Inesa and Xing Wu’s child came a century after I had talked to her, just as I had predicted. Xing Wu lit up with a joy I had never seen before in his heart as he held his baby girl for the first time, expression a mixture of concern and unrelenting love. Inesa’s face was slicked with sweat, but was ultimately ok as she lay in bed, one finger gently touching her daughter’s cheek as Xing Wu knelt beside her, cradling their child so both could see.
She was beautiful. Hair as green as the leaves of the Life-Giving Tree, undirected divinity swirling in her chest, not yet bound to any element or concept. Her lungs were strong – her cries had nearly blown their entire house down – but now she slept peacefully in Xing Wu’s arms, swaddled in a blanket Celene herself had woven for the child.
Said goddess had politely stepped out of the room, having served as the midwife, to rejoin her husband outside and to let the new parents have their moment.
“What should we name her?” Xing Wu asked softly, marveling at the little one as he gently laid her beside her mother. One finger gently brushed against the nascent goddess’s face, poking one chubby cheek. Inesa rolled onto her side, her divine body already nearly completely healed of the rigors of birth, to gently brush at her daughter’s green hair and cup the side of her face.
“Sequoia,” she breathed softly. “Our little heart.”
“That’s not what that name means,” Xing Wu chuckled good-naturedly, planting a kiss on his wife’s forehead. Inesa narrowed her eyes at him, flicking him on the nose as her other arm curled protectively around the newly-dubbed Sequoia.
“No, but it is the tree that grew in the village where we first met, when you were just a grumpy old fisherman,” she chided. “Where you first stole my little heart.” Xing Wu laid a hand on his wife’s head, ruffling her hair fondly, yet softly.
“That was a firestruck oak,” he corrected with a small grin. “But Sequoia works, too. Certainly sounds better,” Inesa huffed at him, pulling their daughter closer and tugging Xing Wu onto the bed with her, so the three of them could lay together. I slowly turned away, allowing them their moment of privacy with their newborn, but not without leaving a little gift.
In the yard, just outside their home, I planted two tree seeds. A Sequoia, like their daughter’s namesake, and an oak.
“Randus,” I said, standing from my position above them, my true body stretching and feeling my back pop in a dozen places. The butler god of dreams appeared before me, bowing, a cup of steaming hot tea at the ready. I gratefully accepted it, sipping at the scalding liquid to enjoy the burn. “You are coming with me,”
“To where, Ma’am?” he asked, though I knew he already knew the answer. I laid a hand upon his shoulder.
“To the final meeting with Yueya before the collision, of course,” I told him, already leading him away. Randus bowed his head in acceptance, following behind as I floated toward the edge of the Four Realms, where Mr. Boxes would open the portal to the meeting room.
“Is there anything I should keep an eye on?” he asked. He knew me far too well; already knowing that I had a purpose beyond just his company in the meeting.
“I believe Yueya has figured out a way to blind me,” I told him honestly. “I hope it is untrue, but I cannot take the risk. I would like for you to keep an eye out for me, perhaps see what I cannot,”
“No one has greater sight than you, Ma’am,” Randus said honestly, in one of his rare bouts of non-sarcasm-laced praise. I met his eyes for a moment, his confusion radiating from him. Seems he has not realized yet – truth be told, I myself had not thought enough about his true existence to figure this out until Keilan brought news about Astraea, the Goddess of Stars from Yueya’s world, claiming to be an existence like Randus.
“True,” I allowed. “But you do not see with your eyes, do you? You see that which is not visible to the naked eye.” It was a fundamental thing. I had truesight, yes, and as a god and Origin Deity I could see far more than one of my power had any right to be able to. The thick, iron band of Fate that connected the Four Realms with the One World still hanging heavy in the sky was a prime example; as were the karmic strings that stretched across all of reality, the flows of energy and even potential futures revealing themselves to me. But Randus, inherently, existed in a space that was originally not meant to be seen. The mind. Dreams and ambitions. These are things one feels; you can observe the results of them, but truly see them? I wondered now if even I could not see their depths.
Or, more accurately, if they could not hide from truesight in some way.
Such was Randus’ existence. Such was my own.
“I understand,” he said slowly, even though he did not. Regardless of his own doubts, I had faith in him. Unfortunately, he was not the one I was worrying about. Without another word I led him to the portal, Mr. Boxes announcing our arrival in his usual way.
