I hate writing. I hate writing. I hate writing. I hate writing. I hate writing.

  Kassie said I should practice. I hate writing.

  What is practice? Just repetition. I hate writing.

  Dad taught me to write. I hate writing.

  If it was not him, I would not bother. I hate writing.

  Irinika says writing things down is important, it helps you remember. I hate writing.

  She is wrong. I hate writing.

  If I fet something, it wasn’t important enough to remember in the first pce. I hate writing.

  - Fer’s practice journal. Dated to some time before the Great War. Kept within the Divine Armoury, now the White Pantheon’s Closed Library.

  Arascus sighed as he watched Kassandora leave, she went dowairs. That was one problem down. Kassandora wasn’t a problem, but her mentality was. She wouldn’t describe herself as that, but he knew her better than she herself. Of all the daughters, she was the one most proo erness. It would be locked in a chest matism and buried deeper with a pessimistic realism, but it was erness heless. She turned as the staircase spiralled and looked up at Arascus. Bright red eyes framed by bright red hair and a lovely smile. She gave him a small wave and disappeared.

  Arascus hummed to himself as he went up. How he found Kassandora, he holy did not know. Of every Goddess he had adopted into his family, she was one who should have heoretically joihe one who should have been able to find her p the world, the one humanity was most willing to accept. A, humanity only gave War a ce, he gave Kassandora a ce. And Kassandora, as much as she pretended she wasn’t, was a handful.

  He went up to the room Essa was kept in, Essa and the Goddess who was the most petent of them all. Ironically the ohat had never beeed by mortals. Fer sat there, back ed forwards, hands oable, fiapping away as her mane of golden unbrushed hair spiralled over her back like a coat. She smiled when he opehe door but only part of her that moved where two cat-like eyes and the tapping fingers.

  And Essa oher side of the table. She had been g, her head was down, she y against back of the wooden chair and was taking heavy breathes. She jumped at the door creaking, and her face went pale when she saw Arascus enter. Fer’s smile only grew as Arascus looked around the room. There were only seven chairs around the table, eae of a different size. The smallest two would be Iniri’s and probably Helenna’s. Kavaa and Kass then. Anassa. Neneria from the size of it, the rgest was for Fer. That was the only one he would fit on too. “You’re back.” Fer talked like a little cat.

  “I am.” Arascus said.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” Arascus said as he made a circle around the table. Two sets of eyes followed him: warm yellow and trembling blue. He stopped behind Fer’s chair and leaned on it. “Kassie put you on Essa duty?”

  “She did.” Fer replied. “Look at her.” And her hands made two thumbs up. “Essa is very well behaved, no escape attempts yet.” Arascus chuckled, Fer’s tail pranced from side to side. And theo cold. “We’ve had a chat, Me, Kassie and Essa here.”

  “Did you now?” Arascus said. He put his hands on the back of the chair.

  “We did.” Fer replied definitely. “It was very iing.” Essa’s face grew pale. Her eyes started sparkling with tears again. Arascus wondered what they had told her that got her to cry. He didn’t like the sight of it, but he didn’t have many reservatioher. He made people cry too.

  “You promised you wouldn’t.” Essa said quietly. Fer cpped her hands together, sat up and tilted her head down.

  “I promised I wouldn’t but it’s too important.” Arascus quirked an eyebrow up. Fer was usually better than this, when she spilled secrets, she’d do it secretly at least. “It’s only because I love Ana too.” Oh. That expi.

  “Apprentid assion.” Arascus said and Fer’s ears shot up. She turo look up at him, eyes puzzled and mouth slightly open. Essa’s jaw dropped as she looked at Arascus. He merely shrugged. “Ana told me back then.”

  “And you didn’t tell us?” Fer asked, ears straight as if she was about to go hunting.

  “Two reasons.” Arascus said, he held onto the chair and started to tip it forwards. “One. Does it ge anything? Anassa is a Divine because she believes she is actually Divine so what difference does it make? Why are we here? We all believe we’re Divioo.” He started slowly pulling the chair back as Fer slid down off it. “And two, more importantly, Ana asked me not to tell ahat she’d say herself when she was ready.” He smiled. “Thanks for telling me, Kassie didn’t say anything.”

  Fer jumped to her feet as she was about slide off. He quickly got into the chair before she could recim it. “It doesn’t ge anything?”

