Butterfly [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczON7vEXxCLU-ei1MBxhjmyTcJ4KAcfeuW-SssUx_mAokcsaVYbfliPZya3ClDmQHpUJOJK_0E6PeWM5-vU16HjO44quoR4jz9mielXaJ9H_tNnWSlBxnBLa9l-1JpZ1C_Q9xpPLBLB0vtM6ILvzo_eg=w613-h919-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
“Is that any way to greet me, my Chosen?” the deity said with a disapproving click of his tongue, “It’s been so long since we’ve spoken, after all.”
“Considering the last we spoke was when my parents died–”
“And I granted your wish for power–”
“You turned me into a monster!” Uriel shouted, his hold on Phoenix tightening, and she wished she could use her aura to soothe him like Saiya’s could.
“Careful,” the god said calmly, tapping his human-like ear, “Get too angry and your pitiful jewelry won’t be able to contain it.”
Phoenix glanced up to make sure the earrings were indeed in place and wondered what could possibly cause Uriel to get so mad that he broke the magic items.
“You wouldn’t want another death to be your fault, right?” Destroyer asked, taking a few steps closer.
Uriel moved her more, turning them to try and place his body between her and the approaching deity as he warned the god, “You’re not touching her. I’ll try to fight Kara just to give her a way to steal more power from you by killing me.”
“No!” Dazien quickly retorted, moving in front of them both, “Don’t, Senesh. He can’t force her. Please, calm down. Don’t let him play to your anger and fear.”
“Despite what you all may think, I’m not actually here to mark your precious Wayfarer… though, I’m sure it would be accepted,” he gestured to the sky before them filled with monster ash, “She causes such beautiful destruction already even without my influence.”
The handsome yet eerie deity turned slightly to meet her eyes as he added with a smile, “After all, she chose to fight instead of protect and heal others on the wall. So much more destruction caused by that choice. She may as well dedicate herself to me now.”
Phoenix looked at him in shock and horror at the accusation and rebuked, “By taking out those monsters, I stopped them from hurting more people!”
“Instead of portaling those people to safety or protecting them with your auras,” the deity took another step closer, causing Dazien to turn and stand beside them, “I’m not trying to make you upset, my lovely Princess. I’m quite pleased by your choices so far.”
Destroyer then looked to Uriel instead, raising a hand to lightly brush against the cinderen’s trembling cheek as he added, “Even reassuring my Chosen that he can live and use his abilities without the guilt that plagues him. I couldn’t have asked for better companions for him.”
“What do you want, if not to mark Phoenix?” Kara finally interjected angrily, her golden fur bristling and ears flattened, “I have a ship to destroy, so make this quick.”
“You are also lovely, my explosive champion,” the god said with a smirk, “But I believe you understand how much more damage will be caused if you try destroying that vessel where it is, not to mention that Obsidian Caster about to break out of your spell.”
The Paladin grimaced and said, “It will be less than if it keeps firing. You should be happy either way.”
“I learned long ago that becoming too greedy works against me,” Destroyer said with a soft sigh, “It is to my detriment to completely destroy the world because there would be nothing left to keep destroying. No more power to gain. Better to pace myself and create self-sustaining methods of destruction.”
Phoenix found herself both reassured and discomforted by that proclamation. Great that mutually assured destruction was being actively avoided, yet terrible that it inevitably resulted in more pain and loss.
“You’re still wasting my time,” Kara retorted, “If you’re not going to–”
“But I am planning to help,” the god interjected, “See, these interlopers threaten my existence as well. I don’t want this city completely gone, nor my Chosen to die with it. To save Uriel, I plan to help save the city by destroying our enemy entirely.”
“A miracle?” Rayna asked skeptically from behind the Wayfarer, “Are you hoping to trade a blessing for a mark of Favor on Phoenix.”
“No, I don’t think it’s needed. I’m merely going to offer information in exchange for a quest.”
“Information?” Phoenix asked, not understanding what the god could possibly say that would make them able to suddenly win.
“I’m going to teach you how to use that Soul Mark of yours,” the god said with a grin, “In exchange, the quest is simply to empower Kara Fairweather with it so she can obliterate the Soul Reapers.”
New Quest: Deal with the Destroyer
The Destroyer wishes to bargain.
Objective: Learn to use the power locked within your Soul Mark on Kara Fairweather.
Reward: Information and Title.
Objective: Help destroy the Soul Reaper vessel.
Reward: Sapphire Caste Spirit Gem
She blinked owlishly at her [Guide Book] in surprise and felt Uriel tense beside her, but when she looked at her friends, they all seemed just as confused as she was.