Ding!
{[The third and final meeting between Shin, Origin of the Wheel Realm; The Oshun Trio, Origin of the One World; Statera Luotian, Origin of the Four Realms; and Sehuyun, Origin of the Primeval Realms will now begin. Remaining time until collision; 1,000-5,000 years.]}
***
The interior of the meeting place was the same as it had ever been. Pure white walls, and a single round table in the center. Four arches containing portals to our respective realms sat directly behind the seating areas for the Origins, the chair I had been given the same dull greyish color it had been the past few times I’d been here.
For once, I was not the first to arrive. I was last.
Shin sat in his chair, the skeletal god watching with those green balls of fire that burned in his eye sockets. He had grown much since last I had seen him, his domain of the Cycle deepening to the point even I could not see through it completely. Black smoke poured from between the joints of his boney fingers, spilling out of his dark cloak to mist about his form – he inclined his head to me respectfully as I sat.
Sehuyun was the same as ever. She did not meet my eyes, the dragon resting her head upon her claws, though I could sense disappointment radiating from her. Not because of me, but because…Alexander was not here? I could see the bit of karma that connected the two, and it was the bit that was producing the disappointment. Was my son not telling me something about the time he’d spend in her realm? Was this what one might call the rebellious stage?
I chuckled a little to myself as the fiery snake I had spent so much time with poked its head out from beneath Sehuyun’s wings, flicking its tongue at me.
“Behave, Boitata,” Sehuyun grumbled. The fire snake, now named, only flicked its tongue at her scales in response, earning a pleased rumble from her. It was good to see that she had finally accepted her children’s various natures for what they were, rather than demanding they all become Dragons. Such was as a dragon should be; fiercely proud and protective of all in her horde, no matter their origin or nature.
Finally, I turned my gaze to Yueya. She lounged in her chair, her red hair a deeper, more brilliant crimson color than I remembered as she smiled beatifically at me. Alala flexed, the muscular woman winking, while Curie adjusted her glassed, both of them flanking Yueya. It was a shame I hadn’t had as much time to get to know Curie as the other two; she seemed like an interesting conversationalist. So different from the others; Alala, with her casual bluntness and live-in-the-now attitude, Yueya with her eternal beauty and gentle searching of the heart.
Randus touched my back, sending me a quick message through qi, hiding in my shadow as he was. You’re drifting. He told me. I took a deep breath, mentally building walls before meeting Yueya’s eyes once again.
Her beauty still shone, was still brilliantly powerful, but less blinding like this. Yueya’s smile widened.
“So, how goes the preparations?” Shin asked, leaning forward and steepling his fingers together before his face. “Judging by your attitudes, it is going well,”
“Nearly everything is ready on my end,” I supplied. “The defensive formations are built, the outer regions have been fortified, and much of the excess energy has been condensed into a crystalline skeleton within the Hidden Realm. The Four Realms are as sturdy as they will get.”
“What else remains for you to do?” Shin pressed.
“Just make sure my people are prepared. I don’t have as many sacrificial regions as I would have liked, but there’s only so much I can do there,” I had originally planned to have a lot more sacrificial regions than I currently did – which was only one fourth of the original sixty four I had planned for, but building more would have taken both more time, and an expansion of the Realms themselves, which was counter to what Yueya and I had planned and would also have taken a restructuring of the entire defensive formation.
What was left was for me to directly approach the Dao Progenitors who were taking slow command of the new Trees, to inform them of what is expected and coming.
“I see. And as for the Oshun trio?” Shin pressed, turning toward the three goddesses who were actually one.
“I can almost grab fate, but it keeps slipping through my fingers. Unless I have some great breakthrough of understanding through the pressure of calamity, that is not an avenue we can explore, Statera,” Alala said firmly, shaking her head sadly. I inclined my own head to her.
“As much as I believe you will thrive under pressure, let us hope it is not necessary for you to even try, then,” I assured her. She flashed me a sparkling grin, Yueya slapping her shoulder playfully.
“No flirting, you, this is serious. I could feel you thinking about it,” she chided, more out of amusement then actual reprimand. Alala giggled and flushed a little, her intentions revealed. Calculation. Randus told me. I mentally frowned at the word, reviewing that interaction in my head. Calculation? That had been a genuine response, to my eyes, banter between beings of the same mind. Like how I chided myself sometimes.
