Blathnaid

Day 145

Lady Ourdera approves my progress like Bracus did. Still, both of us are left beaten, battered, and bruised. Her giant thorns pierced me several times during our last battle that took place minutes ago. Her thorns emerged while in battle. She decided not to spare me the pain. There are deep gashes that dyed my armour in crimson. My wrap dress turns into a spitting image of tunic armour like the Celtics. The only thing that she spared me from was the poisonous drip from the thorns themselves. She turned it off. They are lethal to mortals, and they are enervating to the Gods themselves.

She orders me not to heal my wounds and tells me to follow her deep in the hearts of the palace. The heart of her palace is not the throne room or her own chamber; the heart of the palace is a secret place that the guards don't stand beside. Ourdera only knows of its existence. There is a dome room that appears like a forest biome inside. At the end of the room, there is a lake with a waterfall. She enters it. The waterfall glows blue as she walks right through it. I do the same. It goes to a cave with no torches or glowing crystals to guide the way. Our eyes adjusting to the dark is the only way. The plants are dark green ferns. I hear water drops echoing throughout the cave.

We get to a passageway, which is blocked by vines. Ourdera gently sways them aside as she passes right through. When I pass through, I see a pond with a minty tint to it. I hear mysterious harmonious bells around me, despite none of them being in sight. The water is in a circular motion in the pond like a whirlpool. Ourdera goes in with no problems. She turns around and looks at me, asking me to join her.

I go into the pond. It is lukewarm with a glaze texture. I inhale sharply as the water hits my wounds. It goes away in a few moments. The blood and the gashes go away in an instant.

"What is this place?" I ask her.

"My favourite one. We are under Evanity too. I kept this place a secret because it reminds me of my home."

"Home? Isn't there any empire where you own your home?" I ask in confusion.

She relaxes deeper into the pond; her neck and head above the water. "Not exactly. My birthplace is my home."

Ourdera's parents lived in an Azel, an Omnipotent Civilization, a place where Gods lived and were ruled by Gods. King Quan allowed mortals to live, but they must be Advanced Mortals. Her mother, Felicity, is an Advanced Mortal. Her father, Vestine, is a Lesser God. Ourdera gets deeper into the class system of the Cosmic Order; relationships are permitted between ranks. Gods should not teach them the Cosmic Order. A Lesser God can only create immortals at best, but not another God. They married and had four children: Yln, Eruko, Zask, and Ourdera. Ourdera is the youngest of her three older siblings. The Gods that can see the timeline are able to see the biggest future of all the four children. Lesser God Yln became a Cosmic Order Council in this universe. Lesser God Eruko became a ruler of ten Type A God Civilizations. Ourdera confirmed that he was sometimes busier than Yln. Advanced Mortal Zask fostered a Mortal Civilization for the Advanced and Blessed Mortals. It's more advanced than Evanity.

Before Ourdera's birth, Gods within the Azel sense high levels of energy radiating from Felicity. It was not coming from her, but rather from her daughter in the womb. Vestine wanted to have their children born somewhere special; it was in an oasis in a cave. It was quiet and peaceful. The sounds of the chimes decorated around the cave, along with the water streaming helped soothe her while in labour.

"My birth defies the whole universe; I am a Universal God born from an Advanced Mortal and Lesser God. The only occurrence," she tells me.

I go with my head sticking out of the pond, "Universal Gods are extremely rare."

She confirms it. She now rules five God Civilizations. She wants to give up one because she wants to give a God a jumpstart, but she wants the God to have no connections to Verantuvia or be her friend. Her gut pointed towards me. She saw my backstory and saw my capabilities. My "shy cage" needs to break. It's a limiter of what I can do. An offer to rule an empire is an exhausting, but rewarding deed.

"There is no shame in taking a break once in a while. You can still go back home and visit your family. You can hop around universes with no tax fee, Blath."

That filled me with hope. I do visit my parents occasionally. I might be able to visit the coven when I needed to.

I randomly ask, "Do any of your siblings know any other rulers on this planet?"

She isn't offended by my question. She shrugs her shoulder and responds, "Only Yln with Bracus, but they are just acquaintances."

My mouth creates an O shape out of understanding. I lift my body up from the water. I sit upon a boulder in the water; it is creating a seat for myself. Ourdera has already done the same thing.

"Before I leave to let you fully take over, I want you to do a thing for me," she tells me.

I look at her. "What is it?" I gulp a bit, but relief by her reply:

"Make Evanity connect with the stars," her head tilts, "We will connect to mine before the rest of the cosmos." Her tone sounds sweet as if a genuine smile appeared behind her mask.

We leave her palace before she offers me her hand to guide me into the universe. I take it and we zing past thousands of stars and planets. Everything feels so quite small in comparison. Their sizes are beyond imagination that humans can cope with. We travelled several lightyears within several seconds. What we stop at lifts my soul into Heaven. It is an Earth-sized planet in a solar system. The blue star is another Pistol Star, but with its own many planets. Its starlight rays around the planet are like white circular disks of power. The planet is mostly made of water, but tiny specks on the surfaces give away that life lives in the oceans.

