Shay climbed the steps to the shrine. She hadn't been here in awhile. A week, maybe more. Time was pointless in Limbo. Somewhere nearby, her new bodyguards sat, but they didn't enter the shrine with her. She had finally gone home come the fifteenth. Too many people around all the time. Friends. Family. Soon, schoolmates.
Shay didn't want to return to school. Not because she was depressed, but because she had no desire to see Nick. Maybe it was fear, she didn't know. It gave her a sort of anxiety of having to deal with it -- somehow. What was she going to do? She didn't know. Wasn't making too many plans ahead right then.
She lit the candles and slid down one side of the shrine, back to the wall and curled up on one of the floor pillows. She pulled her knees in close to herself, laid her cheek on them, and hummed. Shay didn't sob, she couldn't even if she'd wanted to. Silent tears decorated her cheeks, but beyond humming, she made no other sound.
Shay's magic didn't always react to Gabriel's, or when it did, it tended to be masked when she was here, in his domain, but not today. It was a strength in hope and love, spreading the area of the shrine and dancing with his less subtle magic. Reaching, holding, warming.
Please, please, please, Shay thought, give me strength.
Shay had never been good at prayer. She'd never known what to say, so she didn't try to pray today. She begged to whoever might listen, with no genuine belief that she would get anything in turn.
♠♠♠
At some point, Shay would come to without even realizing she'd fallen asleep in the first place. In this new place, everything was blurry around the edges. Below would be miles and miles of daisies. The sky above would be blue, but higher above it, a splash of red threatening to invade it like sharp, jagged teeth. Behind Eroshay would be a massive creature, like a building but made of tentacles, red eyes and sharp teeth popping out of every corner. It had golden armor and, at an angle away from view, one massive red eye. That creature would be the only thing sharp and in full view around her.Gabriel stood next to her body, not offering a hand, but smoking. Waiting. His form would be blurry, but in dream logic, still easily recognizable. "Pity, I would've urged you to sleep a little longer." He put out his cigarette, which disappeared in the next second. "You look like you aren't getting enough hours."
Waking up in a dream was about the strangest thing Shay had ever experienced. Normally, when she slept, she had nightmares of death, that had only gotten worse since she had revived. It took her longer than she'd have liked to admit to realize what was happening.
Shay looked up, caught the undertone of red. Sinister, but somehow more comforting than blue skies and daisies. And Gabriel -- the real one, all black and with threatening red eyes and jagged teeth. She was tentative to look at him head on, recalling the agony it had caused the last time.
This time, nothing really came of it.
Next was the Gabriel Shay knew near her. Was she still against a wall? It seemed not. She narrowed her eyes at Gabe inquisitively because to her it seemed a strange way to start this encounter off. Shay wondered if this was just one of his many abilities, or it had something to do with the shrine.
Shay stood slowly, not liking the imbalance of him standing while she sat too nearby. Once she concentrated on the realm, she could feel the magic of it, sliding over her and slipping past like water to oil. There was distant fear in her gut, but it was masked (in many ways, even to her) by her own aura of hope, which was still going strong from when she had fallen asleep.
"Most of that was from the crying," she informed him, still looking around. She settled her attention on him once she was confident in her memorization of this strange mental... whatever. "How did this happen? Did you do this?"
♠♠♠
Mikhainon considered the question, tapping his lip as he thought of how to word this. When he next spoke, his voice had the edges of a growling, almost inhuman sound."Yes and no. If you want to get technical, this guy's responsible for it." He pointed at his bigger self with his thumb. "But we're one and the same. I'm his avatar, a tool to enact his will. And his will is to answer your prayers."
Mikhainon — or perhaps, Gabriel — gestured for her to follow as he walked. The space shifted, and at the end of the field, a mysterious door. When opened, it held a replica of Mikhainon's shrine by the shore. Mikhainon lounged on one of the floor pillows, shrugging off his blazer and looking Shay over. As harsh as his features normally were, they would come off as reassuring to her. Everywhere in the shrine felt safe. In this hazy dream state, it'd be easier for her to let go of her usual worries.
Shay peered around as she followed Gabriel. Back at the shrine, but different. Everything was different. Softer, more comforting -- even Gabriel himself.
