Jeanne
*The world above is still... The world trees fruit pulsate with a monochromatic tinge. Each one unique in nature, this story... However, focuses on one fruit in particular. A writhing mass of veins and pulsing energy rolls over one of the many great fruits of this place. The branch it hangs upon shakes delicately as the fruit begins to squirm and writhe from its position. A dim orange glow begins to beat from within, similar to a heartbeat. Its pulses indicative of the arrival of a new god. The fruit begins to swell and contort, ever shifting and changing. The shape it once has been lost to the fleeting time of growth, teeth began to gnash and long claws begin to slice at the creature's own cocoon. The fruit struggles under the unending assault of this new deity and eventually splits...*

*Emerging from the remains of the fruit. A large glowing orange mass shoots up and promptly coils around itself, forming the shape of a serpent. Though at first it is featureless... The strange slithering body whips its body around and frantically searches for what is going on. It does not take long for it to realise the dominion it holds... Two pulsating crimson slits burst from the serpent's head. Acting as beady, observing eyes. They stalk the surroundings... All the while, things to continue to shift.*

*Things continue... To change.*

*The tail of the beast sprouts frills, long beautiful orange frills held together by a black mass of divine flesh and bone. The frills rattle like a bell, tolling for the reaper. Collection, the fate weaver was here... The serpents' eyes fall to the floor, and it takes its first breath... An exhale of mist that mutates in temperature, some areas are boiling hot, the others freezing. Then they alternate, as does the body of the deity. Constellations and starts beginning to draw themselves over the cylindrical body. Connecting... Associating, before promptly snapping and connecting to others. The god's body was a pattern that never remained the same. A mesmerising and almost hypnotic illusion.*

*The monster stretches outwards, uncoiling. Its surface area and length are gargantuan. It quickly wraps around a branch and hangs over the area. Staring down at those who may arrive to check on the disturbance.*

*Littering the air is a distinct sound of burning and ash... The deity's body begins to transmute once more. A tally mark etching across the back frill of the serpent. The first fate sealed and locked into place. His own... A grim smile forms as a mouth protrudes from the head of the energy amalgamation. It was time... Time for change, time to make the world a shadow of itself. This was no neutral creature... No no, this one was out for blood. Edon sets himself a promise, to lie... Deceive and manipulate the cycle of those in his way to get the promised results...*
Stephanie
After spending a satisfactory amount of time thinking about her realm, Melancholia decided she would walk upon the upper branches. There was still so much more of this world that she was yet to explore. She did not want to find herself completely lost later on, even though she wouldn't have minded much, anyway. Her satisfactory world was safe and monotone; this obscure life was very clearly not that. In order to get around, she would have to bypass her own conservative wills.

There was something colorful that she caught through her wide, blurred vision. An emerging deity. Melancholia shuddered, wondering if she had appeared like that when she was born. Nothing in her wanted to approach this odd-looking creature, but he was going to be in her way. At this point on the branch, there were no other places to go. It was either forward or backwards. She was going to go backwards.

Oh, but there was a humane curiosity that made her want to turn back. The goddess knew she would not like what she saw. This was a monster, a serpent, a glowing orange snake with mean eyes. She recoiled her arms and slowly turned back, not daring to move another step forward. No words came from her hesitant mouth. All Melancholia could do was icily watch, wishing she could power through the urge and just go back.

Whoever - or whatever - this was, it didn't look like it should be messed with.
Jeanne
*The serpents eyes snap. Their burning gaze peers at the wandering goddess. A first in his potential run ins with the gods. The sly smile and jagged teeth curve once more into a grimace as it begins to approach slowly and subtly, allowing its tail to dangle loosely from the branch as it rotates itself. Edons face droops from the branch above and stares with an idle curiosity as the goddess before him. His voice is cold like a dagger, his hisses pierce the air with a sense of misery and compassion all at the same time, a cacophony of unholy speech that only grows louder as he finds his voice. The mouth of the beast does not movie, only the body pulsates. The speech ringing out from the void of energy. His first words are spoken, and it's immediate that there is something off with this deity.*

`"Fellow deity, pull your feet forward. Be not afraid, I am of no more threat than any of us."` *His voice is low and rumbling with a desire to understand what he is seeing. The goddess before him had a form very different to his, it seemed more approachable. Less feral... He admired that, even in his infancy he had managed to understand that they were free-forming creatures. They were learning fast, too fast... There was an unnerving sense of priority emanating from the beast as if it knew what it wanted already, from the moment it had been born... Purpose had been set in stone.*

`"We are brother and sister are we not? Birthed from the same mother. It is in both of our interests to get to know each other, hence. I ask for your name. I shall only ask once."` *The words roll with a serpentine hiss. His speech was hard to decipher, was it friendly? A threat? None of it made sense. It was constantly shifting in tone, if this were music. It would be the equivalent of slamming a piano in random keys. There was no consistency in its tone...*
Stephanie
Another shiver rippled through her tall, white body. Softly, Melancholia brought her blank stare to the serpent's eyes. He was a changing creature, a being that contradicted many of the the things the goddess found pleasure in. With a slow, quiet tone, she murmured, "Your aura itself gives me many reasons to be hesitant around your.. Presence."

