-55-

[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]

“You’re sure about this?” a panicked voice asked as I stepped forward, off of a cliff. My foot touched flat ground where ground should not be.

Compared to the last time I made this journey, I was able to see the faint outline of tiny hexagonal plates suspended in the air beyond the endless cliffs that descended into blackness.

“I am.” I replied back to my unlikely companion, the Renaultian assassin, Hikita, “If you want, you can take my hand.”

I extended my arm toward her.

She hesitated, but took my hand and followed after me as we crossed the enormous span between the Wanderer’s Plane and Virgo’s Coil of Ascendance.

“O’ Great Dark—No, I don’t have to pretend to follow some evil God any more. Oh, mighty Celestials, watch over me and protect me from falling into this terrible endless pit of darkness.”

Hikita’s thoughts rang in my ears as she failed to suppress herself.

I understood her worries, though. When I first crossed this impossible bridge, it was after enduring Mors for days—or whatever the aetherial equivalent was. Time passed differently here. Different from in the mortal realm, but it still passed nonetheless.

All I had to accompany me was existential dread and an angsty angel of death.

“This place we’re going to, ascendance something or other, you said it was very different than the place we just left?” Hikita asked, still gripping my hand tightly.

“Yep. It’s, uh, very green. Trees, grass, flowers. It’s got all kinds of life compared to the wasteland back there.”

We crossed the bridge quicker than I imagined we would. Being able to make out the shape of the pathway helped traverse it faster, or made it seem as if we did.

Small rolling hills of green disappeared under a sea of trees and tall grasses.

We followed Mors, who sped through Virgo's forests. Eventually, we came across our first field of crimson-tined lilies.

Hikita shuffled awkwardly behind me, but once she caught sight of the bright flowers—drifted off course.

“Oh, don’t touch those!” I cried in alarm.

Hikita reeled back, whipping her head to look at me.

“Sorry! They just looked so pretty…”

I breathed a sigh of relief, “Phew! They are pretty, but they’re also precious to Virgo. I don’t know the specifics, but I’m fairly certain those are related to the souls of my ancestors?”

I ended with a quizzical tone, looking to Mors—hoping for some insight.

“They are the heralds for the ones who came before. Housing for their weary souls to rest before embarking on the Goddess’ path once more.”

“Oh. Then I guess they aren’t just somehow related to my ancestors… they reside in them? Either way. Virgo probably won’t appreciate us touching them, and it feels weird that they’re supposed to be family.”

Hikita nodded nervously, and followed after us with a sad look as she glanced back at the blood- spider lilies.

Mors continued to silently guide us through the verdant groves until we reached a familiar marble platform sunk into the ground beset with pillars.

Unlike the last time I was here, where I was made to wait for an excruciatingly long time, Virgo was already awaiting us at the center of the white slab.

She turned toward us as the clouds overhead shifted. Rays of ethereal light danced across her, highlighting her predatory features.

Her eyes were fixed upon Hikita.

Mors bowed reverently, “I have escorted them as requested. If there is nothing else, I will return to my watch.”

Virgo waved Mors away and before I had the chance to say anything, Hikita stepped forward and bowed her head as well.

“O’ great Goddess Virgo, who oversees order and purity, the bestower of life, and the guardian of heroes, please hear our plight and aid us. We seek your wisdom and guidance. I believe the fate of my soul hangs in the balance and you’re the only one who can save me!”

I blinked.

It wasn’t too far off from the point I was going to make to Virgo, but I certainly wasn’t about to embellish it that way.

Order and purity?

My thoughts leaked out, and I received a side-eye from Virgo.

Her eyes narrowed, “Wisdom and guidance? How presumptuous that I would extend my aid to a mortal soul that reeks of void magick.”

When she spoke, her melodic voice felt heavy, as if her very presence applied a weighty pressure with every word, “So curious, this mortal girl. Prying into matters beyond her existence and exceeding her understanding. Do you not feel the weight of your insignificance in this grand realm?”

Ah. She’s grandstanding.

“I am not.” Virgo lashed at me, “Keep your stray thoughts to yourself. This one is simply an uninvited guest in my realm. Why should I act any way other than indignant?”

“If my thoughts could stay hidden, I’d gladly do so. But I don’t know how.” I shrugged.

A slithering mass of orange scales emerged from behind a cluster of trees and approached us. Capricorn lifted herself high on her tail, looming over Hikita and me.

Capricorn frowned, “I see that coming into divinity hasn’t improved your attitude much.”

I frowned back at her, “Oh, good. You’re in on it too?”

“The opposite actually,” she fumed, “and quite concerned at the implications of suddenly gaining a new demigod. Although, I must admit, if there were ever a time when we needed new blood, so to speak, it would be now.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Well, great. I guess?” I mused, “Virgo didn’t have the time to explain things well enough before. Now that I’m here, I should be owed some answers, seeing as I’m the one down there fighting void-beasts, soul-splitting assassins, and an evil king in some apparent plot designed by a rogue God.”

Hikita flinched at the mention of assassins.

I walked up the marble platform, past both Goddesses, and took a seat atop a crumbling pillar.

“So,” I continued, “can we cut the ‘how dare you enter my holy domain’ stuff and get this hashed out? From what I can tell, most of our problems down there are because somebody mishandled a problem up here.”

Virgo glared at me. Her eyes shifted like a storm of violet.

How unsettling, I mused in thought, knowing she’d hear me.

“Vita,” she called out, “be a dear and determine the extent of damage that has been inflicted on our guest here.”

There was a fluttering of wings and Vita descended, clad in her golden armor and light blue skirt. Her halo emitted a bright flash and Hikita was encased in a magickal sphere.

