There was a cool breeze that danced around her as she watched the twisting boulders. Every time she would reach for one to climb on it, it would shift away from her. There was annoyance running through her veins as she finally threw herself at it the next step. She fingers gripped at the earth as she pulled herself to sit upon it. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she just sat on the boulder. Who would have ever thought an entrance to a temple would be a good idea? It had seem fun when she had read the story, but experience it was something different. Pushing her curls from her face, she let her back fall back on the piece of ground.

"How did she do this… probably used water magic." Rhea grumbled out. If anyone looked at her they probably would have to stop and take another look. From afar, she almost looked like a completely different person with her curls currently a dark chocolate red. She wore a dark green dress that just slide like magic over her curves. She had at one point a shawl around her, but she now wore it like a scarf around her neck. She really did not feel like losing it into the abyss below. The dress did suit her but it was far from what she normally was seen wearing. The fact she was even wearing a dress in a situation like this was bizarre for her.

Groaning out, the Goddess rose to her feet and eyed the solid ground of the temple grounds. She was almost there but it would take one more jump. " How does anyone deal with a dress like this. It is in the way!" The anger was boiling out at this point as she hiked up the dress, showing off the boots she wore underneath. She gripped the cloth tightly in her hand as she bolted towards the edge. She launched off the edge but it was easy to tell that her foot was not going to reach the other side. Her eyes shine bright green as the wind danced around her, giving her the boast she needed to reach the other side.

AH HA! Beat that!" Rhea yelled at the temple. She really could not care who was going to meet her. She was hoping the God would be another person from outside the story book. She was obviously a form of the traveler. Unlike most, she knew what the forms of the people actually were. The traveler in the story was a strange woman and Rhea was happy to play the part. Brushing off her dress, she slowly glanced around her as her irises shifted back to the normal hazel. What would happen next?

He remembered the deserted path through the quiet town, and how he sauntered about it like he owned the place. He remembered, just as clearly, the voice that had reached out to him: pure, but not innocent; full of mystery and mischief, but lacking in malevolence. The scene takes place in a beautiful temple that rests on a broken piece of land, high in the air, she said, as though narrating. Readjusting his glasses, the wanderer closed his eyes a moment. Brows knit in thought. When again he looked unto the world, there was no change. Had he woken from a dream… or was he dreaming now? The walls themselves are pieces of different buildings being held together by a surging magic. The large, opulent room in which he found himself was far removed from the quaint village he'd been terrorizing just moments before.

Roderick sat himself up, considering his situation. Instinctively, he reached for the katana he knew always to be at his side… but he guessed even before his hand could close on naught but thin air that the blade had not tagged along with him. At once made uneasy, he rose. Small chunks of land lead all the way up to the main temple like a staircase, but they shift and move sporadically, causing many to fall back to the world of mortals. The voice, though calm and light, did little to soothe him. Hands fidgeted, clasping one another without finding the comfort sought. He did not bother calling to the sword, knowing full well his efforts to be futile. Instead, he meandered toward the door… and pushed.

The voice grew louder. Eyes narrowing, Roderick wandered the halls. He listened, but only barely, his focus greater toward finding the exit.

You are a greedy deity.

If the voice's owner had wanted his full attention, she now had it. Stock still, fingers a-twitch, he waited, and listened. You believe that because you control the strings of fate, you can have anything your heart desires. His aforementioned heart, if he had one, would have skipped a beat. Twirling an imaginary mustache, Roderick whirled on his heels, meaning to head back into the room. But then, out of the corner of his eyes… 

A young girl. As soon as she realized she had been spotted, she fell to her knees and bowed low.

Brows lifted. His smile - omnipresent though it was - grew a notch or two.


Licking his fingers clean, Roderick sat on a throne - one he had crafted himself, through the days spent trapped about the temple. There were no longer any clergy to tend to him, but he was quite fine with that. Inexplicably, there roamed still a number of felines, their demeanour unperturbed by whatever acts this newfound 'god' had visited upon their home. They were safe and, the man mused, finer company than most humans he had ever had the 'pleasure' of meeting. They partially staved off the boredom that inevitably found him at the end of each day.

When he had discovered his purported role in this strange dreamlike world, he had been ecstatic. But Roderick, in that same manner a child tires quickly of a new toy, was not so permanently sated. His so-called followers had willingly given their selves to him. 'If that is my fate, then so be it.' Sheep. Worthless sheep. There were few Roderick loathed more.

More perplexing yet than all else thus far, however, was the disappearance of the voice. How long he had remained here, he did not know. It was as he wandered about the outside of the temple that his waiting, at last, came to an end.

You see a traveler and cannot believe they have managed to navigate all of your traps. It had to mean that they were the one that you were meant to meet, because only those who were touched by fate could easily enter your temple. You would use every trick in the book to get them to stay, say any lie, or cast any spell.

