Chapter 42: Advent – Chapter 39: Mistakes

Aperio tilted her head as she felt a change in the mana that resided inside her well. It had coincided with an action Maria took, and upon further inspection showed that it was not just her that had done something. She had a theory as to why it was happening, but it didn't explain the influx of mana into her well.

Focusing on a slight condensation of mana that Aperio felt hovering in front of Maria revealed it to be the [Status] of the girl. Touched by the All-Mother? That's what happens when I touch a soul?

You have touched this soul, granting it a fraction of your magic.

The silver-framed System notification that had appeared in her vision as she had asked herself the question answered it. Not perfectly, as she still did not know how touching the orb had granted it a bit of her magic, but at least it told her that that was indeed why Maria had the title.

Dismissing the notification, Aperio turned to face the Lord of the house. He had said something that was very true; he could not trust her. The other Gods lied, why wouldn't she? She could try to explain what Maria's title did, but that was futile as she herself did not truly know.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a happy giggle from Maria that caused her to look down. The girl tugged at her father's arm to get his attention, and once she had acquired it did a grabbing motion with her hand that turned the System window to face Geshton. The man looked confused for a brief moment before his eyes went wide, probably able to see the window himself now.

His eyes flicked between his daughter and Aperio, the connection between the title and the winged Goddess obvious. Probably. He seemed to want to speak but failed to find the right words yet again, something that was happening more and more. Aperio gave him a questioning look, but that only served to further his indecision. What do I need to do to not scare people? It seemed like she only needed to lift her hand to cause people to fear her.

As Geshton did not seem to be able to start the conversation, Aperio chose to take that burden off of him. "Yes?"

The man somehow managed to look even paler at her words and even took a step back, an action that caused Maria to look to Aperio for help. She seemed confused, unable to understand why her father would distance himself. The winged Goddess placed her hand atop the girl’s head as gently as she could. She had seen it done before to soothe troubled children and hoped it would help, even if she did not know why. She was not Maria's mother, or even family – only the fact that she had been careless with her soul bonded them. It was something that she would rather not take advantage of, but unfortunately it seemed necessary now.

"Is there something wrong, Lord Terenyk?" He winced at the mention of his title, the displeasure in her voice apparent. He was not the only one to have a reaction to Aperio's increased irritation, as the few servants that remained had all distanced themselves from the winged Goddess. All but the maid that had initially… accompanied Maria. She seemed determined to protect the girl from any threat that might appear – even if that threat was a Goddess.

The only thing keeping her from rushing to Maria's aid was that Ferio had moved to position herself between the maid and the girl. Diana too seemed ready for a fight, mana swirling around her in a display of power that Aperio was certain only she and Ferio could actually see. Maybe the others can feel it? For Aperio the display was not really noteworthy as her aura alone already dwarfed what the woman commanded to dance around her.

"I…I don't know what to think." His voice was shaking almost as much as his hands as he spoke. "This, this ...blessing has taken Maria's childhood, and my wife. I want to be angry, want to tell you to leave my family alone." The words caused Ferio to ball her hand into a fist, but she did not move as she saw how her mother showed no sign of wanting to stop the man. "But how could I as a mere mortal ever do something against a Goddess? What right do I have?"

Aperio lowered her head at his words. He had every right to be angry. If she had not been so curious, none of this would have happened. If she had just stopped for a second to think about her situation – had not been scared of her new powers – she could have prevented this. She had never intended to be a source of grief and sadness. She did not want to kill innocents. And yet, here she was, back in the world of the living and already responsible for at least three deaths and the ruined life of a child. She shook her head. Maybe, if she had taken the time to think, she might have been able to find a way to avoid killing the two mages in the ruins. Maybe, she thought again, but then the image of the collar they had tried to put on her flashed through her mind. It was quickly followed by a tiny voice, asking if it would even work on her now. I hope I never have to find out.

"You have every right to be angry," Aperio replied, her facing twisting in disgust at her own words. "Being powerful does not mean you have the right to do as you wish." She paused, looking at the man who seemed to not quite believe what he was hearing. For a brief moment she considered the possibility of being able to bring back his wife, but only shook her head at the idea of continued interference. "I did just that and I cannot undo what has been done."

