After the signing of the Concordats, during the imposition of Divine Tyranny, it was the elves who first got on board with unchanging Divine rulers, for they us as one of their own. Even if we are divine and they are mortal, the shared trait of agelessness provided enough for us to see worth in them, for who wishes to spend years training a fresh nobility when a permanent one can be created instead? Likewise, they saw stability in us. It was known, even back then, that Divines are stuck out of date almost forever.

  Yet in that, there came to be a lesson. The smarter ones of us saw it, those who are less gifted in intellect, or even downright stunted, have repeated the mistakes and been overthrown or culled violently. The tyrannies, under the guidance of Divines and administrated by ageless elves, were responsible for the settling of Arda. They grew quickly, they expanded, they felled titan and dragon and monster where there was no compromise to be found with the creatures, they burned down the remains of the flora of the Age of Gaia, they began to hunt monster nests pro-actively. On one hand, we could call it a golden age although few do.

  Likewise, it is know that the tyrannies ended to be replaced by Magocracies. Humans discovered how to wield their inner spirits, although we did not call them magicians yet, violence brought on by stagnation began to brew. The Tyrannies created their own soldier class of man, that soldier class of man had been bred exclusively for the safeguarding of mankind from Arda’s dangers. It was a successful effort, yet eventually, the dangers ran out.

  The stage was set at that point. The idea of failure, partly brought on by the state of almost permanent success, of constant growth and expansion, had been forgotten by that point. Such a concept as a redundancy was needless. Tribes either were strong enough to survive or they weren’t. Elven administrators either were taught directly by Divines or learned their craft from first principles. And that was that. The systems were set up and they were left to run. That was the main breaking point.

  By the time it came to open warfare between divinity and humanity, the Age of Tyranny was merely in its death throes. The systems could not survive. The loss of an elven administrator was too great, for there were none to replace one. A system built on the idea of permanence suddenly found itself facing issues of replacement. The strength they used to subdue Arda was both too rigid and too slow to regain the initiative.

  Thus, the lesson to learn is simple. The concept of immortal, endless governors, the ease of “set & forget”, cannot be allowed to fester within the Empire. It is far less efficient and it will be a great expenditure, but the assumption of permanence and the handwaving of replaceability will, ironically enough, only make us destined to the archives of history.

  - Excerpt from “Foundation of Empire”, written by God Arascus, of Pride.

  Arascus made a casual look around the room. It was homely, he had to give it that. The wood was all covered in rugs, the bed was obviously comfortable even if it tried to hide its excellence behind modesty. The craftsmanship in the woodwork of the furniture was obviously of the highest artisanry, even if the maker had not been asked to prove his merit through a boastful and ostentatious display of delicate carvings. The fireplace was terribly comfortable too. The kitchen was obviously for Divines. Arascus’ eyes passed over the wall as Fer stepped into the room to his side and behind him. He felt the wind shift as Anassa appeared on the other.

  Not Fortia’s, nor Maisara’s room, this. Definitely not. The building didn’t have that stink of paranoia. The place was large and open. There weren’t any swords or flags or paintings mounted to the wall. The single open door led to what was obviously a clean bathroom as well. Arascus finished his inspection and looked at the pair of Goddesses ahead of him. “Well?” He asked. “What brings you here?”

  Maisara nor Fortia replied for a moment. The two Goddesses were dressed in modern clothes. Shorts and shirts and hiking books. All green as if in some to camouflage themselves. That alone was a bad sign. They had left the backpacks by the kitchen in which the three Imperial Divines now stood. Maisara’s eyes narrowed, she shot a telling look to Fortia. Arascus caught it, the slight downturn of the eyes and the way the lips narrowed even further. A sign for the other to do the talking. “We have not come to harm you.” Fortia said slowly.

  By his side, Anassa chuckled. Fer took a step forward, hands on her head. Her ears bounced and turned and her tail tapped the tiled floor. Arascus knew what that meant: Of Beasthood was using echolocation to search for rooms and passages. Arascus thought of how to give them an out. “If you wished for a meeting, then there are other ways to go about this.”

  “We wished for entry.” Fortia said. “Nothing more, nothing less. Your war against Tartarus does not concern us.”

  That, Arascus did not believe. “You yourself sent a letter to give me warning of the magic we are using in Arika.” They didn’t need to know the name of Sokolowski’s Sledgehammer. “You were correct then that this war concerns the entire world.”

  Fortia’s bronze eyes just stared. Maisara’s set on Fer. Of Beasthood leaned on the counter. “Entry into Imperial territory, nothing more, nothing else.”

