AfterDuo: Children's tale

Chapter 5: The Spirit Twins Return

"Have at it, I'm not helping!" Tomala growled out as she walked away and Togaru walked over.

"You don't want to help your sister that saved you from a lifetime of suffering under the might of Amogaru?" The demigod asked and this made the Goddess of War pause her head falling somewhat from being held high.

Arachne silently wondered if the gods were always this insane. She wondered how the world hadn't been rent asunder from their anger. Tokali, probably reading Arachne's mind, sighed and said,

"I was the calmest of them all at one point and tried to protect humanity and monster kind both. And yes, I am reading your mind."

"Dammit Tokali!" A voice thundered in her mind, as Writer 2 berated the character, "I thought we agreed no 4th wall breakage!" Tokali responded, slightly annoyed. "Oh hush, Writer, I'm doing nothing wrong." The real world person harrumphed and muttered, "Short leash." Then disappeared from her mind. Writer 1 chastised her co-writer, saying,

"Shut it, you are making her do this!" Writer 2 disagrees, pointing out that 1 put that line in, but concedes that the two should get back to the story. War in the real world has been avoided, for now.

Writer 1 growled and muttered about how she will spend time with Retla she went off and the story continues.
"It is fun to hear voices..." Tokali said as she sighed and shook her head and looked to Arachne. The goddess seemed to be calm now and like she needed to talk to Arachne alone.

Arachne relaxed slightly, happy she no longer seemed in imminent danger of being blasted to bits.

"We need to talk alone." Tokali said, and Arachne nodded. Tokali took Arachne's hand, and the pair were suddenly somewhere else, no portal, simply in a new room. The poor girl was confused and stumbled. Tokali smiled at her reaction. The pair was now in a large bedroom, silks draped everywhere. It was almost a persian feel, very odd for such a castle. Tokali paced the room, and gestured towards a purple and gold couch with only one arm side. Arachne sat and Tokali spoke.

"You need to stop looking for your father." Tokali said as she gave Arachne a sad but meaningful look, like she wanted to help but couldn't.

"I can't lose my child, and if Togaru went... Ryu's Blank Vision... It wasn't good. It showed what would happen if you go."

Arachne was confused, what kind of vision was this?

"What did the vision show? And why does my father's return mean Retla's in danger. If anything, he should keep us all safe. He's one of the most powerful beings in the universe, from what I've heard." This was the wrong thing to say, as Tokali exploded,

"I WILL NOT LOSE ANOTHER CHILD TO THAT MONSTER!" Arachne recoiled in her chair, terrified. Tokali paused, and continued, much calmer. "I'm sorry... That was uncalled for... But I can't lose another child to him..." Arachne nodded, and asked, tentatively,

"What does Amogaru do in that vision? How do we stop him?"

"Only two gods were ever able to kill him... Tomala and Mokali." Tokali said as she looked away. She seemed to be reluctant to say anything else.

"I can't really say anything about the vision, only because of the rules of the seers. We can see what is going to happen, but cannot change it unless there is another vision that is a different version of the same time." The goddess of peace said as she looked to a corner and noticed a wolf in the corner and she carefully waved the wolf to leave and if Arachne noticed the movement, she wouldn't see anything because the wolf would be gone.

Arachne wondered for a second. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure if she should say it. Then she realized that Tokali would know anyway, so why hide it.

"If this vision must come true, than we need all the help we can get i he returns. Didn't my father once fight the mortal version of Amogaru and defeat him?" Before Tokali could speak, there came a whispering sound, a susurrus from the corner, and Arachne looked round. Two beings floated there, dark grey orbs about the size of soccer balls, whispering and chattering to one another. Tokali sighed,

"Furorem, Fortitudo. What do you need?" The two chattered, moaning they rushed on Arachne, who couldn't even react before they hit her. Her left eye went from pure black to white, while the other stayed the same color.

"Finally, we can talk again!" Arachne said, but the spirits voices created a chorus. "Ever since he sent us back, we've been silent. Now we have a host to retrieve our master!"

"Boys!" Tokali snarled as she had her arms crossed and a glare.

"Sorry ma'am, but we can't talk without his blood as a conduit. We've become too reliant on him, now we cannot be physical without it." The spirits said and Tokali sighed, placing a hand on her face.

"You are forgetting about me, but that cannot be stopped now. You two with her have to go back to her home, and if she wants to find her father then we can not stop her. Help her if you can, she will need it if Amogaru is coming back. We might be able to bring your old tutor back if you are careful enough."

The three tilted their heads,

"What tutor? You can't possibly mean?..." They trailed off, disbelief as Tokali nodded. "Why would we do that? You know what that would do. We can't go about resurrecting gods, that's a good way to start schisms. Remember what happened last time?" Tokali ignored their warnings,

"Not without help. I could do it, but I would have to get there. I can make get there with a little help, but I could be killed by doing that." The twins tried again,

"But wouldn't that make Tomala angry. She'd be unneeded, and she'd lose much power."

"Tomala would still be the goddess of war, there are in the mythologies gods that share roles. That would be the same, but my sister will still rule the underworld." Tokali explained as she looked to a bookshelf and pulled a book out.

"You will need to take a charm with you that can summon me no matter where you may be, there is only one for each god and the others used theirs long ago. Use it well if she really intends to go to Defuhu." The goddess of peace said as she looked away.

The twins nodded Arachne's head, inwardly swearing never to use the spell. Another god brought back from death? This was never a good thing.

"All things must end, and Mafalgo knew that. Let our master rest in peace." Fortitudo declared to his brother in the hissing whisper of Spirit speech in their minds. Agreement radiated from Furorem. Arachne bowed to Tokali, then vanished back to Earth, arriving in Arachne's room.

Sarah noticed a light in her cousin's room and guessed that all went well. She looked around her mess of a room and sighed.

"Mom... why didn't you ever tell us about Ryu?" The normally happy go lucky twin asked the darkness and Togaru's voice answered.

"She was lonely, and didn't want to hand the knowledge of the two of you to her enemies. She was keeping you safe and Ryu safe for only her sisters and Mogasi knew." The demigod stood leaning on a wall as he had a raised eyebrow about the room. Sarah sighed as she went to lay down. She didn't care the male was there and felt like he wouldn't dare, which she was right. Togaru wanted to stay with Ryu, but Mokali made sure he couldn't and had to watch the two older daughters.

The spirits decided to let Arachne have control of her body again, and the two released their grip on her. Arachne's left eye went back to black as she blinked and coughed. She immediately jumped, confused as to how she got back in her room. The two spirits appeared in front of her, in their usual attire of armor and trenchcoat respectively. Arachne screamed, and the two winced.