Chapter 194: Omen – Chapter 180: Expanding Horizons

Aperio tilted her head slightly as the representatives of the various tribes all began to walk back inside. None of them seemed all too concerned with what had just transpired. Slightly annoyed, maybe, if anything.

That could not be said for the rest of the mortals that surrounded them. Aperio could hear the frantic whispers all over the city — feel their excitement and their fear. All of it should have overwhelmed her, but it barely registered in her mind. It was all there, should she wish to see it, but her aura had seemingly learned that she valued a certain degree of ignorance. Or maybe I just got comfortable with not knowing about everything that goes on around me?

While it was true that the people that inhabited her creation could not hurt her, Aperio had never quite accepted that. A lifetime spent as a helpless slave would likely do that to anyone, even when everything was pointing towards the fact that she had brought it upon herself.

Aperio sat herself down next to Moria, extending one of her wings slightly to offer her friend something to lean against. Moria was not showing any signs of weakness, but for one reason or another, Aperio knew that her friend was exhausted. In hindsight, given that she had just become a Goddess, it was to be expected.

"People are praying," Moria said, her voice barely a whisper. "I can hear them, all talking over one another."

"What are they wishing for?" the All-Mother asked as she let her gaze sweep over the mortals in front of them. A few were visibly part of those who were praying to the new Goddess. Some had simply clasped their hands in front of their chest and closed their eyes, while others had fallen to their knees.

"I honestly cannot tell," her friend replied. "I can barely tell their voices apart."

"That gets easier with time," Ferio said and climbed the stairs onto the stage. Her daughter's magic spread around them to prevent their conversation from being heard. "I have not yet met a new deity that could deal with it all right after they ascended. No matter how much you prepare, it's always more than you would expect."

Aperio remained quiet at the words, instead reaching out to her love to inquire how she was feeling. Moria's ascension had renewed her worry that her foolish mistake of touching Caethya's Soul had doomed her. What if her ascension hurt her because the System thought she needed ungodly amounts of mana to do what was needed?

"I'm fine," Caethya said with a smile as she moved herself behind Aperio. She ran her hand through the All-Mother's hair before patting her head. "You worry too much about me."

Caethya followed her words with a mental message, telling Aperio that her love was quite capable of taking care of herself despite the All-Mother's viewpoint of everything being so terribly fragile. She smiled as Aperio looked up at her. "Perhaps I should take on some missions from the Adventurers Guild again? I am sure they miss me."

"Perhaps you should," Aperio agreed. "Maybe I should enter the guild as well?" It would certainly be useful whenever she needed to pretend to be someone strong but not quite All-Mother strong. And I would see what Caethya does to make a living. One of these days, her love would probably have to, or more likely, want to go back to work and at that point, Aperio would like to accompany her. First, however, they had another world to visit.

"They definitely wouldn't complain to have you with them," Moria said. "Speaking of which, I should probably leave the guild. I have no intention of travelling in secret like Aperio, and being an Adventurer while also being a Goddess seems like a bad idea."

"Yes and no," Ferio replied. "You shouldn't be part of it as a Goddess, but you should definitely have an alias that allows you to be in it so you can distract yourself a little from the mundanity of being a divine."

Aperio chuckled at her daughter's words. She would call her time as the All-Mother many things, but mundane was not one of them. Far from it, in fact. But she was also quite certain that most of that stemmed from the fact that she was — for the first time in her remembered life — free to do as she pleased. Well, mostly.

At the moment, there were a few restrictions on what she did, but she had placed those herself with good reason. A few things in life would always take precedence.

"What do you intend to do now?" Aperio asked Moria in an attempt to shift the conversation back to the topic at hand. "Throw out those that let the corruption spread through every layer of government?"

"First," Moria replied, "I will take a day to get my bearings. The world is still changing, even though I am just sitting here. After that, I will start with cleaning up the mess the guard made here in Foderys and then I will deal with the rest."

"I would give yourself a little more time," Ferio said with a mischievous tone to her voice. "Your Dominion still has to manifest itself. That is always such fun."

"Somehow, your words don't reassure me," the newly-minted Goddess said, turning slightly to look at Ferio. "Almost makes me think it will hurt a lot."

The Goddess of Life and Light chuckled in reply. "It doesn't hurt, but it's a… weird experience; certainly a one of a kind thing."

Aperio tilted her head at the words. She had never asked herself how a deity got their Dominion; she had always assumed it simply appeared when they ascended. A small mental effort and a squint of her eyes caused the physical world she usually saw to break apart, letting her peer beyond the realm that mortals — and most Gods — could perceive.

Seeing her creation like this felt unsettling, as her life as a mortal had made her value the way everyone else saw things. At the same time, looking upon this layer of reality felt weirdly normal, almost as if she had been meant to see things in this way. In any case, her shift in perspective had been driven by curiosity. How did the System go about creating a Dominion?

There was no more mana flowing into her friend at the System's behest, but the view behind physical reality revealed a complex weave of runes slowly coming into being on the weave of mana. Behind Moria, it seamlessly integrated itself into the threads of reality before the entire thing shifted around, folding in on itself in multiple places while expanding in others. It shifted through shapes Aperio could not quite name, but yet still somehow recognised. The same was true for most of the symbols present, and nearly all of them referred to bindings, dimensions, and will. The last one stumped Aperio for the briefest of moments before she remembered that a Dominion was supposed to bend to its owner’s every whim. It would, therefore, have to somehow know what that whim was.

