A/N: Alright old man, what's yer deal!

  Okay so maybe they won't be THAT antagonistic with the guy…

  -x-X-x-

  It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

  Oren's words ring through Sophia's head, even as she stares with wide eyes at the old man who is very much not an old man. Back on the road where they'd originally crossed paths, she'd definitely been tense, expecting an attack of some sorts. But that was that. This was… this was the feel of an Ancient God. This was the power of someone who had been around just as long as her father.

  The 'old man' looks up at the pilr and an expression of sorrow fshes across his wizened features. In that moment, Sophia knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's aware of what really happened up there atop the stone ptform. He knows what happened between them and Aureo. He knows they murdered the River God.

  A shiver runs down Sophia's spine as she wonders if this is the moment where they die. Sure, Oren had killed his fair share of Ancient Gods when he'd stormed the Heavens, including her father Law… but she remembers the gleaming armor and bzing sword he'd wielded back then. Neither of which he had on him now.

  If Aureo gave him that much trouble when Oren was armed with nothing but a Celestial Dagger, than Sophia didn't even want to know what an Ancient God could do to him.

  "… You did what you had to do."

  Sophia's doom-filled thoughts stutter to a halt as the 'old man' turns back to them both with sadness in his eyes but conciliatory words on his lips.

  "Madness like young Aureo's could not be stopped with mere words. As tragic as his death is, neither of you can be bmed. He forced your hands."

  The st thing she expected was for the Ancient God to… condone their actions. And yet, there he was, doing exactly that.

  Suddenly tapping the end of his walking stick on the cracked cobbled stone beneath his feet, the 'old man' nods decisively.

  "Come. Let us discuss matters somewhere with a tad more privacy."

  Then he turns and begins to walk away, clearly expecting them to follow. Sophia exchanges a bewildered gnce with Oren, but in the end… she's not sure they can do anything else but comply so they both hurry after him.

  Soon enough, the three of them are sat down at a corner table in a cozy but otherwise abandoned tavern. The firepce is still burning brightly, but there's not a soul in sight, not even behind the counter. When Sophia shoots Oren a questioning gaze he shakes his head, confirming that he doesn't hear a single other person in the entire tavern.

  … They're all at the pilr, aren't they? A massive pilr filled with gold 'granted' to them by Lord Aureo himself. Every single living person in Goldriver is at the base of that pilr. Except for them, Sophia supposed.

  Taking a seat and gesturing for them to do the same, the 'old man' lets out a world-weary sigh, cing his fingers over his chest.

  "Introductions are probably in order, I suppose."

  Blinking, Sophia straightens up at that.

  "Oh! Yes, I'm-!"

  But he just holds up a hand, cutting her off.

  "I know who you are Sophia. Oren. I meant myself."

  Wait, he knew who they were? Did he truly know Oren? Did he know what he had done, what he was? Sophia exchanges an armed look with the Otherworlder, even as the Ancient God clears his throat.

  "I am Tyranos, God of Travelers and Roads… and brother to Law, King of the Gods and God of Justice and Righteousness."

  Wait… what?! Sophia's mouth drops open, even as Tyranos cracks a grin and winks at her.

  "Feel free to call me Uncle, if you prefer."

  However, when he sweeps his gaze over to Oren a second ter, he cools noticeably.

  "You, however, can address me as Lord Tyranos."

  Oren, wisely, doesn't say a word. It's obvious at this point that the God of Travelers and Roads knows exactly who and what Oren is. Both an Otherworlder and the God Killer. Sophia would bet money on it. Still, she's reeling from the fact that she has an uncle she never even knew about.

  "You're my… father's brother? My uncle?"

  Tyranos hums and nods, leaning back a bit in his chair as he sighs heavily.

  "Indeed. I would apologize for the fact that we're only just now meeting, but Law was rather particur about the separation of the Heavens and the Mortal Pnes."

  That was true. Even Sophia's excursions to the Mortal Pnes had technically been breaking her father's commandments. She'd just been too curious to stay away. Still…

  "But why would you stay down here? I thought most of the deities who stayed on the Mortal Pnes when my father decided to make the split did so because they were tied to physical domains that they couldn't just leave behind."

