Chapter 114: Chapter 114

Morgan watched the star-god teleport away with a smirk. It was absolutely hilarious to watch the elemental girl and her budding cult crumble beneath the weight of their failure; desperation swirling about those who truly followed her coloring their hearts with inky grey mist, utter shock filling the souls of those who truly believed her blatant lies.

“How pitiful.” Morgan growled, standing. The first syllable alone drew the attention of all the worshippers. They turned slowly, having never noticed its presence despite it being here the entire time. Every footfall sent their blood draining from their faces, realization dawning upon the fools that it had never once lost sight of them despite their pathetic attempts of hiding their ritual, of trying to deny its influence. They had given themselves willingly to the Shadow. They could not back out now, not without severe consequences. “I told you this would happen, did I not? Call me all the names you like, but never call me a deceiver. I reveal.” Morgan stepped forward again, the cultists parting before it like water. It scowled at them, at their timidness.

A tool should not fear the one who wields it. Only obey.

“Y-you…” the elemental fool, Terra, started. Morgan whirled upon her, a snarl half-formed.

“Xing Wu, at least, I begrudgingly respect. He had the will to stand before me. He has the strength to have earned his arrogance. I would still slay him in a moment were it not for the Great One’s will. You? You cling to his mantel like insects, begging for scraps and believing it just. He, blasphemous though it is, earned the respect of the Heavens. Earned his place in the stars. What have you done?” The words spilled from Morgan’s mouth like poison, meant to be lies it told itself, yet ringing with an unfortunate amount of truth. Morgan did somewhat respect Xing Wu, because it had come to understand what he was.

He was a sliver of Statera Luotian, of the Heavens. The Warrior, in a different name and form, just as Inesa was the Mother, in a different body and mind. Not all of the pillars had a direct mirror to the Great One’s past, but those two did. And that, at least, the Shadow could begrudgingly respect; even if they were pale echoes of true greatness.

“I will answer your question for you. Nothing. All the lies you have spouted, all the lies you have come to believe, they have fallen flat because they lacked true conviction. All good lies have slivers of truth to them. And what will you do now? Go skulking back to your caves, hiding away, trying desperately to build up strength?” It sat before them, spider legs still, eight eyes remaining perfectly calm as it watched them all. Waiting. Letting its words sink in.

“We will never bow to you. Our one true lord is Dei!” one man countered weakly. The Shadow scoffed. Then promptly incinerated the man, a cloud of miasma melting his bones in an instant, his soul drifting up to reenter the Spirit River.

“When you came to me, I made it clear that you are not to speak back to me, without express permission. Anyone else?” The Shadow explained calmly, lifting one paw to lick with mundane casualness. No one stirred and Morgan bared its teeth, pleased. “That was a direct question. Speak.”

“You are not giving us a choice.” One said.

“You came to me. I will do with my tools as I wish, but I have not use for tools that do not listen. You may run, or flee, but my Realm is not such a kind place. You will not get far.” Morgan drawled. “Unless, of course, you are Xing Wu. Which…” it trailed off, looking at them pointedly.

“What…what do you want from us?”

“Everything.” It let the word hang there for a moment, savoring the looks on their faces. “In exchange for power. You came to me, yes. I gave you sanctuary, yes. I gave you a taste of power, yes. But you have yet to fully commit yourselves. Your eyes have lost the path. I will not show it to you. You will walk it, all the same.”

“Power…to resist Heaven?” The elemental girl asked.

“Resist? You fool, no! The Heavenly Dao is the only reason I fight. It is the only good and true thing in this damnable world. The rest, the physical touch, your fleeting so-called immortality, your paltry power, is naught but falsities. The Heavenly Dao is too damn kind to shatter your illusions. I am not.” Morgan laughed pointedly, drawing it out so they could feel exactly how it felt about that notion, down to their very bones. “No, you will be working to save the Heavens. There is a Tree I have set aside, specifically for you. You will take it over. You will rule it. But your entire soul will be mine.”

“You’re giving us a Tree?”