The last bit Roderick hastily brushed aside. Get them to stay? Like hell! All he knew was that if there was some way of entering the place, then there had to be some manner of leaving it also. But before he could hear the newcomer, as indicated by the narrator, he heard her. Pushing his broken glasses up again, he quickened his pace. Coming into view, he paused, and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. He wanted to get out of here, but rushing was never, ever Roderick's style.

He could play for awhile.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked. Looking the stranger up and down, Roderick smirked and quirked a brow. "Who goes there? Who, I wonder, is so bold as to dare?"

The voice that spoke out to her sent chills down her spine. It was a feeling that was unusual to the Goddess, she had heard many voices throughout Revaliir and met many people. She was able to hear the pleas and desires of everyone around her. The prayers of people flooded her mind like she had gone insane, but never a voice like this. Her eyes shifted to take in the person’s voice. By their royal robes adorning their figure, this had to be the God. A cheshire grin graced her lips as she looked at him with curiosity. The unusual feeling she had just felt was already forgotten to her and taken over by the pure excitement.

”Perhaps I do dare!” Her chest puffed up as she quickly brushed out her dress a little more. Her hand ran against her stomach, trying to smooth out the last of the wrinkles as she watched him. She was going to need to forget about the annoyance of the dress. They both seemed to be wearing clothes that did not completely fit them. He looked more like a man who would wear something more roughly in appearance. There was something in the look of his eyes that screamed dangerous and she loved it.

”Hmm, you are the God of this temple?” Hazel eyes looked him over as she spoke, but she was not scared of him in the least. She wonder if he had been hoping for her to act like anyone else would in the appearance of a God. Outside of the storybook, she had spent so much time in the presence of deity growing up that the whole idea meant very little to her. ”Your glasses do not really match the fancy robe you are wearing, you do know that right? You didn’t let yourself get into character completely. I am wounded.”

There was no hiding the teasing tone to her words as she titled her head at the stranger. Was this what it had felt like to be the traveler? She felt on common ground with this man even know she knew in this story he had the power over her, but there was only so much he could do against the rules of the story. There was many things the story would refuse from them.

Rhea had done nothing different to her enchanting voice. The soft sweet tone that was never characteristic to her words remained. It would have been the same voice that had spoken out to him at the beginning. She had made sure to leave what would be considered a message to the people who entered the story. She did not want to leave them completely lost. She was curious if he would notice.

Golden irises, sat in the midst of eyeballs black as night, remained fixed on the woman as she stood tall in answer. He kept his arms loosely, comfortably crossed over his chest, affecting an imposing stance. "I might," he replied vaguely. "What of it?" Gauging from his expression, his interest was fast waning. Fingers drummed restlessly. It was all he could do to suppress a yawn. 

And then the realization hit him. Eyes narrowed suspiciously. Her reply confirmed his theory: she was at fault. For all of… whatever this was. Still, despite his frustration, the woman had managed to distract him a moment. His glasses? What? His features affected a flicker of disappointment, a solemn sadness. Slowly, with a reverential care, Roderick removed the glasses. He seemed to be deliberating on where to put them, but couldn't make up his mind.

"I… never managed to fix them. . ." It was as close to an apology as he would ever manage. He held them cautiously at his side.

But enough of that. "Your voice," Roderick stated, matter-of-fact.

As though right on cue, the narrative continued: Or, perhaps, you are the lost traveler. On it went, though the woman in front of her did not deign move her lips. Gritting his fanged teeth, Ro took a threatening step forward. You greet the deity with curiosity but care little for the powers the deity holds. That explained much of the lady's demeanour. She did not fear him - and likely had no reason to. Those were the worst kind of people to deal with, and Roderick - given he feared little, or nothing - knew from experience. But this stranger… would she be so forthright if she were to take a nice little tumble down the way she'd come?

It was a tempting idea. But first things first.

"Explain… all of this." Roderick gestured meaningfully to their surroundings. His gaze, already stern, hardened. "At once."

It wasn't a request.

"Who are you? And what have you done to me?"

Her own voice echoed in her mind reading out the story as they stared at each other. Rhea knew that he had to be listening to it as well. She could tell by the look on his face that he was beginning to piece everything together. The boredom that had started to trace his features disappeared as suspicion and anger took over. She could feel his desires begin to leak from him like he was a rotten fruit. It only helped to make her excitement grow and her head cock to one side. Their conversation about his glasses becoming long forgotten.

”Ah, he figured it out! Do you not like this?” There was a small pout on her lips at his anger but it was clear she was not taking him very seriously. There were very few people she actually took seriously. She would, however, be kind enough to acknowledge that he really wanted to know. ”I had my doubts before but you have made it quite clear.”

This man was not from Revaliir. Was he another one of those people who had fallen from that other world? There had been people from several different worlds when the portals had opened up. They had only just been able to fix what had begun to unravel, but there was the slight chance that there were still a few that were stuck in the strange vortex that had been created. Had her powers trailed in that vortex and helped someone be pulled to Revaliir, more so the storybook where they rested.

