POV: Inesa (Deity of Hearth and Home)

"I'm just saying, I don't understand what all these changes are for. Weren't things running fine before? Why fix what ain't broke?" One of my friends, Cleone the Deity of Rivers, complained to me as I moved about the garden I was tending in the Mortal Realm. I was living out another one of my little lives in a small town in the foothills of a planet controlled by the Empire of Gallos, mostly because technology intrigued me because of how it effected the "home" of your average mortal. A single person could make a call to their home and loved ones from across the planet - across solar systems in certain parts of the Empire - which used to be only possible for cultivators of varying power levels.

It was both wonderful...and not. In some cases, because of how accessible everything seems to become with technology, some people begin to forget what exactly a "home" is, what it feels like to just come home and feel relieved to be there...not when you can call home every day, or see your loved ones face-to-face via hologram. That wasn't to say having no technology didn't have its own problems either...the problems just changed, while everything ultimately remained the same. Quite ironic.

"...I don't know, but it might've been breaking. You must feel the pressure having been lifted, haven't you?" I countered calmly, digging a hole in the fertile dirt with a hand-shovel and planting a firewheel flower, a common wildflower with red and yellow petals, in the hole. It was one in a long row of similar flowers, creating a small little section filled with nothing but beautiful flowers. Next to it was the vegetables, and beside them were a few other decorative plants like ferns and various wild grasses.

"Yeah...I have...but still!" Cleone complained, "It's just too much too soon!" I chuckled and shook my head at her, dusting off my blue jeans and moving over to where she was lounged upon the hammock that was tied between two poles of the back porch. Tian had put it up when he visited a few months ago, before running off to go meet with the other Dao Progenitors. For someone who enjoys running about so much, he does like to lounge quite a bit.

"Mmm," I hummed absently, ignoring the worst of Cleone's complaints. While it was true that we all had much more to do, even me, it was a lot less than it could be. With so many deities and angels, we were able to set up rotations for who was working on the changes and when, which was especially useful for when the work coincided with the domains fo the deities. Though sometimes I just had to wonder if that was the biggest problem - that there are so many deities and angels.

With a sigh of relief I settled down in one of the plush deck-chairs on the back porch, right next to the hammock. Cleone looked at me from her spot, craning her neck so the blue-eyed, blue-haired beauty could meet my eyes. I gave her a questioning look as she rolled over, a glint of mischeviousness appearing in her expression. I mentally prepared myself, knowing that look. It usually spelled something embarrassing for me.

"So," She started, a smirk crawling its way onto her face. "What's-" Whatever it was she was going to say was cut off by a knock on the front door of my two-story house, and me beating a hasty retreat to answer it, having a general idea as to what she was going to ask about. The house itself was average size for this area, having only the dining room with its white-tiled floors and the living room with its plush carpet between the back and front door. The bedrooms were upstairs, not that I needed to use them being a deity and all. I opened the door and smiled at the mortal man standing in front of me.

He was dressed in nice clothes for the area, with a plain black long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and had his hair slicked to the side as always. This man was none other than the local priest, who preached to the masses every third and fifth day of the week, the 'holy days' of most religions in the Empire of Gallos.

"How are things going with you and Tian, hmm?" Cleone taunted, choosing to send me a mental message instead of actually asking. I didn't deign that question with a response, instead focusing on the priest. A few minor, dark spirits floated around him, appearing to me as nothing but black gasses that trembled and threatened to collapse simply from being in my presence. The fact that they hadn't fled already spoke volumes of both their tenacity and simplicity. These small spirits were like the viruses of the Spirit Realm - barely able to be called living or having any sort of thought processes besides feeding off of negative thoughts, emotion, and energy. They themselves were created by the negative thoughts and intents of mortals, so it's not surprising that they are both the most numerous and most tenatious of all dark spirits, if not all spirits in general.

With barely a flicker of my aura these spirits were knocked away from the priest, leaving him to think his own thoughts rather than have his negative thoughts perpetuated by the presence of those things. This priest wasn't the most positive of men - he wasn't a saint nor someone who was destined to become an angel in the near future, in fact he had relatively negative karma - but the mere fact that he had chosen a religion that promotes goodwill and rising above one's 'inner demons' more than anything and takes his role a little seriously (even if he tends to be a bit too strict with the rules sometimes) shows that he is attempting to right his path.

Even if it takes a few lifetimes, that is nothing to fault him by. Which is the point of most religions, for that matter. Most spiritually powerful beings don't follow any religion per se, but for those who are not spiritually powerful, religions provide some...guidelines for their followers, to try and guide them on a more positive karmic path. Heck, even I have my own religion, with its grand total of two hundred and seventeen followers. I'm not one of the deities that actively tries to spread my influence, after all.