Glancing at Kara, however, showed a grimace that caused her to ask, “You know what he’s talking about?”
The voxen didn’t meet her eyes as the Paladin admitted, “Technically, yes. Though I wasn’t sure if you were capable of it yet at Crystal Caste.”
“All of the Chosen are capable of becoming one, but few ever live long enough to reach immortality and unlock the power. You don’t have to worry about that, however,” the god pointed out.
“Become one what?” she asked, hating these half-answers that were causing more questions.
“Well, that information depends on if you accept my quest.”
She looked between her book and Kara again, “Is it some kind of trick?”
The Paladin frowned, “Champion is still sleeping so I can’t confirm it, but I don’t think it is; despite my gut instincts not wanting to trust one of the Voidsworn’s gods. If the quest is just to help do what I was planning to do anyway, then I don’t see the downside.”
“There’s not one but a trade must be made or I have to pay something and I’d rather make the deal more favorable for me if that was the case,” the stingy deity replied.
Phoenix looked up at Uriel and gently tugged on his tunic to get his attention as it was still fixed upon Destroyer. He glanced down, and she asked, “Did he try to trick you when you made your deal like Trickster seemed to be?”
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Uriel frowned but shook his head, “No. He even made sure to clarify a bit of the limitations of what I would be getting. He didn’t give me the power to destroy my enemy immediately like I asked… he said I would be able to eventually.”
She turned back to the cold void black eyes of the god and said, “Fine. Information in exchange for helping Kara destroy the Soul Reaper ship. I accept your quest, so what will I become?”
“A Saint,” Destroyer replied with a grin, “An immortal Chosen of the gods that can channel their power into temporary miraculous blessings. Most can’t do this until Obsidian Caste when they gain immortality and have the strength to survive the potential backlash.”
“Backlash?” she asked, not letting something like that just slip by.
“Much like how us deities will suffer a backlash if our Chosen ones die, so too does a Saint should their blessed target die before the power is used up. Some Chosen have accepted that risk before hitting Obsidian and died because of it themselves… but again, that’s not an issue for you. At least not a permanent one.”
Phoenix’s mind reeled at the information, wondering if she could have used this hidden power sooner and why the gods had never told her before now… could she have done things differently before? Could she have saved Paul without Caging him?
“I should note, you can only bless people that are connected to one of the gods whose mark you bear,” Destroyer added, “You can bless Kara Fairweather because she is dedicated to the Champion,” he then gestured toward her best friend, “Uriel can even bless my own devoted, though I would rather he didn’t until he is immortal in his own right.”
“I will never bless your clergy,” Uriel retorted, and she readjusted to try holding his hand like Saiya would do for her.
“Not all of the people who follow me are like the ones you’ve met before,” Destroyer said before looking back to her and saying, “Now,” Uriel flinched at the word, and she wanted to growl at the smirking god, “To actually use that Soul Mark, you just need to touch the Paladin here and concentrate on the bond between you and Champion until you can sense that same bond connecting even further to the other clergy.
“It’s similar to how all of them can sense you as well. It would be easier if you actually dedicated yourself to said deity, but I don’t think any of us actually want you to do that, lest it not include one of us. A sort of ‘all or none’ kind of mentality there.”
“So I just have to focus on the bond connecting both me and Kara to Champion?” Phoenix clarified with a raised brow.
“Then just focus on pushing the power of one of your gods into her with the base concept of what you want it to do. In this case, to help her destroy the ship.”
“One of my gods?” she asked, “Not Champion’s?”
“Well, it works better if the concept of what you want the blessing to do matches the concept of the deity you’re pulling from,” he gave a wicked smile, “In this instance, my own concept would work best.”
“Or mine,” another voice said from nearby as the feeling of divinity intensified and Phoenix had to nudge Dazien out of the way to clearly see the god she actually recognized.
Hero stood there, arms crossed over his leather armor, as he smiled at her. The short pink hair was just as bright as she remembered and contrasted with the brilliant blue eyes that glowed as brightly as the rest of him.
“I think you’ve done enough heroics to warrant using my power for this,” the newcomer said, “And it won’t make you feel pressured into accepting Destroyer’s Favor if that’s not what you truly desire.”
“You’re not going to tell me not to accept it if he offered?” she asked curiously.
“No,” the deity replied, surprising most of them. “Heroes often have to destroy things in order to save others. Mostly themselves.”
“I’m not sure if I should be relieved or worried when you put it like that,” Phoenix grumbled, causing Hero to chuckle softly.