At first, she had merely thought he had a strange aroma to him. There was something about him that reminded her of her father but she had figured out what it was until he made it clear he had no idea who she was. Normally, she would put it with the fact that not everyone paid attention to who the deity were in the world but they wouldn’t have been so confused and anger about it like he was.

”You are in my storybook. I am one of the Goddess of Revaliir. You are not from there, are you?” There was no hiding the cheshire grin that grew on her lips at those words. She was right, was she not? She wanted to know what amazing thing she had done. Had she somehow caught one of the last people’s to fall throw the portals? He could have easily fallen through and gotten lost in the in-between and only now fallen back out with the closing of all the portals. In that case, he really should be thanking her. The story almost forgotten in her mind, she waited to see what he would say.

Roderick considered her question with eyes squinting and brows furrowed, fingers before him playing idly with his broken glasses. "That's not it," he mused, finally replacing the specs on his face. So what if she didn't like them. "I can't say I didn't enjoy the snacks, and the lodgings - fit for a king, I dare say… or a deity, perhaps, one supposes." Before long, Roderick was back to his loosely defiant stance, arms crossed over his chest, fingers lightly dancing away. "And it's not exactly like I was up to much prior…"

The old village flashed again in his mind. He'd never needed a reason to wreak havoc, but finding himself in a new place so suddenly had put him in a foul mood. It was by far too reminiscent of his first memory: waking up in the middle of nowhere with naught but a talking sword in his possession, no memories to his name. Heck… he hadn't even had a name. The village had been the unfortunate victim of his ire, but his time on the warpath had been cut short. And now…

Here he was.

"It is, nonetheless, inconvenient," he murmured, golden eyes fixed on the woman before him. He could appreciate beauty, but generally had little care for it. This lady, though, there was… something about her. Something he couldn't place. He knew only that looking on her elicited a flare of hunger - what, he wondered, did she taste like?

Just as he made to bristle, his patience waning, he got a few answers - answers, unfortunately, that brought only more questions.

"Reva-what? No, I'm from…" Roderick frowned. It was not in his nature to lie - he never saw the need. But here, he did not know how to answer. Where was he from, exactly? It was one of many a mystery he hadn't solved yet. "… Elsewhere," he finished with a wistful shake of his head. It was strange, though. He hadn't once felt at home in the past years he'd been 'alive,' so to speak, but the village… Though it had suffered a cranky necromancer's arrival, the air about the place had seemed to Roderick electric, and just… right.

Suddenly, Roderick wanted very badly to return there. Nay, he didn't want to, he needed to.

Given that Ro did not believe in gods and goddesses - though it had all the same been fun to pretend at being one - he was left with one less question, at the least. Now he had only two:

"How did I come to be in your book, and-"

- he cared not whether it was possible, because though it seemed surreal and unlikely, stranger things had happened -

"-how do I get out?"

The questions that the man began to ask were harder for the Goddess to answer. He had to know that even a deity did not know the full working of the world. She helped bring the storybook adventure to life but there was only so much she could do to bring people to this realm. The people themselves had to at some point want to enter the mist whether it was physically or not.  She was excited to know that she was right about that he did not come from the normal world but how could she answer the hard questions she asked.

The curiosity and excitement began to trickle away as her regret hit her like a wave. No matter what, she had caused this. She did not wish to tell him that she had no idea if he could return to that world he came from. He could easily be trapped in Revaliir now. Only time would tale, she guessed. She wouldn’t utter those words just yet. She didn’t want to bring such a horrible situation to something that was supposed to be cheerful. This story was supposed to be witty and fun. It was the glimmer of everything she held dear and he was ruining it.

”The only way to leave the story is to finish it. When the story hits its conclusion the power will fade and we will find ourselves in the real world. The story takes on the main prompt that the story was written on but it may be alter—a little.” Hazel eyes watched him with some hesitation but she easily hid all of her fearful feeling behind her happy smile. Her father had taught her well. ”You must have wanted to enter this realm. I really would have no idea how you personally made your way here. You have to want to come here to be here. You may have not physically done it or thought it, but something brought you here. I do not have the power to physically force someone, despite my alignments… though I guess you do not know them.”

With those last words, Rhea’s excitement returned a little. He had no idea who she was. He had no idea where she came from or who her family was. This was a true first for her, most of the strangers who had found themselves in Revaliir had done their homework to the extent to at least know what kind of deity she was. She had never actually met someone who saw her for just a girl and nothing else. It was amazing. It helped her look at the situation in a completely different way, but she was curious what his answer would be to the fact he had to finish the story. Did he realize he was supposed to fall in love with her and normally, it was him realizing he could not get everything he wanted? The story had many ending but this one never ended very well, though she knew things about the deity and traveler that many did not.