"I can see why it would be weird," Aperio said eventually, breaking the silence. "The System is currently creating a pretty complex set of runes that I am pretty sure will turn into a pocket of space that links to your mind when it's done." Most peculiar.

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Moria turned her head to look at Aperio. Her friend's eyes, usually blue with ever-shifting silver dots, had turned completely silver. She stared straight through Moria at something behind her, something she could not perceive herself but was likely the runes that had been spoken of.

At that moment, the only change Moria was able to see for herself was the constant shifting of the world as every sense she had available decided that it should see the world in far greater detail than anyone reasonably should.

"I assume I will see that whenever it's ready?" Moria asked as she tried to take her eyes off of the All-Mother's.

The newly-minted Goddess felt a sense of unease at the lack of pupils gazing back at her. Her aura dutifully informed her of the vast amounts of mana coursing through the All-Mother's blank eyes, which did not help her state of mind. It was somehow wrong on a level she could not quite articulate, almost as though what her friend was doing should not be allowed. 

Of course, that was a silly notion, as whatever Aperio wished to be the correct thing would be so, but holding that truth in her mind sadly did nothing for her growing unease.

"You will," Ferio replied. "It'll be very obvious."

Moria gave a slow nod at the words and relaxed slightly as Aperio stopped looking at whatever was hidden from view, her eyes returning to their more normal levels of weirdness. "Well, until that happens, I would like to talk to the representatives." She could already sense some of them packing their things and getting ready to leave, something she would like them not to do. "I want to have a word with them before they disappear. Their superiors need to be informed through proper channels."

"Aren't you the proper channel now?" Caethya asked as she took Aperio's hand and helped the All-Mother stand up. "You are the Patron Goddess of the Beastkin."

"Well, yes, but I would still like to go through the official channels for now. Believe it or not, we actually have multiple clauses that are supposed to go into effect once we have found Chellien's successor."

"And you think they will try to somehow overrule you?" Aperio asked, carefully removing the wing she had lent Moria for support and wrapping the other around Caethya.

"I know they will," Moria replied. "They will also try to blame the fall of the guard on me, and do everything in their power to solidify their own position and weaken mine." She got up herself and shrugged. "Politics."

"Ah, I love mortals and their silly plans," Ferio said with a happy sigh. "They always think they can outsmart or overpower anyone. Some of them are still trying to do exactly that with Mother."

"And I still do not understand why," Aperio said. "Do they do it because they know I am not inclined to kill them, or do they actually think it will get them results?"

Moria looked the All-Mother up and down. Even if one did not know who, and more importantly, what she was, Aperio still resembled someone you didn't mess with in either combat or the court. Money and status got you very far in nearly every country on Verenier, and even the most rugged of farmers could tell that the dress and armour her friend wore would cost more than some nations had to offer. The last shred of doubt that she was someone not to be messed with should disappear once she actually spoke. Once she said a word, however it was Aperio did it, you simply knew that you were outmatched.

It was not only the amount of mana that laced her words, but something else that accompanied it; some ancient knowledge that you never knew you had but that was suddenly very eager to inform you of its presence. "I have no idea," Moria eventually replied. "But I have also known you since basically forever, so my view is a little skewed."

"It's simple," Ferio said, glancing at Neria. "It's because most mortals are stupid."

Moria could only let out a sigh in response. The Goddess of Life and Light had a point. Neria had been very hostile with Aperio for something that the All-Mother couldn't even remember doing and, more importantly, was not even her fault. Moria had chosen to accept the title, and had chosen to keep it through life after life after life. Anything unpleasant that had happened because of that was because she continued to choose to keep the title and her memories, not because the All-Mother had forced her into anything. Aperio had always valued the freedom of others, and in the past had extended the sentiment to everyone, even those who wished to see her creation usurped and her dead. Which did not end well for them.

With a shake of her head, Moria turned to face the building that housed the very people that had tried to bring hers low. She was both excited to see the reaction of the tribal leaders and dreading the potential schism it might bring. The very same schism she had tried to stop with her ascension. The only question that remained was whether the people would rather follow the leaders that were set in their ways or a Goddess most of them knew nothing about.

In all her lives, Moria had never thought that she would be the catalyst for an 'interesting times' section in a history book, but here she was doing just that. She shook her head again before looking over her shoulder at her daughter and friend. Neria was still looking quite uneasy, while Aperio looked a lot more regal than she had any right to with a wing wrapped around Caethya. However, that was a quality she had observed in all divines she had seen, and one she would have herself in due time. Aperio is just a step above them if she wishes to be.

“Shall we?” the All-Mother asked, gesturing towards the building in the distance with her free wing. “A few of them are moving towards a tunnel that leads away from the city.”

Moria did not bother to ask how Aperio had seen through the layers of enchantments they had placed on those tunnels and instead gave a nod. “It's time I had a little talk with them.”

GamingWolf

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