NOVEL NEXT Book 2 chapter 20
Amethyst stood in the middle of her guild hall, the bustling of the crowd around her causing her to shake nervously as she looked around. So many people came to the solstice offering this year that they were forced to close the building to anyone who was not part of a guild, and even then, only a few people of each faith were allowed in.
“We may need to expand the building if it's going to be like this.” Her mother commented standing beside her.
Alastair grunted as he scanned the crowd, though no one had acted out in the past year, tensions were high between the newly formed “guilds”. The possibility that Amethyst would be targeted caused her father no end of stress as he scanned the room.
He locked eyes with the large purple man who stood before a statue to a Devil, a large opening in the crowd around him. Some people made clear faces of disgust at the Oni man as he prayed to the statue, though none dared approach him.
He was not the only oddity, as a fully revealed Saffron stood before the strange statue of Hecatolite. The succubus drew people’s eyes as she proudly displayed the mark of her mistress with a dangerously low-cut dress, yet no one got within arm’s length of her as she happily dusted off the statue of her mistress. An exasperated Joshua standing beside her, dressed in his newly tailored black robes, asking her to please cover up as she scowled at him.
The building was divided into 4 sections, at the front 6 primary gods sat in two rows of three beside the “altar” that served as the guilds main desk. Lining the walls from there were 37 alcoves with statues of the “minor” gods. Along with one empty one that had a plaque that said “pending ascension”.
After them was a single statue to the only known deity, X47. The strange statue caused lots of murmurs as people attempted to identify the strange creature. No one seemed to notice it shared an uncanny appearance to the “Saintess’ of the “All faiths”, instead commenting on its strange tail that filled the alcove behind it along with the nasty looking claws that, even when made of stone, cause shivers to run though people. As per Alexa and Amethyst’s instructions, the statue had a large “welcoming” grin on its face showing jagged teeth causing even more confusion about what race the odd deity could be.
The statue of X47 acts as a buffer between the gods and the three devils that followed her. The placement was chosen given the “Deity” had both a godly domain as well a devil domain, and Amethyst didn’t want her to feel left out all alone somewhere. So she had been placed with the statue of Ashmit on her right and the goddess Jaci on her left in hopes that the “nice bunny goddess” and the “laughing devil” would be suitable for her sister. She had wished to place Hecatolite with Siofra and Soter but had not been able to find a reason the unknown deity would be placed with the 6 primary gods, and not wanting to show favoritism to any single divine, had been forced to move her.
This arrangement of the statues was her mother’s idea, not wanting to show favoritism was fine but it risked problems if they placed the wrong god statue alongside a devil as people would take offense to that.
Amethyst took a deep breath as she readied herself, she swallowed hard as she removed her jacket. She was not happy with the outfit that was designed for her, but she understood the need for it, the “top” revealing more skin than the young girl was comfortable with as it left her stomach and shoulders bare only covering her budding chest, the back was left completely open causing a chill when she removed her protective jacket. The “pants” were little better, covering her waist but leaving her legs bare from just above her knees.
The room seemed to pause as she pulled her hair back, some of the more perceptive people noticing the shock of white hair that was hidden underneath her long jet-black hair. Pulling her hair into a ponytail revealed a large patch of strangely pale skin on the back of her neck, the clear mark of X47 visible just below the base of her skull where the snow-white hair grew.
“Thank you all for coming.” She called out silencing the mutters, “please present your offerings to your chosen divine.” Her voice grew in power as she stepped forward, moving towards the altar as she closed her eyes. The entire room seemed to shift as Amethyst dispelled her skill, one she was thankful that she had gotten along with all her blessings.
Unique skill: suppress blessings, allows the holder to “suppress” the effects of a blessing as well as the mark of the divine.
As the skill faded everyone watched as strange almost tribal markings began to surface across the girl’s body, many people letting out small cheers as they recognized their god’s mark. The markings slowly grew as she made her way to the “altar”. By the time she made it the 30 or so feet she was nearly unrecognizable.
The three strangest were the devils, who’s marks were the only ones to appear on her face. Her eye sockets turned a deep purple that looked almost like makeup that winged out, Ashmit. Thick red lines streaked down from her eyes going all the way down her neck and stopping at her collar bone, Karath. A deep blue line that ran up her nose and into her hair, Restra.
The only other marking above her collar bone was Hecatolite’s, who’s mark was the only one that never faded with her skill given that was not a blessing but part of her own soul that her sister had “repaired”.
“Now, I hope you all have followed the rules of the offerings.” She said reminding everyone that each god will receive one dinnerplate sized “edible” offering. Each offering could cost no more than 10 gold as that was the price the All-Faiths guild was willing to match for any divine without a guild present. The only exception to this was the “guild of the year” that had been voted on by the guild leaders, the “divine” that guild represents will receive a double offering.
Saffron’s tail whipped happily as she looked down at the two lavish plates of food she had prepared for her mistress, several people clicking their tongue at the happy succubus.
The entire holy court sat quietly as they waited, the air tense as for the first time in history every god of this world was present in the realm, as well as three devils who had appeared in the center of the realm with their own table. Their appearance grinding the entire court to a halt as Ashmit simply set up a table exclaiming, “offering time.”
Valor had protested but even with his “mighty” power as well as the backing from his little “group” of divine… Even with Taika and Soter I doubt we could drive all three of them out without substantial loss. He thought ignoring the minor gods, that would likely back any decision he made. Then there’s them. He glared at a small group sitting across from him, Siofra holding a cup of tea up to him when she noticed his gaze.
