Well, I can tell you how I reacted to this divine being, who just tapped me on the shoulder not even a second ago.

I did what any modern man would do in the situation... I took half a step backward to get a better vie-- I mean in order not to disrespect this being's space... You know... To set a better example of personal boundaries, something that they do not know of given my current circumstances... I'm the victim here!!

Either way, you should know that this being had no reproductive parts anyways since we are on the topic, so it's kinda strange that people would call them 'Mother' or 'The Mother Spirit' instead of just 'The Spirt' or something like that, but I doubt many people have seen an actual visage of this being like we are experiencing currently. However, I guess it's understandable given the apparent equal playing field when it came to gender in this world and the fact that women like my grandmother for example, or even Sasha for that matter, could gain power in these places whereas men would more than likely replace them if we were somehow transported back to the equivalent times on Earth.

But I digress... I should be more focused on the being in front of me, who stared at me with their space-like irises, and pupils that were as round as a quarter, which allowed me to easily see the specks of various hues that floated around them and at times outshining the ethereal light which was ever-present around their figure. However speaking of their figure, I could see how someone would assign a feminine title to such a being given the petiteness of said figure if this was the image presented to all those who have encountered this being.

This being also had no 'skin color' given there seemed to be no skin present or anything else for that matter besides those eyes, and hair, that looked be innumerable fate lines wound together tightly, forming what looked to be faux locs, but I'm sure that was just my prejudices showing.

Ignoring the crazed stares that were slightly visible through the body of said figure in front of me, I decided that I would break the awkward silence that was building within the room by speaking to the being who had yet to say anything. However, they were the ones who started this whole stare-off in the first place...

"err... Hello? Usually, the person who taps begins the conversation... But I guess those are just human rules." I said while scratching my head in an attempt to shake off the 'asshole' feeling that was already present from the umm situation earlier...

"*gasps*" "LORD!!" "RALLO!! You must be respectful when--" Many within the room gasped in shock at my words as if I was saying something heretical, while a few others, mostly the officers lining the outside of the crowds across from us, yelled out my title in response.

Sasha was the one who tried to talk some sense into me, but she quickly stopped after she seemingly felt a change within the being in front of us. This was an assumption of course, but it was based on the fact that I also noticed a change though it was within the environment inside the room, and subsequently my body as well. The change I felt throughout my body could only be described as a tingling sensation similar to when one loses feeling in their legs after sitting on the porcelain throne for too long, except as I said earlier, the feeling was present throughout the entirety of my body, so it did kinda throw me for loop in a sense.

I did a quick scan of my body to make sure that I wasn't being snapped out of existence only to find that now familiar ethereal glow seeping through my clothes and body proper, dyeing my veins and nerves in the same pristine white glow that was present around the Mother's being.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see at the moment that this glow seemed to be coalescing at a single point within my brain, feeding itself into the source of my intense headaches that occurred on my first day within this body.

Instead, I immediately looked back toward the being in front of me with a questioning gaze plastered on my face.

"I assume this is your doing?? Could you at least explain what you are doing to MY body?" I asked while raising my voice a bit toward the end. And can you blame me? All I asked was for the removal of an oath, and now I'm being subjected to an unlawful scan of my body. This has to go against the spiritual equivalent of the constitution in some way... Right??

*snap* "*chuckles* Your body? We both know that is not true. And you are correct, 'this' is my doing, however, it is not of my own accord. Also, that oath? It has been dealt with, consider it a token of good luck... *sigh* You... You do not belong here, and the order which birthed us abhors your very existence... But consider yourself lucky, thing, since my equal loves to ruin the great things we achieve, they have decided to tempt fate itself just for you... So I guess 'your grandmother' was correct after all... " I wonder how this being was speaking for a few seconds before concluding that they had to be using magic of some kind to vibrate the air in the same way we do, except the voice was more omnidirectional since I assume there wasn't a 'voicebox' or anything like that.

But wait...

"What did you just say?" I asked seamlessly transitioning into the 'language of the mother'. It was literally 'my' mother tongue after all.

"Your grandmoth--" I felt the vibrations begin once again, but before I knew it, I also felt my fist connecting with a material that was harder than any diamond found on Earth, jarring my bones to their cores, but luckily not breaking any of them.

"fuck.. shit... fuck.... fucking ouch!!" "You are a creature of their heart, huh? *sigh* Farewell, beast..." *CRACK* The mother spirit said as their glow began to fade away just as quickly as came it, dissipating into the space above us, while also leaving a shattered mirror behind though that was probably common with these sorts of things.

