Consequences Of Broken Tradition
The following days were not easy on Scitus who had begun to experience painful fits reminiscent of seizure however with Sia's aid, he had managed to decrease the number of times in a day he experienced one.
Sia lightly slapped the back of Scitus's head, "you should've talked to me before doing something that crazy." Sia said as she cast her now daily [soul soothe] which she could only cast with the help of a number of fairies. "Soul spells are not my expertise, remember that Scitus's, I won't always be able to help you out of this kind of stuff. " Scitus recalled that Sia had trouble undoing the corruption inflicted upon the ogres. Scitus's eyes grew sharp as he quickly began to think of ways to counter possible soul attacks, he wouldn't be able to rely on Sia, in those circumstances.
Sia finished her spell and Scitus stood up from his chair, “you seem to have practiced almost all type of magic, but you don’t know a lot about these kinds of spells.” Scitus asked somewhat curious but was met with a sudden sharp glare that almost startled him. it was only a brief moment however, she then calmly turned towards the exit. “I’ve studied many types of magic, but that doesn’t mean I’ve practiced those spells,” just as her figure turned the corner of the small cottage entrance, Scitus heard a peculiar mutter come from Sia, “nor does it mean I can.”
Scitus turned back to his chair and looked at the map which was pinned to the wall, it showed the vast landscape of his kingdom, “I must expand, or I won’t be able to keep up with these attacks.” Scitus closed his eyes and concentrated on the divine realm.
"Today is the day, I deal with some troublesome things." His eyes grew red, like that of a powerful devil and when he opened them before him was a vast landscape of pink, red, and blue trees and floating mountains that seemed to reach an infinite height and yet still completely visible. With a single step, he entered the neutral zone, not forgetting to tone down his aura beforehand.
Scitus found his spot on the endless table, surrounded on all sides by lesser gods while the greater Gods took lofty seats which encompassed large portions of the table.
"You are here?" Miar said with a sharp gaze. "I've got some matters to attend to," Scitus said softly as if giving her that proper respect. Scitus did not want to make unnecessary enemies and, Miar had not yet made a move against him.
An hour passed before the meeting began and while ordinarily there was a civil discourse; when Siion appeared the atmosphere grew heavy. The moment he arrived he demanded with a shout, "The first order of business is determining Scitus's punishment!!!" his powerful voice silenced all the lesser gods present. The greater gods, however, those who had arrived, Miar, Onias, Ansil, and Arkgon, had different expressions, some in mild amusement and others in curiosity.
"What did the young god do?" Onias said with a curious smile. His eyes stared at Scitus with a peculiar glint, like that of a hungry wolf. Siion settled himself back into his seat. "He not only attacked my subordinate but also had the audacity to soul brand him." Scitus was silent, he would patiently wait for his turn but, during his turn, he would demand absolute respect. Scitus's eyes grew sharp, waiting for Siion to spin some lies or perhaps tell an elegant truth. "what kind of soul brand is it?" Arkgon asked. Siion was now calm, "or was that all a false act?" Scitus said curiously wondering of Siion was a schemer. "a soul brand of impotence" Scitus's eyes grew wide, Terra carefully chose that brand for a reason and although Scitus did not understand how soul brands work, he understood the powerful effects of soul spells. However, he couldn't think of a proper reason for her to specifically use a spell of impotence as punishment and furthermore as a statement to Siion.
"did you do this because you thought my men have a lust for your hideous subjects." Siion mocked. "the reason doesn't matter, what matters now is that you've broken our rules of war and must, therefore, be executed." The many lesser gods whispered to each other, some mocking and some simply curious.
"is what he says true, young god?" Miar said with a look of disappointment in her eyes. "I attacked one of his subjects, yes, but I did not put the soul brand on him, I've barely been here a year, would anyone here really believe that I've managed to practice magic to that level in less than a year?"
“but you did attack his subject?” Onias said with a sinister smile. “yes.” Ansil looked at Scitus curiously, “why is he so calm? He should understand the consequences.”
"now, if I may, I'd like to discuss some reparations Siion owes me." The table of gods grew silent, "such audacity" one god whispered under his breath, "that fool," another said louder. The sudden spark of conversations only stopped, when Ansil's hearty laugh broke everyone's tension. "you break the rules and think that Siion owes you?" Scitus smiled and then stood up. "of course because Siion also broke the rules. He never declared war on me, furthermore his loyal subject, specifically targeted my civilians. He massacred many families and at the end of it, it was I who had to revive them." a sudden silence hit the air. It was not because of Scitus's bold accusation, it was that Scitus's claimed he had revived his fallen citizens. Revival was a difficult process, some factors made the process simpler but the cost was always extreme and yet a young god, not even a year old claimed in front of everyone that he had revived many fallen citizens. "I'm asking for compensation for this because now I have to put a halt to many of my projects." He finally finished his speech. "it may be true he didn't declare war, but directly interfering is a far worse offense." Miar said, her gaze grew sharper as Siions small smile disappeared and was replaced by a cruel grin.
