[2009 – October – Friday]
Finding myself on the edge of a high-rise building somewhere in the Financial District after leaving Emma's place, my gaze turned in the direction of Lower Manhattan just in eye-line with the Empire State Building, which one could spot in the distance if one looked close enough.
I listened to the bustling streets below as I thought of my conversation with Bast just a few minutes ago.
She had given me some very valuable intel that had enabled me to get a more complete picture of the different ascension methods for higher beings, amongst which those who took the path of faith were undoubtedly the weakest in general.
Faith was in essence an impure power since its source was basically just a large crowd of mortals that all had very distinct beliefs given that they had all lived different lives. This had consequences on the ascension process but even disregarding that, the 'gods' dependence on faith was simply their greatest weakness, given that faith was a consumable commodity.
There was also the fact that those who had walked the path of faith found it incredibly difficult to actively interfere with the primary dimension, much more difficult in fact than true Realm Lords.
The resistance of the primary dimension to their powers was so great that Bast, for example, would have to use the strength to smite a thousand people just to punish a single one, which was obviously too great a price considering that faith did not come by easily.
I could only guess that the impurity of their strength might have something to do with this but I didn't have any concrete evidence to support this theory. Still, this was also one of the reasons why 'miracles' were such a rarity.
As a solution to this 'problem', most 'gods' found a way to choose a champion, partly turning a mortal into an avatar of theirs, which allowed them to channel their strength into the primary dimension with much greater ease and efficiently, even if they could not wield it directly.
Bastet did this through the Heart-Shaped Herb that she had created via a 'miracle', allowing the Wakandans to choose their champion based on ancestry and inheritance.
Still, there was also the 'common understanding' between the 'gods of faith', which I had briefly mentioned to Emma. In fact, this was a pact that the 'gods' had agreed to for the purposes of limiting their influence on mortal matter.
There were several reasons for this, not the least of which was that Agamotto and the Vishanti didn't allow them to do as they pleased on Earth.
There was also the fact that their interference came at a great price since it would lead to greater losses if they all fought on Earth to expand on the number of followers, which in turn would definitely lead to constant wars amongst their followers and force them to consume even more faith in the process than it was ultimately worth it.
This wasn't wild speculation as history had proven this to be the case. Some might argue that the wars for Jerusalem were probably some of the best examples in the Western hemisphere when it came to 'holy wars' but, in fact, there were many great wars amongst Native Americans that ended in much greater bloodshed because their 'gods' had interfered and broken the pact.
One of the most gruesome examples was the mass sacrifices carried out by the Aztec civilization. Archeological excavation and historic reports showed that they had once sacrificed more than eighty thousand people in a matter of days for ritual and religious purposes.
Bastet had mentioned this historic event as an example since the actions of those gods did not go unpunished. She had recounted that Agamotto had been enraged at their interference and the gruesome sacrifices that had followed it, so he had decided to make an example of the Aztec gods.
According to Bastet, he had shattered Aztec god's divine kingdoms and extinguished their divine fires, killing most of them in the process before letting up on his anger. Naturally, this had marked the downfall of the Aztec 'gods' and with them their Empire while reminding every other 'god of faith' why the pact was not to be broken.
He hadn't done the same when humans had waged war against each other for Jerusalem in the name of their gods and in the many other 'holy wars' that had followed but that was mostly because the 'gods' had refrained from direct interference and had cunningly chosen champions to carry out their will ever since.
I had been surprised at the revelation but not shocked, given that I could easily see Agamotto doing something brutally eccentric like that.
Not to mention that killing higher beings of faith was comparatively easy as he didn't have to completely and utterly annihilate the realm that they had created. Simply destroying their true forms did the trick for them since they could not reconstruct themselves as incarnations of their realms like true Realm Lords could.
On the other hand, a true Realm Lord killing another was a very different matter.
In exchange for answering my questions, on the other hand, I had told Bastet my reasons for being on Earth, which she had been quite obviously worried about, even if she had tried to hide that worry. Not that I could blame her given the terrible destruction a being such as myself could unleash, either directly or through manipulation.
After all, I didn't have to personally destroy this world as I could simply direct humanity to do so on their own in my stead, which was definitely what Bastet feared more than direct destruction.
In a direct conflict, the other 'gods' of Earth would not sit still and neither would Agamotto but if I covertly unleashed destruction, who would be able to blame me given that I could hide my traces from other Realm Lords since I was in my true form and at full strength?
Still, I had managed to reassure her that, that was not my plan, though I had to swear an oath to do so, which wasn't to be taken lightly as the words of a higher being could be rather binding. But since I simply told the truth about seeking only personal freedom without any interest in a mortal following, I wasn't worried about any eventual consequences.
Truthfully, it had been a very civil and strangely pleasant exchange. It had been nice to converse with another higher being for a change since it felt as if we had a shared perspective on some matters that were just too difficult for mortals to grasp.
She also didn't seem to be particularly bothered by the fact that Emma was clearly scheming against the Wakandan princeling, which made sense since for her this was simply an opportunity to use an outsider to test her chosen one of his worthiness.
Bastet was a goddess, after all. She didn't have any personal attachments to T'Challa, she simply wanted a Black Panther that did her bidding according to the ancestral traditions of Wakanda, who that human was as a person mattered little to her.
This was also why in some other timelines, she didn't deny N'Jadaka her blessings, even though he was a ruthless killer and a rather cruel man. As a goddess, she clearly looked for different qualities in her champions than a 'moral' human would.
The reason that I had told Emma to not use her gifts on T'Challa or kill him was more because I didn't want to set a precedent of her attacking a higher being's champion since that was a very dangerous path to take for a mortal. I didn't want my protection to cause her to start being careless and land herself in trouble, which, granted, was highly unlikely given that this was Emma Frost the White Queen.
On the other hand, talking to Bastet also emphasized how different the world looked to most higher beings than it did to mortal beings. None of them could pursue simple happiness or peace as they had no 'life' to live, most of them simply existed in what seemed to be a vacuum devoid of anything but their own power.
I could not help but think of them as quite miserable, and I pitied them for not being able to walk this Earth on their own two feet to truly experience life as I could.
At the same time, my desire for freedom burned brighter than ever, almost scorching my throat as it tried to burst out from within me like a living entity while violently reigniting my will to advance.
Though, I didn't doubt that reminding oneself of those incarcerated was an effective way to highlight the importance of freedom for anyone.
Still, it seemed as if Arya sensed the change in my mood as she didn't hesitate to cry out 'fiercely', ready to bust into even the deepest fox den at my side as long as I let her snuggle up against my neck while we did so.
Laughing carefreely at her antics, I brushed through her feather coat as the green in my eyes glowed with an irrepressible spirit while the white in my eyes was consumed by darkness.
We continued to sit there for a while longer, just the two of us, and gaze at the city from high up, the cold wind ruffling my hair and clothes while she hid in my collar and enjoyed my caresses, her tiny form pressing against my neck and nipping affectionately at my fingers.