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What is there in this world to find for a man, who believes in nothing but what money and wealth can gain him? A man, who has all the money and wealth one single person could ever need for themselves, and all the things he could have ever dreamed of obtaining before he had collected these absurd riches. Well, there came the point when there was only more money to get, more wealth, more treasures.
At first, he had prayed to the trickster god out of dire need, but later, once he realised he had the favour of the deity, he got more daring. When had he stopped feeling remorse? He wasn't able to pinpoint that anymore. He had to care for not a single soul besides himself, well and maybe to some degree about his god, who amplified the thief's devilish powers by a multitude.
Hybris, greed and potential proved to be a dangerous combination. He was going to steal the moon!
It would be his masterpiece. Afterwards, he would be the ruler of the night. Would he doom those people to darkness? Sure. Did he care about that? Not at all. He didn't actually care more than those people had cared about his suffering and loneliness. May they get a taste of their own medicine now.
One might ask how he planned to steal the moon. Well, of course, he was not going to steal the actual rock circling the globe. He wasn't stupid. The moon had their deity, about whom he admittedly didn't know much. There was one thing tho he knew about gods in general. One secret he had discovered a long, long time ago. Gods were bound to this world by magic. Physically, in the form of artefacts. Yeah, even the most powerful being had their weak spots. Normal humans would never dare to actually put those to use tho, even if they belonged to the selected circle that knew about their existence.
Twisted Fate, on the other hand, was no ordinary human. He wasn't scared of gods or humans. Nor humans who worshipped said gods as a matter of fact. Those would only be a small annoyance for him.
He had discovered the hidden temple of the god of the moon only a few weeks ago and from reliable sources, he knew exactly where the ring was hidden - under the highest security of course. Twisted Fate had other reasons to wait until this night for his heist. It was a full moon - the time when the mages and acolytes of the moon good were supposed to be the strongest. And honestly, he had wanted this for the thrill... and the extra fuck you maybe. Today was the perfect night. He would show them how it felt in loneliness and darkness. He would show it to them all.
With practised, flowing movements he let a single, glowing card dance through his fingers. The surge of magic followed immediately. He wasn't able to see it by himself, but he knew his eyes would start to glow in a faint blueish purple. Soon, when the magic pulled at every fibre of his being, he flicked the card to the ground. On contact, it shattered into a dusty cloud of innumerable shards, which followed his will and formed a circle on the ground. A portal to be exact. Directly into the heart of his destination.
It had been shockingly easy to get a sense of the layout and collect enough knowledge for a direct teleportation. There were many priests who wandered off the path of their orders... Especially if they were given some motivation. He could nearly pity the god of the moon for having such incompetent worshippers.
Without hesitation, the thief stepped through the opening and let himself be pulled away by the stream of magic. He could trust his trickster's magic, it would guide him.
And indeed the hallway on the other side was just as expected. The walls were carved into bright stone, decorated with patterns and scenes chiselled into the rock. The only light sources were those torches at the columns, burning with bright blue-silver flames. It actually looks a little light moonlight. He had to acknowledge that. At the end of the hallway, there was a giant door, seemingly carved out of darker rock. Two guards were placed in front of it. Shock and surprise clearly readable in their faces. Twisted Fates, eyes subconsciously had started glowing again before he had been consciously aware of them and the golden cards were already flying. His reactions were always fast. Faster than those of most other humans he had encountered at least. The guards were stunned before they were able to shout for backup, well unless there was some kind of silent alarm. He planned to be long gone before any reinforcements would arrive.
Just two guards, what a joke.
Twisted Fate had no idea where they got that kind of trust in their security measures. Well, that wasn't quite of his concern in either case. His god had no temples like this. He did not have that many worshippers and those who did, well they were either very secret about it or wealthy and powerful enough that safety and secrecy weren't a concern of them anymore.