Ferio looked confused at her words, either not used to her mother giving what amounted to an apology or not quite believing that she could not undo what she had done. Aperio herself was not certain if she was truly incapable of altering what she had set in motion, but neither was she willing to try. Her curiosity was the reason she was in this predicament in the first place. Before further testing of her powers, she would not touch the souls in her Void again. I also have to find the first one I inspected. But how?

If Maria was twelve years old, or at least around that age, the other would have to be almost an adult by now. Not that I know how time works in the Void. When I healed the children, time did not seem to have passed any faster.

A quiet sniffle caught at Aperio's attention and caused her to direct her gaze downwards. Maria was looking up at her with tears in her eyes, slowly extending her hand to grab the hem of Aperio's dress. The winged Goddess did nothing to stop the child, instead lowering herself, her wings fanning out behind her to accommodate the change in posture to be on eye level with the girl.

"Yes?" she asked as softly as she could, her voice still carrying its usual note of power despite the quiet tone.

The answering question came, quiet and unsteady, punctuated by the occasional sniffle. "You can't bring mommy back?" Maria grabbed the fabric of Aperio's dress more firmly, seemingly needing to hold onto something, before her teary-eyed gaze lifted once more towards the Goddess.

Aperio did not know if she could, but neither did she want to admit that. The course of action should have been clear: tell Maria the truth. There should be no harm in admitting that she did not know something, but Aperio could not bring herself to. She just looked into the eyes of the little girl, unable to turn away as she watched the last bit of hope the child had visibly diminish into nothing.

"Even if she could still find her soul, your mother would've forgotten her previous life already." The voice of Ferio caused both the child and the winged Goddess to look at her. Maria turned her head back to face Aperio and gripped the fabric of the dress tighter as she started to comprehend the words.

Knowing what Maria felt was an odd experience. The girl did not want to believe what Ferio had said, wanted her Goddess to perform a miracle and make her family whole once more. Tell her that the fiery-haired woman was lying. The bond she shared with Maria was the obvious source, one that just reminded Aperio of her mistake.

For all that she could do now, Aperio felt helpless. She wanted to hide in her Void, be alone with her thoughts; absolved from the consequences of her actions. But that was not an option she would take. Her need to be better than those that had ruled her life outweighed her desire to hide.

Instead, she took part in an action that was certainly unbecoming of a Goddess, and caused feelings of disgust and wrongness to rear their ugly heads once more. Ignoring it as best as she could, Aperio picked Maria up, embracing the girl in a hug with both her arms and her wings, doing her best to comfort the child whose life she had utterly ruined.

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She took a deep breath and stroked the back of Maria's head as gently as she could, trying her best to not accidentally harm the girl any more. The action coupled with the soothing touch of her magic would, she hoped, calm the child. Aperio firmly believed that the girl would come to hate her for what she had done. Even if she had not killed Maria's mother herself, she was the cause of her death. If Geshton did not lie.

It was indeed a slim possibility, but given his reaction to the presence of Goddesses she doubted he would manage to do that. Even if he did, Aperio already confessed that the death of the girl's mother was her fault. The least she could do now was to attempt to bring justice to a family that had been wronged. She had an inkling who might have been directly behind the death, for after all there were two deities that hated her more than the others, but in the end the ripple effects that had been set in motion were all stemming from herself.

Aperio gently turned Maria's head so one ear would be pressed against her chest before covering the other with her hand. "Who killed her mother?"

The words snapped Lord Terenyk out of his frozen state. "I don't know," he said, and shook his head woefully. "Despite all my searching, I still don't know. She was poisoned while attending the wedding of her brother in Kejeran." He hesitated for a moment, biding time with which to maintain his composure before speaking again. "I wasn't with her. Maria, the estate – they needed to be looked after. I stayed behind. I should have been there. Should have been at her side. But...I wasn't." There came another pause, during which Lord Terenyk breathed deeply, and despite the way he continued to sit straight and look at her directly, Aperio could see the threat of tears shining in his eyes. "Through my attempts to find who did it, however, I am certain it was someone acting on behalf of one of two big churches. Either Inanis, or Vigil."