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“Right, well, as for the other plan, we have made headway. Our afterlife is properly supporting the One World from the inside of the shell, now, struts acting as support to maintain the external structure. A skeleton, if you will. Even if the Four Realms does veer off-course and crash into the internals, there should be enough support to maintain structure.” Curie interrupted, adjusting her glasses in that way she did whenever she had more to say, and was organizing her thoughts.
“Close as we are to the actual collision, we are beginning to be able to predict where we’ll hit,” Yueya added, waving one hand. A golden ball appeared in the air above the table, a clear representation of the One World. Curie cleared her throat and tossed a silver marble into the air beside it, scaled to be the size of the Four Realms.
…we were so much smaller than them. It was hard to imagine my little Realms had enough power packed into it to support an increasingly growing population of very powerful gods.
“We can basically tell where the Four Realms will be approaching from, though the Void still makes actual approach vectors difficult to predict. You could come straight on, or take us on the sides. Straight collision is still unideal, mostly because we have no way to guarantee the Four Realms internals won’t explode and crack the One World,” Curie explained, the silver marble gently tapping the One World’s surface and exploding, leaving a gaping hole in the side that quickly fixed itself, the demonstration returning to its original state.
Pretty sure the explosion will be bigger than that, now. I clasped my hands before my face. The spirit stone skeleton Morgan had made in the Hidden Realm was definitely more stable, but like a bullet contained in a gun, it now became more dangerous if it did go off. The extra safety the skeleton provided was just worth the risk.
“So we have a couple options. Statera, you mentioned being able to burn negative energy like a fuel source, thereby acting like a thruster of sorts to control the Realms?” Curie asked.
“Yes,” I said, thinking of the Tree Morgan had installed its pawns on, so thick with negative energy as it was. The darkness of the Realms had needed a place to go, it just so happened to coincide with my needs. They weren’t sacrificial by any means, but the region would act as a decent focus for the “thrust” if needed.
“Good. Here’s what we’re proposing,” Alala started, gesturing toward the 3d diagram. The Four Realms began to approach from the middle. “If it’s a straight shot, easy, we just use the thrust to angle the Four Realms to harmlessly pass through the central band, where gods will be to open a hole for you to pass through, hopefully without breaking too many of the internal struts.” At this, the silver ball passed straight through the One World, harmlessly.
“If it’s from the sides, however, we will be using a hybrid approach,” Yueya added, the mini Four Realms readjusting, lines stretching from it to the One World to show where it could hit – usually at the top or bottom, or areas where it would be awkward to adjust to aim for the central band, where more land for the One World was being made.
“Statera will activate the ‘thrust’ to set the Four Realms into a spin, while we grasp the karmic threads binding us together and swing you around the One World like a moon,” Alala said, flexing a little. The silver ball spun rapidly, naturally curving around the One World in many different directions before shooting off into the Void, like a slingshot.
“That way, even if you do strike the surface it will either be a glancing blow, or the spin will help you dig through the surface like a bullet – less like a rock thrown at a vase. The force, if you’re going fast enough, may let you burn a hole straight through the surface and emerge on the other side with minimal damage,” Curie theorized.
“…and your defenses?” Shin pressed, clearly not satisfied by the answer.
“Adequate,” Yueya said slowly. “We, like Statera, have some more things we could do, but at the end of the day we didn’t have enough hands to make it as solid as we would have liked,”
“I see. Then you will have done all you can,” Shin said sagely. “Statera, what are your thoughts on their plan?”
“It’s not too different from what we have previously theorized,” I began slowly, tasting each word as I attempted to figure out how to phrase what I needed to. “The rotation is nice. If I harden the Primordial Chaos shell just slightly, it may even produce a bouncing effect, letting my Realms skip along the outside rather than burst through,” I reasoned, pausing slightly. Shin must have taken that as his opportunity to speak up again and get to the matter he was most interested in, as he spoke up before I could finish my thought.
