He did WHAT? [Finnland]

[Zephyr]

Training with Eido during the day, and spending more nights in the past week with Jaxen was paying a toll on Zef's mental health.  She needed a break.  But that didn't stop her from doing either activity. They were after all relaxing in their own rights.

It was yet another fun filled rockstar of a night filled with a little vodka, a lot of sex and maybe even a relaxing shower or two. Jaxen's home didn't feel like home so every morning before training with Eido Zef slipped out of the warm bed and into her clothes while the man she'd started to enjoy more than just his body and sexual prowess slept.

The apartment was quiet, and they'd left a mess on their way to the bedroom which Zef straightened up on her way out.  She felt good, sore in all the right places and knew they'd be enjoying each others company again soon.

Zef flicked of the lights and opened the front door.  She stepped into the hall way, her heels clicking on a smooth jet black glass surface, the door behind her vanishing and the sounds of foreign currents tickled her ears.  What the fuck!

[Zephyr]

The world slipped around her vision. What was up didn't look up, and what was down wasn't down. Her steps still echoed in the glass covered walls. It probably wasn't glass -- but it wasn't normal. It smelled off. It felt off. And where the fuck was the door?

Zef walked down the long cooridor her heels clicking with each step. The sound echoing off the walls and down the hall. There were no windows and the ceiling seemed never ending. The pillars along the hall seemed to reach endlessly into the sky or room or where ever she was. What the fuck!

It seemed to go on forever in either direction. She couldn't see an end either way. It felt like she walked in the vast emptiness forever.

[Zephyr]

The sound of her foot steps echoing were the only sound. She could hear a pin drop if one ever did. The hall never changed, but once and a while she'd catch a glimpse of a window and peer through into a strange world. Twisted trees, gleaming towers. Everything could be real, but it wasn't. "Where the fuck am I?"

The hall widened slowly and emptied into a large room with a table in the middle. Food and pitchers of liquid decorated the table in a feast of elaborate proprotions. On the winds, Zef heard a voice. "He has come." A bell tolled. "A feast for the father/son, the many faced one, destroyer of gods."

The words made Zephyr shiver. She looked around and found no one that could have whispered the words. Only the table and chairs stood in the otherwise empty room. There were no shadows to hide in, no crevices on the smooth glass like walls.

The voice echoed again. "Feast mother of he who has come. Feed the babe. Feed us."

The last word slithered over her skin and Zephyr wished for a weapon but she had none. "I will not."

[Zephyr]

Zef turned a full circle trying to take in everything all at once. Thie place almost made her nauseous. The twists and turns, the unending ceiling. Where the fuck was she and who the fuck were they talking about -- whoever they were.

A slim shadow appeared out of a door that just was there. It hadn't been there when she turned the first time. Now it was there without prejudice. It didn't vanish when the creature stepped through. It was dressed in furs and looked completely alien. The figure looked like a childhood memory -- something she'd seen in the old books. But not anything of importance. A childhood story told on the island she grew up. Its voice was gravely from disuse. "Sit. Feast. I be Midwife to you."

"Midwife. I'm not pregnant."

A wide pointed tooth smile spread across the creatures face making it look even creepier than it had moments before. "It is but hours old. We felt his conception, and it was glorious. You will feed us. Come eat." It waved its hand over the food. "All of your favorites."

Zef looked at the table and put her hand on her belly. How could they know? "Why am I here?" she asked.

The creature pulled out a chair. "Sit. Feast. There is much time to explain. But first feed us, feed the one within."

[Zephyr]

Zef didn't think they would let her go without eating so she sat down at the table and indeed all her favorites were placed before her. The baklava even tasted like her mothers when she tried it. Everything her father made over the years, and her grandmother. It was like they pulled it from her memories.

"We did." The creature whispered from the shadows.

"Stay out of my head."

There was a soft cackle from the shadows. It wasn't the same voice, but many, so many...

"Why am I here?" she asked again. Only to get the same answer as before.

A window appeared across from Zef on the wall. A battle raged, lighting flung from the sky, tornados ravaged the land, and one figure strode through the middle hands raised and pulled the world down around his ears. "He is born. Mother of the many faced one. He shall be born here, bore into another time to bring peace."

"You're telling me my son is going to what? Kill the gods?" That's what it looked like. Zef stood up and walked over to the window and looked closer at the images playing through. The man walking through the rubble towards the gods flinging their power carelessly about didn't look like anyone she knew, but there was a striking resemblence in an odd sort of way to Jaxen. Could it really be?

"A deal was made, soon to be fulfilled. Then you may leave, but alone you shall be. He is not for your time."

Zef rounded on the creature with fury in her eyes. "You cannot take my child!"

"Can." the midwife said.

"And will." a second one chimmed from the shadows.

"Already done." a chorus echoed through the shadows.

"You may not leave with the child. And here you will age as normal, and nothing but moments will have past in your world."

"He's mine!" Zef growled.

"Deal was made." the midwife said.

A second creature stepped from the shadows. "But we understand. The deal was not with you. We will come to an arrangement. We have time."

The chorus of creatures echoed. "Time. Feast. Savor."

The creature waved his hands. "Sit. Eat. You are safe. We cannot harm you. You bear the many faced one, the destroyer of gods. His fate is written as is yours."

[Zephyr]

Zephyr sat down and ate. There was little choice in the matter. At least the food was gloriously delicious -- better than she rememered. The creatures watched her eat but did not partake of the food though they seemed satisfied all the same. And when she was full the table disappeared and she was lead to a garden to relax.

"Sit. Relax. Enjoy." They left her to her own devices in a beautiful garden that reminded her of her childhood home. The place were Chris still lived and tended to the family name while she hunted. She thought about going back.