Though really, no deities actively try to gather followers. In the end it doesn't matter. It feels kind of cool and nice to have people worship us, but really it doesn't matter if they do. We get a little bit of power and domain advancement from the power of belief, but not overmuch. Plus, that would just cause infighting between all the deities which would turn into a mess.

"Good afternoon, Miss Olivia." The priest said with a smile, calling me by my current alias.

"Good afternoon," I returned politely.

"I hope I am not intruding," He began, "but I was hoping that you and I could have lunch together." He said with a smile. I frowned at him and shook my head.

"No, I'm afraid not." I replied calmly. He had been bugging me for the past year or so because of Tian's apparent absence, because he...fancied me. Either way, I was fully expecting the question that came next, both because Cleone wasn't going to let the topic drop and the priest, who was ironically a follower of the religion that popped up around Tian, was adamant that Tian (or Mr. Jose as the priest calls him) is no good and isn't going to come back.

For beings like ourselves, not seeing each other for a few years was nothing special. It's pretty much the equivalent of a mortal being gone for a few days on a business trip or something. Speaking of taking trips, I should probably go visit the Creator soon...the Creator's library is the absolute best, and the hearth is always warm. Despite all of its lonliness, the Creator has made quite a wonderful home. Ah, I zoned out a bit while the priest was talking. With a sigh I waved my hand, using a bit of my divine power to create an incarnation that would stand here and listen to the priest, providing proper responses, while I myself went back to Cleone, who was subtly manipulating the priest's thoughts.

In essence, she was simply convincing him to bring his real thoughts to the surface, and actually say them. Such as him all but berating me for sticking with a man that 'vanished for five whole years,' and that 'I deserve better than that.' While those were the priest's true thoughts, they were not completely honest either. The priest really just wanted me, but I can't think too poorly of him, as he did wait a few years before beginning to try and chase me. Hmm. Maybe I should consider moving on? I'm not sure I want to deal with this drama.

On a more important note, how would that man feel if he found out that he was actively trying to besmirch his chosen god? And attempting to steal his girl? I stifled a giggle at that thought. 'His girl...' that feels so silly to say. I shook my head as I stopped next to Cleone, meeting her expectant gaze with one of my own.

"Well? What's the problem?" I demanded.

"I heard Tian proposed." She said, and suddenly my face was beet red. I-I was not expecting that.

"No! He didn't! It took him over a million years just to be able to kiss me, what in the world gave you the idea that he mustered up the courage to propose?!" I demanded, trying, and failing, to hide how flustered and embarrassed that statement made me. Cleone hid her mouth behind one hand and giggled darkly, an oxymoron if there ever was one, her laugh quite literally sounding like the babbling of a brook. One of the perks of being a Deity of Rivers I suppose.

"I know, you're just so easy to tease. And yet you're so unflappable whenever Tian's around too." Cleone pointed out. My face heated up even more, and I looked down.

"Well, Tian gets embarrassed enough for the both of us, so..." I mumbled, eliciting a laugh from my friend.

"That he does! It's really funny to see that battle maniac get so flustered whenever he's around you...it's adorkable." She cooed, earning another blush from me. He...was pretty cute when he got flustered, though Tian would undoubtedly vehemently deny it. Especially the cute part. He hates being called cute. Cleone giggled a bit at my expression, and I just resigned myself to my fate, falling into light conversation with her about my love life. At some point the priest left, having been sated by my incarnation, as my conversation with Cleone moved on to other topics besides me and Tian. Thankfully.

We talked of the different little rumors running through the deities, about a few of the other relationships that had popped up amongst deities (though no one had gotten married since Elvira and Gilles, that craze calming down quite a bit after the novelty of the wedding wore off), and circling back to the changes to the Four Realms and the new Regions that had popped up, along with the arrival of two new species rumored to have been created by Morgan...

Cleone doubted that the Creator would allow such a thing, considering all that Morgan did, but I wasn't so sure. She is as powerful as she is whimsical, a conclusion I came to after talking with Her many times over the years, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out that the Creator had indeed allowed Morgan to create the Arachions and Dimension Creators...as unlikely as it was that Morgan would create beings that could coexist with the ones already living in the Four Realms. Any further conversation was cut off, however, by none other than Statera Luotion Herself, appearing out of thin air with a frazzled look on Her face.

"Inesa! Come with me!" She exclaimed, grabbing my hand, Her hair whipping about Her head as She prepared to vanish once again, this time with me in tow.

"Wait! Where?!" I asked incredulously, trying to hold off for a moment. It wasn't my time to work yet, either!

The Creator took a deep breath, looked me straight in the eyes and said; "Tian'sbeingstubbornandnotclimbingtheLife-GivingTreelikeIwanthimtosoI'mgoingtokidnapyouandtakeyoutotheHeavenRealmsohehasareasontosocomewithmenow! Bye Cleone! Nice seeing you!" And we vanished, leaving a very confused Cleone, my echoing cry of protest, and a letter addressed to Tian in a house in the Mortal Realm.

