Caethya rubbed Aperio's back for a moment before stepping away to look at the covered bodies she could sense in the next room. The golden-furred Beastkin — Neria, if she recalled correctly — eyed her for a moment but let her pass nonetheless.

It only took her a couple of steps to reach the bodies. Despite having crouched down and her hand hovering above, she did not lift the cover, the embroidered cloth obviously serving a more serious purpose than simply hiding the dead. Her aura might not be nearly as good at providing information as Aperio's, but she could still see what she needed to: bodies that had been drained of their magic to power something they did not understand. A sight she had seen more than once in various dungeons.

For one reason or another, some people seemed to hold the belief that they could control dungeons with the help of some phony ritual. It never worked, of course, but people still tried. Just like they try to go against Aperio again and again. That delusion made even less sense, but Caethya assumed that most people simply could not truly understand the concept that her love embodied. If she was honest with herself, neither could she, but neither did she need to. As far as Caethya was concerned, Aperio was her love, and only her love — everything else came second, third, or never.

"The infamous council of the [Ancestral Guard], I presume?" Caethya asked as she looked over her shoulder at Neria. She had heard a lot about them, some bad, some good, but everyone she had talked to in the past had said that they were a little weird. Fair, but always seemingly up to something. Guess this was what they were up to. "They seem to have miscalculated."

"They tried to use things they did not understand and had no problem throwing away everything the guard stood for," the Beastkin with golden fur replied. "None of them deserve to be buried with the rites mother has started."

The Demigoddess regarded Neria for a moment longer before she stood back up. "Sometimes it is important to keep up appearances. Taking over an entire organisation as a Goddess is one of them."

"How would you know if she chose to ascend?"

"I walk the same path," Caethya replied as she let her eyes wander around the room. "And while I don't know why, I can feel that she has taken a step on the road towards ascension."

"Because all divines are connected," Aperio said. The All-Mother was looking at her friend, the conversation they were having obvious despite the silence between the two. "Your Domain is also at the root of all others, making it more likely that you will notice when someone taps into the realm of the Gods."

"But I can't feel you in the same way," Caethya said, her ears twitching slightly. After a moment she shook her head. "I should really write all of this down so we don't forget."

"Mother does not have a Domain," Ferio said. Aperio tilted her head ever so slightly at the words, causing Caethya to smile. The motion and the slight look of confusion on Aperio's face somehow managed to make her look small.

"If she had one," the Goddess of Life and Light continued, "it would be Creation, like the one you are working towards, Caethya." She smiled slightly. "I believe we all know that Mother is beyond the concept of a Domain; it is a little too… shall we say, small for her."

"How fitting," Neria mused as she stepped past the Demigoddess and next to her mother. "The lovers share a Domain. If only one of them wasn't an incomprehensible entity pretending to be an Elf."

"Joining the [Ancestral Guard] seems to not be favourable to one's mental state," Aperio observed dryly. She shook her head and disappeared from her position in front of Moria. A moment later, Caethya felt the All-Mother's hand brush lightly against her back before her love teleported a second time, arriving next to the bodies of the former council. "Certainly explains why these people thought their plan would work." There was a brief moment of silence in which Caethya could feel her love's magic sweep through the room. "Are you sure you wish me to place their bodies outside the palace?"

"Yes," Moria said with a slight shake of her head. "People need to see it to believe it. Especially the ones in charge." She let out a sigh as her ears twitched. "I do not know what else I need to do before the System decides to announce my ascension, but I'd rather set the facts straight before it does. Having people believe I sacrificed them to become a Goddess is not what I need."

Caethya shifted her gaze to Aperio, her brows furrowing slightly at the expression of concern that marred her love's face. "I am not sure my presence there will change their view of you for the better," she said. "I am the reason most of them lost their Gods, after all."

"They don't have to like me," Moria replied. "But your presence legitimises the proceedings. No matter what we mortals might think, in the end, whatever you say is the law."

///

Moria looked at her friend, not quite sure if she was asking too much. Aperio obviously did not like the idea. In the past, she would have had to guess what the All-Mother thought, but ever since she had come back, she was a lot more… like a mortal. I guess that was the entire point of her living as one.

She was still unsure why Aperio had done that in the first place — especially if she considered what it had done to the System — but that was something she would likely never get an answer to. The only person who would know could no longer remember the reason, after all.

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"My word is only as much law as I am willing to enforce it," Aperio replied as she lowered herself to get a closer — and ultimately needless — look at the bodies. "And the only rules I am willing to enforce regard the disfigurement of Souls." Moria could feel the entire room fill for a brief second with more mana than she could ever hope to command before it all vanished again. "These ones tried — some of them even succeeding — to do exactly that. Self-inflicted as it might have been, they got what they deserved.”

