A Gods death, A Gods birth

DISCLAIMER: There was no Shaloman exodus. Cassiath got exiled for his crimes. And some of his followers followed him. Whether the rest of this tale is true is debated upon between Rathnir historians.

A Gods death, A Gods birth                                                             By Gus The Great  A tale depicting the death of Cassiath dem Spheniscidae and Greg Gregingson 

The streets of Rican were dark that night. Heavy clouds blocked any light that tried to seep through onto the empty roads. The only thing on those roads that night was the rain that dragged down with it a melancholy mood, footsteps could be heard, they were prominent and it was clear whoever was creating them was a person of a fine class. This person, adorned with a suit, tailored to the pinnacle of perfection. This person walked through the rain with a fierce stride; this person had a goal that night.

Light from a street-lamp illuminated the suit, with its black, piercing colour. The person stepped into the light, revealing their magenta skin. This person, Greg Gregingson. He looked around to make sure nobody had pursued him. He wiped the water from the brim of his black fedora and turned swiftly to his left at the road intersection. His eyes lock onto his destination, Ricans courthouse.

Greg arrived at the front doors towering above him, the glorious building that it was. Greg had become a different man after his soul had been taken away from him, his morals had become twisted; he lived for money and the pain of others. Greg opened the great doors of the courthouse and removed his fedora and topcoat and placed them on the coatrack by the door. The hallway of the courthouse was long and cold, lit only by the few candles that scattered the walls, flickering light upon the doorway at the other end.

Greg paced towards it with his fists clenched and a sweat appearing on his brow which he quickly swept away. He went through the door to the main courtroom then made his way past the benches and behind the judges chair where he picked up the section of carpet and threw it aside. Greg grasped the cold iron handle and opened a heavy trap door leading down into an old stone stairwell. Gus lowered himself down into the spiral staircase and began his descent.

The stairwell opened into a great room of a huge size with lava flowing down from the walls, blackstone all around creating an ominous atmosphere. The whistling continued, it came from a throne with a person sitting on it with a shadow covering their face. The tune they produced was sweet yet sorrowful simultaneously, until it ceased.

The person spoke with an elegant and regal voice, “You have changed, Greg… I need to be able to trust you with this.”

Greg paused then gave his response, “Of course. My loyalty is to my country.”

“Good… Good,” The person stood and picked up a briefcase that he had beside him, he then threw it down to Greg where it landed at his feet. “Inside this you will find your payment, and behind you, you will find your support.”

“What do you need from me?” Greg questioned as he opened the case to reveal a small fortune of gold.

“Kill Cassiath.”

Greg said nothing more and turned to leave as the person spoke again, “Oh, and one more thing. Make sure to make it hurt, my son is no coward” The person stepped out of the shadows. Greg did not look back, “I will not fail you Ryou.”

Greg took on a brisk walk collecting his coat and hat on the way out, he was being followed by four knights adorned with chainmail armour and black cloaks. Each of them had a small dagger and a buckler shield hidden from view. Despite all the weight they were carrying they still managed to keep up with Greg. The four each had masks on their faces, but Greg did not care much for who they were. He cared little for much other than himself, it made him efficient and a good man for the job, but he had become an awful person.

The assassin group moved swiftly along the muddy paths, they reached Voitshenheiger where Greg stopped to collect something. Greg entered the town hall and climbed up to the top floor meeting room where he kept his dagger that he had brought with him his whole life. It was one of the only things he held dear to him at this point. He got it from the leader of a bandit group he had travelled with for a while. With the dagger in hand the party moved onwards to their final destination, Wordesh.

The group avoided the underground train line to avoid anybody noticing them. They were well covered by the dark and the rain. The walls of Wordesh were strong and stuck fear into anyone that hoped to oppose them. Once they had reached the front gates it had finally sunk into Gregs mind what he was about to do, yet it was as if he still didn't care. They moved through the city, avoiding anyone so as not to cause alarm, eventually getting to the town hall where Cass would be inside.

