Gods of a Different Kind

The Past and X

        Harbinger watched from the shadows as his brother quietly cried, he had been sent here at the same time as these gods so he would be unnoticed. He did not always agree with father, one of these would be spying when he could easily kill them in their weakened state. But he had never disobeyed him, and this mission was no different. After deciding there was nothing left to learn he departed, his onyx colored Halberd barely touching the ground from its position on his back. With a final look he walked off into the forest to meet up with the small remnant of the forces that had escaped. He licked his fangs, hoping he would find something different to eat besides the wildlife. Perhaps he could find a way to get away with one of those ponys from the nearby village?

        On his way towards camp he bent over and picked up the totem. It was masterfully crafted, showing every detail, nothing was over looked in his fathers glory. Storing it in his pouch for good luck he smiled, his fangs shimmering in the little sunlight.

        ***

        I awoke to the sound of of pained gasps. With a groan I got up to take care of Licens.

        "Ughhhhh..."

        "Oh come on, you only broke a few ribs... and both legs... and fractured your right arm... and your spine is broken. Ok, so MAYBE you do deserve to groan a little."

        I heard shuffling coming from Infelix, I walked over to him to see why he was bunched up in the fettle position. Out of all of us I figured he was the least likely to show weakness of any kind, to see him in such a state would have likely caused others to go insane.

        "You alright?" I said sitting down next to him, ignoring the injured god.

        "No..."

        "Want to talk about it?"

        "No."

        "It will not get better unless you talk about it." I said, hoping saying the obvious would get him to spill it.

        "Wont get better anyway..."

        "How old are you?" I asked out of the blue. Maybe if I got him to feel more comfortable around me he will tell me what has him so messed up.

        "Depends."

         I ignored his lack of answer, instead opting to answer it myself."Well I was twenty two when I became a god. So my body has not aged past that, although I have lived over three-thousand years as a god."

        "We... We were seven when father took us away from mother, I do not remember much beyond that. Besides that I loved her. I remember near nothing from the time before Ira and I were created. Everything before that was from the originals memories..." Infelix stopped briefly to get a hold of himself. "The original was thirteen when he became us... Wasn't even his own body that we were born in, as he had been put in another body before we were made... I am sixteen now. Although my body is much older, Father transfers all the wounds from when we die to our next body... He did not always make us a human. At times we were nothing more then a feral beast meant to be put down. Father took joy in this, Ira ignored it. He still does not care about what has been done to us..."

        Infelix stopped again to get the tears out of his eyes, I pretended not to notice. "I discovered a few years ago that... That... he had killed her. He killed mother. He took her corpse and... he strapped us to a table and... and..." He couldn't go on anymore, I took him under my arm and patted his head. What Dead Wind had done I did not want to think about, I can not imagine what he must feel to retell this. He is a child compared to me, even before I was a god.

        "That is enough. Perhaps you should not relive these memories? I remember you saying earlier that Ira can get out during great emotional distress."

        "You are correct." He said going back to his normal emotionless tone. "May we please leave? This forest is making me feel uneasy."

        "We can't move on until Licens is at least standing."

        "Very well." He said making his way over to Licens. "This will possibly be the most painful thing you will ever experience in your entire life. Do I have your permission to do this?" Shock portrayed Licens face at this revelation. Infelix continued speaking. "This will force your bones back into place and pull your skin back together."

        Licens took a moment to consider it, then slowly moved his head up and down in his limited movement.

        A black ball of energy surrounded Infelix's right hand, he slowly pushed it into Licens. His body became covered with a tar like sludge. I think I could see Licens thrashing about in it, but that should have been impossible with the way his back was crippled.

        ***

        Pain. Let me tell you how much pain Licens is feeling at this split second. There are over eleven thousand different worlds that currently exist, each and everyone housed by countless species of different kinds. If each of those beings were to be tortured for a thousand years, covered in pitch, and set on fire, it would not equal one one-billionth of the pain Licens is feeling at this micro-instant. For him. Pain. PAIN!

        Then again it could just be exaggerated.

        ***

        "Ow" Licens said after the process was done with. He was still covered with blood, but he was no longer bleeding. "That hurt.... A lot." He continued as he stood up. With a snap he popped his back as he stretched.

        "Don't do that." Infelix said to him, as he proceeded to pop multiple parts of his body.

        "Nooooppppe not feelin' it."

        "Your bones are brittle now. They will not be back to normal for a few days."

        "So I went through the most pain any being could possibly go through for my bones to still be weak? Fan-fucking-tastic."

        "I've been through worse."

        "Really?!" Both Licens and myself said at the same time.

        "Yes. Father is good at what he does. He discovered that after the body has suffered more pain then it ever should, the victim will feel less pain from there on out. I could now cut my own hand off without giving into the pain and stopping part way through."

        "How?" I said amazed.

        "I'll teach you both on how to handle pain. But not now. Thinking about it brings back memories. I'll give you some advice though, negative emotions amplify pain, fearing being hit makes it hurt so much more. Take your mind off of it, I during my time of being tortured, thought of my mother. I thought of all the happiness I could be feeling, which in itself made me feel a little better." He gave the tiniest of smiles, only to turn into a sneer. "Although that made her death hurt so much more..."

        "Yes..." I said a bit depressingly, "Lets move on. Licens can you go up in the air and look for the nearest town?"

        He nodded as he flew into the air, a cone of air forming around him. I'll make sure to find out how he flys. He came back down with in a minute, with a smile he pointed and said "That way."

        ***

        The trip to what I assumed to be Ponyville was over all un-exciting. Well, besides Infelix attacking any bush that gave the slightest hint of having someone in it. Some might call it paranoia, but it could only be called that if there is no one watching you. In the case of this forest, there is always something there. We just don't know where it is.

        "So who are the inhabitants of this world?" Asked Licens.

        "Ponys mainly, not sure if there are any other species though."

        "Ponys."

        "Yes."

        "Seriously?"

        "Yup."

        "So we are in a world where we are gathering forces to fight Dead Wind... and the inhabitants are miniature horses, who lack FINGERS which are vital if they plan to use weapons?"

        "Yes."

        "Excuse me if I do not think that this is the best place to stage a defense."

        "Well, from what I can tell, Dead Wind is focusing on worlds with larger fighting forces. So, we will likely be one of the last attacked."

        "WONDERFUL! So after Dead Wind is done conquering all the powerful nearby worlds and has gathered forces from said conquered worlds, he is going to come to a world filled with FUCKING PONIES where we will form a final stand, and fruitlessly fight the insane, deranged, god of death AFTER  he is done killing all the gods from other worlds?!?"

        "Indeed."

        "That is the stupidest plan I have ever heard ever."

        "In all honesty, I sort of expect him to explode after he kills enough gods, or for one of the more powerful worlds to seriously kill off his armys and Demigods. Then when he trys to attack us to gain some sort of force, we repel the invasion... or I go with plan X"

        "What is plan X?"

        "Fight him in single combat, lose, then curse him."

        "Noble, I suppose, but how do you know he is not powerful enough to simply repel the curse, or crush your skull in with a thought?"

        "I expect I will be at least strong enough to last a minute or two against him. Then he'll likely do the cliché evil villain speech."

        "This is a lot of guess work, too much can go wrong for my liking."

        "Same... but it is all we got. We're also not giving the inhabitants enough credit. I got my ass kicked by my royal guard... although they did go in for the low blow."

        "Ouch."

        "We are here." I heard Infelix say from slightly ahead.

        "Well, I'll go meet the locals."

        "Good luck!" I said with a smirk as he ran ahead. It is going to be beyond wonderful to see him react to Pinkie Pie.