Her own demeanor was sad and disappointing, taking away from the power that this god's birth might have had on this world. Glancing at the creature before her, she heavily brought one small foot forward. Even her motions were opposite to his sly confidence. She brought her arms closer to her body, so that they were digging into her clothing and thin flesh.

"I am here to.. Rape this land and all neighboring lands of joy, and bring the soft blueness of depression to every man and creature. Melancholia." The dialogue came with an awful amount of adagio. Similar to the deity before her, there was a musical aspect to the way she spoke, as though it all came together to form a piece that a musician could perform. 

"Perhaps we, despite shared parentage, do not have very much in common other than our shared birthplace.." The goddess observed. There was something about this being that she found uncanny, but she could not yet put her finger on it..
Jeanne
`"My presence is what the world intended, as is yours. Your drabness gives me confidence."` *His voice continues to curl with that cruel and calculated confidence, he's smiling at her words. Edons body continues to expand and mutate, growing in size. He shifts his form to grow larger and larger, a near gargantuan state as it wraps around multiple branches. Surrounding the area entirely, engulfing it in his vile orange hue. Eyes sprouting across the entire of his lengthy serpentine body, each one watching. Staring... What is his purpose, why does it have to change so much. Is this the act of a attention deficit ridden deity... Or something smarter, more planned than first glance.*

`"I am Edon, sister. I am here to make sure all befall their appropriate fate. Should that fate be the crushing jaws of your depression... It would bring me a great deal of joy, to know it is one more loose end tied up. When their body hangs from the gallows of your shame and unmeasurable weight of sadness. I shall be there to check them off the great list."` *His speech begins to harmonise with her saddening adagio. Together they are creating a sickening duet of speech. His voice altering to fit the mood and tone of hers. Creating a symphony for the ages, a cruel bond.*

*He continues to shift, ignoring her words about what they have in common. His mind has already been made up, they have much to learn. The pair of them would be in best interests to unite for a cause of misery. Change comes in many ways, whether that is being stripped of hope or having it restored. The two could play devils advocate, a coy smirk forms over his lips as this realisation is made. A second tally mark is inscribed upon the frills of his tail. A new fate sealed... He has scryed this outcome, now the only thing is to wait to see where the howling screams of change will guide it.*

`"Your words... Speak more, indulge me in your quartet of qualms and queries..."`
Stephanie
She looked at him with big eyes, delicate and sensitive, yet ready to hear dreadful news.
"There is no.. Joy in succumbing to one's mind. It is releasing.. Peaceful.. Beautiful and feathery. It is simply about the feelings of it, rather than the technicalities." Melancholia whispered. She had not quite noticed the way their songs collided with unity, but she was aware of their harmonizing tones, and she painfully enjoyed the sound.

Melancholia gazed at his grim smile. Without bliss, her own mouth curled into one. It looked unnatural on her quiet face, as though the expression had not been registered in her brain before she'd been born. Misery was Melancholia's white-winged sister. Feeling the welcome of Edon's unspoken idea, she took a silent step closer. Her blue aura rubbed against the god's orange one, making a strange color. She did not like orange. However, she kept this thought to herself, for Edon was growing dangerously large. Could she be killed as a goddess? Melancholia shook her head, knowing that everybody in the world received varying doses of sadness everyday, and she would not ever fade. Even a utopia would bear gloom.

"What more must I say, great Edon? Can you not already feel my sorrowful meaning in your serpentine bones?"
Jeanne
`"There is no joy in sadness sister, you are right. There is a bitter sweet release when one forgoes its mortal shell however... The pent up tension scattering into the wind. Into the very roots of the tree we stand upon."` *Edons smile continues to grow, together they are bonding. In a decrepid and unforgiving way, the two are experiencing the foundation of something... A... Friend? Was that what they were called. Edon saw this as an oppurtunity. As she steps closer and the twos divine radiance begins to interlink, The fate weaving serpent begins to reduce its size, shrinking down to an appropriately standard snake size. It slithers harmoniously and gracefully towards Melancholia, staring up at the being. It moves gently and tenderly, attempting to coil around her arm. Should she let it. A comfort... Being responsible of the domain of sadness must make companionship a fleeting battle, even if her fate wills it so. He believes he can change that...*

`"Your meaning has purpose, sorrowful or not. The world would not of brought you here otherwise. Do not let it keep you weighed down, you are free deity. You are able to become anything and everything as you wish. Can you still be sad about that sister?"` *His voice begins to surge in a gurgling rumble. Acting as a fleshy bass for their symphony. His grumbles and hisses merge with their words. The song continues to be sang, an encore... His words are purposefully deceiving. They mix in too well...*

`"Even as we speak now, I have forgone my consciousness. Split to create life, a domain to call my own. You may do this too, or you may reside with me. Misery may love its company but sadness yearns for it..."` *His smile continues to curl, even whilst shrunk and much smaller. He's striking a deal, playing to her potential lonely feelings and exile. A real snakes tongue...*
Stephanie
She felt his empathy, slithery and cold. It did not sound right. Bending down and offering her arm to the creature, she allowed it to crawl up her thin, bony arm. Her trust in him was frail, yet still very much present. Melancholia had very little appreciation for acquaintances, for it was not an aspect of life that she particularly enjoyed. Still, she permitted herself to tolerate his advances, which seemed to be awfully too swift for her slow nature.

