by ~ bloodcraft - bloodcraft@hotmail.com
rating ~ nc 17
pair ~ zell + squall
pov ~ 2nd person
forward ~ Alternative Universe, medieval setting, magick, death, gore, sex, lust, love, yaoi, shounen ai, bishounen, nudity, non-con
summary ~ The ruling Gods are at war. Long forgotten is the cursed God of Ice. Sitting, frozen in time itself, he waits for the breaker of the seal to his palace. When a group of kids from a nearby town go exploring through the cavern, Zell and his friends discover something they only thought as mythical. Everything the God of Ice had ever wanted had finally been given to him, but the waring Gods across the world threatened the one small town Squall (God of Ice) had been blessed with to protect.
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Prologue 1 - Birth of Nothing
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Seifer Almasy passed by the ice-lion statues and to the large white-wood doors, entering the pearly palace. His blood-red shoes clicked over the black and white swirl tile floors of the entry room, ice-guards bowing as he passed.
Seifer, dressed from head to toe in his crimson suit and the bloodied trench coat that whipped with each step, headed to the Hall of Crystal. An ice breeze ripped through Seifer's body. Even the softest touch from the ice realm burned. And within the castle walls of Shiver Stone, even the warmest could freeze.
The blonde man was no man. And the ice realm touched him like no other. But with a small pause and a spell uttered from his lips, the God of Burning Fire was able to keep his blood at the boil, even within the grasp of frost.
The second set of doors swung open with a wave of his crimson-leather covered hand. His shoes continued to click on the tiles made of ice, the black color of death swirling through the frozen water.
And there, at the long dinning table, sat the reason for Seifer's travel. Squall Leonhart: God of Eternal Ice.
The frozen deity looked just as miserable as the last time Seifer saw him, which had been at the God-Gathering almost one hundred years ago. In a couple months would be the next Gathering. And during that God-Gathering, Seifer was determined to change something. So here, Seifer had to know if he would have an ally or an enemy.
"Squall," Seifer said once he reached the god's position.
Squall glanced up, seeing the sea-blue eyes of the fire-god in their soft glow.
"Seifer?" Squall replied in his ice-covered tone.
"Heard you sent word ahead," Seifer explained his visit. "To Laguna, you're not coming?"
Squall looked away. He brought his pale-white hand up, brushing back his bangs from his eyes.
"There's no point," Squall whispered as he lay his arm back onto the dinning table with the other.
Seifer lay his hand on Squall's shoulder. Their touches could spark each other, melt and freeze one another, and burn like no one could imagine. But Seifer's fingers were gloved, and Squall's shoulder has a frosty-blue silk shawl laying over it.
"There's no point to any of us going, but we all do," Seifer said with a small smile.
Turning up once again, Squall sighed. "I don't want to venture outside my home. I don't want to see those other gods. And it doesn't matter, since I never say anything during the Gathering."
The chair next to Squall moved without physical guide, Seifer sitting down in it. The red sparkles that dusted the floor was the only signal of the Fire God's magick.
"But there will be a vacant seat next to mine," Seifer replied. "And I will miss the person who's supposed to fill it."
Squall watched Seifer blankly before a phantom smile pulled across his pale-pink lips.
"I appreciate that, Seifer," Squall answered. "But the meeting are pointless. I am the God of Nothingness. Born from Laguna's loins, I am simply the God of Void."
"Makes you wonder if you were born from Laguna's head," Seifer said, a small smile on his lips.
Squall let out a light laugh. "Talking about the King of the Gods in such a way?"
"His head is empty, I though everything knew so," Seifer replied, uncaring of the direct insult to Laguna. "But aside from the pathetic ruler we have: you are not going to make me endure his stories alone, are you?"
"Why should you go?" Squall asked.
"My people," Seifer answered. "I have the responsibility to make sure their welfare is taken care of. Be damned by the ancient Hyne if I leave my people's lives in the hands of Laguna and the other mess of gods we somehow have found ourselves in the company of."
Squall's head hung, his eyes closing.
Grimacing slightly at the knowledge of Squall's realm, Seifer moved his hand back to Squall's shoulder. The Realm of Ice held only monsters. And the mortal men that traveled here were warriors looking to kill. And those warriors spent their prayer time to other gods while curing the Ice-God's name.
Squall had no people. And the few outside his realm that worship him did so only in prayer for less. No frost, please, so their crops may live. Not too cold or too long of winters, for fear of freezing and starving to death.
