Got my head in the clouds {Open}

[marius]

“Now you understand Lillie? The significance of your paintings and the danger they might place you in? I’m not the only one out there, there are others and they have no qualms about shedding blood if it suits them. You must be watchful of your gift and who you trust.”

It certainly was a lot for a mortal mind to take, to discover that besides the common belief that man enjoyed to believe in, they weren’t at the top of the food chain. Marius was a god, he was Mercury reborn, the messenger of the gods. Once he was worshipped by mortals, now however, those where more cynical times, his very existence was considered ancient superstition and fables.

“You must be careful of this 16 century man, if I’m real he probably is too. We are the things your modern age qualify as myth and legends, bed-time stories. We’re real and the monsters you see, I’d bet they are as well and it’s not always distinct them from the real humans. The line between good and evil has become blurred long ago.”

And there it was, after thousands of years, a human soul was again aware that he walked amongst them. The council most likely wouldn’t be very happy if they knew what he had revealed to the mortal woman. Demios would probably want the woman dead, and that was the reason he should never hear from her.

His very presence could be a danger to her, but there was something else he needed to go before he departed…

“You mentioned bloodshed and chaos in your dreams, care to elaborate?”

[Lillie Galleau]

Wrapping her arms around herself, Lillie shook her head. No, no, no, none of this could be real. She was just having one of her very vivid dreams…which wasn’t possible, because she was strictly a bystander in her dreams. Marius was real, talking to her, SOLID…

Man, this couldn’t be happening. She was only mildly weird, not a darn Oracle!

“I don’t understand any of this,” She said, pushing herself off of the desk to take a few steps away from him. She needed distance, some time to think and piece together what was going on. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the pieces began to fit together into one glorifying answer…but dammit, she didn’t want them to! Her dreams were real. Holy guacamole, how could that be possible?

“You’re saying that people will want to kill me because of my paintings? Marius, I’ve been selling my work for most of my life and nobody’s bothered me for anything but Rebecca Beaumont’s home address. I’m just a smalltime Gallery owner. And…16th century man? Holy guacamole, this can’t be happening!”

With a frustrated grumble, she snatched up the lemonade she’d brought him with a muttered ‘I think I need this more than you’ and proceeded to chug it down. The sweet taste was enough to make her toes curl, and she held onto the sharp tang. She had to get a hold of herself and think about this logically. She always knew that what she could do wasn’t exactly normal. She was blind, and yet she painted things that could sell on a competitive market. They weren’t finger paintings or abstracts; they were actual landscapes. Portraits, paintings of wars, death, chaos—

As if summoned by her thoughts, the God’s next question jerked her back to reality. With another disgruntled sigh- though, this time, she was a bit calmer- she set the glass back on the desk and turned her face toward the sun filtered window.

“Not really. I mean…what I dream is mostly blood and gore. Battles, destruction, dead bodies and chaos. It wasn’t always like that; I used to have some pretty nice dreams about rolling landscapes and…non-human things frolicking in the woods. But lately, all I’ve been able to ‘see’ is war. Nonstop.”

Turning back to the origin of her voice, a worried look stole onto her face. “What does that mean?”

[marius]

The ancient god could sense the fear in her words, that particular cynic reaction that mortals had when there was something that shattered their view of the imperfect world of them where mankind was in control. She tried to ignore what he had told her, that there was no reason to fear others like him.

“There are those amongst us that would not want for their secrets and story to be known. They would see you as a danger and will have no problem with killing you. It is important that you keep your charade and use the façade of Rachel Beaumont to hide your true knowledge. Like the paintings you said yourself you didn’t bring to this gallery. Trust your instincts. If Demios knew of you…”

Sighing, Marius held his tongue. He had already said too much to her already. In this world ignorance was bliss and the less she knew about what stalked behind the illusionary curtains, the safer she was.

“There always been wars and struggles for power, but most of times the unnatural helm has shielded their happening from the curious eyes of this realm. If there is a war brewing in the horizon…But I said too much already.”

Stepping away, Marius took one last look onto her painting of the god Reborn.

“Be careful of the ancients woman, they are not what they seem to be.”

[Lillie Galleau]

Crossing her arms over her chest, Lillie forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. She had to think about this logically, if she was going to keep her head. She’d picture it as…a CIA thing, like in the movies. She had intelligence that other people wouldn’t want her to be giving away to any Joe off of the street. That made sense.

In a really perverse Spy Games sort of way. Not to mention that it put her life on the line, but…she wasn’t going to go there. Not yet, at least.

“You keep on talking about these people like I should know them,” She grumbled, turning so she could move back toward him. Making sure that she was facing him, she proceeded to stand on her tip toes and bring her sunglasses level with his face.

“One, who the heck is this ‘Demios’ guy?” She held up one finger, a second close on its heels. “Two, you can never say too much, so tell me about the war. I’ve already seen it and I just might have information about who wins, if only you tell me what’s going on. And three,” Another finger came up, and her stomach proceeded to growl an unhappy snarl at the world in general.

Man. There went any attempt to be serious and information-demanding. Why could she NEVER pull off the intimidating thing?

