After a few wrong turns, Lazare finally found Emilia waiting to cross a street. "There you are!" They exclaimed, a feeling of relief sweeping through their body. They'd had a crazy thought that something had happened to her, but she was probably just escaping the crowd– and them as well. "Did you know there was another bomber of Crin's standing just a little way away from you?" Lazare asked. "They would have blown up the whole block if someone hadn't stopped them. That someone was me. You're welcome." Maybe if they just stayed near her long enough, she would begin to get used to them and not want them to go away. Or she just might hate them even more. But now they were nervous about Emilia getting blown up or stabbed by some random fanatic. So staying near here was probably best, at least for their peace of mind.
"Well don't you feel so proud, huh?" Emilia's eye nearly twitched purely from annoyance.
They were starting to sound a bit childish now, and a bit too proud. Why did they even need to tell her this stuff anyway? It was great and all to know that the block was going to blow up, but whatever happened, happened. Emilia thought that the heavens weren't supposed to intervene with this stuff either.
Why did this matter so much to Lazare? Why did she need to know? Something was just not adding up for Emilia, so it was either Lazare was bored or something or she was missing something. She opted for the first option.
She crossed the road now, slightly hoping to just get hit by a car. All she wanted to do was to just go water her aunt's plants.
"I did probably save your life, along with many others." Lazure shrugged, completely ignoring all signs that said that Emilia wanted them to go as far away from her as they could go. It was a conscious effort, though. They weren't blind. And even as they followed her across the street, their resolve was fading. Making Emilia sad or annoyed or feel anything bad defiantly wasn't what they wanted to do, but they were doing it for her own safety. Or was it just because they'd been given a reason to stick by her side? Lazare shook their head, almost tempted to whack themselves in the head with the sword they were still carrying. That would get them even more weird looks, though, so they decided against it. "Where are we going?" They asked, not really expecting an answer.
Emilia looked at Lazare, "I am going to water my aunt's plants."
Why can't you just pick up the fact that I need you to go away? By now, Emilia had for sure given up on having a 'relaxing evening'. She was about ready to shout in frustration, then again, Lazare also just happened to have a sword. So, if it was real … she was tempted to just stab herself. It was not a helpful trait to have so that you get irritated easily.
Lazare here, also just expected her to highly value everyone else's lives. Yeah … but no thanks. There'd probably be no escaping them either, since they were a god and all. Probably. She could only just wait for them to lose interest in her and go away.
"Right. Of course," Lazare sighed heavily. Emilia seemed really done with them. She had seemed done with them since the moment they'd first met her, basically. This was probably why they weren't the god of love– they were terrible at it. And they couldn't even tell her, because she would probably think they were making a cruel joke or something like that. They really were in a big hole. Although, it might be better that they stopped caring about her. She didn't seem to be all that invested in other people's safety and all that. Okay, that was what they were going to do. Keep walking with her and try to find all the things wrong with her so they could stop and go away and get someone else's help. This was such a good plan.
So, you can stop following me now.
She was also tempted to forcibly make them leave, however that would work. She didn’t want to start an argument either though. Probably end up cursed or something.
“Why are you so persistent? What do I have to do with all of this?” Emilia didn’t really think about, but she needed some answers. Since she wouldn’t be forgetting this that easily. Though, she might just beat herself up over this later.
Hopefully, this god here would just disagree with whatever emotions they were feeling, and leave her alone for good now. Hoping that didn’t seem to work last time though.
She was a bit relieved at the sight of pine trees ahead, knowing that she was almost to her aunt’s place.
"Why am I so persistent? Because you are the chosen one," Lazare insisted. "Even if you don't believe me, it's true." They really needed to figure out some sort of event to prove to Emilia that she was the chosen one. Maybe they could get Itzal to help them. He liked them well enough. "Seriously, though, what can I say to get you to believe me?" If Emilia told them, then they didn't have to think of a plan at all, which suited them quite nicely. Lazare looked at Emilia, only to see an orb floating in front of their face. One of the other gods were trying to call them, but it would have to wait. They casually batted the orb away, hoping Emilia hadn't seen it, only to have it come right back into their face. Lazare growled softly and grabbed the orb tight in their hand and hid it behind their back.
“Yeah,” she laughed. “Sure. There’s nothing to say. It doesn’t really matter who the ‘chosen one’ is, right? This can’t be that important either. Time passes differently to the immortal, so this will only be looked upon as a minor inconvenience.”
This time Emilia’s eye really twitched out of pure annoyance. Though, hopefully now that she was basically at her aunt’s, she’d be left alone.
She could see the gate up ahead now, and some of the plants she had been waiting to water. She could spend the rest of the day now, angrily watering plants. However one did that.
Lazare sighed. They should probably answer that call now that Emilia wasn't working with them… again. The orb in their hand buzzed insistently and Lazare let go of it. The orb flew into their face and buzzed again. "Fine, I'll leave you alone. But if you need to call me…" Lazare shrugged. "I'm sure you can find a business card around your apartment somewhere." They smiled at her and pressed the orb. Lazare disappeared, reappearing inside the throne room of the gods. Itzal, Finlai, and Elief were all sitting in their thrones, looking weirdly worried.
