"Who?" one of the mortals asked, their eyes darting around the Void as if to find who Aperio was talking about.
The All-Mother simply quirked an eyebrow at the question. "Your precious Goddess," she said, squinting at the mortal and causing him to shrink a little. "She decided to disregard one of the few rules I am not willing to bend, and enforce your will and loyalty by disfiguring your Souls."
A few of the mortals voiced their objections to her words; Aperio ignored them. The few that had spoken in favour of Epemirial were far fewer than those that now looked at the All-Mother and the distant twinkling of the other Souls. Can they already feel the change?
Erasing the runes from their Souls would take time — less than it had the first time, but still longer than Aperio would like. A quick check revealed that many of the mortals’ Souls had already been mostly scrubbed clean of the vile marks. Because I got stronger… somehow? Or are their Souls more easily manipulated because of what Epemirial did?
"Why?" someone mumbled, looking at their hand before grasping at their chest. "Why would she do something like this?"
"To make sure she has loyal followers," Aperio said, unfurling the scroll that had appeared in her hand. "Why make sure you actually care for your followers if you can make them blindly follow you?"
Scroll after scroll appeared in front of the All-Mother as she read them one by one. Of course, looking at them through her aura and reading them that way was an option, but Aperio enjoyed going through the motions of picking a scroll she wanted and reading it. Even if it only takes a glance.
Caethya, too, had started looking through the scrolls after Aperio had made a few appear near her disciple. So far there had not been anything of note, only reports on how the various branches of Epemirial's church organised themselves and planned their efforts to expand their numbers. Not what I want to know, though.
She doubted that Epemirial would have written her entire reasoning for being against Aperio on a random scroll, but any hint as to where she might get more information would be nice. Anything that doesn't require me to burrow through her Soul or mind.
While Aperio was certain she could do it, she would rather not exercise that power if she could avoid it; even if it would make her search for answers longer. Perhaps it was foolish, but using her power for every problem would only turn her into a person she did not want to be. A quiet life. Please.
Ignoring everything was also an option, of course, but to Aperio that was even worse. If she did not get information from the scrolls, the Dominion or the Court, Aperio would use her powers to get answers. She just hoped that it did not come to that. I can do without seeing the madness of Epemirial's mind.
The All-Mother ignored the growing intensity of the mortal chatter as she sifted through more and more scrolls of largely useless information. Aperio paused as her eyes flew over another piece of parchment she had thought to be as useless as the rest when she had first picked it up. Luckily, that was not the case this time.
New World Report? The title definitely piqued her interest, and so did the scroll it came on. For one reason or another, it was vastly longer than the ones she had read up until now. Whoever had made this obviously took pride in their work. The scroll was filled with mana which fuelled a series of enchantments that Aperio had only noticed when she looked a little closer. A book in a scroll. Neat.
Why, exactly, they had decided to use a swiping gesture to flip through the magical pages was not quite clear to Aperio, but she did not mind. It was finally something she could use. The first part of the report went largely ignored as it mostly consisted of praising the deities who were supposed to read the report for their wisdom and continued support.
What followed after that, however, was of much more interest to the All-Mother. Names? She did not recognise most of them, of course, but one stood out. Earth… Isn't that the world Adam is from? A small mental message directed at Caethya caused the Demigoddess to shuffle closer and look at the paper.
"Yes, that's his home world," she said with a small nod before she squinted at the small bit of text that stood next to the name. "What do they mean with 'Occupied'?"
"That one or more deities are already present on the world in question," Aperio replied after flipping back to the beginning and looking at the very helpful list of definitions. "Though, it also says that they cannot confirm the actual presence of a deity as they do not know where that world is."
"Oh!" Caethya exclaimed, quickly moving back to her pile of scrolls and burrowing through it. After a short while she emerged with an unassuming piece of parchment and offered it to the All-Mother before fixing her hair and dress and giving the few mortals that had peeked at the commotion she had made a stern look.
"Read this," she said, returning her attention to Aperio. "I did not really think much of it when I first found it, but now it makes much more sense."
"It does?" Aperio asked as a touch of her magic took hold of the scroll and unfurled it. She raised a brow at the words — obviously written by the same individual that had made the quite extensive report she still held in her hand. "Diskrye knows but does not want to tell them?"
"Apparently," Caethya said, offering a small shrug. "Could you ask her? …It?"
"I will see what I can do," Aperio replied, a part of her mind already busying itself with searching high above her temple for the space-borne deity. "I do not really know where they are, however." Space is pretty big, and I will not become some weird cloud again.
"I am fairly sure you can find them," Caethya said with a small smile on her face. "Maybe ask Roots about it, too? Its name hasn't come up yet, but I am sure it’s only a matter of time."
"Probably," Aperio agreed, returning her attention to the more extensive report.
So many, she thought to herself as she swiped past yet another page filled with names of other worlds. It was obvious that the Repens Nabu had been steadily collecting information, and the only problem Aperio saw now was that they did not cite where they got it from. One source, at least, was obvious; [Veil Walkers] like Adam and Kiro would know how their home world differed from the new one. And according to Mayeia, they usually choose a deity as patron…
None of them knew what the Repens Nabu wanted to know, though. It was clear as day that the Gods wanted to find these worlds to make them their own, and the only one that could help them with that was refusing to do so. Good job, Diskrye. Aperio did not know if it was refusing to help them because it thought of their actions as wrong or if it simply had not received instructions from her to cooperate, but neither did she really care. As long as the Repens Nabu did not gain access to the New Worlds, she was fine. Perhaps it is for the best if they remain separate…
The fervor with which the old Gods tried to find the New Worlds, coupled with what she had learned about the [War in Heaven], only showed that they were most definitely not ready to go there. Almost like spoiled brats that got their toys taken.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Aperio was taken from her thoughts when her eyes finally landed on something besides names for more and more worlds. What she was looking at now was not quite what she had expected to find in a scroll — especially not one that would probably end up in a mortal’s hands at one point or another.
