While the carriage continued carrying the group eastward towards the city of Ironside. Two entities were observing them from high up in the clouds. They were the two goddesses, Nils and Nebulus, also known as the Twins of Mournhold, who were second-generation Dark Elven Gods of Tertius. And they were having fun watching their "Chosen One" struggling through her journey to survive while at the same time, fighting to keep her old identity.
"Did you see that? Her eyes can't stop looking at the prince." Nils giggles.
"I do say sister, you found yourself a good 'Chosen One'. She has lasted the longest out of all of our others." Nebulus says with a chuckle.
"Yeah, usually the others would have given up and lost their life in some way or another," Nils says with an amused smile.
"How long do you think she’ll make it?" Nebulus asked.
"I don't know. But I'm enjoying the ride, while it lasts." Nils says with a grin.
They both watched Ryan as she sat in the carriage trying to avoid eye contact with Quinus and blushing like crazy when he would lock eyes with hers. It took all of Ryan's willpower just to break away from Quin's golden eyes and it was making her look ridiculous in front of the prince. The twins burst into laughter again at Ryan's futile actions.
"I hope you'll last a lot longer than our previous Chosen Ones because I haven't been this amused for a very long time," Nils says in between laughs.
"Indeed, she is an entertaining one. I'm looking forward to seeing how this little game will play out." Nebulus agreed.
The Twins of Mournhold continued to laugh for quite some time until they felt the presence of another God, or should we say another goddess of the kingdom of Fiafyr.
She was known as the Goddess of Natural Balance and goes by the name, Iyomelka. She has many followers who worship her in a variety of ways but she prefers to stay out of her mortals' lives so they can make decisions on their own. This is one of the main reasons why the Kingdom of Fiafyr is one of the strongest human Kingdoms in all of Tertius.
Some say she is a goddess of life and death, while others believe she is a god of knowledge, wisdom, or magic. The holy clerics have a hard time deciphering her intentions as she doesn’t speak to them. But she lets her presence be known in little ways. Like the birth of Quinus from the infertile Queen Rianna or when Rianna first came to the Kingdom's Church and kneeled before her idol which glowed for the first time in a hundred years.
Nils had an unamused look on her face while watching her "Chosen One" and said, "I thought you hated being involved with mortals."
"You always mistake guidance for entertainment, Nils. I let my people live their lives as they see fit, for the most part, but do you think I hate them? No, Nils... I don't hate my creations, I want them to flourish as most Gods would. But you two always loved teasing yours! I don't know how you haven't been exiled off of Tertius. Someday, the fates won't be so forgiving," The human goddess replied with annoyance.
Nebulus chuckled at the remark and said, "If we wanted to be chastised, Iyomelka. We would go to our mother."
"Oh? You two have cut yourselves off from the other gods for so long that you haven't realized what's happened to her." Iyomelka replied.
This caught the curiosity of the twins as they looked at the first-generation goddess in the distance.
"What happened to her?" Nebulus asked with a raised brow.
"Her people have been eradicated and have been exiled by Baphomet the Demon God and Lynnic the High Elf God. You two are the last of the Dark Elven Gods," Iyomelka replied with a straight face.
Nils and Nebulus kept their cool. "S-So we are the only ones left now?" Nils asked.
"Yes, the Dark Elves will go the way of the Halflings soon, and you have five Gods that are telling their people to hunt down the last of the Dark Elves so they can find you two and exile you out to the void of chaos with the other dead gods," Iyomelka answered.
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"I have to ask... Are you one of the five, Iyomelka?" Nebulus asked with clenched fists.
"Of course not. I'm only telling you this as a courtesy to your late mother. She was one of the few friends I made when we all created our people on Tertius." Iyomelka explained.
"So you came here to gloat? Is that it?" Nils questioned.