“Why do you antagonize him?” Veritas shook her head as her large raven black wings fluttered behind her.
With a bubbling chuckle Dagan replied, “oh let her have her fun.” The large merman to her left shook slightly, water pouring off him as he did.
The three “elder” gods talked merrily as they waited for the “offering” that had been promised by their followers.
“Why do we need to be here Ashmit?” Restra yawned as she scanned the room, her eyes landing on Soter causing her to scowl. “Bastard,” She flipped him off causing him to roll his eyes as he sat beside that asshole god-king.
Ashmit laughed, “come now, isn't it nice to go out every so often?” He smiled and waved to Valor who grit his teeth.
Karath clicked his tongue, “I don’t see why you toy with them like this Ashmit. If you wish for war, simply attack.” His low gravelly voice caused the Oni to roll his eyes as he looked back to the smaller man beside him.
Karath looked up at the Oni, his muscles tensing causing his dull red scales to grind against each other. “Come now Karath, I know you dislike this form but that is no reason to be so grumpy.” Ashmit replied with a grin, “besides where is the fun in a war I know I will win. At least this way he can be amusing.”
Karath exhaled, smoke billowing from his nose. The Dragon did not mind taking the human form so as not to scare the weaker gods away, what he did mind was the lack of will to fight. Here he was surrounded by natural enemies and the only challenges in the room sat to his completely open back drinking tea. The only drop of blood lust he could feel in the room was that child god that appeared around the same time Ashmit had, and he would not take another man’s prey from him.
This went on for several tense minutes before finally it arrived, much in the same manner as last year a thunderclap split the air as a wave of magic filled the realm.
“Prayer from Amethyst Lapidary, Saintess of the All-Faiths. Thank you all for your hard work looking over this world for another year. We hope you will accept this small token of our appreciation, and we do hope for another year of continued peace and prosperity.” The strange voice of the terminal called as plates of food appeared before everyone, unlike last year, this was not met with confusion as cheers rang out at the sight of actual food. “… 137 prayers from the All-faiths received.” Each divine present felt a much larger infusion of mana as all the prayers were divided amongst them, a few minor gods realizing the benefits of the new “All-Faiths” as they received a massive influx of mana.
After a moment the realm was engulfed in noise as they all began to eat, some even trading with others as they did.
Siofra let out a sigh, she was not unhappy with the elven dish her followers sent yet something was missing… the excitement of last year maybe? She thought as she scanned the room, many of the gods happily eating, the three devils in the center even smiled at one another as they ate… is he eating goat? There’s no way that’s a coincidence.
She thought noticing Ashmits meal, the only time in the last few years she had heard anyone say a single word about goats was Hecatolite referring to the “goat-king”. She quickly turned her eyes to a scowling Valor who sat in front of two completely identical sandwiches.“Wait, only X47 was supposed to get a double helping this year?” She muttered, causing the two beside her to look up.
“There was that strange prayer asking for guidance a few weeks ago.” Dagan replied, scratching his chin with a webbed hand.
“But how do you know what god the mortals chose?” Veritas asked, eyeing the elven woman who waved her off.
They all watched as Valor’s jaw loosened, “of course I would receive the best offering.” He exclaimed proudly, everyone turning to him as they noticed the two full plates before him, he picked up the first burger and ate the whole thing while everyone watched. “The mortals truly outdid themselves!” He bellowed, not even savoring the first before grabbing the second.
The terminal did not arrive in time as he greedily shoved the second into his mouth. The first burger had cost exactly 9gold, 8silver, and 4copper. It was the most expensive burger one could buy in the entire territory. The second burger however, only cost 6copper, the remaining silver was spent on the plate that it sat on.
Valor immediately began coughing as he tried desperately to spit out whatever the meal had been made of. The terminal that appeared before him quickly exclaimed, “Message from “X47 the mad devour”, don’t tell Amethyst but I snuck you...” The terminal did not finish as the god threw the plate across the room and vanished.
Everyone was silent as the plate slammed into Karath, who barely even noticed the oddly study metal disk bouncing off him as he devoured one plate's worth of uncooked meat. Ashmit picked the clearly strange plate off their table and inspected it before bursting into laughter.
“Would you mind sharing?” Siofra couldn’t help herself as she called out the devil.
Ashmit looked to the elven woman before clearing his throat, “Just in case. Dear goat-king, I keep telling Amethyst that goats don’t eat meat. Don’t worry, this one is a nice grass burger. P.S,” he flipped the plate over to look at the back, “Your church is full of jerks, “X47 the mad devour”.” No one noticed his pause as the plate vanished from his hands, sent back to his realm to be safely stored away as he burst into full blown laughter along with the three other devils.
Siofra was certain that a lot of gods took offense to that, as for who she would never know as she joined the laughing devils in their full blow howls of joy.
Valor would never know that in comparison to the strange deity that taunted him, he had gotten off easy with only one mouth full of grass from outside the All-Faiths guild hall, which Hecatoltie had deemed “the best grass in the city” before tearing a handful of it up and smashing it into the shape of a sandwich. Unhappy with her sculpting work and short on time she had simply created the “make this into a sandwich” enchanted plate, which would make anything appear as an “edible” sandwich. If Valor hadn’t been so hasty he would have noticed the odd texture as the plate was never meant to “fool” anyone into eating it, simply make it to where no one would notice the ball of grass.
Hecatolite however, spent hours vomiting up a rainbow of mana into the void, which had the effect of filling Amethyst’s mana pool keeping her sister from suppressing her.