Since secrecy was none of his concerns either, he charged a red card with his magic, basically feeling the explosive energy radiating from the small object. Yeah, no need to be very subtle here. With precision he threw the card right into the slim crack between the two door wings, where it detonated in a deafening explosion, knocking the heavy door open by a bit... Or at least the parts of the door that survived the ambush. It left plenty of space for his slim figure to slip through.
Now came the supposedly hardest part of the night. He was so close to his goal already. The ring was just a few steps away from him, displayed on a rather small pillar-like rock. He didn't know exactly which kinds of defence mechanisms and traps waited for him in here and he wasn't keen on actually finding out about those. The patterns and runes on the floor already were looking suspicious enough in the dim moonlight that shimmered down from an opening in the ceiling or something of that sort.
He had to find out the properties of that spell, especially if it had been enchanted with tracking magic. Admittedly that chance was low since it was a rare skill, but he wouldn't take the risk to lead them to his base. At least it didn't feel like a curse. Would the priests of the moon even dare to use curses? Best case it was just some pure regular damage.
Twisted Fate idly put the moon god's ring onto his finger without thinking about how weird it was that it simply fited perfectly as if it belonged there. Then he dug out the oldest deck in cards in his position out of one of his many inner coat pockets. It already gleamed in anticipation of the magic, ready to find an answer to his questions. He shuffled the cards, fully focusing on the magical flow. Intuitively he flipped cards here and there, before putting them back into the deck and continuing with the progress. Card after card he got his answers.
No poison... No tracker... No curse, but he got the feeling that there definitely was something. So he kept trying.
"You fool got no idea what you have done," said a low, grumpy voice behind him.
Twisted Fate immediately jerked to his feet, whirling around, cursing. "By the devil..."
Now in front of him stood a man he had never seen before. He definitely would have remembered those blue eyes if he had. They seemed like they were glowing and it was only accentuated by the bright, snow-white colour of his hair and perfectly trimmed beard. A dark tattoo was cutting the brow and went down to the beard. The dark grey and blue coat looked very expensive and like nothing he had ever seen before. It was ornamented with fine silver stitching, that must have taken ages to craft by hand. Those silver and dark blue armour pieces were not the only hints that it was probably wise to not piss that man off unless one was ready for handling harsh consequences. Twisted Fate would consider that man very handsome if the situation was a little different.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The purple glow came back into the thief's eyes, ready to defend himself if needed.
The other man groaned in annoyance. "Are you fucking serious? Why it is always me who has to handle such idiots." And Twisted Fate had really no idea what to make of that. Luckily, he was blessed with further explanations. "You are the dip-shit who broke the array and summoned me into this form."
And then it finally clicked for Twisted Fate. This was actually the god of the moon. And this was also not how this had been supposed to go, his pieces of information must have been wrong. He wasn't supposed to actually summon the god into his human form, he had been supposed to control the power of the moon with the artefact. The trickster had tricked him, he shouldn't be too surprised. Screw that devil!
"Well, this really isn't how ruling the moon magic should have gone," the thief muttered more to himself. At least it explained the sudden darkness. Apparently, he had managed to commit the stupidity of stealing the real floating rock moon from the sky, huh? Accidentally...
For a floating rock, he is pretty handsome.
What was he even thinking? Had he hit his head too hard? Probably... How high were the chances he was just hallucinating this?
"That is what that little bastard told you?", said the moon-guy laughing in annoyed disbelieve. "Just where does he always find such idiots... Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but the only thing you will be leading is the way to the hideout of that deceiving little shit. Why did you even drop us off in the middle of fucking nowhere in the first place? Don't tell me you managed to mess up Bob's teleportation array?"
"Who the fuck is Bob!?"
"Oh, sweet moonlight child," the god groaned. "Bob is the little shit you call your god or devil or whatever he goes by these days. You must be a real rookie if you do not even have mastered his basic spells."