Ourdera and I float down closer to the surface. The planet is called Deity, ruled by Zask himself. Deity has no night; the discs themselves were crafted by the mortals living here. It provides warmth and longevity even when or if their star dies. The disks are not fully at maximum power to prevent the oceans from drying up. Their existence here crafted the aquatic species; the people beneath the sea. They are the Selkies from fairy tales. They look so different underwater, but beautiful when they emerge to speak those above.

Meraci, the capital city of Deity, houses the king himself. It's the largest city on the water. The skyscrapers look like the unique architecture modern rich homes have. Their sky cars look like military air drones flying through the sky with no boundaries. Submarines and boats do hold transportation. There is this charming bell, followed by a golden light blasting throughout the city every hour. It's the same one in Ourdera's secret healing pond. People don't seem to panic.

When they see Zask's sister with some other chick, everyone stops in their tracks and cheers for us like we just hosted the biggest concert right in front of them. I tense up a bit. I dream that we split up for a bit to see if the cheering is towards Ourdera. These people all look like high-end human fashion too. I don't know if that is because we are in Meraci or it is their planetary culture. I do spot quite a handful with brown fur clothing wrapping around them. All of them have beady dark eyes and dark hair. It reminds me of what artists paint on gender counterparts in their artistry to act like censorship while still wanting to capture the beauty. They are the least rattled by our presence; they only clap.

"Is Zask home?" Ourdera asks out loud with a silly head tilt. She says in a way like she damn well knew.

"I'm always home, little sis," Zask's words echo while he manifests right in front of us. He looks like his age stopped in his twenties. He has his little sister's silver hair, but much shorter. His eyes are a dark purple lilac. He dresses like his people. It doesn't take long for him to notice me beside her. "Who's she?"

"She's Blathnaid," she says while putting her hands on my shoulder, "I've chosen her to rule Evanity."

"Why not give it to me?" He teases.

"The Cosmic Order wouldn't care too much if it becomes a Mortal Civilisation and gets destroyed."

He feigns that he is offended. He then goes, "I rule an entire planet while Evanity is just a piece of land. Besides, you have the grant to make it a serious offence."

She chuckles. "Did you forget my other five empires, you fool?"

He curses beneath his breath. He easily makes a comeback, "Why ditch the newly built empire you've just created billions of years ago? Do you have commitment issues?" An empire that lasts for billions of years would be considered outstanding to humans, so I have no say in this.

"The one who made Deity for only a billion years says too much. Do I have to mention that your people were pre-made? I have to make my empires from scratch with outside influences to help life flourish. Creation of our civils is not allowed here and I need to follow it even if my Gift Power is part of it."

Their flame war is giving all of us a comedy show. I am fighting back a smile from Ourdera's words. It took some time for Zask to step down. Both of them settled down. Zask gave me a tour of the city and some parts of the empire. The only difference between Verantuvia and Deity is that Verantuvia has a diversity of people all around while Deity is a blob of conformity. Those Blessed with magic, immortality, or other abilities all look the same. I do love paradise. They do look free here. There are underwater battle training fields. They are there to train in environments that slow their speed. Most of the Selkie-looking people are the masters of teaching. Underwater cities fascinate me more. They are in the deepest parts of the oceans under the highest pressure. Those in the darkest and coldest parts of the oceans live with more fur on their bodies and swim to their destined locations as if nothing prevents them.

"If a mortal could rule the world and make it a great place, would you?" Zask asks me right before we are about to leave.

"I will try," I say and then morose, "I am from a planet with commodity that rules the world and drives everyone under its command."

His eyes widened, appalled by my words even Ourdera shares the same face. I fight back the urge to apologise. I went from a world where ten pounds will get me a meal at a fast food place to a globe that will say what the hell is that if I show my currency to them. Evanity can sustain itself with its resources and still be able to trade. In fact, the resources from the mines made it boom in the first place. We are able to be self-sufficient while using much less. Zask and Ourdera share condolences with me. Zask adds in, "When taking over my sister's empire, promise me one thing, don't use commodities. I have seen other Mortal Civilizations foil by their empires and themselves."

"I won't," I said without hesitancy, "I didn't bring my bank account with me."

When Ourdera and I return back to Evanity palace, she tells me, "He created a water world after me, but he succeeded better."

"Your empire is more colourful with its people, Ourdera," I compliment.

"So tell me, do you want to be Evanity's new ruler?"

I look up to her with a boasting smile on my face, "I will." She did not train me to battle and to rule for nothin, "I will take them to the stars as you told me to."

Her chill aura goes away in under a minute. The room goes into serious silence like the exams at the end of the year of school. The coronation is being held off for a little while, but I have to do one more thing. She got a message from Bracus and Dominique. Teketa were spying on them and their village. Jersome and Titane noticed Teketa inside the empire as well. Bracus has a plan, but he is waiting for the next attack. Her breathing became thick and heavy, almost growling. I have seen three sides of Ourdera in one day.

"Let Evanity join the fight if he attacks any of them," Ourdera orders me, "You won't be in trouble."

"How come Netedinark hasn't bothered Evanity at all?" I ask.

"He knows it would destroy him in one attack. Bracus's defence is strong. If Netedinark lies any branch on those mortal empires, send the legion his way."

I am not a fully experienced ruler, and now I need to understand what a royal does to keep their empire alive; I need to control the army.