[Introduction] He Who Dwells Upon the Mountain, Guardian of Hearts,

[death_dawg]

The police had called in a pick-up late that evening: a would-be storm-chaser taking a video camera out to film the thunderstorm that had hit the area, who'd gotten himself struck by lightning

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[pandora_antioch]

Much later at night, there will be a vampire in the library. Pandora is working on a translation of the Res Publica, from Latin, to Quenya - something she'd like to give Celebrimbor as a wedding present.

She's thoughtful, though, and frowning as she works, mostly because of that conversation she's had with Light. But maybe she can feel... something. Something on the rise. Much has gone on, of late - a vampire attack, Saetan's disappearance... and she has a feeling of foreboding which she can't place.

But of course, that doesn't mean that Anubis himself can't find her, on the contrary.

Wasn't she dedicated to Isis, once?

[pandora_antioch]

Incoming BSOD in 3... 2... 1...

"Anubis," Pandora whispers, eyes wider than they've been in centuries.

And the following question is not going to be coherent at all, we're afraid.

"How?"

[death_dawg]

"It's anyone's guess," he admits, coming back down to earth. "I serve as a funeral director in a small town in the Mid-West of the United States: I was out on a pick-up, fetching the body of a man who died in a thunderstorm, when I took a wrong turn and drove into the yard here."

[pandora_antioch]

"I knew..." she starts, slowly -- "that there were other immortals, but..."

Pandora tilts her head, looks at him curiously.

"Why live among mortals?"

[death_dawg]

"Gods depend upon the mortals as much as the mortals depend upon the gods," he says, thoughtfully. "Without their sacrifices and their invocations, without them to remember our names, we fade into the nothingness which they called us from."

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora is still boggled, to be fair. "... aye," she replies, eyes wide.

And thinking of Amel... "I suppose another took hold of me, since then."

[death_dawg]

"New gods arise and have their day of riding across the sky: some set sooner, others later," he says. "I trust this god placed his mark you in his own way?" he asks, carefully.

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora nods, just once.

"He was called a demon by Maharet," she says quietly. "And I believe her."

[death_dawg]

He nods, sagely, thinking of the modern gods who might seem slick and attractive on the surface, but who, underneath, were really repulsive. "Yes, there are gods who might present a fair face, but that only masks the horror and misuse of power behind it," he says, sagely.

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora nods, looks away. "I have been living with the Thirst for two millenia, my lord."

[death_dawg]

He eyes her thoughtfully for several long moments, then asks, "If you could be freed of it, would you take the chance?" he asks. He suspects what it will entail, and his tone hints at it, but he's putting the option out there for her.

[pandora_antioch]

"I was, once," Pandora replies quietly. "The price was too great."

Namely, coming back a wild and hungry beast.

[death_dawg]

"Then you chose well, though it took you by a hard route: sometimes one has to make what seemed like a wrong choice to learn what needs to be learned," he says.

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora nods, just once. "I cannot lose immortality now, my lord." She looks away, thinking of Cele. "It may do my beloved ill."

[death_dawg]

"Then you are faring better than many immortals: you have found your place in the world," he says, with a small smile of approval.

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora smiles and looks down, looking almost girlish, a moment.

"Aye," she replies. "I suppose I have."

Ready to wind them down?