"I do not use the Trickster's spells," Fate said coldly. Just what the fuck was going on here? He really didn't understand most of it. But he noticed a slight change in the attitude of the god once he said that. Did he look a little impressed?
"Born with magic then? That's rare. No wonder you got us stranded in the middle of nowhere when you got no clue how many people you are carrying." At least Twisted Fate had not been called stupid directly this time. That could be called progress, couldn'T it? "You are quite lucky actually, he killed the last fools on return while trying to get his physical form back."
The pain that was still throbbing in his shoulder honestly made it quite hard to focus on all of this flood of information. Let alone figuring out the sense of it.
Exhausted he let himself sink back against a tree. "Give me a reason why I should believe your bullshit."
Gods, did that guy just smirk at him?
"You already do, princess."
Which was fair. Honestly, it made way more sense than what tales the Trickster had spun him with everything that happened since the teleportation. He knew the Trickster had none of these magical artefacts, leaving him discorporated and powerless in this realm unless he offered his magical power to a mage. However, if it might be possible for a god to regain his form, he certainly did believe that the devil - who apparently was called Bob - would easily kill some mages to reach that goal. He also knew that he definitely wouldn't want a world in which the devil had real, powerful influence of his own will. His vision began to flicker. What was that now?
It turned dark, then a little brighter again on repeat until it stayed dark.
Had he passed out? No, most likely not, he could still feel the pain and he was still able to move. No wait, he could see! Moon-guy was still there in all his handsome, glowing glory, slowly coming closer.
"Shit, what's wrong?" That definitely sounded worried now, didn't it?
Careful hands quickly found the wound at his shoulder, silently cursing. "Mana regeneration blocker, no wonder it nearly knocked you out. Here..." The tattoo on the god's face started glowing in a light blue until it was just as piercingly bright as his eyes. A cold, but very comfortable sensation built around the place where the magical bold had hit him. The pain started to subside.
"The block should wear off soon. I'm no healer, but this was caused by the magic of the moon. That scar will stay tho."
It took some time for the thief to register the words. Just why was he so gods-be-damned tired all of a sudden? He was drifting away into sleep in front of the eyes of that stranger in mere seconds.
The next time Twisted Fate regained his consciousness the first thing he noticed was that he was definitely not on the muddy forest ground anymore. He was moving, but not by himself. Strong arms were securely holding him, carrying him with ease as if he weighed no more than a tiny sack of feathers.
How long have I been out?
He had no clue. Couldn't really tell how much time at night has passed when the goddamn moon was the one who carried him around instead of passing over the sky as he normally would.
"So, you are finally awake," stated the god, whose chest the thief was pressed against. He could practically feel the rumbling of the god's voice in his chest.
Being addressed seemingly brought the thief back to his senses. He definitely shouldn't be carried around by a complete stranger much less by a god he had just tried to steal the most important treasure from. "Let me down!", the thief commanded and the god obliged, although with a risen brow. It took the thief a second to find a steady enough stand.
They had stopped at some kind of ancient, abandoned graveyard next to the riverside. Judging by the direction of the stream the god had carried him north. Good. But why had he chosen this direction? "Where were you trying to bring me?"
"Your teleportation carried us north but not far enough. Now that you finished your beauty sleep you can lead the way."
"What makes you think I would take a random stranger home?", the thief muttered, more to himself.
"Don't bullshit me, that is precisely where you wanted to bring the ring." It was true, but he hadn't planned on bringing a man home together with that ring.
Wait, the ring! It was still on his finger. Why had the god not taken it back? He had also healed Twisted Fate, as he noticed when his hand touched the spot where just some time ago he had been wounded by the magical bolt. Only a small scar was left behind in the form of a star. Never before had he met someone who cared that much for him... even if they still didn't really know each other. Humans had always been greedy and narcissistic, but maybe gods could be different. Well, some of them at least... He definitely couldn't trust the Trickster again, even tho he had been only using him as a kind of power source for his own inherent magic and not any of the actual magic the devil had to offer.
