NOVEL NEXT Aeternae – Chapter 243: Present Company
Aperio narrowed her eyes at the car that had just cut them off. She considered for a moment running after it to tell the driver off, but decided that simply limiting their car to only ever drive at the speed limit would be enough. In fact, any car they drove would only go as fast as was legally prescribed.
"Did you just curse another mortal to an eternity adhering to the speed limit?" Caethya asked as she, too, watched the car drive away.
"Just a week. Maybe."
"At least you didn't let them run into you again. Though it was quite the sight to behold, it's probably happened enough."
"They should build more sturdily," Aperio said and offered a shrug of both her shoulders and wings. "Their vehicles should come to a full stop when colliding and not be split in two. I'm not even sharp."
Just as she had promised herself, Aperio had made it a point to not dodge the suicidal drivers of Earth a few times, much to their shock. Obviously no harm had come to her or Caethya, but the same could not be said about the cars. It was strange, though, that no passenger in the vehicles got injured, and that the drivers only ever sustained some bruises and perhaps a mild concussion. The various news outlets that covered the odd string of accidental crashes had called it a miracle, some even claiming that it was divine intervention. Truly a mystery.
"But you are hot and that is a good substitute," Caethya said with a wide smile.
Aperio only raised a brow at the words and wrapped a wing around her love. Her phrasing had been a bit off, but she chose to ignore what might have been slight at her intelligence and chose to only acknowledge the fact that Caethya did, in fact, enjoy how she looked.
A thought caused the traffic light to finally switch in their favour and the two Elves crossed the street without endangering any of the mortals or their possessions.
The place Aperio had picked to meet her daughter would appear just like any other cafe to most, but it should be obvious to Ferio that it was quite a bit more. Especially now.
Ever since Aperio had used Eleanor's little ritual site to pay a visit to the amalgamation of Earth's deities, it had gained a bit more renown in the circle her mortal friend moved in. As it turned out, using more than the absolute minimum of her power leaves a mark, and it had become improved as far as ritual sites went. Of course, Aperio could 'clean' it up, but the mortals seemed to enjoy tinkering with the bits and pieces of her mana now embedded into the stones of the cafe.
"Are you going to try something this time?" Caethya asked as she sat herself down at what had quickly become their table. "It's not like you can't eat."
"Perhaps some tea," Aperio replied, taking her seat opposite her love. "I do like how they smell." She hesitated for a bit, tilting her head to the side. "Do you think I could ask them to make one from leaves I procured?"
"I think they would be willing to accommodate," Caethya snickered. "They wanted to rename the cafe in your honour after all."
"Yes," Aperio said, her voice a bit lower. "I remember. What about the sentence 'I do not want to be worshipped' is hard to understand?"
"Having something named in your honour is not really worship, now is it?"
"It is a step in that direction." Aperio offered a shrug, making sure her wings did not knock over any nearby mortals. "Besides, I like the current name. Vorain sounds neat."
"It is also the name the shop will have forever," the voice of Eleanor cut in. "No matter what my employees want to do, I won't change it."
"I feel like there is a story to tell here!" Caethya turned slightly in her chair and crossed her legs. "Are you willing to indulge two bored Elves with the tales of your store?"
"We truly are the embodiment of boredom," Aperio added with a strong nod as another part of her mind prevented a few hundred versions of Earth from collapsing in on themselves. "Truly at a loss for what to do."
"Somehow I don't believe that," Eleanor replied. "But it's also not much of a story. Vorain is the name the store was given when it was founded long ago, and every generation of my family has kept it. I intend to honour that tradition."
"Is the name perhaps related to the various enchantments on the building?" Aperio asked. "A few of them seem to be quite old. Older than most of this city, to be exact."
Eleanor simply shrugged. "I don't know about that, but you are free to read the legends my family wrote down. Now” —she clapped her hands, a small notepad appearing between them— “what can I get for you?"
///
Ferio let out an inaudible sigh as she reached yet another patch of empty space. It had become a bit of a trend that she would turn up to where she felt like her mother should be only to find yet another trace of her mana. Diskrye had been wrong about Earth being hard to find; it really wasn't, but it sure was annoying.
The runes she had used countless times by now quickly reappeared below her feet and a single thought was all she needed to direct that prepared magic once again. The only upside to all of this was the fact that she was at least feeling like she was getting closer. Her mother's mana felt a little more… real, for a lack of a better term. Aperio's nature was showing more now — one of the few things Ferio found to be reassuring — and at least that part was easier to track.
It took her a few more tries, but soon Ferio stood in the space above a world that was practically bathed in the All-Mother's mana. The reason for it was immediately obvious when the Goddess of Life and Light peered past the thin veneer mortals liked to call reality and had to pinch the bridge of her nose.
Sure, the countless worlds she could see were masterfully placed on an ever-expanding fabric that adapted to every new version of the world that came to be, but Ferio could still not help but dislike what she saw.
It would certainly make mortals stronger — which is probably the reason why Aperio had done this in the first place — but to Ferio, it also looked like a cheap tactic to get them there. Sure, to them it would not make much of a difference now, but eventually all the different lives someone had lived would need to be recombined into a single existence. Which was something she was sure would be a rather weird experience for the mortal in question. Perhaps it would even be bad enough for them to lose their mind. That could actually be fun, though.