The day Squall was born the world changed. No one was pleased by the snow, of which Squall had spent the first few hundred years of his life crafting their sparkling beauty. No one wanted icicles, of which had been formed when Squall cried for the first time. No mortal was happy with the frozen winds, of which was born when Squall had taken his first breath. And mortals damned the frost, which had poured from Squall's veins when he'd been cut -- sparing with Seifer during their younger years.
Squall seemed to be the plague against life, of which few mortals cherished.
"I'm sorry," Seifer whispered, removing his hand from the brunette's shoulder.
Opening his eyes, Squall looked up to Seifer.
"Not your fault I am lacking any reason to be God," Squall said softly.
"I always enjoyed the snow," Seifer said plainly.
That made Squall smile, softly and it faded as Squall reached forward to caress one of Seifer's hands.
"You with your melting touch," Squall whispered. "Of course you would be the only one to care."
Seifer turned his hand over to grasp onto Squall's.
"We were best friends as children," Seifer said. "I still consider you as such. Do not leave me alone during the Gathering."
Squall took his hand back.
"Every hundred years," Squall mumbled, turning to look at the brown-wood table with white-veins running through. "Feels like yesterday we Gods last met there."
"Feels like yesterday that I first saw you," Seifer said with a gentle purr. Time to the Gods was almost meaningless.
Turning back to Seifer, Squall smiled. "You cannot honestly want me there."
"But I do," Seifer insisted. "I miss you."
"Then I shall go," Squall said with a smile pulling at the sides of his lips.
Smiling, Seifer leaned forward and kissed the side of Squall's mouth lightly. His lips brushed against Squall's flesh just briefly, but the burning left a few speckles of blue dust on Seifer's lips and red dust on Squall's skin.
"Thank you, my friend," Seifer said.
Squall nodded before saying "You should visit more often. I enjoy your company."
Seifer stood. "I fear my blood would freeze and your palace would melt if I came too often." He smiled, brushing the back of his gloved hand against Squall's cheek. The red sparkles flaked away, floating slowly to Squall's shirt and lap, and some to the frozen-death floor.
Squall smiled weakly, watching Seifer turn away while listening to the clicking of his blood-red shoes over the ice-tile.
After Seifer had crossed half the large Hall of Crystal, Squall called out in a soft voice. "Thank you, I don't feel so lonely today."
Seifer stopped, pausing a moment before slowly turning to look at Squall. He looked over the brunette's expression before taking a slow step back towards Squall.
"Perhaps you'll visit me?" Seifer asked softly.
The weak smile on Squall's face continued. "I shall."
Seifer smiled back then nodded before turning and continuing his clicking steps to the large doors of the Hall of Crystal.
He hadn't found out what he wanted, not really. Squall and he hadn't spoken all too much in over one thousand years. And it had been almost three thousand years before that when they were best friends, childhood rivals, and youthful Gods. A long time and many things had happened throughout the world.
Once Seifer had aged to 800 years old, he left the Divine Garden of the Gods. He traveled to the barren lands of Centra, which had been given to him to rule over the day of his birth. And it was there that Seifer built his Fire Realm home and rules from the Crimson Palace.
It was three hundred years after that, once Squall had reached 800 years himself, that he too left the Divine Garden. And it was then that Squall traveled to the lands of Trabia, gifted to him the day he'd been born. And so the Ice Realm was built, and Shiver Stone Palace became Squall's icy home.
Squall had a lacking desire for his life. From the day he was birthed, Seifer had noticed the mortal's disliking for all the gifts Squall had blessed them with. They failed to see the new life that sprung from the frost, and failed to see how treasured the new diversity of the weather was. Seifer enjoyed the cold Squall brought, and Seifer was the God of Fire -- it seemed contradicting.
Today, Seifer saw that Squall was all the more unhappy with how his immortal life flowed. And it was that disliking for what Laguna gave Squall, and what the world gave Squall, that made Seifer believe that the brunette would be swayed to his side. Though there was still uncertainty.
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A few years later...
Laguna sat at the head of the table, smiling brightly at his wife, Raine, Mother Goddess.
The room was filled with chatter, the gods all talking amongst themselves. It had been years since some of them saw each other. And others, it hadn't been since the last Gathering that they'd laid eyes upon one another.
Along the left side of the table, running down, sat Kiros and Ward, the Gods of Honor. Then two empty chairs followed for the only straggling gods. Then was Quistis, Goddess of Nobility and sister to the God of Fire.