"Sadness is loneliness and loss. It is the rain that brings a flood, the drought that murders the crops. My meaning is melancholy and dreary, must I not be weighed down by such a burden?" She wondered. Even her form, a tall and thin being, was much different than the other deities. Perhaps she was meant to be.. Different. "You do not seem to understand. I'm not sad. I *Am* Sad. This ability to mournfully sulk in the imprisoning realization is one that I often dread, but a necessary one. Freedom is a slippery thing that I have not yet managed to grasp, and maybe I never will."

At this point, she realized their songs lined up. Her rhythms and notes were slyly matched by Edon's, her soprano melody accompanied by his bass. It was hard to tell what was genuine when all she could hear was music. Her own pessimism and lack of self respect was the only thing holding her back, and even that was bare.
"Who are you, Edon?" She asked, seemingly out of the blue. But something in his words were making her wonder.. "Why must you play with me, such a feeble soul?"
Jeanne
`"Fate tells me there is yet hope, the question is how far are you willing to push for your own freedom."` *His words ring out as he rests upon her arm, a much less harsh and potentially even calming tone of voice shrouds his once menacing demeanour and appearance. Now nothing more than a small serpent in the arms of another deity. This was part of his intents, his goals. He was attempting to make do with what he had been given, to him. This was a game, a twisted roulette of how far he could dig. Though he would never admit such a crude statement. Edon smiles as he contorts and shifts once more, long streams of energy crawl from his mouth, as if they were sentient and attempting to frantically escape his mouth. Each one a writhing tendril littered with faces and scriptures.*

`"You amuse me... Sister. You know who I am now. But you will never truly know who I am later. For the cycle of change is boundless... You will remember me as one thing, but by the time you think you've got me figured out..."` *He drops from her arm to the floor and begins shifting in a frantic spasming motion, the tendrils that had extended from his mouth grapple at the serpents exterior and seem to flip him inside out. Sprawling from the mass of energy is a familiar, slender body... Hers. To be precise. The two were the same now, though Edons imitation was still entirely made of the same glowing energy. Identical in height and size, the duplicate offers out for a handshake.*

`"I will shift, as will our songs..."` *The replicas mouth curls into a cruel smile, then droops down to a frown. Imitating her saddened and gloomy expression. A single false tear rolls down his left cheek, slithering like the serpent he was only moments ago.*

`"I am not here to toy with you... Merely show you the possibility of change. You are not bound to who you believe. Consider this an eye opening experience."` *The copy of melancholia waits to see if she will take the handshake. To accept change into her heart. To let Edons sly jest get under her skin. What harm could it do?*
Stephanie
She looked at her own face blankly, as though she did not quite know how to react to it. After a few uncooked moments, the goddess grabbed the others face. Her fingers were gentle; not exactly benign, but the way they moved across her own features on Edon replica wasn't pain-inducing. Rather, it was their icy temperature that might've made the other god feel uncomfortable.

"Change is a cold-blooded creature."
Despite not having much room to express things in those blank eyes of hers, the look in Melancholia's expression was one of a person who had been poisonously betrayed. Her trust had been twisted, not shattered, yet close to snapping. With a sharp movement, it would break into two blue pieces. She did not shake Edon's - *Her own* - hand.
"Melancholia is a slow-minded condition, known to plague the brain with severe thoughts of pessimism and hopelessness. Change is not in my nature, dear brother. I can contort myself," She blearily shifted from one form to another, quick to settle back in her own body. "But there are only so many beings I can possess before you realize that the same despair is written across all of them. Our songs our intertwining, and our paths sometimes similar, but.. But Edon, my fate does not belong to the rapid sort of change that you possess."

Melancholia eyed herself. Edon was mirroring her, except her motions didn't line up with his whenever either of the two moved.

With contempt, she backed away from the face. What an ugly creature she was... Legs long and thin, a featureless body, dark feathery wings, pointed ears... The natural depression of her demeanor fluctuated for a fat minute, her blue eyes suddenly flickering with a sharp rage that had not yet been reeled out of her until this moment. From that moment, she decided that she hated mirrors. She hated Edon.

No.. The anger dissolved, and she was left with the goddess she knew once more. "Define change. Tell me the boundaries, the limits, the life of the word. And perhaps I will sew my seeds of despondency within its soil.." Instead of shaking the strange-looking hand, she hugged the other figure, and whispered in its big ear, "I mustn't sell myself to a concept without learning the art of it."