"My prayers..." Shay said, feeling suddenly tongue-tied. Could he help with-- What even did she need help with, exactly.
"Give me strength, you heard that?" Shay was pretty sure, once she started talking that Gabriel would tell her it was her own fault. He'd laugh at her, or call her weak. That was what she had come to expect.
"It's a long story -- I'm just nervous about what's going to happen when I go back to school."
♠♠♠
"You were talking to me. Of course I heard it. If you're wondering if Gabriel heard it, he did, in a sense, but it wasn't for him. You were addressing me." The last part of the sentence turned into a deep, guttural rumble. It was the sound of Duke Mikhainon's voice, not Gabriel Baltimore's. Mikhainon's magic spread like tendrils, feeling around and wrapping around her mind, seeing if she'd let him in. It wasn't something that could be done without her consent."What are you nervous about in school? Is it worth fearing?"
"I just didn't realize I was talking to anyone. I've never actually prayed before. Until now." She guessed.
Shay closed up further when she felt him at the corners of her mind. Would he see everything? Hear it? Feel it? How would that effect whichever weird magic wonkiness that had her and Derry so... close? That had been bad enough. Shay didn't want to know what a God could do to access with someone's mind.
Her own magic danced. It was... different here. Wherever here was. Less extensive in area than Gabriel's. Stuck to her, and airy. Not like the tang or suffocation of death magic Something like air and spring. Life.
"Are you trying to see what happened?" Shay asked, not entirely sure that was something she was willing to share. Yet, or ever. Time would tell, but the wound was fresh for now, and she felt entirely too breakable to offer that vulnerability up to a man like Gabriel.
To answer his question. Was it worth fearing? "Yes and no. Not to someone like you, probably. I could kill what was scaring me, but that wouldn't stop the fear -- or the hurt."
♠♠♠
Gabriel tilted his head at the question. "That's part of it. My essence is acquainting itself with yours, but it wouldn't be able to without your consent. I suppose it's to be expected. You associate me too much with this form. You see me as a man, judge me by those metrics, but I'm more than a man. I'm a god. Not the sort of god that's just human like every other motherfucker in this island. My existence is closer to the sky and the stars than any creature of flesh. The sooner you accept it, the sooner it would assuage your concerns."He waved a hand and manifested a cigarette in his hand, taking a few hits as he listened. "The wound's still fresh. Understandable. It's alright to feel weak for now. Any mortal would be. That's why your father is helping you rest. Take this time to catch your breath and gather your bearings, but never forget that your current state is temporary. Some people fall into a ditch and die there, but you never did like getting dominated."
Looking at Gabriel -- or whatever other name he wanted to be associated with -- Shay felt he could see right through her. Normally that would have been solely intimidating. The things Gabe said to her weren't threatening, though.
How much did he know? And could he see? See all the dirt? Or the things done to her? Could he see the cracks in her person? Little weaknesses she was trying harder than ever to cover up.
Shay sunk to her knees, sat like that as she thought. "Okay," she answered after a long awhile, signifying that she gave him permission. "And I don't think I'm mortal. Not exactly."
Afterward, Shay lifted the front of her shirt just enough to show Gabriel the tattoo on her stomach, dropped her shirt, and showed him the top of the tattoo at her heart, and turned, lifted her shirt again to show him the one along her back. Each thrummed with magic, though they were not the source of power. Like cracks opened to reveal some power within.
She settled back into a more relax pose and laughed, the sound too bouncy and airy in this place. She half-expected to see a physical manifestation in bubble form, but none came. It was the kind of laughter that came with a release of stress.
"Closest thing to a compliment I've heard from you."
♠♠♠
As soon as she gave him permission, Mikhainon's magic wasted no time in flooding through her, in her mind and body, the little nooks and crannies. It was a warm magic, not intrusive, but familiar feeling. An all-encompassing safety. Mikhainon solidified the mental link between them. He knew and understood all, and to him, that was a preferable way to be than the guarded, shallow way most humans seemed to live."Flattery is for the weak-minded. I only speak the truth." He looked over the tattoos, curious. The designs were familiar, but the magic was not. He hummed. "They're like scars, yes? Little reminders. If you're smart, you'll keep them in your mind."
Of course, he knew she wouldn't. Eroshay was not smart.