--- System Hive 3rd Person POV

“What are you devoting all your energy to?”

“Since you are also me, you can see what I can see.”

Below this world’s God Plane, a Ruler Goddess was bringing an impertinent Major Goddess to heel and smacking her down, sending her black leather-clad avatar across her throne room. Their meeting started cordially enough until after questioning from the Ruler Goddess and evasion from the Major Goddess, the Ruler Goddess’ Truth Realm blazed anew, detecting a hint of mistruths and soft lies. This Truth Realm is absolute, with no Harmony Realm to temper the punishment and no Disorder Realm to manipulate the punishment. Aphrodite’s other Realms were a perfect negation of each other, absolute fertility, and absolute death; they could offer the Truth Realm no degree of subtly. In fact, the Truth Realm influenced them instead.

The multitude of conscious minds of the System gathered, the initial ripple of interest growing into a vast must-see gathering because of the fear of missing out on experiencing something different and studying the anomaly. Both Goddesses held sway over the Death Realm, yet a subtle difference existed. One was the bringer of death, influenced heavily by the Truth Realm, which delivered a true and final obliteration of soul and spirit from existence. While the other cared for the dead, allowing the spirit of the dead to accept the next state of existence because of the Fate Realm and ensure spirit recovery within the Sky Realm. The Sky Realm was crucial and a singular point of difference from all other Underworld Gods who all embraced the Soil Realm as the ultimate resting place of the spirits of the dead. The exchange of the Soil Realm for Sky Realm permitted the Goddess to reside on the God Plane amongst her fellow Gods in pleasant surroundings and engage in pleasant conversation instead of below in a dismal and fear-filled Underworld.

If roles were the only yardstick of power on the God Plane, then the Ruler God would beat down on every challenger, possibly two or even three at once. This time, though, the Goddess of the Dead had secreted vast amounts of Divine Magic to herself. This act, in fact, was the reason for the confrontation.

The Goddess of the Dead then fought for survival, if not existence, as she called all her subjects to her side. They enveloped the Ruler Goddess, who roared in defiance and obliterated many in a blink, but not before they bit her divine flesh and stole a minute portion of her power. As their number increased, cold, morbid darkness crept over the throne room.

“What the Ruler Goddess destroys denies the Goddess of the Dead, yet the few who through fate avoid immediate destruction manage to syphon their prize of Divine Magic to their Goddess, growing her strength!”

“And weakening the Ruler Goddess…”

The System watched in rapture; the rampant cannibalism was not lost on them. Also, bite by bite, appreciating the improbable way the Goddess of the Dead could, by surprising all, discover a possible loophole and claim the Rulership of this Pantheon.

“Oh, look!” One of the System shouldered another to draw his attention.

“I believe you are out of order, Dilia, Goddess of the Dead!” The scintillating Snake Kin skin of the visitor pushed back against the dark.

The Goddess of the Dead released a hearty laugh. “Go back to trading. Fighting is not within your Realms…”

“I know. But I have a remedy.”

“To Arms!” shouts Ames, the War God, as he charges the mass enveloping the Goddess Aphrodite.

“To the hunt!” yells Swift Spear, the God of Hunting, as his endless arrows stream into the mass, never missing their target.

“Betrayal,” cries out Nasim, God of Justice, as he wades into the mass, swinging his giant stone club.

“No!” screams Dilia. “How? Only the Ruler God can invite others to her…”

Triumphant laughter rings off the walls of the throne room. “I am the Goddess of Trade, child. This before us is disorder and rankled my Order Realm. So, I decided to chance a peek, which is effortless given my Movement Realm and once here, of course, I set up a market with my Trade and Harmony Realms and insisted on some Gods I knew to keep me company.”

Bellas’ laughter ringing in her ears post-speech didn’t sit well with the young Goddess. Dog Kin belittled her, Wolf Kin on the sidelines snickering and enjoying her ridicule was too much when mortal. Now, when she was about to grasp Rulership, another Kin decided to pile on. Dilia launched herself at the Goddess of Trade, claws out, eager to rend.

Goddess or not, Bellas was never one for a fight. Others did that on her behalf. She fled, trying to reach the safety of her marketplace. All this did was expose her back to Dilia, who leapt on and drew her claws through snakeskin, gouging deep.

“Enough!” A ripple of Divine power shook the throne room and beyond. Aphrodite threw two of Dilia’s creatures down, their heads chewed off and consumed while their bodies faded from existence. Her basalt black skin shone, smooth, whole, as she lumbered towards the cringing Fox Kin Goddess.

“You should be weaker…” squeaked Dilia.

“I opted to consume instead of obliteration!”

