RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

"You are alright going back by yourself?" I asked Morgan, the wolf walking beside me as we left Nyxteria's realm. Morgan's ever-present scowl lessened slightly as it looked up at me, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Am I not to go straight back to my cell?" It asked.

"No. I will only be gone for another ten, fifteen years or so. You behaved well here, so I will give you and Thyia a bit of freedom. Think if it like parole." I said. A part of me wished I got the chance to bring Thyia out here, spend some quality one-on-one time with the dark goddess, but there wasn't really an opportunity for one. This would have to be good enough for now. Besides, I think Morgan and Thyia are ready for a bit of freedom – they've adjusted enough.

"I see. Don't expect me to greet the others. I will go straight to my hidden realm." Morgan grumbled. I chuckled and reached down to scratch Morgan's head, the wolf snarling and leaping away from my touch, nearly running into Reilly in the process. The beggar god shot Morgan an amused smile and sauntered forward, still drinking from his flask as he stepped through Nyxteria's portal and into the meeting room.

"I would expect nothing less, Morgan," I said with a small shake of my head, urging the wolf to enter first, then following after. The few deities who had remained in the meeting room for this trip were already exchanging greetings with those who had returned, chatting about various things. We could all feel that this little meet-and-greet slash field trip session was nearing its end, with only two more universes left to visit, and were winding down accordingly.

Well, except for me. I still had to show off some. They had met the leaders of my Realms, but not all the most interesting characters.

"You will be bringing them with you, won't you?" Morgan asked as I walked it to the portal to the Four Realms, circling around the central table.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Whoever wants to come, which I imagine will be most people." I shrugged. "Should be eventful. I admit to being worried about fitting all these origin deities in the Realms, but it shouldn't be too big a problem. Mr. Boxes is pulling some shenanigans to make this work, I suspect." Morgan furrowed its brows at me and I paused for a moment, realizing that this was likely the first time I'd brought up Mr. Boxes to it. "Mr. Boxes is the Overgod of the multiverse, Morgan. Whether he truly created the multiverse or is the supreme ruler of it, I do not know. What I do know is that the amount of power in a single shard of its existence is enough to dwarf the entirety of the Four Realms. We are but atoms to his existence. Myself included."

Morgan narrowed its eyes further but didn't respond, gnashing its teeth a little and spider-legs tapping against the ground as it walked. Only once did I catch it glancing about the room, eyeing the walls and ears twitching to listen to the relative quiet, before coming to stand before my portal. I clasped my hands before myself, and simply watched Morgan's reaction. Morgan waited for a brief moment, glancing back at me, then at the other origin deities, a strange gleam in its eyes. I wasn't sure what to make of it, even when turned to stare at me pointedly before leaping into the portal.

"Will you be bringing someone else to Yueya's Realm?" Shin asked, the skeletal god appearing behind me. I nodded, cracking my neck and stretching a little.

"Yes. Though she's a little troublemaker too, in a completely different way than Morgan is." I said, and Shin hummed, clacking his jaws together in thought, the green fire that filled his eye sockets flaring.

"I believe I speak for everyone here when I say that I am looking forward to discovering your Realm. To have produced so many interesting individuals, while supposedly being so small…I can only imagine what you had to put them through to create it." Shin shook his head, turning on his heel. "I will join you in Yueya's Realm. It shall only be myself, you, Reilly, the Emperor, and Sylphina. The others wish to meditate on their gains a bit more before we truly start wrapping things up."

That was understandable. I needed to go to Yueya's universe if only for one reason; hers was the absolute biggest out of any of ours, and I might be able to gain something even more by going there. That wasn't even to consider the fact that I'd grown fairly close with Yueya over the past few years…I'd say her, Shin and, surprisingly, the Dragon Sehuyun were my closest friends at the moment.

…friends. I frowned at myself at the way that word made my heart giddy. Was I really so lonely, even surrounded by my children, that such a simple word would elicit such a strong reaction from me? I sighed and put my hand in my portal, calling my final plus one to me and simultaneously sending an incarnation to release Thyia from her prison. What was I, some schoolkid getting their first friend in kindergarten? And then – my final plus one arrived.

"GRAMPS!" Kei cut my thoughts off by hurling herself through the portal, using my hand as a brace to launch herself into a giant hug about my middle, her arms and legs wrapping themselves best they could about my torso. Her nine tails flicked as I stumbled backward, pouting up at me. "You grew taller." She accused.

