The sheer dysfunction in the White Pantheon is sothing one has to behold to truly understand and appreciate. The reactions within our own forces are varied, generally, there is a small faction that views it with scorn. These creatures call themselves Gods and Goddesses, they should try to act better than this. The most popular reaction is curiosity though, for Olympiada is a house where everyone is strong enough to tear it apart, and where everyone wishes to tear it apart, and where everyone tries to tear it apart, yet the house remains standing. A minority view it with fondness. That was my own reaction when I saw them, these creatures are indeed cute when they argue with each other, although the reasoning for fondness differs on a case-by-case basis. Ilahim himself says he does not know what he feels, although that it is sothing that not quite worry and not quite fear.
Nevertheless, Archangel Ilahim brought here because the dysfunction has concerned him. Ilahim is fad for his impersonability and his detachedness, I have to applaud him for wanting a second opinion. And I have to give apologies, because I know he wants to ease his fears. I shall do none of the sort. Once the veil brought about from the charisma, the humour, the totally honest life that these Divines expel is lifted, then Ilahim’s the only way that Ilahim’s intuition could be wrong is that it undershoots the issue. Arda’s Deities hate each other. They despise each other to such a fundantal level that we would consider an illness of the mind on Paraideisius. The White Pantheon breaks such fundantal rules of cohesion that it is baffling as to how it still manages to exist.
On the surface, it may seem like Ardan Divinity is volatile. To so extent, that is true. In my first five years there and I have witnessed brawls between all of them, and all the brawls were caused by very minor issues or personal disagreents (such as the wrong type of drink being served or, once, over the na of a battlefield rit the White Pantheon would hand out). And deeper underneath, they are terribly united. In haste, one would call it stupidity. There is truly stupidity there, when they talk of who should be placed in charge of what battle, but one has to notice the grander image. When Kavaa was tasked to venture into the death-zone that was the Erdely region, she did so without a word. When Elassa was sent to the scorching Sassara, not a hint of argunt ca out from her. When we voice on what should be done with Arascus, the Ardans close ranks and tell us that he is theirs to handle. Or the fact that none of these Deities trust each other, and outright admit it to their own faces, yet they seem to be sure that there will be no backstabbing or betrayal.
It feels wrong to write, but I would call them dulled to grandiosity and hypersensitive to trivia. They seem to care little for reasoning and more for results. In so fashion, I have beco infatuated with studying this world in its ability to fuse contradiction: Cooperation without Forgiveness, Love without Relation, Reason without Cause, Ambition without Goals, Certainty without Trust.
- Introduction to “A World of Coexisting Opposites”, written by Archangel Chamuel. Composed at the end of the Arascan War.
Arascus was already by the raised ICDT tower when Elassa arrived. The pair of heavy cruisers that had supposedly been beached were gone from the shore, although Elassa could see two new estuaries lacking rivers carved out into the glistening sands. Glistening sands that sat next to a glowing ocean, that revealed a land of marvellous land of rainbows.
Elassa had never seen anything like it, it was sothing that only occurred in dreams and in the creations of artists. A land clad in a coat of diamonds. Its brilliant reflections changed colours for every foot that Elassa moved. The flurry of lights from glistening Rilia painted every truck and vehicle with swirls of every colour on this world. Elassa’s eyes passed over the huge barge bringing construction vehicles. Trucks and diggers and bulldozers.
There was no reason to be told what they were doing. It was obvious. They were going to be collecting diamonds and those diamonds would be sent to manufacture the ICDT battery catalysts and the transmutation ward crystals. And in the entire Empire, there was only a single person who could do such displays of magic, to levels that they were required at. That very annoyed person settled down next to Arascus as he stared up at his tower. “Pretty view.” Elassa said.
“Pretty indeed.” Arascus replied. Elassa’s boots made the sound of crunching glass every ti she shifted on the ground. Arascus, in his Imperial black, outlined with silver and gold and red, kept staring up at that tower. A marvel of engineering for him, a marvel of magic for her. Elassa looked out over the countryside again. Every hill was covered in that brilliant cloak of glass. The only besmirchnt in the duvet of inviting, dazzling, sparkling silver were the roads of stone that had been created by magicians. On them, n marched and vehicles drove further inland to where the Epan Divines had split up and were seizing ground. And as if the mont could not get any better, Arascus made it better. “You did it.” He said quietly, only for her ears.
