“Now, none of that,” Sandra said, turning to give me a dirty look. “Darius has an excuse for that kind of language.”
Naked and lying on the ground, all I could do to that response was blink confusedly.
“Why is that?” Beld asked as he held an irritated-looking Denda closer to his body. Her dagger was still very much on display as she eyed the large red-dressed goddess.
With a curious sounding hum, the large woman turned back to the pair of still recovering gods before she said, “Darius is the Arcane Crafter.”
I could hear the capital letters in his name. He wasn’t someone who crafts with the arcane; he was “Darius, the Arcane Crafter.” My new divine instincts were speaking loud and clear about the difference. My new instincts were a great deal easier to understand than my old Dungeon Core instincts. They felt far more natural, like my human instincts. No thinking or interpretation was required. They simply urged me one direction or another, informed me of something, or were silent. The difference was marked, but I hadn’t really noticed that until now.
Sandra’s declaration had both of the others calming down and nodding in understanding. At my further confused head tilt, Denda snickered and answered my questioning look.
“Divine Domains shift and alter us to fit the expectations of our worshipers. Crafters are known for being easily annoyed, distracted, overly focused, and less people-oriented; those who work with the arcane - at least in a research or crafting capacity - even more so. With a combined Domain like that?” she said, then shook her head, “we are lucky he noticed us at all. We generally try to let things go when they come from quirks of a god’s Domain.”
Strangely, they did seem to be less angry. Denda still had an annoyed look, sort of like what a cute kitten would have after being woken from sleep. Not that I would either mention it or believe she was ever as harmless as a kitten. Beld, her new husband, might have been made of a mass of swirling shadows. However, he still managed to convey his annoyance while carefully hugging his petite wife.
Swirling her red dress about her knees playfully, Sandra clapped her hands and said, “Right! Altogether then!”
The strange plummeting sensation when Darius yanked me from the Hall of the Gods repeated, this time strangely in reverse. There was a lateral shift, then pressure seemed to build and drive us - out. My sense of the Dimensions told me that we had only moved a few feet in actual distance. It was barely a step, but along a direction that was conceptual and built of essence rather than directional. To my divine senses, it felt like someone pumped me full of essence and pushed me through a keyhole into the realm of the gods, rather than any kind of normal movement.
Staggering at the odd movement, I tried to brace but only managed to sprawl on the not-ground in a naked heap. Everywhere I looked, I could see surprised gods and goddesses. Their staring was filled with far more confusion than the last time I was here. My nakedness was apparently worthy of less staring than Sandra was. Holding her hands close together with a look of joy, Sandra reached outward with her essence and forced gods and goddesses to appear. One after another, surprised gods and goddesses popped in around the hall, some mid-word or even movement.
For the most part, they all appeared roughly humanoid, though there were exceptions. My eyes were drawn to the swirling watery mass of a deep blue liquid shaped most often as a humanoid. However, the face and form shifted from male to female, human to an orc, dwarf to a sea creature. Another was a solitary tree, wide limbed and unmoving. The final goddess to stand out from the crowd was a small, dirty, and messy creature. Hunched and curled up, her blackened nails curved under while sharp teeth shone in a beautiful face twisted in a sneer. Despite her hunched posture, I could tell she was lithe and smooth of form, and it was only her position and the dirt that hid her sublime form. There was something attractive about the creature, despite the grime and the apparent signs of aggression. When she appeared, the crowd flinched and drew back, giving her space and sideways looks of shame and sadness. Despite the sudden circle of open floor-space, the hunched goddess made no move and seemed to ignore all around her. The only one to break the edge of the circle and approach was Vis, the little goddess of Whispers and the recently formed daughter of Denda and Beld.
Sneaking through the surrounding forest of divine legs, Vis slipped past the others then whispered to the feral-looking goddess. The hunched creature ignored the words that were muffled and strangely hushed, but the further hunching of her back made it clear she had heard what no one else had. Message delivered, Vis slipped back to the waiting arms of her mother and father.
“Right, that bit of drama aside. I am Sandra, Goddess of Life and Creation!”
There were no flashes of light or grand pronouncements from the heavens, no pressure of divine will. Instead, there was a single word spoken from the crowd that caused in-drawn breath.
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“Truth.”
The crowd returned to silence, but there was a palpable tension from the group now that was absent before that single word.
Sandra dropped her hands from where she had held them before her, her dress swaying gently side-to-side as she playfully twisted her hips and let the fabric sway. Disturbingly, I realized that the dress was not made from silk as I had first assumed. The slick and shiny material was a liquid - a crimson dress held to her form through divine essence. With a disturbing chill, I knew what the dress was made from. It was a dress formed from flowing blood, brimming with life and held to her body through pure willpower.
