“Are you sure you don’t want to visit other Celestials?” Garuda asked Rakna, back in his territory after their talk with Karaskan ended. Lucrecia had been really quiet since, glancing at the therian as if he was a dangerous bomb about to detonate.

“There are plenty of Gods stronger than I who would be willing to bend the knee for you and offer whatever blessing you demand,” the Eagle God suggested and Rakna snorted.

“I’m fine. Borrowed power isn’t my thing,” he rejected it. “Maybe if I’m in dire need of it, but right now, it doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Hah, well, not like any of us could offer something that matches up to Eternal Night,” Garuda said with a hearty laugh. “At least, take this with you,” he added and extended one of his wings toward Aquila who immediately understood why.

The Divine Avatar calmly stood as one of his feathers was infused with divinity by his Patron God and detached itself from his body. It shone brightly and shrunk to the size of a human hand before flying into Rakna’s grasp.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Feather/Tribute

Name: Feather of Aquila

Rarity: N/A

Description:

A feather of the Eagle God’s Avatar blessed to allow a one-time summoning of the Divinity to the user’s location, no matter where in the System. Aquila’s power will not be penalized by the summon, but will only be able to remain out of the Celestial Plateau for ten minutes.

❮ ◈ ❯

The therian smiled faintly. “Thank you, I appreciate it,” he replied gratefully and stored the feather inside his soul storage. At this point, he didn’t even need Spatial Rings anymore. Using the soul as a pseudo-dimensional pocket was far more efficient thanks to his mastery. Though, he also could store those same rings inside of it. If anything, it gave him convenient sub-storages.

“Well, I’ll be counting on you when the time comes,” Rakna said and Aquila chuckled.

“The pleasure’s all mine.”

“Frankly, I wish I could leave this place and accompany you right away,” Garuda said gravely. “The kind of threat Karaskan spoke of is not something I can nonchalantly put aside. Of course, I realize my contribution wouldn’t matter much against something like the Abyss Empress but…”

“I don’t think you’re alone on that one,” Higure said sarcastically. “Even my devourer here would not be optimistic enough to deal with something of the same caliber as his uncle. The best we can do is hope Eternal Night finds a way here on time or we somehow create that ‘miracle’… whatever that is supposed to mean.”

“What about the Sage?” Ceresta suggested softly.

Rakna smiled wryly. “That is a whole other can of worms… Not only is that guy impossible to reach from my side of things, but I also don’t quite understand the powers I get from him. If you ask me or ‘wish’ me for a solution… I don’t think I could even make out a ‘price’ with instincts alone. There is an open-ended nature to that wish that is too hard for me to grant.”

“No need to overcomplicate,” Hans suddenly retorted and everyone turned toward him. “The Mad One gave all that you needed. The answer is simple. Find the original Abyss Races and extract the miracle from them.”

Lucrecia frowned, opening her mouth for the first time since they left Karaskan’s region. “How is that even viable? That kind of thing doesn’t happen on its own. This ‘miracle’ you have been talking about is undeniably long gone. How could you extract anything from a watered-down ancestry or even salvage something powerful enough for our goals?”

The azure-haired boy glanced at her sharply before gazing right into Rakna’s eyes. “Whether they possess no such ‘miracle’ anymore or not, is not an issue. It is but a matter of tearing out the root of their life and collecting it. The effects may be gone, but the source remains.”

“…and do you have a method in mind?” Rakna asked calmly.

“Who do you take me for?” Hans scoffed. “I would not speak if the solution was not drawn in my mind already. All I need are the most powerful Vampire, Ghoul, and Wendigo you can find. Hand them to me and I will hunt their ‘history’ down to its roots. I will take it away from them and manifest this so-called miracle.”

“You forget one important detail,” Garuda remarked. “I will trust your assertion in your own ability and consider what you said as possible. However, how do you intend to collect it? Do you think it is just as simple as grabbing a puzzle piece and mesh it together with the rest?”

The author sneered at the Eagle God. “The collecting process is not up to me. What we require is someone or something capable of absorbing that ‘miracle’, or more likely, that ‘life energy’ the boy possessed. And as luck would have it, we know someone capable of eating and wielding anything they eat.”

Rakna blinked. “Hey, if you mean me, I don’t think I can do that… my Harvester doesn’t work like that. Even if I somehow was able to treat each piece you extract as a ‘heart’, that would still be an unreasonable task since I have no idea how I could combine those energies in the end.”

Hans gave him a deadpan look. “Not you, idiot,” he uttered and the therian rolled his eyes. “There is one creature other than you apt for the role. One ageless being who lives to eat.”