  Tyranos tilts his head in acknowledgment.

  "Most… but not all. Think about what my domains are, dear niece. The Heavens were as small as they were big. Not many travelers up there. Not many roads either. Not like down here on the Mortal Pnes, where there are plenty who worship me hoping for a safer trip."

  Oh… yes, that did make sense. Sophia ducks her head in embarrassment for not seeing that before. Tch, some Goddess of Wisdom she was…

  Still, this was… this was exactly what they'd been looking for. An Ancient God as old as her father, which meant he was as old as any of them. If he didn't have answers, then who would?

  "Sir…"

  "Please Sophia, call me Uncle."

  "R-Right… Uncle Tyranos, you seem to already know a lot about our situation. But I'm not sure if you know what we've discovered. The God Hunters… the God Hunters have divine backing. We already had a run in with one god who admitted they were nothing but stooges and he implied that there were more like him."

  Tyranos doesn't look surprised, but he does look like he ages even more than he already is. Letting out a deep, rattling breath, the God of Travelers and Roads shakes his head.

  "I was afraid of that."

  Finally! Sophia doesn't squeal in excitement, but only because the situation is so serious. Positively vibrating in her chair as she manages to somewhat hold herself back, the goddess leans forward, wetting her lips.

  "Do you know who these gods might be, Uncle? Do you know who our hidden enemy is?"

  His expression extremely grave, Tyranos nods his head.

  "I have had my suspicions for some time. Ever since that one first appeared in the Heavens."

  Oren stiffens up, even as Sophia shoots him a gnce. Her Uncle had been aware of the Otherworlder for that long?!

  Snorting at Oren's reaction, Tyranos juts out his chin.

  "I am the God of Travelers, boy. When someone travels to my brother's domain from seemingly nowhere at all, I start to wonder. When they then travel from the Heavens to the Mortal Pnes, well that keeps my attention. Indeed, there is only one pce my senses do not reach… and that is the Void."

  Sophia's eyes widen. The Void? That sounded rather dangerous. From the look in Tyranos' eyes, it definitely wasn't a happy pce.

  "… To expin, I should start back at the beginning. Or at least far enough back for things to make sense. It was shortly after your father finally shut down the summoning of Otherworlders altogether, during the st apocalypse we were forced to put down after such beings started it. Back then, there were really only two types of deities. There were those whose domains were concepts, and those whose domains were tied to the physical."

  Sophia slowly nods. That tracks with everything she knows. Though from the sound of things, Tyranos is about to blow her mind.

  "… Unfortunately, the defeat of the final Otherworlders and the subsequent banning of their summoning led to an unprecedented time of peace in the cosmos."

  The goddess wrinkles her nose in confusion at that. Unfortunately? Why unfortunately? Easily picking up on her incredulity, Tyranos chuckles and shakes his head with a crooked smile.

  "I say 'unfortunately' because ever-sting peace is a fairy tale, my dear niece. There is no such thing as peace without end… and without a proper enemy to unite us, even gods can fall to infighting and division."

  Tyranos pauses for a moment, clearly going somewhere else briefly… likely far into the past. When he speaks again, his voice is solemn.

  "There are two schools of thought about what happened next, mind you. Some would cim that without the Otherworlders, a new scapegoat had to be found. Others would point out that without the Otherworlders, there was nowhere for those with darker impulses to focus them save for on their kin."

  Sophia is truly lost at this point. Thankfully, Tyranos sees this and chuckles again.

  "Consider this, Sophia. There are two types of gods, yes? Conceptual Gods and Physical Gods. But… where are the gods and goddesses with concepts of a more negative persuasion? Where are those who can neither be beled 'neutral' or 'good' but instead 'evil' and 'dark'."

  Sophia's eyes widen as she thinks about it. She can't name a single God or Goddess of the Heavens who embodied such a concept. But she can think of a deity she and Oren dealt with recently who does.