“Please be nice to her.” I asked.

Vita smiled back at me, “Of course, this is simply a precaution against void magick.”

An orange portal crackled to life beside us, and Capricorn looked at me expectantly.

“Well, whatever are you waiting for? Let us go hash out our problems.” Her mouth turned upwards, revealing her rows of sharp teeth.

“Like normal people, I hope. I’m not looking to be thrashed around in some stupid magick bubble this time.”

She placed a hand over her chest, “I wouldn’t do such a thing to an esteemed underling of mine. Oh, yes, that’s going to be a thing now, I suppose. You see, I’m the highest ranking Goddess around. So, you work for me.”

Capricorn had a grin that spread across her entire face. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I shook my head to refocus, “You say it like I haven’t been doing just that these last few months already.”

“Hmm,” she mused, “you have a point.”

I stepped through her portal and emerged in a room that looked awfully similar to how my sister kept hers back in Axio.

Vials of strange liquids were hanging from small wooden shelves. Odd metallic devices were strewn about tables and counters.

It all looked very human.

Certainly not the abode I would’ve pictured for a Goddess—but then again, I’m a Goddess now and I would pick this over living amongst the trees like Virgo.

“I don’t live amongst the trees, as you so inelegantly put it. I have a comfortable living space filled with the things I enjoy, the same as you or my sister. I just don’t make a habit of letting every stray mortal or wayward soul into my home.”

Virgo gave me another look, one that really brought home her current displeasure.

“Oh, come on,” I cried, “I was trying so hard to not have my thoughts bleed out that time. Is there a trick? How do I get my privacy back?”

Capricorn waved me off, “It just gets better with practice. Find a seat and get comfortable. I’m going to call my daughter so we can get started.”

Before I had a chance to ask which daughter she was talking about, a portal opened up along the ceiling and four figures came tumbling down.

Two messes of orange hair looked up at me from the ground just by my feet.

“Tomin? Strea?”

“Your Majesty.” Tomin was quick to respond with a bow, seemingly unfazed at his change in scenery.

Strea was a tad less collected, she rubbed a sore spot on her side and looked around, “Ow… what in the Aether?”

“Oh, whoops.” Capricorn said, “I didn’t expect her to be so close to others.”, looking down at the tangled mess of people.

Another portal opened, and everyone but Ikuye glowed with magick. They floated up off the ground and were flung one by one through the portal.

First, the guy whose name I didn’t remember. He was tossed mid-thought—wondering aloud some borderline rude remarks about the Goddesses.

Then Strea, who I felt sorry for since she still hadn’t gotten her bearings.

And last was Tomin—except… not?

Capricorn pulled her finger back and Tomin was carried over to us instead of through the portal.

“Ikuye, my beloved daughter, please explain to me what’s going on here?”

Ikuye jumped up, “Ooh! You see it too?”

“See what?” Both Tomin and I asked in tandem.

“She looks like one of my daughters.”

“He looks like one of my sisters.”

Capricorn paused, turning back to Tomin, “He?”

Tomin nodded awkwardly, “Last I checked, I was a man, yes.”

Capricorn slithered around Tomin, gesturing with her hands. A formation of sigils appeared around them as she cast a complex spell.

An inspection window appeared—the very same she’d used in the past to take a look at me in detail—and presumably everything that made up Tomin was displayed before her in Feyndirian runes.

Capricorn hummed and hawed while splitting interface windows apart.

She expanded one that showed what looked to be an anatomical mock-up of Tomin’s body.

“Huh. Weird.” she uttered in a low voice.

Tomin, still trapped in the air and illuminated by a faint glowing light, looked between the two of us, “What’s, uh, weird about me?”

“Probably nothing serious.” I tried to reassure him, “She’s just like this.”

“Nothing serious, she says,” Capricorn scoffed, “Look here.”

She pointed at the display along Tomin’s back.

“Why would some random mortal have the vestigial muscles for wings in the exact spot you’d see on my Alaetüs? I can’t tell if this is from some kind of atrophy or generations of disuse…”

“Wait, wait,” I clamored, “Are you suggesting Tomin is an Alaetüs, or the offspring of one?”

“As impossible as it would seem,” Capricorn muttered under her breath, “the proof is plain to see.”

“Impossible?” I asked.

“The Alaetüs are created in the image of our… well, we’ll get into that later. I cannot say with this one still within earshot,” she pointed at Tomin, “But, to boil it down simply, the Alaetüs were created as having a single gender. There is no possible way for them to procreate.”

Capricorn sounded definitive in her statement. She dismissed the dozen or so display windows hanging around her and Tomin.

“A mystery to be solved later. We have grave matters to discuss and I would be locked away for a long time studying this one if I got into now.”

Capricorn whisked Tomin towards the still open portal.

“Ah, Tomin,” I called out, “could you let everyone know I’m fine when you get back?”

“Will do, Your Majesty. Commander Julius was surprised when you just disappeared a few minutes ago. I’m sure they’ll be relieved to know it was just Goddess-related stuff and not some Renaultian plot.” Tomin saluted midair.

“When I… what? Disappeared? I’m not, ya’ know, lying on the ground dead?”

He tilted his head, “…not that I’m aware of?”

And then, Tomin was sucked through the portal.

I looked to both the Goddesses, “Wait, am I here physically?”

Capricorn flicked a finger and a small sigil appeared in the air, “Yes.”

“But, I haven’t been hungry or tired the whole time? It took days to—did Tomin say minutes ago?”

Capricorn just smirked, “Hunger and fatigue are mortal realm things. So is time, to an extent. You’ll get used to it eventually.”