"I did, a little," I agreed, realizing I still was ten feet tall, rather than my normal six or so. Kei scowled, fox-ears flicking in annoyance.

"Lots of things are changing. What have you been doing? Mom's been acting weird ever since she came back, and now –"

"Don't," I cut her off, turning, with her still attached, to those heading to Yueya's realm. "I want to be surprised." There were surely many changes my children were going through – and I had promised myself to keep my distance for the moment. It was proving a more difficult task than I realized. Yueya giggled at me as I met her eyes and marched forward, Kei flopping her head backwards so she could see everyone. Her eyes narrowed.

"Pretty. Scary. Bird? Strange. Scaly. Shiny. Drunk? Who are all these people?" Kei asked, rolling her head side-to-side. Sehuyun huffed at the fox-girl, blowing a bit of smoke our way as she rolled her eyes and laid back down, resting her forehead on her front feet. Apparently, she didn't agree with Kei's aura.

"Friends. People like me," I told her, coming to stand beside Sylphina. The chaos butterfly twitched her antennas at me, then turned her attention back to Yueya.

"There's no one like you, you're too weird." Kei stated, letting go with her arms so she was hanging upside down, clinging to me more like a monkey than a fox.

"Creator gods, Kei. They're origin deities," I said, exasperated. Kei hummed and completely let me go, falling into a handstand that rolled into a flip that brought her to stand beside Reilly, who hiccupped and squinted at her, cheeks flushed.

"Statera, your grandkid is being weird." Reilly complained as Kei peered at his filthy clothes.

"It runs in the family," Kei told him without missing a beat, turning her attention to Shin next. The skeletal god did not flinch as she peered at him, not even deigning to look at her as she circled him. I left her to it and turned my attention to Yueya, who was just smiling and shaking her head.

"Definitely the most curious of all your children. Or, in this case, descendants," She said. "Come on. It's time for you all to meet the others, and greet the One World. Astraea, if you would lead the way please." The goddess of stars bowed and stepped through the portal gracefully. Kei, noticing this, immediately left Shin alone and darted back to my side, bouncing on her heels as we followed first the Emperor, then Sylphina, into the One World.

As soon as I crossed the threshold I was immediately struck by how vast it was. Even compared to the largest of the other universes.

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My divine senses couldn't even reach the edge of the universe, the single, massive stretch of land that made up the entirety of the world rising and falling in a truly gorgeous arc off into the distance. Mountains taller than Elvira's Holy Mountain scraped the sky, while valleys deeper than Keilan's Karmic Valley fell deep into the crust of the planet. There were continents the size of Pangaea and rivers wider than Alexander's spirit river – veritable oceans, in their own right. My gaze pierced the earth, diving deep through the thousands of miles of crust to behold a hollow center.

Mortal souls drifted about within the center of the planet, glittering like a billion fireflies as they headed toward their next lives. One World – it was a literal name. Yueya's entire universe was One massive World.

The sun was dragged through the sky above by a chariot of fire led by a team of seven golden-furred elk, and driven by an orange-haired, six-armed god. And directly beneath us stood a city; floating in the skies above a frigid mountaintop, and shining like the artistic masterpiece it was.

A kaleidoscope of colors reflected the sun's light from the swirling, twirling buildings; tastefully arranged roads snaking through the buildings to create a mosaic. Hundreds of thousands of people went about their day in the streets, various flying vehicles and flying beasts ferrying some to and from the land below.

Yet despite all the activity, and the vastness of the world arrayed like a giant painting, there were so few people. For the size I should have easily sensed twenty times the number of souls I did, trillions upon trillions more; and the number of gods or god-like beings! There were so few. In the city below I only counted three, all of whom seemed frayed out and stressed. But, more importantly…

"Welcome to the One World!" Yueya cried happily, spreading her arms wide. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"It is beautiful," I admitted, nodding and furrowing my brows. "But why do I sense three of you?" Yueya grinned, clapping her hands together as the two other beings I was sensing, all of whom equal to power of Yueya and all of whom appearing to my divine senses as different flavors of the same person, hurtled towards us.

"Three of her? I do not – oh." Shin stopped himself from speaking, freezing in place as they reached the edge of his divine senses. He looked about as confused as a skeleton possibly could.

"Three of her?" Kei asked, cocking her head to the side. "Gramps, can I go play? This place is so big!"

"Yes, indeed!" Yueya said happily. Astraea bowed beside her.

