Making the rounds [Open]

[Jason Arilani]

Ah... Being the Matriarch was fun sometimes. Jason was pleased that he got to go to any world he wanted to without someone getting mad. Every now and then he would preach the words of the gods, but now he was just making sure everything was fine in the worlds. The line of 7 symbols lined up on his head as he walked in his usual silver clothing. Times were seemingly peaceful now. Now that things had changed since he was born, it was nice to look at it all and know that it was because of him that the were like this. Now he could sit back and enjoy his work. He walked the streets of Twilight Town and smiled at the kids as they looked up to him, knowing some day they would choose their own god and be as happy as he was. Life was good for the time being.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen decided to stop in Twilight Town, hoping that something would happen so that he didn't have to focus on the voices in his head bickering at each other. Gouman and Ensei were arguing, Zakyou was hyper, Alaire was trying to cheer Tristan up, and Thirteen had had enough of it.

He disembarked from his gummi ship, briskly strolling through the town and looking a bit annoyed. He could never feel anything by himself anymore, and whenever he wanted to feel something, the wrong personality would come up and make him feel a different way. Which was really stupid, but they had minds of their own. He meandered over to a store on a whim, getting some sea-salt ice cream. The ice cream started to calm him down a little bit, but he was still a bit annoyed. His different personalities bugged the crap out of him sometimes, and he couldn't shut them off. It was ANNOYING!

Before he knew it, he'd finished the ice cream, and he sighed a little as he just wandered around the streets. Absently chewing on the popsicle stick, he ended up bumping into a man dressed in all silver. He looked up into the man's face, then looked confused as he saw the different marks on his forehead. Normal people only had one, right? Thirteen himself only had one... Who was this guy?

[Jason Arilani]

Jason continued to walk down the street, his smile still plastered onto his face. He was hardly paying attention anymore... And that caused him to run into someone. Jason looked to him and could see the purple glow from his head. "Ah... A believer in Sophron, the god of neutrality and balance.... That is a good choice for some, bad for others." He said as he stood there smiling, trying to figure out who this person one. Trying to look at the face and anyone who chose the god of Mantork.

Then it hit him. "I remember you.... Called yourself Aleksei, did you not? Yes... I remember when you came in there to choose your god. You had no idea which one you would choose until Sophron spoke. You knew that was the one you wanted... Yes..." Jason smiled, finally having remembered who he was talking to. He then asked "Do you remember me?" He continued to smile, looking at Thirteen, remembering how troubled he was when he came in so long ago...

[Thirteen]

Thirteen looked up at the man, looking confused. Sophron was his god, yes, but who was Aleksei? And why did this man know him? "Who are you?" he asked, sounding a bit defensive. Ensei was immediately assessing the situation, resulting in Thirteen to be a bit more harsh. "How do you know me?" He narrowed his eyes slightly. This guy wasn't normal. Thirteen didn't know what he was, but he wasn't normal. "My name is Thirteen... I'm not this Aleksei person you're talking about."

[Jason Arilani]

Jason looked at Thirteen confused. Thirteen? What kind of a name was that? Jason pulled out his crystal ball and started sifting through his memories to the time where Aleksei chose the god of Sophron. The likeness was striking. "Would you not say that this looks like you? Because this was you 4 years ago when you chose the god of Sophron. And back then, you stated your name was Aleksei. So I'm not sure who this Thirteen is... But the person I met, the one who recieved that mark, was named Aleksei" He said, holding out his crystal ball to show Thirteen what he was looking at. "Perhaps you have forgotten... I am Jason Arilani. The Matriarch and Speaker of the Gods." He added

[Thirteen]

Wait a minute. Four years ago? He couldn't remember anything past one! "I can't remember... I only remember what happened from a year ago until now." he replied, finding it sort of easy to talk to Jason. He looked into the crystal ball, then saw himself with black hair and blue eyes sitting in a chair. "It looks like me... But I don't remember that..." he mumbled, then looked up at Jason, his eyes sort of wide. He'd run into the Matriarch?! He'd heard the stories about him, but he didn't think that he'd be this... nice. He'd thought that the Matriarch would be cruel and harsh... At least, the stories he'd heard portrayed him that way. Of course, stories were merely that. Stories. But he'd thought that they would at least be SOMEWHAT similar... This man wasn't the same one he'd heard of in the stories. It couldn't be.

[Jason Arilani]

Jason laughed a bit when Thirteen looked at him with wide eyes. "It appears you truly have forgotten. What a shame... Well then, if you call yourself Thirteen now, I will be sure to keep that in mind. If you wish to remember what happens, why not pray to the god of Sophron? He is often quite pleasent for those who have been faithful to the path of Neutrality." He said before adjusting his trenchcoat.