Greg went inside alone first leaving his support behind, he was brave and stupid and he was foolish to think he had a chance. A scuffle could be heard from inside as a few vases were smashed, unintelligible shouting came from inside followed by a suited figure being thrown through a second-story window onto the floor to the ground in front of the building. The mercs rushed to help him back onto his feet, despite the immense pain Greg was in he got up and pulled out his dagger from beneath his topcoat.

The amount of commotion going on had caused some of the Wordeshian citizens to leave their houses to see what was going on. The first of those people was a man named Oreo, as Cass stepped out of the building Oreo sprinted over to Greg and tackled him to the ground, they both went rolling along the ground. Oreo overpowered Greg and was punching him in the face until he was shot in the arm, who shot the arrow was unclear, but it certainly wasn't Greg or any of the mercenaries; Greg thought it was a misfire that was supposed to get him.

Oreo was grabbed from behind and dragged away where a blade was held to his throat, he had an expression of fury on his face. Cass walked towards Greg and punched him square on the nose causing it to bleed, crimson red blood trickling down his face. “Just what exactly do you think you are doing?” He shouted straight in Greg’s face. One of the mercs started to run towards Cass but Greg held them back. “Business is business” Greg responded with a blank expression.

A crowd had formed around the fight, everyone watching had fear in their eyes, nobody dared to move or say anything. “Cassiath!” Oreo screamed, blade to his throat, “Don't let them go without a fight!”

“Quiet you! Or it's your neck!” The merc that was holding him snarled.

“There's no need to do anything brash,” Cassiath exclaimed. Greg clearly wasn’t in agreement of this as he gave him a right hook to the jaw. Greg, not being the strongest of fellows, didn't do very much damage. “If it's a fight you want, my old friend. IT'S A FIGHT YOU'RE GOING TO GET!” Cassiath bellowed as he unsheathed his sword, it glistened in the night as it slashed down to Greg’s skull, another rogue arrow came into the fight and hit Cassiath’s blade away from striking Greg on the head.

He swung again to the side, Greg dodged out away from the slash and went to stab Cassiath in the chest but he swiped it away with his sword. Someone broke away from the crowd, a green cactus man wielding a sword. HPrapto, the cactus man, Greg’s only friend.

“Greg! You cannot do this! Stop! Now, before anything bad comes of this!” Prapto exclaimed.

“It's too late for that now,” Greg said solemnly. Prapto dug his sword into the skull of the merc holding oreo captive.

Oreo stood with fury and grabbed the dagger from the merc that Prapto had just killed, Oreo ran towards Greg with the blade held high, he was a split-second away from stabbing Greg in the back when another arrow flew in and pierced straight through Oreos head. Oreo dropped straight down to his knees, then flat on his face. Nobody said a word, everyone stood still, the town was dead. Prapto went into a blind rage and swung his sword around with no purpose, tears fell down his face and he was easily taken down by the other three mercs.

“NOOOO!” Prapto screamed “NOOOO! WHYY? WHY? OREO! OREO!” Prapto continued to cry as Greg took a stab at Cassiath, He blocked it with his shield and swung back himself. A merc ran in to defend the shot on Greg and threw a punch at Cass who turned into it and grabbed the mercs arm, wrenched the dagger from his hand and spun back around to kick him onto the floor. Cassiath dived into a roll to get behind Greg and stabbed the dagger into his calf. Greg screamed out in anguish and kicked Cassiath in the face, breaking his nose. Cass kicked Greg’s legs out from under him taking him down to the floor, as he was standing with one foot on top of Greg’s chest the merc had gotten back up and was running towards Cassiath who ducked down and rolled the merc over his back, the merc landed face first into the gravel. An arrow flew in from afar taking Cassiath by surprise and getting him in the stomach which stunned him, allowing Greg the opportunity to get behind him and slice his blade straight across his throat.

