Adelita looked around the room, trying to spot any indication that Laelia's Goddess was actually listening. Unsurprisingly, she could not find anything.
"Go on," the [Scion of the All-Mother] said, turning her attention to a few papers on her desk. "Say what you must."
The Beastkin opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead, she felt a piercing cold spread throughout her; gnawing at not only her skin but her very being. A whisper followed the sensation a moment later, one she could not hear with her ears but only in her head.
"Speak," it said, each word echoing through her mind; pushing her to lay her secrets bare.
"I want my body back!" the voice of Lita protested. "I need to help my Master!"
"It is not your turn to speak," the voice replied.
The words were accompanied by the feeling of something pulling at her essence; taking a part of it away to a place unseen by Adelita herself.
"Speak, mortal," the voice repeated itself, a slight hint of annoyance permeating every word. "Your other half is no longer listening. It is only us, you may speak freely and without concern."
"I can't speak," Adelita huffed, her voice somehow flowing through the room despite the fact that she had not opened her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise, but before she could say anything else Laelia's office vanished around her.
What replaced it was nothing. As in, a literal expanse of dark nothing, seemingly infinite in scope. There was only one thing of note within this space: a large Elven woman standing inside it, one Adelita recognized as she had seen her before. The wings, the silver hair, the muscular build — it all fit a particular woman her other self had been tasked with following. One she knew to be the All-Mother.
"You are quite obviously able to speak," the Creator said as she took a step forwards despite there not being any sort of flooring beneath her. Adelita only blinked once, but in that span of time the woman had already crossed the distance between them. Aperio stood right in front of her, and a few shadowy afterimages trailed behind her and traced the path she had apparently taken. She loomed above Adelita, her muscular and imposing arms crossed in front of her chest. Her eyes were a solid blue that matched the edges of her feathers that Adelita could only see from the way the Goddess' wings twitched slightly behind her back, a motion that seemed to speak of mild irritation. "Speak. Mortal."
"Where am I?"
"You are still in my Scion's office. What you see is merely what your mind makes of my presence inside it." The Goddess looked around and spread her wings briefly. "I would have preferred a little more, but your mind appears to be quite fragile and is lacking in imagination."
"I'm sorry that my feeble mind doesn't conform to your lofty standards," Adelita snapped in reply before her mind could even properly think about who she was talking to. When her brain finally did catch up, she held her mouth shut with her hands and looked at the All-Mother with wide eyes.
"A shame indeed," the woman said and offered a small shrug, the motion exaggerated by her unfurled wings. "But that is not why you asked to speak to me, is it?" She dragged her hand downwards, a string of silver light forming behind it that slowly coalesced into a small orb. Or, it would have, if it had ever become complete. It seemed to stop after forming a bit more than half of a sphere. "I assume you wished to speak to me about this. Your other half, as it were."
"Is she… it, even alive?" Adelita asked, her eyes fixed on the incomplete sphere in the Elven Goddess' hand.
"As far as I am concerned, she is. Her Soul might not be complete, but it will get there in time."
"Will she take over my body again?"
"If left alone, the two of you would fight over it," the All-Mother said. "I think you call it 'The Rage'? Horrible mutations and ceaseless aggression against anyone that comes close.
"A Soul is bound to its body and does not share," she continued as Adelita simply stared at her. "Should two beings find themselves in the same vessel, a struggle will ensue unless one relents; be it willingly or not." She shook her head and let the sphere hovering above her palm vanish. "Am I right in assuming you wished to ask me to squash your other half? Destroy her because she acts so unlike yourself?"
Adelita gritted her teeth as the woman stared at her, her unblinking eyes looking past her mortal flesh and directly at her very core; uncaring for the discomfort it brought.
"She might have been born from the most vile of magics, but that does not lessen her as a person," the All-Mother said, finally taking her eyes off Adelita. "She has no right to your body, but you have no right to dictate her fate either. I will separate the two of you and send her away to become whole. Your fate, much like hers, shall be severed from the other so that you may forge your own paths ahead."
"What about those who made this possible?" the Beastkin asked, her voice raspy and strained.
"The Gods that were responsible are dead and you seem to have the remaining mortals handled well enough. A word of advice, however: do not fall prey to the allure of power. I have found mortals to be easily swayed by feeble powers that put them above their peers."
"I am nothing like that pig," Adelita spat in reply. "I punish those who do what he and his decrepit family did!"
