Of Cats and Dogs - rp

[Shmiley]

Aza giggled and kissed her finger than said, "You have to keep this a secret..." He said then his hand glowed, moving over her finger and making the cut disappear. His hand stopped glowing, "There allllll better."

[spirit_queen]

Astarte squealed her delight. However, unknown to Aza, Lucy had seen the whole thing.

~Nine years later~

The years that passed were no kinder than they'd ever been before, but at least they weren't too much worse... sort of.

At the age of twenty-two, Lucius was finally a man, and a Priest of Gnozza at long last. Hs face was still a little on the round size, and his nose still large, but there was something in his eyes that spelled trouble if you crossed him. Now, he always wore the black robes of a chaos priest, which hid a lean, fairly well-muscled body.

In one of the unused side-rooms of the Temple, Lucius has started a sort of orphanage for street children. He struggled to feed and clothe them all, but he felt it was worth the battle. Some of them, however, still had to go out on the streets to steal or sell themselves to get money for food. It still tore at Lucius' heart to see it.

Astarte was eleven now, and a bright ball of energy; always, there were questions. So many questions. She'd come to regard Azarael as a sort of mother, and of course Lucius was still her father, though she knew herself to be adopted. She was hoping to become a weaving apprentice, maybe; she liked thieving, but it was dangerous to be caught if you were a girl, more so than if you were a boy.

Lucius still had that deal going with Remy, and saw his former mentor-of-sorts often. He also still let Victor sleep there, as well as other unfortunate addicts; at least the Temple could provide some rest for those poor souls. watching them every day made him glad he'd managed to stick only to the minor stuff.

[Shmiley]

Azarael, also twenty-two, had grown a little, now at the height of 5' 6 1/2", he had long red hair, which he normally tied back into a pony tail. He was currently watching Astarte do whatever she was doing, smiling, as he took care of one of the other children.

[Miranda_]

Remy was now twenty seven. The child that his girlfriend had had was now aged nine years, and was a daughter. Her name was Aleta, and she lived at the Temple as per her father's deal with Lucius. Aleta was a real daddy's girl; as soon as she was old enough, her father had mentored her in the arts of thievery. Well aware of the penalties for girls if they were caught stealing, Remy often dressed his daughter as a boy. But she had learned well, and had never been caught. Remy as a general rule prefered Aleta to only steal whenever she absolutely had to; he could earn enough to keep them both. He just considered it a good life skill.

Victor was twenty three. During the nine years, he'd had a hard and terrible life, but somehow, miraculously, he'd survived. He still was undersized and underweight, and somehow the suffering he'd endured had left no mark on his face. Victor was bitter now, especially after he had been beaten and left for dead after servicing a Cat. His nose had been broken, and hadn't fixed straight. He hated most cats, tho he didn't think the same way about Aza; then again, he saw Aza as being an Avian in all but body. He was still hopelessly addicted to opium, but now had no hope of ever gaining a better life as the years of prostitution and drug use had rendered him sterile.

[spirit_queen]

Lucius worked hard to conceal that fact that he'd fallen hard for Aza; at that time, he was going over some scrolls copied from the ones in the Temple of Tuonos. Tuonos was King of the Gods, and so his temple was the highest of them all.

Lucius hated proofreading the copies, but the doctrines and insights made by the priests in that temple had to be copied for every temple, and he was checking those scrolls now.

It was at that point he found a peculiar scroll written in a hasty hand, discarded by the writer when he couldn't find the clues he'd needed.

"In a land of pain,
no hope for success,
four to stand for the oppressed.

One whose lineage to him is lost,
from him a light to shine through the dark.

One whose hands take but pay no cost,
from him come plans for a new start.

One who brings hope to the lost,
from him comes strength to bolster the heart.

One who is cast out as dross,
from him comes justice for those fallen apart.

And if you seek the Chosen Four,
a prince, a thief, a priest, and a wh.ore,
Remember what we've told you before,
the foreigners shall rule no more."

Upon touched it, Lucy shuddered, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he visualized Remy so clearly it was if he could reach out and- wait, no, now it was Victor, laying out on the steps of- but then it was Aza playing with an orphaned baby, tickling him and- last of all, he saw himself sprawled on the floor, scroll still in hand.

He was slammed back into his own body so abruptly he gasped. He stared in shock at the scroll, and when he finally believed what he'd seen, he scrambled to his feet and raced to Azarael. "Aza, Aza!" he called frantically.

[Shmiley]

Aza giggled as the orphan child squeaked and wiggled in his hold, he loved all of the children, he loved his adopted daughter and most of all he loved Lucy. Of course, he wouldn't tell him. He wasn't quite sure if he should. Aza continued to smile and tickle him until he heard Lucy calling him. Setting the child down, Aza patted his head and rushed off towards him, "What?"

[spirit_queen]

Lucy thrust the scroll with the prophecy at aza as he panted for breath. "Read- it" he panted.

[Miranda_]

Aleta was with Astarte. Aleta had black hair and green eyes just like her father. She wore her hair cropped short, for when she had to go and steal tho as a general rule, her father did most of that. She was mischievous and fond of a joke.

[Shmiley]

His eyebrow shot up as he took the scroll and read over the words:

"In a land of pain,
no hope for success,
four to stand for the oppressed.

One whose lineage to him is lost,
from him a light to shine through the dark.

One whose hands take but pay no cost,
from him come plans for a new start.

One who brings hope to the lost,
from him comes strength to bolster the heart.

One who is cast out as dross,
from him comes justice for those fallen apart.

And if you seek the Chosen Four,
a prince, a thief, a priest, and a wh.ore,
Remember what we've told you before,
the foreigners shall rule no more."

"A priest, a thief, a wh.ore and a... prince..." Aza looked up at him, "Is this prophecy talking about..."

[spirit_queen]

"When I touched it, I- I received visions," Lucy said in a shaky voice. "Me, you, Remy, Victor," he concluded.

Astarte kept her hair long, but knew how to tie it in a way that looked like a bob, which girls didn't wear at this time, thus making her more boyish. "I think we should go prank the temple boys at the Temple of Paolos, the sun god," she suggested, hopping up and down in excitement.