A voice came from the roof beside them where a dark, caped character stood, they spoke in an elegant voice: “Cassiath has caused problems for too long! Today… Greg here, will end these problems!” Greg knew this person was his employer, Ryou Bakura. The figure spun around to leave revealing a bow on his back.

Greg took position behind Cassiath and sliced his throat open, blood trickled out and his eyes became lifeless, staring off into the distance with no real purpose. The skies cracked with lightning and thunder clapped in the distance. The clouds became black and the night became even wetter. A purple haze formed in the clouds and it started to gather far above the group. Suddenly, the cloud shot down, bright magenta light smashed into the ground, a cloud of the same colour gas formed around the area, tendrils formed in the smoke which took hold of the mercs and pulled them away from Prapto.

The gas converged into a point in the centre, creating a ball of magenta smoke. It shot towards Cassiath and surrounded his body, seeping into his skin, his eyes turned the magenta colour and his bleeding ceased. “Greg,” Cassiath hissed “What have you done? You killed my first friend here. HOW DARE YOU!”

“What is this sorcery?” Greg questioned quite startled. Cassiath clicked his fingers and the mercs all dropped to the ground with lifeless bodies.

“YOU ARE A FOOL! I REGRET EVERY DECISION I MADE THAT LED TO ME SENDING YOU DOWN HERE!” Cassiath boomed.

“G-G-GUS?” Greg stammered as he spoke in awe and fear.

“Yes, it is me,” and with that word Cassiath kicked Greg in the chest and proceeded to throw punch after punch down onto him.

“You are no part of me,” Cassiath proclaimed solemnly as he opened his mouth to spill the magenta light towards Greg, his skin soaked it up as he writhed and begged for help. Nobody helped him.

Greg lay there motionless next to Cassiath. He sat up and looked around, seeming different than before. Greg turned to Cassiath and picked him up off the ground and screamed out into the sky; Tears rolled off of his face. “You were like a father to me,” Gus wept. Cassiath gave a half hearted smile and looked up at Gus. “Protect my son Gus, continue my legacy,” Cassiath struggled to speak but managed to get that out before he took his final breath and succumbed to his injuries.

Gus was distraught and turned to the crowd to see Cassius had been watching everything, his face was blank and it seemed as if he couldn’t even begin to process the emotions he was going through. Gus beckoned Cassius to stand by him, he was a child of 15 at the time with the same blonde hair as his father and a similar sort of person. Gus knew him well with all the time himself and Cassiath had spent together. “Today, we have both lost a father. But we have both gained a brother. I will make sure you go far Cassius!” Gus told him still distraught.

Gus turned back to Cassiath, “I’m sorry I could not protect you. I am no God, I am no God.” He got down on his knees in front of Cassiath and bowed his head. He reached out and pressed his hand against Cassiaths chest, his hand began to glow a bright white light which was absorbed into Cassiath’s body. Gus’ power was being drained and he grew weak. Gus dropped to the floor and Cassius rushed to help him up, he was conscious but only just. Gus looked at Cassiath and said: “This is the least I can do to repay you for what you have given me.” Cassiath opened his eyes, they had a pure white glow to them and his face was calm. His wounds were gone and he seemed no longer in pain.

“Gus, my dearest of friends. You are a better man than you will ever accept. I understand what I must do, I hope we may meet again sometime.” Cassiath said in a placid tone. Gus laughed and embraced Cassiath. Cassiath walked over to his son, “Stay by Gus, he knows how the world works. He had it in the palm of his hand once.” He told Cassius. Cassiath said his goodbyes and his body transformed into white light and shot upwards into the clouds. The rain cleared away and the clouds parted, the starry night sky shone above Wordesh.

“FROM THIS DAY ON, WE WILL HAIL CASSIATH AS OUR NEW GOD!,” Gus proclaimed to the people of Wordesh. “We are safe here no longer! We will leave this land and start a new life where we can be safe. We will run under the rule of Cassius.” The people surrounding cheered and that night in Wordesh a party was held to celebrate the death of their leader, and the birth of their God.