Location: West Virginian Wasteland
Maka was running through the wastes, her little sister Ava being carried in her arms. Something was chasing them, it was one of those bugs, but it was larger than most. It had sliced her spear in half, and so she began running from it. It was larger than any bug she had ever seen, and much more dangerous as well.
She looked over her shoulder, the bug was still chasing them, though it was much farther off now. This did not slow her down however, the adrenaline was still pumping, as long as that bug knew where she was, she had to find a way to shake it off her trail. This was just supposed to be another scavenging run, she had done this hundreds of times, why was now so different?
Why was this thing even after her? Did she accidentally encroach on some territory it had claimed? Damn it, what did she do? What could she have done differently to have not put her and her four year old sister in danger?
A nail parried another, and then thrust, only to be blocked by the opponent's nail. The two siblings were having a friendly sparring session, it was one of their favored pass times. These nails were intentionally dull, so as not to accidentally harm one another. Their father had taught them how to sparr as a pastime, though he had explicitly told them to come to him if there is danger, and not face it themselves.
Sparring was more of a… recreational activity, something to have fun with, and bond over. Though it did develop self defensive skills, their father had never allowed those skills to be necessary.
Pitter give a swing, and Patter blocked, oh how they both loved this. It was their favorite pastime by far. It gave quite the thrill, and the loved spending time with their sibling. They would of course partake in other activities that involved their other siblings. They enjoyed those pastimes too, but none of them compared to the excitement of a friendly sparring duel.
Pitter side stepped as Patter came in for a blow, Patter however backing out of the move before he fully committed. Patter blocked another blow, and counter thrust. Oh how they could do this for hours on end, they wouldn't even notice the elapsed time with the amount of fun they were having.
However… The two stopped all of a sudden, Pitter was in mid swing, frozen like a statue. Patter was still in his blocking stance. They sensed something, the ever familiar signature of one… no, two of their kind. These ones… these ones had the familiar feeling taint of dilution. That meant there were sick siblings nearby!
Pitter and Patter turned their heads around frantically, trying to feel for where that signature was coming from. They knew these siblings had no intention of getting better, they had learned that the last few times. So, it was up to them as their responsible and loving siblings to make them accept treatment. What kind of siblings would they be if they did not make every effort they could to make their sick siblings better?
"There" Pitter pointed in the direction the signature of their sick siblings was coming from.
"Find them! Find them!" Patter said, racing off in the designated direction, Pitter running close behind them.
Hadas was running as fast as he could towards his prize. Two perfectly good humans, they would be his generals, ones that would lead his future armies in carving out a realm for himself. His last attempts to get such powerful assets ended… less than favorably… it got him in quite a few scuffles with other gods who had apparently already claimed the humans themselves.
He hadn't really intended to get into those scuffles, but he didn't ever feel he could afford to back down. It however did make him one of the less liked gods out there, but once he got a domain, he would be too important to ignore… granted he was smart with it. He would make a land of the strong and fierce, one which would conquer and never be conquered. These humans would be the catalyst for that land's birth.
He would just need to catch it, and well, that was proving difficult, he had underestimated the speeds at which humans could run, and for how far. Even with his godly endurance, he was beginning to get a bit tired. It couldn't be too much longer, they couldn't defeat him, so once he caught up, that was it.
Hadas had many fantasies of the martial empire he would forge. It would be grand, free of weakness. Strong bugs fight in his wars to expand his domain and bring it glory, breeding, and making new generations of strong bugs to continue the glorious cycle. He would finally have his kingdom, and be recognized as one deserving of respect and recognition.
Maka continued her dash, adrenaline fueling her still. Her little sister had been quiet, too scared to speak, worried that the monster would get her if she spoke. Her big sis had tried to fight the scary monster, but failed, and now they were running as fast as they could from it.
Maka was beginning to get tired, she hadn't kept track of how long she was running from the bug, but it felt like a long time. Perhaps that was just her perception of time being screwed up from the physical exertion?
She was too focuses on running now to look back if she had lost the thing yes, she hoped she did. She wasn't sure for how much longer she could keep running-
"Found you! Found you!"
"Hold still sibling, hold still"
Maka's eyes widened, where did that come from?!
Suddenly a black mist appeared in front of her, and out of it materialized two tall vanta black figures, wearing white head pieces.
Their sudden appearance caused Maka to come to an abrupt stop, what were these things? They didn't look like any bug she had seen before. They were tall, taller than her, that was almost unheard of for bugs. Admittedly she wasn't the tallest human, but still.
Without warning, the two vanta black creatures closed the distance unnaturally quickly, one snatched Ava from her unprepared arms, the other grabbed her, and held tight. She kicked, and struggled, but the thing held firm.
The one holding her wrapped an arm around her torso, and used its other hand to stroke her face. Maka recoiled from the touch, and renewed her struggles.
"Siblings need not struggle, siblings will be fixed. Sickness will be cured, sibling must come with us"
The being spoke with an icy yet caring voice. Maka didn't know what that meant, did they think she was their sibling, or were they referring to her as a sibling because of her little sister?
"Maka help!" Ava yelled, her high pitched voice pleaded.
The creature that held her was holding her close, and rocking her back and forth.
"Siblings will be fixed, we will take you to be cured"
"Let me and my sister go, you freaks!" Maka yelled, what the hell were these things talking about.
The figures appeared to flinch at that.
"We no freaks… "
"we your siblings… "
"you need help, mind not right"
They almost sounded sad, but… crap, right, she was running from that other bug, she tried looking over her shoulder, and sure enough, it was closer than before, and coming in scarily close.