  “Does it?” Arascus asked. “Is Anassa any different now that you know?” Fer opened her mouth, crossed her arms, and closed her mouth. She looked past him, at the wall, her head tilted from one side to the other and back again. Arascus always enjoyed watg that show of thinking.

  “No.” Fer said as she o herself. “She’s still Ana.”

  “Exactly.” Arascus replied as he brought the seat forwards. “ you tell Kassie this? And don’t tell Ana you know, she won’t like it.”

  “Now?” Fer asked.

  “Preferably.” Arascus said. Some, like Anassa or Kassandora, would need direct orders. Fer usually got the hint. “Or Anassa will e bad then she won’t be happy.” He turo Essa. “With you most of all.”

  “I’ve not told a the Fer and Kassandora. This secret has stayed with me for two entire eras.” She said coldly.

  “Then you should be thankful Anassa is not as paranoid as Kassandora then, because you would have never gotten the ce to ever spill it.” Arascus said, it was basic questioning tactics. Kassandora was good to have on his team simply because Kassandora could be ascribed any terrible characteristic useful for the moment, and then she’d be able to discard it the moment. And sidering Essa had been g, then Fer and Kassandora did not go easily on her. He sed her fad hands, her dress was charred and frayed, but not torn. So she probably wasn’t beaten theuro Fer. “You e back or help Kass, your call. I want a versation with our mutual friend here.”

  Fer smiled, made an i face, but it was somewhat ruined by the fact she had two fangs that would tear flesh. “Yoing on Essa duty?”

  “For an hour.” He said and Fer smiled with glee.

  “Wonderful!” She said, g her hands and leaving. “I’ll tell Kassie!” Arasodded and Fer rushed out the door. It fell shut by itself behind her, and her footsteps beat against the room. Was she tumbling dowairs? Arascus waited for the sounds to stop as he looked at Essa. He then waited a moment longer. And a moment longer. A while more. Essa stared at him and shivered. And stared and averted her eyes and stared at the wall, at him, at the table, at her hands.

  Finally, he broke the silence. “Long time no see.” He said coldly. Essa only nodded and the God on other side leaned back. “We were like this a thousand years ago.” Only back then, the roles were reversed.

  “Did you have this chat with Kavaa and them too?” Essa asked coldly.

  “No.” Arascus said. “Kassandora recruited them, not my achievement.”

  “Ah.” Essa said. “So you think the Goddess of Magic is going to be your achievement?” Well, she a tricky one. Although Essa had never been too sociable. That was simply her demesne, Anassa had the same problem.

  “We both know I didn’t mean it like that.” Arascus said with a smile. It wasn’t even a case of recruitment ing Essa into the fold, but if all they needed was a Goddess of Magic, then killing her and waiting a dozen years for a reination would be the way to go. “I don’t want to kill you.” Arascus said. “But before you get ahead of yourself, want and will are two very different things.” It was better to not let her get too fortable.

  “I’m very aware of that.” Essa said. “I also do a lot of things I don’t want to do.” Those eyes focused on the God and she sighed. “Should you really have sent Fer away? Just from that meeting with Ciria, it was obvious you’ve lost strength.”

  Arascus didn’t even move a muscle. A disk appeared by his head, pulsing and swirling with various shades of gold, a bde poiraight at Essa slid out of it. He shrugged, the bde retreated, the disk colpsed. Essa smiled to herself and shook her head. “That was slow.”

  “Demonstrations are always slow.” Arascus said. “And without your staff, you’re not going to be too fast yourself.”

  “That a challenge?” Essa asked, her eyes lighting up with some newfound fidence.

  “Do you want it to be?” Arascus asked coldly, he had formuted a pn to sway Essa. It wouldn’t happen today, it was long and arduous, but Essa had hierarchy ingrained into her, all mages did. You simply could not be respected in that unity without talent is. A fight wasn’t optimal, but a fight would be a good way to establish hierarchy immediately. But he couldn’t simply beat her into a pulp for no reason, loyalty didn’t grow like that. It had to be her own mistake, a lesson he would teach, but one she would had to start herself.

  Essa took a deep breath, adopted a fierce posture. And sighed, she leaned back down, arms dropping to her sides and shaking her head. “I will not pretend I beat even a weakened Arascus. It took forty of us back then.”

  “It wasn’t a fight.” Arascus said. “The White Pantheon alone could have do.”

  “Leona predicted losses.” Essa said dryly. “So we just kept adding until she said she it would end.”