"Oh yeah? Well, if I am a beast then you are... the beauty?? *sigh* forget it... just a rude, arrogant, cunt of a ghost if I've ever seen one. Casper would not approve!! Am I right??" I said while coddling my hand which was still aching intensely before looking around at the people surrounding me simply to reaffirm their existence.

However as you might have guessed by now, ninety-nine point whatever percentage of the people in the room didn't understand a single word of what was spoken between myself and the asshole formerly known as 'the Mother'. The only person who could understand a sliver of what transpired was Sasha, and quite frankly, she looked just as confused as the rest people of the present.

The only thing that all of them could comprehend was my attempt to sock the being, failing miserably, and then the being promptly disappearing after another quick exchange. And then, of course, me shouting into the air whilst holding back tears-- or something along those lines... Either way, they witnessed a mortal strike a being beyond their comprehension, but more importantly, live to tell the tale...

This type of thing was usually told as a story to children before bed, or by warriors to their comrades before a decisive battle. Hell, even in modern times you can find narratives of this sort, exchanging the being for institutions such as corporations or governments and the like.

But as I just said, these things were usually stories told by people to reflect an overarching set of ideas or values... Not a goddamned live-action version of the event with seats literal steps away from 'actors'.

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So you can probably imagine the shock, reverence, disbelief, and perhaps worst of all fear, present on everyone's faces as they stared in my direction. Unfortunately, this included two of my cousins as well since even they stared at me as if I were a beast...

Now I could deal with their shock and disbelief, and I would certainly have no trouble ignoring their reverence... But fear... Fear is something that I just didn't want to deal with right now. It really isn't something that any leader should want to instill in their followers, or at least not when one is at the beginning stages of said leadership, since such actions will only breed paranoia and in turn, more fear. Hell, this is the exact opposite of what I wanted, which was trust and loyalty simply put...

"Ummm... *clears throat* Well... I guess we can consider that 'ritual' over, but I can assure you that it was successful regardless of what you think you saw. However, regarding the display you just witnessed, think nothing more of it than a man simply letting his grievances out on a category of being who is completely beyond them in all aspects. I am but a man... Sure I have grand plans but that doesn't make me anything beyond your reach..." I said pleadingly as I watched mostly everyone across the table from us avoid my eyes, proving that my previous worries weren't unfounded.

Luckily for me, the counterpart that the mother spirit spoke of earlier had a few extra tricks up their sleeve in store for situations like this, and poetically enough, these 'tricks' had been a part of this world's version of my life since the beginning. I was of course referring to my cousins Zoe, Kai, and Luca, with notable mentions of Ash and Bell although they are not present currently. However, the cousin I was specifically referring to in the situation was Zoe, who had stepped up right beside me before patting me on my back with a bit of force behind it, causing a bit of... well let's just call it irritation in the spot where her blow landed.

" 'But a man' huh? Now would a man flinch at such a small pat on his back from a little ole girl like me? I think not... And yeah you do have some plans but without them, we wouldn't even be alive to see scenes such as... well that... So regardless of those pointless titles they chose to put on you, or where you end up taking us, you will always be our cousin. Nothing more, but also nothing less." Zoe said at a loud enough volume to where everyone in the room could hear her clearly, before wrapping her arm around my neck which was quite easy for her given that we were the same height.

"Besides... You have done nothing but give to the folks in front of us. Surely they will not go against your goodwill for a being who has done nothing for them but watch from a distance..." Zoe continued earning a quizzical look from both Sasha and myself but for very different reasons I should add, however, neither of us expected her to willingly grab the metaphorical wheel controlling that unstable vehicle known as fear. And by using the most 'out of left field' method of... well blasphemy for lack of better words, if the people of this world happened to worship this being as a deity.

"*nervous chuckling* Well, I would not say that Mother Spirit has not done not anything for us. I would argue that at the very least, she is why we all are here today... Furthermore, she controls the forces which allow such displays as what you witnessed today... So--" Sasha said back in response albeit with less confidence in her voice before being cut off by Zoe, but I should mention that her response answered a couple of questions regarding her looks toward Zoe previously, while also rectifying her views on this topic within my mind.

"I have to stop you there, Sasha. I don't remember seeing that being until my cousin here said... whatever he said. And when the being did make its appearance, it made no effort to even spare a glance at their creations, once again, my dear cousin here. So... If anybody should speak about what we witnessed today, it should be the person who spoke with being, not someone who couldn't garner a glance." Zoe said before pushing me toward the table, leaving both Sasha and me sharing the same facial expression again, except this time it was pure astonishment.