The base of the table was vacant. Then up along the left side of the table was Raijin, God of Thunder, who sat right to Fujin, Goddess of Wind. Then was Nida, God of Metal, sitting next to Ellone, Goddess of Earth. Then, of course, Raine sat to Laguna's right.
The Divine Garden was sacred ground for the Gathering. It also housed the infant children gods, keeping them safe until they matured to the age of 800 years. The eleven Gods that currently ruled over the world separated, normally too busy in their Godly duties to see one another.
Laguna lived with his wife and daughter in the Celestial Stars. It was a giant palace that overlooked the entire world from a place within the Sun itself. The small family spent its time overseeing the dreams and Gaia's desires, making sure the world stayed healthy and the people still continued to desire.
Nida was alone, closer to the mortal world than any of the other Gods, finding himself befriended to the mortal people.
Kiros and Ward, though both Gods of Honor, separated after the Gathering. They stayed in contact, but mostly tended to the issues around the world apart.
Fujin and Raijin watched over the weather, making sure the crops grew properly and such. They also stayed in contact, closer than Kiros and Ward, but weren't always together.
Seifer also spoke with Fujin and Raijin often. Outside of the one visit to Squall's castle, and then the time he forced Squall to visit him, Seifer never spoke to any of the other Gods. He hadn't seen his sister since the last Gathering, but he knew she supported him. Quistis, who visited the Kings and Queens across the world, always gave Seifer her support.
Seifer had spoken to Quistis in the last Gathering. He'd mentioned he new desires for the God race, and Quistis, though slightly hesitant, agreed to back up her brother.
So Seifer had Quistis, and naturally Fujin and Raijin giving him support. And Squall seemed likely to support him as well, due to the boy's lonely heart and need to find something more to do with his life.
Laguna, in all his Kingly-pride, would reject the idea. But of course he would; Laguna was King of the Gods, why in the world would he agree to what Seifer was going to propose?! And with Laguna's rejection came Raine's and Ellone's, along with most likely Kiros and Ward's rejection. The five eldest gods, and the gods that held more than just a little of the power of Gaia, and Seifer was going to challenge them.
He needed Squall's support, and would most likely get it. Nida was Seifer's most uncertain friend; if he went with the Elder Gods, Seifer's plan would fail. But if Nida came over, Seifer would have a little more power on his side.
"Didn't you say Squall changed his mind?" Ellone asked Laguna.
Laguna turned from his conversation with Raine, looking to the daughter birthed from Raine's heart. "Yes. He said he would. But Seifer's late as well. Don't understand the boys being gone right now. The meeting is suppose to be starting-"
"-in another minute," Seifer's voice interrupted Laguna's rant.
The crimson-colored shoes clicked over the white-tile floor of the Chamber of Destiny. The red suede trench coat's tail whipped back as Seifer straightened the collar harshly with piercing eyes and made his way into the room.
Squall, who hadn't made a sound, followed behind Seifer with glazed over eyes.
"You boys arrive together?" Laguna asked, a smile on his face. He was happy to see his son had come.
Neither of them replied to Laguna's question.
The two chairs pulled from the table with a wave of Seifer's hand. Red sparkles dusted the cloudy ground, residue from Seifer's fire magick.
Squall slipped by Seifer, taking the seat beside Ward. The chair scotched in, more red sparkles falling to the ground; Seifer slipping into his own seat next to his sister.
"And so the boring hours of stories begins," Seifer muttered without trying to conceal his loathing.
"Seifer," Laguna said with a half-sneer. "Are we already starting this?"
"Starting what?" Seifer asked, a blonde eyebrow raised.
"Starting with your damned complaints," Laguna grumbled.
"Complaints?" Seifer repeated. "They're merely suggestions as to how we can better help the world and the people for a future. Life is dull on Gaia. People get up, work, and sleep. My complaints are merely my concerns."
"Telling me that your people aren't happy because variety in life is lacking isn't a concern, Seifer," Laguna replied. "Your concern is simply the fact that you're bored, not your people."
Seifer scowled. "I rule over them. They cannot be happy living their lives as they do!"
"And what is so wrong with waking up to a bright sun?" Laguna asked. "To a hard day's work, and then climbing into a warm bed?"
"My people barely mate enough!" Seifer spat.
"Sex," Laguna said softly, staring at Seifer sternly. "That's what this has dwindled down to?"
Seifer paused a moment, to allow himself to breath and calm his growing rage. "...By the Great Hyne," Seifer said softly, shaking his head. "I don't understand how you, King of Gods, can sit there and not see the people have no purpose. And without a purpose, they have no sparks inside. They don't feel enough. They don't lust -- yes, meaning they don't have sex or lust for such an act. But they don't love either! And I believe sex is also an act of love, Laguna!"