Maybe one day soon. Whenever soon was. How could they know she was pregnant? She didn't even know, she hadn't been prior to night with Jaxen just this evening, morning... She didn't even know what time it was.

The place was disorienting. Time passed differently and Zef fell asleep lounging in a chair by the ocean in the garden that never seemed to end.

zef dreamt of things she saw in the window -- the images of her son walking among gods and destroying them. His childhood, his birth, frightening things that would happen to him. Fear, and anger. Hatred. All emotions boiled into one endless dream.

And when she woke sweating, she was surrounded by those strange creatures. Not just those she'd seen before but others, they reminded her of foxes and snakes of varying colors. Their thin bodies and faces were alien, yet familiar. Like something she remembered in a dream. Not the dreams she'd woke from but childhood dreams.

Several of the creatures were reaching out to touch her when her eyes opened and they all scattered into the shadows except the midwife.

"You grow well."

Zef looked down and noticed an odd buldge in her shirt, her pants were tighter. What the fuck!

[Zephyr]

Time flowed differently here. They weren't kidding. She had only been asleep a moment. And now she looked three months pregnant.

"What the fuck!"

The midwife gave a creepy smile. "Sleep is good for the baby." She handed Zef a long flowy dress. "For comfort in this time of change."

"Thanks. I guess. You said a deal was made." Zef's anger started to raise and she felt the shadows shift. Her emotions drew these things near -- much like a Sentient. Were they connected somehow?

"The father..."

"Jaxen made a fucking deal for our son." She growled and the midwife swooned.

"Anger. Fear." The crowd of creatures in the shadows cooed.

"I'm not afraid!"

The midwife laughed softly. "Your son will destroy the gods. Is that not your desire?"

"It is. But in my time.

"Time does not matter." The smile grew wider, the sharp pointed teeth revealed beneath thin lips. "We will make an exchange. Unusual, but we take from you, we give something in return. The deal has been made. It will happen."

"What do you think could ever replace a child." Zef hadn't realized how attached she'd become to the child growing inside. Motherly instincts were more powerful than she had realized.

"Nothing. But knowledge of his future. Destroyer of gods. And a trinket for your intended purpose. The reason for his very conception."

"And what do you know of why I wanted a child?"

"Control of a god of course. We offer you that." In a window nearby a visage appeared. "A device to control and limit the power of your so-called gods." The shadows cackled with glee. Zef stared at the floating gem embedded in silver legs that looked dangerously like a spider or one of those things from the Alien movies from her father's childhood.

"Tell me about this device." The shadows whispered with words and Zef's knew they were feeding on her curiousity and eagerness and the potential for the gods destruction in her own time.

[Zephyr]

Zef stared into the paned window and watched out in to the strange landscape. The creatures didn't have names. They barely spoke to her outside of riddles but they fed her well, provided entertainment and enjoyment. Sometimes they made her angry just so they could feed on the savory meat of anger. She didn't learn anything new about monsters here. Though she did learn more about the device they offered when they stole her son from her. His fate was written in the stars. A god to take down other gods. A deal made by the man who'd fathered him. What the fuck! Who the hell does that, every child knows not to do that. But there was nothing to be done -- and really could she say no if her son was to end the gods -- even if it was in another time?

Her belly grew at a phenomenal rate. Some days it felt like weeks had passed others only days. It was lonely in the strangeness of the place. The garden was beautiful. The company strange when it wasn't being cryptic or annoyingly creepy. But Zef supposed that it could be worse -- she could be pregnant in real time. 9 months of feeling uncomfortable. The nausea had been brief, she couldn't imagine the real world scenario. Maybe it was all for the better.

[Zephyr]

The creatures spoke of futures and pasts and the present as if it were all one. Her son would be a god. While both what she had been aiming for it was also a worst case scenario. And the creatures seemed to feed up on her mixed emotions. One would whisper in her ear about the good he would do. While the others would whisper about all the death and destruction he'd cause. Everything posed a dual threat.

Zef wasn't sure how much time she had left before she gave birth to this child Jaxen had given up before ever meeting his son. She wondered if she'd ever tell him of it. He'd never care. And did she want another after losing this one? How would she explain her lack of interest with Jaxen. But there was no reason to stop, she did miss his ego a little, and a child even a normal child would be fine.

The creatures promised her a device. The device was simple in looks, but it was dangerously complex. She wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Or if she wanted to inflict such a device on herself. The gods in question to control she didn't care if they sustained damage or discomfort. The demonstrations of the device were like a scary sci-fi movie where the creatures latch on to the base of your skull and interleave little wires into ones body to control the person. The controller had the same type of device.

Zef wasn't sure about anything when it came to that now. But to be able to control a god -- now that was something she'd thought about. There were things they didn't say though and she knew that it was important. But no matter how hard they tried they just regurgiated the same information. Ad nuauseum. But she was almost done ... almost she felt the baby kick and smiled to herself. At least she had this...

[Zephyr]

It was time!

Who knew the pain was worse than being shot? Everyone knew labor was hard. You saw the screaming women, but there were drugs available. Not here! All natural.

Zef screamed as she pushed. She cursed the name of the man she'd coerced into conceiving the child. It was her fault, but he said yes... even if she had tricked him still.

Time seemed to blur. Even more so than this place. There were no creatures to help. No one to catch the baby should he come early. Nothing but the sounds of her screams echoing down the black glass halls.

A bell tolled and Zef felt the world shimmer in her bones and there was her midwife and she was in a pool of water. It was sudden and jarring and her head swam with the pain and the time distortion. She pushed and screamed as another contraction wracked her body. The next sound the pierced the halls was that of her son.

And then three was silence as the baby and the creatures disappeared as if they'd never been there.