“You two got a minute?” Ardonis asked as he appeared behind them. They were both in a meditation room similar to his. However, despite them not currently working on their subpools, they were both only in their underwear.
He immediately ducked under a sudden bolt of pink lightning, not even a second after he finished his sentence. “Ardonis?” Lucy asked. “Don’t do that you ass, you scared the shit out of us by suddenly appearing out of nowhere.”
The one who shot the pink bolt nodded, “Be glad you have good reflexes, I'm sure my lightning would have at least paralyzed you for a few minutes.”
He chuckled, “Sorry about that, you two, I didn't sense that you were busy, so just popped in.”
“Next time, at least warn us through telepathy or teleport on the other side of the room and knock,” Viana said, she was blushing slightly from being seen in her underwear, and quickly magicked on some clothing. Although even that was still quite revealing as it was reminiscent of belly dancer wear.
“Again, I apologize. Anyway, there was something I wanted to discuss with you two. Something to do with our host and a certain request she made. But first, how are your subpools coming along? I just fully finished before Hyva called me.”
“You completed it already?” Lucy asked with surprise. “Damn, I'm still like a week away from completing mine. The same goes for Viana, what's this request from Hyva, and why am I suspecting it has something to do with your harem?”
“I figured you weren’t oblivious to that,” he commented.
Viana chuckled, “Well, she wasn’t exactly keeping it a secret. She openly makes passes at you and tries to flirt. Even a blind man could see her antics.”
He cleared his throat, “Well, there is a little more to it than that. It turns out, she wants to be my priestess instead of Milsa’s. Establish the church here as the founding one of a new religion, my own.”
“That’s a dangerous path to walk as things are now, Ardonis,” Viana warned. “We not only can’t afford to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves, but we aren’t strong enough to take the bitch on yet. We need to gather forces, gain more connections and allies, set ourselves up for success, and potentially even a war against her.”
He nodded, “That’s exactly why I told her to hold off on the religion bit, regardless. What I really wanted to discuss was her becoming my priestess. That in of itself seems like it would be a boon, and though rather early, would establish a connection to faith magic. I personally think a headstart in gaining believers would be quite the advantage against my peers.”
Lucy let out a giggle, “I think so too, it would certainly make things easier later on. Besides, faith magic works both ways, the more believers you have, the stronger your faith magic will be. That also means the “holy” power they wield from believing in you will also strengthen.”
“Not only that,” Viana said, “It would mean becoming an established god in the mortal plane. That kind of recognition will get you allies and enemies alike among other gods.”
“We also discussed the possibility of her joining the harem,” Ardonis said, clearing his throat again. “Lucy, you know my stance on a mortal joining, which was why I also wanted to discuss it with you.”
Lucy shrugged, “I don’t care if she joins, mortal or not. She seems like she’d make a great wife and harem member. I get along with her well enough, at least, and like her. Though what you decide is what I will stand behind and support. I do understand your view of not having a mortal join in, even if I don’t personally share it.”
He nodded, “Good to hear, because there just so happens to be a way she can potentially become immortal. By becoming my divine priestess.”
Viana spit out the water she was drinking in surprise as her eyes went wide, “How the fuck did she find out about something like that?” she asked between coughs, “There are a good number of gods who don’t have that information, how did a mortal girl obtain it?”
He shrugged, “She said she happened upon ancient but personal notes of Milsa in the past, and that’s how she found out about it.”
“Wait, what’s a divine priestess?” Lucy asked with a look of confusion.
Viana sighed once she had recovered, “A divine priest is exactly what it sounds like. They are special 'chosen' priests by the god they serve to spread his or her divine message across the multiverse. And as you can guess from the implications, this does mean they get a larger share of divine power, becoming immortal. Each god can only have one at a time, however, and once it is done, it cannot be undone. The only way to get a different one is if the divine priest’s soul is completely destroyed.”
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“Which,” she continued, “Is a large reason why gods who do know about it are very careful in such a selection. Only done to the most loyal, devout, and trusted priest out of all of them. It is a large gamble as a divine priest has the absolute word of their god in all actions. Essentially, a true representative of their god. Anything they do is directly reflected on their god, whether said god condoned, or even knew about those actions. They are the absolute priest and right hand of their god.”
Viana looked into Ardonis’s eyes, “You weren’t thinking of making her one right away, right? That would be the most dangerous and damaging thing you could do to yourself. Even worse than challenging Milsa to a fight at this very moment.”