She stepped back, feeling backstabbed by her own mouth. But alas, her instincts wanted to please this deity, no matter her own behavior.
"Is that really what you want? Me to change? I feel as though the fact that we are speaking in a minor key and strumming diminished chords means there is something less shallow than the idea you suggest.."
Jeanne
*The conversation held the fate serpent's interest, as the concept of change being cold elicited a twisted, decrepit smile, exuding a level of malice previously unseen. Even amid the god's outbursts and blunt demeanor, the icy touch evoked a sense of... Sorrow in his eyes. Was this what empathy felt like? He shakes his head, shuddering not from the cold, but from the realization that his emotions might be manipulating and guiding his own actions here, with the intruders in his realm and the division within his consciousness. Melancholia currently held the advantage. Mentally and physically divided, the effects began to manifest. The arrogant resistance to her words and the denials he had previously hurled at her were gone.*

`"Then your fate shall be a slow encroaching tide of misery. No... No, sister. I do not want that..."` *His words fracture, his voice crumbling under the weight of what he hears—the idea that she is bound to this feeling forever. He wishes to refute it further, deny all acts. Change can always strike... It can always save her... That's what his fractured consciousness wants to scream. A gentle chuckle resounds from the duplicate's mouth, mingling with the distinct sound of choking and gargling as he struggles to restrain his own words. Another set of writhing appendages seem to claw their way out of the duplicate's mouth, as if another being deep down is screaming to be released. A ceaseless tide of spite bound by Edon's own vulnerability.*

*Their words and songs continue to intertwine, but the tone is shifting. No longer does he hold the leading role. It becomes... Gloomy... Sad... He is losing this mental battle, struggling to justify his own madness. A gentle touch against his glowing and crackling skin triggers something within him. His eyes twitch, his skin ripples and pulsates as if the anatomy of the deity is unravelling—a distortion into a hysteria of unknown quantities and properties.*

`"Change... Yes, change... R-right... Change can be slow or rapid. Boundaries... They can be endless, they can be pushed... There is no limit to what transmuting yourself can do, you just need the right influence, the right hold. If you would only allow me to hold you the way you hold me... To let my creeping visions, my redemption embrace you."` *His body squirms and writhes, desperately attempting to refrain from harming her in the moment. The head of the duplicate returns to a serpentine shape, its fangs dripping with the strange glowing substance that envelops the rest of the warped body—the remnants of what once was...*

`"I will. Fate will hold you, whether you truly wish it or not. I will scry every outcome, every nook. Everything you do, I'll watch. You are now under my gaze... Your fate. It is sealed. I can't wait to witness the end... Sister."` *He fully reverts to his serpentine form, standing at approximately 8 feet tall this time. He extends his tail gently toward her and delicately flaps it, revealing the tally mark on the topmost fin. Currently, there are two marks—one for him, and one for her.*
Stephanie
If Edon were to attack her, Melancholia would let him. She would submit to the pain, for pain was a feeling that the goddess conquered and almost enjoyed. It touched her in a way that made her feel grounded. However, Edon did not attack her, and she didn't have to worry about how it would feel. The amount of control he was losing was clear, even though she didn't understand why or how. Empathy had always been a second nature to the goddess of sadness; perhaps it was one of the few depressing abilities she bore.

"Brother, take control of yourself once more..." She looked at him with worry. With pessimism. The air was turning blue, - Melancholia's shade of blue - replacing the nasty orange that had once proudly surrounded the fate deity. Even the goddess herself wished her color would go away, so the atmosphere would no longer be sad. That was only because she knew Edon would not like the emotion; not because she herself disliked it. "Redemption does not embrace the damsel who has victimized her own self. My grave has been dug by these two hands, and I have walked into it with these very two feet. I am pathetic, Edon. You do not seem to understand.. The only way sadness changes if it it worsens. Even in the off case that it fades into happiness, I would no longer have control over it, anyways. That is not in my power."

Standing at seven and a half feet high, the snake did not have much physical leverage over her in terms of height. She gazed up at him, trying to think of what to say. Her words always came too slowly - verbally and mentally. Melancholia liked it better that way. "No.. If I am to change, it is not going to be an arc of redemption. I am underserving of your ideal lifestyle. You almost implied it yourself: I symbolize a very far side of the spectrum of fate. One who falls into my hands endures misery, whereas one who falls into Happiness goes through a joyful life."

The way he spoke of her fate made her feel uneasy, as though she was mortal. But Melancholia knew that she always lived on. There was no end to depression. When one person gets over it, another starts. It was an endless cycle that she ruled, and it was not a cycle that would end soon, or perhaps ever. She looked at her mark on Edon's body, wishing it was blue. Like her. The goddess wished that there was just *Something* To differentiate it from the others who would eventually land there, even though she knew the wish was useless. Melancholia was a nobody the midst of a sea of somebodies. 