"Do all of you gods have such normal names like... Bob I guess?" Maybe this shouldn't have been his most pressing question, yet here he was. Honestly, he still had a hard time adjusting to the Trickerster simply having the name Bob. He never would have guessed that.
"Of course, we all have names," answered the god of the moon.
"How shall I call you then?", asked the thief, but he got no answer. Not even when he tried to inquire a little further, purposely trying to annoy Moon-Guy at least a little bit. Sadly, it wasn't that fruitful. He finally threw his hands up in surrender. "Ok fine, I guess I'm just calling you Graves then since you dropped me off at a damned graveyard. Unless you give me your real name."
"Graves is fine I suppose."
He couldn't be for fucking real. This was frustrating. "Why are you even following me around now? Don't you have some important moonly business to take care of?"
"I would have if someone hadn't decided to summon me from the sky," said the god with a side-eye. Yeah fine, by now Twisted Fate had understood that he had accidentally messed up there. "Now, I gotta renew Bob's banishing array before he sinks the world into chaos. No offence but you humans can't handle the true night. Well, most of you at least."
"Of course..." Twisted Fate shook his head. A little bit of revenge on his god actually sounded good. Did he even still consider the Trickster as his god, when he had played him like a goddamn fiddle? He sure as hell didn't feel like going to his knees and worshipping that asshole ever again. So maybe the Trickster hadn't ever been his god after all. Definitely not worth any worship, was he?
Suddenly his world went dark again and for a moment he thought he somehow passed out again, but no! He was still standing for sure. A string of fear tightened his throat. Why couldn't he see anything then?
Careful fingers raised his head by his chin. He still could see those mesmerizing blue eyes!
"Your eyes... Your mana flow is stable again, but why did your eyes stop glowing now?" The god sounded worried again. Worried about him of all people! Hopefully, it was dark enough that the flush on the thief's face wasn't noticeable. On his part, he surely could see the sudden realisation in Graves' face. "Don't tell me you just defected from the Trickster. That was stupid. Brave step, but also very fucking stupid of you."
"What are you even talking about?"
"You realise that the fear you are experiencing right now is just a taste of exactly what you recklessly doomed the rest of humanity to live in? And you technically still got the advantage of your own magic after you recklessly got rid of your divine powers."
He couldn't believe that he had really broken that divine connection just like that. Graves was right. It had been completely stupid, even if he had not planned to do so. If that connection could have been broken that easily by some mere disloyal thoughts, it wasn't worth all that much in the end. He had been abandoned again just like that. Sure, he still had all of his own skills, because he had never depended on the Trickster for those. He just would be much, much weaker. No way he could teleport them back to base now. That would be far out of his range. And then there was the fact that he hadn't had to rely solely on his own magic for years, maybe decades. It would be hard to control it now, without the divine guidance.
By the gods, this really wasn't how he had planned his retirement. Especially not this early. He was fucking useless in comparison now. How was he supposed to keep this up?
He is right, I'm fucking stupid.
"Hey, quit mooning around, I like my men more confident."
The thief nearly choked in surprise and he could feel how he turned red again.
What the fuck?!
The god just smirked at him. Knowingly. Which made it much harder for the poor thief.
"You are an asshole, Graves."
And I definitely shouldn't just crush on the first man that's nice to me in years only hours after first meeting him...
Or at least that was the only explanation he had for his easily flustered reactions.
Refocusing on his inherent magic proved to be difficult, but manageable after a few attempts. It wasn't only to blame on that distracting presence next to him, but it sure as hell also didn't leave him unaffected.
He had no idea which color his magic might have now. The last time had been long, long ago and even then, who knew if that would or could change over such a long time. He also didn't want to ask. The smirk on the god's face had already grown into a damned, self-pleased smile.
"That's more like it, my little star. Now lead the way."
