POV: Keilan
"I must thank you again for aiding me in this, Inesa. It would be quite troublesome to do so otherwise." I told the deity that was floating beside me, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Of course the Deity of Hearth and Home may not be the most obvious choice in regards to what I am trying to do/looking for, but in this case Inesa will be a very important aspect to this. She has instincts that are...unique amongst the beings of this realm. It will make sifting through massive amounts of Karma much, much easier. "Hold on just one moment." I told her, stepping forwards to place one hand on the barrier that surrounded the original Region.
It was an impressive construct, as expected of the seven Elemental Deities. They are all very powerful, in not free-spirited. Even I would have trouble bypassing the barrier by force, but luckily I don't have to. I have a 'key code' to slip through, and can also extend that free pass to whomever I wish. This time around, it is Inesa.
"There," I said, removing my hand from the barrier and glancing back at Inesa. "Now you can enter the outer Regions along with me - but only with me. So don't try to travel through the barrier otherwise, because it won't work." I warned. Inesa just nodded, looking down and fiddling with the hem of her sleeves. She was wearing what she usually did every time I saw her; a plain white, long-sleeve shirt and a long dress bottom, I forget the technical name because I can honestly say that the fashion of mortals does not interest me in the slightest (fashion...such a pointless concept for deities who can change their clothes at will, but I know at least a few that enjoy it as a hobby), so in simple terms it was a grey skirt/ dress-bottom that reached her ankles.
"I-I see. Thank you...?" Inesa mumbled. I chuckled to myself inwardly, finding her muttering and mumbling to be rather endearing.
"Indeed. Come along." I told her, turning around and stepping through the barrier, the 'outside' finally becoming clear. Four Saplings, for they were not Trees in my mind yet, hovered in a circle around the original Region, alongside the new Ditches (Valleys that are not deep), Streams (Rivers that are neither deep nor wide), and Hills (Mountains that are not tall.) They were all growing still, having gained their own cultivator populations recently, and one Dao Progenitor leaving the lands of Pangea to watch over one of the new Regions.
The man, a Xu clan member that achieved his Dao in the way of the sword, had done so as sort of an experiment amongst the Progenitors to see how it would work exactly...surprisingly enough, after a mere one hundred years after the Xu man took charge over the Region, effects started to become visible. Cultivators started to focus on the way of the sword in greater numbers and frequencies, and the mortal cultures were beginning to rever the sword as well, all because the Dao Progenitor had been allowed to set up shop there as the 'guardian.' Similar effects had been seen when other deities were watching over the new Regions, but they were set on thousand year rotations so they left before any significant data could be gathered, and never had anything like this happen this quickly before.
It was a phenomena that required further experimentation with some of the other Regions, but most importantly, it would take time to see the extent of this interesting phenomena. It is certainly something to take into account once more Regions begin popping up. However, that was something to consider at a later point in time. Right now I had another task to complete in a timely manner.
"Follow me, Inesa." I said, stepping towards one of the empty regions of space between two of the new Regions. Inesa demurly followed as I searched around a bit, extending my divine sense in search of the things I was looking for. I didn't bother telling Inesa exactly what it was - she would either find them before I did or I would find them. Karmic strings were incredibly hard to see individually after all, especially for these particular beings, all of which is increased exponentially by the fact that there is very little out here to be connected to, which may be the point.
All of this together makes it hard for even me to see the karmic strings, and it's not like I can search for the beings traditionally either. With how unique and powerful the one I am looking for is, my limited knowledge on dimensions is not quite enough for me to search for it without the use of karma. Alexander and Gilles are the experts in that area, Alexander so no being like Morgan could hide from him again and Gilles because he's a nutjob. Gilles is a researcher through and through - first, it was researching and experimenting with the Void, which he still does but on a much smaller scale, and now it's about dimensions and the inter-dimensional beings that Morgan created. (Still not sure how I feel about Morgan creating beings to run about in the Four Realms)
Now that's not to say I don't have a healthy amount of interest in the subject. I do, for obvious reasons. It's pragmatic to have at least a base knowledge in many subjects, especially one that was so obviously used against us, but...there are other things I find have a more significant impact on my own growth. And as of now, that is most important, as my domain in Karma is still...subject to change.
