POV: Tian

Music played, filling the bar with small memories in the form of lonesome notes from the piano. I sat quietly in a chair, looking out at the lake, contemplating...well, everything. This bar I currently sit in was once where I had stood for endless hours as Dei, looking out across the lake the floating city of Manu Ti, my city, was situated above. Endless hours of watching the world pass by, and feeling all but content. Now, I have much more.

I am far old, wiser, and more powerful than I ever was as Dei. I am a Dao Progenitor, I have found love in two forms - romantic love with Inesa, and powerful, divine love that I myself feel for those around me. I am much more than I ever was, and I feel it is only right that I spend the next few days where it all began.

Because here, in the city of Manu Ti, is where my legend began. Not in the city where I first met Statera, not in the Cavan clan, where I was reborn as Tian, but here, in this city. The true legacy that I made is Manu Ti, which has stood as a symbol of prosperity, safety, and unity for millions of years. It is here that I lost two of my closest companions, and here that I myself began my ascent to become something more. Without it, what I am about to attempt would be far harder.

The tone of the piano shifted as I silently disappeared from the bar, reappearing over my city. It...has been far too long since I considered this place to be my city. There's even a little statue of me, both as Dei and Tian, in front of the palace where the Celestial Empress lives. Over the past million and a half or so years, this place truly began to flourish. Billions of cultivators call this city, the cities that surround the chains of Manu Ti, and the new, other floating islands that began to pop up recently, their home. A dozen floating cities, all in the sky, and all centered around the grandest, biggest one of them all - Manu Ti. Unparralleled in its might.

No one can sense me, obviously, and I smile. Yes, this is a fine legacy. I take a deep breath and sit down mid-air, pulling a small flask of sword-qi whiskey from the inside of my robes and taking a swig, hissing as the liquid fire travelled down my throat. There was nothing quite like the whiskey made here. I was the one who started the brewing, after all, and countless generations have only expanded upon the process and flavours of alcohol. I chuckled to myself and took another swig, turning and floating towards the Xu clan compound. The children of Leo and Celene had expanded greatly over time, but in truth, the only thing that saved them from utter collapse was the fact that one of them became a Dao Progenitor.

Without the backing of their Patriarch and Matriarch, Leo and Celene respectively, the clan would've probably collapsed a few hundred thousand years ago, when Leo and Celene's firstborn child passed away in meditation. A legend can only go so far, and many think of Leo's turning into the Sun and Celene turning into the Moon as nothing more than myth anymore. Only those who were around in the War of the Sun really remember the truth, and the number of people who fit that criteria is severely lacking. Myself and the Celestial Empress are the only two I can think of off of the top of my head.

Right now though? The clan compound is positively hopping. Hundreds of clan members are milling about, training and cultivating or just playing around, while servants move about with trays of food and hot towels for a few clan members to wipe themselves off with. The main building itself is enormous, seven stories tall and covered in ornate carvings and designs, with several dozen smaller buildings scattered around it, all designated for something different. This is the main headquarters of the Xu clan after all, one clan of very few that is allowed to reside on Manu Ti's main island, with other branches spread out across the Mortal Realm, making the Xu clan the largest clan in the Mortal Realm.

Not all of them spread out directly from Leo and Celene, though. Many people were adopted into the clan itself, though their blood does still run in a few members...as diluted as it is now. I chuckled a bit at the thought.

It's funny to think about children and such now, as powerful as I am. Because technically, they're not really children. They're just souls that decided to take a ride in the body that two other beings created for said soul, with "blood" or "genes" having very little to do with anything in the long run. The soul has always been the important thing, and it is this notion that really kept me from feeling overly attached to the Cavan Clan, the clan I was born into as Tian. And it is also this that prevents deities from having children the "normal" way. Or at all really, because no one really knows how that will work yet. I'm hedging my bets on deities having to create an actualy soul from pieces of their own.

Then I move on, passing over the spot where the Cavan Clan used to reside, as they have long since moved closer to Manu Ti and taken another name, and travelling about the lands of Pangea for a while. Mortals were fighting wars everywhere, ruining my peaceful sentiments. I close my eyes and feel them flash. A surge of energy builds up, pressing against my eyes until they begin to change, forcing them to become attuned to...it. That feeling of being seen through in all concievable manners, and chaning it into truly seeing.

When I open my eyes, I am almost blinded by the sheer amount of information I am bombarded with. Before, I could sense trails of karmic fate, fate itself, memories and emotions, people...far more than anything any mortal could possibly believe. But now, it all took on a physical manifestation before my eyes, twisting and sharpening until the future becomes so incredibly clear, all based on actions and predictions, their pasts and persons laying bare for me to see...even the ticking clock of Time itself becomes all but visible. And once again I am reminded that Statera Luotian sees the world in this light every second of every day.

