Everybody Has A Price

Tainted Stars

"Goddammit, Dianite! Answer me!" I screamed at the sky. I spat curses at the sky. The gods can't just do that! He left me with nothing. I didn't even have self control left.

"Are you okay, man?" Wag walked up to me from behind. "You're yelling at the sky? I get you're upset about Tom, but you might also be losing your mind."

"Dianite just pissed me off. I might also be losing my mind." I kicked at the grass to rid myself of the excess anger. "Speaking of which, how is Sonja doing?"

"Sonja? Oh, she's fine! You barely even hit her. You backed off almost immediately. She was just terrified. Tucker is blowing it out of proportion, though. You might want to stay clear of him," Wag informed.

"Oh, believe me, I am very aware of that. He tried to kill me earlier today." I scratched my neck, remembering the feel of the pressing blade.

"The last thing we need is another one of us dying. Tom's death has been killing me. How are we going to get justice? We can't just have a god on trial." Wag was looking up at the sky. The vastness of the sky mad me feel so tiny, so insignificant. It made even the gods seem so unimportant. It was almost refreshing.

"We are so small. So are the gods. There must be trillions of living things in the universe, very few of them aware of what we are facing right now. A trial almost seems pointless in something so small." He looked back at me. His eyebrows were furrowed.

"You have most definitely lost your mind." He paused for a bit. "But, I get it. We are pretty self centered, aren't we?" I nodded at his question. Moments of comfortable, relaxed silence passed between the two of us. "I want to explore that someday," he said staring into the sky once again. The sun was mostly down, and the stars were breathtaking. No torches had been placed near the field we were in. There was no competition for the stars. They were like diamonds dotting the night sky. No. They were something more magical than diamonds. They were the spirits of the happy and hopeful. They shone brighter than the darkness, beating the sadness and destruction. I would have done anything to let Tom experience this with Wag and I.

"Stunning isn't it?" Dianite gazed beside us. Dianite's sudden appearance didn't shock me. I just quietly agreed with him. "I always thought they were beautiful. I wanted to rule the stars, but Mianite put me in the Nether." Dianite sounded truly depressed. "He counted them as places to conquer."

"Why taint their beauty?" Wag asked.

"He, himself, is tainted," Dianite answered softly. "I do love him. He [is] my brother. I'm just afraid he doesn't love me back."

"In the old world, you despised Mianite, but there was still a sense of love," I added. He laughed quietly.

"Of course. This is the opposite." He smiled sadly at me. "Waglington, if you would excuse us?" He nodded and flew away. I looked at Dianite curiously. "So, about your question... Well, firstly, I apologize for disappearing on you there. Just listen to me, and do not interrupt. The three of us gods always have a slight mental link. It can be stronger when we want, but it has to be a mutual desire. Ianite has been very distant lately. I can hardly connect to her at all. Mianite, being the same way, has been like that for years. For Ianite, this is new. Something has definitely changed with her." I was about to interrupt, and Dianite knew that. "What did I tell you? Don't interrupt. Anyway, were those memories real? I'm not sure. I could not see what she was showing you." He gestured for me to speak.

"You have Tom's memories right?"

Dianite nodded. "I do. A little tougher to get to, but I do."

"Okay, so in the memory she showed me, I had stolen Tom's sword, so he chanced me trying to kill me." I spoke fast, trying to avoid getting choked up. I couldn't imagine such evil in Tom. He always said he was evil, but we all knew he was actually incredibly sweet.

Dianite was focused on searching. I could tell he was using up so much energy on just that. I didn't know how to even begin to thank him enough. I stared at Dianite curiously. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes were shut. His head was slightly bowed. My eyes searched his face. He had dark, well-tamed facial hair lining his jaw and around his mouth. His lips weren't very wide and slightly fuller than most's. They were a deep red like a sophisticated lipstick. His pixie-like nose was small, unfitting for someone so strong. His cheekbones protruded slightly, adding a nice highlight to his face. His eyebrows were dark and tamed like his beard. Pure white horns contrasted his burgundy skin. The horns were smooth, but bent at odd angles. There was a large notch on the left one as if someone tried to cut it off. I wondered if he felt that. I cringed as I imagine the pain of an axe hitting it. His eyes opened to reveal amber colored irises. His pupils were large from having his eyes closed. He let out a sigh. I watched his lips part slightly to let the air out of his body.

"Do you want to hear what I have to say, or are you going to just stare at my mouth the entire time?" Dianite asked somewhere between annoyance and being smug.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm listening." A slight blush crept into my cheeks. I had been called out by a god.

"Right. So, in Tom's memory, he had never tried to hurt you." I let out a sigh of relief. "He did sometimes get a bit angry, though. He never acted out."

"Well, yeah. I knew that. He was not one to harbor his emotions. So, why would Ianite make up a memory?"

Dianite took a deep breath before shaking his head. "I don't know, Sparkly Thighs." I smiled slightly at the nickname before becoming serious again. "There is a way to prevent that, you know?"

"Really? How?" I was eager to find out how. I didn't want my memories of Tom tainted.

"You must simply choose to be on my side." I opened my mouth, trying to come up with something, anything, to say. When I opened my mouth again, he closed it for me. "If you aren't prepared to say anything, then don't." I nodded keeping my mouth shut. The sun was beginning to rise. "Why are you so hesitant anyway?"

"I just have a bad feeling something will go wrong." I didn't know why, but I did. Whenever I thought about switching sides, I got a weird feeling in my gut.

"I can protect you, Sparkly Boy." Dianie smiled sweetly, obviously trying to win me over.

"That's what Ianite said she was doing when she killed Tom."

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HEYO! So again feedback would be super helpful in improving my writing.