Aperio felt the magic of her own daughter flare up at the mention of the two deities. She was not the only one to notice, as nearly everyone present turned to face the Goddess of Life and Light. Even Maria picked up on the shifting of mana in the room, her head attempting to adjust its position beneath Aperio's immovable hand before the Goddess holding her moved it aside. The first to truly react, however, was Diana. She moved to stand between Geshton and her angered Goddess, seemingly wanting to protect the man from her wrath. The chain of events caused Aperio to questioningly cock her head. She had not expected the priestess, who so far had appeared to be absolutely devoted to her Goddess, to stand between her and a potential target.

It only took a moment longer for Ferio to calm herself, the mana surrounding her regaining its calming touch. After she took another deep breath, she spoke. "Those two ...traitors only manage to make me hate them more. Why couldn't they be happy with what they had?"

Her words caused a few confused murmurs to spread around the room and Aperio to tilt her head ever so slightly to the other side. She did not know what the official relations between her and the rest of the pantheon was, but considering her daughter had been voted out of the Custodians it could not be too good. She resolved to have that talk with Ferio sooner rather than later – there was simply too much she needed to know before she could go on.

Turning to face Lord Terenyk more fully, Aperio chose to break the silence that had settled over the room after her daughter’s small outburst. "You do not know the identity of the one who carried out the act?"

It took a few breaths for Geshton to get his bearings and shake his head in reply. Aperio readjusted her hold of Maria as she thought. The girl had calmed down, seemingly not hating her as Aperio had assumed she would. Instead of pulling away in anger, she had wrapped her arms as far as she could around the Goddess, holding on surprisingly tightly for a child. Aperio had been fully prepared to find a way to rescind her blessing, leaving the Terenyk family alone for all eternity, and so did not understand Maria's actions at all. If the child herself wanted to give the opportunity for potential redemption, however, Aperio would gladly take it. The knowledge that that chance might have been offered because of the blessing she had given would still gnaw at her, but it was better than being hated.

After carefully, gently, separating herself from Maria, she crouched down and used a tiny wisp of her mana to remove the tears from the girl's face. The use of magic temporarily distracted the child, her face widening in joyful awe as she watched her tears fly away and slowly dissolve into nothingness.

“I might not be able to bring your mother back, but I can punish those that hurt her.”

As response Aperio received nothing but an uncharacteristically determined nod. Standing up, she approached Geshton and slightly bowed her head. “I am truly sorry for what has happened to your family. I will do my best to fix what has happened in my absence.” Without a single word more, Aperio turned towards the exit and slowly started walking, feeling that she had more than overstayed her welcome with the family whose lives she had so badly mangled.

“Thank you…” He sounded unsure of his words, possibly still not quite able to understand what had just happened. Nonetheless he motioned for a servant to come closer. “If our guests wish to leave, please show them out.”

Aperio nodded her assent, but stayed otherwise silent.

The servant bowed nervously but did his duty nonetheless, walking towards the door. Before Aperio turned to follow, she gave Maria a slight wave.

The trek back was filled with awkward silence, punctuated with the occasional nervous glance from a passing servant. Aperio's agitation grew with each minute until, at last, they passed out of the borders of the Terenyk estate and bid adieu to the servant who had accompanied them.

Finally feeling a little more at ease now that she was further away from the Terenyk family and the reminder of the clumsy manner of her rebirth, Aperio addressed her daughter. “Can Diana find the way back on her own? I would like to talk to you in private.”

Diana clearly wanted to say something, likely a protest at being left behind, but she was silenced by a wave of Ferio's hand. “Of course, mother.”

Without a word, Diana simply bowed once to Ferio, then set off. The fiery-haired Goddess turned to her mother and held out her hand. Aperio did not have to say where the discussion would take place, as it was obvious that there was only one option that she would regard as private.

Taking her daughter’s hand, Aperio twisted the fabric of reality apart and brought them into her Void.

GamingWolf

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