01-23-2018, 04:48 PM
Nox snorted a laugh. ”That’s an understatement of a lifetime.”
Being a god and an Atharim. ”Do you have a few years?”
Nox quipped. ”You want the long or short version?”
***
Marcus looked at his watch. He knew the time, but it was just for show. "Let's do the medium version"
He was willing to bet Nox was a talker. Marcus was reasonably sure that his account would reveal far more about himself than just about the Atharim.
***
Nox prefaced his brief history lesson, ”My sister is the scholar not me, I can tell you what I remember.”
Nox raked his fingers through the top of his hair then leaned back propping up on his hands and crossing his legs. ”The Atharim have always been, in one form or another, different names, creeds doesn’t really matter, but we are the remnant of the remnant whatever that means.”
Nox sat up flipping his hand to dismiss the quote from the book of Atharim… Everyone knew the remnant of a remnant bit.
”No one really knows how far back we go. To the time of gods. Zeus and Prometheus. And every other no nothing god you all read about in school, they were men who …”
Nox put his hand to his chin to think of the term they had been using. He nodded when the word came to him. ”could channel, I think that’s the word you are flinging these days. They persecuted humans as the story goes. The Atharim in their full humanity destroyed the gods. Killing every last one of them, and their families until the spark was gone from the world. But just because this power was licked, didn’t mean that their creations were. So we hunted the monsters left behind vowing to protected humanity form the gods should they ever be reborn.”
Nox grinned. ”Guess what, we’ve been reborn.”
****
Marcus listened, fascinated. It matched the little the Ascendancy had told him. And it hinted at so much more. If the stories are distorted memories of Force users of the past.... He smiled. The possible uses of the power were nigh endless. And they were just scratching the surface. Mentally, he made a note to begin looking into them, from the perspective of someone who wanted to rediscover this lost wisdom.
His sister. That was who Marcus needed to speak to. "Perhaps you could introduce me to your sister, then."
He stopped. He needed to focus.This wasn't the time for ancient Force technology. Not now. Nox's ending statement was very nearly a "Fuck You" to the Atharim. He beetled his eyebrows. "You obviously resent them. Then why have you stayed with them? Why not leave them when you learned what you could do?"
Something else tickled his mind.
****
Nox frowned at the man’s desire to see his sister. He wished it were possible. Nox pulled his knees up against his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. Suddenly sitting on the floor was colder than he wanted and Nox slowly unfolded and stood up without touching his hands to the floor. His shivered visibly before he sat down on the cot and pulled himself up into the same neat little ball with his back against the wall. Fuck his insecurities.
Nox’s voice was distant. ”My sister is dead. A sick bastard strangled and drowned her.”
Nox pressed his forehead to his knees and took several deep breathes calming his fears, his anxiety, putting himself into perspective.
Nox mumbled against his knees. ”I don’t resent them.”
He knew he wasn’t heard properly. He lifted his head and knew he probably looked like he wanted to cry - but Aurora did that. He missed her and he couldn’t save her and now he was stuck in a cell, god knows where, and he had no idea how to save Aria. He knew it was going to end badly. His last failure and it would probably be the end of him too, but he’d do it. Nox took a deep breath. ”I don’t resent them. I know nothing but being Atharim. I was born Atharim. There was never any other option for me.”
****
Malik's ears perked up at mention of what happened to his sister. Another? He felt the lure of another hunt, but Marcus quashed it. Not the time. And, sadly, he didn't think it would be possible any more. At least not how he used to do it. The Almaz was always around, but he doubted now more than ever that he'd be able to fight there. What he needed was to spar with the Force.
Bah! He had gotten distracted again. The man's words were tantalizing, sending him off on tangents. Focus. "So you hunt....these creatures. And you hide who you are from them. At least you did. You filled out the Registration. I assume that your abilities came out?"
****
Nox shook his head. ”Do you know how useful my gift is for hunting monsters?’
It was a rhetorical question, one that Nox truly missed. He missed hunting with Aria in the tunnels. He wished life was that simple again.