“Was anything I said a question?” Morgan drawled slowly, spidery limbs raising threateningly. It would not kill the speaker, but a point had to be made, and it did get a bit of satisfaction from their reaction to its threat. The woman in question backed off immediately, which was kind of disappointing. Morgan still had the desire to do something to them. Maybe not stab. That was…unsatisfying. “But no. I am not giving you anything. I am using you to take a Tree.” Morgan bared its teeth as it stood. “You may do as you wish to it, but it will be mine. Grow your little sects. Plant your roots. But know that I control you, and it.”

Morgan watched as the seeds of doubt bloom within them. And it grinned as wide as possible, knowing that all of its manipulation efforts were paying off, as the first one stepped forward and offer it his soul.

They were now the Shadows, down to every inch.

Now, it could truly help the Great One on Their journey once again, after far too long stuck without a purpose.

“Morgan is plotting something.” I complained, laying down tracts of formation between regions. It went far faster when I personally did it, but moving it along too fast was also a no-no. It meant putting undue stress upon the region itself, not letting the space develop and heal around the formation. Inesa looked up from where she’d been helping me, the brown-haired goddess tilting her head to the side cutely as she processed my words.

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“Only you could say that like it was a minor inconvenience, not something completely terrifying.” She told me. I smiled serenely at her, putting my hands on my hips and giving her my best ‘chiding mother’ look.

“Oh, Morgan’s just a puppy with an overgrown sense of aggression. Its really kind of endearing once you get past all the snarling and huffing and puffing. Like a teenager, perpetually stuck in their rebellious phase. That somehow manages to still want to help me?” I cocked my head to the side as I tried to reconcile my metaphor. Morgan was a far simpler creature than I made it seem, at least from my position. Inesa giggled at me and shook her head again, hair tossing about her head in waves.

“You’re such a dork.” She said. I puffed my chest up proudly. I did try.

On my arm, the destruction snake hissed, clearly distressed at having been ignored for too long. I scratched its chin, smiling at it. It was certainly starting to become a better child now, wasn’t it? Far more well behaved. It didn't even scare Randus anymore! We were making such good progress.

“The real question is how Solana is going to react to what Morgan is plotting. How its treated the target of her revenge. I suspect that will finally push her over the edge to become a god, and reclaim her spot as a Pillar.” I continued, absently pulling at a bit of the snake's destructive fire, playing with it like it couldn't just destroy creation. Inesa said nothing at that, head bowed as she continued her work, but I could see the little bit of doubt and fear swirling within her like a grey mist.

It was understandable. Though most beings considered her the Goddess of Hearth and Home, as that was the state of mind she most closely lived, she was primarily the Goddess of Light. Someone born from Sol’s original death, when he betrayed the Realms and tried to kill Gilles. The idea of Sol rising again surely worried her some – I didn’t have to peer through her to be able to tell that. I dusted my hands on my robes and strode over to her, kneeling and laying a hand on her shoulder.

Her questioning gaze met mine. It wasn’t just doubt there, it was fear. Of something else entirely; but that fear was hers. Get full chapters from NoveI~Fire.net

“What troubles you so?” I asked softly.

She worked her mouth a little, trying to come up with an answer. But Inesa, bless her heart, had never been a good liar.

“I – Sol is – what if he, she now, hasn’t changed? What if she tries to take, I mean…” she trailed off, light spilling from her fingers as she fretted. The light of the Realm Sun and Lunar Star shone down upon us, the godly forms within stirring. The destruction snake, wrapped around my arm as it was, snapped at the rays of light, destroying a few in curiosity.

“She has changed. What she was, she can never be again. Such is true of all of us.” I told her firmly. Perhaps a powerful god of time could make it so, but not me. That went against every fiber of my being. “You are not in any danger from her, nor will she be able to take any place of yours. Her pride will not allow her to become the goddess of something that already has another. She must be the first of her kind.” Inesa smiled a wobbly, shaky smile at me, and leaned forward for a hug. “Besides, I will protect you.” I said, hugging her back, squeezing her tightly.