  “Fortia.” Arascus chose his words carefully so as not to insult the woman. “We both know that you in this situation would not simply ignore my entry into your lands.”

  Fortia smiled at him. “Do not pretend we are equal Arascus.” She said. “Mortals dance around your finger, I could not take the risk.” Very smart. It was aggrandizing to him, it was modest and humble of her. If it was a Divine of this era, Arascus could even believe she was being sincere. But this was Fortia, and Fortia had survived for far too long to be lacking for the ability of what to say at what time.

  “Likewise.” Arascus threw it back at her. “We are in a war right now, you are not Imperial, your presence is suspicious to say the least.”

  Fortia sighed and looked to Maisara. There was another moment between them. The Goddess of Order shook her head and sighed before speaking. “I can swear to you that on this trip, we will do nothing to harm your Empire in its war against Tartarus if you wish. I would not break the vow. You know me.”

  “The war against Tartarus is one thing.” Arascus had seen the game of words immediately. “Empire itself is another. My family can be called another too. I could be called something else too. It is easy to break these definitions when we are dealing with the literal.” Maisara just stared at him.

  “You know I will not bind my honour on you.”

  “No.” Arascus said. “It does not matter anyway if I don’t know what you are doing.”

  “I shall not say.” Maisara replied.

  She was an easy Goddess to lay verbal traps with. The woman simply spoke too much for her own good. “You shall not say because you cannot say or because you will not say?” Arascus phrased the question as directly as possible. There was obviously a wrong answer here. Maisara’s silence confirmed it. Fer chuckled from the side.

  “Brilliant.” She cooed and sniffed the air. “Where is the girl?” Maisara’s fists curling into balls

  “May an apprentice not be taken on after a Divine has died?”

  Anassa came in this time. “What a grand waste of air Maisara. May pigs not fly after they sprout wings?” She took a step back from the two Goddesses and away from Arascus. Fortia and Maisara must have seen the circling immediately. Arascus in the middle, Fer slightly closer and ready to pounce, Anassa making distance for herself even in this room and going from the other side.

  “We are not here to fight.” Maisara declared and raised her palms. “I hold no weapons in my hands, I come unarmed.”

  “It matters little when you draw your arms out of the air.” Arascus said. “I rarely carry a sword as well.” Maisara just stared at him for a moment, her mouth twisting upwards.

  “You know you have just twisted my words.”

  “I did.” Arascus said. “To demonstrate how they can be twisted.” Fer took another step to the side, Of Peace and Order glanced at her and shifted their postures. Maisara positioned herself sideways. Fortia focused on Arascus. Neither of them made a move though. “I have no issue with you being here.” Arascus said. “As long as you avoid anything related to the war effort, I have no wish to deny you sightseeing.” He let the silence hold for a moment. “Nevertheless, do not consider us stupid, I do not think anyone in your room is here for sightseeing alone.”

  “An inspection cannot be done?” Maisara asked. “To gauge how you are doing?” That did actually take Arascus off-guard. If it came from Fortia, he would assume it was a final shot in the dark. But it came from Maisara, there would be a catch… There was a catch.

  “Solely sightseeing.” Arascus correct himself. This time, Maisara did not reply. The silence held on for a moment. His daughters knew what to do. Fer took yet another step to the side and smiled.

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  “Oh.” She said. “She’s here.”

  “As I said before, may a Divine not take an apprentice?” Maisara mounted her defence.

  “Do not treat us as fools Maisara.” Anassa said from the other side of the room. “Everyone in this room knows of Leona’s maid.” That cooled the air once again. Fortia and Maisara once again shared a quick glance.

  “Who told you?” Of Peace asked after a moment.

  Arascus thought of ratting out Helenna for a moment. It wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of him to reveal his sources though. “I do not know how things were ran in the Pantheon.” He said. “But they are ran differently here. We got confirmation of you in Rilia. Divines leave a scent. Yours is well known.” Fer smiled in pride recognition of her own work. That was how it went, the pair of Goddesses moved quickly, but the Empire moved faster. By the time Arascus had collected the girl, Malam’s team had already managed to find the exact location of the photograph she had received. The pair of Goddesses may have disappeared into the hills and mountains but Fer was Fer. Arascus did not play games. If he had the Goddess of Beasthood by his side, he would use her.

  Both of them turned to Fer who was smiling widely. She chuckled to herself, a terrible hur-hur-hur of a chuckle that sounded as if she was trying to speak the letters. She bowed to them and bathed in the satisfaction, a short bow, all her muscles steady and ready to spring into action. Even though her eyes went to the ground, those ears never left the pair. “You may thank me for it.”