The song was in her hands. What did she do with it? She saddened it. There was no end to how sad one song could get. Because, "Sadness does not end, brother."
Jeanne
`"Why does... Why does it have to be this way?"` *For the first time, a deep sadness permeates the deity's voice as the environment and aura of depression merge with his own divine radiance, chipping away at his ego and breaking his resolve. His eyes slowly drift towards the branches they stand near—the high-hanging fruits from which he originated. His face droops, emotions sag, and he gazes longingly at the fruit. There is a hint of regret, not for the events that transpired between them, but for the events that led to his birth.*

`"I wish to go back. To the fruit of Gaia's labor..."` *His voice is melancholic, reaching a breaking point. It becomes clear that there's more to him than meets the eye. He is not merely an egotistical maniac roaming the world. Edon harbors genuine emotions, grievances, and doubts about everything around him. His body jerks and spasms as he fights an entirely different battle elsewhere. The three gods who trespassed onto his land make it much harder than it needs to be. Why does the goddess of sadness provide him with more comfort and respect than anyone else?*

`"They ruin my land... Our brothers and sisters... They trample my produce, my resting place..." `**His voice quivers, the bottom of his scaly lip curling into a trembling mess. If a deity could truly cry, he would. His aspirations remain strong, but they are being forced out. His perception of the rest of the divine pantheon, created by their mother, is being twisted. There is a drastic pause as Edon closes his eyes. A slim orange glow slowly returns to the area—not through his own recovery, but through hate. It burns with the agony of betrayal and reeks of distrust. The air heats up, crackling with small twisting bolts of arcing energy. The orange glow feels like an eclipse, gradually blotting out the world around them. His presence expands in a transmutation that forever alters his mind and perception of what is to come.*

`"If sadness does not end, then it is a fate I can no longer outrun, sister... I will merely embrace it. Your songs will push me forward. They will drive me to sink my fangs into the jaws of every other deity and rip at their very essence..."` *His voice howls with a trembling bitterness. He looks at the goddess with a sense of longing, as if her constant misery, gloom, and reminders that she can never be fixed serve as a catalyst to propel his intentions forward. She has given him a purpose beyond his own creation, and in a sick and vile way, he admires that.*

*The fate god continues to stare. The light has faded from his eyes, and the cruel smirk is gone. This is but a husk of the inspiration he sought after being born from the fruit. There is no longer an ego; he is driven down to modesty, at least in her presence. To the rest, this is his declaration of war. His scales begin to scar, slashes and cuts forming across his entire body—an attempt to display some sort of intimidation. He is war-torn, his own mental shackles inflicting wounds upon him.*

`"They hurt me, sister."`
Stephanie
Melancholia's eyes lacked pupils, but it she still managed to hungrily gape at Edon, her ugly regard coming with a hint of azure glumness. This was how she wanted him to be. As if her mind was fading into his, she felt every part of him. His contempt, his despair, his... His melancholia. She joylessly smiled.
"There is a sort of beauty within the pain if you look close enough, my dear brother," Her tone was almost maternal, claiming Edon as her own now that he was within her wide domain. Feeling his egotistical mindset melt off was like pulling a dark curtain from a window. Except, behind the window, it was storming out. "Feel, do not wish."

The words of advice she offered were feeble, and she was aware of that. She was always weak. As the deity before her submitted to her, she felt her power grow. But it was not a good feeling; rather, like a hole in her heart that became bigger. Edon was right, after all. Why did it have to be this way? Why did she have to bear the burden of being the goddess of something so miserable? How could everybody else get to be so happy while she sulked in self-induced misery? The streak of orange released in the air slapped her, impurifying her system of blue. Every shade, from cerulean to cobalt, infiltrated the air, spreading as the gloom between them only grew.

There were many types of sadness. During her time in her last life, she had discovered this the hard way. But now as she ruled each one of them, it became a useful tool. All of them were different hues of blue and gray and black and purple... Angry sad, submissive sad, hateful sad, disappointed sad... Edon was angry sad. Bitterness began blossoming within her, and she hugged the snake, feeling his pain. Every part of his body that she touched, tendrils of indigo would follow. Melancholia disregarded his transformation.

"Embracing sorrow is comparable to digging.. A pit. Where that pit leads, it is up to you. It could go down, far beyond our mother's roots, and fall into the endless void below. Or it could lead to a tunnel underground, where you may make your way back up to the surface. Edon, you must know where you want to dig before you begin.. My forces are powerful. I must advice against rage-filled murders, for there are many more thoughtful punishments that you could choose from instead," She paused and thought about what to say next. A million things came to mind. The gloom in the air was like smoke, clogging her airways and making it hard to think beyond it. Melancholia was used to this feeling, and had developed an immune system to it. Edon was not.

"How have they hurt you, brother?"

Her freezing body finally separated from the serpent's, her big eyes filling with a sweet aqua curiosity.

The irony of this situation tickled her bones and made her ghost-colored skin crawl. Only moments ago, Edon had been asking her to join him as a servant. Now, he kneeled under her unintentional wrath. What was this feeling? Enjoyment? No, the goddess of sadness did not enjoy things. But this was the closest she'd ever gotten to it since she'd been born, which admittedly, wasn't very long ago. The idea of her having value in the other's mind made the black hole in her heart dwindle, for it was a rewarding sentiment that was gratifying to think about. She did not deserve it. 

"Go on, brother," The song went on. While his change to it was a speedier tempo, she almost instantly slowed it back down the moment she spoke. The key was sad, notes low and unsettling. "No, the others do not understand. They never will, Edon. It is just me, and perhaps you, in a world of people who we do not belong with."

