[2009 – October – Friday]
Gods were not equal.
It was a strange thing to acknowledge and even stranger to comprehend, but it was also undeniably true.
When she had just been a witch guiding her tribe to survival in the beautiful but unforgiving land that was their home, Bastet had believed that godhood was the end of the path to power, a sort of final destination that would mean the end of her journey and the accomplishing of all her goals.
But after the baptism of faith, the ignition of the divine fire inside her and her ascension to a higher being, she had quickly learned that she had been wrong.
For a 'god' like her who had ascended through faith, this only had marked the start of another journey filled with peril and struggles. This time though, her adversaries hadn't been forest predators, pests, or other tribes.
This time, her enemies had been 'gods'
The faith of living beings was a limited and valuable commodity and all those carrying the flame of divinity wanted a piece of it. Not to mention the demons and devils that likewise wanted the same and more.
Fortunately, due to her origin and proficiency in soul and spirit magic, she had been accepted into the circle of Enneads by the Council and given the position as psychopomp, a guide of souls.
But that didn't mean the there hadn't been plenty of Enneads that had wanted to see her gone and turn her worshipers into their own. There had also been those older and more powerful Enneads that had wanted her to join them as a subordinate goddess to have access to the power of faith that she gathered from her believers.
Thankfully, Bastet had managed to prevail and had even become one of the most powerful Enneads while many others had fallen.
She had spread her faith through many worlds throughout the eons of her existence while forging alliance with some of her fellow Enneads and making sure to follow the rules of the Council. And eventually, she had once again felt that she was slowly reaching the end of her path and gain enough power to sit stably on her divine throne.
All those thoughts though had quickly turned into smoke when she had come face to face with a true Realm Lord after Agamotto had come and demanded their support when the Octessence had launched an attack against the Earth Dimension.
And it was then that Bastet had seen with her own eyes the horrible power those truly eternal beings wielded as they extinguished time and space at their whim, tearing apart the strings of fate as if they were made from cotton candy and not by the very laws that guided reality.
She had seen their true bodies shatter and their soul turn to ash after suffering blows of apocalyptic magnitude, only to reform and resume their slaughter of higher beings like her, who had ascended through less optimal paths.
At that point, it had become more than clear to her that real Realm Lords were the true 'gods'. They were beings of immeasurable strength that cared little for faith or mortal life, they were destroyers and creators that only followed their own will.
A few tens of Enneads could maybe hold off a Realm Lord in neutral territory. In a one on one, if a Realm Lord dared to invade their diving kingdom, there was even a good chance of defending against a being like that for an Ennead as it was their own domain of absolute strength.
But killing or defeating one was simply impossible for an Ennead, especially since faith was their source of strength and it was not a resource that could just be spent at will without repercussions.
So yes, Bastet knew that 'gods', much like mortals, weren't created equally. And no Ennead in their right mind would think to offend a newly-born Realm Lord that had gone toe to toe with the Earth Dimension's first guardian, even if that was only a spar.
Looking at the projection of the Lord of the Darkforce Dimension, his young face carrying an expression of calm while his form just emanated a sense of boundless darkness, Bastet understood very well the disparity in strength between them. Maybe even better than the young Lord himself.
And young as he may be, the fact that Agamotto himself had bestowed him the title [Ruin of Magic] was telling enough of his terrifying strength, not to mention that she and others had seen them spar against each other and witnessed his ability to bend reality to his will.
Much more worrisome though was the fact that the Lord of Darkforce could move through the primary dimension with his true form, which she found impossible to comprehend and turned him into a rather daunting mystery that she almost feared to solve.
Worse yet, Bastet did not know the Lord of Darkforce's character nor his goals, which made her careful and guarded inside. Though she did not hesitate to show him the respect and etiquette that he deserved.
"As were many other Enneads, who like myself offer their sincerest congratulations to your ascension as a true Lord.", Bastet ended with a nod that could be misinterpreted as a small bow of reverence while hoping to use this conversation to get a better understanding of the young Lord.
…
"Thank you, I appreciate the Enneads' goodwill, Lady Bastet.", I voiced out with a calm nod of my own after hearing Bastet's words of congratulation.
To be honest though, I was merely polite as I cared little for the Enneads or other 'gods'.
Only other Realm Lords had the strength to oppose me but since none of them could take a step into the primary dimension with their true bodies under normal circumstances, I had an indisputable advantage.
Naturally there existed a few cosmic entities, principalities, and other beings that were capable of ending my life but they weren't worth worrying about as I had no way to stop them for the time being if they decided that, that is indeed what they wanted.
This might have been a somber thought for most but it was a freeing one to me.
I could see things with a rational clarity that allowed me to just let go of things that I had little or no control over. And plans for the future aside, I also wasn't too delusional to admit that I still had a long way to go at this point in time.
At present, the Enneads as a group of quasi Realm Lords were nothing but recipients of my curiosity.
Not in the least because their path seemed to be the inverse of the one that Demons usually took.
Like Predator, the Demon whose true name I had forced to give up after having found him hiding in the Darkforce Dimension, every Demon was born with the innate racial ability to create a realm of their own in any dimension.
And only after they had done so did they usually start bewitching mortals to hand over their everything like fanatical worshipers.
There was a peculiar contrast between those 'gods' and the Demons, which at times seemed to disappear completely as if they were one and the same.
As higher beings, their dependence on mortal life for power made it clear to me that they walked a path filled with limitations and narrow junctions. They could never really be free, which was a strangely sad thing to realize given that most of them had the power to turn the world upside down.
But it was the truth, a truth that caused me to remind myself to chose my path with caution so that I would never have to find myself in their situation.
And after a moment of silence, I couldn't help but look deeply at Bastet and address her: "I am sure that you realize that this meeting is no coincidence, Lady Bastet. I arranged to be here because I had some questions that I hope you could answer in your capacity as an Ennead and patron of Wakanda."
Her slitted stark-blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly, a thoughtful but unsurprised look in them, the dark-skinned goddess responded while tilting her head a bit: "Rest assured that I will answer to the best of my abilities. But you are not the only one with questions, Lord Darkforce."
"An exchange then.", I agreed readily, seeing no reason to deny her answers without having heard the questions.
Bast seemed to be of the same mind as she nodded, accepting my offer.