“Excellent. Then the next matter is what happens after. Assuming the Four Realms and One World keep their current trajectories after the collision, one or the other may collide with either my or Sehuyun’s Realms –“
“It will be mine, you paranoid skeleton,” Sehuyun growled, rolling her eyes as she spoke for the first time. She did not meet my eyes as she stood, wings flaring, orange fire radiating from her throat and beneath her wings. “I have bound my and Statera’s Realms together. You and Yueya do not share a deep enough connection to inspire collision. It has already been decided,” Shin froze and I closed my eyes, heaving out a sigh.
“You…what?” Yueya hissed, gaze snapping to Sehuyun. The great dragon bared her teeth at the goddess of beauty, a deep, rumbling laugh that echoed in the room like a volcano, ready to erupt. “You overgrown lizard, how dare you –“
“ENOUGH!” Shin roared, the walls shaking, the color white itself darkening as he exerted the full extent of his power, smoke billowing across the table like grasping hands. “Yueya, Sehuyun, you will SIT DOWN!” Yueya flinched, her power flickering as Alala and Curie moved beside her, neither of them cowed, but neither of them eager to continue. Sehuyun grumbled with a little chuckle, eyeing the skeleton like she may wish to fight him.
I, for one, felt resigned.
“Thank you, Shin, but what is done is done. Sehuyun will do as she pleases, and though I do not approve,” at this I shot the dragon a glare, “there is little to be done about it.” My eyes found Yueya, reading her face as she bowed her head, seemingly ashamed. I did not need Randus to question her reaction, but that was also not what I needed to ask first.
Shin stared at me, the room still darkening beneath his might, until he relented and slowly sat back down. The walls and table returned to their usual color and, taking a deep breath, I forged ahead.
“Yueya. How are your…cracks?” I asked carefully. She smiled at me, all hints of her earlier behavior gone. That worried me in more ways than one; and it wasn’t because I feared her latching onto me. I feared it was because she had latched onto something else. Ma’am. Randus warned.
“They are healing faster than ever, Statera, thanks to your child’s words and deeds. Do not fear for us,” she told me, standing. I stood as well, meeting her eyes.
“Yueya,” I said softly. “If we are to survive this I need you to be transparent with me.”
“My dear Statera, for all your sight you are seeing things were there is nothing, I assure you,” Yueya insisted. No, I fear I am seeing nothing, when there is something. I frowned a little, crossing my arms across my chest. Sehuyun rumbled, almost gleeful, while Shin tensed to my left. They needn’t worry, I was not preparing to fight; this was a simple confrontation, nothing more.
“Yueya, your Realm was collapsing. It cannot be that simple. Share with me, so we can properly prepare for it, just in case,” I told her. “I want to help, so we both survive,” Yueya opened her mouth again, likely to wave off my concerns, but Curie silenced her with one hand.
“It’s my fault,” Curie stated bluntly, the dark-haired woman’s shoulders drooping. I blinked. Yueya whirled on her, laying a comforting hand on Curie’s arm, but the woman forged ahead all the same. “It had to come out eventually, Yueya. Our collision is my fault. The thing that binds us was my brain child; I bound our two universes together during the meeting between origins, reaching through Yueya to allow our essences to mingle. The One World was collapsing, and none of us truly knew what to do – my only hope was to bind our world to the one being who had a problem opposite our own. And it worked. Because of that connection, because of Yueya’s connection to you and therefore our worlds, the One World began to stabilize.”
“Then…” I started, brows furrowing, stunned into relatively silence. That was huge, and I had missed it! How had I missed it? Why had they hidden it?!
“All it should have done is bring our universes a little closer, inspire you and Yueya to explore each other’s feelings a bit more; nothing forced, but enough that our two universes could feed off of our imbalances and stabilize, then break apart if we were incompatible. Who was I to know a Paradox would decide to play pool with the universes? By the time I figured out what had happened, the bond had grown too strong to cut through conventional means. What was once supposed to be a stop-gap, something I could freely unbind when it was no longer needed, instead turned into a calamity for both our worlds. And was also why the Overgod did not intervene.” Curie shook her head. I bit my lip hard, tamping down the fury that swirled in my gut. They knew this whole time, and they didn’t tell me?!
“Why hide it?” Shin asked, before I could.
“Blame,” Alala answered softly. “We did not want Statera to level blame at us. We needed their full cooperation. I am sorry,” she sounded genuine, but all the same I fixed her with a glare harsh enough she withered beneath my gaze, shame-faced.