”My abilities as you call it came out due to my desire to help a friend out. I did my job. I killed a strzyga at a Methos concert a few days ago. But I didn’t get a chance to clean up the mess before the cops came. Apparently two other kids got killed that night. So I did the Atharim thing and I turned myself in for one murder hoping they’d pin the other two on me too leaving my friend free and clear to keep his cover as long as possible. The Atharim have informants all over and hackers who get into every known system in the world. The minute I turned myself in with even the possibility that it was a god, they would hunt me. So I registered - hoping that my career path and my unique ability might be useful. And here I am, locked up. But at least I’m not dead.”
****
Malik's ears perked up again and this time Marcus didn't quiet him. Hunting. Now that was something... very much a something. And for the third time, he had to force himself to concentrate on the task at hand.
He took a few deep breaths and centered himself, replayed what the man said in his mind. "So you killed a creature, took the fall for an Atharim friend, and now hope to leverage your abilities into a job? A life outside of the Atharim? Does that about sum it up"
Mentally, he also made a note to speak to the Secretary of Information Technology. He didn't doubt Nox's words. An organization that had been around for thousands of years had to have fingers in everything, owning people who owned people who owned people. They would not be rooted out easily.
In fact, he'd need to speak to Ascendancy. Co-opting them and their organization would be better. It depended on how dedicated they were to this idea of killing.... what did they call them? Reborn gods?
In the meantime, Nox might prove to be useful indeed. He clearly knew the power. And he hunted. Both were areas that Marcus and Malik wanted to be a part of.
****
Nox shook his head. ”You misunderstand me. I wasn’t taking the fall for my friend. My friend didn’t kill anything but he had to deal with the fall out. I was making his life easier since he knew I had something to do with it that night. Atharim are everywhere, Marcus.”
Nox continued to shake his head. ”I' don’t want a job outside the Atharim. I told you, I know nothing else. My education was remedial at best. I thrived in killing monsters. I’m not a cop. I don’t follow the rules. Honestly, I was just looking for a way to keep the Atharim from killing me. They almost did it despite my trying.”
***
Marcus nodded. Now that the possibility was there, he was not going to let Nox go free. It was just like with Jensen James. You did not let someone with that potential just walk into the night. "Whatever your goal was or what you want, you have to admit that your bridge has been burned. You yourself said it. The Atharim will come for you if you are on your own. And you do like to hunt. I have a feeling that we might be able to accommodate you. Despite their reach, we can offer you protection."
He looked at the locked door and then back at Nox. Now to give the nudge. "We certainly might be able to help with the charges against you. I doubt you'd appreciate living down here sedated as you serve out your sentence."
****
Nox smirked over his knees, he hadn’t let go in their exchange. He got what he wanted - protection. Not that Nox believed it was going to do any good. If the Atharim wanted him dead they wouldn’t stop hunting him. ”I’d like to know how much protection Ascendacy had when the Regus came with an Ijiraq and EM weapons boiling his brains out. Granted it was a ploy to kill the Regus and cut the head off the snake. But having said that, living in a hole in the ground high out of my gourd does not sound fun.”
Nox sighed. ”What do you need me to do?”
****
Marcus' eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, all feeling of charity toward Nox burning away in the heat of the memory. His whisper was deadly quiet, the unsheathing of a knife. The Force called to him and he very nearly seized it. "Who told you that?"
He knew very well what had happened. He remembered the feel of his insides boiling, his eye ball expanding as the aqueous humor heated up, expanded, distorting his vision. The sheer terror had been enough to overwhelm him. To hear it so casually mentioned....
The man did not know how close to death he stood. None of what he could offer would matter, in a moment.
****
Nox’s grin grew wider. He knew he was playing with fire, but that was part of the fun of it all. The worst he could do was kill him. And if he didn’t kill him it was only a matter of time before the Atharim did. ”A little birdy sang me an aria.”
****
Marcus stared at him for what seemed like hours. Aria. The little bitch. He remembered the feel of her in his grasp, how he had squeezed. He could have crushed her without a thought. But he had spared her. Wanted to understand her role in his last two hunts. But this....