“I’m grateful that you don’t want her to feel like she has to sacrifice a piece of her soul to the Destroyer in order to help others,” Dazien said suddenly, surprising her with the weird intensity he seemed to be giving off as he seemed to stare angrily at the god.
Then his question made her understand why that was, “Why didn’t you offer Uriel the same in his hour of need? When he had lost all hope.”
Hero frowned at Dazien before replying softly, “He didn’t ask for the power to help others… He had that strength of conviction already but he asked for the power to destroy everyone, which is not my purpose.”
The sound of a nearby tower collapsing interrupted the conversation as Kara moved to grab Phoenix’s hands from Uriel’s and said firmly, “We’ve wasted too much time already. Focus on me and Champion and grant Hero’s blessing to me. Then go help evacuate more people with your party. I can’t guarantee that the ship won’t create more destruction upon the city and I’d rather keep your party alive.”
Phoenix nodded, closed her eyes, and concentrated as best she could, but it was difficult to block out the screams, additional explosions, and the sound of glass shattering. A warm hand sent a tingle of magic across her as it grabbed her shoulder, and she heard Hero’s voice whisper into her ear, “I’ll help guide you.”
It was like unlocking an Aspect ability. She could feel Hero guiding her intuition to grasp the bond linking her soul to Kara’s through the Champion, then tugged at her own connection with Hero to grant Kara just a trickle of the Divine power into a temporary status effect.
Status Effect: Divine Supernova of the Hero
Effects:
* You can expend this power to create an explosion of magic centered on you.
* Inflicts Arcane, Fire, Light, and Radiant damage to nearby enemies and specifically targeted structures.
* Heals nearby allies and grants them a temporary shield from all damage types for a short duration.
Then she felt a different one settle upon her in turn.
Status Effect: Twist of Fate
Effects:
* Until [Divine Supernova of the Hero] is expended by Kara Fairweather, your life is bonded to hers, resulting in shared death.
Then she got another few messages from her book floating nearby that she hadn’t been expecting and wasn’t entirely sure she was grateful for.
Quest: Deal with the Destroyer
Objective complete: Became a Saint by blessing Kara Fairweather.
You have gained a new Title.
Hidden Objective Complete: Don’t use Destroyer’s power.
Bonus Reward: [Sigil of the Hero] has been added to your collection.
New Divine Title: Saint of the Celestial Pantheon
Your aura has been slightly modified by unlocking the power of your Soul Mark. The ability to grant divine blessings can be sensed within it. Your aura has greatly increased effects when under the effects of [Twist of Fate].
Note: You have used the power contained within one of your Soul Marks. You cannot call upon Hero’s power again for one year unless otherwise replenished.
Kara gave her a feral grin and vanished in a flash of light almost immediately, leaving her with her party and the pair of gods who were now off to the side from them, discussing something that she definitely couldn’t hear and doubted any of her party members could if the deities didn’t want them to know.
“We should go help others now,” Dazien finally broke the silence for all of them. Placing his own hand where Hero’s had been a moment before, he said gently to her, “I’m sure you’re still feeling exhausted, but can you still conjure portals for people to get to the World Tree where it’s safer?”
She nodded weakly, stumbling slightly as she tried to walk forward and accepting Uriel’s arm as he caught her, “Sorry, that felt like all the gods got handsy with my soul all at once. I think my mana’s technically okay now, though.”
“Aren’t you gods wasting your precious power by having projections still here, or do you have more business with Phoenix now that the Champion’s Paladin is gone?” Rayna asked with a slight growl as she addressed the pair of gods.
“We had things to discuss, my excitable Shatterer,” Destroyer replied with a smirk, “We cannot enter each other’s sanctuaries, so here is as good a place as any.”
“We shall be departing now,” Hero said, then nodded towards the Wayfarer as he added, “You’ve been doing okay so far, but you are more than what you believe, Phoenix Wayland. Just remember that relying on your friends is not a weakness, and sacrificing your life is not always heroic. If you manage to survive this battle, then you have my congratulations on reaching the Sapphire Caste.”
Before she could reply, the god had vanished in the blink of an eye. Destroyer gave a small sigh before turning to her and saying, “If you do decide you need my expertise for something, don’t hesitate to offer my place among your Soul Mark. This blood moon and war have given me plenty of power to spend, and I hope that my efforts here have proven that I, for one, am not always the monster I’ve been made out to be.”
His gaze slid over to Uriel as he added before vanishing as well, “Even my Chosen children can become beautiful butterflies that destroy the chrysalis holding them back. I’m looking forward to you becoming a Saint one day as well, my wonderful Annihilator.”
Then they were all engulfed in a brilliant swirl of rainbow light as Kara became a supernova.