As if trying her best to ignore the continuous roaring sounds coming from her midsection, she held up her third finger. “And three, if I have to ‘beware the ancients,’ and you’re one of those old guys, why should I trust you? I mean, what if you’re just out to win my trust and kill me yourself?”

Oh, if the thought didn’t serve to make a shiver of unease crawl up her back. Slapping a hand against her belly to stifle the noises, she took a step back from him. Her ears practically perked like a cat’s, she moved until the desk was between them and fished for a granola bar, which she proceeded to gnaw at thoughtfully.

“So, you wanna explain any of that, or just keep on scaring me? ‘Cause lemme tell you; you’re doing one heck of a job right now.”

[marius]

In a sign of annoyance, Marius crossed his arms of his chest and stared at the woman. Was she for real?

“Do you dare to demand information out of me mortal?” he asked her with his annoyance clear in his voice. And she though he was scary before! Didn’t she know already by her dreams that the god could crush her if he so desire? He had faced far more fearsome creatures than a blind and demanding woman, and had laid his foes to waste. However, it was a heartened laugh that left his lips instead of a scowl. “I like you woman, you have spirit.”

Tilting his head as he glanced at her, a light hearted smile curved the corners of his lips like it hadn’t happened in decades. Human spirit was something that provoked a light sense of awe into him and he loved them for that.

“If I wanted you dead you’d be dead by now. I’m sure you already know at least some of what I can do, and there would be nothing to be gained with gaining your trust if I was to kill you. As far as Demios, he likes to think of himself as the god of terror, a nasty one and someone you certainly wouldn’t want to cross paths with. He likes death and pain a little too much to be a sane god, but he holds a position of power amongst the gods.”

Letting his words sink in for a moment, he gave her a few minutes to think of what he had just said and consider the stakes that she might be taking out in the open with her paintings.

“There have been many wars, some secret, some millenary. I myself have been in far more than I would like, you probably saw it in your visions already and the others, you might not have been properly introduced, but yes you should be familiar with some from your dreams. I know not what war you dream of now, but it may be more important concentrating on trying to avoid it than knowing who would win.”

[Lillie Galleau]

Oh boy, had she just pulled the tiger’s tail a bit too hard. Hand still clamped over her belly as it decided to keep on roaring, she made sure to keep the desk between them. How autocratic he sounded, calling her a ‘mortal’ as if it were some kind of an insult? Heck, she was human and she was proud of it, thank you so much!

Before she had a chance to inform him of that fact, however, he’d seemed to change tactics and…laugh.

Whoof, score one for the Lillie-ator. Her big mouth was definitely going to get her killed one day. Holy guac.

“Okay, so you can kill me with your pinky toe. Point taken.” Still gnawing on her granola bar, more out of nervousness than anything else, she held herself warily as she took in the offered information. ‘Demios’ was a bad, scary God who was a sadist and bat-poo crazy.

Wonderful. Just…just wonderful. The urge to find a way to chuck the nice immortal out of her Gallery was almost too much to resist. This just couldn’t be happening…not to her. Hadn’t she gone crazy enough, over the years. Oh, holy guacamole sauce, her head was going to explode.

With a little sound of distress, Lillie plopped into the chair behind her desk. Leaning her elbows on the surface, she rubbed at her eyes.
“Excuse me for sounding like a whiner-baby, but…oh my God, I can’t believe this is actually happening. You’re immortal. There’s a God of Terror who wants to kill me, and I can see the past/future. Deep breaths, deep breaths…”

Her chest expanded as she followed her own advice, doing her best not to go into Hyperventilating Mode. That would serve no purpose whatsoever, so she was going to stay calm. Yes, she was.

“So…what do I do now?” She asked, voice a bit strained. “Stop selling my paintings completely? Or…the war you’re talking about. I don’t know past from present or future, but maybe you would. Has any of the wars you’ve fought in include…monsters? And when I say monsters, I mean monsters. Ten heads, razor sharp teeth, invisible and almost vampiric? Because…that’s what I’ve been ‘seeing’ lately. Monsters.”

[marius]

It might be because he was a god and very little could actually harm him, but the god Mercury didn’t quite understand how the humans could be so frail and thrive like they did, with so many powerful things that could crush like insects. Oh but they did, and stood bravely, and that impressed him. And even that Lillie was obviously trying to keep herself from panicking, he could sense an underlying strength in her.

“You’re the one that can see the future, not I,” he replied to her with a small smile. “I saw all kinds of creatures before, ten heads and razor sharp teeth are rare those days, but you’d be impressed of how much of those were around in the old days. Now they mostly keep to other realms and aren’t allowed to cross over.”

Tilting his head, Marius gazed at her. “Your gift might be a valuable boon in the days to come. I will keep one eye on Demios to make sure he doesn’t find out about you and get any ideas. Try to keep yourself in one piece mortal, and I will return to you if needed. Pay heed to what you learned tonight…”

Before he could say anything more, Marius heard the sound of customers downstairs and decided it was time to take his leave. With only a gush of wind to reveal his departure, the messenger of the gods moved out with blinding speed.