"Took you long enough," Finlai said in annoyance, glaring at Lazare.
Emilia finally sighed with relief once she reached the gate. Unbelievably glad that there was hope she’d be left alone forever. Her theories were confirmed regarding her apartment being filled with those business cards too.
She pulled off her sunglasses and stuck them onto her shirt, no longer needing them since the trees locked most of the sun. She dug out a ring of keys from her back pocket, them jangling as she searched for the right key. Then she kicked the gate open.
"What do you want?" Lazare asked, crossing their arms and glaring at the three gods.
"Have you heard who has the Skull of Finlai?" Itzal asked, looked at Lazare.
"Yes." Lazare nodded slowly, a plan slowly forming in their head. Maybe if one of the other gods told Emilia that she was the chosen one… just maybe, she might actually believe them. Then again, they didn't really believe that would happen. "As it happens, I've been researching that. Crin Marchesi has it. And I have a chosen one."
"Are they actually a chosen one? I don't think we have one," Elief said, her brow furrowing.
"She is not, but there is a very slim chance we could convince her that she is." All three of the gods sighed in unison and turned to talk amongst themselves.
Emilia pulled out the house key on her way to the door now. Why her aunt had a separate keypad to get to the hose was beyond her.
She’d just start with watering the outdoor plants first, so that by the time it would get dark, she could be inside.
After finally getting back outside with the hose and pair of gardening gloves, Emilia could try and find boots. Emilia was a bit too lazy to walk to the end and water the plants as she walked back, so to prevent her shoes from being ruined, she’d wear rain boots.
The pair of boots were spotted over by another of the house walls and replaced by her own shoes.
Lazare rolled their eyes and turned around. They loved it so much when the other gods summoned them, then ignored whatever they had to say and figured out their own way to solve whatever problem they had.
"Lazare, wait," Itzal called. Lazare turned back around and stared at him.
"What." They took one step towards the gods.
"Who is this chosen one?"
"Emilia Vantress," Lazare answered.
"And is she at all interested in helping us?" Elief asked, her eyebrows narrowed slightly.
"Not one but. Maybe if one of you paid her a visit, though…" They suggested, shrugging slightly. The three gods turned to talk amongst themselves again, and then Itzal stood.
"I'll see her," He said, walking over to Lazare. "Take me to her."
Emilia made her way to the edge of the property, after turning on the hose. Now she’d water the edges partway and then swap sides so she didn’t tangle up the hose or knock over something.
She adjusted the nozzle, nearly spraying herself in the face in the process. Though she was tempted to spray the water up in the air just to feel the relief of cold water.
Checking for the last time that she wouldn’t knock anything over, she started to water the plants.
“Let’s hope there’s nobody eating you guys.” Emilia said to herself, though partly to the plants. Insects eating plants here were a whole other problem. It was a good thing she had a lot of free time.
The two gods appeared right where Lazare had disappeared. "I think that's where she went," Lazare said, pointing at the house in front of them. Itzal took in the house, then looked at Lazare.
"What reason do you have for involving her in this?" He asked, tilting his head slightly and looking down at Lazare. They were happy he was the one that came because he was the one who hated them the least… but the height difference always made them feel weird. Itzal had almost a foot on them, even with their tallest pair of heels.
"She seemed like the right person. But I could always be wrong." Lazare said, starting towards the house. They could hear Itzal heave a sigh behind them, but they didn't look back. He would follow them.
Now Emilia could get to doing what she had been waiting for. It would be a bit relaxing anyways but she was probably looking towards this more today. Since she was getting irritated. So, hopefully with enough time to herself she’d calm down.
Though, the sun wasn’t setting nearly as much as she had hoped. The atmosphere was still a bit energetic and lively, but it would have to do. At the very least, Emilia didn’t have to wear her sunglasses.
She was slowly getting distracted by the sun reflecting through the water, and then slowly overwatering some of the plants. This would probably just make looking for bugs and rotting plant more annoying later. Unless these plants were sensitive … but Emilia didn’t think plants worked like that.
Okay, this time they were actually breaking in. But Itzal was with them, and all crimes were nullified if one committed them with the almighty leader of the gods. They both looked around, trying to find Emilia. As Itzal was looking a different way, Lazare quickly turned themself invisible to Emilia. They really didn't want to screw up their chances to get Emilia onto the 'chosen one' wagon just because they were there.
"Hey, Itzal, maybe don't mention me being with you?" They asked quietly, giving Itzal a pleading smile. He looked at them, shook his head and sighed.
"Fine, but you're going to explain everything when we get back." Lazare nodded in agreement and turned a small corner. And there Emilia was. Lazare smiled widely before remembering that Itzal was with them.
"Hello. Are you Emilia Vantress?" Itzal asked, stopping before getting too close to her.
Emilia flinched, though this voice was different from before. This was definitely a break in this time too.
As quickly as ever, Emilia was returned to her irritated state.
“Damn it all … he sent one of his friendies over now …” Emilia muttered to herself after glancing over her shoulder.
