After her talk with Vuthe, Tizanta got to work immediately. She gave her friends the entire rundown of the situation and their suspicions, everything she had heard from Vuthe to make sure everyone was up to speed. The meeting was quick and without discussions. They had no time to waste.
Next up she made her way over to the Paranormal Council representative. He had been sent with them after the meeting earlier today to make sure they could keep in contact easily. To her surprise he had already been looking for her.
“Ma’am!”, he said in greeting when she entered his office, “I have a message from Miss Loltharim. She wishes to speak with you as soon as you have time.”
“Oh?”, Tizanta asked, quirking an eyebrow, “What is this about?”
“I don’t know, Ma’am”, he said, shaking his head, “She instructed me to organise a personal meeting with you, but never told me what you should expect.”
It was a little suspicious, but since she needed to talk to her anyways, Tizanta quickly agreed and teleported over to where the man said she would be.
She found Tika in the same office she had visited the first time. The Arachnid was already present, sitting in her chair, while another woman sat opposite her on the other side of the desk.
The moment Tizanta stepped through the portal she knew exactly who this person was and her expression twisted into a scowl.
Tika looked up at her, a smile playing across her lips. “Ah, Lady Tizanta. What a pleasure to have you here so quickly.”
Tizanta, however, was not in the mood to play games or pleasantries.
“I was pretty sure I gave you a very specific warning regarding the importance of certain secrets, Tika.”, she said with a cold tone.
“Ah, no need to worry, child, our mutual friend has not broken any agreements between the two of you. She simply upheld one between her and myself”, the other woman spoke while turning around, a small amused smile on her lips.
To all outside appearances she looked like a normal human, but to Tizanta she was anything but.
“Hecate. I should have known. So, what does a Goddess do here?”, she asked the woman, her aura identifying her as the very being she had seen in Tika’s thoughts.
“Why, I am simply curious to meet the friend of one of my peers. It has been such a long time since I last talked to another god.”
“Lies. Stop with the pretences, I may not be a goddess myself but I am more than good enough to read the aura of someone with no training in the matter. No matter how powerful you are, your control is so lacklustre it’s embarrassing. So, spit it out, what do you want?”
If she was honest with herself, Tizanta was a bit too aggressive but this was just simply too much. As if they didn’t have enough on their plate already.
“How rude”, Hecate said with a small frown, “But then again, you do have a lot to deal with. I will make it short then. As a thanks for granting me information that I find absolutely delectable I shall offer some recompense. In recent times there have been certain shifts in the backrooms of the local government. I thought you might be interested in those.”
Tizanta nodded, walking over and finally sitting down, not waiting for an invitation. “Yeah. I also know that one of our own might be involved. Which was the reason I wanted to speak to Tika. We are pretty certain he is behind most of the recent developments.”
Ignoring Tika’s inquisitive expression, she turned to Hecate.
“Which makes your presence even more suspicious. At first I wasn’t sure who exactly you were, but it makes sense now that I think about it. The only question I have right now is whether you work with or against us.”
It was pretty obvious that Hecate hadn’t expected Tizanta to react like this, and she took a bit of delight in having derailed the situation for the Goddess. Hecate obviously had wanted something different from the meeting, but now that things had changed she needed a moment to adapt.
“Very well. To answer the unasked question, yes, I am Hecate. In times of old I was once worshipped as a Goddess of Magic, Secrets, and the Obscure. Ever since then I have been hiding, observing the world from afar and preventing the most disastrous of events. I was not lying when I said that I am delighted to meet another goddess. It has been far too long since I was able to talk to someone like minded. Regardless, I wanted to offer you some insight. It is fortunate that you already figured out a bit, but there is more to the entire situation. From what I have seen this friend of yours that has vanished was involved with the government from the day you have arrived, at least in some capacity. I do not have specifics, prying those details out of the world is a bit harder even for a goddess such as myself, but I have been keeping an eye on him ever since then.”
Tizanta listened to the explanation, silently cursing herself for not noticing it. In the end though it was simply confirmation for what she had already suspected.
“And what do you plan to do now?”, she asked, not entirely sure why Hecate was so open about this. “You could have told us sooner and prevented a whole lot of harm.”
