bookbashuk 4:19 A New Age
4:19 A New Age
Their name was Amari Ren, and they had many friends. Too many to count! There were all the Tall People, like the one who took care of them while Dad had been sleeping. She was nice, and smelled like fire and wood and light. Then there was her daughter, the green-haired girl, who was closer to their size. She was sometimes mean, and sometimes really busy in her head, but always snuck Amari Ren cookies and other sweets when the fire-woman wasn't looking. Like honey!Then there were all the spirits. The floaty ones. They flew by all the time and Amari tried to wave and sometimes they waved back or blew the wind in their face! Those were the fun ones. There was also the kissy couple, who felt like fire and ice, then the others! So many they couldn't name or remember them all!
Dad was on the list too, of course. He was just silly, and in a lot of places sometimes. And the dream-man, who gave them dreams of flowers when they asked for it! He was nice. If silly, for hiding in Dad's dreams.
But her absolute favorites were, right now, their big siblings. Flower lady snuck Amari even better sweets, and spoiled them. The winged lady took them on flights! Zooming around until they were both giggling and laughing. Her feathers were warm, too! And shiny. And Big Brother also just got back, with the white snake! Big Brother did the best puppet shows. His strings tasted like cotton candy and funnel cake. For a moment Amari Ren wondered why everyone gave them sweet things so much, but then decided that too many sweets were still too few.
However, despite all this, despite all their friends, their absolute favoritest, bestest friend was also their newest friend.
They called them Dog. They were bitey and grumpy and shaggy and had too many teeth and eyes and legs and their mouth was too big and Amari Ren loved them to death.
Dad watched with a smile as they crawled over Dog, tugging on their fur while they made a deep rumbly sound in their chest. Part of why Amari Ren liked Dog so much was because the rumble was funny! And partly it was because Dad couldn't stop smiling when they crawled on Dog. And partly it was because Dog's voice sounded weird! But it was also because Dog was just Dog, like Amari Ren was just Amari Ren!
"Be careful," Dad said, as Amari climbed between the legs on Dog's back, patting Dog's back and urging them forward, like what Snake sometimes did with them when they swam the river together and Snake dunked Amari and they both laughed. Unfortunately, Dog stayed put, unlike Snake, who would surge forward. But that was ok! There were other ways they could have fun together.
Dog rumbled again, and Amari Ren giggled while Dad repeated His warning. Yep! They were going to be great friends!
***
I was nothing short of bemused. Amused, surely, but leave it to a child of mine to decide that the biggest, meanest thing in the Four Realms was going to be their best friend for the near future and succeed (mostly) in that endeavor through sheer force of personality and the threat of Dad hanging over Morgan’s head.
Amari Ren crawled all over Morgan while the Shadow remained astoundingly still, not out of care for the child, but because I was standing here and threatening bodily harm if Morgan didn't play nice. Which meant Amari Ren had free rein to climb all over Morgan without fear of retaliation beyond a growl, and Morgan running away, but not too far because Morgan had something it wanted to talk about and couldn’t just leave without admitting Amari Ren made it uncomfortable. Morgan growled again.
A growl that only made Amari Ren giggle with delight, despite how threatening it actually was.
This child was absolutely fearless.
"This is humiliating." Morgan growled, spidery limbs twitching as Amari Ren crawled down off of its flank, slapping their chubby hands against the hard ground as they crawled back to play with Morgan's tail. It stood and promptly walked away from them - only for Amari Ren, in all their brilliant chaoticness, to teleport back onto its back with a bubbling, burbling giggle.
"This, is amazing." I corrected, unable to hide my grin. The big bad Shadow, tamed by a baby. Well, not tamed, but certainly intimidated.
"I came to meet the thief who stole the power that is rightfully yours," Morgan snarled, dodging away from Amari Ren, now well and truly over entertaining the child. I saved it from further humiliation by catching the little one, bouncing them on my hip and letting them play with one of the balls of primordial chaos I had floating behind my back.
They grabbed the thing and promptly started to gum it to death, sufficiently distracted by their new favorite toy. Every new thing was their new favorite toy. Just like every new person they met was their new favorite, bestest friend.
"Mmm, bah," Amari Ren babbled.
"Mm, bah, indeed." I agreed. "And technically, Morgan, the Authority Amari Ren took is theirs by birthright. I had intended to hold onto it only until they were either old enough to want it, or not want it." Morgan's scowl could not get any more scathing, but neither was this a conversation that I could put off for any longer. Morgan had done much for us in the war. However, it also had a lot of very strong opinions about what I should be and what I should do.
Opinions I was in no way inclined to listen to. When Morgan was right, it was right. When Morgan was being a silly bastard, and not listening to me, it was blind to everything but what it thought was right. Clearly, my words agitated Morgan, as its spidery limbs tapped restlessly on the ground.