Elassa turned red with embarrassnt. Of all the things he didn’t have to say, it was that. Of course she did it. She was the Goddess of Magic, her blue dress appearing in the air above a battlefield was a sign that victory had arrived. It was the grandest art humanity had ever invented and it would remain the grandest art because no amount of technological tinkering could ever surpass the raw beauty of the human soul. “Thank you.” Elassa whispered back.
“I’m proud of you.” Arascus said. “I knew you could do it, but you have to see it to believe it, don’t you?” The land ahead of Elassa beca a blur and Elassa had to blink the water suddenly in her eyes aways. To this, she had no response.
“Mmh.” She said. Of course she could, he had told her to, of course she would do it. She was the best there ever was.
The best there ever was…
So why did it feel like those words were stabs through the heart? She stood in silence, having nothing to say, and Arascus said nothing in return. She just stared at her magnificent creation, the rocky mountains of Rilia, not particularly tall and not particularly steep, but covered in her achievent. The ICDT tower was just a tower, anyone could raise a tower. Elassa could raise a thousand if told to. But that pristine blue sky? The air that slled of seabreeze? The reflections that forked across the ground whenever a solder in the distance kicked at the diamonds laying here? That was all her. It wasn’t feared Worldbreaking or the awe and respect that ca from Continent Cracking, it was just a patch of sky that had been cleared. And it was sothing to be proud of.
Another convoy of trucks coming into view ended the mont. More infantry being carried towards the frontlines from the beach camp. “What are you going to be doing now?” Elassa said. “I assu I’m on the magical of this?”
“You are.” Arascus said. “How long will it take you to make the stones?”
“I could do…” Elassa thought on it. If she pushed, she could probably make twenty? Thirty stones a day? “Ten?” She said. “Why, do you need to go faster?”
“That’s fast enough.” Arascus said. “The real chokepoint is in these.” Arascus pointed to the tower. Elassa had expect as much.
“What are you going to do then? Theosius?”
“I’ll be going to the UNN.” Arascus said. “We need to recruit Ciria and Halkus. Him more than her, to speed up construction then.” Elassa smiled in satisfaction. Finally the man was going to get a problem he could beat his head against that couldn’t be solved with firepower. The few tis that Of Magic had t Of Civilization and Of Industry had been enough for Elassa, the woman was a waste of title. There was nothing else to say other than that. She had incarnated in the Age of Pantheon Peace, in the age of the most widespread lie on Arda, and so the Goddess herself was a lie. Good.
She just wanted to be difficult, especially now that Arascus was giving her repetitive work. “Do you tell these plans to everyone?”
“Just you.” If the reply was delayed, if Arascus had needed to think about it, it would have been different. But it ca so quickly and so naturally that Elassa had to force a blush down in response.
“I can see how it is you bedded Helenna then.” Elassa didn’t even know why she said that. Arascus finally pulled his eyes away from the tower to look down at Elassa. His eyes glinted for a mont, his lips twisted up into a smile. Elassa wanted to dive and bury herself under these diamonds imdiately when she heard him chuckle.
It was the most humiliating chuckle she had ever heard. It would be better for Allasaria or Anassa to suddenly bring up all her hidden shas rather than for Arascus to chuckle with fond amusent. “Excuse ?” He asked.
Elassa looked away and curled her fingers into fists. “Shut up, you didn’t hear that.” To think that the Goddess of Magic could misread a situation.
“I did.” Arascus laughed this ti. Elassa felt herself almost fall face first into the gemstones when his hand patted her back. “I’m…” He trailed off, then restarted. “Or rather, phrase it like that. You are integral for this plan, so why shouldn’t I give you the details?”
“You’re what?” Elassa asked. She wasn’t going to miss that. The retreat was smooth, it was professional, it was bureaucratic, and it was exactly the sort of thing that made her furious. “I’m…? I’m what? Go on. Don’t feed that basic job trite.”
“I’m not trying to bed you?” Arascus asked. He laughed again. “Believe it or not.”
It was the worst thing he could have ever said. Why not exactly? What? Was she not good enough for him? Not pretty enough? No? Did it have to be harlot like Helenna? Or maybe it was only the grand types? Like Allasaria or Irinika or Fortia that excited him? She was the damn Goddess of damn Magic? Since when was the God of Pride too high and mighty to think he could get away with a comnt like that? Elassa took and released a heavy breath. “Why not exactly?”