“Ah… him,” Rakna nodded subtly. “I suppose he wouldn’t be too hard to convince into helping. And he does fit the bill quite well.”

“Hm, I do not know whom it is you’re referencing but… let’s say you have the method then,” Garuda uttered. “What about the targets themselves? You specifically said the ‘most powerful’. I cannot help but think that is quite an obstacle.”

“An extraneous argument,” Hans retorted dryly. “You, of all people here, ought to be aware of the theory of bloodline purity. This is a similar case. We must aim for the most powerful ones; for their life force being greater implies a greater connection to their ancestry. In the case of the Vampires, Queen Nesslyria would be a prime target. For the Ghouls; King Temat. The Wendigos; Stocslke.”

Lucrecia furrowed her eyebrows. “Is it necessary to only target those three? All of them belong to the higher ranks. Nesslyria and Temat are in the Top 20 of Hosts. And Stocslke is a Wilden of large influence who has remained undefeated since he first appeared more than a millennia ago.”

“Weaker subjects but in greater numbers may yield results regardless,” Hans admitted calmly. “But settling for less will come to bite us back when it matters. Should we do the utmost we can, or back away for convenience? Are you going to justify this regardless when the Abyss Empress triumphs over us by a needle-thin margin that you very well know could have been bridged?”

“…” Lucrecia pursed her lips and grimaced, unable to say anything back.

Rakna shook his head wryly. “Hans, stop bullying the poor girl,” he said and the azure-haired boy raised an eyebrow at him as if asking where such a thing was happening. “More importantly, does the extraction kill the target?”

“…technically, it should not,” Hans answered. “However, they will be weakened. I could not predict how exactly, if you ask me. Would it be crippling? Unlikely. Harmful? Possibly.”

“At least, that’s that…” The therian sighed. “We could always try to talk it out with the Ghoul King and negotiate a cooperation. Stocslke is a Wilden… so that might be complicated by nature. And as for Nesslyria, we’re already in ‘war’ against her along with the Téra anyway.”

Rakna turned toward the Wolf Matriarch. “If parlays fail, it shouldn’t be hard to gather forces from across the System to fight, should it? Both the Church and the Basilica wouldn’t be hard to convince and I am also a member of Throne of Glory. Guilds like the Wiccan Guild which Nyx, Flavia, Evelyn, and Marie are part of shouldn’t be hard to get assistance from either. Finally, I’m a member of the Myth Council and I’m sure I can count the Nine-Tailed Clan’s influence, right?”

Lucrecia squinted her eyes and slowly nodded. “If you put it that way… I suppose so. Considering the situation, we can amass enormous support. No matter how selfish, cautious, or doubtful Hosts can be, it wouldn’t mean much in front of impending doom. Even if our cry for arms is refused by most, the portion that does answer should be more than enough...”

“There are Wilden who would answer the call too,” Higure chimed in. “Locals too. They too have a stake in this, obviously,” she said and looked at Rakna. “At the end of the day, it depends on what the Myth Council decides to do. They have the authority to move the majority of people.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to put in the word. But since Kaelith’s father is a member as well, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Rakna shrugged. “For now, spreading word of what is happening is the most pressing issue. The rest will come together naturally.”

Lucrecia exhaled tiredly. “Once I return to the Clan, I will relay this to Fin. The Raccoon Branch has the means to spread this all over the System in no time. As for those three ‘objectives’… it will have to wait for further consideration,” she stated. “Though, I will try to contact King Temat. He’s the most accessible of the three and is known to be a level headed person.”

The therian nodded and turned toward the Eagle God. “All right. Thank you for the help. We’ll be going back now. I have a few things I’d like to do and I shouldn’t put them off for too long.”

Garuda smiled. “The pleasure was all mine. It gets a bit boring around these parts after a while. It is not so bad to receive visitors as unique as you,” he chuckled. “Also, I will try to communicate the situation with the other Gods. Perhaps if we band together for once, we can try something.”

Rakna snorted. “I look forward to it,” he said and once again summoned the Celestial Gate. He left the Plateau soon after and Garuda turned around.

“Well then… I suppose it’s time to put my social skills to good use,” he chuckled.

Aquila glanced at his patron deity blankly. “…you don’t have any, Lord Garuda. Need I remind you all of our neighbors refer to you as the ‘annoying bird’?”

The Eagle God creaked to a halt and his eye twitched. “…it’s no problem. I’m sure my charisma will spin their opinion around once I try properly.”

“…”

“…stop looking at me like that.”