Welcome to Gaia! ::

Grendel was conflicted. Of course, he had wanted his son to succeed, but he always knew there was a good possibility that Cassius would not. However, he had never imagined the outcome to be as savage as it appeared. It was not only disappointing, to see his own progeny fail so miserably, but it felt like an insult as well.

Still, he did not blame Ravnos. He did not believe that the Disciple would have wished Cassius that amount of harm. So, Grendel could only say. "I know." When Ravnos said he did not know.

He wanted to protest when the Disciple moved from his arms, but he knew he could not. Instead, he too pushed himself to his feet.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He offered.

The temple could wait.

Grendel watched the Disciple breathe and then still. He wanted to reach out to him to offer comfort, but that did not seem like the right thing to do at this moment. Ravnos had something he needed to do, something that was his business, his duty. Grendel's only concern, beyond the well-being of his own child, was that the masquerade be maintained, and the rules followed.

"I am going that way, anyways." He said, "I should ensure Cassius's safety. I can take you to where the encounter took place, and you, or we, can begin your hunt for Zapathasura from there."

Of course, Grendel would easily be able to find him, if he wanted to unless Zap had a way of hiding himself from the God.

A pause, while he contemplated Ravnos's words more. It was...intriguing, to say the least. He found now that he actually wanted to see Ravnos in this new light.

It was not an easy situation to be in. Since Zap was a clanless vampire, Grendel was well within his own rights to be the one to deal out punishment. However, it was Ravnos who had set these events in motion. No matter what the outcome had been, this was always going to, ultimately, be his responsibility.

But the God was also angry, seething quietly below the surface. As much as he tried to hide it, his eyes always gave him away, and they were still dark. He had no intention of intervening at this moment, but that could easily change.

He nodded and put a hand on the Disciples shoulder.

And then they were gone.

For some reason, as soon as they arrived back at the sight of Grendel's ruined temple, Ravnos fell like a lead weight in his arms. It was so unexpected, that the God simply let him drop to the ground.

And then he just stared at him. Surely, he could not be that tired? Sunrise was still hours away. The God nudged at him with a toe.

"What is wrong with you?"

"In one breath you say we should relax, and in the next, you tell me to get back to work." He scoffed and ignored the swat at his foot to poke at him a second time.

Still, Grendel had intended to get back to work as soon as they arrived, eager to get the temple built. In their absence, the illusion had faded away, leaving behind all the same rubble that had littered the ground as before.

Luckily, he still remembered just the design that they had decided upon. With a sweep of his hand, the rubble cleared to one side, the ground shaking violently in its wake. With another gesture, the rubble that had collapsed into the dungeons below was lifted and also set to the side.

Finally, he focused. He had always been fairly adept at creating inanimate objects from nothing, though this time he would be shifting the rubble of his old temple into something new. With great concentration the varying sizes of boulders and stones moved into place, forming the shape of the new temple he wished to fashion. With more thought and flex of power, they began to mold into a new shape, flattening, lengthening, rounding out, or changing state altogether. Slowly, the temple that Ravnos had drawn and that Grendel had finessed began to form, the pieces sliding into place, the walls and turrets, the doorways and windows, the rooms, balconies, and rock cliffs, everything, until it all snapped into place with a resounding sound of grinding rock, and more tremors that shook the ground at his feet.

The God had exerted a lot of power, and he admired his handiwork from where he stood, a goblet full of deep red liquid forming in his hand, from which he took a long drink.

"Finished." He said, not even bothering to look and see what Ravnos was doing now.

Grendel, feeling somewhat exasperated once again with the Disciple, gave him a sidelong look.

"Yes. But I believe I am also feeling the effects of the day." He wasn't. "It has been such hard work, I am not sure I could possibly transport us both" He could.

"Besides, I know how much it always takes out of you. I suppose I will just meet you inside?"

The God disappeared, leaving Ravnos standing outside alone.

Did the God feel good about acting childish? No, he didn't really. The moment he reappeared at the temple doors, he thought about going back. However, he decided against it. He had made his petty little decision to make Ravnos walk and he was going to stick with it.

Sitting down on the top step, he downed his wine-like concoction and then filled it back up again.