You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
"Kalina, how does my strength match up to the powerhouses of this world?" Ven asked the still groping woman, who currently held a shining magical light into his ear as she looked within.
"Oh? Are you worried about something little fish? You don't need to be afraid, I'm the strongest there is, you know!" She took a flex pose, her thin arms strained as if she displayed a wealth of muscle. "But you don't match up at all, my squishy little fish,"
Kalina frowned, then plunged a finger deep within his ear.
"Even if those other Earth Deities can't hold a candle to my amazing self, you're still like a little tiny bug to them, you know?"
Vendak barely heard her, as half that sense was now blocked.
"Well that's nice to know, I suppose I'm lucky to have met you then." He grunted, focused on the rogue finger that wormed its way to his brain. "Despite your.... overly friendly nature, you don't seem to mean me any harm."
He didn't believe his own words. Trapped as he was, he'd get further with honey than vinegar.
I need to keep her talking and friendly, her power is beyond mine...
"Oh course I don't mean you any harm little fish, If I did I would have just squished you when we first met." Kalina crowed, before she roughly flipped him face down, pressed into the silver grass. "I just want to figure out what you are."
Vendak let out a sigh as the wiggling grass analog caressed his face. My wish gave me an ungodly body, but I'm nowhere near the peak yet... He would have to wait until he grew stronger before he could be safe from the aggravations of life.
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"I can feel a stupidly huge number of pocket worlds inside you, you know?"
Kalina's voice filtered into his thoughts as she sat on his back. Ven raised his eyebrows against the soft grass and turned his freed head to face the overbearing woman. Her face was less than an inch from his own. He jumped, which caused her grin to widen, before he rolled onto his side and toppled her into the grass.
"What exactly are these pocket worlds anyway? I only discovered mine after we last met, and I still don't know how to use them." Ven questioned the handsy woman. "As far as I can tell they're like my stomach or something, taking in all the energy I absorb and storing it for later." His brow furrowed as he poked at the power within himself. "But the energy just sits there, and nothing I do seems to make a difference?"
"Well... I'm not too sure little fish, you're very odd." Kalina answered, her body laid out beside his on the grass. "You've got so many inner realms, but you're barely a Martial Master." She reached out and poked his nose, a speedy strike that avoided his eyes. "You can almost keep up with a Semi-Divine through compound effort alone, you know!"
Kalina flipped on her back, and looked to the heavens, her face thoughtful. "If I was you, I'd hurry up and fill my inner worlds. Fate often stands against people like you."
The two lay together awhile, pollen and petals formed into a net around them. In the silence, Vendak watched the beauty and forgot his worries for a moment. I don't believe in fate, but Kalina's right... The world took the side of the one with the biggest fist or the sharpest tongue, and Ven had never been a politician.
"Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant, or so a wise man once said." Ven propped himself up and looked down on the strange Earth Deity. "If fate plots my death, there's not much I can do about it."
His words turned her face black and exposed a pain so thick that Ven's next point caught in his throat.
"You're wrong, little fish." Kalina spat as she sat up, her forehead pressed to his own. "I know you are."
This was less than a whisper, but she breathed it into his face and each word felt heavy in his ears.
"I've seen it," Now the sound almost failed to reach him, and Ven found himself pressed back against her as he strained his senses. "Long ago, there was a moment where events passed beyond the hands of fate."
She shoved him away and rose to her feet, the sadness she'd revealed still thick in the air. Even the landscape dimmed, and a faint hint of rain touched the drooping grass.
The circle of clouds swelled behind her, a ziggurat of smoke that billowed and turned. Ven lost sight of everything else, only her figure and the heavy mist that towered above it remained, the center of the world and him in her orbit.
"Time's up little fish."
Kalina's voice was harsh, the ocean of rage twisted it and Vendak couldn't bring himself to speak.
"Walk your path, and never forget about the hand of fate." She waved her hand, and portals opened behind them both. "He can't touch you, not as completely as he can the rest of us, but he'll take everything you hold dear and burn it to ash."
She gave a gentle push, and Ven drifted backward, forced through the open gateway. As he fell, Vendak glimpsed Kalina as she strode into her portal.
On the other side stood the black orb, framed against the city of Fallun, couched in its prison of light. An enormous humanoid turtle stood, his hands pressed firmly to each side of the sphere. As the spacial door closed before him, Kalina's voice whispered into his mind.
"You better treat that girl well, little fish. She's worth more than you, in the end."
Her words faded as his ears popped, and he thudded into a shoddy wooden floor. His vision was consumed by the back of an oversized armored figure. As his hearing cleared, the huge ape's voice thundered into his ears.
"Watch closely child, the God of Justice stands."