RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

4:36 There You Are

The words were coming faster now. We all could feel it. Which was why this meeting I was being forced to attend was heartbreaking. The portal sat directly to my left as I sat cross-legged before the Four Realms and the universe my children were creating, swirling ominously, oh so ominously. Greens and purples twirled in the depths of the portal, beckoning me, while Mr. Boxes' message hung in front of my face as if to mock me. I had read it a dozen times already, informing me of the meeting between those involved in the next collision."I know," I muttered slowly, swiping away the box, only for it to immediately reappear. "Let me just get this next word out of them, and then I'll go." The Oshun stood just beside me, looking far better than she had when she’d first woken up, but still a little hollow. Her auburn hair rustled in a non-existent wind, her dress rippling merrily, beautifully.

"Take your time," she urged softly, hands folded before her. "The meeting with Sehuyun can wait. This is, frankly, more interesting and important." I agreed, but knew how pressing this meeting was. Sehuyun wouldn't wait. I could feel her eagerness, her anticipation, even through the portal. It was all-consuming, an apex predator breathing down the back of my throat, waiting for me to turn and face it so it could die a warrior's death. Then Elvira said her next [Word], drawing me away.

"[Free]." Elvira said slowly, emphatically, putting as much as she possibly could in the word. It was a subtle thing this time, all internal, so it didn't pull on me as much, but the results were no less important.

Her solid, sort-of hollow, structurally supportive universal creation, illuminated by tiny little specks of light within each individual room, suddenly loosened. Not flowing or free like Alexanders, or constantly shifting like Reika's, or even pulsing like Keilan's. The interior simply became...more free.

The exterior remained the same. Strong. Solid. I would bet, in time, even able to withstand the gnawing of the Void when it matured more. But the interior was...loose, now. No longer so structured. Free. Free for those within, those who would be within the safety of the walls, to move about and build and make things as they desired. She had built a literal home for her future, and allowed the internals to be free for them, not a hovering, restrictive presence, but a safety net.

Warmth bloomed within me at her decision, the smile dancing on her lips as she worked, at Gilles, who watched from the safety of the Four Realms with a device I had specifically given to him so he could watch over his wife.

Warmth that soon faded, as I watched something else happen.

Something fell at her feet. A little piece of her, that the word [Free] shook loose. My eyes narrowed and I leaned forward, watching as some holdover from long ago, back when she'd been just a girl and had been trying to control everyone - no. I looked closer. I really looked, and realized, with a shock, it was a crown.

Literally. A crown of burnished gold that fell down, down, merging with the structure of her universe and vanishing all together. She had...she had given up her crown. The metaphorical crown that had led her to rule the Heaven Realm, in order to make this universe and become something else entirely. My eyes widened further, as if that were possible, as the Authority within Elvira bloomed, filling the space the crown had left behind in her soul, branching out a like a tree to run through her limbs and everything else ,slowly, almost like a fungus, infecting each and every cell in her body.

Her divinity drank it up like water in the desert, while her Shadow, the crown itself, remained hidden away.

"What do you see?" The Oshun asked.

"You didn't see it?" I turned to her briefly, raising an eyebrow, then turned my attention to the other three, who were building up their next words. "I just watched Elvira make her Shadow." I said softly, hands clenching against my robes. The Oshun stiffened slightly, turning her full attention and scanning Elvira's creation for it. She, however, just...didn't see it. I was watching her for her reaction, reading the emotion within her with my Truesight, and even looking for the Shadow myself. It was too late. The Shadow was already hiding. Even I could barely make out the hints of it.

A very big part of me wanted to stand. To walk out there and help my children, highlight the Shadows for them so they could see it - and I almost did. Every fiber of my being bid me stand, I rose to my feet, and -

[No.]

I stared at Mr. Boxes message. I knew he was right. I knew it. My breath hissed out from between my teeth as Keilan spoke his next word, similarly soft and subtle, like Elvira’s had been.

"[Time.]" He said. The effects were subtle, once again. Each pulsing of the nodes he had created, connected by thin strands, began to tick like a clock to my ears. It was a trick of the mind, I figured out rather quickly, but what it did was give everything within his universe a connection beyond physical proximity. He accepted something within himself that I, personally, rejected.

A piece of his soul didn’t break off, the way it had Elvira. Instead, it expanded, and the gap made created the Shadow. I barely caught sight of it, a fleeting thing, hardly even a shadow of a thought, but there. It was formless, indistinct, so unlike Elvira's which I saw and nearly understood from the moment I had borne witness to it. Keilan's was yet to decide what it would be, just a shape in the dark. Perhaps that was the point of it. A shadow of a thought.

