RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

Keilan watched his sister practice with the Sword That Does Not Cut, the blade practically screaming as it cleaved through the air. Great rifts of nothingness were left in the wake of its tip, Aeriel darting about above as she struggled to mend the damage the unsheathed blade caused. Sweat poured down Elvira's face, limbs trembling as she fought her way through the basic steps of a forgotten sword-form. Keilan's mind drifted for a moment as he followed that connection, fingers twitching as his eyes traced the karmic threads that bound her to her People.

The form had originated from a reclusive set of Avian monks specializing in wind magic and the sword, though their order had been extinct for nearly two hundred thousand years. As the creator of the Avians, of course Elvira had access to their cultural knowledge; it was ingrained in her, just as he was connected to his own People, and how Mother was connected to everyone in the Four Realms.

Keilan shook that thought off to refocus on the now – he put up a good front, but his new domain was still a struggle to handle, sometimes. Karma was one thing, the knowledge and power that can with Connections was entirely another. Navigating the different layers was…trying, at times.

The training ground Elvira had chosen was a little place on the very edge of the Heaven Realm, where she could do the least amount of damage to her surroundings. The only stretch of physical land for a thousand miles lay directly beneath their feet, the small rock transformed into a flat arena through Elvira's power. The white, cloudy substance of Yang that made up the Realm of Heaven drifted by beside them, the Lunar Star shining down from directly overhead.

She grit her teeth, wings flaring as she forced her way through the rest of the forms, tails thrashing and power shuddering as the Sword itself vibrated in her grip. Her arms trembled as she quickly sheathed it, the paintbrush that hung from the pommel waving in the wind, her chest heaving.

"You're getting better with that." Keilan commented honestly. He wasn't certain why she struggled to actually wield the Sword, only that it was incredibly dangerous when she did so. Unlike when Mother wielded it, where it would, and in fact could, only cut Fate, the Sword seemed to almost gleefully try and cut away everything in Elvira's grasp.

"Did you notice anything this time around?" Elvira panted, wiping the sweat from her brow and frowning down at the sheathed sword. Keilan shook his head in the negative, striding forward and extending one hand. Strings flew out from his fingertips, binding shut a few of the rifts Elvira had caused in her practice like stitches, giving poor Aeriel a breather. The green-haired wind goddess sighed in relief as she floated down to the ground barefoot, dusting off her simple green dress.

"Only the same thing as last time. Your intent is all over the place." He said with a shake of his head.

"What does that even mean?" Elvira complained.

"You don't know what you're trying to cut." Keilan almost jumped at the soft voice, airy and breathless, like a gentle breeze drifting through a meadow. He whirled on Aeriel, who blinked at he and his sister innocently, as if this wasn't the first time he'd heard her talk in Mother knew how long.

"…how do you know that?" Elvira asked, tapping the shield that was the Sword's hilt. Aeriel cocked her head to the side and pointed to the Sword.

"It was a secret. But it told me to tell you." She said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Then she looked at Keilan, meeting his eyes with her own, vibrant green. "Most the time, the wind talks for me." As if that answered anything, and was relevant to anything besides his own inner monologue. He narrowed his eyes at her while she smiled a secret smile. Had she known what he was thinking…?

"It was nice to hear your voice again." He tested, though she just giggled and said nothing more, spinning up a little tornado in her hand and playing with it as it whirled about on her palm.

"I see." Elvira said after a moment, clipping the Sword to her hip and smoothing out her white robes. "I am unsure if I understand, but thank you, Aeriel. Now, Keilan, I believe there is something you wished to speak with me about?"

"Must I have a reason for wishing to come see my sister?" He countered, raising an eyebrow at her, his thick tail lazily brushing against the ground. Elvira smiled weakly, then paused, narrowing her eyes at him. He could practically hear the confusion rolling about in her mind.

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am serious. I know I am a bit more reclusive than the rest of our siblings, but that does not mean I do not desire to spend time with you all." He frowned at Elvira, wondering just what she thought of him to say that.

"I know, I am sorry." She immediately apologized, bowing her head. "It is important to take some time to rest and unwind, despite everything." Keilan nodded sagely, stroking his chin and wishing, for a moment, he had a beard. Maybe he should grow one?

"We can make as many formations, and protections, and defenses as we want, but it will not matter if the bonds between us are frayed in the process." He said. Elvira stared at him, silent for long enough that he started to fidget. Aeriel giggled as she shot up into the air, the wind goddess vanishing in a burst of wind.

"Are you feeling ok? That was an oddly…emotional, thing for you to say." Elvira said, reaching out and touching his shoulder. He jerked away from her, scowling, and an evil grin stretched across her face. "Do you want a hug, too?"