His voice was steel. "How do you know Aria? Why would she tell you that?"
He cursed himself as the words came out. In his anger, he had confirmed the story. Not that Nox doubted it, he supposed. If Aria had told him. Still it was a reminder to get a hold of himself. Reacting was a fool's response. If you react, others pull your strings. He took a few breaths and calmed himself. What was done was done. The truth was out. Had been. Yet he'd not heard a whisper about it. So perhaps Nox's discretion could be trusted. Perhaps. Or perhaps he would just be put down quietly.
****
Nox licked his lips at the man’s fury. It was pressed away almost as quickly as it came. ”The Little Song was my partner. She found me, helped me find who I was. We hunted together. We planned to kill Ascendancy together. Was just a ploy until we could figure a way out of it. I met him once, Ascendancy. I saw him send weaves into the earth and pull out a small pendant that had been left by those that had tried to kill him.”
Nox smiled. ”That meeting created an opening for Aria. She played the Atharim. And if the Regus hadn’t disappeared after the fire we’d both have been hunted a lot sooner than we are now. Hell as far as I know Aria is still in good standing in the Atharim because only me and dead Atharim know she was working with Ascendancy.”
”As to why she’d tell me. Because she was warning me of the Atharim tactics. Without her warning I’d be dead right now.”
****
The anger he felt drained away. It fit what he knew of Aria. And the events of the night. And what Nox had told him. Of course, he could be lying. He could be.
Or not. Marcus had a decision to make. What decided him was the complete lack of rumor. It meant....something.
"Very well. That little piece of information must stay hidden. No one can know. But..."
he trailed off, the small smile returning to his face. Opportunity meant risk. And two opportunities- at the least!- presented themselves. "...you can come work for me. You can continue your hunts. But, you will take me. And you will teach me what you know. How you fight these creatures. In return, I will make sure you are put up somewhere safe. And of course you will be compensated. Oh...and we will take care of the little issue regarding the charges."
He stood, looking down at him. "I do believe all of that is in your best interests. Wouldn't you agree?"
****
Nox unfurled from his position but didn’t get up and offered his hand. ”I have people I need to take care of. Unless you plan on keeping me locked up and only let out of my cage to go play monster hunter, if that’s my only choice then so be it but I got them in a mess. I can’t be safe and let them stay in danger. Let me go home. I’ll go where ever you say, when you say it. But I can’t with conscious be in some safe location while they are fighting for their lives.”
****
Marcus looked at his hand and after a moment took it. "Done. However...."
he frowned. "You want to be safe from the Aharim... and yet you want to walk around freely. It seems to negate any concern you claim to feel."
****
Nox shook his hand and pulled his own back. ”So I should let my friends and family die because the strongest god they know decided to pussy up and hide while they fight the good fight.”
He could hear the anger in his own voice. ”My friend, his son, and wife are in danger. Other people who foolishly get involved with me put them selves in danger for knowing me. So I should let the Atharim hunt them, hurt them to get at me?”
Nox shook his head and curled back up in on him self. ”I can’t do that”
****
Marcus nodded. He could understand that, at least intellectually. People were like that. Not that there was anyone he would do that for. But evidently, Nox would. "Alright. I can understand that. Very well."
He paused. "I will make arrangements for you to stay somewhere else. Since you registered as a channeler, our Dr. would like to run a few tests. If you'd like, I can send someone around to watch over your friends until you are released. Is that satisfactory?"
Inside, though, he felt a stir of anticipation. Other than Ascendancy and Vellas, there were few Force users he respected. Most feared their gift, rather than explored it. He had enough measure of Nox to know that he was the latter. And unlike Ascendancy and Vellas, there was now a debt, if not so worded. You could learn from anyone. And that was what Marcus would do.
****
Nox nodded. ”I don’t think I have a choice. But it yes, it is satisfactory.”
There was a hit of mocking in Nox’s voice. ”I’ll be here when your doctor is ready. But be forewarned me and needles, we don’t get along.”
[[with marcus]]
Edited by Nox, Jan 23 2018, 04:48 PM.