  "You mean like a God of Lies and Duplicity?"

  Tyranos starts to nod.

  "Exact- ah… I assume that was the god you and the Otherworlder had a 'run in' with?"

  Grimacing, Sophia just nods, not really wanting to remember how things went down with Raythe.

  "Then that only confirms my suspicions. Continuing on… without the Otherworlders to unite us, a schism formed between the Conceptual Gods. Those with neutral concepts such as myself were asked to pick sides between those with negative and those with positive. Needless to say… your father and his supporters won the day. Righteousness and Justice beat out Tyranny and Conquest."

  That… sounded good to Sophia. Right? She would much rather have the Heavens and Mortal Pnes ruled over by a god like her father who embodied such decent concepts. Especially if the alternative was a God of Tyranny and Conquest. Such a God would not stop until everything was conquered and everyone was his to control.

  Her Uncle seems a little ambivalent about the whole thing though, like he's not sure one way or another. But then to be fair, he's admitted he was a neutral god in the conflict. As someone who embodies moral concepts like Wisdom and Equity, Sophia knows… the right side won that ancient war.

  "Of course, when all was said and done… your father couldn't bring himself to kill them. Not when they were kin and their leader was his brother… our brother. Instead, Law chose to exile him and those gods who followed him to the Void, locking them away and imprisoning them for forevermore. Or so we all thought."

  Sophia reels at this test revetion. She has another uncle she never knew about? And more than that, he was locked away in the Void for all eternity? But no… she quickly puts two and two together.

  "They've escaped the Void, haven't they? That's where Raythe, the God of Lies and Duplicity, must have come from."

  Tyranos hums and nods.

  "It would seem so. Somehow, the Gods of the Void figured out how to get out. They must have turned the Void from their prison into their fortress. It would make for the perfect staging ground, given that nobody in our cosmos can see into it properly. So they summon the Otherworlder here to the Void without Law or any of the rest of us being any the wiser. They train him up for who knows how long until they think he's ready. And then they unleash him upon your father and the rest of the Heavens while at the same time turning the mortals here on the Mortal Pnes against the deities they've lived side by side with for generations."

  It all made a sickening amount of sense. Sophia can't help but feel a little lightheaded, even as she whimpers.

  "But… how did they make the mortals turn so fast anyways? The God Hunters are one thing, but why does nobody else stand up to them?"

  Tyranos is solemn as he answers her.

  "Despair. On a conceptual level. Avarice, Wrath, Jealousy, and more. All of these are domains that the Gods of the Void embodied. All of them could be used to turn mortals against their patron deities or make them cower and bury their heads in the sand while others do the killing for them."

  Of course. Sophia swallows dryly, sitting back in her chair. It sounded awful. It sounded… unwinnable.

  "How do we even begin to fight them? There must be dozens of these… these Void Gods."

  "Hundreds, actually."

  Sophia shudders. She'd thought, for some reason, that there would maybe be one or two more besides Raythe. Half a dozen at most. And she supposed she'd also thought they would be lesser gods taking advantage of the mortals and Oren to try and usurp control.

  Now though, now she knew she was dealing with gods as old as Tyranos and her father. And at the head of them all, another uncle who she'd never met. A shiver runs down Sophia's spine as she realizes she's gotten all the answers she was seeking. And yet, rather than provide crity, all of this information simply makes things all the murkier. She doesn't know what to do now. She doesn't know where to even begin.

  "As for how to fight them…"

  Sophia perks up as her uncle's voice pulls her out of her thoughts. She looks to see him gazing in Oren's direction.

  "There might be quite a few of them dear niece, but there were quite a few deities in the Heavens as well. In truth, the Void Gods have created their own executioner… in the form of the very man you already travel with."

  Oren. Sophia looks to him to see the Otherworlder frowning in thought. Even from the beginning, back before she knew who and what he really was, Sophia had hoped to use Oren to get her revenge. Perhaps… perhaps that was still possible. Perhaps Tyranos was right and the solution to their problems was even now the mortal man sitting beside her.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Dun dun DUUUUUN!

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