The Goddess of Life and Light shook her head and focused on her mother. Finding her was easy enough; she was a walking font of incredibly pure mana, after all. A beacon to any mage with half a brain cell at their disposal.
With a thought and a slightly higher expenditure of mana than she would have anticipated, Ferio brought herself to a street that was relatively close to her mother. Luckily for her, Aperio was currently not moving, likely having already picked some place where they could meet. No matter how much Ferio tried to hide herself, the All-Mother would always know she was coming. You could not hide from an all-seeing Goddess, after all.
Ferio paused as she walked around the last corner and the meeting spot her mother had apparently chosen came into view. Seeing Aperio sitting there like a regular mortal — even drinking something — was not what she had expected. If she was honest with herself, the Goddess of Life and Light had half expected an arena waiting for her in which she had to battle her mother for one reason or another. The All-Mother she remembered loved fighting, after all.
She froze as Aperio's eyes landed on her, the almost imperceptible narrowing of which Ferio still felt far more than she would like to admit. Why was it so hard for her to just talk to Aperio? In the past she was scared that her mother would do something drastic that could jeopardise all of existence, but that worry was no longer warranted, so why couldn't she just go there and tell the All-Mother what she thought?
Ferio shook her head and took a deep breath. No matter how hard it might be, they would have to… talk at some point, and it might as well be now.
///
Aperio took her gaze off of her daughter again and took another sip of the tea Eleanor had prepared for her. Infusing some of the teas she had thought smelled quite nice with more mana than any mortal would ever be able to command had turned out to be a good idea, as she did actually enjoy drinking this. Just have to make sure nobody else wants a taste… As it had more mana than was reasonable, it would likely kill anyone that was not a deity or her love.
It didn't take long for Ferio to approach them. She did not sit down immediately, only doing so when Aperio raised a brow and motioned towards a chair.
"What do you want?" she asked, lowering her cup and gently placing it on the wing-patterned saucer Eleanor had given her. "It must be rather pressing for you to come all the way here."
"In a way, it is," Ferio replied. Her eyes wandered from Aperio to Caethya before she looked at the cafe they were in. "I simply felt like it was time that we had a talk, as we can't just ignore each other for the rest of eternity. We are family, after all."
"That is true," Aperio agreed. "But I have no interest in associating with anyone who does not accept who I am." She offered a shrug. "That includes who I choose to be with."
Caethya offered a smile and small wave at the words before she went back to drinking the pitch black liquid Eleanor had called 'a bad mistake of a coffee'. Despite the name, the Demigoddess seemed to be enjoying herself.
Ferio hesitated for a moment before she simply sighed. "You can do whatever you want. Quite literally, in fact. But I consider it my right to not like everything you do, including being in a committed relationship with a mortal."
"She is as mortal as you are."
The Goddess of Life and Light raised a brow at her mother’s reply, likely finding it to be a threat before she shook her head. "Everything is to you, though… Which I guess is the point you are trying to make?"
It was, in fact, not the point she was trying to make, but Aperio would accept her daughter’s interpretation of it nonetheless. At least it gets her on the right track… If this helped her accept the fact that she loved Caethya, it would be good enough. Now she just had to figure out how to get her daughter to actually think of mortals as more than silly little playthings.
"It is close enough," the All-Mother said before she took another sip of her tea. "But I am still not quite sure what this meeting is supposed to accomplish. I do not resent you for your opinion, I simply disagree and choose to not have a shouting match because of it." Or worse.
Aperio was quite certain that Ferio was capable of making her so angry she'd forget herself for a moment and do something that would not easily be undone.
"I am unwilling to change my stance as I now know quite well what it is like to be a mortal," the All-Mother continued. "And now, I wish to give them at least a small nudge, one that makes their existence better and also allows them to more quickly become a little more powerful.
"You, on the other hand, seem to regard them as little more than chattel that might be worthy of your attention after they have gained enough power to perhaps perform ascension."
Her daughter's expression soured at the word. It reminded Aperio of the spoiled noble children she had again and again met during her life as a slave. Whenever such a person was denied something they thought they should have, they would first pout, their lips transforming into naught but a thin line. Then they would escalate, throwing a tantrum and not stopping until their wish was granted. At least Ferio should know that that is not an option with me.
She was more than capable of stopping her daughter, and she would if she had to.
"They are barely better than chattel," Ferio said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "The only difference is that they continually scheme and plot for ways to use you. Every mortal that knows of our power will, inevitably, try something to make us grant them a wish; no matter how dumb the idea might be."
Aperio raised a brow at the words. Sure, her daughter was likely right that some mortals would attempt to get deities to do something for them, but Gods would not be forced. The only thing that could force the All-Mother to do something was herself, after all.
"I feel like there is a bit more to this," her love said, seemingly taking the words right from Aperio's own mind. "Other deities are also surely trying to get your favour. Perhaps even more so than a mortal that can barely grasp your existence."
"And yet they continue to be more useless and annoying than anything I have seen."
"Perhaps you could demonstrate," Aperio suggested after she finished the last of her tea in one large swig. "Simply tell me where we should go to observe."
