Cal slipped through the dimensions and focused on Eraztis' domain. The god noticed his intrusion but welcomed him anyway.

Good.

If Eraztis wanted, he could have pushed back, but at least he was willing to talk to him. There was too much to discuss, and now that the boy was safe with the others, Cal would answer.

The dimensional fabric gave way, and Cal stepped into the god's domain. Cold and ethereal, the great void filled with endless stars greeted his sight. Below him, a sea of bobbing souls flowed deeper into the void throne upon which Eraztis sat.

Cal willed himself forward, appearing in the space beside the god. Unlike the throne made of stars and shaped by the void itself, a plush couch—the kind you'd find back on Earth—formed next to the throne, and he sat down.

Eraztis sighed, a garbling noise that pierced the thrum of souls underneath.

"I knew I made a mistake when you barged in," Eraztis spoke first.

"Hey now. I didn't barge in. You left the door open."

Eraztis ignored him and continued, "I played along, even though I knew it'd be trouble. It was stupid. It was idiosyncratic of me. I should have obliterated my mind and reset. I should do that now."

Cal dropped his smile. "You couldn't have denied me if you wanted to. Not without upsetting the Weave. We both know that."

Eraztis slammed his fist on nothing but the realm shook and a nearby star exploded into brilliant shards of light. "It'd be worth it. I gave chaos incarnate to the god of chaos. This world is doomed."

Instead of answering, Cal summoned a platter filled with sandwiches. He reached for a random one and bit into the purple crust.

Eraztis watched, silent and unmoving. Cal used his tail to flick a blue one that smelled like moonlight and bananas.

"Take a bite and stop being a grouch. Just be glad I'm his god and not someone else. I know Cyrus; he'd have sworn to burn the world down if someone like Zuldraea tried to guide him."

"And you expect him not to burn the world to ash?" Eraztis grumbled as he shoved the sandwich into his beak.

Cal finished his with some lemonade and shrugged. "He might. It could happen, I wont lie about it. But I don't think that will happen. Not if I can help it."

He was proud of the boy. And from every moment he has survived in the new life he was thrusted in, has only made that pride deepen.

Cyrus survived. He saved the people he cared about and then some. And despite his protests, he wasn't callous enough to not act.

He was a good son.

"No," Eraztis said, jarring Cal out of his thoughts. "But when he dies, you will. And you wont have the Weave justifying your actions. Not this time."

That made Cal pause, and he cocked his head at the other god.

"I thought you said you're not invested?"

A long silence filled the space. It stretched for eons, even if only seconds had passed. Cal finished the sandwiches and noted which were successful and which were failures.

I can't feed him the Starcrusher jam—too much soul-death.

"I am... content."

He blinked and slowly turned. "Content? Truly?"

Eraztis raised his claws, and the river below expanded. He thrust into nothing, plucked a soul out of the stream, and held it up. It was soft blue, without a hint of metal, a weak and fragile soul.

"Even one as simple as this has lived numerous lives, each one mundane and boring. But a life with a story, history that weaved itself into the Weave," Eraztis said softly. He dropped the soul and plucked out another, one of violet red and tinged with copper. History, life, each rebirth another chance to change their fate. We are not them."

"Correction," Cal cut in. "You are not them. I was not born a god."

Eraztis glared, but Cal shrugged.

"You were never mortal. Do not commiserate a fate you never shared."

Again, Cal shrugged. "Fair. So why then?"

The red soul dropped back into the river, and Eraztis sent them further away. New stars aligned the void, but he wasn't finished. Again, the surroundings shifted until they were in a deep pocket of black and empty space.

A pink soul appeared in recreation, marked by silver stripes that ran like rings around the soul orb.

Cyrus' soul, an illusion of it.

"My realm is to facilitate the cycle and continue the thread that adds to the tapestry. I am but a cog, one who plays his role. Even you share ties to the Weave you could never shirk," Eraztis continued. He stood up and floated around the soul, examining it. "But I am happy to live through each life, to know I am doing my part."

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"Crushing is how I'd describe it. To so easily accept one's chains. I refuse," Cal responded, heat filling his voice.

Eraztis stopped and stared. "Maybe so. But my existence is not filled with as much sorrow as yours. And I prefer it that way."

"Eraztis..."

"Stop, I know. I will not mention your previous children. But know that young Cyrus worries me. He has drawn the Weave's attention more than any of the others. So I ask you, old friend. Will you set the world to ash when he dies?"

They knew the answer. It was plain to the other god what Cal would do. Mercy only goes so far. And another loss would break him. And even if Eraztis thought himself stronger than Cal, the divine did not operate on the same scale as the mortals.

Tier five shouldn't be as strong as tier six. But a chaos god existed to break all rules. And Calstrax...

Eraztis shook his head.

"I am now invested in the boy's safety just as you are. And when he ascends, I will be there to help mitigate the threat he represents," Eraztis said. But he pointed a clawed finger at the smiling god. "I like you, old friend, but I would be among the first to toss you both into the void to become another world's problems."

"I'll accept that."

"Good. Now, do you know why I brought up souls?"

"Because it's your domain?" Cal teased.

A star hit his face and exploded upon impact. Its core burnt his suit to tatters, leaving a frowning Cal behind as the void sucked the explosion away.

"No. Now pay attention to a detail you were too weak to miss."

He pointed to the soul and expanded it, holding it up for Cal to see. Cal examined it, already well versed with the current state of Cyrus' soul, noticing the lack of influence that marked this version.

