Magic Anon Expired: Loosened Seal
Returning home after everything that had happened was...sobering. Sobering was a good word for it. Despite being at the most powerful they had been in centuries, they hadn't really grown all that much closer to what they had been, had they? Sure, they had once again flown through the sky, glided through the sea, stood miles tall in a form so close to the celestial form they had once had, looming over submerged mountains, looming large, lofty like the stars, the sky above... And yet no answers had come, no acceptance, no worship, no truth nor any closure. Only homesickness. Only mourning for a time and companions long past. Only regret. They supposed that was a lesson in and of itself, however, that even when they were as old as this, as weak and restrained and living each day in a small, fragile human body, their once cosmic consciousness reduced almost completely to mere mortal senses, they could still learn things. They still be could be overzealous, overly confident, and believe they knew what they wanted, that what they used to have was still valuable, still worth pursuing... But now they knew better, and stepping into their shop, they didn't even notice the presence of Vivi as they walked past her, cowl slightly askew, the woman blinking for a moment, surprised to see her boss, back without a word after quite some time being away, the woman calling after them as they stumbled into their office: "Duet? Are you okay?! Did something happen?" The god turned to her, but only partially, knowing that, if they turned towards her any more she may glimpse a part of their starry face... And that wasn't a side of themselves they were really concerned with right now, if they were honest. It didn't make sense for her to see it then, and it didn't make any sense now, either. "I'm well, Vivi, better than I've ever been...but, uh, can I ask you to run the store tomorrow? I've just returned from some rather...heavy affairs, and I need some time to recuperate. I'll pay you time and a half. I'm sorry." The woman nodded, smiling, knowing her boss well enough to know that Duet wasn't making this request without reason: they knew their limits, and they had clearly pushed themselves a bit too far, somehow. She wished them the best, replying: "No problem boss: get some rest. If you need anything just call, okay?" "Thank you, Vivian," Duet smiled, more appreciation than ever for the humans they surrounded themselves with, the lives, fragile and short and transient though they may be, that they had the privilege of having around them. Perhaps, they finally concluded, this curse wasn't so bad after all. Locking the door to their office behind them, the sealed god fell back onto their pile of cushions, beanbag chairs, and other such soft comforts as they felt, like a grand snake closing, coiling, crushing around the body of its prey, their seal beginning to seal back up, strengthen again. They knew that that meant a long, painful night and day ahead of them as the sealing spell carved its way back through their flesh, extracated the long-buried power that anon's curse had awoken again from their body. This time, however, they were happy to return to normal... Some may call them a fool, a traitor to their kin and their true nature, but they didn't care: having had a taste of what once was, what they had now become so removed from that they couldn't even remember, couldn't even understand, couldn't reach towards that power, that old life of their's anymore, they reclined back, letting their weak body go limp, let the sealing spell take hold of them again. Between godhood and humanity, they had finally chosen a side, had leaned towards humanity, and, bring that decision what it may, they were ready for it, ready for anything... Anything at all.