"For now, yes. But your life is yet long." She waved one of her wings as if to dismiss her words. "It is merely a warning. If you heed it or not is up to you. Now," she continued, "is there anything else you need of me? Or did I perhaps make a wrong assumption as to why you wished to speak with me?"
Adelita simply glared at the Elf for a moment longer before she shook her head. "No, I simply wanted to get rid of this broken parasite. It has taken too much from me already and I did not want to give it the chance to take more."
The winged woman did not reply, only letting out an ethereal sigh. "You may think what you like, but know that this situation is, as far as I know, entirely unique. Whether you enjoy the idea or not, you have a part in Lita's creation. You will, however, not see her again for quite some time."
"Why?"
"Her Soul is incomplete and must assert itself before she can be reborn as her own person," the All-Mother explained. "Even if I wanted to explain more, your mortal mind would not be able to comprehend it. You can barely understand my presence without help from me, after all."
Adelita met the woman's eyes for a moment before casting her gaze down at the nothing beneath her feet. She did not like it, but she knew the All-Mother was correct. How could she comprehend a Goddess? Much less the Goddess of all there is? of all there is? But for whatever reason, the literal creator had not only answered her request, but had come personally to talk. This was an opportunity, and she should make as much use of it as she could and maybe — just this once — trust in what she had heard on the street.
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"May I ask something else?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper, hoping that the All-Mother was as amicable as her followers had made her out to be.
"If you wish," she replied and offered a shrug of both her shoulders and wings. "I will not promise answers, however."
The Beastkin could not help but hide a small smile. She would have to make the most from this. There was much she could learn. Much she had to learn.
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Lita looked around the vast expanse of nothing, squinting as she spotted a faint glimmer of colour in the distance. She looked down at herself, finding the body the voice had taken from her under her control as it should be.
"Mortal," the voice that had spoken to her other part said, this time undoubtedly directed at her. "Your other half cannot hear you here."
A moment later, a woman appeared before her. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and looked down on the Beastkin as her ears twitched slightly. The wings behind her back, too, were moving as she shifted her weight from one leg to another.
Lita knew that she was in the presence of someone important, every fibre of her being was informing her as such, but she could not find any respect for the Elf in front of her. Sure, she would probably lose a fight, but that did not mean she should defer to the woman as her mind, and very Soul, somehow wanted her to. Nobody but Master deserves my devotion!
"Aren't you one of the people that want to harm my Master?" Lita asked, squinting at the Elven woman. "I'm pretty sure Master has marked you as an enemy before."
"He has," the woman replied. "But nothing he can do would pose a threat to me. Nor does he have the backing of his Gods any longer, as I have killed them all. You would do well to let go of your… 'Master'. Despite what you might think, he does not hold you in high regard. In fact, he probably wanted to dispose of you, but the body you inhabited got returned to its rightful owner before he could."
"But it's my body!" Lita protested. "I trained it, I lived in it!"
The Elf took a step forwards, somehow closing the distance that separated them with that simple motion. Her hand brushed past one of Lita's and when the Beastkin could see it again, the woman had in her palm the earrings Lita usually wore.
"Is my jewellery collection not pretty?" she asked, smiling as the Beastkin hissed in reply. "I found them on an ear and made them all a little better. It was no trouble at all."
She turned her hand over, and the small rings of gold and silver, adorned with various enchanted gems, fell for a brief second before vanishing altogether.
"And now they are gone," the woman said. "You have as many rights to Adelita's vessel as I had to those earrings of yours." She held up a hand for a moment before she gestured towards Lita's ear. "Do not worry, I returned them to their rightful place."
The Beastkin touched her ear, finding her jewellery were it should be. She squinted at the woman, taking a step backwards as the Elf shifted her weight to her other leg once again, the motion much more intimidating than it had any right to be.
"You may stay here until you are ready," the winged Elf said and sat herself down on the nothing. "Just like your other part, you may ask what you wish, but I will not guarantee an answer."
"Any question?" Lita asked. "Can I see my Master?"
The woman sighed and waved her hand, causing an image to appear in front of the Beastkin. In it, she could see Jester tied to the wall, hanging from his restraints, bleeding and miserable. She reached out, but her hand simply phased through the projection the Goddess had conjured. There was nothing she would rather do than help her Master, but no matter how hard she tried, the image she saw was just that. An image. It moved; let her hear the suffering of her dear Master, but nothing else.
