The Light Before the Moon

Written by Douglysium

“BEHOLD EVERYONE!!! For it is the God of Bounty, Peace, and Prosperity. The Terrific Tuna himself. Ryomaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” declared the god of fireflies from the top of a building. He glowed brighter than the stars in the sky. Everyone on the street turned toward the man he was referring to and began to cheer. Being the center of attention seemed to completely contrast the plain-looking man standing before him. Had it not been for the spotlight of John de Luminarie’s magic shining upon him Ryoma probably would have gone unnoticed in the crowd. JL floated down to the ground in a most dramatic fashion to greet Ryoma and aggressively shook the tuna god’s hand with his one arm while conjuring an illusion to create a semi-transparent greenish-yellow one to wave with, “Hello, John,” said Ryoma. The firefly god was the same as ever. “What is it you’re looking for on these shining isles?” continued JL “Sweets perhaps?” As he said that he seemed to pull a small neon-colored rainbow of a cake from a pocket within his cape that did not exist, offering it to Ryoma. Illusion magic. Although, it was hard to tell if it was an actual cake that was hidden until now or if it was crafted purely of incorporeal light. Ryoma accepted the offering and picked up the cake, confirming it to be real. “Thank, you,” said Ryoma as he began to casually eat it(the cake was definitely made by mortal hands) “But I hope you know why I’m here.” JL laughed in response “Of course I know my friend, let us go!!!” With a swish of John’s cape, they began to make their way toward the firefly god’s temple. John signed autographs and did flashy tricks for his followers and bystanders the whole way. He even managed to fit in a short video vlog during their journey. Despite all the distractions, they had made their way to the temple at a considerable pace. While the firefly goddess was flashy he was definitely not without reason, forethought, or(most importantly) time management. As they entered the temple bustling crowds parted ways for the two gods as the flashing lights of cameras held by paparazzi went off. The sounds of concerts being played in the various theaters could be heard in the distance. John proceeded to make his way towards a room but just before he would have entered it he turned to the crowds and paparazzi and performed a dramatic bow before releasing a flash of greenish-yellow light. While it obscured the vision of mortals, Ryoma and JL could see just fine. JL used the moment to raise his pointer finger and cast a spell, obscuring the two gods from the prying eyes of mortals sitting outside his sphere of influence. Before the gods moved on, John took the briefest of moments to take in the cacophony that was the shock of the crowd and the excited pointing and screams let out by kids.
The gods made their way down below the Temple of Luminarie into the Temple of Cicadas. Moving through one of its many obscure underground rooms and basements until they finally arrived at a hidden door. John dismissed the illusion spell and entered the room with Ryoma. Within the room two others sat at a table, waiting for them. JL looked towards Ryoma and gestured to the audience of 2 with his one arm “Care to explain what’s happening?” John already knew, in fact all 4 gods sitting in that room knew what was happening. However, John couldn’t help but make a show of things whenever possible, even for an audience as small as this one. Ryoma went with it, “It’s Neia Lun De Draco.” As Ryoma spoke JL added some flourish to the conversation by creating illusions of light, bending the light into the shape of Neia Lun De Draco. He managed to capture her likeness quite well. Whether he just remembered her appearance very well or simply practiced for this moment was almost anyone’s guess though. “She wants to start a war” Ryoma continued “and if something isn’t done about it we’ll have a massacre on our hands. I wanted to know if you and your alliance would join me and Ferventi to keep it from getting to that point. I figured someone like John might prove useful thanks to their experience with dragons, and unlike many of the younger gods you’re probably more likely to listen.” John had been around a long time and the stories of him outsmarting dragons to save entire towns were some of his most famous and bragged about. JL answered without hesitation, lifting up his one arm in a pose resembling a flex, “HAHAHA!!! Who am I to pass up an invitation to help fight for the fate of the world!” He clapped Ryoma on the back “Win or lose, I’ll make sure this is one for the history books. But I’ll make sure we win of course.” Chevalier, the Cricket God, began to type something on his phone while Robeulalie began to answer as she tuned her guitar. “This sounds fucking metal” which was her sometimes equivalent of a yes “I won’t be able to provide constant support because I have awesome song ideas but I’ll do what I can, and I can supply some pretty metal warriors.” Chevalier held up his phone, revealing what he had typed. “Unfortunately, I have to say that combat is not my forte and I believe someone needs to watch over these temples when both John and Robeulalie are gone. I can give you and your troops supplies to help John and Robeulalie but I think they will aid you more than I ever could.” 2 1 ⁄ 2 gods out of 3 was not bad. Normally, Robeulalie was nearly impossible to get a hold of without being a close friend or family member. Thankfully, both Chevalier and John were her partners. An unexpected advantage of polycules in the pantheon. “May I also request that you contact the other 5 god champions of your cult, John?” Ryoma asked, “Ferventi and I would like to have as many allies as we can to prevent this entire situation from getting out of hand.” JL replied, “SAY NO MORE MY FRIEND!!! I’ll make sure you’ll have more allies than you even know what to do with!” Chevalier held up his phone, revealing what he had typed“I don’t think gods like Latimerrett can offer much in the way of fighting but I’m sure all of the gods could at least supply equipment and food, and I think Ana and Nancy probably already know.” Everyone in the room glanced at a large conspicuous spider web in the corner. John said “Do not worry my friend! I have no doubt that they will help us when we need it. They haven’t let me down one single time.” John held up his pointer finger as if he was counting to 1. Ryoma sighed “Well I have others I need to talk to. Thank you all for your help and time.” John responded “HA! It’s nothing at all. In fact, it was a given you’d come and ask considering my history.” As he spoke he made a little illusion of him outsmarting a dragon of the Lunar Dragonflight. “Inviting me probably increased your chances of winning by at least 20%. No 50%.” With that Ryoma thanked them one last time and took his leave.