"Don't touch me." He deadpanned, squaring his shoulders and spreading his wings just a bit, enough to either fight or flee – probably flee, all things considered. Elvira made a grabbing motion with her hands and Keilan tensed to run, but with a smirk, she backed down. A shiver ran down his spine as he readjusted his robes, giving her a cautious side eyed look and clearing his throat. "I was thinking we could play go for a bit, or something. At least until duty calls me back."

"That sounds good to me." Elvira grinned. "Gilles and I play that quite often. I've gotten much better since the last time we played."

"I will be the judge of that." With a wave of Keilan's hand space warped around them, the two reappearing in his office. The various knick-knacks he kept stored on the shelves lining the walls of the massive chamber were safely kept behind freshly-cleaned panes of glass, his dark desk manned by a singular incarnation that slowly and meticulously went through the necessary paperwork. It didn't even look up as Elvira and he appeared, a go board resting atop a beautifully carved oak stand between them. Here, they would not be disturbed. The Karmic Kings knew better than to bug him while paperwork was being done, even if it was an incarnation.

"You prefer to play as black, correct?" he sat cross-legged at his side of the table.

"And you, white," Elvira said, sitting down in front of him, clasping her hands in her lap. He nodded, and the two began to play. The first few rounds were played in silence, each round only taking two minutes to get through. For a mortal, such speed of play was practically unimaginable – but for them? This sort of game was so overly simple it was a cakewalk; unless, of course, they were playing each other, testing their strategic minds. And Keilan had to admit that his sister had gotten better at the tactical portions of the game. He only won seven out of ten matches, as opposed to the nine out of ten it used to be.

"What is bothering you so?" Keilan asked after another decisive victory, the pieces rearranging themselves to document his win. Elvira was scowling at the board, tapping her chin, her tails thrashing in impatience as the board cleared of all pieces. "You have been tense this entire time, occasionally flinching. What is it?"

"Xing Wu is bugging me." She admitted. "His new divinity is vexing, and my own domain of divinity makes it hard to ignore. God of the Stars? If I am the goddess of gods, that makes him the god of becoming a god. And he's been insufferable. Won't listen to my orders. Won't follow commands. I just…he gets the duties I assign to him done, but it is sloppy and – even now, he actively goes out of his way to vex me. Without it being intentional, which is the most frustrating part."

"Then do not try to command him. You and I both know that he does not follow orders well." Keilan's hands were a blur as he and she started the next match, pieces clicking down in rapid succession on the board as calculations and predictions were made at godly speed – and they were playing slow. Perhaps it was time for a new game, but, this was one Mother had shown them so it held a certain amount of nostalgia and required little true thought.

"I am learning that. You forget that I was never in charge of the man, only you and Alexander truly have any experience in handling him." Elvira complained, shaking her head. "When I leave him alone, he makes the right choices. When I try to give him a command, he messes it up, or does a half-assed job. It's actually amusingly predictable, when I'm not actively fixing things." Keilan chuckled as he looked up in the sky, toward the domed ceiling of his office. He peered through the dark stone that comprised it, past the multitude strings of karma that led all souls to his palace to be reincarnated, and the thick, dense energy that came with such a massive number of spirits and souls passing through the Karmic Realm.

"Huh. You know, you might actually try to give him an order here. Reverse psychology could do well." He commented, pausing play for a brief moment as he observed the newly made god as he struggled to rearrange the stars. The usage of divine power did not come naturally to the man; the purity and raw power of divinity was so much more than even a Dao Progenitor's natural qi that it was taking all his control just to keep from exploding when he exerted himself. Not literally, but it was a close enough comparison.

"How so?" Elvira asked, sneakily changing a few pieces as Keilan stared heavenward. Silly girl. Like that would help. This match was already over. Had she gotten worse since they started playing?

"I see a potential for a connection with one of the new Trees. More specifically, the soul within the Tree that Randus has been watching." He explained, looking back down at the board. Elvira's poker face was beautiful, but even she knew that he knew she cheated. "Could be interesting. Inesa has been a good influence on him, why not one more?"

"I see. I will take that into consideration. I do believe he's going to try to install a few Dao Progenitors in those Trees soon; their preparations are pretty much done." She said, nodding sagely. Keilan smiled thinly at her as he continued to play, still seeing a path to victory despite her cheating. "And you? Something is bugging you; I was wondering if it had anything to do with Sol? Or, I suppose, Father has been calling her Solana now." At this Keilan paused, narrowing his eyes at her.

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"Sol? He's back?"