Once again, her cheeks flared red. Why did she even say that? What was the fucking point of it?! She didn’t want to sleep with him either! FUCK! “What the fuck is this explanation Elassa?” It was the first ti she had heard Arascus swear in this age. “What? Do you want to?” He didn’t even sound angry, just resigned at the… at the damn farce Elassa knew she was putting him through.
Elassa snapped back. “No? Of course not!” Arascus sighed the stood by her side as they watched trucks, no longer military but civilian drive up the road of stone. Soldiers were standing about with shovels, to collect the precious diamonds that would be used for the manufacture of more massive crystals for the ICDT towers. Arascus stood in silence for a mont, then put his hand on Elassa’s shoulder. Elassa froze. Should she lean into? Pull away? Every decision felt like the wrong decision. “Why just ?”
“There is no good answer.” Arascus said.
“That ans what?”
“That ans you did an excellent thing here.” He shouldn’t say things like that. If there was anyone out there who was smart to know what sort of reaction words like that would bring upon her, it was him. “And it’s an incredible thing really, but the towers relate to you, so you should know where I’m going so you know the schedule. I have no clue how long Ciria and Halkus will take, but that’s where I see path, so that’s were I’m going. The estimates for building towers by hand range in the months to years.”
Elassa knew her response was predictable. It was probably what Arascus was hinting at, but she had to ask. “So it’s not just then?”
“So far, it’s just you.” Arascus said. “But obviously I’ll tell others where I’m going.” Elassa sighed and leaned into his arm. And there it was. Best of the best, told only because she happened to be the first one to ask him.
“Would you have told if I didn’t ask?”
Arascus took another pause as if needing to consider the answer. Or maybe he was just questioning her intellectual, Elassa didn’t care at this point. An answer finally ca. “Yes?”
“Why?”
“I just gave you the reasoning.” There it was, she was not special. It was just Imperial Bureaucracy in action. The Empire was grand, and it was honest, and it trusted. But the Empire wasn’t a person. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not.”
“I can feel your tears on my hand.” Arascus said and pulled her close, so she could rest against his side. “I called you out here so you could see what you did.”
“And so you could tell .”
“So you could see.” Arascus said. “We have phones for the other.”
“See what exactly?” Arascus squeezed her shoulder and said nothing. She knew of course, it was so she could see her own creation, and what it had done, and how beautiful it was. It was a gift to her.
“Sorry.” Elassa mumbled as she forced her eyes open again and stared at landscape. This ti though, he had nothing to say, he just stood there, next to her, as if she was one of his. “Before, I…” Elassa mumbled out. “It’s not, I… You know.”
“Don’t apologize Elassa.” Arascus said. “And don’t explain.”
“I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Do you think I’m so petty it will change my opinion of you?” Arascus asked. “No, if you want to throw a strop, then go on.”
“I don’t want to throw a strop.” Elassa hissed at him. She didn’t even know why, it just ca out automatically. “Shut up, do you want to throw a strop then? I can!”
“It’s cute.”
Elassa blinked, her cheeks felt as if they were trying to match the crimson of Anassa’s sorcery, and the hand that was about to hit Arascus stopped in mid-air. It was the most terrible thing anyone had ever said to her, undoubtedly the worst. It was… She would rather take another of Maisara’s or Helenna’s personal take downs that delved into every fear and sha and weakness than be called that again. It fell down low and Elassa released the breath she didn’t realise she was holding. “I’ll never act like that again then.” There. Calm, like a proper deity should be.
There, he could say anything now. He could call her cute again as if so stupid little girl and it would be fine. Stupid and pretentious, snobby and intellectual. Proud, vain. It didn’t matter at this point. The shield was raised, she had control over herself now. The shield was raised, he was filtered away. A titan of a God, soone she should look up to who didn’t have weaknesses and who was forever calm and who always knew the right thing to say. A God of Gods. An example to aim for, in the sa way that Fortia had her Peace and Maisara had her Order. Arascus was that for conversation. Or character. Or whatever the fuck it was! It was in the sa way that know was jealous of Olephia’s power because she just existed on such an overwhelming level that comparison was not needed. He could say anything though, and it would run off her like water. “And the world shall be worse for it.” Everything except that.
Her fist slamd into his torso.
User Comments
0 comments from readers