When I woke in my bathroom adorned room, alone, I stared up at the ceiling for a long time.

Sandra, or Eliandra, whatever she wanted me to name her now, had brought me here after listening to my story. She hadn't said anything, just looked at me for a while before shaking her head with a look of unbelief.

No matter what I said or asked, she wouldn't tell me why she was still angry or where I had been. She gave me a short, halfhearted hug before turning and telling me she would look for me the next day.

"Dammit, everything went to shit."

My voice sounded muted in the small, stone room, and I got up. After a long hot shower and dressing in a set of clean clothes, I felt somewhat better.

Besides the whole thing with Sa- Eliandra, I couldn't get the library out of my head. Besides this, there was another thing I had to verify. I took one of the bad carvings from my bag, the one that was supposed to be a dog, and sat down on the bed.

The hand gestures were still clear in my mind. Trying to relax, I attempted the first one. It went better than I had imagined it would, and I managed to garble through it within the allotted time. As soon as I started on the second one, my fingers stopped helping out, and I bodged it up.

I tried for roughly ten minutes before stopping and tossing the model on the bed beside me. This was going to take a long, long time. Perhaps if I had done some piano or guitar practice before coming here, it might have worked.

"Rathica? Are you here?" I asked and thought at the same time. Nothing happened, and I was about to try again when I felt an immense sense of relief. My mind seemed to clear of some fog, and the memories of when I had found her and formed her rushed back.

"Yes, Est? Or do you prefer me calling you Mitchel?"

Rathica stood at the other side of the room. Her short spiky hair flattened against the ceiling. The room suddenly felt small but also comfy and safe.

Looking at her, I smiled then shook my head. "Why do I remember now, but not when you are gone?" I asked, scanning through the memories.

"For your safety and mine," Rathica replied.

I noticed her ax hung from a loop on her side, and her shield was now on her back.

"While I am here, you will always remember, but when I am not, the memories will not be there. They will be with me, "she continued, not giving any further explanation as to why.

I hadn't expected her to show up at all, let alone answer my questions, so I was already more than pleased.

"What was that library?" I asked one of the three questions I wanted to ask, and the one at the top of my mind right now.

She grinned and shook her head. "A very interesting place, and one that only the prime follower of a deity may enter into the halls of knowledge. Although every temple will always get a set of the doors - if anybody else opens them, they see just stone walls."

I groaned and shook my head. That's why Sandra, fuck - Eliandra had been so pissed! She knew either I had lied about Rathica or about the library.

"Indeed," Rathica said, grinning at me like my mother used to do when I did something wrong that she found hilarious.

With a sigh, I shook my head. Somehow I'd never thought a goddess would ever make fun of me.

"That's your own fault! It is one of the things you imprinted on me. Subconsciously, but still!" She said before raising an eyebrow.

"Should I answer your other two questions, or do you want to ask them?"

I sniffed and ignored her. "Is there a way to stop the Guidar from taking over Earth? And if not, how are we going to get as many humans safely here?"

"Oh, you thought up another one on the fly! Ain't you just smart, "she said, but her smile disappeared as she looked at me with a serious frown.

"Even if all the deities work together, we cannot influence another universal dimension enough to stop the Guidar. From what I've found while scanning your world, there are no deities left that are powerful enough to stop them-"

"What?" I started as I jumped up. "There are deities in my world?"

"Yes, and they are pretty strong too," she said. Her eyes unfocused for a moment as if she was looking at something far away. "But something has prevented them from interfering in the mortal world. I have an inkling of what it might be, but it would be far too complicated to explain in mortal words."

"So they can't stop the Guidar either?"

"No, not even if they could interfere. I am afraid they will either need to migrate to another universe or return to their unformed shapes -eggs as you call them- for probably the rest of eternity."

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I shivered at the prospect and wondered if the old gods of Earth would follow the humans here.

"They won't. The other gods in this dimension won't allow them entry. They will need to find a seedling, a just formed universal dimension that has been recently ejected from the primordial chaos."

My mouth fell open as I stared at her, trying to imagine an entire universe popping out of something like a cork from a bottle. That's how universes were created? Like popcorn in a microwave?

Rathica cocked her head and laughed. "Again, a very apt analogy! There's far more to it- rules that are created, chaos that is converted to energy, and so much more. But yes… like popcorn!"

Seeing her laugh made me feel good, and I grinned.

"Ok, something I might actually understand then. How do we get humanity over here, so they don't become the Guidar's slaves."

"There are a few ways to get beings across, minds across, but that's not the biggest issue. What is an issue is that they will all need new bodies. Didn't you ever wonder where your body came from?"

I blinked and looked at my hands. Hadn't the Guidar just made it?

A sad sigh came from Rathica. "They didn't. You are now a body that belonged to another mind and was supplanted by one of the Guidar. They don't have their own bodies but steal those of others."

