[ToxicShadow]

"For your crime, your punishment is worse to you than death. You are sentenced to exile in the mortal world. Charged with the care of the one which you aimed to destroy."

At the time, hearing those words, he could not even comprehend his own feelings. Not only from the shock, but because they were a swirling mass of confused nonsense. He could not make heads or tails of them.

But there was hope. Perhaps.

"You may regain your status and power. Only when your feelings become the opposite of the hate you hold for life, itself."

[ToxicShadow]

He was encircled by the other gods as the verdict was delivered to him, from the mouth of his very own twin brother. The God of Light. The one that had mercilessly ripped his powers away and took them upon himself.

Sucking in a breath, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he met the familiar gaze with his own, grinning as he taunted him. "Let us see if you can resist the darkness. You wont survive, untainted."

Those were the only words he managed to utter, before he felt the sensation of his body being grabbed and torn away from the others.

[ToxicShadow]

The pressure was suffocating. Though he never once needed to breathe in all of his existence, he desperately tried to take a breath now, but to no avail. Soon, he wasn't just being pulled, he was falling. Falling so fast. It was not long before the former God of Darkness lost consciousness.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up with a start, in a body that was entirely foreign to him. He sat upright, which was strange, in and of itself. No longer four legged and winged, he only had two legs, no wings to speak of, and... two arms.

[ToxicShadow]

He sat there for several long minutes, as he tried to come to grips with his new reality. He held his hands out in front of him, flexing his fingers to see how they moved.

Then, he looked down at himself, observing more. He might have been thankful that he was transformed with clothing on to protect his otherwise naked flesh, were it not for the fact that he simply could not feel thankful at all, for anything, given the circumstances.

"From now on, your name is Pown,"

The voice invaded his mind, shoved its way in against his will, and the brand new man gritted his teeth.

[ToxicShadow]

"Your name as a god, you are forbidden to use it."

Feelings of rage welled up even more inside of him as he failed to dispel his brother's words. Would he suffer this way the entire time? Being forced to hear his words, even when he was so far away, comfortable in the heavens?

"Don't forget my warning," he spat back into the open air, certain that he could be heard by the other god, even if they were not face to face. "Try hard not to let your light become tainted."

With these words spoken, he pushed himself to stand up, although his legs were shaky and it was incredibly uncomfortable to do so. Standing on two legs just felt wrong.

[ToxicShadow]

Still, he felt that he adjusted quickly enough. At least, he began to turn about in his place, taking in his surroundings. His eyes soon laid on the form of another in the distance. Another... human.

"She is there. Find her and take care of her."

"Stay out of my head," he warned. "I killed her once. I might just do it again."

For the time being, the God of Light's voice was silenced. Another smirk played on his features then.

[ToxicShadow]

The threat was empty. But it was effective.

If nothing else, the God of Darkness valued his own life and his own power, so after he had already risked and lost his power, he had no intention to lay his life on the line, too. There was no doubt in his mind that he was only still alive because she was, too.

Thus, he could not take her mortal life, if he wanted to at least survive as he was now.

[ToxicShadow]

After a brief moment of mentally preparing himself, he approached the woman that seemed to be in the same sort of state that he had been in. She was lying there on the grass, unconscious. But, to him, she really seemed to be sleeping soundly.

He stared at her for a long moment, almost unwilling to reach out toward her. This was, undoubtedly, the former Goddess of Life, the one he was charged to care for. But it seemed so strange, looking at her as a human.

[ToxicShadow]

Even though the man that had approached her had yet to notice, the woman began to stir. That was, at the very least, she had regained her consciousness, able to hear and process things, although her body felt so, so very heavy that she did not yet try to force herself to move.

"Your existence... You're toxic," the man said as he stared at her, finally taking another step forward toward her.

Who was that? Was that... her name that he spoke?

[ToxicShadow]

She didn't know the answers. Not to either of the questions in her mind.

He took another step.

And she forced her eyes opened.

To him, it was abrupt, and he momentarily froze.

It was difficult for her to see, so she blinked several times, until her foggy visitation cleared, and her hazel green eyes met with his strangely teal ones. She opened her mouth in order to speak, but he managed to say something first,

"So, you're awake."

[ToxicShadow]

But that was obvious, wasn't it?

The woman nodded her head in response to his question, regardless.

"Um," she began, uncertain of how to sort her thoughts and what to even ask first. She had so many questions, and she didn't seem to know... anything. Nothing even about herself. "Do you... know me?"

It seemed like a real possibility, right?

The man stared at her for a long time without answering, trying to get a read on her.

[ToxicShadow]

Nothing had been mentioned to him about the former Goddess of Life not having any memories, but she looked incredibly confused and looked at him with genuinely pure innocence and curiosity.  Of course, very little was actually said when his punishment was dished out, and definitely not much at all about her state of being.

It wasn't as if the gods had a developed a formal process of trial, since he was the first to act up and break the unspoken rules of the gods.

[ToxicShadow]

This made things so much easier for him. That was, if she truly didn't recognize him, or have any memories of her life before now. He found himself grinning at the very idea of it.

"Yes, I do," he finally answered.

She didn't realize that his grin wasn't something friendly.

"Oh, that's... great." That was right? She didn't have any reason to doubt him. She didn't have any reason to trust him, either, really, but what other choice did she have in this situation?

[ToxicShadow]

"Does that mean... That is my name? Toxic?" She was just trying to barely get a grasp on things, since she had no idea who she was, what she was doing here, where here even was, who he was, nothing.

He had to contain the laughter that nearly escaped from his throat, hearing her question. That gave him all the proof that he needed; she didn't remember who she was. Which meant, she must not have known who he was, either.

[ToxicShadow]

"Yeah, that's your name," he played it off, all too amused by this on the inside. "You remember your name?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't. I just... heard you talking earlier. I think it was your voice that... roused me from... my sleep." Though she may have forgotten everything about herself, at least she was able to recall how to speak. That was useful.

"I don't actually... remember you," she admitted. "You know me, but... who are you?"