"The people have enough of a purpose, Seifer," Laguna replied. "I am the God of Dreams. I can see what they desire."
"And what is that?" Seifer replied in a monotone voice.
Laguna was silent, a blank look on his face.
Seifer, along with the rest of the gods, waited.
Shifting in his seat at the head of the table, Laguna sat up taller. "Since you are so worried about the people in your realm, I can tell you that right now many of your people have dreams. Desires for the future."
"What desires?" Seifer asked softly, in an almost defeated tone. "To become a priest at my temple? That's the biggest desire there, and I don't have to be the God of Dreams to know that. Don't they want to feel more? To adventure? To have more? Demand? Fight, rage! Love?!"
"Seifer, your people are content without that," Laguna said with a shrug.
"Ignorance is not bliss!" Seifer yelled, standing and pressing his hands into the wooden table. Steam rose from where his hands pressed, imprints of his hands burning into the wood. "Just because they don't know doesn't give reason that we can't give it to them! There isn't anything wrong with wanting to make love to someone! Why must you fight against me about this?!"
Laguna sat back, still sitting tall. His eyes plainly watched Seifer's rage. "We are not opening any more of the Gift Bottles."
Seifer stood tall, moving his hands away from the imprints. A sneer filled his face, his hate oozing out.
"Each Gathering we have this same argument," Laguna said. "Today I see it's consumed you. But no more Gift Bottles will be opened. Only one bottle per god. There must be balance."
Looking around the table with angry shock, Seifer circled his eyes around quickly before meeting with Laguna's face again. "In the name of Hyne! In the name of the one who birthed Gaia, Sun, Moon, and you-Laguna! We are but eleven Gods! In how many thousands of years?! Hundreds of thousands?!"
Shaking his head, Laguna opened his mouth to speak -- but Seifer continued.
"There are more bottles on those shelves than years you've been alive Laguna," Seifer said sternly. "There isn't anything wrong with giving the gifts to the world!"
"To you," Laguna corrected.
"Through me -- and us! -- to the world," Seifer said.
Laguna shook his head again. "No, Seifer. No other gifts. You are the God of Fire and nothing more."
Seifer's posture straightened, his eyes piercing down in an angry glare that had calmed into a blue fire. He forced his eyes away. Sitting down in his chair, Seifer's eyes moved to rest on the hand-prints in the wood in front of his chair. "Sorry," he said softly. "I forgot..." Seifer looked up, malice in his gaze. "Only you and your wife are allowed more than one gift. You: King of Gods-"
"That isn't fair," Laguna said sternly.
"-God of Dreams, God of Light, God of Stupidity!" Seifer finished, his brow in a deep sneer.
Laguna breathed slowly, attempting to ignore the insult. "The three powers I have came from when I opened three bottles -- I was alone! The only god; and a young one at that. Younger than you are now. And you-" Laguna looked around the entire table before meeting eyes with Seifer again "-all of you get to learn from my mistakes."
"Give me the bottle of War," Seifer said sternly. "Only one bottle. Allow people to feel-"
"War!" Laguna said. He knew that was the bottle Seifer wanted. "Why do you not ask for love?! Since that's been your entire lecture!"
Seifer shook his head. "I shouldn't be gifted with such a power. Love isn't something I am worthy to gift onto the world. The bottle of Love should be reserved for someone who's right. I am the God of Fire, and the power chose me. Fire and War go together, which is why I want that bottle. I have thought it through. I've spent hundreds of years thinking it through, Laguna."
Laguna moved a hand up to rub his forehead. Dropping it back to his lap, he shook his head. "If I give you War, I have to give the other gods other powers. And what of the Gods who're born after?"
"There are thousands of bottles!" Seifer said in an exasperated tone. "Plenty for each at this table to have two gifts -- except you have three."
Folding his hands together on the table, Laguna breathed slowly. Closing his eyes, he tried to think of a way to get his point through to Seifer.
"You feel the other gods also want more powers?" Raine put herself into the conversation, Laguna opening his eyes to look at his wife, who was watching Seifer.
Seifer nodded. "Of course."
"And what powers do you believe your fellow gods would be suited for?" Raine asked. "I ask because you've put a lot of thought into your own powers; what of everyone else?"
