Sabbatical – Chapter 197: Brewing Trouble

Aperio could not help but tilt her head at the rapidly shifting form of what she assumed to be the amalgamation of every deity thought up by the people of Earth. She was about to move past the tapestry of symbols when a new one appeared on it with a flickering of mana; barely enough to even place the symbol on the fabric. Just like all the others, she did not recognise it, but she had no trouble seeing the effect of it on the being whose Dominion they had entered.

It tried to scream, throwing its head back, but no sound came as parts of it shifted to form of what was no doubt the new deity created by the mortals of Earth. Mortals messing with the Gods this time around… The All-Mother tilted her head to the other side. Well, maybe just one God?

What she saw looked a little bit like the Rage Laelia's adopted sons had suffered from, but instead of multiple Souls vying for control over a body it seemed more like different personalities were trying to make their own shells to live in. The only problem was that they did not have enough mana to do that.

"Who- What is that?" Eleanor asked, her gaze bouncing between the rapidly-shifting being and Aperio.

"An amalgamation of things the people of Earth have come up with," she replied. "At least, I would assume so. I am not well versed in your beliefs and could not tell you who — or what — any of these variations are supposed to be."

"Did you know this would happen?" Ethan asked as he all but glared at the All-Mother.

"Know? No." She shrugged, a thought causing her to appear behind the still-shifting being with her wings flared. "But I had a feeling.

"There are only so many things that could have happened," she continued as she placed her hand onto the being’s back and let some of her mana flow into it. "I did, however, think that it would be much more tame. A single deity that shifts its personality, perhaps, not something like this."

Observing the body of the being more closely didn’t reveal much that was new. It was trying to physically change its vessel, but before one version of itself could finish another had already taken over. And even if it did not switch as much, there is not enough mana here to actually make a suitable body…

With a small shake of her head, Aperio drew her hand back slightly before she drove it into the being’s back, effortlessly pushing past the ever-changing skin and bones; past the thin barrier that separated its Soul from the physical realm.

After making sure that none of her mana would flow inside the Soul, Aperio wrapped her hand around it and pulled it free from its shell. The body crumpled to the ground, flickering a few more times before stopping mid-transition.

She held up the small orb she had liberated from the body, turning it slightly and smiling at the non-existent light refracting through it.

A sigh from her love caused the All-Mother to look down and fold her wings behind her back. "Did you really have to do that?" Caethya asked as she closed the distance between herself and Aperio. "I doubt you want to manipulate them into forgetting this."

"I won't," Aperio replied in the ancient Common of Verenier, looking at both Eleanor and Ethan who had taken what she would describe as fighting stances. "But I could not just sit idly by and let this Soul be tormented further. As I was going to fix it anyway, I might as well be comfortable while doing so."

"You could have done all of this without even leaving your Void," Caethya objected before shaking her head. "Not that it matters. You like doing things in person, and it was only a matter of time until at least the mage figured out that something is not quite normal with us."

The All-Mother smiled at her love and let go of the Soul she had freed, letting it hover in place in front of her and above the slowly crumbling body it had previously occupied. She would have to build a body for it or, failing that, let it make its own. The first option was one she would rather not pursue as anything she would make would be vastly more powerful than it was supposed to be. That, in turn, meant that she would have to create an environment in which the amalgamation of deities could sort itself out. Which would mean bringing the System to this world…

"Neither of us have any intention of fighting you," Aperio said, briefly switching back to English and directing her attention to their mortal companions. "If we were to do so, there would be nothing you could do to stop us, anyway."

To make her point, she simply appeared behind them and lifted each one up by the neck. The two mortals flailed for a moment, but any resistance they had to offer was futile; the only thing their efforts accomplished was spurring Aperio to use a touch of magic to make sure they did not hurt themselves in her grip. Aperio shook the two mortals lightly, causing them to go limp for a moment before she let them go, not caring that they would fall a short distance. They consider themselves to be strong, so a small drop like that should be fine. With her demonstration done, Aperio reappeared by the Soul, one arm across her chest and tapping at her chin with the free hand.

"What to do…" she mumbled mostly to herself, in the language of her people, before shaking her head. "Well, more how do I go about doing what I have to do."

"What do you have to do?" Caethya asked as she joined her love in staring at the floating Soul.

"Give it an environment in which it can sort itself out," the All-Mother replied. "That would boil down to giving it a mana-rich environment, which would require me to either bring the System for Earth up to speed or bring this Soul to a different world. I much prefer the first option."

The Demigoddess let out a sigh and shook her head. "I guess it was only a matter of time."

Aperio raised a brow. "Not trying to talk me out of it?" She had fully expected her love to stop her from doing this, suggesting they go another route instead.

No matter what Caethya might say, Aperio knew that her love was concerned about her and tried to steer her away from revealing herself as the All-Mother. In most cases, she would be right and Aperio would let herself be nudged away from it, even if it annoyed her that she could not be herself.

"No point," her love replied with a shrug. "You would have revealed yourself sooner or later anyway. The only thing I would suggest is that you wait in unleashing the System upon Earth, and keep it for whatever this meeting the mortals have planned is. If you are going to reveal yourself as a Goddess, might as well make it a good first impression."

