All eyes - save Chion's - turned to the doorway to take in the sight of the woman that bounced through as if she owned the place. Duo was struck by her resemblance to Chion - she had the same dark honey-blonde hair and elegant features, although they were a bit more impish. The front half of her hair was pulled back into a ponytail which had been braided. The rest swung loose, falling past her knees. Long bangs framed her face.
She was undeniably, perfectly attractive. Her eyes were a sparkling shade of gray that seemed to dance with amusement, and her full red lips were curved in a quirky, mischievous smile. The woman slowly turned and flashed them all a beaming smile before bouncing forward and giving Rook a tight, brief hug. "Well hey there, cutie, didn't expect to see you here."
"I know...I really must be getting back. But I could not ignore my friends' distress. Allow me to properly introduce you. This is Duo Maxwell and Zechs Merquise. They are Terrans."
"Oooh..." the woman purred, grinning with delight. "Been a long time since I've been there. These the ones you needed that pendant for?" Rook nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, then. I am Kerashimati. You can call me Kerashi, or Imati...whichever is your pleasure."
Duo grinned, finding himself liking this woman immensely. "Sure thing. Pleasure to meet ya. So you were the one that got us back home, eh? Thanks. It was much appreciated."
"Eh, was the least I could do. And YOU..." Imati said, turning her gaze on Chion and marching over, hands on her hips as she squinted at the glaring shadowgod. "I need to have a little chat with you."
"Stay away from me. Take them and get out of my castle." Chion responded abruptly, his tone cold.
Duo glanced between the two of them. "Are you two related?"
"No," Chion responded immediately.
"Yes," Imati responded, at the same time. She immediately chuckled. "Well...that's a very complicated sort of question. I guess it depends on your perspective." Imati's gaiety dropped and she gave Chion a very serious look. "Chi...you can't stay here forever, it's tearin' him up. Come on."
Chion's eyes abruptly flared and he whirled to snarl viciously at Imati. "I will not have this conversation with you, and I will not put him at risk." When Imati seemed about to protest, a stubborn look flashing across her features, Chion interrupted her. "Do your damn job and leave me alone, demon. How much of your power has returned?"
Imati chuckled ruefully. The sound of her voice had deepened, although it still carried the same tone of sensual purring. Duo's gaze left the shadowgod and he gasped in shock, pointing at Imati.
"Y...you...you're..."
Imati blinked slowly before leaning over and murmuring to Chion. "I suppose you didn't think to tell them of my nature?" Chion simply growled impatiently in response. Duo continued to gape in shock, and Zechs' expression nearly matched his own. "I'm a shapeshifter."
The deliciously curvy female of a few moments before was now most definitely male, although Imati's androgynous beauty hadn't changed. Gray eyes sparkled in genuine amusement as the demon chuckled. Imati flicked his eyes to Chion and leaned back against the wall, his voice a drawl. "In answer to your question, I've regained very little of my power. My mate would kill me, then you, for daring let me out of the house in my weakened state." Imati stepped forward and as he did, a pair of massive, leathery black wings burst free of his back. His canines, visible through his wide grin, were most definitely pointed. A long, black tail - just like the stereotypical devil-tail of Halloween costumes - lashed behind him.
Chion narrowed his eyes. "You retain your demonic form?"
Imati sighed, his expression becoming more of a pout. "Form only. I don't have my speed, I don't have my strength. I can't automatically shapeshift around damage. I can flip through my various human-ish forms. I can change my gender and my immediate appearance. But that's it."
Chion nodded tersely. "Fine. Take them and get the hell out of my castle." So saying, the god through a bulging satchel at Imati. The demon-shifter caught it deftly and scowled.
"Fine, I'm going. But I will NOT let you bring grief to my son much longer, Chi. You can't sit in here collecting cobwebs and dust forever. If you don't come to him, you KNOW Gabe will come to you."
Chion stiffened, his expression one of anger and frustration. "GET OUT OF MY CASTLE!" His voice took on a roaring quality as he spoke, thundering in the room.
Imati sighed before gathering up Zechs and Duo with an apologetic grin. "C'mon, we have a long walk ahead of us." With Rook in tow, the group headed through the portal that appeared a moment later.
Almost immediately after they got through the portal, Rook bid them farewell. Imati watched him fly off with a faint grin. "Eh, he's a good kid. Soooo, you're his former snack, eh?"
Duo blushed faintly, aware of the way Zechs stiffened at his side as they walked down the quiet road. "Er...something like that. He did it to save my life. I was dying from gunshot wounds, and...er...well, you probably don't know what a gun is..."
Imati chuckled softly. "Actually, I do. I've been to your world several times."
Duo blinked. "Really?"
Imati nodded. "Yeah...I've been just about everywhere and done just about everything. Heh."
"Chion doesn't seem too fond of you."
Imati winced, his generally cheerful expression clouding. "He and I have...a long history. And he's never forgiven me."
Duo spoke before Zechs elbowed him. "For what? Ow..."
Imati smiled sadly, nodding to Zechs. "It's alright. Here. Let's set camp for the night. Then I'll explain a few things to you."