Being a god and an Atharim. ”Do you have a few years?”
Nox quipped. ”You want the long or short version?”
***
Marcus looked at his watch. He knew the time, but it was just for show. "Let's do the medium version"
He was willing to bet Nox was a talker. Marcus was reasonably sure that his account would reveal far more about himself than just about the Atharim.
***
Nox prefaced his brief history lesson, ”My sister is the scholar not me, I can tell you what I remember.”
Nox raked his fingers through the top of his hair then leaned back propping up on his hands and crossing his legs. ”The Atharim have always been, in one form or another, different names, creeds doesn’t really matter, but we are the remnant of the remnant whatever that means.”
Nox sat up flipping his hand to dismiss the quote from the book of Atharim… Everyone knew the remnant of a remnant bit.
”No one really knows how far back we go. To the time of gods. Zeus and Prometheus. And every other no nothing god you all read about in school, they were men who …”
Nox put his hand to his chin to think of the term they had been using. He nodded when the word came to him. ”could channel, I think that’s the word you are flinging these days. They persecuted humans as the story goes. The Atharim in their full humanity destroyed the gods. Killing every last one of them, and their families until the spark was gone from the world. But just because this power was licked, didn’t mean that their creations were. So we hunted the monsters left behind vowing to protected humanity form the gods should they ever be reborn.”
Nox grinned. ”Guess what, we’ve been reborn.”
****
Marcus listened, fascinated. It matched the little the Ascendancy had told him. And it hinted at so much more. If the stories are distorted memories of Force users of the past.... He smiled. The possible uses of the power were nigh endless. And they were just scratching the surface. Mentally, he made a note to begin looking into them, from the perspective of someone who wanted to rediscover this lost wisdom.
His sister. That was who Marcus needed to speak to. "Perhaps you could introduce me to your sister, then."
He stopped. He needed to focus.This wasn't the time for ancient Force technology. Not now. Nox's ending statement was very nearly a "Fuck You" to the Atharim. He beetled his eyebrows. "You obviously resent them. Then why have you stayed with them? Why not leave them when you learned what you could do?"
Something else tickled his mind.
****
Nox frowned at the man’s desire to see his sister. He wished it were possible. Nox pulled his knees up against his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. Suddenly sitting on the floor was colder than he wanted and Nox slowly unfolded and stood up without touching his hands to the floor. His shivered visibly before he sat down on the cot and pulled himself up into the same neat little ball with his back against the wall. Fuck his insecurities.
Nox’s voice was distant. ”My sister is dead. A sick bastard strangled and drowned her.”
Nox pressed his forehead to his knees and took several deep breathes calming his fears, his anxiety, putting himself into perspective.
Nox mumbled against his knees. ”I don’t resent them.”
He knew he wasn’t heard properly. He lifted his head and knew he probably looked like he wanted to cry - but Aurora did that. He missed her and he couldn’t save her and now he was stuck in a cell, god knows where, and he had no idea how to save Aria. He knew it was going to end badly. His last failure and it would probably be the end of him too, but he’d do it. Nox took a deep breath. ”I don’t resent them. I know nothing but being Atharim. I was born Atharim. There was never any other option for me.”
****
Malik's ears perked up at mention of what happened to his sister. Another? He felt the lure of another hunt, but Marcus quashed it. Not the time. And, sadly, he didn't think it would be possible any more. At least not how he used to do it. The Almaz was always around, but he doubted now more than ever that he'd be able to fight there. What he needed was to spar with the Force.
Bah! He had gotten distracted again. The man's words were tantalizing, sending him off on tangents. Focus. "So you hunt....these creatures. And you hide who you are from them. At least you did. You filled out the Registration. I assume that your abilities came out?"
****
Nox shook his head. ”Do you know how useful my gift is for hunting monsters?’
It was a rhetorical question, one that Nox truly missed. He missed hunting with Aria in the tunnels. He wished life was that simple again.
