Welcome to Gaia! ::

Arannis sighed.

"To make an incredibly long story short, my brother is to blame. He, myself and one other remain. However, my brother has turned to an Infernal counterpart to himself, and the other... I cannot rightly say for certain."

He looked away, grim determination stamped on his face.

"Yes, Okiku. I, too, am Celestial."

Arannis closed his eyes, smiling slightly. His hand tilted upwards, an image of the broken crystals that had once been shown through him appearing.

"On the contrary, it seems that I may yet walk away alive."

Arannis' smile widened slightly as he raised an eyebrow.

"I may not be entirely dead, but I am still here, am I not? I mean in no way to disappoint you. Besides, after 15 centuries of pain and suffering, war after war... I find that peace is much more enjoyable, even among the souls of the lost. It makes me miss the time before Divinus fell..."

He straightened suddenly.

"Oh, yes... I was there, too, when it came crashing down..."

Arannis gently took the circlet and eyed it carefully, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"Okiku... how did you come across this?"

He looked around the room, to confirm their privacy, then as an added measure, he turned to telepathy.

~This belonged to the last patriarch of Divinus... and creator of a very close friend of mine... I have a favor I have to ask of you. Someday, perhaps soon, perhaps far distant into the future, a woman not too unlike myself may arrive, identifying herself as 'Eri'... or perhaps still as 'Kami'. Give this to her when you see her.~

He handed it back carefully.

Arannis nodded somewhat gratefully.

"I would ask how one such as yourself can manipulate material objects, considering your form. Many of the ghostly spirits I have come across are incapable of such things."

Arannis chuckled slightly, then looked around some, before setting his gaze back on the young ghost.

"Talented, indeed. Impressive, even. I cannot entirely say how much longer my supposedly dead form will remain, but I tell you this much; when my time comes in the life among the living, I will certainly stop by here. All my life I have lived and fought for the dead, now I find myself befriended to one long gone before my own creation... ironic, yet justified. You have my respect, Okiku. Know this much, at least."

Arannis allowed his curiosity to reach his face then.

"This does confuse me somewhat. In my life, I have known so much pain, so much suffering, and in the midst of it all, relentless counts of death. Why, then, are there none others among us now?"