Iyomelka shook her head, "Such disappointments. You've been given golden opportunities with having a Demi-god being born right under your nose. What's her name? Yoona, I believe?... And she is the only reason your people haven't been wiped off the face of Tertius and she's losing faith in you two. On top of that, the fates have smiled upon you after getting a chosen one who's kept their sanity after using the full body summoned method! Do you know how many summoned have taken their own lives once they've been removed from their home planet!? Not only has she survived, but she's also been keeping herself sane enough to not have gone mad from the shock! She's been doing the impossible. Yet, you two have done nothing with it but actively try to sabotage her with unreasonable demands!?... It's you who deserve to be exiled, not your mother!" the human Goddess exclaimed.
This was one of the main reasons Gods chose the soul method over the body method for their “Chosen Ones” because they would accept the new world they've been brought to once they've experienced their own death in their old world. Given a second chance at life and are eager to find a purpose in the new world they have been given. But the few Gods that have chosen the body method have always struggled with keeping their Summons from going insane after fighting their new reality. It takes a certain amount of mental strength to withstand the shock and trauma that the body method brings to its victims. And it usually ends with them falling into despair. Which mostly resulted in them committing suicide or being killed by the very people who brought them there. The twins' chosen one was a miracle in itself as she had done the impossible and managed to keep her sanity. But she was still fighting her new reality after the mind stunt they pulled. If they didn't do anything she would have accepted her new self in time.
The Twins of Mournhold started to feel dread for the first time in their existence, upon realizing that they didn't have the protection of their mother or other Dark Elven Gods as they had before.
Iyomelka continued, "I probably wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't for your Summoned saving my Summoned’s life in the Labyrinth. And he also has taken a liking to her. So I'll give you two a chance. Stop fucking around with your Summoned's mind. She's a straight woman and she was going to accept it sooner until you two pulled that stupid stunt with mind linking to his old lover that he can't go back to.
“You’re putting her in peril for the future because of it and I pray she survives it so my Summoned can bond with her. In all my years I have never seen the offspring of two Summoneds. But I have a feeling that won't happen now... She will die because of your interference, Yoona will forsake you for all your failed Chosen Ones and then you two will be banished off of Tertius... I am done entertaining you two."
With that Iyomelka disappeared leaving Nils and Nebulus to digest everything she just said.
"Nils, should I make Rya my Chosen One so I can give her my gift of space-time magic?" Nebulus asked.
"W-We can't risk it. She might die if we overload her... We might have fucked up this time, Nebulus... What if she dies on us?" Nils asked nervously.
"I-If that happens, we'll be in big trouble. But we still need to tell her about this! Can you reach her or show up in her dreams?" Nebulus asked.
"I used up too much of my primordial essence to contact her. I think I'll need a month to get enough to do it again." Nils says in a worried tone.
"A month!? I could have sent a message to her if I didn't use up most of my essence! DAMN IT NILS! Why did you make me do the mind link with that Earthling!" Nebulus yelled while shaking her sister by the shoulders.
"N-Nebulus!? It was both our ideas! Don’t use me as your scapegoat! We're both to blame!" Nils cried out while being shaken around.
Nebulus stopped shaking her sister and looked at her with sad eyes, "Do something!? Give her all your gifts, Dammit!"
"I'm doing it! But Ryan won't know that she can use all the elements except time and space magic until I can talk to her! We can only hope Iyomelka is wrong about Ryan's peril." Nils says.
"Dammit!! Maybe we can tell Yoona!? And maybe she could reach Ryan to teach her enough magic to save herself!?" Nebulus yells out in frustration.
"Yes! We should see Yoona and tell her to teach Ryan how to use other magic before I can. But those bastards from the Divine Three are keeping her busy with their wars, so we can't just pop in whenever we feel like it. They're probably watching her right now." Nils says with annoyance.
Nebulus looked at the carriage, "We have no choice but to contact Yoona the old-fashioned way. And hopefully, the fates are on our side for once and she can come to Ryan's rescue."
"Let's just hope the fates aren't too mad at us to ignore our pleas," Nils said.
The Twins of Mournhold then fly toward the other side of the continent looking for Yoona. Meanwhile, Percy, Dalia, and Quinus were enjoying the view of the plains and chatting amongst themselves while the summoned girl was trying not to stare at the handsome prince.