"Where are you...?" I muttered, peering deeper into the mystical folds that surrounded this part of the Mortal Realm. It was as if mist had filled the areas between the Regions, a mist that not even the Realm Sun and Lunar Star could illuminate...
Speaking of which, I am quite excited for when Leo and Celene will awaken, though I am unsure as to when that is. Focus. I criticised myself, shaking my head and looking away from the strings of Karma that connected to the two Stars of the Four Realms. Even out here, the massive quantities of karma connecting the Sun and Star to everything in the Four Realms was almost impossible to miss...it's the individual strands that are tricky to find.
Ah. Wait. That might be it. I closed my eyes and focussed on the massive tapestry that was the collection of strings of the Realm Sun, driving my senses into it...
There. Right there. Hidden in plain sight, the clever prick. The first Dimensional Creator, the true ancestor of its entire species, had hidden itself in the waves of Karma and the blankness of space, hiding in the invisible - yet in plain sight - all at the same time. Clever. It's a trick I'll have to learn sometime.
"You can come out now." I said, crossing my arms and staring directly at the area in which it was hiding. After a few moments of silence, in which I assume it still thought itself to be sufficiently hidden, I flapped my wings, causing the karmic strings the Dimensional Creator had buried itself in to vibrate harshly - letting it know without any hint of doubt that I had found it. The area around the Dimensional Creator flickered a bit, revealing a swirling purple portal from which a carbon-copy of Morgan stepped. This was the form it chose to represent itself when directly speaking to beings other than another Dimensional Creator. "The rest of you as well." I said in annoyance, half a dozen more portals appearing, various other representations stepping from them.
"What is this?" Inesa asked in awe, her eyes growing wide. Has she never...? Ah, no, she has not. Not many lesser deities (which is a general term referring to level power not a representation of heirarchy or some such inane thing) had met the very reclusive Dimensional Creators. They were not prolific nor sociable enough to draw the attention of most deities.
"These are Dimensional Creators, creations of Morgan's design. The one in the middle is the very first one to ever come into existance, and not but ten years ago it vanished from its' previous location in the lands of Pangea, close to the heart of the Mortal Realm. The other six also disappeared in the past five years, but I'm more interested in why the First relocated itself." I told her, abbreviating the information for the sake of time.
"Oh," Inesa said in a small voice, looking at the Creators. "They seem...afraid. Not particularly hostile, though." She muttered to me. And that, my dear, is why I brought you along. No one understands the hearts of other beings quite as well as you do...except for maybe Mother. Although all deities and spirits could easily see through the souls and lies of many mortals and weaker cultivators, once it got to a certain level it became increasingly harder to discern true intentions and feelings. At my level it became more like hiding truths within truths because it is far too easy to see through lies. Dimensional Creators, however, are beings specialized in hiding - even existing outside the Four Realms, for all intents and purposes. This makes seeing their true thoughts much harder, made even moreso by the first being almost on the same level of power as a deity.
This was a gift from Mother, of course, though they aren't graded on the same power scale as deities.
"And what reason, pray tell, would they have for feeling afraid?" I asked almost rhetorically, speaking to the Dimensional Creators and Inesa both. Inesa was able to, with incredible ease and accuracy, determine the intentions and danger-level of many beings. She doesn't quite understand what she's doing of course, but I believe it is due to her own, very open soul and the nature of her Domain that allows her to do so.
"We-" One of the Creators began to speak, it's voice resonating with the entire power of its personal dimension behidn it, but I silenced it with a single glare.
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"I was mostly asking the First. Or, as you call it, the Ancestor." I said very calmly, turning my eyes not towards the carbon-copy of Morgan, but to the First's portal. The Morgan representation was a cheap copy of the "divine incarnation" ability of deities, while the true voice and presence of the Creators resonated from their portals.
"We are here to remove ourselves." The First said ominously. "More of Us gather in preparation, as We understand the gravity." I internally rubbed my temples, sorting through the statement. The Dimensional Creators have an optional hive-mind. They each have their own personality and can act independently, but once they gather together in great numbers they connect their minds and become Many into One. I don't believe that any Dimensional Creator actually uses words like "I" or "me." Since there is no other species in the Four Realms that has sentience and is a hive mind, communicating with them is a bit more complicated unless one is used to it.
"Right ok. Look, do you want me to go rooting through your Karma to find out what you're trying to do, or are you just going to tell me? Cuz I can most certainly go rooting through your karma. It's just a little rude." I said, raising one eyebrow. The First hesitated for a moment before shuddering slightly.