”My abilities as you call it came out due to my desire to help a friend out. I did my job. I killed a strzyga at a Methos concert a few days ago. But I didn’t get a chance to clean up the mess before the cops came. Apparently two other kids got killed that night. So I did the Atharim thing and I turned myself in for one murder hoping they’d pin the other two on me too leaving my friend free and clear to keep his cover as long as possible. The Atharim have informants all over and hackers who get into every known system in the world. The minute I turned myself in with even the possibility that it was a god, they would hunt me. So I registered - hoping that my career path and my unique ability might be useful. And here I am, locked up. But at least I’m not dead.”
****
Malik's ears perked up again and this time Marcus didn't quiet him. Hunting. Now that was something... very much a something. And for the third time, he had to force himself to concentrate on the task at hand.
He took a few deep breaths and centered himself, replayed what the man said in his mind. "So you killed a creature, took the fall for an Atharim friend, and now hope to leverage your abilities into a job? A life outside of the Atharim? Does that about sum it up"
Mentally, he also made a note to speak to the Secretary of Information Technology. He didn't doubt Nox's words. An organization that had been around for thousands of years had to have fingers in everything, owning people who owned people who owned people. They would not be rooted out easily.
In fact, he'd need to speak to Ascendancy. Co-opting them and their organization would be better. It depended on how dedicated they were to this idea of killing.... what did they call them? Reborn gods?
In the meantime, Nox might prove to be useful indeed. He clearly knew the power. And he hunted. Both were areas that Marcus and Malik wanted to be a part of.
****
Nox shook his head. ”You misunderstand me. I wasn’t taking the fall for my friend. My friend didn’t kill anything but he had to deal with the fall out. I was making his life easier since he knew I had something to do with it that night. Atharim are everywhere, Marcus.”
Nox continued to shake his head. ”I' don’t want a job outside the Atharim. I told you, I know nothing else. My education was remedial at best. I thrived in killing monsters. I’m not a cop. I don’t follow the rules. Honestly, I was just looking for a way to keep the Atharim from killing me. They almost did it despite my trying.”
***
Marcus nodded. Now that the possibility was there, he was not going to let Nox go free. It was just like with Jensen James. You did not let someone with that potential just walk into the night. "Whatever your goal was or what you want, you have to admit that your bridge has been burned. You yourself said it. The Atharim will come for you if you are on your own. And you do like to hunt. I have a feeling that we might be able to accommodate you. Despite their reach, we can offer you protection."
He looked at the locked door and then back at Nox. Now to give the nudge. "We certainly might be able to help with the charges against you. I doubt you'd appreciate living down here sedated as you serve out your sentence."
****
Nox smirked over his knees, he hadn’t let go in their exchange. He got what he wanted - protection. Not that Nox believed it was going to do any good. If the Atharim wanted him dead they wouldn’t stop hunting him. ”I’d like to know how much protection Ascendacy had when the Regus came with an Ijiraq and EM weapons boiling his brains out. Granted it was a ploy to kill the Regus and cut the head off the snake. But having said that, living in a hole in the ground high out of my gourd does not sound fun.”
Nox sighed. ”What do you need me to do?”
****
Marcus' eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, all feeling of charity toward Nox burning away in the heat of the memory. His whisper was deadly quiet, the unsheathing of a knife. The Force called to him and he very nearly seized it. "Who told you that?"
He knew very well what had happened. He remembered the feel of his insides boiling, his eye ball expanding as the aqueous humor heated up, expanded, distorting his vision. The sheer terror had been enough to overwhelm him. To hear it so casually mentioned....
The man did not know how close to death he stood. None of what he could offer would matter, in a moment.
****
Nox’s grin grew wider. He knew he was playing with fire, but that was part of the fun of it all. The worst he could do was kill him. And if he didn’t kill him it was only a matter of time before the Atharim did. ”A little birdy sang me an aria.”
****
Marcus stared at him for what seemed like hours. Aria. The little bitch. He remembered the feel of her in his grasp, how he had squeezed. He could have crushed her without a thought. But he had spared her. Wanted to understand her role in his last two hunts. But this....
His voice was steel. "How do you know Aria? Why would she tell you that?"