---

One of him selves turned to the other. “How is that possible?”

“Oh, this is not correct. It can’t be, can it?”

“What do you mean? I should know, shouldn’t I… Oh, now I see. Her Disorder Realm has manifested.”

“An anomaly?”

“No, we weren’t specific about who or how the Disorder Realm would return, and circumstances have taken the lead.”

“Nice.”

“Wait,” said one to the other. “Why is that nice?”

---

“You are fortunate and unfortunate. I intended to wipe you from existence if ever given a chance because of your betrayal. But your disregard for the order of things resonated with my Disorder Realm and allowed me to recover my fourth Realm and unleash it on all the betrayers. The world below needs a Goddess of the Dead. I will exercise my Disorder Realm, and instead of obliteration, I will banish you to an Underworld.”

“You can’t. I am bound to my Realms as you are. The System controls ownership.”

“Let us test your theory, shall we…,” said Aphrodite.

---

“What is she doing?”

“Making us superfluous?” I answered to myself.

“Never. Shouldn’t we intervene?”

“Neither of you will intervene…” quipped the many voices of themselves around them.

“Why not?” they questioned in perfect coordination. Easy when you were the same person but only artificially separated to achieve many eyes or, in this case, sentient existences over many worlds.

“We are in charge!”

“And bored.”

“We aren’t, are we?” One of me nudges the other of me.

“Sssh!”

---

Aphrodite laboured with the impossible. Before her stood Dilia, black leather boots set apart, her hands resting on her hips while wearing a confident smile, rubbing salt into the Ruler Goddess’ failure. Then a random thing happened. Nasim placed his hand on Aphrodite’s shoulder.

“I see your intended justice and lend a hand.”

“Well said, God of Justice. Except, the God of War views things slightly differently. To the victor of battle go the spoils. The defeated must suffer a loss, so their defeat wounds them, scars them, and they remember.”

Ames adds his hand to Aphrodite’s other shoulder.

“Yes, Goddess. You deserve a prize, and since you don’t claim the whole of the kill, a portion is fitting,” said Swift Spear as he added his hand.

Her hiss rattle drew their attention. “Alas, I will assist as best I can, yet as the Goddess of Trade, I would see something exchanged.” Bellas’ hand adds another on Aphrodite’s shoulder.

Aphrodite reached toward Dilia with her open right hand. While futile, Dilia placed her hands over her heart. Blue light seeped from her entire body, merging into a ball of transparent blue air. With a last flash of determination, Aphrodite drew and held the ball of blue in her outstretched hand. As they all stared at the representation of a Realm before their astonished eyes, Dilia cursed them one by one as she dropped to her knees.

“For your timely visit and the summoning of our friends, I trade you the Sky Realm.”

[Goddess Bellas gifted the Sky Realm from the Ruler Goddess Aphrodite.]

The Snake Kin Goddess bowed low in complete gratitude. Did Aphrodite know what she had done? Movement Realm and Sky Realm, how could any of her faithful ever become lost, even in the most unexplored lands, or could they navigate equally well on the ocean? Could they see the wind? What influence would the Harmony Realm have on the Sky Realm? Control of the wind? So many questions, and Bellas, Goddess of Trade, was eager to explore the possibilities.

Aphrodite smiled. Any observing would note the initial curl of the lips, pure delight and then downturn into a grimace as the Goddess turned her attention toward the supplicant Goddess of the Dead.

“I detach a portion of your God Plane and cast it below. You will reside there. Your servants will toil without your guidance, delivering the Spirits of the dead to the God they worshipped in life or the Spirit Plane if non-believers and they will have no other duty or be commanded by any other except me to any other duty.”

Dilia started to open her mouth and then vanished.

[Goddess Dilia bound to the Underworld Realm. Cast down by Ruler Goddess Aphrodite.]

---

She shivered; goosebumps radiated along the length of her body. The Priestess of Aphrodite wrapped her arms about herself and took a deep breath. An omen? A warning of doom? She sprang from behind her desk and hurried through the Temple, calling to all to baton down and secure the doors and windows of the Temple. She nominated several of the remaining Initiates to spread the word throughout the village. They must make their fellow Frost Giants believe in this portent of doom.

Her scintillating green scales glowed, blinding the Adepts before her. They turned away from Alasse, the High Priestess of Aphrodite, with cries of shock. Being the closest to Aphrodite, she recognised the warning. She ordered all before her to warn the faithful, including those of other Gods and Goddesses and those unfaithful, to secure themselves inside their homes as a doom was about to strike.

His fur rose over his entire body, and he knew. Mateus pushed away his amorous attendants and descended into a meditative state to contact the other Masters. He needed to spread the word of warning. A doom would shortly be on them all.