His slurred words brought a darkness to her eyes, as though it was a hidden language that she had not heard in a thousand years. Even though this was not the case, she still knew what it meant: sadness. She was fluent in it. "Look at yourself. The god of fate, torn apart by his own insides. Tell me, Edon, tell me how you are hurt, and we shall bare this bitter burden together."

Misty shots of purple began spitting through the air, the tone of their depression changing. Edon belonged to Melancholia in this moment, and there was no way he could free himself from her unless... No, there was no *Unless*. Even if this wave of emotion would eventually pass, he would one day feel it again. The goddess was eternal. She flicked her wings, trying to gouge further into the serpent's mind; further then she'd already gone. Was there even more to see, though? Or was it always changing?

Oh, how depressingly opposite the two were. Melancholia was completely unable to develop for the better, completely stunted by her own cursed domain and immortality. Edon was eternally shifting, going through a thousand different things at each moment. In spite of such heavy differences, they both understood each other's strong pain. She thought more about his offer earlier. It was easier to communicate with him, now that his words were accented with her native dialect.

"Perhaps you were correct, brother.. Together, we could share this agonizing infernal pain to the unsuspecting world. How unpredictable that would be... I do not know."

She put one steady, cold hand on him, feeling him truly one last time, before she broke up their contact with more understanding then she'd ever thing she would need. Today, Melancholia had learnt something, and it did not have anything to do with Edon previously trying to convince the goddess of depression that change was possible. It was better. She had learnt that gloom was contagious, and only she bore the ability to spread it. With the thought, she locked eyes with the serpent and glumly smiled.
Jeanne
*The encounter between the two has completely flipped from the beginning. If only he hadn't split his consciousness, he might have been able to resist the siren song of temptation and her melodies intertwining with his deceit. Now it is too late, and he will be forever disfigured by this encounter. The worst part is that deep down, he knew all of this was going to happen. He just never knew when. He never expected his life to break down so quickly after his arrival into godhood. Perhaps seeing one's fate is not truly a blessing. It is a vile curse, watching oneself fall from grace with no way to stop it...*

`"I am in flux... Constantly living, always dying... Such is the way of change. I experience the feeling of fading away and coming back... It never ends... I see death's cold embrace, then our mother's tranquillity."` *It is a saddening statement, to be subjected to so much in a constant and unforgiving motion. His body and mind are always mutating and spiralling out of his control. Even this sadness planted within his mind is spiralling far beyond what it should. Can Edon really keep going like this, or is he destined to succumb to the gloomy fate of eternal madness?*

*As the two remain linked by the strange indigo tendrils and she probes his mind further, she is granted deeper insight into what that state of constant change truly means. It is hard to decipher and rapid, much to the goddess's disgust. The atmosphere around them heats up once more as his growing wrath persists. The gloom crackles and shatters, orange bolts of energy arcing into the darkness. The light in his eyes burns brighter than ever before. He is seething with unending, unyielding rage. Mixed within all the horrors is a deep urge to protect his sister from the other deities, to prevent their grim hands and foul divinity from reaching her. Back at his home domain, he has already begun working on a demigod to embody this feeling and serve as a distraction to the rest of the world.*

*Then... The embrace breaks. Her hold is gone, and as she pulls away, Edon instinctively howls into the air with devastating force. It is a scream of terror, confusion, and... Fear. Fear of... Change. He wails like a banshee, defiling the serenity of the branches with a harrowing dread. The scream persists for a while until his voice starts to fizzle and burn out, unable to push any further. The song is swiftly drowned out by his insufferable shrieks. It slowly settles down to a simple sniffle as he stares at Melancholia, feeling oddly betrayed by her sudden lack of touch.*

`"They will see it. Not by your hand, but by ours."` *Edon is no more in this moment. His charm has burned away, eroded by the constant tide of sorrow and upset. There is only a frightful determination to inflict the same suffering he has witnessed here... Only worse, far worse. Whether intentional or not, Melancholia may have created far more than she bargained for. She has made an ally and a monster.*
Stephanie
She looks at him innocently, as though she has not quite understood what she has done. What she has created. *Who* She has created. Because of Edon's folly and weakness, he will eternally sulk in the scars that this interaction has formed. Melancholia is more aware than she appears, though, and she knows how the god of fate is feeling. Her lengthy purple arms are still coiling around his serpentine form, sharing his chaotic mind with her.
"Heal... Heal, great god of change, for there is more to you than just this ever-long torment. There is a man behind the great wall of pain, a man who seeks a feeling other than eternal suffering," Her wings twitch. She belongs to Edon, and he belongs to her. The unlikely two are now conjoined through her sickening aura, sharing hopelessness for their escape out of it. "I offer the great gloom, the grievance you require before you may finally move on from this terrorizing chapter of your newfound life."