To her surprise Hecate nodded sadly, “Indeed. But, once you live long enough, you realise you cannot save everyone. You need to pick your battles. A goddess I might be, but I am not all powerful, as you should know from your friend. Up until now I couldn’t see anything too dangerous, sure there would be some chaos locally, but in the end it was highly likely that things would settle with time. That changed, however, when I was approached by someone. I do not know that being, nor was I able to get a good look or feel of them, but they advised me to pay closer attention to the local events. That was shortly after you revealed your friend's secret to Tika, which is how I knew of it. Now this entire situation seems to spiral out of control, which makes it my responsibility. And since I cannot deal with it myself, I found it wise to contact someone who could help me. And that brings me here.”
“So not just because you wanted to offer your gratitude”, Tizanta said with a predatory smile, but quickly dropped it after. “And yes, we could use more information. I still don’t really know what to make of this, however. If I were Vuthe I would say I have an inkling of who that being was that contacted you, but I much rather save speculations like that until I have some concrete evidence. That being said, what can you tell us?”
By now all traces of amusement had vanished from the goddess’, quite plain, features and she was all serious.
“As I said, not much. At first I simply noticed some byplay in the more obscure parts of the upper echelons, those being part of my domain. I notice things like that quite frequently so I didn’t think much of it. It was only after some time had passed that I noticed some more curious aspects of the waves that rippled through the net of politics, which is when I started to pay more attention. It was not until I got more information from my link to Tika that I realised that the sheer impossibility of a dragon making the rounds was not as ridiculous as it first seemed. I have seen the dragons of old, beings wise and powerful, but fundamentally so entirely different from the ones I have seen present now. You see, back in the days of the old Chinese deities dragons were not entirely myth, there were a few that did exist, uplifted from the mortal coil through the belief of their followers. But while they were powerful beings that could and sometimes did summon up disasters in their rage, they were a peaceful bunch and mostly kept to themselves. They also were far weaker than what I felt after your arrival. I would imagine that even the younger members of your species could have rivalled them in physical strength.”
Despite the tangent Tizanta did pay close attention. To know that other deities had existed here before was quite surprising, although perhaps not as much as some would think. While magic was low that never meant divinity would be as well, as the enormous amount of divine power floating about the church without a god showed. At least if Vuthe was right.
“Knowing that, I was unsure if I could trust this new information when I first noticed the ripples through the obscure, the backrooms and the hidden meetings. Then you ventured to Switzerland, a place that has been quiet to the magical world in centuries. There you not only spiked up one of the biggest magical events that I have seen in my entire life, but you also proved to me that I was not wrong in my suspicions. It was around that time that I put my full attention to the problem at hand, but once more I felt it unnecessary to intervene. Ripples like that were not unheard of, not by a long shot. Even if we consider the relative power that I perceived at the time. If I had known better I would have already taken more drastic steps to stem the problem before it was too late. Alas, it was too late already after all.”
Hecate sighed deeply, shaking her head, “If the gods of old would still be present I would have better chances. Yet, despite the long lasting impact these deities had on human society, they went missing long ago. Some simply left, some died, others simply faded into obscurity much like I had. Where they had gone I have no clue, for centuries I have tried to find them, but with no luck. I know that a few must still be out there, hidden away, since from time to time there are ripples across the divine, but for what purpose or where they are I know not. You and your friends are my best chance to solve this issue.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Tizanta nodded along, silently listening to the explanation. It was quite curious to hear and if it weren’t for the current circumstances she would ask more about the old pantheons and dragons, however right now they had other issues to deal with.
“Do you know of the forbidden texts in the possession of the church?”, Tizanta asked bluntly, choosing to be a bit more aggressive with her questions from the get go. If she could figure out more about that they might be able to do something about it.
Hecate shrugged, “I know of some locations, although for the longest time I was not aware that they were forbidden. Most groups that own some have done nothing apart from trying to graft flesh or create homunculi, none of them ever had any success. It is one of those hidden dangers I keep an eye on, but until now I had no reason to intervene. It wasn’t until Tika informed me about those things that I changed my stance on the matter. The Secrets of the world and the realm of the obscure are my domain, so I have a much better understanding of these things than most do, but that does not mean I know it all. Divinity does not mean omniscience, even in a case like mine.”
Taking a moment to digest this information Tizanta nodded silently, thoughtful. After a few moments she continued.
“I personally have not much experience with the divine, but Vuthe had always been quite adamant about enforcing the rules laid out by the Celestials. Frankly, I am surprised that you didn’t know about them. Then again, I am unsure how much contact this world had with the Celestials before. Outside of Altis, perhaps, however he is a very special case and normally doesn’t get involved with these matters.”
