"Don't speak to me of choices. This land isn't under your jurisdiction. Only when it's convenient, only when it benefits you and all those other hypocrites do you pretend to champion choice." WuKong snarled. Because he dared to defy the heavens they locked him away. Took his choices away, forced him to follow a reincarnated holy man. To be punished at a mere mortal's whim.
The sunlight brightened for just a moment.
WuKong grinned, "Apparently, even if you wanted to do something, you couldn't."
Akshobhya stared into WuKong's eyes solemnly, "This One is merely observing Sun WuKong. This One only wishes for clarification. Will you, Sun WuKong, Monkey King, take the choices this babe has fought the last seven hundred years to protect."
"Will you, Sun WuKong, ignore this babe, a monarch in his own right, to do what you believe is best for him? Will you, force your will on another?" Akshobhya asked as a breeze ruffled the sleeping babe's hair.
WuKong didn't answer for a long moment. Confirming would make him no better than any of the others. "He is a babe, he is the one who should be protected."
Akshobhya sighed, "Yes, he is a babe. Unable to reach maturity. Yet this babe, forced to the cusp of maturity only to fall, is stronger than most gods. Like you, he is undefeated. His ability has no equal. His fate was foretold long before either of us started our journey on this earth. WuKong, he will fall because he wishes others to rise. Whether those who rise are worthy to use him as a stepping stone is not for This One to say."
Plum closed his eyes, "The falling would not be so bad, even I can see that he chooses to do so, but. Unlike the rest of us who have matured, he will forever be a babe. He journeyed to your lands to find a fated companion. Even if not a soul mate," Plum gestured to the quiet fox, "Nix needs a companion."
Akshobhya stared into the sky, "Just as he is fated to fall so others can rise, some will forever walk their paths alone."
Plum was silent. He had suspected as much. Almost ten thousand years searching for a heart companion… Nix said more than one heart had sung to him, but never for him. His own clan barely tolerated him, the only one he'd ever spent any significant time with was Ru.
Caius's fur bristled, "I will claim him, he will be mine." She stated staring them all in the eyes.
Plum really looked at the fox kit. If a piece of Nix was able to forge a hearts bond… that meant there was a possibility Nix could as well.
WuKong didn't express his doubt. At least for now the fox was trying. Sure there were some selfish motives, but everyone had expectations.
Caius wasn't sure if the blue god spoke to the monarchs privately, but after a brief silence his body turned into lotus petals and he disappeared. WuKong grumbled under his breath while the fairy king took a seat beside the floating cloud. Caius rested her head on her Pretty Birdie. A baby bird. She'd known that for weeks… but they spoke as if he'd always been a baby.
Plum closed his eyes, tapping his fingers as he thought. This land was far more corrupted than he'd first thought. Nix would of course not leave the land without removing the source of the taint. Still, there would be much to do in the coming decades to make it his.
WuKong flicked his tail at the fairy. "So, do you know which three he's picked out this time?"
Plum raised a brow as his lips curved into a smile. "I may have an idea, care to place a bet then?"
WuKong glanced over the gathering humans. "What will I win?"
Plum pulled out a crystalline peach. "One of your kin was asking around for one of these." Seeing WuKong's eyes narrow on the peach Plum hid it away. "Now, what will you lose?"
Sebastian watched as the fae king set three scales down. Without hesitation he placed a dark purple flower petal on beneath the far left scale. If Sebastian didn't know better, he would think they were all… dragon scales.
Tou furtively glanced around, then hopped toward the betting rock. Pulling out one of his feathers he placed it behind the plum petal. The moment he was done he was besieged by the other eight.
Sebastian watched as the nine cloaked birds shoved their feathers into the same pile as the plum flower. It eventually evolved into a brawl as they pushed feathers under the other two scales, only for another bird to swap them out again.
WuKong pretended to grumble as he dropped one of his hairs into the same pile as the flower petal. Then all the piece's of Nix's soul stopped fighting to stare at him.
