fighting...”  Odin lead Rheias to the bed and Rheias collapsed on top of Odin, passing out.

Raz eventually calmed down before he tried to talk, “sorry, I overreacted … it’s just after what happened with Kexin I don’t want to see it happen to him again.”  He went over and leaned against the wall, “he really trusts you … don’t hurt him...”

Odin pulled Rheias fully on top of him and held him close, “I … L-l-ove ... him … I can’t purposefully hurt him Raz ... seeing him so scared really hurt me...” Odin licked Rheias’ face and groomed the fur messed up from the tears.

“So what exactly happened with Kexin? I just got back to the village ... so i apparently have missed something...”  Raz started to relax, seeing Rheias being treated so nicely made him feel better, he could swear he heard Rheias purring.

“Well we ran into monsters over by the forest, and Kexin got cocky … then he got smashed and splattered everywhere...”

Raz cringed at the thought, “yikes … no wonder he’s so shaken up...”  Raz looked down at the floor, “I doubt I could handle watching something like that alone … he’s lucky he’s got you...”

Odin nodded, “yeah, he was terrified after it all happened … we washed off, and came home … then he told me what happened with Kexin...”

“Oh... well, I’ll come back later, I wanted to go out into the field and hang out, but i’ll let him rest for awhile... he needs it...”  Raz showed himself out.

“Rheias, why was it so hard for me to say it...”  It had been on the back of his mind ever since he struggled to say it, “I really do, but i don’t know if I could say it to you...” He cuddled Rheias and slowly fell asleep again.