If it was still possible for him to grow even redder he sure as hell did that just now, but with his newfound night vision he still stepped forward and led the way further north. This journey was going to feel very long, even if they hopefully should reach their destination before the sun would dare to rise.
When they finally reached their destination it was luckily still night, but the dawn couldn't be that far away anymore. They hadn't talked much on the way, the thief had been too broody. That had to end now tho.
"Alright, Graves, we are near enough now and I will teleport us inside. You just have to... stay kinda close."
And Twisted Fate really shouldn't have been that startled when those strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist. "Alright, little star, I won't let go of you" whispered that deep voice into his ear. The thief just barely could stop himself from jumping away. Had anyone ever managed to get under his skin like this? Not as far as he could remember. Graves knowingly chuckling behind him was infuriating. It made it also really hard to focus.
By all the gods, please just let me focus.
He charged one of his cards with his magic and flicked it, so it could explode above them into a shower of magical dust, which was then finally forming the portal around them. Just split seconds later they stood in the main chamber. Twisted Fate was very aware of how the god didn't let go of him. He could smell that hint of arctic breeze mixed with a comfortable campfire that the god emitted in their embrace. They really were still that close.
"Alright, what do you have to do now?" Twisted Fate asked, not actually wanting to leave that embrace just yet. He was quite touch starved, wasn't he? Like this, he could keep his face more hidden even tho it was probably already far too late for that.
"Depends on you. Do you want to keep seeing me in the future or will you return that ring to the temple and let them take care of everything?"
The thief hesitated for a moment, but he was quite certain when he answered. "I would like to keep the ring."
"Good, then you will kinda function as the new temple and the Trickster won't be able to return as long as you have the artefact in your possession." The god grabbed his hand and led him to the middle of the stone circle at the far end of the hall. "Ok, just one last time. Are you sure you want that? You won't get rid of me easily any time soon."
"Yeah," answered the thief without further hesitation. "But you at least gotta give me your real name in exchange."
"We got a deal then. Give me your hand."
As soon as they touched, Twisted Fate felt the flow of a very powerful energy and the ring immediately started glowing in response. From the moonstone, which was set into the ring, a small beam of light fell onto the ground. Slowly the god guided his hand to draw an array with the light. It ignited lines of gleaming blue fire, that magically stayed burning on top of the dark stone.
"Ok, this might tingle a little now."
That was the only warning he got before his hand got raised and the ring was pressed against his newest scar. A little tingly was the understatement of the year. It was a nearly overwhelming feeling that got a hold of his body, but it wasn't exactly painful or unpleasant. It was just too much.
Once he recovered from it the look on the god's face told him all he needed to know. "You could have done this without holding my hand and all of that."
It was more of a statement and not a real question, but the god still answered, seemingly very happy with himself. "I could have... mostly at least."
The thief freed his hand and tugged the hem of his shirt away to take a look at his shoulder. The small star-like scar was unchanged if one would neglect the faint light blue glow, but it was encircled now by a ring of brighter blue light.
"As long as the ring is in your possession you will now be able to use its energy."
If any of the Trickster's Information about this was true... Why would he do that? Well, of course, he wouldn't try controlling Graves like he might have tried to under the devil's influence if that was a possibility, but why would the god give him the power to summon him? Why would he let him of all people use the divine energy of the moon? He didn't really know what to say.
"Your priest will probably be very happy to hear about that."
The god laughed. "I got a feeling that it will be safer with you anyway. It's Malcolm by the way."
"What?"
"My name, little star."
Oh! He had honestly kinda forgotten about that deal.
"Malcolm," repeated the thief, trying out the sound of it. Yeah, that sounded right somehow. "People know me as Twisted Fate."
"But that is not your real name, isn't it?"
"No, of course not...", said Twisted Fate. He hadn't used his birthname in a very, very long time. He had never met anyone worth knowing about it since back then. He hadn't trusted anyone to come close enough, but in this moment he was certain that he wanted Malcolm Moon-Guy Graves to be that person for him. "That would be Tobias."
