bigger than these bones

The thinning of the veil had been a boon for his developing skills, and the reclusive godling had spent countless hours reaching for the gaps between the spirit world and his own. By this point, his brain was so addled by the constant circulation of powerful hallucinogens and alcohol that swam in his veins that he was unsure where reality ended and the world beyond began. It was excellent for divination and contacting the dead, but it was not particularly helpful for performing his duties as a member of the Empire. Plagued by visions and terrible dreams, the violet marked male was practically a dead man walking.

As the moon began to rise he took short, staggering strides from the outbuilding where he'd spent so much time holed up with the spirits. Somewhere deep in his soul, he knew the veil had fully dissolved now. The lingering smell of incenses that weren't his own, and the wafting bonfire smoke on the breeze when the wind picked up were subtle cues that something had changed. Now was his chance. He wanted to commune with true divinity, and he was going to do whatever was necessary to make it happen. The rhythmic, pulsing glow of the pool that had made the Shrine such a seat of power for his family drew him like a moth to flame. Glassy eyes did not focus on the companions that tugged insistently at his fur and prodded at his sides, trying to dissuade him from certain death. There were too many spirits around, ephemeral forms flickering in and out of existence on the edges of his vision in a riot of colours that drowned out everything else but the violet aura of the water before him.

Susurrating whispers tickled the fur of his inner ears, and every now and again the whispers became a shout that forced him to balk to one side or the other in shock. Once his paws touched the icy water of the pool, the shock of it was quickly drowned out by the delicious trickle of chill racing up his veins. A thrumming sensation of icy chill settled in his chest. He could feel the fluttering beat of his heart, unsteady against the solid cage of his ribs. His soul yearned for the freedom of the other world.

Unsteady paws carried him unthinking, deeper and deeper into the pool. Its currents tugged at his fur, pulled at his jewelry, threatened to drag him into the fathomless depths. There was a dropoff, unexpected for those unfamiliar with the pool. However, Pontifex had spent his fair share of time in this pool. He knew where the ground fell away just as well as he knew the nooks and crannies of the Shrine itself. Slender limbs went limp, letting the swirling eddies of the water drag him into its centre. The moon had nearly crested the canopies overhead, shedding pale light over the clearing around the Shrine. The grasses turned to shining silver, the trees reflected that cold light with an intensity that turned them to the grasping digits of some enormous, incandescent creature. The sigil stones that encircled the pool glittered where the inclusions of quartz caught the moonlight, their slick edges glowing where the mosses had not claimed them.

A gentle, ragged hum played upon his lips as he floated there. Waterlogged fur threatening to sink him to the dark bottom of the glowing pool, weakened body hardly in a state to fight its way back to the surface if it did. He didn't care. He couldn't. He wasn't even aware of where he was anymore. Who he was. All that existed was the swirling current around his paws like the caress of a ghostly lover, the growing excitement in the ghostly murmurs all around him, the ache in his chest as the moon neared its apex.

He let out a long sigh, and cast off his mortal coil. Untethered, free to reach out to the power that he could feel just outside of himself. It lingered just beyond his grasp, but that didn't stop him. His lungs rattled with shaky breaths as he fought against the urge to look away from the celestial body that hung in the sky, a pale eye that cast its apathetic gaze down upon him. It was right there. He could feel it. God was just out of reach, but he had the chance to reach up and grasp at the divinity that he had chased his whole life. The light burned the backs of his eyes, forcing streams of tears to streak down his cheeks and drop into the violet waters that cradled him. Drip, drip, drip. A coppery taste flooded his mouth. He ignored it. Drip drip, drip drip. The waters were stained with sanguine. His body struggled to rid itself of the toxins that poisoned the mind.

There. A tenuous thread that tasted like home in every sense of the word. His mind's eye traced its every gentle curve and sinuous twist, until he reached the end. He was blinded by it. Unknowable and unfathomable. He couldn't have given it a form if he had wanted to, and could only bathe in the glory of it. Holy holy holy holy stuffed in his skull to the point of bursting. Had he been aware of his shuddering frame in the water, he would have known that the tears that streamed from his eyes were streaking through the soft fur of his cheeks with a fresh intensity.

And then it was gone. He was alone under the cold stare of the moon, and he couldn't feel his paws for the icy chill of the water he floated in. "Pollux," he croaked, voice hoarse and lungs rattling with the cold. The tiny primate splashed into the pool, grasping for whatever was closest. He pulled the wolf towards the edge by the tail, and wrung his little hands anxiously as the waifish male struggled to his feet in the shallows. "Please... a drink." he groaned, staggering with impossibly weak legs towards the Shrine outbuilding where he'd made his home. He was completely unaware that he'd pulled something else to the other side with him. He wanted only the warmth of the fire and a cup of tea with which to digest his revelation.

(( WC: 1075 ))

"Pontifex" || "Hallux" || "Pollux"