Lita growled at the projection and tried to conjure a spell she could hurl at the woman who dared to keep her from Jester. Only nothing happened. Despite trying with all her might, she could not manifest even the tiniest bit of magic. Perhaps this is how Jester had felt the time she had been captured and tortured for information? Anger, dread, and an inability to change the situation.
She simply stared at it for a moment longer before she felt what she could only describe as 'comfort' flowing through her. She closed her eyes, shook her head and, when she opened them again, saw a myriad of tiny lights fly past her.
The woman still sat a small distance away, with her legs crossed and wings swept slightly forwards. The image of her master had simply disappeared. Lita reached out and moved her hand through the space she was sure the projection had occupied, but nothing happened.
She looked down at her hands, her eyes lingering on the tiny scars that riddled her palms before she let her arms hang to her side and fell to her knees.
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Aperio's ears perked up slightly as Caethya stepped back onto the tower’s roof. She was still talking to Adelita and Laelia — and looking after the sobbing Lita — but her love would require a larger share of her nigh infinite attention.
"Solving some divine problems?" Caethya stepped in front of the All-Mother and ran her fingers through her hair. "Your eyes turned all blue and glowy," she said with a smile. "It suits you. Matches your outer feathers."
"I am solving a small mortal dilemma involving an incomplete Soul," Aperio replied, only a tiny bit surprised at the additional ethereal echo her voice had gained. She offered her hand to her love, pulling the Demigoddess into her lap when she took it. "It is… most peculiar. An entire being has begun to form from magic designed to subdue someone's will when that will did not subside."
"How can an incomplete Soul even exist?" Caethya asked as she leaned herself against the All-Mother, letting Aperio wrap a hand around her waist and hold her just a little tighter. "Seems like something that shouldn't work."
Aperio let out a small sigh, looking up. The direction was meaningless, but the motion had felt right. "It does, but she can only exist by sharing a body with someone who does have a complete Soul. I will place her in the river and observe. It should work, but this is also the first time I can remember this happening."
"Will you let her remember her previous life?" Caethya asked, glancing at Eleanor who had begun to furiously scribble notes about something. It was certainly not the conversation she and Aperio were having as the mortal could not understand their language, but she seemed quite eager to note down whatever it was that had come to her mind.
"No," the All-Mother replied with a slight shake of her head. "Technically, she is dead, so she will enter the cycle like anyone else. Perhaps if she has lived a few more lives she could…"
"That's not quite possible, is it?"
"Not at the moment no," Aperio said, resting her chin on her love's head. "I have an idea however. One that would work quite well with my planned change to reality at large."
"The whole multiverse thing?" the Demigoddess asked. "Are you going to let Souls split themselves amongst all those realities and then coalesce back into one if they grew strong enough?"
"Something to that effect, yes."
In fact, it was exactly what her love had suggested. In simple terms, at least. Aperio already had an idea how she could make that happen, but it would require a bit more poking and prodding at both the River of Souls and the part of the System that actually governed reincarnation. The change she had in mind would also make it quite a lot harder for anyone to tamper with Souls while also letting each mortal gain more strength faster. At least overall.
Each life they lived would only be a marginal increase in power, but once they had achieved the peak of what a mortal could do, they would remember all their lives and gain power that was greater than what they had had in every attempt before combined. Even if it worked as intended, mortals would probably still not catch up to Caethya. Or Maria, once she actually started to train herself a little more. The blessing she had given both of them was simply not comparable to anything else and grew in power as Aperio herself did. Just as she got stronger with every passing moment, so did they. Just on a much smaller scale.
"But that aside," Aperio continued, "how did the mortals fare?"
"You know how they did," Caethya replied, closing her eyes and leaning herself fully against the All-Mother. "I did learn that the Class I gained is frighteningly powerful and will require further testing. It also puts your way of doing things into a new perspective."
"Does it?" Aperio asked as she swept her wings forwards and wrapped them around her love and herself. "I could make us a small realm to test your limits once Earth has settled down a little. You could explore the full extent of your capabilities and, perhaps, change your perspective of my power once more."
"I'm fairly certain that, even now, I can't truly understand how much you can actually do." Caethya gave a small giggle. "I doubt you have figured that out either."
"Probably not." Aperio tightened her grip on her love a little. "Probably not."