The figures noticed, the bug charging at them, and began running away as fast as they could, Maka and Ava in tow.
The figures were unnaturally fast, especially so considering they were carrying people. The figures ran and ran and ran, increasing the distance between them and the bug further and further.
Wind was hitting Maka in the back hard. The figure had her held close to its chest, her fear of the bug that was chasing them prevented her from struggling.
Nasty, no good, MANTIS GOD! It was chasing their siblings! Their poor siblings must be so scared! They had to find Father, he could protect them, and then cure them. Their unwell siblings should not have to worry about being chased, only about when Father would make them better.
Pitter held the larger sibling close, he made sure to not lose them. Patter was in charge of the smaller sibling, they were so small, and cute. Very afraid though, they always are at first, no matter how many times they try and convince them. Their terrible thoughts and memories always cloud their judgement.
Father had told them of the time when they were sick and needed healing. That they had been a rebellious bunch, but were also quite… heartbreaking. He had stated that there is no feeling worse than when your own beloved children don't even recognize you. They didn't want to make Father sad, and they had apologized profusely, to which Father stated that it wasn't their fault, and that the happiness that they bring already more than made up for it.
Father was the best.
Their siblings would soon meet their Father, they would probably… not recognize them, but they will, after they have been cured.
Soon enough they had reached the entrance to the underground Abyss. Pitter and Patter knew that their siblings would not be able to see, the smaller one was crying because she couldn't see, and how she was afraid of the dark. Patter did his best to comfort her, but that was difficult when their siblings were also afraid of them… Pitter and Patter were beginning to better understand what Father meant about the pain of a sibling not recognizing you.
After some lengthy navigating of the cave systems, they had finally reached the Abyssal Sea, Father was waiting for them, he had detected the tainted soul of his sick children. Their three other siblings, who were healthy, were currently huddled together taking a nap.
The sick siblings looked wide eyed at the massive eight glowing eye looking lights.
"Children, you have returned, with two new, and unfortunately diluted siblings, what happened?" Father asked
"Pitter and I were sparring, when the diluted signature of sick siblings was felt. We ran and teleported over to them. As usual they… were afraid… but we also found that they were being chased by a mantis god, they were unmistakably a higher being-"
"Where?" Father asked with barely contained anger, who would dare attack his children?!
Patter sentimental images of the location, with this new information, the Void Father began formulating a plan. First, he wanted to get a good look at his children.
The Void Father lowered its eyes towards the now shaking children. One was so small, probably young, the other was of average size for a broken child.
His metaphorical heart filled with love for them, his little children. He knew they would love it here once fixed. But right now… he had a mantis god to deal with, and he knew just the way.
He had detected Godseekers close by, they loved having competitions between gods, it helped them attune. If he were to challenge this god, with others as witnesses, it would send a warning to the other gods to leave his children alone. He knew the perfect way to get him to accept, of course, that meant his children would need to go without being fixed for a little while longer, but if it meant the continued safety of his children, without him having to worry about some bastard god attacking them, it would be worth it.
"Keep your siblings safe, I will go deal with this mantis god" The Void Father stated.
The Void Father lifted his especially crafted shell that he used to have a more structured form out of the Abyss, and dove into it. Revealing a massive four armed bipedal figure, with the tell tale eight glowing white eyes. The massive figure tilted it's head towards its children.
"I love you, I'll be back soon" With that, the Void Father disappeared into a black mist.
Hadas was absolutely livid, those damned void things had taken his prize! He was going to have to find some other humans just wondering about, for however long that would take. He was so damned close too! Did the universe just have some personal vendetta against him? What did he do to deserve this? He wondered. Many other gods collected humans with no issue, but him? Nope, they all were claimed!
He was interrupted from his self pity when a gargantuan figure materialized before him… looking less than pleased.
"Pitiful war god, why do you attack my children!?" The Void Father demanded.
The war god was quick to respond "I was collecting my rightful spoils, or… at least trying to until your bastard minions stole them from me, they were to be my generals!" Hadas yelled in anger, who did this being think he was to steal from Hadas, a mantis god of war!?
The Void Father's eyes narrowed, as he bent down, getting closer to the war god's face.
"Never insult my children again, you pitiful excuse for a deity, I am willing to let you live for now. However, only on the condition that you fight me in an arena battle of the Godseekers, do I make myself clear?!" The Void Father spat, part of him wanted him to refuse, so he could just obliterate him now. But he wanted to send a message, and a message required an audience.
"And what would I get out of it scum!?" Hadas yelled, the war gods impatience and arrogance being clear in his tone.
The Void Father sighed "If you win... you shall have your generals" The Void Father said reluctantly. The chance of him losing was basically zero, but the mere thought of giving up his children was hard to stomach.
"Deal!" Hadas said almost instantly. He was either suicidal, never heard of a void god before, or both. It didn't matter to the Void Father, his idiocy would be his doom.
Location: Godhome
The Godseekers had received the request for a god battle a while ago, and were preparing the arena. A special seat was constructed for the Mighty Servant, his clothing for the battle tailored, ready to keep him concealed from any prying eyes. The Godseekers were what could only be described as excitement. They would get to attune to a void god, this tended to be rare, as they rarely accepted challenges to god duels.
However when they did, the attunement to them propelled their minds to heights many godseekers could only dream of. Now they were doing it with a mighty servant to help them attune. What heights could their minds reach now?