Or, should I say, the Creator sees far more than I do even now. I can only imagine what the Four Realms looks like to Statera Himself. That thought is very humbling, but doesn't change my desire to punch Him in the face at least once.

This technique of mine, the Eyes of Fate (I have yet to really decide on the name), had only recently been 'completed,' as in it wouldn't fade away after a few moments of activation. I am hesitant to call it complete however because I feel as if it hasn't quite reached its full potential. It's power will grow as I do, that much I made sure was built into the technique itself, but there was something else missing. Something I couldn't quite catch. Which is why I turned these eyes into myself, to look at my own soul.

Two thick threads of fate spread from my body, twisting off into the sky with various images dancing around them, and very peculiar feelings radiating from them. One was a lot more war-like than the other, filled with barbarity and violence, while the other was...less so. It was far more subtle, but still had quite a bit of conflict wrapped around it. These were my two paths towards becoming a deity. The two that were left, anyways. I had begun sensing that there were multiple paths for me to take very early on in my life, but hadn't quite fully understood what those paths were. Now I understand that all of those paths, or most of them, led here, to this moment. And as I kept traversing the Paths, I slowly began to narrow down which one I would take.

Which leaves me with these two at this moment. Neither of which I am currently ready to embark upon, but it is getting close, so close, that I can physically feel the event that will force my decision drawing closer. Taking a deep breath I look deeper into my soul, searching for that one spark of inspiration that may help me make the right choice. I...do not expect what I find.

There, hidden deep within my soul, is a teardrop that radiates the faintest hint of divine power. I stare at it for a long moment, wondering just what in the world it was, but finding no answers even with the Eyes helping me. Its presence confused me, but I had to keep moving nonetheless. The answers would make themselves known eventually.

I heaved a sigh and looked at the sky, once again hearing the notes to that lonesome piano ringing in my ears. "Guide me," I said wearily, closing my eyes and just relaxing everything, right down to my soul. And I swear, I could almost hear Statera say, in an extremely smug voice "well, since you asked so nicely," as an invisible Hand began to tug my soul along.

I almost wanted to shout 'piss off' and walk away, but forcibly restrained myself and allowed the Hand to guide me. Ish. It was more of insistant tugging, like a child trying to lead an adult onwards, and the adult being forced to go along with it because, well, you don't refuse a little kid dammit. I roll my eyes and follow along, grumbling internally and feeling just a bit salty about the whole thing. This wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

And I most certainly wasn't expecting to pass through the Barrier surrounding the First Region, drug to a very unassuming planet in one of the new Regions' Mortal Realm, and promptly dumped in a meadow in the middle of nowhere. I stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded, examining every inch of the area with my senses to see if there was something interesting or important here, only to come up with...nothing. There was literally nothing of interest around here, unless one were to count the ruins of an old (and by old I mean one hundred years old, which is almost literally no time at all to the close to two million year old me) town already overgrown with vines and grasses. A young sapling was even growing in the middle of town.

"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK, STATERA?!" I howl towards the skies, feeling completely justified in my rage. Just dumping me in the middle of nowhere?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MORGAN ARE YOU PLAYING AT?! And I swear to everything not relating to any deity whatsoever, I can hear Statera cackling evilly.

"U-um..." A sudden voice asks from behind me, and I whirl because who got behind me - my snarl turns into a splutter as my grey eyes meet curious green. The girl standing behind me - because she is a girl, no more than six years of age upon first glance - reaches up to maybe my thigh. And she is, of all things, a Dryad. One of the tree-folk, far fewer in number than any other race, including the Draconians, but maybe with the exeption of the relatively newly introduced Arachions and Dimensional Creators. "Wh-who are you?" She asks sweetly, her voice sounding like the breeze rustling the grass.

I don't immediately answer her, instead opting to look her up and down. She has a healthy shade of light green skin, and is dressed in a dress made of treebark, which might as well mean she was buck naked because dryads are literally part tree. Her hair is a darker shade of green, all mussed up and clumped together with sap and twigs and leaves and shit. Altogether it puts up a very adorable picture, especially alongside her wide, green eyes, but it is not her physical appearance that draws me to her. It is the appearance of her soul.

Her soul was very clearly young, perhaps only having gone through one or two lifetimes before this one, but her karmic trail is very clear. And her heart, by the Realms, her heart. It was practically bursting with positive karmic energy, so much that it shocked even me. And when I activated my Eyes, everything snapped just a bit more into focus.

The girl herself was almost blinding, the amount of karmic energy that poured off of her. For such a young soul it was nothing short of astounding...for any soul it was nothing short of astounding. I had to rub my eyes and blink at the girl a few times, just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"How were you flying? Can you show me how?" The girl asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. I stared at her for a bit before snorting.