“I created this universe many eons ago, and it is still mine. Darius, the Arcane Crafter, made a deal with me to clean up this and another universe of mine for two debts owed to him,” Sandra said. The announcement of debts caused an uncomfortable look on the gathered faces of the divine.
Seeming to nod at that look, Sandra continued, “I will have to leave shortly. I was only allowed to enter this universe when he did. It was part of our agreement that only his Divine Tools; his System and Dungeon Cores, would be allowed to interfere. We wouldn’t want to have any minor gods or goddesses from my future pantheon escape through the dimensions into another universe, now would we?” Sandra asked, her words sounding threatening, but the tone was different. Suggestive, almost conspiratorial.
“Just to let you know. I plan to rule with an iron fist. In the future, I will control everything, forcing your domains to develop as I wish and torturing anyone who resists my rule!” Sandra said with a happy smile.
Again, her words were frightening, disturbing even, but her tone and body language didn’t match. If anything, she seemed to be sharing a secret with new compatriots. By the growing look of surprise on the other gods’ faces, that was precisely the message.
Glancing up and to the side toward something invisible, Sandra smiled, then turned her face back to the crowd.
“It looks like my agreement with Darius will require me to leave soon. I can’t tell you how proud I will be to work with you in the future and force you under my heels. By the look of this universe, it will be a few thousand years before I’m back, but I’ll ruthlessly rule you then. Goodbye!” Sandra said with a cheerful voice before she faded from existence, this time in yet another new direction. This one was overlapping, almost beside and on top of the physical dimensions I was used to. It was nearly a layering of flavor rather than a direction.
Despite the conceptual, non-physical nature of the Hall of the Gods, the gathered divinity released an audible sigh of breath as the tension left the room with the exit of the large, scary goddess. The only one seemingly unmoved was the tree and the dirty, hunched goddess who was still being given a wide berth.
Denda was still leaning against her shadowy husband, though now she just appeared to be cuddling rather than frightened huddling from before. When the blood-dressed goddess disappeared, Denda smiled and strutted forward to be center stage as the other gods watched.
“Well, that went well. I was worried at first, but that went better than we could have expected!” Denda said with a smile to a gathering of smiles and nodding.
Scrambling from the ground, I couldn’t help but sputter at her audacity. Though I took pleasure in the fact that I had legs to scramble with and lips to sputter, I was still concerned about my nakedness. My outburst had Denda giving me a confused look, but then a giant grin crossed over her face.
“Sorry, Dale, God of Space. I forgot that you are new and what that must have seemed like to you. She wasn’t threatening us, well, she was, but she was trying to make us aware of a plan without actually saying it. Her agreement likely restricts her from saying anything directly. But, her agreement wouldn’t restrict us. Now, would it?” Denda said with a smile as if that was answer enough to my concerns.
Waving my arm as if to wipe away her argument, I said, “She threatened to torture us!”
Snorting, Beld moved up to mirror his wife as he spoke, taking her once again into his arms where she snuggled in.
“Torture is nothing. She threatened to direct our Domains!” Beld said, his tone failing to convey fear or uncertainty.
The entire time we spoke, the rest of the gods simply watched interestedly. Only the feral-looking woman moved, slinking toward me with a sideways shuffle on clawed hands and feet, her eyes peering through her hair as she approached. Despite the apparent hostility and unnatural movements, my new divine instincts insisted that she was no threat. When she took up a position beside me and staring down the gathered gods, I gave her a side-eyed look but said nothing.
Denda ignored the hunched woman’s movements, but I was very aware of her existence. Despite the mass of gods and goddesses arrayed in front of us, I knew only a few of them would be a match. Denda and Beld were powerful, but they didn’t press on the world like the feral girl, and the little bald man with the book did. Strangely enough, I felt like I was in some way like them and less like the halfling goddess and her shadowy man. Even Vetta, the Goddess of Light and Order - who my divine instincts insisted I still owed a deal - only felt swollen with essence and the power of her worshipers. She felt…lesser.
Shaking my head, I pulled on my divine essence. I yanked on the world and pulled it tight. My power stretched and formed the dimensions into overlapping layers of space and draped my form with a cloak as pitch black as the space between the stars. No, not like the space between the stars. It was the space between the stars spun thin to clothe me in a fabric as delicate as silk and vast as eternity.
Staggering from the use of my new power, I shook myself then stood tall. Essence flooded into me, my minor pool of power refilling near instantly. My sudden recovery drew looks of surprise from the watching divinities, and I could feel as some checked to be sure I hadn’t captured their worshippers. They reached with their essence across the dimensional divide into the world, touching their faithful.
Denda very obviously checked out my new clothes, her grin still playing across her face. With a cock-sure look, she crossed her arms and said, “So, do you think you are ready to help us escape?”