In truth, Cal hadn't studied the boy's soul when they first met. Too afraid of scaring him away, he dared not subject him to such scrutiny.

"I fail to see whatever it is you want to show me," Cal eventually said as he backed off.

The soul shrunk back to the size of a human's head.

"Calstrax. He shares no bleed in coloration. His soul is pink, not white, tinged with red."

Cal froze. "No. But the silver."

"Perfect rings. Yes. But they are clean, blended without bleed."

"That..."

But Cal stopped. He knew why Eraztis showed him these details. He knew what the god wanted him to understand.

And he did. He may not have known he was an original soul, but it didn't surprise him, and Eraztis picked up on that lack.

In an instant, Eraztis appeared before him. Runes scattered like the numerous stars that made up his realm. Each node of power anchored them to the realm—closing them off from the rest of reality.

Once the space had been sealed, Cal felt weakened, his entire being being subjected to the rules of Eraztis' domain. His form blurred, and fur sprouted from his hands. But a second later, the pressure dissapeared, and he stabalized.

Bracelets made of solidified reality formed around Eraztis' wrists, and the god grasped the chains that sprouted from it, locking him into place.

"Speak true; we are hidden. But not for long. It is not of my nature to still the flow," Eraztis commanded.

For a time, he debated, refusing to answer his friend's questions. But Cal already knew that the other god had truly sacrificed a chunk of his power to help the boy.

At the least, he would speak candidly,

"Earth is magicless. No mana, no qi. Its a planet that has evolved with technology, and ascended far enough to leave their planet and land on their moon," Cal started.

"And?" Eraztis demanded.

"And... its planet is divided. Many kingdoms have come and gone, and in their wake, mythos and divinity spread as it want. The same patterns of creation, each told in different flavors for the mortals to feel better about themselves."

"And?" he demanded again, his voice strained.

Cal paused and inhaled, a superfluous action to the immortal. Eraztis glared but kept silent until he spoke.

"Reality bled through: dragons, elves, magic, and wizards. Even demons and seraphim have their stories."

"By the Weave, I will rip off your paw," Eraztis growled, his voice rumbling through the void.

"Earth..." Cal said slowly as he met Eraztis eyes. "Hosts an origin shard."

The runes exploded, and Eraztis screamed as the fabric pulled his limbs. Cal reached out and injected his power, expanding his domain into his. Chaos swirled, the flames of annihilation severing reality's ownership. It twisted the fabric, and he burned it away.

As the chains became ash that turned into supernovas, the shackles burst into streaks of light that faded from view. He reached out and summoned his couch, lowering his friend onto his throne.

Even when reality tried to retaliate against the loss, he snapped his fingers, expanded the flames across the fabric, and bit down. The conceptual maw shook and tore it to shreds, further separating them until it retreated.

With reality conceding the space, Cal collapsed beside Eraztis and massaged his temples.

It took too much, he wasn't recovered enough to challenge reality, but it had to be done. He summoned another pitcher of lemonade and chugged it down before handing it over.

Eraztis held it up and scrutinized the pitcher. "What's in it?"

"Way too much sugar and some fresh lemons from a kingdom called Mexico."

The other god tapped the pitcher, and a stream of the pink liquid floated into his beak. His tentacles retracted, but he kept drinking before tossing the pitcher aside where a blackhole sucked it in.

"There was nothing magical about it."

"Nope. But it is refreshing, no?" Cal chuckled.

"You expanded my dimension. Why?"

"An apology gift. For the dread I've inflected."

Eraztis sat up. "You! You!... Aaagh!"

Cal accepted the anger, even as his friend's emotions sent spasms across his body. He'd handle it for what he revealed, and he reached over and tapped Eraztis' chest.

The pain and exhaustion doubled, but he endured.

"Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"About as much as I can handle right now."

For another eon, they relaxed, the energy slowly returning, albeit faster for one than the other.

This time, Cal spoke first.

"Earth has undergone its sleep. The shell has formed," he revealed.

"That means we have at least a decade before-"

He stopped his friend and conjured an illusion of Earth. Around the once beautiful planet of green and blue, was a shell of pink ether so dense it created miles of space between it and the void. He spun the image lazily, revealing the egg that came during the second stage of integration for new planets.

"The origin shard changes things. Look underneath near a kingdom they call Australia. Its landmarks were wiped away, and it is now three times its original size."

His friend leaned close, which was another useless effort, considering that his friend owned the realm around them. He could see all, no matter where he looked.

Eventually, Eraztis sat back and looked far more strung out than before. "We don't have much time. The pantheons will find out; there'll be a rush to expand into new space. It'll be the God Wars all over again."

Cal shook his head. "Except the new gods will be stronger than most. Especially them."

Eraztis stared, his tentacles wriggling in tension, a nervous tick Cal recognized.

"What gods? How much of the Origin is present?"

The image of Earth disappeared. In its place, dozens upon dozens of stone tablets appeared, each depicting a grand carving of a god being worshipped by mortals.

"All of them, old friend. The entire pantheon is present."

Silence. It dragged on for eternity before a bubble of light stretched from the Soul Keeper's body.

Eraztis slowly stood up and floated upwards until he was lightyears apart. Yet the scream echoed in Cal's ears, and the stars around them exploded until darkness remained.

Cal gave in and laughed. Eraztis' words filled the realm.

"Fuck you, Cal!"