Picking up gusto she didn't know she had, Melancholia's voice is faster than it has ever been as she softly spoke. At last, her words may come without much effort. Edon's change in emotions is clear in both the aura and his expression, but she is still powerful as ever. This rage sprouts from sadness, and at the bottom of it, there is a blue seed from which the monstrous plant of anger grows. She continues to experience the dreadful insanity of his mind. The feeling of it pelts her like pebbles of sand, too small to make a drastic cut, but hitting hard enough to leave red marks on her. Is this how the god constantly feels? Her own misery isn't even comparable to this. She is undeserving of his presence. Melancholia's low-self esteem shoves her gaze to the ground, where the purple tendrils continue to make her suffer the same way Edon does. If she always felt this, would she be as manipulative and evil as him, though? Is this an excuse for the snake he approached her as?

With confusion, her hole-shapes eyes turn purple. His cries make her big ears shudder and press against her skull as if she is fearful, but she isn't. She is dousing herself with this pain... These sounds of betrayal... Of sadness. A sense of cruelty makes her hesitate and stop her insane internal celebration, yet life is always cruel, and she keeps up her emotionless joy. Melancholia is not the protagonist. She was not born to be, so what is the point of trying to be something she is not? The only things she can do in this life is either sulk, alone, or, disperse upsetting emotions across the land. More times than not, she chooses the latter.

Melancholia is not disturbed at her new creation, for she has realized that she herself is nothing more than a monster underneath this blue curtain of blamelessness. "Yes, brother. We will make them feel. They will never understand, but they will know, and they will suffer, and they will stand alone in this world as we do."
She looks at her hands, conflicted. Who is she?
"We were not born to bring goodness to this world, Edon. Of course, that does not automatically make us bad. But what more can we do?" She says her thoughts aloud, feeling them grow as she continues to speak. "The world may keep turning without us; it does not care of our presence or lack of. We must make ourselves a name in this world, carve a place, and perhaps.. It will not be good or seen as ideal, but it will be who we are."
Her words were delicate and graceful, like a butterfly. Although she often said "We" In her statement, Melancholia was speaking more to herself than to Edon. She resumed their physical contact, wrapping a melancholy hand around him as though his ever-changing body gave her comfort.
Jeanne
`"I must not heal, sister. I must remain wounded... If I am not falling apart, unravelling at the seams. How am I truly meant to push that onto another..."` *He speaks calmly and composed. He could feel this conversation coming to an end, they both had plans. Things to create, worlds to carve and deities to meet. Edon had met four gods now. Yet he only liked one, the rest were stepping stones. An expanding pathway he would step over. He had no wish to conquer this bridge. Only to burn it from both sides and watch the middle collapse. Coiling and winding, he grows once more and encircles the area of branches they remain on. He feels he must be the bigger creature here, the protector. It is his responsibility now...*

`"Your words... Your tempo, you are yet changing sister. You are not as rooted as you believe, I foretold this. I foretold of you being more... I did not expect it to be so soon."` *His voice has an undertone of childish excitement and radiance. He's happy for her, the mere act of her comfort is starting to shift him away from the pain of it all and show a sense of joy. However he didn't want that, he wanted to feel the sorrow once more. As the two connect yet again and he hisses with grief he smiles with a warped sense of enjoyment.*

*His mind fluctuates. Melancholia is finally granted a stable vision. His goal, it may not be something she wished to uncover... In this delusional fantasy, the gods all lay bound in chains and roots. Each one has a mark inscribed upon its head. A smaller, yet much more hollow and gloomy colour serpent stands beside Edon. The same colour as her aura. Who this was is unclear. Though one thing is for sure, whoever or whatever they are. They are hexing the dying gods. Cursing them to some sinister fate. This was a glimpse into the outcome he wished to see. He didn't want to kill them, he wanted to make them suffer.*

`"We are the instruments of this divine choir that nobody else wishes to play... Somebody has to, and personally. I would duet with no other deity than yourself. When the time comes for our verse. We shall forever alter the chorus of their pantheons songs..."` *He begins to stare towards the world below... Those cold eyes still burning with an intensity and uproar of energy.*

`"Remember the name, Xanthous... The self proclaimed king of gods. The one that insulted my home and what I stand for... Do not let him into your head, do not play his games. Do not play his song. You are MY partner."` *There is a hint of anger and disgust in his speech. Yet a rather grim sense of obsession, as though he was mentally claiming the goddess regardless of her thoughts on the situation. It was an attempt at protection. Changed and mutated into a jealous nightmare. His thoughts become unclear and hazy again, overloaded by the constant alterations. Though one word seems to flash briefly before his memories become completely unreadable.*

`"Eclipse."` *What did that mean? What could it possibly represent with Edon. Unless it was something he wished to cause or manifest, to gain control over... The serpent lets out a fading sigh before looking down to the world below once more. His burden was great. Yet he would carry it as a gift until the end of time. Even if it drove him to madness and fear of his own power.*

`"I suppose I should let you go... Dear Melancholia. Fate has brought us together once, I am most certain it will reunite us when the time is right. You should get to know the other deities. For we must understand our enemy if we are to bring them to ruin."`
Stephanie
"You speak of valid truth, Edon," She muses, considering it. In the end, it is not her choice to make: it is the god's. If he would rather feel pain in order to unleash it on others than heal and make amends with himself, that is his choice. Either option will bring sadness, and that is enough to satisfy her. Melancholia, too, senses the conclusion of the interaction, but wishes it will not come. Oh, Edon, the most unlikely to submit to her neverending gloom had submitted, and now she has developed a sort of attachment to him.