In the next moment, he regretted it already, being overwhelmed by a wave of self-consciousness. Why did he do that? No one had ever wanted that. Even his own family had left him behind and abandoned him. Not a single soul had ever cared for him. Why should a god do so? Why did a god do so? Gods were supposed to have much more important divine business to take care of, weren't they? He had to look away, trying to hide behind his long dark hair. Without success, because his chin got raised again and careful fingers brushed the wild strands of hair out of his face.
"Thank you for telling me, but I can tell something is wrong. Will you tell me?"
How could the god just always be so calm? It was unfair. Now Tobias had to deal with his mess of emotions and answer somehow. It took him some time before he had collected himself enough. "Don't understand me wrong. I most certainly want to meet you again, but I do not understand... why you would want to meet me."
They stood so close to each other now. The thief could feel how the blush was rising into his cheeks again.
"You fascinate me and I would like to get to know you better," answered the god immediately as if it was the simplest question in the world. And then Tobias was pulled into a strong embrace. Slowly he could feel himself relax, tension leaving his body, getting replaced by something different. He lifted his head just enough to be able to see Malcolm's eyes. They were still burning with the intense blue fire of the moon, offering an unspoken dare. Tobias was very aware of how close they were at this moment and he normally wasn't a person easily backing down from a dare.
Instead, he moved a hand to Malcolm's neck, slowly coming closer. He couldn't believe how he was allowed to do this, but he definitely was. It was proven by how the god yanked him closer, to bridge the last centimetres still that had still separated them.
Their first kiss was more of a short, quite uncoordinated peek. More like just testing the waters and when they parted in the next moment, they were looking deep into each other's eyes again, breathing heavily. This time the god took initiative and before he knew the thief found himself pressed against one of the stone pillars with his back. He closed his eyes and his brain went blank, just living in the moment, just relishing the touches. The experience sent a sensation through Tobias' body that he had never felt before, but it made him crave more and more and their kiss grew deeper and deeper with each second.
Until Malcolm was the one who finally broke apart, resting his forehead against Tobias' shoulder, their breathing was loud in the silent hall.
"As much as I do regret cutting this short, but the sun will rise soon and I should leave before that happens."
Tobias had a hard time swallowing down his protest. It was definitely the last thing he wanted and he could sense that this was a mutual feeling between them, but they didn't really have much choice. His boyfriend had pretty important jobs to take care of. Hell, were they even dating? Tobias was definitely alright about the thought of dating the moon given the chance. They could figure out the rest later.
"I promise I will find you soon," whispered Graves and pulled the thief into another embrace. He was smiling. "Or I guess you will find out how you can summon me now. You are smart, you will figure it out."
"I sure as hell will, but you better don't take that long to get your handsome ass back here alright?"
"Yeah, you got my word."
And then it was time to say goodbye. Graves stepped back. Silverish-grey smoke started surrounding his figure, growing denser and denser by the moment. A bright blue glowing sphere of moonlight did build up in the middle. "I will be back soon." That was the last thing Tobias heard before the fog started to clear and he was alone again.
But this time it didn't sting that much. He had not been abandoned and he definitely was not feeling lonely. No, now he was dating the goddamn moon and he knew that his new maybe-boyfriend would always be guarding over him. Whatever this was. They would have to talk about that next time.
Now that he was finally by himself again he suddenly grew aware of how tired he was after all the events of the last hours, which had worn on him on every level. He sure as hell would be able to rest well today.
On the way to his bed, he passed by a large mirror. He saw himself smiling. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt this ecstatic. Maybe as a child, before his exile. Definitely not in decades, not even with all the treasures of the world he had added to his collection.
It distracted him from the other revelation in the mirror. His eyes were now glowing with a magical, bright blue colour.
The colour of moonlight.