"Just cultivate for a bit, and you'll be able to," I said dismissively.

"What's...cul-ti-vate?" She asked, slowly pronouncing the word and cocking her head cutely to the side.

No. No, bad Tian. Do not fall for Statera's tricks. The bastard brought you here for a reason, probably for her, and I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT! This isn't what I wanted, damn it!

"Where are your parents?" I asked, the words just slipping out. Of course I already knew where they were, I had seen her past with the Eyes. But I was a few million years old, and had seen countless orphans.

"Over there," the girl said, pointing into the sky instead of towards the two dead trees on the outskirts of the ruined town...which made me realize that the girl's tree, which all dryads were bound to until they either reached a certain age or a specific level of cultivation (mostly it was the level of cultivation, very few species of dryad lived long enough to be free of their trees naturally), was more than likely the little sapling in the middle of the town. And, now that I look at it, it wasn't just a simple tree. It looked just like a small ash tree, but...well. There was something else to it...

Wait. "Why aren't you pointing that way?" I asked, a little confused and indicating the dead trees. The girl cocked her head to the side once more, which was still adorable.

"'Cause momma said that they'd be going to join the Big Tree. So they're up with the Big Tree...right?" She said. My jaw dropped, because she wasn't pointing at the Life-Giving Tree that was part of her Region, but the First Life-Giving Tree...no, wait. Why is she even pointing at the Tree to begin with?! How in the world does she know which direction it's in?!

Once again, I swear I heard Statera's cackling, and I almost shot off into the sky to go give Him a piece of my mind. But a hand gripping my pants and a tearful face kept me where I was. Just looking down at the big eyes that looked on the verge of tears made my heart clench. I'd seen many things, but she was just...damn it. I hate you, Statera.

"Don't go. I don't wanna be alone anymore," the girl pleaded. I hate you so much, Statera. I really, really do.

"I'll be right back," I said with a soft smile, and the girl pouted.

"Liar," she said, and I felt my mind go blank for just a moment in shock. Had I left, I most likely wouldn't have returned. But now...? Now I just have to find out what this girl is about.

And so I stayed with her. For the next ten years. Did I mention that I hate Statera? Because I do. Especially since, at the end of those ten years, I found my Path.

POV CHANGE: Randus (The Deity of Dreams)

For the past thousand years, Mother, the Creator, had been stirring in Her sleep. She even began to provide minor guidances once again to those that really needed it, such as Tian most recently (even I am stumped about the girl he found), which was a big change compared to the relative silence from Her for the past fifty thousand years that She had been asleep.

But I was not expecting the way She did wake up. I had expected Her crystallized power to slowly receed within Herself, and She would wake up with Her same old smile and a skip to Her step. But when She did wake up...it was akin to a bomb going off. The entire Four Realms began to roar and whirl with activity as her crystal cocoon abruptly exploded. A bellow erupted from Mother's lips as the crystal shards halted in midair, shining brighter than the Sun as they flew back into Her body, obscuring Her from sight. Even I, as I hid within my Realm of Dreams (though not an official Realm, as I am the only one capable of residing within it besides Mother), was forced to hide my eyes.

Then the light faded, revealing Mother, standing tall and proud and breathing heavily. The Four Realms continued to roar in response to Her abrupt awakening, while every other living being stared in shock. Nothing about Her had changed very much, beyond Her aura and the six balls of primordial chaos that floated behind Her. It seemed...deeper somehow, as if something that had been missing before was now complete. And when She turned Her eyes to me, I was forced to suck in a deep breath.

Her eyes were far more piercing now than they ever were before, with flecks of Void floating about within the iris. Mother's face was expressionless for a moment as She stared through me, through all things, and She sighed.

The Four Realms sighed with Her, and suddenly, the chaos that had been recently starting to abate was abruptly thrust back into full swing. Mother didn't even appear strained at forcing such a thing, which would have most definitely caused her a bit of trouble before hand. I liked to believe that I knew the most about Her true strength than anyone else in the Four Realms...but now, I know that I know nothing. Mother had undergone a fundamental change, a -

Randus.

The call of my name startled me out of my thoughts, because Mother hadn't spoken to me, and yet I heard it anyways. The Four Realms called me, and...Mother's face fell into a grim expression, one I had never seen Her wear before.

Disaster approaches. We must prepare.

I was silent for a long moment, wondering just what kind of danger would cause Mother to have such an expression, before nodding. Mother sighed once again, and turned to look out at the Primordial Chaos...though I suspect that instead, She was looking out into the Void. Whatever it was that startled Mother awake, because that is the only thing I can think of that happened, cannot be peaceful, or weak. Was it another Paradox? I was unsure. I could only place my trust in Mother, as She had guided us through disasters many times before.

Trust and hope. I feel as if I am confined to only that far too often.