"They need to know the greatness of -"
"They know." I interrupted, knowing what Morgan was trying to push. Amari Ren playfully slapped my face, and I smiled down at the little one, booping their nose with my free hand. They giggled and squirmed in my grip, chubby hands slapping at my shoulders and chest. "They know about the Four Realms. They know about me. The One World's inhabitants may not have fully seen me, but they know who I am all the same. Morgan, I cannot keep the Authority. Not fully. Not in the capacity you believe I should."
Morgan stiffened, fur bristling, spidery legs stilling and tail sticking upright as it bared its teeth.
"So you would return it? Give it back to them? To those who betrayed you? Slaughtered your children for greed?" Morgan snapped.
"No." I said calmly, despite the anger simmering in my chest, my blood roaring in my ears at the accusation. That was the difference between the mentally powerful, and the mentally immature. I still felt anger, I just didn't let it affect my decisions in the moment. Later, I may rage and throw something at the wall. But not here. Not now. "And do not ever accuse me of not caring again. You know that it’s not true and, worse, you only said that because you knew it would get to me."
My tone was light. My expression soft as I bounced Amari Ren, sticking my tongue out at them and making them giggle. Yet every word landed upon Morgan like a mountain - I made sure of it. My domain, my presence, growing as it was, landed upon their back with force, my displeasure made known.
"I am not sure who I will return it to. It is not a simple answer." I admitted. "If Curie's [System] can be refined, then I will likely give a portion of the Authority to that. Likely a third. Likely Yueya's third. As for the third I carry within me...it is...addictive." I said carefully, frowning to myself as I felt it out. "It is also dangerous. I feel too full, still."
It was a difficult feeling to describe to someone who wasn't an Origin Deity. On one hand, it felt like I wanted more. It wanted to be completed, and it fit so snugly with the rest of my Authority, which I had only recently been able to sense fully thanks to all this crap that happened, that I knew that consuming the rest would feel just as good. If not better. Everything was telling me that I should collect all of Yueya's authority. Feed it to myself, and grow stronger.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It was a legitimate path forward, I was certain, and one many before me had taken. Hell, Shin, the skeletal god of the Wheel Realm, had told me point-blank that universes that died in the [Trials] were consumed and added to the surviving universes, strengthening them. It was a natural part of the process, to consume land and, I assumed, Authority.
And yet.
I couldn't take it from Amari Ren. It would be right for me to, fitting in with my ideals, even. They should not have this path forced upon them, without ever realizing what it is they're doing or accepting. They sucked in Alala’s authority without knowing, drinking it down like coffee. Right now, I could raise them like a lordling, a Young Master, and give them all the tools they'd need to be a third of an origin deity. But I'd accept it if they didn't want that, and remove it. I could do the same if I carefully removed the Authority from them, and put it in a lock-box and waited for them to mature enough to take it. That would be the best, most ethical course of action. You did not give a crown to a child.
But, honestly? The reason why I didn’t ran far deeper than that. I had every right to take the Authority. Every right. And I wanted to. It would make assimilating the One World easy - the resources of a dying universe would meld into my own. The lands. The souls. The power. Or, if I decided I wanted it stabilized, having the entire Authority under my command - or even two thirds of it, if I let Amari Ren keep theirs - would make that process far easier. I’d been a conqueror once. The Yellow Emperor. There was nothing wrong with being one again.
This was a fact Morgan knew.
I just…wasn’t going to do it. It felt wrong, in my heart of hearts, and that simple, stupid instinct was one I was going to follow.
"Great One," it began, and I held up a hand.
"It is already decided." I said firmly, bouncing Amari Ren on my hip, hating how my heart felt wishy-washy about the subject. "I will keep a sliver of the Authority, and that's it. The other third may return to the Oshun, after we have a proper talk. It may be divided amongst the Big Four - though I doubt they will want it. But I will not keep all of it." And that, I decided, was that.
Perks of being an Origin Deity and a parent. My word wasn't just law, it was reality.
***
The Celestial Empress finally returned home. It had been a long time coming, just like her ascent to divinity, and now it was time to face the choir.
After dropping off the gods and Heavenly Host and all the myriad other beings in the Heaven Realm, she descended back to the fertile lands of the first Pangaea to see how her empire had fared in her absence. Thankfully, as she did, the incessant blinking notifications that had come from the One World’s [System] slowly faded away, finally draining out of her system, its reach not quite this far. She was unsure whether the gods would allow it to enter the Four Realms. She wasn’t sure she would like it, if it did. She would have to trust Statera Luotian’s judgement on the matter.
Either way, there was much work to be done.
The ships the Mad Scientist designed pulled into the giant "space docks," as she called it, just off the edge of the first Pangaea, slotting into place like puzzle pieces in large, cylindrical tubes of metal. Runes and magic buzzed on the inside, cultivators of all kinds, mostly those who stayed, flooding out to begin repairs on the ships and perform maintenance. Her army marched out of the docks and onto the longboats - massive, flying warships that would take them to wherever they needed to go, in groups. It was a big universe, and the Celestial Empire had been awaiting their return.
Alanna tried not to look to hard at the funeral barges, returning the remains of the dead – those that could be recovered – to their families. Far too many had been lost in this war. Much had been lost.