Taking over Verenier seemed like a silly plan for anyone, doubly so now that she was back. Which they even made a note about. It seemed like a desperate move; one that would cost countless mortals their lives. And what is so important on Geshwen?
"Caethya," she began, a touch of her magic cutting the two of them off from the by-now noisy crowd surrounding them. "What do you know about Geshwen?"
Her disciple hesitated for a moment, simply looking at Aperio. She rubbed her neck, sighing lightly. "I don't know much," she said. "But what I do know isn't great. Almost the entire continent is ruled by a single empire." Caethya's eyes darted all around Aperio, seemingly trying to spot even the slightest reaction to her words. "They have a, uh, unique belief."
"It's slavery, right?" Aperio guessed, lowering the parchment she held.
"Yes," Caethya replied and heaved another — longer — sigh. "They believe that anyone not born on Geshwen is a low-born and can only have value as a slave."
"Of course it is," Aperio said, shaking her head. "Probably also raid everyone else for slaves, correct?"
"In the past, yes," her disciple replied. "They have been awfully quiet lately."
The All-Mother turned the parchment in her hand, letting the Demigoddess read what was written on it. "Probably because of this."
Caethya blinked and shook her head in disbelief as she reached the end of the page. "Are they mad? How can they possibly think this would work?"
"Because they have the support of the Repens Nabu?"
"Yes, but most Gods can't just walk around on a world like you do. This invasion would not even get past Lightfray."
"Lightfray?" Aperio asked, looking back at the page to see if she had somehow missed that name.
Her disciple's arm vanished into a small — somehow even blacker — patch of space for a moment before pulling it back with a map in her hand.
"It's an old tower," she said, pointing towards the south-eastern edge of Vetus. The words 'Lightfray Edge' were clearly written below a drawing of a small, weird looking tower. "Master Uehryal and his disciple keep it operational and also stop most expeditions from Geshwen dead in their tracks."
Aperio tilted her head slightly as she let her aura manifest itself a little more on Verenier itself. She was sure she had seen a tower like the one depicted on the map before, but she wanted to see the real thing before making any assumptions.
It did not take long for her to find the building in question, a giant discharge of mana racing into the sky giving its position away almost immediately. The pillar of almost pure mana also made it clear where it got its name from as the light of Verenier's sun seemed to unravel as it passed through the concentrated magic.
"How would that stop anything?" Aperio asked. "Can they steer that discharge?"
"Did you look at it?" Caethya asked as she put the map away again, continuing after Aperio gave a brief nod. "I think they use the mana the tower gathers to fuel spells; the discharge is like the last safety so the tower doesn't explode."
"Why did they put sails on a tower?" Aperio asked, mentally squinting as she tried to look closer at the weirdly shiny fabric. "Oh," she said as mana was diverted into the sail, witnessing the runes inside lighting up to let the magic slowly dissipate into the atmosphere. "That's neat."
Before Aperio could direct her attention back to the parchment in her hand, a System notification appeared in front of her mind’s eye. Apparently the Judges had gathered all they needed and were ready to proceed with the case against Epemirial. They had also attached a note stating that they had taken more members of both The Veil and the Repens Nabu into custody and would try them as well.
"Looks like we have to go," Aperio said, shifting the notification towards Caethya and tugging at the threads of reality just enough so her disciple could see it. "Do you think the mortals will be fine on their own?"
"Maybe bring them to your temple and heal them there?" the Demigoddess suggested. "There are still ones from the Vigil incident there, right?" She paused, and Aperio nodded. "Then maybe they can help each other."
"I will also ask Laelia and Mister Penbrooks for help," Aperio said, standing up. "Mayeia, too," she added and dismissed the barrier that had separated Caethya and herself from the mortals.
Getting the confirmation from Laelia and Mister Penbrooks only took a thought, both of them seemingly very eager to help the mortals. Convincing Mayeia was a little harder but, in the end, Aperio only wanted her to supervise and step in if the mortals did something stupid. Something to which the Goddess of Magic agreed.
A light clearing of her throat that somehow echoed through the entirety of her Void caused the conversation between the mortals to die down. No fighting, Aperio observed. That's good. She had heard quite a few heated arguments about Epemirial and herself, but nobody seemed to see the need for a physical altercation.
"While you are healing," Aperio began, a thought opening a wide portal leading to her temple to the side of the group, "you may stay in my temple. There are others there that share your experience and may be able to help you. You may leave the temple if you wish; just speak to Laelia and she will arrange for your departure."
Most mortals simply nodded and began to shuffle through the portal once Aperio motioned for them to go. A few stayed behind, however, one of them raising their hand. "What will happen to our Lady?" the woman asked with a shaky voice.
"She will answer for her crimes and be judged," Aperio replied. "The least severe punishment she will face is the loss of her divinity. Your 'Lady' will be a normal mortal if you see her again."
Anger flashed over the face of many of the mortals still present, but none of them acted upon it. They simply glared at Aperio for a moment longer before following the others and leaving her Void.
Once the last mortal had disappeared, Aperio let out a sigh and, after letting her disciple know, twisted reality apart. Caethya and herself appeared in the room they had previously occupied in the [Court of Heaven], the All-Mother still holding the parchment she had been reading. Might be useful.
"What do you think they found?" Caethya asked, moving to the door that had already been opened by a Celestial in the seemingly customary dark blue robes.
"Nothing good," Aperio mumbled. "Nothing good."