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"I have a monster colony and so none of you wish to enforce the rules when it comes to me." Scitus nodded with a fiendish grin that Onias noted was not a false bravado. "I have other methods of recovering mana." Scitus continued, "now before you decide my punishment, allow me to tell you the consequences." Miar's eyes grew red with anger and shouted, "you dare threaten us!!!" her hands slammed down on the table causing the world itself to shake. Scitus stared right into her eyes and shouted, "I DARE!!" he slammed his fist onto the table destroying not only his piece but hundreds of gods lost their table beneath him, which could only mean that he was of superior rank to all the many gods there. Miar became silent, he was stronger than she had thought. The foreign gods were not like them who started at the bottom and had to rise, some of them arrived as strong as greater gods. "calm down Miar" Ansil said holding her shoulder, "your impulsiveness is what always gets you into trouble." He said as he turned to Scitus with a curious smile, "continue."
“I am not the most efficient at combat, but I am familiar with poison, if you gods here believe its alright to kill civilians simply because it was not by a gods hand so be it, but I’ll warn you now that the poisons I will create will be nightmares incarnate, the things I can inflict upon this land are horrible and terrible, so please take that into consideration when deciding by punishment and guilt ” the lesser gods were completely silent, it was only Scitus’s second meeting and he was already exuding such authority. “what if we just kill you?" Onias said with a smile, finally entering the conversation, "I don't know, maybe I'll wake up whatever is sleeping down in that place." Scitus said with cold indifference. Onias grew quiet and didn't respond.
Scitus took a deep breath and said one last thing, "All I ask is for some respect, if anyone declares war against me and defeats me, I will not use underhanded means to hurt the innocent but these Rules were put in place to prevent dangerous harm of our subjects. What will the lesser gods think when you great gods abuse your authority?" Miar did not like where Scitus was heading with his speech going but he continued, "I'd say that if the lesser gods so chose, they could easily kill hundreds of thousands of your subjects thus weakening you." The greater gods all silently looked at Scitus but no matter how hard they exerted their pressure, Scitus remained unfazed. "that is all.'
“That is all” thought Miar. “you dare incite rebellion to our faces and say that is all?” she angrily gnashed her teeth but a small part of her understood his reasoning and it was sound. The rules were made for a reason and had to be adhered to. They couldn’t directly punish Siion as that would involve a great war, but they couldn’t allow Scitus to go unpunished either as that would undermine their authority.
Scitus was ready to say something but suddenly Mern interjected. "how does this sound for all of you." Everyone turned to Mern who had stood up from his table, a few noticed that his eyes were clear and free of anger, not many understood the significance of this but those that did, felt a chill go down their spine. "the wise king has returned" they thought. "Scitus an I are currently at war, a war that we must end by the end of next year, I will get some Open support from Siion. If I cannot defeat Scitus by the end of the deadline then he is free, however, if he is defeated by me, death will be his punishment? Of course, if I lose, Siion will be the one who loses as I will turn my kingdom over to Scitus."
The greater gods discussed for an hour or two, Siion was the most against it as he knew by this point that Mern was scheming something but if the deal came to pass, he wouldn't be able to touch Mern for at least a year and although he didn't fear an uprising, he didn't like the idea of Mern doing what he wished for an entire year and with some of his soldiers no less.
There were angry shouts and some concession but finally after a long three-hour conversation a deal was made. Mern would have a till the end of the following winter to end the war if he could not end the war, Scitus would gain possession of his kingdom however as punishment for Scitus's attack on Siion's subject, Mern would be permitted to request low-level soldiers from Siions kingdom and only low-level soldiers no greater then Knight rank. Furthermore, both Ansil and Miar would send representatives to Prevent Siion from becoming directly involved or attempting to silently take over Scitus's kingdom. A Miar and Ansil representatives would also be sent to watch over Scitus and make sure he didn't directly interfere with the battles.
Scitus didn't understand what Mern was planning but although unfavorable to him, he had many contingencies and believed he could halt any progress that attempted to attack his capital city. however before he agreed he turned to the greater gods, "I am not permitted to directly interfere but am I permitted to directly lead armies?" the greater gods took a moment to answer and finally Ansil responded, "yes, as long as you don't trick the enemy army into attacking you, giving you the excuse to attack back."
"understood," Scitus said with a sly smile. Thus the war between to lesser gods became the talk among everyone in the Ferren continent.
Far from the oasis on the opposite side of the continent was a small little kingdom, however no other gods dared touch it as they knew who the land belonged to. "your majesty" a young war maiden entered with bright golden magical armor. "someone has claimed a part of the Ferren holy land." The war-maiden said with a soft but cold expression. the war-maiden continued to explain what she had heard from the reports of the Meeting of Gods. to explain "thank you for informing me, you may go." The war maiden nodded and left.
"I knew you weren't ready, always letting everyone walk over you, but I won't tell your mother just yet, I want to see you struggle for a few more years." the goddess laughed to herself as she beckoned a large bird covered in flames. From her robes the goddess revealed a blank scroll which she then imprinted with a magical spiral of words which came from her head and imprinted itself upon the paper. "take this to the Empress." The goddess revealed a mischievous smile and then returned to her throne and waited for her next appointment which involved a baker who had found an incredible new way to make pastries.