“Thank you.” She said, relaxing in my embrace. Something clicked within her as she pulled away, a decision make manifest, and she immediately went back to laying the inter-regional formation lines, eager to get it done. I couldn’t lie, I was as well.

“Always.” I told her. “Always.”

Alexander had no idea how Sehuyun’s universe ran, nor even the purpose of the gods within it. Everything was scattered to the wind, nothing made sense, but he supposed that was the nature of true chaos. Everything changed and shifted constantly; there was no telling how long anything would last. The only thing that really hung onto his attention – besides the Primeval Dragon herself – was a single little god that did not take the form of a reptile, or ball of flame, or bundle of scales that Sehuyun had tried to force into becoming a dragon.

This god took the form of a man.

Not a Fae, but a three-eyed man. He wore silver robes and had green hair. His eyes were dark, black as the night sky. Purple dragon scales dotted his pale skin. He walked with surety of purpose and pride, skin as pales as moonlight and soul as strong as the sun. He was nothing Sehuyun could have ever intentionally made.

“He was an aftershock of my fight with your Parent.” Sehuyun said as they lay on her nest, observing the world as it flowed by. The godling strode through the skies freely, never looking Sehuyun in the eyes to avoid provoking her, and always absorbing all that was around him. He had suspected as much. While Father’s power did not exist within the being, he could see the influence. Whatever the fight between them had left, it had created something new. He could see the balanced approach the godling took to absorbing energy, twisted though it was by Sehuyun's own personality - but not necessarily in a bad way. Merely different. Alexander rumbled in acknowledgement.

“He is going to rise up to kill you, if you do not change your tactics on raising these children.” Alexander whispered. He could already see it, though it was only a shadow of an image. The man had been made a warrior, for he was born of a battle between the Heavens and a true Dragon. The godling was neither of those things. He was probably the closest thing to a Shadow this world ever had – with Sehuyun being the true Shadow. This would be the consequences of her own actions.

“I cannot change what I am, any more than you can, or he can.” Sehuyun rumbled. “But make no mistake, my fate has a far sooner turning point than when that fool gains enough power to challenge me.” Alexander turned to her, eyebrows raised. Sehuyun bared her teeth, excitement flashing in those coal orange eyes of hers. He didn’t need to ask the question. “My fight with your father will determine everything.”

Alexander closed his eyes and breathed out, his heart panging at the idea. Having spent some time with Sehuyun, he knew of what she spoke.

“When the Four Realms survives your clash with the One World, that godling there will be what draws my realm and yours together, connected as he is to Statera Luotian. It is already in motion, and cannot be stopped. I do not wish it to stop. And when we collide, we will fight.” She declared. There was no worry or fear in her voice, only excitement.

“Why?” Alexander asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Because a dragon cannot bear to live under a sky in which it is not its own sovereign.” Sehuyun bared her teeth. “Statera Luotian and I will fight, and it will be glorious. And whoever comes out on top will be lord of all creation.”

“Father will not want it.”

“I do not care. He will fight when I give him no other choice. We understand each other like that.”

Alexander heaved a sigh and turned his gaze back out at the swirling primordial chaos, and the godlings Sehuyun was trying so hard to raise. But, inevitably, his gaze drifted back to her, watching her closely. For all her flaws, for all her brashness and violence…she was beautiful. It was nothing but a shame for the multiverse to lose a being like her. Beings who were so unapologetically themselves were far, far too rare in Alexander’s opinion. Even those who claimed to be so were often not, hiding behind that façade. It made Alexander envious.

He didn’t even know what his own breath was.

But, more importantly, it made him consider the future. There was time left still. And Father may yet find a way to solve Sehuyun’s perceived problem…no.

He, himself, had time to figure it out. Is this love? He wondered, an odd feeling constricting his chest, just above his heart, when he thought of Father and Sehuyun clashing. With a self-deprecating chuckle he rose to his full height.

“Come.” He told her. “We have much to discuss before I have to leave. Our time is not yet short, but I do wish to spend it productively.” Sehuyun grumbled and rose, primordial chaos falling from her scales like water.

“Then show me.” She said, eyes locking on to his, challenging him. He bared his own teeth. And he did.