“You should have told me,” I said darkly.
“We should have,” Yueya agreed. “But we didn’t, and for that I am truly sorry. We didn’t know you the way we do now. You have been nothing but transparent with us from the beginning,” no shit.
“And you have been deceitful,” I interrupted with a snap, pinching the bridge of my nose and letting out a firm, slow breath. Perhaps, if I had known the true cause, we could have found a proper solution. Randus tapped my shoulder but I ignored him, reaching out as I was, feeling for the truth in my memories and connection to the Realms and…there. Hidden, just barely, by the strand of fate I had been so focused on.
“Statera, the plan will work,” Yueya said softly, hinting as if I would be the one to break our plan.
“I know it will, assuming there’s nothing else you’re not telling me,” I hissed, Randus tapping my shoulder once again. “How will the connection affect the spin? The movement of my Realms? The approach? Will we not just come right back around and strike the One World again after missing, a slingshot turned into a rubber band? This is an entire calculation we have not accounted for,”
“I accounted for it,” Curie said.
“And I am supposed to just –?!” I cut myself off, Randus laying a firm hand upon my chest. Rage simmered just beneath my skin, my breathing coming in ragged huffs, my power surging as the Dragon in my chest raised its head. A missing piece. Randus whispered, the words cooling my head just a little. I unclenched my hands and took a step away from the table to look at those before me, really look at them.
Sehuyun had bared her teeth in a feral snarl, all too happy, eyes curling into pleased crescents. Shin sat on the edge of his seat, the skeleton watching me with those expressionless fire-eyes of his. And the Oshun Trio regarded me warily, Alala looking genuinely torn between rushing forward to reassure me and staying beside her sisters, who watched me warily. It struck me, in that moment, the truth, or at least a piece of it.
They were afraid of me. The anger I held still burned in my chest, yet I withdrew my power, forcefully tamping it down. Yueya’s beauty still shone, obscuring my vision, hiding something else from me – another little distraction, another piece to the puzzle I could only suspect at, but not fully realize. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No wonder she could blind me so.
“There had better not be any more surprises,” I said with far more force than I intended. Yueya nodded once, Alala wringing her hands as she met my eyes, refusing to look away despite my glare. I saw genuineness there. I did not see that from the other two. A Mother Bear protects her children with all her might, a Dragon zealously guards their horde. Randus whispered, my eyes narrowing further. Was that where their fear came from? “I will hold up my end. Ensure you do the same.”
“Statera,” Shin called as I began to turn away, toward my portal. I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Do not do anything rash,”
The simple statement caught me completely off-guard. How did they see me? How did Shin see…see. You have to be kidding me.
“You underestimate me,” I told him firmly, glancing once at Yueya, eyes narrowing further. What was her game here? No…no. I couldn’t think like that. I turned back around to fully face them. “Being a parent is not just protecting your children, and ensuring they have a good environment to grow up in, but also to set a good example. It is not me you should be worried about. Yueya, Curie, Alala…we need to talk about this. Privately,”
“Yes. We do,” Yueya immediately agreed, bowing her head. “With what little time we have left,”
I hardened my heart at the beautiful woman. At the beauty of Alala’s sincerity. At Curie’s intelligence. And for the first time in a long time, I feared for the future.
Inesa: Goddess of Light, Hearth, and Home. The Earth Pillar. Giving birth is far easier for a god, parenthood, less so. Will enjoy it all the same.
Xing Wu: God of Stars and the first Dao Progenitor. Was worried the entire time. Has never loved anything quite as much as he loves that little baby.
Sequoia: Child of Xing Wu and Inesa. Little Heart. Strong lungs.
Statera Luotian: Deity of Balance. O shit dey pissed.
Shin: Deity of the Cycle. Origin of the Wheel Realm. Trying to play mediator, but he's a skeleton in the same room with an overprotective mama bear and a literal dragon and he's trying his best ok?
The Oshun Trio: Curie/Alala/Yueya. Origin Deity of Beauty, Sport, and Art. Their situation is...complicated. Very, very complicated.
Sehuyun: The Primeval Dragon. Wishes she brought popcorn.
Boitata: Sehuyun's child. A snake born of her very breath. Named after a Brazilian Fire-serpent, is definitely hiding beneath mom's wings.