"We must grow." It said simply. I raised an eyebrow and considered that statement, along with the previous one. Faced with my ultimatum, then most certainly the First has given me all I need to understand what they're doing. And, being one of the most powerful beings in the Four Realms, it should've been relatively easy to understand what they were trying to do. However, Inesa beat me to the conclusion that I would've come to, given a few minutes.
"You're trying to make a home. For you and your brethren." Inesa said simply, cocking her head to the side and pondering something. I blinked, and suddenly it dawned on me what they were doing - they were Dimensional Creators, and up to this point that had merely been making pocket dimensions that have come to be called Arcane Pockets, due to their makeup consisting of mostly arcane-type elemental energies. It's simply an elemental energy with a different vibration, or frequency, to it than normal elemental energies...certainly it's rarer, but not technically stronger. It's merely...different.
However, what they're trying to do now is create a proper Dimension, a world outside of the Four Realms. Something they were truly born to do. "Ok, but why now? And why here?" I asked, the first question being stated merely as a formality. I already knew why they were trying it now - they felt as if now would be the best time, being before the truly chaotic times start, and yet it is chaotic enough now to support proper growth. However, why wouldn't they do it where the energies Dimensional Creators sustain themselves off of are more abundant? Out here there's much less than on Pangea.
"Now is best. Here is...acceptable. We sense, We know. Fate is tricky, We cannot see all angles." The First intoned. Translated, it basically said that they have base knowledge of fate and the flows of the universe, and moving to this spot feels safer than on Pangea. However, they do not know why that is. Not even I know...though perhaps Mother has an inkling. She is the foremost expert on Fate, after all. But that doesn't really count, because Mother is Mother, and knows far more than any of us could ever concieve.
It's vexing, in its own way.
"It feels like a nice place though," Inesa said with a small smile. "Very...hmm...peaceful's not the word...is it...still?" She muttered, once again reminding me why I had her tag along. Of course. The energies of the Four Realms are weaker here - and so is the "fabric" of it as well. It will take less energy to break through said fabric, therefore connecting the new dimension to the Four Realms, and allowing an easier flow of energy into and out of the dimension. Hence the "still." Everything appears calmer here because there is less here.
"I should put you to work in the Karmic Realm." I muttered in an off-hand manner, shaking my head and nodding to the First. "You won't be able to escape out here, by the way. Just thought I'd give you fair warning. Anyways, I've gotten all I've come here for, and as I'm a busy deity I don't have time to stay and chat. Just keep in mind that we'll be keeping an eye on you - mostly because I'm interested in how you'll grow your new Dimension. Fascinating stuff. Expect Gilles to be along at some point as well, but he'll most definitely be more secretive about it. Inesa." I said, turning and flying back to the barrier, Inesa trailing behind with an odd expression on her face.
The Dimensional Creators all sat there for a moment, digesting my words, before hiding themselves in the strings of karma once more, returning to...whatever they were doing to start building their dimension. Storing power, I think.
"Um...Sir Keilan?" Inesa asked.
"Yes? Spit it out." I returned, pushing through the barrier and looking around the First Region. Thankfully I didn't have to travel through the barrier every time I wanted to visit the Outer Regions, I just had to physically pass through it this time due to Inesa's presence.
"What...was that about?" She inquired. I looked at her and snorted.
"Can you not feel the waves being made? All beings are being subtly affected by it. Change has the tendency to do that, and the Four Realms are undergoing massive amounts of change. Mother calls it 'the backlash,' but in truth it's mostly just another period of chaos. Shouldn't be as bad as last time, though." I explained, recalling mid-speech that Inesa hadn't been alive during the War of the Sun. Inesa made a confused face, and I chuckled. "Don't worry too much about it. The big parts won't come about for a while yet. Anyways, thank you for all your help today. I'll be off." I said, my incarnation fading.
It managed to catch Inesa's last words before it completely faded. "But I didn't do anything, though..."
I chuckled as my true body opened its eyes, standing and stretching as the other six incarnations I had running about the Four Realms also faded. I had been experimenting with Mother's incarnation ability, as it was more advanced than the typical ability to create incarnations of one's self, seeing as how that only uses slivers of divine energy and Mother's splits ones conciousness into six different bodies, and managed to come up with my own version. It's not as efficient as Mothers, for certain, but it gets the job done. It's mainly used to handle a whole bunch of small tasks at once, tasks that don't require my full attention but need to get done anyways.