Camp didn't take long to set - apparently wherever they were was much more hospitable than the last wilderness they had trekked through. The three of them settled around the fire. Imati had banished his wings and pointy teeth back to wherever they had come from, although he kept the tail. After a while, he started to speak.
"You were right in that Chion and I are...sorta similar genetically. Whether or not we're technically related is another matter. Lycavilana...the demon that is his mother...created me from her own essence. It's a really long story. But the short version is that she created me as her demonspawn to attempt to force her firstborn son, an angel, into submission. So she could control him. But she underestimated the boy. He forced me out. I took part of him with me...so we have a permanent bond. I share part of his soul.
"Since I failed at that purpose, she used my newfound shapeshifting powers and grew me to pretty much the form you see here. She gave me her memories, her knowledge...so I was fairly instantly adult. Over time, she molded me...rewired me, reprogrammed me." Imati paused, shivering slightly and rubbing at his throat. "I...was her general, her assassin, her love-slave, her pet. Nothing in the entire world mattered to me except to please her. No cost was too great. She was infallible. Every fiber of my being burned for her pleasure.
"A few years later she gave birth again, to twins. Chion was one of them. Of course, she couldn't be bothered to raise the boy so the task fell to me. I trained him, I took care of him. He adored me.
"Chion was never a normal child. He loved to learn. He's a genius. He always was. And a perfectionist. You wouldn't know it to look at him now, but there was a time when he was the most passionate person I've ever known...about everything in life. His studies, learning, devising new things, planning, strategizing, swordplay.
"Eventually he came into his power fully. When he was sixteen, he and I were bidden to lead an army to take over this very world. I'm not going to get into details. Suffice it to say that he and I had become very close. It was innocent...for all his intellect, he didn't know the first thing about love. Neither did I. Lust, desire, passion...all this I knew. Love was something that was new to me, a kickback to th' old angel soul.
"But things went bad. We were going about our business, and waging our war...and we were winning." Imati closed his eyes, the pain in them evident. "We killed countless of innocents. We finally got the rest of the main resistance in one area. Lycavi had given me a spell-bomb of sorts to use in the end. Our energies were exhausted. I prepared to drop the spell and...Chion deflected it.
"He knew in his heart that what we were doing was wrong. He suddenly looked out at the enemy and saw farmers and children not big enough to wield swords instead of enemies and targets. Ironically, he saved the world. We were ultimately overrun and couldn't recover after that spell failed. Too much had ridden on it.
"I was...enraged. To think that he would defy the orders of our infallible goddess...it was beyond my belief. I went to her and gave her my report, told her of his betrayal." Imati paused, his gray eyes staring into the fire. Tears had begun trickling down his cheeks and it was obviously hard for him to speak. "She...gave me my orders. And I carried them out. I got some of my demon soldiers...and we...went to his room. We drug him out to the barracks. And I...gave the order that they could do to him as they pleased, provided they did not kill him.
"And they did. I watched them, and I did nothing to stop it. I was acting under Her order...but it had never felt wrong before then. He...he screamed for me to help him and to stop them, but I didn't. They tortured him, fed off his blood, raped him, and did things that I can't even...bring myself to mention. And they broke him. The fire in his eyes died. He managed to escape with the final burst of his energy...to the place he lives now.
"Its part of him, that realm. It's a reflection of him. Barren and black and cold and broken, barely able to sustain any spark of life. He's still so damaged...and I think I blame myself almost as much as he does. It wasn't ultimately my fault...even if I hadn't told her, she would have found out and the punishment would have been the same, whether or not I gave the order personally."
Imati was silent for so long, his audience almost thought he wasn't going to say anymore. Duo gave Zechs a look of horrified sympathy for the broken godling - he could hardly imagine being thrown to a demon army.
Imati finally did speak again. "It was the first time I had questioned my goddess' orders. I learned then that she was not infallible. And the rest of my consciousness grew. I developed a sense of right and wrong and morals and all that good junk. Eventually I defied her. She collared me and forced me to serve her anyways.
"More years than I can count passed, and one day she made a capture of a creature named Oriias whom had fallen into our world. It's a long story, but he eventually found a way to break the collar that bound me to her will and we fled. He's my mate now, and we have two children, twins...Shaeli and Gabriel. We sent them to stay with Chion for a while during a more recent war...and Gabriel and Chion fell in love."
Duo grinned slightly. "So...where's Gabriel now? Why aren't they together?"
Imati scowled. "He's at my castle. Er. I guess its Oriias' castle. Long story there, too...but I lost all my power to him via a really strange curse that we haven't found a way to reverse yet. In fact, he'd have a fit if he knew I was out here. He worries about me. But anyway...Chion fears for Gabriel's safety. Lycavi will target Chion above all others because she fears him. And she hates him. And she will do anything she can to hurt him. Chi thinks that if he distances himself it'll draw less threat to Gabe." Imati sighed heavily. "He's probably right, but it still sucks. Anyhow...that's entirely enough stories for one night. I'm...going to go get some sleep."
Imati got up abruptly and went to the tent he'd set up, crawling in and shutting the door. Duo and Zechs sat in silence for a long while before heading to their own beds, both of them lost in thought and heavy with sympathy for god they had not understood.