My only thoughts were 'where did this come from?' as I stumbled my way toward the table, only stabilizing myself after using the table as a support.

"You-- I-- You know what, fine! We can agree on one thing which is neither of us should be speaking on this topic... We should indeed the Lord decide who is right in this situation." Sasha answered back while crossing her arms in rage, refusing to engage in such a conflict where she only stood to lose.

"Alright... Alright, you two. Since y'all have decided to allow me a chance to speak, let me first just say that I don't care which of you is correct, since it doesn't change the fact that we are all here right now, walking and talking. So whether that being does things for you or not, your actions will end up deciding your fate in this world... Therefore, you can believe whatever you want to believe as far as I'm concerned, just don't think that those beliefs will get anyone any leeway regarding their responsibilities within the castle and beyond. Is that understood?" I said while looking back and forth between the two in question.

Sasha recognized the 'off-ramp' I was providing for both of them, so she simply nodded her head response while ignoring the huffing and puffing that came from Zoe's direction. 'My dear cousin here' seemed to be a bit upset at me for acting as the neutral party within this literal age-old debate, even though she went out of her way to back me up when I finished speaking earlier...

And honestly, she had every right to be given that holding one's ancestors above any particular deity, while still praying to the 'mother spirit' for certain things was common practice within the village we came from, so I was the one flipping the script so to speak with the idea of general apathy towards these beings. I would probably have to do some explaining later but hopefully for now she will just drop the topic since it was pointless to talk about at this stage.

"Good... And that sentiment applies to the rest of you as well. I don't care who or what you chose to believe in, just follow orders and you will be fine... Now, any questions before we get back to the reason we are all here in the first place?" I asked while looking at the group of people across the table from us who stared at us as if we were world leaders discussing topics that were near and dear to their hearts.

"I have one, Lord." "I do, Lord Rallo." Zach and Dan both raised their dominant hand as they answered, causing my eyes to bounce between the two of them for around ten seconds or so before landing on Zach.

"Okay... We will let Zach go first since he was the focal point of the ritual we just completed. Go ahead, Zach." I said while gesturing for both of them to step up.

"Yes, Lord." Zach said with way less arrogance in his tone when compared to his tone from before the ritual. And while one can say that such change is to be expected when confronted with a scene such as what they saw earlier, however, the change still surprised me nonetheless.

"My question pertains to my actions from earlier. Is there any way for the Lord to forgive my insolence shown towards you? I had no idea tha--" Zach bowed at his waist before he began his begging for forgiveness, which was a nice touch on his part even though there wasn't anything to forgive. Therefore I decided to cut him off now so that I could share this sentiment with the man.

"You don't need to be forgiven for being skeptical of something that sounds impossible. As a man of science, I expect a healthy dose of skepticism from you, so there is no need for forgiveness here. However, since you are now free from your oath, I hope we can work together to transform the world of 'alchemy' as you know it today. Is there any way you could agree to that?" I asked Zach while stepping forward to extend my hand toward the man.

Dan had to tap Zach on his arm and gesture for him to look up for him to see my hand as he was too busy thanking me from his bowed position, but once he did notice it, he immediately lunged forward before grasping it with both of his hands. I was a bit weirded out by the man's actions but shook both his hands nonetheless before turning towards Dan to ask him what his question was.

"Alright... And Dan, what was your question?" I asked while prying my hand from Zach's grip.

"I simply wanted to know if I would be able to write about the events I witness today in a personal journal that I keep on my person at all times. It would help clarify my thoughts which will come before and after the paragraph or so I have planned." Dan said while bowing at his waist.

"That's it?? Sure, I don't mind if you write about it... You just can't share it with anyone though, but that is the whole point of a journal, so yeah go right ahead." I answered back to the man unknowingly signing off on the first of many written accounts that would mention my name, while also serving as the basis for what people will eventually consider my 'divine right' to rule even though such words were never used by myself or any of the other people in the room for that matter.

"Thank you, Lord. I will not betray your trust." Dan said in response, bringing an end to this whole ritual debacle for the time being, and allowing me to bring the meeting back to the main topic on the agenda for today.

"Good... Now, let's get back to the reason why are here in the first place, which is of course the last branch of the Domestic Department and the entirety of the Military Department... So take a seat as well as a breath so that you all can hear what I have to say." I said while returning to the chair at the head of the table, hoping that there would be no further distractions as the meeting continued.