"As a little bird, yes. Surprised you didn't notice, but I suppose that is more my domain than yours. She's a fire bird now, a spirit beast, and I've been feeling her for a while. Keeps reaching for her old divinity. Even Father made a move; He tried to hide it, but His attention on her did not go unnoticed. The Realms moved, and I have not felt something like this since Father paid so much attention to Fang Xu and Celene." Elvira explained, scowling as Keilan won once again. "I hate playing this game with you."

"I know. You can't match me even when while cheating." Keilan said smugly, clearing the board. "Solana…I will look into that deeper. Fate and destiny is a connection I struggle with, while Mother seems content to tamper with it unintentionally. Another round?" Elvira shook her head but stayed seated all the same, the two playing go and making small talk all through the day. Both knew the importance of working hard, but just the same, one had to take time to rest.

...if only Mother knew that, too. He frowned, looking up at his sister. He was worried about Mother. She wasn't acting oddly, or, well, odder than usual, however...there was something off about Her. He wasn't quite sure how to put it into words. Mayhaps it was time to voice his concerns to his siblings, away from Mother's prying eyes, and see if they felt the same.

***

Xing Wu scowled and crossed his arms as he glared at the Dao Stars before him, none of them wanting to behave. How in the Karmic fuck did Statera Luotian pin these things in skies and the primordial chaos? With a damn spear? Divine power churned within him like an ocean in a storm, the Primordial Chaos raging before him with all the might of creation. When he'd been but a mere cultivator, the idea of visiting the Primordial Chaos and the other Realms had been but a dream. Now, though?

He'd barely even had the chance to explore the other Realms! The moment he became a god and proposed to Inesa, Elvira, Goddess of Heaven and apparently literal Divinity, had demanded he go and train the Dao Progenitors to begin taking over the new Trees! Statera Luotian hadn't come to say hi, he'd spent most of his time back in the Physical Realm – he'd barely even had a tour of Heaven, been given but a glance at the Karmic, and was still pretty much unacquainted with the Spirit Realm! Shouldn't that have been the first priority, to get him accustomed to divine power and everything else in the Four Realms?

Not to mention he could now hear any and all prayers directed to him. He'd known a religion had cropped up around him and Dei, but now he could actually hear it! And see the power of faith that flowed up from the believers to the Dao Stars! It was like having constant buzzing in his ears; he'd wanted some help to figure out how to deal with it, but all the other gods he'd met had said were "just get used to it!"

And now he's moving these Stars! The one Star before him in particular was one of those that he was relatively unconnected to – a Dao of Secrets. He was fairly certain it was a god's Dao; the silvery ball of light and faith, encompassing everything the progenitor of said Dao understood of Secrets, had a hint of gold and white to it, the colors of the gods, and the power of Faith that comprised it was not just a singular being's. He could feel the worship of millions of mortals slowly trickling into the Dao, strengthening it, while it, itself, kept everything that was secret separate from him.

Such was the nature of Secrets. They didn't always want to be told, and this was the one Dao that he could not actively tap into, not even slightly. It was another kind of infuriating, because he couldn't even control when he tapped into other Dao's! At least, not when they were unattached to his own martial way, like this one was.

"Having fun?" Inesa's voice was music to his ears, her warm arms wrapping around his waist as she appeared behind him.

But despite her appearance, annoyance was still foremost on his mind, even as she laid her chin on his shoulder and hummed in his ear, the scent of woodsmoke and the warmth of a hearth radiating from her. Her hands clasped around his middle, and he laid one of his own over hers.

"Oh, so much fun. If you count beating my head against a brick wall and wishing Morgan would come try to eat me just so I could have something to punch as fun." He ground out, glaring at the Dao Star. It still had quite a ways to go until it was in the "proper position." Where was the danger he was sensing? He wanted that.

"Mmm. Maybe you should take a break." She mused. Xing Wu spun around in her grip to face her, wrapping his own arms around her back. His eyebrows wiggled and she giggled, shaking her head rapidly at his look. "No, no, no. Not like that. Not yet." Not yet. Which means soon. Xing Wu grinned lecherously at her, a blush covering Inesa's face as she rapidly pulled away. Ah, she was so fun to tease. "I mean, you should go explore a little. The new regions. Go. Visit them, I mean." She stammered a little and Xing Wu cackled out a laugh. How long had they been together, and he could still make her blush and stammer like this?

Adorable. What had he done to earn the love of an adorable creature like this?

"And what would your boss think about me skipping work?" He mused, scratching his chin and summoning his spear so he could lean against it lazily, in the way he knew she appreciated. Inesa shook her head rapidly, refusing to look him up and down, brown hair flying about every which way, soft rays of light radiating off of her. He was immensely pleased to see his own Dao Star hanging from her neck in a necklace, softly gleaming.