He then added one last thing "And surely me being the Matriarch shouldn't surprise you too much. Everyone else only has one symbol atop their forehead while I have all 7. So it shouldn't have surprised you as much as it did. It was one of the first things you recognized on me when you first laid eyes on me."

[Thirteen]

"If you wish to remember what happens, why not pray to the god of Sophron?"

Thirteen's eyes narrowed. Because he couldn't remember, he'd become a different person than who he was before. If he was to remember, then wouldn't he, Thirteen, disappear? He didn't want to disappear, he wanted to live. As annoying as it was, he'd gotten attached to his life in the year he'd been living it.

"I don't want to remember." he half growled, Ulixes rising to the surface. "I don't want to die." Thirteen wondered if Jason could hear the voices in his head, or at least know that they were there.

:Kill him, Thirteen... He wants to kill you, he wants to make you disappear...: Ulixes muttered inside of Thirteen's head, and the white haired boy had to shake his head vigorously to get Ulixes' voice out of his mind.

"No..." he mumbled out loud, not realizing that he was. "I won't listen to you... Ensei says don't listen to you..." He held his head in his hands, trying to get Ulixes' murderous thoughts out of his head. Ensei had always said to not listen to Ulixes when he came out, as he only wanted to hurt people. But Ulixes had shoved all of his other personalities down and out of the way so that they couldn't help Thirteen fight him off.

Now, Thirteen had to force Ulixes back by himself, which he'd never done successfully before. Hopefully he'd be able to do it... Because if not, Thirteen would most likely attempt to kill Jason. And killing people was never good, especially if the person he wanted to kill was the Matriarch.

[Jason Arilani]

Jason could see the turmoil on Thirteen's face. And the fact that he spoke of one known as Ensei made Jason wonder. Jason rested his hand on Thirteen's shoulder. "If you don't wish to remember, then that is fine. I did not say you had to. I simply asked if you wanted to. The choice is yours and yours alone to make" Jason said as he looked Thirteen directly in the eyes, with a smile on his face once again. He did not mean to cause others turmoil, but if he did, then he would want nothing more then to ease them of it.

It seemed that this man had multiple personalities. Perhaps that is the reasoning for the name of Thirteen? Thirteen different Personalities? As he thought this, the symbol of Sophron glowed on Jason's forehead, telling Jason that his thoughts were true. The glow from the symbol soon disappeared after thinking about it and so Jason said. "Sophron tells me that you have been dealing with quite a few different personalities in that head of yours. Is this true?"

[Thirteen]

"Sophron tells me that you have been dealing with quite a few different personalities in that head of yours. Is this true?"

Thirteen looked up at Jason, his eyes wide. "How... How did you know?" he asked, then found that he already knew the answer. Of course the Matriarch would be in contact with all seven gods, and of course Sophron would know of him... But it was the first time someone had actually guessed what the real problem was, rather than just assume that he was crazy.

"You... you don't think I'm crazy, do you?" he asked, looking a bit wary of Jason. He absolutely despised being called crazy. He might not know why he had different personalities in his head, and they did sort of drive him nuts, but he wasn't insane! People just didn't want to deal with him, that's what it was. And Jason didn't seem like that kind of guy... But he just had to make sure. Jason seemed like a really nice guy underneath all of the Matriarch stuff.

Although... Thirteen hoped that it wasn't just an act. Having Ensei in your head made you naturally distrustful of people, even the Matriarch. Perhaps especially the Matriarch. He couldn't know what Jason's personality was, he'd barely been talking to him for five minutes. But he still hoped that Jason's "nice guy" stuff wouldn't turn out to be fake. No one else had been nice to him like Jason had, and it was nice to finally see someone who cared.

[Jason Arilani]

Jason laughed a bit. He had great contact with the gods, and each individual god was able to keep track of those who had chosen them as the one they worship. They especially keep track of those that Jason is talking to. So when Jason had thought that he had multiple personalities, Sophron told him that it was the truth, so he looked to Thirteen once more and said "I know because Sophron, the god of Neutrality and balance, as well as your god, told me as such. The gods keep track of everyone that chose them to worship. So he naturally kept track of you." He then looked to the sky, wondering where exactly they were out there.

Not dwelling on it further, Jason looked back to Thirteen. "No, I do not think you are crazy. I would never do that of someone. Everyone is entitled to their own personality, or in your case, personalities. Who am I to judge them? My job is to pass on the will of the gods. What I do beyond that is completely of my choosing. No, I do not think your are crazy. Troubled, maybe, but never crazy. You are.... 14, so I am told. To go through some troubles, even like this, is actually more natural then you think. Trust me... In time, you will be able to use those personalities of yours to your advantage and they will be an asset to you entirely, rather then just mere annoyances. Just give it time." He said, sounding more and more like a preacher everyday. But he couldn't help it. He stuck well to his name. Jason... standing for Healer... Thats what he liked to think of himself as.... And hopefully he was "healing" this person, if only a little bit.