"And stop them from thinking we are Fae," Aperio added before she briefly closed her eyes and drew on her well. She wanted to talk to this deity, and for that to happen it had to sort itself out. And for that, it needs more mana.

Supplying it with her own was out of the question, but letting the System take a bit to make some sort of changes to what Aperio assumed was the amalgam's Dominion should be just fine. The thing she should pay the most attention to was likely the two mortals, who were both rubbing their necks where she had grabbed them. Don't want them to get some random titles from my actions here.

"I think that is the least of our worries," Caethya said as Aperio began to draw more mana into herself and the Dominion of the amalgamation. "I am more concerned with our new friends over there."

"Not to worry," the All-Mother replied as she mentally poked at the System to 'motivate' it to do the correct thing. "They are perfectly fine where they are. I am only letting the System touch this space, not the people inside it."

How, exactly, she was able to tell the System that only the space — and by extension, its owner — should be allowed to be brought into the fold was not something Aperio quite knew. She knew that she could do it, but the exact ins and outs of how she was doing it did not want to come to the forefront of her mind. The knowledge simply lingered at the edges of her mind, letting her know what she had to do and how to do it, but now why it would work.

At the moment, that was fine with the All-Mother. She wanted to have a chat with the deity — or deities — that the people of Earth had thought up. No matter what it might lead to, it was sure to be interesting. Doubly so because we have two actual mortals from Earth here.

"What about Adam?" Caethya asked as she let her gaze wander around the rapidly brightening Dominion of Earth's God.

The thought of bringing Adam here crossed Aperio's mind briefly, but in the end she decided against it. "No," she replied with a shake of her head. "All he would do is try to talk me out of this and no matter how much I would try to explain, he would not understand that this needs to happen." The All-Mother was not in the mood to argue. What she was doing now might only be accomplished through instinct and the simple knowledge that she could actually do what she thought she could, but true understanding was what she wanted, and she could feel she was close.

Fixing this deity would not only help a Soul trapped in an endless cycle that Aperio could only describe as torture, but hopefully also bring the fragments of her own memory that currently eluded her grasp back to her. She had no idea how her own System actually interacted with the world and if she wanted to bring some meaningful change, she would have to change that first. A grasp of what her old self had done — and why she had done it — was required. And just knowing what I can do is not enough for that.

Aperio had a few guesses as to why she had created the System in the way it existed now. Two were easy enough to understand; it made people stronger and might actually produce something that would be fun to fight — something her current and past self apparently both looked forward to — and it also tied up some of herself in a predictable way. The universe already bent to her whims enough, and if her System did not give structure to at least a part of her subconsciousness, things would be a lot worse. Perhaps 'fixing' this God might also tell her what the System actually meant when it said it was maintaining 'basic functionality' on Earth.

Trapping a Soul in an ever-changing body certainly doesn't seem basic, Aperio thought to herself as she guided some more of her mana into the Dominion of the amalgamation. Though, perhaps it meant magic in general…

"Hopefully I will know soon," the All-Mother mumbled to herself as a thought carefully manoeuvred a bit of her mana to something that looked and felt like a System-given seat of divinity deep in the nothingness of the amalgamation's Dominion. "But first, you have to wake up."

///

Lita tugged on the robe Jester had given her as she looked at herself in the mirror. It had been over a week ago that her master had told her that he would undo the great magic she had been blessed with as a child. That alone wasn't bad. She would miss the small joys the enchantment gave her whenever she obeyed, but more freedom might be good. From time to time, Jester was a little too specific in his demands and she had a hard time following through of her own volition.

What she did not like was the fact that she might lose her friend. Ever since Jester had said that the enchantment would be removed, she had not heard from the little voice in her head. Her usual methods of bringing them out — defying an order for a while, stalking some of the other servants, or pleasuring her master — had not worked. Even going on a small spree of murders, which would usually result in a strong scolding, if not the voice trying to steal her body away from killing, had not worked. The voice had never truly wrested control away from her before, anyway. Purging the unclean was, after all, her duty.

"I won't go anywhere," the voice mumbled in Lita's mind, causing the Beastkin's ears to perk up and her tail to sway slightly. "I have more rights to this body than you."

"But it's mine?" Lita asked and tilted her head. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, running her hand over her stomach and moving her ears. "It's always been mine."

While the voice in her head could not really scoff, Lita was sure her head-bound companion had just done so. She did not know what the voice knew, but her memories stretched back to a time where she could barely walk. How could it have more rights to her own body?

"What you believe differs from the truth," the voice said with a little more venom than usual. "And belief does not make things true."

"At least it means that we will stay together, right?" Lita asked, wrapping her arms around herself. She froze after a moment, meeting her own gaze in the mirror. "Maybe we can even get you your own body!"

"Your 'master' would never approve of that," the voice commented, the last few words growing dimmer as Lita could feel the enchantment within her shift slightly, moving her body on its own accord.

"I guess we have to go now," the slave said with a bright smile that only lasted for a moment. "Please don't stay away that long again."

GamingWolf

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