His soul writhed, authority blooming so like Elvira's had, filling in the new gap made as Keilan shivered, struggling to accept it. His bat-like wings flared, domain of Connection shuddering as if it was trying to decide whether to remain that or grow into something entirely new.

I turned my attention to Reika, who was content for the moment, watching everything work.

"[rest]." she said, and it was no simple rest, like mine had been - or perhaps mine had been the same, and I didn't realize it. Her entire universe shuddered, relaxing a bit from the constant motion it had been in; changing from pure movement and aggression, to understanding the benefit of rest. Allowing it to heal, cracks that had been forming in the madness healing, and coming back stronger for it. There was no shadow this time.

Nor was there one for Alexander, who watched his universe expand with a careful eye. "[Spirit]." He said, and this made me lurch. It wasn't just spirits he wanted, which split his realm in two, one layered over the other just like the Spirit Realm in the Four Realms, but true, Spirit. The Warrior Spirit, the Draconic Spirit, it was desire and ambition and everything else.

It was his spirit, the spirit of a dragon, and that did not create a shadow.

"Mr. Boxes," I breathed, forcing myself to relax. "Thank you." There was, predictably, no acknowledgement of my thanks -

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[You do not need to thank me. Nor do you need to apologize for being what you are.]

I read that a few times, feeling oddly content with the reprimand. I still felt bad for snapping at him, but, well. He, of all beings, probably understood.

Now, however, I needed to walk away. Mr. Boxes was right. I needed to let my children do their thing, have faith that they would and could handle it, and, more importantly, let them grow without me hovering over their shoulders all the time. They were baby birds leaving the nest. I had to let them fly.

Gods, that was a little cheesy. Now it was really time to go.

"Let’s go," I told the Oshun, turning to the portal. She glanced once at my kids, raising an eyebrow in askance. "Mr. Boxes is right. I need to step away, and let them do this. Come on, let's get going." She didn't argue, pausing only once to look back at the One World. She wouldn't be leaving, not yet, but she would we sending feelers out for who might be willing to take her in, so she could heal away from where all the pain had been caused.

Then, she stepped into the portal, and I followed.

I was met immediately by smoke and fire. The room was completely different from what it had been before; a thick black smoke filled the room, orange embers burning along the once-white walls of the meeting room.

Within, were only four beings, two of whom I had not been expecting.

Shin, the skeletal god of the Cycle, sat in his chair. His robes were tattered, the flames in his eye sockets flickering oddly, his hands steepled before his face. Black smoke curled from out of his robes, like always, keeping the smog at bay.

Reilly sat there, too, lounging in a chair, sipping on his gourd of alcohol. The beggar deity's eyes met mine and he flashed me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, reaching up to put out a flame burning in his hair with two fingers.

Then, there was The Emperor. The imperial deity, the God Emperor, gold-skinned and muscular and sporting a brand-new scar along his jaw, sat in his throne. He met my eyes, gaze flicking once to the Oshun, and inclined his head ever so slightly.

Then, and only then, did I meet the gaze of the one being I had been expecting above all others.

Sehuyun lounged on the edge of her portal, black scales glowing orange with power. The smoke that filled the room poured from between her teeth, the furnace that was her soul igniting the very air, setting it to smoldering. She fixed me with a look, baring her teeth in a gleeful, ferocious grin.

I looked away, folding my hands behind my back and approaching my chair, stamping down the Spirit Alexander had roused within me.

It had always been a chair. The chairs had minor changes for everyone who sat in them, for comfort, like Sehuyun with her lack of a chair. Or perhaps there was a cushion beneath her bulk. Yet today, mine looked a little different. Perhaps more cloud-like. I sat in it regardless, and with a wave of my hand, cleared the air around me, the Oshun sitting in a chair that appeared beside me.

"We have much to talk about," I said.

"Understatement of the eons." The Emperor rumbled, laying his hands on the table. "I was informed of what happened, the collision, but the specifics escape me. The Overgod was not that forthcoming with information, just the general gist. What is the relationship between you and the Oshun, now? She is one being now, correct?"

"Yes, I am," the Oshun replied. "The specifics are quite simple, actually. The One World was collapsing, and Statera Luotian is the one holding it together." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. That was a very...beneficial way for her to put it.

"I heard there was a war." Reilly drawled, eyeing me and winking.

"There was. Between my Shadow, and Statera. Obviously, Statera was victorious." The Oshun replied, gesturing to me vaguely.

"There are more people here than I expected," I admitted, taking control of the conversation, eyes fixating on both of the two newcomers. I hadn't seen either of them in eons. Why were they here? This wasn't the second meeting between all the origin deities. "Please tell me you two are not mixed up in this now, too."