"Wait, so-" I groaned as I sat down. Was I now a body snatcher? No, I shook my head. Not me. That was the Guidar that was now in my body! Looking up, I saw Rathica look at me with sympathy.

"So, what happened to the one whose body this is?" I asked.

"He was erased... The guidar took over his mind and rewrote all the neural pathways until nothing remained. When you entered, there wasn't even the slightest bit of a shadow left."

I shoved the implications out of my mind and felt my hope dwindle. If we couldn't stop the Guidar and couldn't create any bodies-

"Est, calm down," Rathica said, moving towards me and kneeling beside me. Even kneeling, she towered over my sitting shape.

"I never said there wasn't a way to create bodies for your fellow earthlings. It just won't be easy."

Looking at her, I shook my head in confusion. She was a deity, a goddess! How could anything be difficult?

"I am not all-powerful, and besides, deities aren't allowed to intervene in mortal life too much."

"Why?" I asked, curious, and annoyed at the same time.

"Because it might trigger another Deific war, and that might shatter this planet and uncountable more like it in this universe. If deities push for opposite agendas, say for the control of another massive influx of mortal worshippers…" Rathica looked at me until I reluctantly nodded.

"So, how are we going to get bodies?" I said after a moment.

"That's where you come in. You and the hundreds of prime followers of the other gods," she said with a grin.

What the hell were prime followers, I wondered, but Rathica continued without explaining.

"There is a remnant plane that belonged to an ancient deity of plants and life. It is partially shattered now, and the god has long since disappeared from existence, but on his plane, there are still seeds of a very special tree." Rathica's eyes glittered as she grinned at me.

"A life-pod tree. It can grow to immense size and will only fit in a deity's plane - but once fully grown, its buds can create bodies."

Listening, I thought I understood but shook my head in wonder. "If it is a seed now, how will it grow big enough within a few months? We don't have thousands of years…"

"Don't worry about that. All you have to worry about is getting as many of the seeds as you can."

I frowned.

"Where is the plane, and how do I get there?"

"Another thing you don't have to worry about. The plane is currently locked behind a cloud of chaos energy, but in two months, the cloud will move away, and there will be a window of two weeks to enter the plane."

Looking at her, I raised my eyebrow, and she sighed. I still asked the question anyway.

"Why don't the deities just go in?"

"Because we are incapable of entering each other's planes. We can't even see what happens there. And to prevent that question, you are thinking of now. Every deity can only strengthen the mind of a single of its followers to a strength sufficient to withstand being in a plane not belonging to his or her deity."

I sighed. Why did these things have to be so bloody difficult?

"It gets worse…" Rathica said, and she grinned at me wickedly.

"You are by far the weakest prime follower of any of the gods. To survive and make it so as many of your people can follow me, you will need to get stronger as fast as you can, or you will be slain inside the plane."

Oh, that was bloody fantastic. So I had to go inside some mysterious plane, with no backup, to find something small as a seed while fighting off dozens or more other prime followers. Looking up, I saw Rathica grin at me. I imagined all of humanity enslaved by the Guidar, and I felt a wave of steely resolve grow deep inside. Fuck it - what could possibly go wrong?

"So, any help you can give me in the next few months? Perhaps a time dilation chamber, or some magical artifact of superpower?"

She shook her head, but a scroll appeared in her hand. On it, I saw a route that seemed vaguely familiar.

"Only this, and the promise that you will have your pick of the classes currently gestating inside my still forming realm. They will be ready in six weeks, so before then, learn as much as you can in the library."

I groaned at the prospect of breaking my fingers for six weeks straight and prayed my learning rate would go up as fast as my muscle mass and the other things had gone.

"It will," Rathica said, and I realized I had actually prayed.

"Any way you can increase my maximum knowledge?" I asked, hopeful.

Rathica got up and took a step back. "No, Est. But you have all that you need already. I'll leave you with some more memories this time, but keep them to yourself. If the other deities find out who and where you are, they might send assassins to take out the competition."

Assassins? Dammit… that was just fantastic. Thinking about some shadow stalking me moments before I was gutted, I promised myself I'd keep my mouth shut.

Rathica looked at me, and I nodded even though I knew she already knew I understood.

"I won't speak with you again until the six weeks are over, as I have to concentrate fully to get it finished that fast. Don't get yourself killed in my absence!"

With a shimmer, she was gone, and I stared at the spot she had been at the moment before. The wave of sadness and loss came again, but I shoved it away. At the same time, I felt the memories begin to fade at an alarming rate. It was a disconcerting feeling, and within five minutes, all I remembered was the mission to the elder god's realm and the fact that I had six weeks to prepare, then two weeks to learn my class.

"Bloody- fucking- brilliant!" I growled as I got up, scroll in hand.

"Oh, and Est? You might not be going alone…" Rathica's voice seemed to come from a great distance, and then it faded away.

Now, what was that supposed to mean?