Inesa, not to be outdone, had pulled her own Star out of the sky to give to him. Almost absently one hand reached up to touch where it hung around his neck, hidden beneath his robes and encased in a locket of silver and wind. Two gods had apparently helped her make the necklace, but it was the Star that really meant something. Inesa's eyes traced his hand as he moved, expression softening.

"Elvira says you should need to stay here and work on the Stars. They need to be adjusted more." She said. Xing Wu nodded thoughtfully. "And I have work to do, so I can't help."

"I see. Break time it is!" he announced loudly. Inesa giggled, light swirling about her as her body began to shimmer, transforming into her titular element.

"I knew you would say that. I love you, Xing Wu, and try not to work too hard." She teased.

"Never. Love you too." He winked at her as she shot off in a streak of light, his own divine power swirling about him. There was a certain teleport technique he'd been working on; just teleporting was one thing, but using his Domain and divine power was another…

Starlight swirled around him as he focused, connecting to the Dao, tracing it back to its source -

Swords filled his mind for a split second, space warping around him as suddenly he appeared beside the Sword Dao Progenitor, stumbling and nearly tripping into a weapon rack. Said Dao Progenitor leapt into the air as Xing Wu appeared, whipping his sword out of its sheathe to point menacingly at him – only to pause, and immediately fall into a bow.

"Lord Xing Wu, I was not expecting you. How can I be of service?" the Dao Progenitor was shockingly deferential considering Xing Wu just appeared in the poor man's private meditation chamber – he put a hand to his forehead, glancing about the silk-laded chamber and deciding he didn't want to be here. Not that he'd intended to appear in front of him either way – he could see the way his divine presence weighed upon the man, practically forcing him into a bow. He quickly reigned in his power, desperately putting it on a leash, the Dao Progenitor breathing far easier once he had done so.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting used to a new technique. Just going sightseeing. I'll…uh, see you later." And with that, he teleported away, chasing another Dao, and trying to keep a lower profile this time.

It did not work. Instead of quietly teleporting above Manu Ti, he appeared in the throne room of the Celestial Palace, where long ago, when he was still Dei, he used to hold court. Alanna sat in her throne, head whipping up to stare at him, shocked, as he hovered above those present. Mortals at the peak of cultivation to immortals themselves were assembled in neat rows, Alanna's Queen's Guard levelling their spears and halberds at Xing Wu despite knowing who he was.

"That's,"

"Xing Wu!"

"A God…"

The people gasped and muttered in collective shock, reminding him that he was fairly reclusive as a Dao Progenitor, and even more so when it came to other Immortals now that he was a god. Their prayers echoed in his ears, filling his mind with all sorts of words and noises and –

"Xing Wu!" Alanna stood from her throne in a smooth motion, and Xing Wu shot her an uneasy smile, the awe and respect directed toward him from the mortals filling his mind and heart will all sorts of uncomfortable emotions. But, in truth, it was the woman standing beside Alanna that surprised him the most.

The Mad Scientist stood beside her, smiling and pleasant, with far more power swirling about her than should be possible. It was enough to, temporarily, halt the whispering prayers that echoed in his ears.

"Your duty to the mortals is over, your story here finished. Let us weave our tales. Go back to performing your godly tasks." She whispered, wings fluttering. Xing Wu narrowed his eyes at her, but felt his power wrap around him all the same, teleporting him once again. This time, he appeared in one of the new regions; one of two that did not have a designated Dao Progenitor yet. He frowned, floating above the baby Holy Mountain of this new section of the Heaven Realm, watching mortal life as it moved about on the areas below.

…well. This was going to piss him off if he didn't get a handle on it. With a frown Xing Wu sat cross-legged in the air, his divine power roaring through his veins, so much heavier than he was used to, and closed his eyes in meditation, fighting to push away the echoes of prayers.

Only one stood out, above the others. Xing Wu. A voice said. The God who defies the heavens, whose Dao Star was stripped from the sky. Watch over me, as I strive to finish what you started, and avenge Dei. Xing Wu frowned harder, and pushed it all away entirely.

Stupid mortals.

He stripped his own star out of the sky. Why did they have to misinterpret things? It's not like they couldn't access his Dao anymore, and he'd tried telling those people who would listen the truth - that was the issue. The ones who would listen to him, already knew the truth. The ones misinterpreting things wouldn't listen to whatever omens or whatnot he sent their way. He rubbed his forehead.

A part of him wanted to just go down there and knock some sense into them, but everyone, everyone, told him that was frowned upon as a god. He had other duties and tasks to attend to, as they said. It galled him to say this, but...he may need to seek some advice, here.