She kept watering the plants, “It’s already a big ‘no thanks’. You can leave now.”
She probably would’ve hosed down whatever god was here this time if she didn’t expect them to become instantly dry afterwards. How desperate were they? Of all the people in this city, why did it have to be her? Why was she so important?
"You weren't kidding when you said she wasn't interested," Itzal said, too softly for anyone but Lazare to hear. They rolled their eyes at him and waved him forward.
"Just… do your magic king-of-the-gods magic or something," Lazare hissed. Itzal gave them a tired look and took a step forward.
"Emilia, please believe me." Itzal frowned slightly, though Lazare had no idea why. He raised a hand towards her and a scroll appeared in his hand. Itzal opened the scroll and read whatever was written on it, then muffled a laugh and took a few steps backward towards Lazare. "She is. You actually picked a chosen one, Lazare," he said softly, holding the scroll out for Lazare to see. "The most unmotivated chosen one I've ever seen, but a chosen one none-the-less."
Dammit, why won’t they just leave yet?
This was worse than the worst case scenarios Emilia had come up with. From her point of view at least. What was this dude muttering about now? She just hoped they’d hurry up and leave.
If she got whisked away now, the poor plants would be left without water and some would be eaten alive by insects. She couldn’t take pictures of them either, or at least when the lighting was good. Taking pictures in the dark, no matter how good your phone or camera, never turned out well.
Emilia for now, would just hope that the power of her ignoring them, would deter them.
"Hah, that's fantastic! Is there anything you could do to make her believe that?" Lazare asked softly, looking between Itzal and Emilia. They really hadn't known that she was actually a chosen one, but this whole day had just gotten better.
"Eh. We'll have to go back and see if there's anything there. Otherwise… I dunno." Itzal shrugged helplessly at them.
"Well, it better be something fantastic. She's very stubborn." Lazare shook their head slightly. Itzal sighed and looked back towards Emilia.
"You are the chosen one. How many gods saying that is it going to take for you to believe it?" He called, glancing at Lazare for a second. They nodded enthusiastically and gave him a double thumbs up. "What would it take for you to believe it?"
The tiny plastic handle for the hose nozzle nearly snapped.
“How many times are you going to keep asking that? Aren’t there other ‘chosen ones’? Ones with more enthusiasm or something?”
It really sucked for Emilia that gods couldn’t die, and that she probably wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight with them. Though … depending on how you looked at it, it might give Emilia more satisfaction if they received eternal torture. Maybe that was too much for the long term.
Emilia didn’t think there was anything to convince her right now. Most likely cause she was just brimming with annoyance. Her aunt was away so they couldn’t blackmail her, she didn’t care about her parents, she had no siblings … and other things could probably impact others lives too. If they tried pinning her down, maybe throwing her into danger, that might not work either.
"See, I told you," Lazare whispered, their mouth drawn into a pout. "She's impossible."
"There can only be one 'chosen one' at a time," Itzal said, giving Emilia a patient smile. "Rules, you know. Here, look at this." Itzal leaned down and rolled the scroll towards her. Lazare watched him, wondering what the chance was that Emilia would simply douse it in water before even looking at it. Based on what had happened so far, they were betting rather high. Why did they have to fall for her? And why wasn't it going away? Maybe if they took a little time away from her, she would start to see reason.
"We should go. Let her think it over," They said, tapping on Itzal's shoulder. He looked up at them, then stood.
"Alright." He nodded and looked back at Emilia. "We'll be waiting on a response, but feel free to take your time. This is an important decision." With that, the two gods disappeared with a pop.
Emilia was just about ready to go and hang herself with that rope in the shed.
Rules!? Why the hell would you make them then?
She was not about to go and abandon watering her plants. The world could end right now for all she cared, the plants would eventually die. Though, this now meant that she was supposed to save everyone. Key words: supposed to.
Was there ever a case where someone who wasn’t a chosen one saved the day? There had to be one somewhere. What did the title of chosen one grant anyway? As the plot unfolds, one would think that Emilia would become guilt stricken and end up saving some rando’s to feel better. But maybe not. She was more interested in what would happen if she didn’t save everyone, than what would he deemed the best case scenario.
"I can't believe it. She's actually a chosen one? This fool actually picked a chosen one?" Finlai exclaimed, her face full of shock. Itzal nodded and walked back to his chair. Lazare had a chair too, but they didn't really want to sit in it. It was uncomfortable and they always hurt their neck looking at the others. And so they stayed standing, which was also not their favorite, but it was better than the death-trap that was their other option.
"Yes, stop looking so surprised, Fin," Lazare said, smirking at her. "I happen to get things right every once in a while."
"But this chosen one is useless. She doesn't want to help us at all." Finlai pointed out, sending them a poisoned look.
"Yeah, well, why don't you guys all figure out some way to get her to do what she is destined to do. I'm–"
"Stay here," Itzal ordered, his eyes tired. "You are one of us, and so you need to be involved in the decision-making process."
"Wow, this is a day of firsts," Lazare grumbled, calling the uncomfortable chair over and turning it into an old armchair. "Get on with it, then."
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