He shook his head, “This is a hypothetical situation in case I ever decided to pursue her and let her in the harem. Right now, I was only thinking of cutting her connection with Milsa and making her my own priest. Which, yes, I do know will draw Milsa’s attention, which was why I was going to teleport us somewhere else first.”
Viana sighed in relief, her shoulders slumping as she relaxed, “Good, that is very good. I know you aren’t one to lose brain power in the face of a beautiful woman, I’m proof enough of that. But still, there is always a chance that even you could be charmed and seduced, even if not the magical kind. It may have been rare, but I did see you checking her out a couple of different times.”
Lucy nodded and hummed agreement, “I caught it too, which is another reason why I have no issue with her joining. It’s clear you have an interest to, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
Ardonis felt his face heat up slightly, “Okay fine, perhaps I’m not as opposed to it as I pretend to be, but I still want to get to know her much better. The real her, much like Viana, and if she travels with us as my priestess… that would be the perfect opportunity to do that.”
“Ah, so you want to take her with us, do you?” Lucy teased. “I’m all for it, I mean, without the restrictions, she may be weaker than us. But with them? She’s easily on par with whatever we can do. Which in of itself is admittedly quite impressive. And if she does end up joining the harem, who knows how strong she’ll become because of that divine priest thing.”
“Viana?” he asked with a raised brow.
She shrugged, “Do what you want, I just don’t want you to end up making a decision you’ll regret. Especially for beings like us, regret is a heavy burden.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, now then, I should probably check on Grandmaster. I think it might be time for me to add some of my mana to the sword he’s forging me. Which was another reason I pushed myself to have the subpool finished by this time.”
“Don’t forget to use the illusion before you go out. Last thing we need is someone recognizing you,” Lucy said.
He chuckled, “Noted, but I thought you were going to say something about coming with me. You always make up one excuse or another to join me whenever I’m going out of the manor.”
“Oh no, I am going with you, that’s nonnegotiable,” she stated. “I was just reminding you to not forget your illusion.”
He shrugged and held out his hand, she happily took it, “Ah, the lovebirds are flirting in front of me again,” Viana said with a teasing smirk.
“You’re always welcome to join us Viana~,” Lucy said.
“And third wheel? No thanks. I may flirt and mess with Ardonis, but I’m not quite ready for anything serious just yet. I’ve got a few of my own issues to sort out before I can say I’m ready for that. You two birdies have fun on your mini date.”
“Suit yourself,” Lucy shrugged as she dragged Ardonis out of the room.
Once they were out in the town, Lucy sighed, slowing her steps, their illusions in full effect and changing their hair red and eyes green. “Something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she shook her head, “It’s Viana, I can’t help but feel there is still a barrier between us and her. One that she won’t let down. I want her to open up and stop hiding behind her teasing mask, but…”
He squeezed her hand, “I understand what you mean, even when she’s flirting with me, it’s like there’s a chasm between us. But there isn’t much we can do except be there for her when she does decide to open up. Remember Lucy, she spent fifty thousand years sealed away, and it was because of a betrayal from a god. And not just a god, but a friend. She may trust us on a surface level, but it will probably take much more for her to actually trust us.”
“You’re right, I just hope she takes her own advice and doesn’t decide to wait too long.”
He sighed, “You know, it is my harem that she and Hyva would potentially be joining, right? I understand you have your worries, but let me take charge of these things, alright? I do have my own emotions to sort out, you cheeky minx.”
She giggled, “Yeah, you’re right, sorry, I guess I got attached to the two of them too easily.”
“Which is quite surprising in its own right, considering that back in celestial, you weren’t the best when socializing with our female peers.”
She pouted, “It isn’t my fault that I fell out of touch with them when I dumped Eradis. What further provoked them was when I got together with you. As they didn’t think I would trade in a playboy for a man with integrity.”
He nodded as they started walking again, “I remember a few times when they were calling themselves his future wives. And that you missed out on being one.”
She shuttered, “The fact that those bitches were delusional enough to believe he’d make a wife out of any of them was what made them the most terrifying. You can’t reason with the unreasonable. I’m just glad I was able to get out when I did. I much prefer being with a genuine man like you than a complete playboy like him. He probably would have attempted to have sex with Viana and Hyva if his place and yours were reversed.”
“The keyword there is attempt, huh?” Ardonis chuckled. “Yeah, I can’t see either of them letting someone of his nature do anything. In fact, he’d sooner find himself with some type of curse on him. And gods can’t even be afflicted with them.”