He cursed himself as the words came out. In his anger, he had confirmed the story. Not that Nox doubted it, he supposed. If Aria had told him. Still it was a reminder to get a hold of himself. Reacting was a fool's response. If you react, others pull your strings. He took a few breaths and calmed himself. What was done was done. The truth was out. Had been. Yet he'd not heard a whisper about it. So perhaps Nox's discretion could be trusted. Perhaps. Or perhaps he would just be put down quietly.
****
Nox licked his lips at the man’s fury. It was pressed away almost as quickly as it came. ”The Little Song was my partner. She found me, helped me find who I was. We hunted together. We planned to kill Ascendancy together. Was just a ploy until we could figure a way out of it. I met him once, Ascendancy. I saw him send weaves into the earth and pull out a small pendant that had been left by those that had tried to kill him.”
Nox smiled. ”That meeting created an opening for Aria. She played the Atharim. And if the Regus hadn’t disappeared after the fire we’d both have been hunted a lot sooner than we are now. Hell as far as I know Aria is still in good standing in the Atharim because only me and dead Atharim know she was working with Ascendancy.”
”As to why she’d tell me. Because she was warning me of the Atharim tactics. Without her warning I’d be dead right now.”
****
The anger he felt drained away. It fit what he knew of Aria. And the events of the night. And what Nox had told him. Of course, he could be lying. He could be.
Or not. Marcus had a decision to make. What decided him was the complete lack of rumor. It meant....something.
"Very well. That little piece of information must stay hidden. No one can know. But..."
he trailed off, the small smile returning to his face. Opportunity meant risk. And two opportunities- at the least!- presented themselves. "...you can come work for me. You can continue your hunts. But, you will take me. And you will teach me what you know. How you fight these creatures. In return, I will make sure you are put up somewhere safe. And of course you will be compensated. Oh...and we will take care of the little issue regarding the charges."
He stood, looking down at him. "I do believe all of that is in your best interests. Wouldn't you agree?"
****
Nox unfurled from his position but didn’t get up and offered his hand. ”I have people I need to take care of. Unless you plan on keeping me locked up and only let out of my cage to go play monster hunter, if that’s my only choice then so be it but I got them in a mess. I can’t be safe and let them stay in danger. Let me go home. I’ll go where ever you say, when you say it. But I can’t with conscious be in some safe location while they are fighting for their lives.”
****
Marcus looked at his hand and after a moment took it. "Done. However...."
he frowned. "You want to be safe from the Aharim... and yet you want to walk around freely. It seems to negate any concern you claim to feel."
****
Nox shook his hand and pulled his own back. ”So I should let my friends and family die because the strongest god they know decided to pussy up and hide while they fight the good fight.”
He could hear the anger in his own voice. ”My friend, his son, and wife are in danger. Other people who foolishly get involved with me put them selves in danger for knowing me. So I should let the Atharim hunt them, hurt them to get at me?”
Nox shook his head and curled back up in on him self. ”I can’t do that”
****
Marcus nodded. He could understand that, at least intellectually. People were like that. Not that there was anyone he would do that for. But evidently, Nox would. "Alright. I can understand that. Very well."
He paused. "I will make arrangements for you to stay somewhere else. Since you registered as a channeler, our Dr. would like to run a few tests. If you'd like, I can send someone around to watch over your friends until you are released. Is that satisfactory?"
Inside, though, he felt a stir of anticipation. Other than Ascendancy and Vellas, there were few Force users he respected. Most feared their gift, rather than explored it. He had enough measure of Nox to know that he was the latter. And unlike Ascendancy and Vellas, there was now a debt, if not so worded. You could learn from anyone. And that was what Marcus would do.
****
Nox nodded. ”I don’t think I have a choice. But it yes, it is satisfactory.”
There was a hit of mocking in Nox’s voice. ”I’ll be here when your doctor is ready. But be forewarned me and needles, we don’t get along.”
[[with marcus]]
Edited by Nox, Jan 23 2018, 04:48 PM.
![[Image: nox_sig.gif]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nox_sig.gif)