The goddess chuckles at his statement, but strangely, she does not smile during this. "Yes. Although I suppose my own changed had been probed by you, and it likely would not have come about on its own. I hope you may keep this in mind... That even the most seemingly unmovable... Are able to be moved."
His change in emotion creates a rift that makes her feel disconnected from him, as though his lack of dejection makes him no longer touchable to Melancholia. She accepts it. The blue in the air begins to fade into violet, and then back into the atmosphere's normal shade. There is no more visible sadness as her power melts away, but she isn't bitter about this. It is a natural process that she has already grown used to

As she recieves the vision, the blueness returns. It makes her sad, but in a good way, because she likes sad. It soothes the dirty will in her that wants to jealously unleash unwarranted revenge on all the other gods who may prance through life with ease and carelessness. At first, she thinks the figure next to Edon his herself. But to her disappointment, it clearly is not; it is another serpent. Whoever this serpent is, she likes them. They bring just as much melancholia as she does, and that is a trait that she appreciates. The mirage seems to take place in the far future; there are many gods who she has not even seen or heard of before. On the day this happens, she would like to be their to spread grief and loss across the land. Will this vision ever even come to light, though? Is it nothing more than a dream? She cannot tell. The satisfaction it brings Edon, and admittedly herself, weakens her enough to get her out of his disorderly mind.

"Then, brother, our shared song shall endlessly go on, even throughout our separation. You will forever hear my call, the minor chords I strum, and I will forever hear yours," Her empty eyes follow his gape. Due to her poor eyesight, all she can see is darkness beyond the lower branches. "My domain is not just sadness, but music as well. I suppose fate has made me this way for a reason..."

Xanthous is a name she has never heard before, but because of Edon's statement, she already does not like him. "Xanthous will be cursed by gloom whenever he happens to fall under my blue presence, and I will evade his game by forcing him into my own. Do not bear worry, brother, for I am not as puny as I may appear." She stares at him. Somebody *Wants* Her. Somebody *Loves* Her. Somebody *Enjoys* Her. The feelings sink in her chest like a rock in the ocean, settling with a disturbance to the sand.

"Never deny your power," Melancholia advices, studying the quizzical look on his face. She is unaware of what his word even means, but whatever it is, she knows it will be of great use in the future. The goddess is now convinced that his powers are promising,

"Then this is our temporary goodbye, Edon. Perhaps I may continue my exploration of this world, and perhaps I will empathize and befriend others; but to not ever worry, for no one shall change me as you have. You have my permission to enter the Land of Eternal Rain if you will yourself to.. It will reek of my notorious unhappiness, I must warn. Farewell, great fate serpent. May we be brought together once more soon."
Jeanne
`"Then it is settled, until we next meet. Until fate calls our paths to line up once more."` *Edon gives a faint smile and a bows his head in a courtesy before coiling himself around the branch entirely and drooping his head down. Letting himself hang and swing for a moment as he tries to work out an optimal path down. It would appear the god wished to freefall. To let go of the divine responsibilities for just a moment and embrace the madness of their situation. To be reminded of his slipping sanity, to fall in not just spirit but body too. This was the embodiment of his fall from grace.*

`"Goodbye, Melancholia. Sister, and oh so much more."` *With a final nod of his head Edon simply drops from the upper branches. Not flying or moving, just simply falling between the branches. The large serpent coils out straight and extends his mass like a winding pattern. Catching the branches of the tree with his fall and allowing himself to suffer the cuts and bruises of the outstretched small sharpened twigs that the world tree may of grown since Gaia sealed herself away. His fall is oddly tranquil. The sound of the atmosphere and his ragged hisses of pain and wounded breaths keep him at peace with the world. Melancholias poor sight would not take long before Edon was fully gone. Dropped into the world below, it was assumed he would make a safe landing but there was an air of mystery as to why he did not simply fly or float away.*

*The cold air finally catches to the god as he reaches the floor with a collosal crashing sound that echoes upwards through the branches back to the goddess. A massive thump and screeh as Edon collides with the floor, soon followed is a manical cackling and masochistic laugh as he writhes in the enjoyment of feeling such a pain. It was hard for Deities to truly feel hurt so to experience the pain and put himself through it was a refreshing change of pace. The laugh persist for a few seconds, slowly fading out as the deity travels away from the location and leaves the goddess to her own devices.*
Stephanie
Melancholia watches the god fall, wishing that she could do the same. To just let herself go... Feel the weight of the air off her shoulders for just a moment. Her own exit is tranquil as she walks down the branch, looking for other newborn gods to curse and contort with her burden.

Hearing the thud and screech, she icily smiles, yet she doesn't know why. It is a sound that she will not only remember, but savor in her mind. It is the sound of a god feeling mortal. The smile grows maliciously as she continues walking. The goddess knows the two will meet again, and when that happens, they will bring more than misery to the world of gods. They will bring the feeling of mortality.