"A great curse." The Sun massages his jaw. "That influenced the actions of my chosen." He glances at the others present. Luna nods, not looking the least bit guilty. He looks past her, towards the woman in the green hood, and she nods. The Sun whirls towards Autochthon. To his credit, Autochthon only takes a step back.
"How have we not known about this?"
Auto turns. He looks at Kal, then at Kamilla. Balling a hand and coughing, he tuns back to the Sun. "In fairness, none of us wee equipped to deal with it at the time. I had fled Creation, you had turned your back upon the Chosen. Only one person knew about the Curse."
Silence reigns, the seven Incarnae and the single Jouten musing upon it. Even though they know, they wait for the Sun. "Lytek."
Autochthon nods. "Bring him forth," the Sun declares, standing and hand extended, "Bring him forth now!"
Autochthon nods again. Facet eyes rotate, a hand on his chest. He waits, silently. Murmuring of something, directions and locations. "Oh dammit he's not in the mansion." He turns, whirling on Kal, then on the Incarnae. "I put him right there! RIGHT THERE! And now he's gone and wait let me check the rooms and " Facet eyes rotate and flash a single color. "Oh fuck all kinds of duck he went through the portal into the Design!"
The doors grind open. Kal and Auto turn, watching the solid wall of orichalcum lions enter, lead by a massive lion of white and gold, filling the room with light and majesty. It strides forward, hair billowing in an ever present breeze, its main majestic, flowing and forming a halo in passing. "Our apologies, Most High," the largest of the lions booms, "But these are threats that cannot stand!"
The Sun tuns to the lions. "Shining Barrator, explain the charges."
Kamilla floats behind Autochthon, hands on his shoulders and peaking out.
"The laws of Heaven have been broken, severely and at length," the lion states, circling the sidereal, the geth, and the Maker, "Tampering with the Skydome. Mass panic among lesser and greater gods." The lion bares teeth. "Bringing an Adorjan Behemoth into Yu Shan."
The facet eyes narrow. Steam escapes the grill, and the voice issues forth from the brass giant with nothing but chill and certainty. "Touch my niece and you die."
The lions take a careful step back. Shining Barrator does not. "Threatening the life of a Celestial Lion," he continues, "We have come to arrest these criminals and bring them to trial. Will you allow this, Most High?"
Hands folded over her mouth, Gaia cocks a careful eyebrow. The Unconquered Sun narrows his eyes. Luna smirks. And Mercury smiles, almost ear to ear, and that is all the cue that Kal needs. "Fuck this," he says, "Sorry for the language, sir. Ma'ams."
And then he pulls something from his suit. A small device, fitting into his palm. Dark blue, angular, and with a pulsing core of blue. Kal grabs Wuffles by the arm, and places his other hand on Autochthon as Kamilla wraps her arms around her uncle's neck. Blue lightning wraps around them, crackling into a crescendo, and they are gone.
Air pulses outwards and releases them. Autochthon floats, feet pulsing with golden light. Wuffles floats, forming a pair of wings from their back. Kamilla floats, hugging her uncle's arm. And Kal falls. But then was never falling at all, appearing on the shore of the golden river.
"Well, you are learning," Autochthon booms, lowering himself to the ground, "Training's going well?"
Kal groans, shaking his head. "Okay, now what? Heaven wants our asses."
"And yet what I need cannot be done in Heaven at current." Autochthon stomps past, the head of the body splitting and releasing the sphere. The war form drops backwards, disappearing in a crack of white, and Kamilla sits on the seat that forms out of the ball. "With Lytek in the Design, we can only hope that Shepard can return him here. Without Lytek, we have no long-term observations of the Great Curse. However, this gives us a chance to succeed in an alternate goal."
Kal shrugs. "Which is?"
The eye turns. An empty dragon boat passes them, the dragon head spotting the eye and the boat picking up speed. "I need my tools, but I cannot make them. Not as I am now." Kal nods, motioning him to continue. "However, if there is one thing that I am certain of, it is that my capabilities and the capabilities of the Unconquered Sun are hard limits which cannot be surpassed!"
Kal nods again, walking alongside Auto towards a wooden gateway. "Okay. So we ask..." Kal shrugs. "We ask the Sun to make new ones?"
The eye rotates back and forth. "No. We ask someone who can exceed even the capabilites of the Unconquered Sun." The gate bursts into life, golden light and old, dead script forming a gateway to Creation. "We find ourselves a Solar Craftsman."