Tou pointed his wing at WuKong's face, hopping up and down as he chirped. Accusing WuKong of betraying them.
"I didn't say I wouldn't bet on the same one as plum." WuKong denied as he covered Nix's ears.
Plum rolled his eyes, "No, you did not." Plum examined the two juvenile scales. The juvenile dragon had the most favor, was of the bloodline, had gained the interest of at least two monarchs and a god. Unfortunately, as a juvenile its wings and fire were far from mature. Honestly, even bolstered by the small piece his fire couldn't singe his petals.
The second juvenile was only dragon kin, with the potential to ascend. It could not fly, could not use mana, could not even make smoke. It was however cleansed of the taint, and both Nix and the piece had left it the opportunity to embrace Nix's red, or the piece's white flame.
The adult dragon kin would be ideal if it wasn't suppressing its own fire. Light, as Nix would say. Could not fly, its fire suppressed, and worst yet… coddled into submission.
Futa sat behind Lucian's scale pouting… he shared a melancholic cheep with Yatt who was sitting beside Monroe's scale. Their seven siblings were looking anywhere but at them.
WuKong pretended to be blinded by an unusually bright flash of sunlight. He also pretended he didn't see the golden feather land among all the black ones.
Ru glanced over the three monarchs, then proceeded to the edge of the Smyrnaean boarders. Half a dozen gods were just about to cross from the Adarian boarders. As they saw him they all stopped.
Ru stepped through a golden rift. He had to admit, the benefits of Beloved's existence were worth dying for. Ru smirked as he glanced over the lower and middle ranged gods, perhaps one of them would be sacrificed to prove the statement.
Before the coalition of sea and water gods could issue challenge a gust of wind nearly swept them off their feet.
Ru grinned as Haven slithered through a rainbow rift of his own. Coiling around all present as he tasted the air.
"Ssssoooo far from your waterssss." Haven teased as Beloved pulled them all into an illusion. Flexing his wings as they all started to fall. These gods all shared a source, only gods over part of the sea. The rain, rivers. There was only so much power to go around. Having just recently eaten the last remaining wind god, he was pulsing with mana.
Beloved peeked out of Haven's crest feathers, "What naughty gods, what bad sport, daring to slink when only Monarchs have stepped forth." When they turned their glares on her she ducked behind a large blue feather. "Big Snake they are glaring! Glaring at me! They break the rules, then are angry!"
Haven slapped his tail at the pests, sending them sprawling in all directions. The river dragon god gathered most out of the way as he escaped. His crystal blue scales reflecting the light. Unfortunately, his arms were so short. Too short to carry more than two of the falling gods in each claw.
Ru dove at the young jiao long, it clearly wasn't used to flying. All of these gods were younger than Nix. Two younger than Beloved. The Jiao long brought back bad memories… narrowing his eyes, Ru deliberately snatched the river dragon's tail in his claws.
The Jiao long whipped his body around to bite at the eagle's legs even as his scales blackened from the heat. The eagle let go, flaring his wings as the wind carried him out of reach. They were toying with him!
Ignoring the snake and eagle, the Jiao Long dove toward his falling companions. He was sure they would survive the fall, but there was no telling what else these two would do. Ru was the only Sun god, and no one had seen any other wind gods in more than ten thousand years. He had only been a god for a little over two thousand years, with age came wisdom, and more importantly power.
Haven circled above as Ru continued to toy with the much weaker gods. They weren't the reason he was here. Yemoja may not be fully healed, but she was still a major power. Of the 9 sea gods, Yemoja was third strongest. Their reign was relatively peaceful because of the nine, four were siblings. All three goddesses had raised at least one offspring to maturity. Their brother had yet to have any offspring survive more than a few days.
The illusion shook, then a trident ripped through the edges.