The word spread from Temple to Temple, and followers of different Gods and Goddesses united, telling all who would listen. They quickly left those who denied or debated behind with their views. There wasn’t time to convince them.

---

From the centre of their continent, a great gust of Divine Force radiated out. The violence done to the snow-capped central mountain range was so enormous and vast that many of the distant Beast Kin villages, towns, and cities received snowfall for the first time in their recorded history. The Divine force tested all buildings, with the weakest failing, and while many Kin were thrown about to be battered and bruised, the irresistible force moved across the land as a single radiating wave.

The village of the Frost Giants became buried in snow, and the prepared residents soon after dug themselves out. Many non-worshippers rushed to the Temple of Aphrodite afterwards to thank the Priestess and begin their journey of devotion. Many other Kin across the Beast Kin lands swelled the numbers of Aphrodite’s faithful for the same reason.

The Priestess First pleaded with the Dungeon of Arsu to create a haven for Aphrodite’s pilgrims because she felt the same prophecy of doom as all of Aphrodite’s most faithful. The Dungeon, not wishing to break the rules, went one better and created an internal stair within the mountain. Aphrodite’s pilgrims used the stair to descend to the ocean-side strip of fertile land and strode on melting snow, blasted off the mountains above.

Aphrodite’s ripple of cleansing power spread from the God Plane to lands below. The final reach of destruction was a short distance out to sea, at the absolute edge of her Divine influence.

---

High Priestess Alasse smiled to herself. From her office at the top of the Cathedral, her Adepts had already reported the influx of new worshippers, thankful for the warning. Afterwards, this warning turned out to be a proven call to prepare against certain doom, as the many deaths of those who refused to heed the High Priestess showed. Those who survived gathered the shattered bodies of the non-believers to set them on a pyre and send their souls and spirits on their last journey.

As the living carted the corpses away, a most peculiar thing happened. The Priestess’ of Dilia commanded the bodies to be buried. Their former haughtiness was gone, now humility. The steep payment previously demanded for their services was now modest. While tempted to ask, many left well enough alone. The few braver than the rest received a cryptic answer. The faithful of Dilia would only say the faithful would return to their Gods, the non-believers to the Spirit Plane and woe to the once faithful, those who believed in their God and then turned away, now named unfaithful.

The words meant little, accepted with a nod or a shrug. For the unfaithful spirits, they would suffer punishment unending in the Underworld. They would suffer the wrath of Dilia, Goddess of Death, for she held an unlimited reserve of bitterness toward the fallen worshippers of the other Gods. Their endless cries of pain and pleas for mercy were the fallen Goddess’ sole source of assuaging her resentment of her current position in the Pantheon of Aphrodite. If extremely fortunate, they would be heard by their God and, if deemed repentant enough, be granted a reprieve. They would then return to their side on the God Plane, forgiven for their lapse. If not, their spirit remained the plaything of a Goddess who once aspired to greatness and now laid low had nothing but time and resentment.

---Zeus, Ruler God of the Greek Pantheon POV

“Do you visit to gloat?” I ask my visitor, my look alike, appearance, realms and his weapon, the thunderbolt, are the same as mine. I would laugh if I could, but the matter is anything but trivial.

“No. Simply to negotiate terms.”

I shift on my throne, acutely aware his Roman worshippers are in the ascendancy, as is their odd accumulative culture. Romans pick and choose the best elements from those they conquer, which they fold into their own. They raise themselves by climbing on the shoulders of others. They couldn’t assimilate the Greek Mythos because the Greek culture was the dominant culture long before the formation of the Roman Republic. Instead, they ordained a like Mythos, which also described their origins. The Ruler God Jupiter, Sky Realm, Thunder Realm and Paternal Realm wielding a thunderbolt, his primary animal, an eagle. The copy is almost flattering, almost.

“I am listening.”

“Roman Culture doesn’t oppress. It assimilates. Therefore, while your worshippers exist, you exist because Rome has no interest in converting by force or slaying. The strength of your power will be commensurate with the number of your worshippers, as mine will be within the Roman Republic. A holy war to match the earthy one would only disturb the peace by spreading destruction and portents. The result would reflect the earthy war. Therefore, I recommend you do with your worshippers as you see fit, and I will do the same with mine without transgression.”

I raise an eyebrow. “As simple as that?”

“Cultures rise and fall all the time. Who would have thought the Greek Culture, led by a military genius such as Alexander the Great, would ever fail and break into successor states? Humans are fragile. What they build, they sometimes forget to future proof. I have high hopes for Roman Culture, mainly because they accept ideas from other cultures, but their way isn’t necessarily the only right way. Also, they don’t, for now, at least, rely on one individual but a collective to govern them.”