  Arascus pulled the conversation back to the point now that his hand had been played. “So here are Fortia, Maisara.” The tone was slow. “If you visited your old fortresses, we would assume it nostalgia. But you did not, this is not a shopping trip, nor is it some attempt to build relations with us. You come here, you have this Alice with you. Tell me, what are supposed to think?”

  Fortia lied through her teeth. Arascus could tell it was a lie immediately. There simply wasn’t any heart nor shred of backbone in it. “I call it paranoia but you can call it what you want, none of us are enemies in this room.”

  “Not from our perspective.” Anassa said and Arascus smiled. His daughter simply knew when and how to raise the temperature. She wasn’t even playing a character, blood would have already been spilled if he sent just Ana and Fer alone.

  “Then we must agree to disagree.” Fortia said politely.

  Arascus gave the ultimatum. “If you wish to enter, give up the girl. She will be processed with us. You may continue on your journey then.” Maisara’s body tightened and Fortia just stared at Arascus. He could almost make out the gears in her head. It was time to see if she was a needed guide or just a remnant of the past. “If her life is important to you, then she will be returned after you are done with sightseeing.”

  “That will not happen.” Fortia said. Maisara turned from Arascus to Fer when Of Beasthood leaned against the wall. Of Order took a tentative step to place herself between Fer and Alice. The Goddess’s hand was twisted, her fingers curled around as if ready to summon axe and go for a blow.

  “Why not?” Arascus raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s…” Fortia just stood there. “It’s personal information. I am sure that you understand, of all people.” Another attempt at diplomacy. Once again, Arascus did not let her get this topic off-track.

  “Excuse us for being paranoid.” *Arascus said. “For Leona we considered far too dangerous to simply leaves things in the stand of trust.”

  Fortia took a deep breath. She stared Arascus for a few moments. “It is a promise to Leona. We cannot break it.” Arascus turned to Maisara.

  “It would sound better from your mouth.”

  “I did not get along with Leona.” Maisara said, she turned looked to Arascus, but her body was still directed towards Fer.

  “Does the promise exist?” He went straight for the kill on Maisara. “The question is to you Maisara, not to Fortia. We are in a state of war right now, we do not have all day to waste on a little discussion between us.”

  “I do not know.” Maisara replied immediately, her silver eyes narrowing. Her eyes darting downwards.

  “Then what do you know?”

  “I know that if a promise does exist, Fortia would honour it.”

  “Then can the girl not write you the locations out?” Arascus asked. It was an obvious solution. The presence of one of Leona’s was simply a headache. It was unknown whether the woman actually had a blessing or whether her power was strong enough to affect everyone around her. And likewise, it was unknown what Leona actually did with her life. She simply survived through pure luck. A life like that must have been boring, the woman must have written down contingencies and scenarios and secret plans.

  The simple fact of the matter was that if these two were searching for some artefact Arascus did not even know about, then Leona’s works would most likely be the best source. Fortia stared at Arascus for a moment. “It will be faster with her to just take us there. This place would have been difficult to locate if she did not point it out.”

  Of all the things said today, that was one Arascus actually believed. And the fact he did only made him more wary. Working under the pressure of time meant that they felt as if they had a chance. If they had a chance, then for what? “Then understand we will unfortunately not allow it.”

  “You had no issue with us marching an army through Gracya.”

  “An army obviously headed to the Divine Mountain and back.” Arascus said. “Do not take the fact we didn’t want to cause a mess as some great mercy. Iliyal Tremali has gone to talk to you.”

  “Then we must negotiate.” Fortia said. “For we will not give the girl up.”

  “There is little you have to negotiate with.” Arascus said. Fer’s chuckle was wiped off her mouth with Fortia’s immediate reply.

  “And what if we declare for the Empire?” Fortia asked. In any other situation, it would have been a relief. Maybe even a blessing in disguise. But in this room? Where Arascus, Fer and Anassa stood against Fortia and Maisara? No one relaxed, no one so much as even moved a muscle. A shocking moment like this would be a good moment to go for the kill. Arascus had gotten the surprise on them, if they wanted to fight back, then the best way would be to momentarily stun him with an idea he found so farcical he didn’t even plan on it. Fortia and Maisara had routes into the Empire, this was not one of them. He would take them on, gladly in fact.

  Was it ancient paranoia? Was it a fluke? He stared at the two. Fortia released her breath first, then Arascus, Fer, Anassa, Maisara. The tension dissipated. They had returned to discussion. “It may happen.” Arascus said. “You know how the system works I assume, it is not the Pantheon.”

  Fortia blinked at Arascus and turned to Maisara. The two stared at each other for a moment, then both turned to Arascus. Maisara finally broke her combat posture. “So you are willing then?” Fortia asked. That was genuine surprise in her voice. Something like that could not be faked.

