I couldn't focus any of my time on training this week, unless you count me running and barely fighting for my life against a Demi-God and his small army of Norse-themed thoughtforms as training. Well, I guess it could have been.
So. The Demi-God and Servants. I don't know what they're called or who they are or what they have to do with anything, but I did see them kill. So, I stumbled across a young teenage couple and their small gang of friends, and the young girl had a piece of paper titled Romeo and Juliet. I kept an eye on them after I overheard the fact that they had it, and it eventually paid off. This man walked up- I guess, you could call him a man. He seemed human enough, I guess. He had a tan fedora with a black stripe and a tan trenchcoat- classic PI style- but the weirdest and most eldritch thing is he made the fedora actually work. I'm kidding you not. Okay, there was also the blank mask with the endless, ever-changing stream of changing words and letters on it, and the fact that he seemed to have the onion layering effect as he walked- kind of like Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II, as the closest possible example. He looked odd, and the kids knew too.
He walked up to them, and one of them asked him what the Hell he thought he was doing. Then he simply pulled out a book and read. He read aloud, and he continued reading for quite some time. When he mentioned the bright, clear skies, the clouds above him parted and made ways for the surprisingly warm ball of sun- I mean, really. I'm in Western Canada there shouldn't be any sun whatsoever- okay, whatever. Suddenly, two of them turn and fight each other. One pulls out a switchblade and kills the other. The Demi-God quitely said, "Mercutio has fallen." Then the boyfriend pulls out a pipe and beats the paralyzed knife weilder to death with it. The Demi-God then murmured, "Tybalt has fallen." Then the girl collapsed. A police officer came, trying to figure out what the hell happened. The boyfriend killed the officer, who was also paralyzed. "Paris has fallen." Then he sees her. She didn't seem to be breathing. He stabbed himself with "Tybalt"'s switchblade. "Romeo has fallen." Then the girl wakes up, sees the dead boyfriend, then tear-stricken, kills herself with the same switchblade. "And finally, Juliet has fallen. A glooming peace this morning with it brings; the sun for sorrow will not show his head." And the clouds reimbursed themselves across the sky.
"Curtains fade. Exeuent. Show's over, witness. Now you have to die." He turned to me.
His eyes looked human enough behind the mask, but I saw what he could do. I set forth a static burst at him. He stumbled back a little- so he wasn't Fury strong- but it didn't hold him back for long. So I pulled another one of my new magic tricks out- I made myself sound like I was running in three directions at once. I ran to the right. I heard the man laugh and say, "Fine. Be like that. I'll just do this." Then I heard some strange noise and suddenly a giant bipedal wolf and a giant blue man with plants growing out of his back.
"Found him, master," said the blue one.
"Excellent," said the masked man, suddenly behind me.
"The fuck are you?" was something close to what I asked. The blue man walloped me into a brick wall thirty feet to my right.
"You will speak fondly to the master of words, insect!" cried him in what sounded like a deep cockney accent.
"Leave him be, Laufey. I need to ask him questions. So- why are you here? Were you sent after me?"
"I was just here to train," I began, slowly at first, "I didn't mean to stumble across the things you've been doing- whatever you've been doing, but you need to stop."
"Hmph," he smirked. "Do you know what I am?"
"A Demi-God of some kind."
"Bingo. Question two- who taught you those skills?"
"..."
"Answer the master," continued the blue giant. Other beings- a flaming giant, a naked girl turned halfway away from me, and a man with a horse mask, to name a few- appeared behind the first two.
"...Isaac O'Zalia."
"I've heard of him. He's a god among telepaths, is he not? Why were you training here?"
"There are a group of people set on raising another Demi-God..."
"The Game Master?"
"Yes... how did you know?"
"I hate The Game Master with a raging passion." He paused for a while, then continued. "You've gotten off lucky. If you were anyone else I would have killed you. Laufey, Surt, Jormungand, Hel, Slepnir, back to the Page." The figures turned into strange, incoherent jumbles of words, concepts, and letters, and dissipated. "They're some of my favorite soldiers. You work on your training, get strong, and kill the assholes who dare try to bring back the Game Master. Also, I understand the need to get stronger. A year ago, my powers were so underdeveloped- but that's not a topic I wish to discuss." He motioned for me to go back and drive back to wherever I came from, but then he called me back.
"If you, O'Zalia, or any of them try to intervene in my own training again, I will not be so lenient. This is your only warning, Greyskin." Then he turned into a jumble of words, and flew away.
And so ended my nearly month-long vacation. Woot.
I've decided not to talk to O'Zalia about it. In fact, I'm keeping it locked away in my mind until Nolla Row's defeat and, if I can help it, the Fury's defeat, if not even further beyond. O'Zalia's got enough problems.
But now, I'm coming home.
I'm keeping up my training. I've learned a lot of new powers and I've increased in skill. Now I get to fight Camazotz and end that murderous bastard once and for all.