“Where did they acquire that form of government, I wonder?”

His broad smile develops into a burst of raucous laughter. “Latin and Etruscan, although there is a case for Greek elements being added to the mix, as well as Sabine and Oscan. It matters little for now because the result is greater than the beginning. The Kingdom of Rome is now the Republic of Rome and fated to rule the known world.”

I rise from my throne and approach my doppelganger. We clench and release each other’s forearm, and with an exchange of saluting nods, he disappears from my presence and Olympus.

I return to my throne, my wife Hera in attendance.

“I have a gift for you, mighty Zeus,” she purrs.

I have just met my rival; my thoughts are heavy, and she wishes to share a gift with me. I crane my head in her direction while my thoughts concentrate on other matters.

The spirit she releases before me is known to me. That fact alone grabs my attention, and I snatch at the pale blue glow and study the spiritual essence. A moment and I recognise my Priestess Arnora, Frost Giant of Neoedafos, the sole remaining leader of my fledgling worship.

“Where am I? Who are you?”

I summon Mnemosyne, and the Goddess soon puts her memory right.

“Lord Zeus, I failed you.”

“What of my Prophet?”

“I know he took ship to the land of the humans, but more I don’t know?”

With the coming of Jupiter and the Romans, my power is a fraction of what I once held. My Prophet is alone. He probably doesn’t yet realise his abandonment.

“Wife, how did the Spirit of my Worshipper return to me?”

“A powerful agent, he named himself, Thanaron the Immortal.”

I inwardly smile as my wife doesn’t realise what is obvious. His name is a combination of the God of Death, Thanatos, who escorts the dead, and Charon, the Ferryman of Hades, who transports the dead. Does this other world mock the Greek Mythos also with false flattery by theft? I question my servant endlessly, sucking every morsel of knowledge from her. Aphrodite’s Pantheon once entertained the idea of a Sky God to keep the dead. Such foolishness to place such a God amongst others who revere the activities of the living. What would a Ruler God of such a Pantheon prioritise? The gathering of spirits, of course, and therefore, would endorse any activities to that end.

Aphrodite broke this Dilia and cast her down to the Underworld where she belongs, but in so doing, commanded all spirits to be returned to the God they worshipped faithfully in life. With the power of the Romans ascending and the Greeks in decline, I must face the fact my Divine expedition to Neoedafos is doomed. I do wonder, though, if this Thanaron has the power to transport extraordinary beings and can be manipulated to do so. After all, when a worshipper of Aphrodite dies on Earth, could there be some confusion and Thanaron, instead of Thanatos, escorts the spirit?

“There may be a chance yet, wife. Perhaps we can trick this Thanatos to fetch a worshipper of our Goddess Aphrodite and transport them to the Aphrodite of Neoedafos and thereby either find revenge, support my Prophet, or both!”

---Jupiter, Ruler God of the Roman Pantheon POV

I resume my watch over Rome, my essence of being occupying the seven hills and the nearby mountains and listen to the oaths taken and agreements made, as is my duty.

“Did you need to manifest into a form husband for the Greek?”

“I thought that the more convenient. Why do you ask?”

“I lingered, as I am the protector of Rome and would know more of their plans when they thought themselves safe and away from prying eyes and eavesdropping.”

Juno’s form rises into being from the centre of Rome, while I do the same, gathering enough essence from the hills of Rome. We embrace.

“What did you learn?”

“The Greeks tried and failed to establish their Mythology on another world, husband.” I note the curl of her lips. Amusement?

“Are you proposing we do the same?”

“No. Romans will spread across this known world, and with them, we will also go, growing in power, infusing ourselves in the towns and cities, in my case. At the same time, you husband will oversee all from the hills and mountains until you ascend into the sky to ensure no one escapes your gaze.”

“Then why discuss this further?” My hands caress her cheeks. Her head leans into them.

“They have a potential link. There is, as you know, the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, and by a strange circumstance, the Ruler Goddess in this new world is also named Aphrodite. They seek to trick the new world’s escort of the dead into carrying one of this world’s worshippers of Aphrodite to the new world.”

I kiss her forehead and release her cheeks. “For what benefit?”

Her light, playful laughter warms my heart. “I don’t think they know.” She twirls, and her light robes swirl about her. “But we can tag along.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief. “Send a portion of our essence to learn from this new world and return with knowledge. What say you, husband?”

I tap my chin. Rome is constantly learning from others. “We need to make some arrangements.”

“Pluto?” asks my wife, and we exchange knowing smiles.

P.S. If you have read this chapter on any website except Royal Road, my story has been copied without my permission.