  “Nothing is decided yet.” Arascus said. “Even if you say it, there is little actually holding you here. We do not have bonds of loyalty between us.”

  “I could give my word.” Maisara said.

  “We both know you will not give a permanent vow.” Arascus said and the Goddess of Order didn’t answer. This did change things though. If they were wanting to join… Was it a bluff though? It could very well be one. Fortia had said she was wanting to quit the Pantheon. The raid on Olympiada recently had been reported in the news, it was obvious that the Mountain was falling apart. “An open declaration will do just fine.”

  Fortia and Maisara looked at each other once again. “And where would that leave us?” Maisara asked. “In terms of…” She actually stopped to think of a word. “Positioning?” Hierarchy. Where would they be on the hierarchy. It was a fantastic way to pretend to be coy.

  “That sort of discussion is not something to be held here.” Arascus replied. “We would it leave you? Who knows Maisara. The Empire rewards excellence, it just depends what you are excellent in.

  “Then…” Fortia thought for a moment. “We shall think on your proposition.” Arascus just stared at Fortia, then at Maisara. He took a deep breath. Two Divines offering themselves up for Imperial service was a tempting offer indeed. But taken urgently, it would show them that they had leverage. Leverage was the sort of thing Arascus preferred his subordinates not to have.

  “Do.” Arascus asked. “Alright it will not be a speech. We do not hand out credit for something that easy.” He turned to Alice’s chai. From behind, he couldn’t see the girl, only the dark green plush fabric. But Fer had been looking there, so it was obvious.

  And Arascus realized what Fortia had done just now. Now that he could see as integrated, the desire to end their lives here and now had gone. Why would someone throw away two of the most powerful Goddesses in existence? He smiled at her devilishness. What a way to stun him. Truly incredible work. She had outmanoeuvred him. Excellent display. Fortia made a performance of a lifetime “Nevertheless, we need to find something.”

  “I will not risk a godkiller blade.”

  Maisara spoke up this time. “It is not a godkiller blade or anything you would consider a weapon. It is a promise we aim to fulfil before we leave the Pantheon.” Arascus play Maisara’s voice in his once again. The words made sense, there had to be a catch though. “It is nothing that could harm you infact, I swear that on my honour, any artefacts we handed over.”

  “Does Leona even do artefacts?”

  “Leona collected plenty of things.” Fortia said. “Artefacts are amongst them.” Arascus blinked. Where they stupid? Say it wasn’t so… Surely not… Surely there had to be some angle to this.

  “What are you searching for? Maisara, this is to you.”

  “I said I shall not say.”

  “Do you even know what you are searching for?” And Arascus saw those silver eyes of disappointment darken. Fortia’s took a heavy breath. Her posture collapsed.

  Fer straightened her posture, put her arms on her hips and shook her head. “Idiotic.” She said. “Cretinous. We have a system for entry. You should have used that.”

  “Do you?” Fortia asked.

  “Yes.” Arascus said, his voice naturally going faster now. Fools. Fools the both of them. To think that they had spent so much time in the Pantheon that they forgot how Arascus had sent them invitations back when he was taking on daughters. “So that we do not get into these situations were I have to pull two of my daughters away in addition to myself.” His gaze centred at Alice’s chair, then at Fortia and Maisara again. At this point, he wasn’t even trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “I am too busy to deal with you. Where are you going next?”

  “North to Doschia, then to Lubska.” Fortia said and Arascus sighed even heavier. Idiotic. The worst part was that he should have predicted this.

  “Stay away from industrial areas and military locations.” Arascus said. “There will be no second chances, a kill-team will be sent. You will be tracked as well. Report if you find an artefact. We may let you keep it if you ask nicely. I expect none of those conditions are surprising.” Fortia’s eyes went wide with disbelief. Maisara gawked at him. “That is all. Take the girl and go on your nostalgia trip. Think about what was said.” Arascus turned his back on the pair of Goddesses. “Fer, Anassa, we’re done here.”

  He walked out of the room in a rage at the sheer stupidity of those two.

  To think they didn’t even know what they were searching for.

  Fortia stared at Arascus leave. She didn’t raise her hands. She didn’t look to Maisara. She just watched that God step through the door and lift off into the air. Fer went out second, shaking her head as if she was dealing with children. Anassa started to glow crimson, a red barrier went up around her. Ever paranoid, of course. The Goddess of Sorcery had raw fury in her eyes. Fer got to the door and jumped off the cliff. Anassa disappeared a moment later.

  And Fortia couldn’t even say the words: Had they just actually managed to trick Arascus?