“May I ask who this Altis is? I have heard tell about him in your Kingdom’s quarters, however so far I have not found any details yet”, Hecate asked with a glint in her eyes. Considering that Secrets were her domain, it did make sense.
Deciding to indulge the other woman a little, it wasn’t any kind of secret in Satien, at least not most of it, Tizanta spoke. “Altis is the name given to Death, one of the ten Celestials. He is the True God of Death, as Vuthe calls him. I am not sure if that is somehow a title granted to him like any divine authority is, or simply used to differentiate between those granted divinity and the aspects of the world. Altis is, if the stories and myths are to be believed, the entity you meet at the end of your life. I do not know if he truly is a judge, but he is often depicted as such. All of us, the five reincarnators, have had a meeting with him before. Although for us it was quite nonstandard. So I can’t really give you specifics. For those you best ask Vuthe yourself.”
“Fascinating… I have once known Thanatos and Hades, of course, however only briefly. My time on this world is much different than that of most deities and even in their circles I was quite often unknown. To learn that there are others, unknown to us, is quite intriguing.”
Tizanta smiled, despite herself, “Once the disaster is dealt with, we can talk more about those things. For now we need to figure out how to deal with this before we bring the world to the brink of collapse. Apocalyptica could do it. He is nearly on par with Vuthe, even if she got stronger since she subdued him a bit. If those two go all out I doubt there is much we can do to prevent disaster.”
“Would she be able to kill him?”, Tika asked, for the first time joining the conversation. Both Tizanta and Hecate turned to her.
“Yes. Killing him isn’t the issue. The issue is doing so without rendering entire countries and maybe even continents uninhabitable. When they last fought they destroyed an entire mountain range in a week of constant battle, and that was in a far off corner of a world far larger than earth. If they would go at each other with any kind of population nearby the results would be disastrous.”
“Hm… What I don’t understand is why he would go against you like that. Up until now you and your people have given me the impression that you are a united front. Why would he do something like that?”, Tika asked, thoughtful.
With a sigh Tizanta answered. “I believe the problem is not him going against us, it is our failure of judgement. To understand that you must know what he is. There are many types of draconics out there, and while some believe each of the different types has specific personalities, in most cases that is not true. Sure, it can be said that there are some tendencies, but in general we are pretty diverse, as most races are. There are some exceptions however. The most well known example in Satien are Shadow Dragons. Shadow Dragons are, by nature, evil. It is a result of their heritage. The exact history of draconics is not well known, although there is one myth that is known to nearly all draconic beings. The myth of creation. To make a long story short we are the children of the great draconic beings, Seriou, The Serpent of Origin. Orochi, The Hydra of Origin. And last but not least, Bahamut, The Dragon of Origin. These beings have created us pretty much how we are today, if the myths are to be believed.”
With a sigh she shook her head, “There are some exceptions, however. The draconics of Light and Shadow. Not only are they rare, these types are not a result of the great draconic beings, but simply a natural descendant of the two Celestials Ga’zeith de Thal, the True God of Shadows, and Sha’gath, his sister, the True Goddess of Light. And here it gets complicated. Light draconics exist much more readily than Shadow draconics do, the main reason is because they can reproduce with other light based entities, such as Aether, or Faerie Sundae. Shadow aligned beings are much rarer, and even rarer can they reproduce with Shadow draconics. As far as I know there are only three trueblooded Shadow Dragons, for example: Vuthe de Thal, her draconic mother Schatten de Thal, and her draconic Grandfather, Ga’zeith de Thal. And this is the important bit. He is worshipped as the God of Darkness and evil. And as you know, magic is intent. And over time that has caused Shadow draconics to become evil. Most naturally occurring ones are simply mutations of other versions, with the exception of Light draconics. And all of them are well known to rampage and destroy mindlessly. Even those who retain their sanity are quick to agitate and explode.”
With a smile she looked over at Hecate, “I see that you can guess where this is going. And yes, over time that resulted in a new type of draconic. Apocalypse Draconics. These draconic beings have reached a certain point where the perception of them, the intent levied upon them by the people, changed them into something else, something more. They are not born, they were changed into one. And, as his rather on the nose name suggests, Apocalyptica is an Apocalypse Dragon. Considering the influence Ga’zeith heritage has over him, he is by nature drawn to madness and chaos, an evil being through and through. Some, like Vuthe, try desperately to fight against this natural urge. Others, like Apocalyptica, embrace it. This is why I said it isn’t that he betrayed us. We let our guard down. We were insufficiently cautious.”