Inside his mind, Seifer called Raine a bitch. But he had the answer, he'd thought about it. He wasn't selfish. It wasn't because he was bored, it was for his people, his worshipers. He'd spoken to the three high priests at his main temple, and after explaining to them the joys that they couldn't experience, they had told him of their desire to feel such things. So Seifer knew his people would desire it; ignorance was a curse, not bliss.
"Quistis, my sister, would be Goddess of Justice," Seifer said casually. "Fujin would be Goddess of Purity, Raijin would be God of Brawns. Nida would be God of the Forge. And Squall could be the God of Love-"
"Seifer that's en-! ..." Laguna stopped himself after hearing Seifer's last statement. The two had come in together, Seifer pulled Squall's chair out, and now Seifer's odd statement -- it confused Laguna. But then he decided Seifer was trying to throw him off.
Seifer turned from the mother goddess to look at the king.
"That's what?" Seifer said.
Closing his eyes, Laguna slowly breathed. "That's enough," he said softly. Opening his eyes, he looked back to Seifer. "You're excused."
It took a moment for Seifer to understand.
"You're telling me to leave?" Seifer asked.
"You're excused," Laguna repeated.
Seifer held back his anger, slowly pushing out of the chair, a small sneer on his lips. About to spat out how stupid Laguna was, Squall spoke. And the brunette never -- in his entire immortal life -- had spoken during a Gathering.
"Seifer's right," Squall said softly.
Everyone was thrown off by Squall's voice.
Laguna's eyes widened in a surprised frown.
Squall swallowed before forcing himself to look at Laguna. "I may not ... have people to care for. I may be the God of Ice, but I believe that all people deserve more than what we feel like giving them. Than what you feel like giving them, father."
"Now Squall!" Laguna started.
Holding up a blue-leather covered hand, Squall stopped his father. "I... don't want any more gifts myself. Heh, anything else I am gifted with will probably end up being the death of the human race."
Seifer's hate-filled sneer had turned into a look of pity and odd caring.
Squall's meek smile faded as quickly as it'd come. "But Seifer deserves to get what he wants, father. Seifer is the God of Fire, which means he demands life to give him the most it can. He just wants that feeling of demand for his people."
"With war?" Laguna asked.
"I starve people with frost," Squall's soft voice said. "Freeze people with sleet. Kill people in snow and hale storms. Why should war be seen as something so awful when the only time I've dared to cry, Ice was formed and people died."
Laguna tried to speak again.
"And even so," Squall continued slowly. "War is a gift, father. Just because Seifer would be blessed with it doesn't change the fact that it's a gift, given from Hyne for the people. Not for the gods -- through the gods."
Silence filled the room, everyone waiting for Laguna's reply. And when he did, it shocked his fellow gods.
"How long have you been screwing Seifer?" Laguna asked Squall.
Squall's frozen mask faltered a moment in surprise before it fell back into the stoic expression.
"What?!" was Seifer's flared response.
"You're screwing my son," Laguna said in a less-than-pleased voice. "Obviously to get him against me and on your side. But his speech didn't work, so your efforts were wasted, Seifer."
"I have never touched Squall in any sexual manner," Seifer said with a sneer of anger. "And I would never use him like that."
Laguna just looked on, unconvinced nor caring about anything Seifer would say in their defense. "Haven't I excused you?"
Fire flashed over Seifer's eyes before a red cloud poured over the fire in a thick mucus, clouding the normally sea-blue color. Holding himself back before his magick started veining out, Seifer stepped away from the table, nodded to everyone, then started his walk out of the room.
Squall watched Seifer walk with fisted hands out of the room, his cloak smoking a thick mist of grey into the air. Turning back to his father, Squall saw the old god turn from Seifer to him. Laguna sighed, looking disappointed with Squall.
Lowering his eyes, Squall found his gaze turning to the imprints in the wood.
"Well," Laguna started. "I suppose the rest of this Gathering-"
Squall stood from his chair, stepping away from the table, and heading back to his home. He'd come because Seifer asked him. Now that Seifer wasn't here, there was no reason for Squall to be.
"Squall, I didn't dismiss you," Laguna said sternly.
Stopping at Laguna's voice, Squall turned to look back to the older god.
"Take your seat," Laguna said, using a voice that was more an attempt at being fatherly.
Staring at the King of Gods for a moment, Squall turned his body to face Laguna completely.
"To think," Squall said, the air from his mouth misting as though the room were ice cold. But it wasn't the room of which was ice cold, it was him. "I was birthed from you."
With that said, Squall turned and walked his slow steps out of the Chamber of Destiny.