"No. We are here as peaceful mediators." The Emperor said. "Neutral parties."

"If we weren't this would have turned into a brawl immediately." Reilly drawled, taking another sip and tossing his dice into the air. They immediately caught fire, but he caught them on the come-down anyway. "Shin over there was raring to go."

"Shin?" I asked, glancing at the skeleton. He shrugged, bones clicking.

"I didn't agree with some of what Sehuyun did." He said mildly.

"Honestly, though, I am more interested in you now, Statera." The Emperor said. "Annexing another universe? I didn’t strike you as the ambitious type."

"They hardly had a choice," the Oshun protested, before I could raise my hackles.

"Still, the evolution is noticeable. The quality of your aura. The depth of your soul. You are more open now, for sure, and your eyes a touch more Seeing, but. A qualitative change for sure." Reilly reasoned.

"Good or bad change?" I asked.

"We are still deciding." Shin said.

"Enough," Sehuyun rumbled, rising to her feet. The entire room tensed as her power filled the air; everyone, save me. Reilly sat upright. The Emperor's four arms grabbed the edge of the table as he prepared to stand, and Shin laid his hands flat upon the table. Even the Oshun stiffened, lifting off her feet a bit. "Let us not pretend why we are here. Statera Luotian, you and I have business." she growled, her head lifting up, up to stare down at me imperiously. I met her gaze impassively, holding still the whirling emotions in my chest, the blinding feeling that threatened to lift its head like a waking dragon.

"Let's not do this right now, Sehuyun. My children are busy building their own universes, I have to manage two universes, and the Oshun need a place to go to heal." I said, whined, really, like a child because I didn't want to be seen as threatening or willing to fight in any way, shape, or form, and Sehuyun was looking for a fight. Plus, Alexander wasn't here, and I wasn't about to get in the way of him and his crush. Or whatever it was.

Damn, would that plan even work now?

“Their own universes?” Shin asked, looking very surprised for a skeleton.

“Yep! It’d been a long time coming. The collision honestly delayed it a bit. I’m very proud. Next time, I’ll show you what they’ve made,” I said with a little smile, beaming at the thought of showing off my children’s creations. I was humble by nature. Well, as humble as I could be. But I was allowed to brag about my kids sometimes. “I do have a question not regarding that, however. The Oshun needs someplace to go that isn’t the One World or the Four Realms. She’s still reeling from what her Shadow did to her, and, well, she needs –“

"I will tear the skies apart, Statera Luotian," Sehuyun rumbled, cutting me off. “I will dethrone the heavens and tear them asunder. You do not understand. I am a Dragon. And a true Dragon cannot bear to live beneath a sky in which they are not their own sovereign. Be that your sky, or the sky of another Dragon." I stiffened, eyes narrowed.

"What are you saying?" I asked, the tension in the room shifting ever so slightly.

"My universe would be the only one." She snarled, and thunder boomed.

Reilly, The Emperor, and Shin all shot to their feet. Even the Oshun laid a hand on my shoulder, but through the thundering of blood in my ears I could not hear whatever it was she was saying.

"I just told you," I said slowly. "My children are creating their own universes. Do you understand what that means?"

"My universe is a Dragons' Nest. Whatever I deem worthy of existing within my universe will continue to do so. No matter if I object or not, the Will, the entire universe, will bend to my desires and seek to destroy that which I define as unworthy." Sehuyun growled, eyes narrowing. "Why would I fight my nature? I do not apologize for being what I am."

"You are telling me," I repeated, not finishing the thought as my eyes narrowed.

"I am telling you to fight. For I will descend from the skies, Statera, and the Heavens will quake at my coming."

The scraping of chairs resounded like thunder as all the assembled gods stood, the Emperor’s power melding with Shin and Reilly and the Oshun’s to push back Sehuyun’s rage, the aggression and intent that pressed down upon me like fire and brimstone. My lips pulled back in a snarl, taking a step forward – only, I do not remember standing?

I blinked, and looked down at myself. I was standing. My chair was gone – not pushed back, gone. And everyone’s eyes were on me.

They were not holding Sehuyun back. They were preparing for me. I reached up and put my face in the palm of my hand, feeling the furious rage there, my lips pulled back into a snarl, and took a deep breath that did nothing to still the terrifying fury mired in my silence, but did smooth out my expression as best I could. None of them relaxed. Sehuyun roared out a laugh.

“There you are.” She hissed gleefully. “That’s who I wanted. Our time will soon come, oh Heavens, and I will show you the might of a Dragon.”