"Honored guests, I present to you the whole of our Creator; the three facets of one being. Yueya Oshun, of the Arts," Astraea pointed at Yueya, who struck a pose. "Curie Oshun of the Sciences," at this another person appeared. She, too, was beautiful, but was dressed in simple blue robes and wore round glasses. Her hair was a deep navy blue, and expression cold and severe. An entirely different beauty than Yueya was. "And Alala Oshun, of the Sports." This one who appeared was a tanned goddess, clad in revealing robes that showcased her glistening muscles and fierce expression. A mischievous smile danced upon her lips, her short brown hair messy and slicked back, a javelin held in one hand as her eyes locked with mine.

"Yueya! You brought guests!" Alala cried happily.

"I hope you've brought a solution to the problems we've been facing." Curie deadpanned.

"Of course I did! I have it all ready for you to peruse. But first, introductions! We have a lot of ground to cover, and oh so little time to do it in." Yueya said. I just shook my head.

The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. No…The Mind, Body, and Soul. Three things that seemed separate, but were inextricably intertwined. All fed into the others. All fed and bolstered each other.

…how wonderful.

***

Curie observed their guests closely, listening to their conversations as Yueya, the most outgoing and charismatic of the three, happily chattered with them about inane things. Astraea, the young goddess of stars Yueya had, for some unknown reason, insisted accompany her to the meeting, watched on with the same unreadable expression as she always did.

And Alala, predictably, walked up to the most muscular looking one, the one Yueya had identified as the Emperor, and promptly demanded a competition of sorts.

Curie shook her head at her sister-selves, feeling their intentions through their connection but respectfully leaving them to their own devices. They might be herself, but they were each distinct, and filled their own roles perfectly. Or perhaps not perfectly, considering the severe shortage of manpower they were experiencing.

"Astraea," Curie called the young goddess over. She turned, silver eyes wary as she approached with slow steps, walking through the air with the ease of a god thrice her age. "Did you gather the information I requested?"

"As much as possible. If you want to inquire more specifically, I suggest either talking to Statera, whose eyes see all, or Shin, who has insight that, while he not understand it himself, applies directly to the problem you face." Astraea said with her head bowed, hood pulled up over her head and hiding her eyes. Curie analyzed her, calculating her words and coming up with the conclusion that further discussion would be pointless – turning instead to the other gods that had arrived.

Of them, Statera and Shin scared her the most. The Emperor was a himbo, full of bluster and hot air, a King that could be manipulated with precise, logical reasoning. Sylphina was…unpredictable, but therefore predictable because of it. Treated with care, instability could be managed. Reilly was…well, he was also, likewise, easy to handle. The drunkard god was a gambler, and could be entertained with games or problems that held his attention.

But not Shin or Statera. Shin was quiet, withdrawn. Always watching and listening, absorbing information while giving away none. Like her. She hated people like her.

And Statera?

The purple robed god cast his/her eyes in Curie's direction and she shuddered involuntarily. Statera could see right through her. Even now –

"Rot," Statera mouthed with a sad smile, and Curie paled.

Even now, she knew Statera could see through all of her carefully hidden secrets. No, a man or woman like that was dangerous. Far too dangerous. And she could not trust her sister-selves to see through it.

"Careful, Curie. Statera is not the only dangerous one," Astraea advised. Curie snorted, pushing her glasses up her nose to glare at the young goddess. To her surprise, she did not flinch away this time.

"I –" Whatever Curie had been about to say was lost in the next moment, when an unexpected weight landed upon her shoulders, and a far-too-mischievous face popped into her vision. Fox-ears twithed atop the fox girl's head, her eyes glittering with the desire for fun and play. But, more importantly, the desire for mischief, and a calculated cunning that sent shivers down Curie's spine.

"My name's Kei! And keep this a secret from Gramps," Kei gestured to Statera, who had now been drug into conversation with both Yueya and Alala, the former of whom shot Curie a wink before turning back to the conversation. Traitors. "But I want to see your Rot."

Curie's heart stopped in her chest.

But in that moment, she also saw opportunity. Perhaps…just maybe…they'd be able to solve this problem after all…

"Fine." Curie said after a moment, grabbing the nine-tailed fox girl's legs and shoving her off her shoulders. She landed with a giggle, skidding across the air, all nine tails thrashing excitedly behind her. "If you want to see so bad, follow me. I'll show you this so-called rot."