POV CHANGE: Kei

"Ok, I'm going to be honest here, in a long list of mean, manipulative things that He's done to Tian, this probably takes the cake." I told Inesa as we reclined in a guest room of Elvira's Palace atop the Holy Mountain. Inesa nodded meekly, staring down at her cup of tea as she sunk a bit further into the bean-bag chair I had made for her. They were just so..fluffy and comfy, and you just fall right into them. It's such a simple idea, too! Fill a bag of cloth with a soft material so it's nice an fluffy and use it as a chair! Pure genius.

"I don't know...After She took the time to explain it to me and I got a good look at what Tian's been doing these past few years I kinda agree. He's being incredibly laze and obstinate. It's just...I'm sure there's a smarter way to go about this. I fear that it will be misinterpreted." Inesa reasoned, somehow simultaneously sounding like she was complaining at the same time. "I mean, couldn't She have gotten any of the other Dao Progenitors to climb the Life-Giving Tree?" I hummed and pondered that, putting one finger to my chin in a thinking pose.

"Mmm...no, probably not. They're needed to watch over the new Regions because the deities are being run ragged with all the changes going on. It's easier on everyone that way, but you are right. Tian will most likely misinterpret the intentionally vague note Grandpa left behind. It'll be hilarious." I said with a shit-eating grin. "It's the only way Tian will actually get moving, really. Back when Tian was still Dei, Grandpa explained it to me like this - 'Dei is the kind of man who flourishes when it seems like the entire world is against him.' And although Tian has mellowed out quite a bit and become far less violent and aggressive than Dei ever was, he's still got that in him. It's a core part of his personality that will never change. Hence why the situation turned out like this." I explained with a wave of my hand. Inesa frowned a bit and looked at me with interest.

"So...you knew him as Dei?" Inesa asked. I nodded, silently sipping at my tea as I examined the decor. It was ostentatious and stupidly shiny, though there were a few tasteful paintings and sculptures dotting the walls. Everything else was either plush furniture that was too stiff for my tastes or gilded and inlaid with an annoying amount of shiny things. Not that I was against shiny things, but there is such a thing as 'too much.' "What was he like? Was he a lot like Tian?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, they're technically the same person after all. Especially after Tian got his memories as Dei back. But Tian is a lot more mellow than Dei, a lot calmer, and a whole lot more dangerous. Don't get me wrong, he was a badass as Dei, but...well, Tian is a lot scarier because he's more reserved. Exponentially so, considering the explosive power he hides beneath. It's just like Grandpa; I would absolutely hate to see Him get well and truly angry. That would be...nothing short of terrifying." I mused, nodding to myself. Inesa hummed and looked at the ceiling, to which I smiled. "What'cha thinkin' 'bout? Marrying Tian?" I teased.

"What? No. I'm not!" Inesa said, waving her hands dramatically and blushing a deep crimson. I giggled and stretched, my tails fanning out around my feet as I did so. "I'm just - well, I don't understand why the Creator puts so much pressure on Tian...why does he have to be the only one to find his way? No one else has even created their own true Dao Path." Inesa grumbled, fidgeting with her fingers.

"You know why," I deadpanned, meeting Inesa's eyes. She paused and looked at me before sighing and looking down. It all came down to time. The Four Realms were too young, something not many beings, not even deities realized. Although size also plays a part in it, really it all comes down to the amount of time the Four Realms has existed. Heroes like Tian and Dei are hard to come by, in my opinion, after running about in all the Realms for eons, seeing all there is to see, it's astonishing that one mortal like Tian popped up. And even that was the direct result of influence from the most powerful being in the universe and the one that contested Him. "Anyways, I'd better get going! If I stay in one place too long someone'll find me and load a crapton more work on me." I made a face of disgust, at which Inesa giggled and shook her head.

"Go then," She said, making a shooing motion with her hands. I smiled and waved one hand, filling the room with confetti as I teleported away...just in time to dodge Elvira, who had been attempting to ambush me.

When I reappeared, I was greeted with the sight of a majestic mountain range in the Heaven Realm, filled with all manner of interesting creatures that could be found nowhere else. I frowned a bit as my powers surged a bit in response to the workings of fate. If I wished it, I could very easily become the Deity of Chaos. I was, quite literally, born on the day the entire Four Realms was thrown into a state of chaos after all. However that's not what I want. Chaos just doesn't suit my personality. I sighed and shook my head once again, looking around. I was born into a time of chaos, and therefore knew what it felt like and how to predict its coming, better than most.

These changes that were going on...everything was getting ready for another round of chaos after millions of years of peace. There was a buzz in the air, in all the Realms, one filled with almost palpable tension. And everyone, whether they were willing to admit it or not, knew it was coming.