The Dao Progenitors, those who were left, gathered their people and flew off after bidding her farewell, leaving to visit their own homes and regions, to check the damages and begin the long process of reconstruction. She stayed upon the ships for as long as necessary, making sure all of her people got off, and the correct staff were placed back on them so they could be maintained properly. Hundreds upon thousands of reports were fielded to her as she stood, watching over the processes.
Reports that were easily handled and catalogued, now that she was a goddess. She learned which planets had been destroyed in the fighting. Which Immortals had died. Which cultivators had risen above their station. Which cultivators had become Immortal. Sects and schools that had proven themselves, and sects and schools that had fallen. She learned what was being rebuilt, what was being repurposed, and what was beyond saving.
Too much damage had been done for anyone to walk back into their lives without it having changed. But it was not enough to break them.
She ordered people around, barked out commands, gave her permission to begin projects and sent her people home. Some were put to work immediately getting things fixed, some were sent on leave to consolidate their cultivation, and others still were sent to healing temples.
It would take millions of years to recover from the losses they had suffered. And the Four Realms would never be the same again.
Actually getting everyone back home and settled and everything else started was a process that took months. When she returned home to Manu Ti, the great floating city and the first city of cultivators, there were parades, celebrations, temples erected in her honor that she did not approve but it happened anyway, and praises sent to the gods. Many of the floating islands had crashed. They remained in the lake and on the land below, now ground bound as cultivators built cities atop them and crafted new flying islands.
It was only after that, that Alanna began to plan for the future she saw coming, even if no one else did.
"I will be ascending to the Heaven Realm," she said, sitting on her throne, her entire central advisors surrounding her. At least, what was left of them. Predictably, immediately, an uproar rang through the halls of the Celestial palace; Alanna had only to raise her hand to silence them, her divine power inspiring obedience. The only one who did not speak up was the Mad Scientist, who knew this was coming. She stood in the back, leaning against one of the cracked marble pillars, an insufferable smirk on her face and wings twitching in agitation. The possessiveness with which Alanna thought that should have surprised her. She’d faced her inner self enough times it really didn’t. "It will not happen soon. Perhaps in a few thousand years. But it will happen. I cannot rule from the Physical Realm much longer."
"But...why? Who will take your place? You just became a Goddess, like we all knew you would. Now you wish to leave us?" One man asked, a Draconian with golden scales. She inclined her head at the question, trying to decide how much to answer. She settled on the full truth.
"The why is more important than the who. Why is simple; the Celestial Empire will rise to the Heaven Realm above and the Karmic Realm below. This is not a war or conquest! We are not conquering the realms of the gods!" her shout silenced the objections before they could rise, Alanna huffing through her nose and glaring at them all. "But, the Big Four will be abdicating their thrones, soon." This brought full silence to the room. Catastrophic, stunned silence, even from those who had been to war with her.
"What do you mean?" a Priestess, clutching the holy symbol of Statera Luotian, a Taiji symbol, to her chest. "The Gods are leaving us?"
"No. But this war has expanded their duties, and my own. An entire new world is brought under control, and they will be pushing their own influence outward, assimilating the new universe. Their duties are to the Four Realms, and as such, they must ensure no war like this happens to us again. That means much land, much space, and much power has come under their control, and they must rule it righteously, as they have us. Statera Luotian will approve. The Heavens have expanded to encompass two entire universes. And as the Four realms grow, the Big Four's duties grow as well."
"So it's not that they're abandoning us, or injured," The Mad Scientist said questioningly, leading the conversation despite knowing the answer to everything. "It's that they, too, are ascending to a higher station, just as you became the God-Empress."
"Essentially, yes. I was commander of the forces of the Four Realms - it is likely that Elvira will ask me to take her place running the Holy Mountain and the First Region, if not more, while she advances her own goals. Regardless of what she does, I must do this. I am a god now. I cannot have my seat of power in the Physical Realm." She told them bluntly. She was already holding back her divine nature so much, so as to avoid crushing the mortals all around with her mere presence. "This is the time of rapid expansion. We have lost much, but we have grown considerably, too. The pression of heaven was to prepare us for this; now is the time for reconstruction and rapid growth. A new age is dawning. It is best we accept it, and meet it with joyous hearts and willing minds."
Alanna stood, and smiled down on her people.
The time had come for them all to rise. Statera Luotian knew this. That was why they would relinquish bits of their power, just as they had before. And yet, all would still remain living within the shadow of the Heavens. After all, the Heavens did not rule. They were the land within which even gods grew.
***
Spoiler
Amari Ren: Baby of SL and Yueya. Just a baby doing baby things. Mm, Bah!
Statera Luotian: Deity of Balance. Also called the Heavens. Mm bah, indeed.
Morgan: The Shadow of the Four Realms. Upset. Angry. Might start to understand. Might not.
Alanna: The Celestial Empress. Goddess of Rulers and Emperors. A good ruler. Knows what's coming, because of this.
Mad Scientist: Serial Reincarnator, like the Rival. Seriously enjoying this. Hasn't had this much fun in a long time.