Beloved blinked, peeking over the feathers, "Bullies are coming, bullies are near, they are only a fraction, let us show them fear." Beloved demanded stomping her foot. A ripple of white fire spread over Haven's body.
Haven felt his body disperse, becoming almost indistinguishable from the air around them. It may have been only a few days, but he had learned much.
Growing to match the giant body of water, he ignored the trident of electricity passing through his body. Through their bodies. Beloved's flames were layered over his wind like armor.
Haven smirked as the sea god's body kept going from the force of his swing.
Ru grinned as Beloved's fire spread like a flash as soon as the snake's wind met the body of water. Beloved now had all of them in her illusion, and this one wasn't so harmless.
Haven coiled around the body of water, then squeezed until it burst. Surrounding them were columns of wind and fire. The very air cracked from the stifling heat. Beloved had created an illusion so realistic, it burned even the lungs of gods. If he weren't protected by her flames, even he wouldn't be able to breathe. His flame wasn't yet a viable source of protection.
Beloved stood atop Haven's head, her hands on her hips as she glared at the bad sea gods. "You dare to step forward, you dare to break oaths, continue this journey, lives taken by force!"
Haven watched as the Jiao Long finally caught all his companions. The very earth bubbled had become a death trap. Touching it would scorch more than just their physical bodies. The air was sucking mana from their lungs every time they dared to inhale.
The god shrank, standing atop the Jiao Long's head as it glared up at them. He was not a sight many ever wished to behold. The shape was almost human. From pelvis to neck his body was densely raised green scales. Slits along both sides of his scaled neck. His legs looked like he'd taken them from a bloated corpse, his scaled tail only reached his knees.
His arms were childishly short, the skin could have been taken from a shark, layered over bones so thin they should break under the weight of his own webbed fingers. The skin over his face also looked more sharklike than human. His eyes bulging almost out of his head, his flat nose raised just enough for him to breathe through two narrow slits.
Instead of hair, scales adorned the top of his head, flowing into what looked like a cape.
Haven sneered at the figure, "Making an appearance so soon, because you are the only male? Or because you are the weakest of the four?"
Without answer, the sea god waved his trident. Water poured onto the earth, immediately upon contact turning into steam blinding the weaker gods.
There was a gentle tap on the illusion drawing all their attention.
Beloved blinked, opening a rift to see the giant spider goddess Willa. Haris in his robes was perched just behind her eyes. Beloved hadn't thought any of the others would arrive unless a fight actually broke out.
Haris managed to not jump when Lady Beloved stepped through a rift right beside him. Her obvious disappointment was not lost on him. Who would bring a baby to a potential battle of gods? As Beloved stepped on Willa, her white flames spread out.
"Hello future in law, Hello mister frog, are you here to oversee the brawl?" Beloved asked as the steam was quickly waved away by Haven.
Willa stepped through the growing rift. As she did the two remaining sea goddess sisters emerged, if only as avatars. "None of you were summoned. None of you have permission to step foot on my domain." Willa announced as the earth shifted.
Ru sneered, "Funny how you only show up after we've headed them off." Ru landed on Haven's wing. That one fluctuation forced Haven back into his physical form. Of course, even the sea gods were forced to back into their physical forms. Ru smiled seeing the two youngest fall, grasping their throats as the heated air burned their lungs.
Willa raked her gaze over Ru, "I'm not here for you." Turning her gaze back on the sea god. "You are not welcome here Marinus."
Marinus narrowed his eyes as the creation tugged on the earth goddess's pet. "There is one with the authority to call us."
Ru tilted his head, "She did not call you though. Did she?"
Marinus glared at Ru, "I don't recall you being summoned either, yet you lurk on the chance, one might. I am merely doing the same."
Ru ruffled his feathers, "All under the sun is mine to claim. I don't see any oceans."
Willa ignored the blatant claim, "Ru, Haven, even Beloved all have apostles. At best Yemoja has worshipers. Ignorant as they may be. Without an apostle, your arrival breaks the treaty."