"Your presence is enough, Aperio," Moria said. "I have known the ones in charge for long enough to know that they know who you are. I also have it on good authority that almost everyone in a position of power followed Chellien; or at least pretended to." A small, sly smile spread across her face. "If they wish to expose their lies on their own, I welcome them to do so, but I doubt they will."

"And how do they know of me?"

The smile on Moria's face widened. "I dropped some hints, of course. Can't have your name be forgotten, especially if those sorry excuses for deities wanted everyone to forget." Cost me a few lives…

For one reason or another, the Elder Gods had never seemed to figure out that she would come back with a new life no matter how many times they killed her. Probably something I can thank Aperio for. There had been times when she had been caught by a paladin of Vigil, Inanis, or Epemirial and they had tried to use her for… research. But it had never worked.

"I see," Aperio said and simply appeared behind Caethya. "Shall we go, then?"

"Mortal squabbles." Ferio let out an exaggerated sigh. "Who knew I would actually look forward to that one day."

"Don't you deal with that a lot?" Caethya asked. "As a Goddess present on multiple worlds, you must get stuff like this on a daily basis?"

"Not with a friend of Mother involved, and most certainly not on Verenier." She smiled at the Demigoddess. "Mortal shenanigans are usually overshadowed by their divine counterparts here."

"Which is no longer the case, because Aperio killed them," Neria said as she shook her head, starting to move towards the exit before she stopped, likely having realised that walking was not something they would do with the All-Mother around. She let out a sigh and turned back around. "At least one of us will have fun."

///

Aperio did not know what she should think of the conversation she had just partaken in. None of it made much sense to her, and neither did she like her daughter's amusement over the situation at hand. Whatever Moria had planned would steer the fate of a nation; something that went far beyond 'shenanigans' in the All-Mother's mind.

"Oh, I will be certain to enjoy myself," Ferio said with a slight smile on her face. "I just wish Mother would be able to see the hilarity in this."

"I am sorry that I do not see the potential upheaval of a nation as something funny," Aperio replied, narrowing her eyes.

She might not find it funny, but she also found herself not truly caring past Moria's involvement, either. Perhaps she had never valued life in general, or — something she considered more likely — being the All-Mother simply meant she did not really care for something that was ultimately inconsequential to her own life or her creation at large.

"It's only a matter of time before you realise it's better to be amused by mortal stupidity than try to understand it," Ferio said with a shrug. "I am ready whenever."

Both Moria and Neria gave slow nods as Aperio set her gaze on them one after the other, and Caethya let her know that she was ready via small mental note and by letting some of her mana flow around the All-Mother.

A small flex of her mental muscles caused reality to twist apart. The five of them, and the covered bodies, vanished from the chambers of the [Ancestral Guard] to reappear at the foot of a set of stairs that lead to what Aperio could only describe as a palace. Five large pillars were placed at even intervals along the front of the building, all of them made to look like a Beastkin from the five main tribes, holding up the roof of what Moria had said was the de facto seat of government for all tribes.

The rest of the building followed the same style, with high ceilings that were painted with pieces of artistry Aperio was sure more than a few collectors would kill for and grand halls that all sported immaculately polished marble floors. All in all, it reminded Aperio too much of the palace in which she had spent most of her mortal life.

The people that filled the stairs that led towards the building stopped as the group appeared. Whispers started as soon as they saw the covered bodies, the sound of recognition obvious even though Aperio could not understand what most of them were saying.

Moria did not bother to address the people that had frozen in their tracks, instead walking inside the building. Aperio tilted her head slightly as she tracked her friend through her aura, watching her speak with a very frightened-looking clerk and placing a token on his desk. After the man had taken the round piece of metal, Moria turned around and walked back outside.

"The local representatives will be with us shortly," Moria said as she stepped up beside Aperio. "Sadly, we'll have to make do with them for now, as most of the tribal leaders left the city when the Guard started their antics."

"Does it matter if they see them first?"

Moria shook her head. "No, they are the eyes and ears of their leaders when they are not in town. Whatever I tell them, I tell the people that need to know." Her ears twitched slightly. "The only downside is that some of them will try to disappear when they get word. Not that it matters much; it'll only prove that they were up to no good."

Aperio shrugged, letting her wings move a little more with the motion than they usually would. "I cannot claim to know what you have planned, but it all seems a little… random."

"Because it is," Moria replied. "I had not planned for any of this to happen. Ascension is something that I have never truly considered; just looked at."

"If you do not wish to, you do not have to," Aperio said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, taking great care to not hurt her. "I no longer intend to declare anyone to be a God or Goddess anymore. If you wish to do this, it has to be because you want to."

"Too late for second guesses now," her friend replied. She looked up at Aperio, a small smile on her face. "If I ever grow tired of it, I'll let you know. For now, I have to do what is best for my people."

Aperio gave a nod in reply. "As long as you are fine with this, so am I." She removed her hand and gestured at the people that still surrounded them — the group that was still increasing in size. "Now you just have to convince them."