“Hold up”,Tika interrupted, “Why would you even work with him then? That sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“To any outsider it would be”, Tizanta confirmed, nodding slowly, “However, he does have his redeeming qualities. In his case it is his groundbreaking runework that is simply unsurpassed. It was of great help during our time in Satien.”
“But wouldn’t it have been better to leave him behind then?”, Hecate asked with a frown. It was pretty clear that she at least partly blamed Tizanta and the Thelvadore Council, which was fair, in all honesty.
“The reason we are even here is not because we wanted to return to earth. We have long since put our past behind us. The reason was that Satien was about to be destroyed. You remember what Vuthe told Tika about the gods and their rules of forbidden magic? The humans of Satien weren’t exactly law abiding in that regard. And from what Vuthe could piece together Ga’zeith de Thal, the being that was heralded as the God of Evil, the Great Destroyer and the Primordial Shadow, was coming to punish them for his misdeeds. If the myths about him are any indication he doesn’t do subtle. He would simply lay waste to everything and call it a day. For all his faults, Apocalyptica is, or maybe was, part of Thelvadore. To leave him behind would be a betrayal. I know you haven’t met Vuthe yet, but let me tell you, she doesn’t do betrayal. In her eyes that is the ultimate evil.”
There was a small thoughtful silence, before Tizanta continued.
“We are old, ancient draconics each in our own regard, but we aren’t infallible. We thought we could keep him under control, as we did so long before now. We were… overconfident, maybe. You could call it lax. Whatever the case, we misjudged him gravely. It is not wrong of you to blame us for this. But that doesn’t change the fact that we need to fix this somehow. Vuthe has already decided to check the city for any more of his surprises, and has readied the army if needed. They won’t be happy to help and defend humans, most of us have a pretty bad opinion of humans in general, but they will follow Vuthe.”
Once more there was pause. Tika and Hecate obviously took some time to digest this all. After a few moments Tika spoke.
“I am not happy about hearing that. And you must understand that there will be a lot of discussions about this afterwards. We have greeted you with open arms into our Council, we have given you any courtesy we could, and while you haven’t done so maliciously, you have endangered our people by hiding this from us.”
There was a certain edge in her tone. Despite being much younger, much weaker, and much less imposing with her aura, Tika had a certain determination about her. Her job was to make sure the people under her care were safe, and she took it seriously. In a way it reminded Tizanta a lot of Vuthe.
“I understand. And we will accept whatever decision you might come to. For the moment, however, we have to deal with this first. There will be nobody left to judge us if we don’t stop whatever he wants to do.”
“What does he plan to do?”, Hecate asked, thoughtfully.
“Sow chaos. He is an Apocalypse Dragon and his main priority always seemed to sow Madness. In fact he has earned the moniker of Madness Dragon because of it. He doesn’t want to kill or devour, he wants to revel in the chaos and madness he sows.”
Hecate nodded slowly, gazing into the distance as she thought. Tizanta was content with the silence, letting them work through their own thoughts. In truth a part of her was a bit relieved that the truth about Apocalyptica was finally out there. It had been one of the problem points they had envisioned. Just not like this.
Eventually, Hecate spoke again. “Very well. I agree with little Tika, you will need to be judged and held accountable for this, but first we need to stop this. I will join you for that. I might not be as powerful as a dragon, nor as trained as any soldiers, but I am a Goddess of Magic. If we want to prevent this from getting worse, we must use what we have, even if it means that we can no longer hide magic from the public.”
Tizanta nodded, then got up. “I will inform our Council of this.”
She was about to say her goodbyes when she stopped, a thought coming to her. It was the beginning of an idea for a plan, one that was so ridiculous that there was no way Apocalyptica could predict it. And if it worked, they could deal with him in relative safety.
“In fact… I think I have an idea for a plan. Say, Hecate, how good are you with astral magic?”
The Goddess in question blinked, “You are asking a Goddess of Magic how good she is with magic? Child, you might be stronger than me, but there is no metric in which you could compare to my magic knowledge.”
In reply Tizanta smiled a wide, predatory smile. “Have you ever tried to hide a city in a dimensional pocket?”