It's invaluable for that.
My back popped and I let out a pleased groan, looking out over the Karmic Valley and sighing. Mother had been right, using Luck did indeed simplify and increase the efficiency of the reincarnation cycle on all levels. I had experimented endlessly with localized versions of it, even implementing it in one of the Outer Regions for a time. Now, all that was left was to make it standardized. I adusted my robes and clasped my hands behind my back before stepping out into the Valley. "Pain in my ass...well, better now than later."
POV CHANGE: Gilles
"Fascinating," I muttered to myself as I watched the Dimensional Creators begin forming their personal dimension. The process was amazing, albeit very complex...it was a field that interested me almost as much as the Void does. Creating little pocket dimensions in which reside entire worlds...truly fascinating stuff.
"Quit slacking. If I don't get to slack, neither do you." My sibling, the High Deity of Water, Ling, said, slapping me upside the head. I chuckled and rubbed the back of my head, shooting her a look.
"And who was it that was just making water fountains in the Karmic Oceans?" I inquired innocently. Ling flushed, and Terran, the HIgh Deity of Earth, laughed at her.
"Oh, he's gotcha there, sis." He rumbled, shaking his head.
"And besides, it's not that hard. All we're doing is -" I was cut off by Leitz, who was busy toying with some of his divine Lightning as he worked.
"Yes, we heard you the first twenty times you explained it, Gilles. None of us understood you then, and we won't this time either." He deadpanned.
"I understood it." Aeriel said with an almost offended look.
"Kiss ass." Ling teased, earning herself a glare from Aeriel. I chuckled to myself as my siblings continued to bicker, but all things were abruptly put on hold when Leitz did...something. There was a sudden flicker of light, and suddenly we were surrounded by a sea of lightning. It wasn't just a sea, though...it was more. It was as if the entire world had become lightning, almost as if the area directly around us was a Plane of lightning. Then, just as abruptly, it was gone, leaving all of us standing there, stunned.
Lucia, the youngest of our group of Seven and the High Deity of Light, couldn't help but break that stunned silence with a very bad pun. "That was...shocking." She said. A mix of groans was her response, but it did the trick and soon everyone was looking at Leitz expectantly.
"What was that?!" Terran asked. Leitz shook his head, staring at his hands as lightning danced between his fingers.
"I...have no idea. I just had a sudden feeling, and I set some lighting to dancing in front of me, and the next thing I knew that happened." He tried, and failed, to explain. I closed my eyes and felt for what had happened, recalling it. It felt like a new plane of existance, but...I also figured it wasn't. It was filled with lightning, but also everything else...suddenly appeared...feeling...blankness of space...Void...Primordial Chaos...? Gah! I had too many thoughts running about in my mind. I needed to sit down and work on this...and for the first time in a while, I found myself bemoaning the fact that there was more work to be done.
"Guys, guys! The quicker we get our work done, the quicker we can play around with this. Help me get this done." I ordered, clapping my hands together. My siblings all glanced at each other, then at me, nodded, and promptly dove back into our assignment with renewed vigor. I, too, wanted to go play, so of course I helped them. First, though...
"Gilles." Randus said, appearing out of his dream world to stand next to me, right before I started to work again.
"Randus, it's good to see you. Anything in particular to note?" I asked. Randus looked at me appraisingly for a second before shaking his head.
"No. The dreams of the inhabitants of the Four Realms are filled with the same as usual...perhaps with a higher frequency of delusions of grandeur." Randus explained. I nodded, stroking my chin.
"Thank you for doing this for me, Randus." I mentioned.
"I would have done so regardless of your wishes. Simply asking me to keep you up to date on the general state of the Dreams in the Four Realms is no trouble for me." Randus said casually. I nodded once more, turning away from him as he started to fade away. Our meetings were never longer than a brief exchange of words, afterall, what with Randus being a man of few words.
"I still appreciate it. It helps me peice a few things together." I said, knowing that he was already gone. Then I sighed and looked at the starry sky, with its very few stars. "Gotta get this done..." I muttered, and dove back into the project alongside my siblings. I really wanted to experiment with whatever Leitz had done, now.