  “Mmh.” Arascus said. “She’ll be back.”

  “It won’t be Leona.” Essa said. “She came around when luck was onpow…” Essa shrugged. “It’ll just be some gambler most likely, or another Ciria.” It henomenal that even now, she was disgusted with Ciria. That was something Arascus could use.

  “That’s partly why we’re still deg what to do with you.” Essa sighed and swung her arms on the chair.

  “I’m a dead Goddess already. Where Anassa not there, I would have died already.”

  “That’s why I told Kassandora that Anassa would be useful itle against you.” Arascus said as the Goddess said at him, terribly unimpressed.

  “Am I supposed to thank you for that?” Her eyes met Arascus’ ones of dark gold. “I have no iion of having doo me what was doo Kassandora or Anassa.”

  “It’s not for you to decide.” Arascus said. “But you already know we prefer more perma solutions.” Essa nodded.

  “So? When will I die?” Arascus wondered if the Goddess was actually this good at bargaining for herself, or if she actually had just given up. It was a good tactic, first he would have vio keep herself alive, then vince her again. Two sets of bargains for the price of one. Smooth.

  “Whether you will die is our decision.” Arascus said. He crossed his arms and fixed her with his gaze. “As you know, we rus and aim for perma solutions.” Essa nodded.

  “So you do.” She said. “With Kavaa, I assume it won’t be good.”

  “Neneria’s theory this, not mine.” Arascus said. “On the permanence of Divinity.” Essa’s eyes narrowed when she heard the Of Death’s hen again when she heard the word permanence. “One demesne, one Divihat, we all know for a definite.” Essa’s eyes widened and her cheeks went pale, Arascus only tinued. “But is it just a physical ination? Or the soul itself?” He kept going ily, simply musing ohought. “There are some, like Of Light, who we assume will be aernal problem. Even if we kill Alsaria, another Of Light will be made. Irinika is my daughter, an Of Light will always chase an Of Darkness. But a perma solution?”

  “Dragged into the Legion.” Essa said quietly and Arascus smiled at her. He knew she would get it eventually.

  “The soul would still exist on Arda. Could another ination appear then?” Essa put her hands on her ko stop them from shaking.

  “You wouldn’t.” She said.

  “Would I not?” Arascus asked. Was there anything he would not do? “You would be freed eventually of course, when we re-establish magical society around our values, then we’d have another ination, but until then? What better method of tai is there?”

  “Please don’t.” Essa said. Her eyes started to tear up. Arascus only looked at her. There we go. Did she thihink her life was truly worth that much? That he would try and buy her will to stay alive? No. Hierarchy did not operate that way.

  “Seds thoughts oh?” Arascus made sure he would hammer the point home. Divines sometimes got over their fear of death. To him, it was an essential tool though. Essa nodded and mumbled out some wordless word of affirmation. Arascus sighed and pulled out a cloth tissue, a simple thing he kept on him for ing his hands and bck boots before meetings. He passed it to her. “Don’t cry Essa, it doesn’t work on me.”

  Essa nodded again and blew her o the white tissue. She wiped her cheeks, and she sighed. “But I’m not… I won’t… don’t make me fight magis.” She practically begged for it. Arascus only shrugged, he wasn’t about to tie himself down with promises to people even he had some sort of respect for.

  “I make no promises Essa.” Arascus. “But it probably won’t happen. We don’t trust you in bat.” The Goddess of Magiodded with a sad smile. Arascus thought of pushing her further, but decided against it. It was better if she spent some more time with Fer first, got to like one of them. And Anassa. Anassa would be happy that Essa was being treated right.

  “I have one question.” Arascus said. Essa nodded a her him ask it without saying a word. This was simply something light, to get her to ease up around him. He knew what Alsaria was like, and Alsaria wasn’t one for small talk. Essa washer, but everyone enjoyed small talk and pointless questions that didn’t matter. “Because you two are so simir, and I’ve thought about it before. Did Anassa try to steal your name?”

  He didn’t know what he expected, but those blue eyes widehe Goddess before him got obviously angry, she smmed a fist oable. Arascus was about to draw upon his bdes when he saw mana leak out of eyes in two small fmes. Her tone was cold. “Do not eveion this.” She said. “Besting me I accept, but the absolute gall of the woman. It took two decades for me to beat it out of her. And even then, she cims to that this is some favour that she only ged two letters.”

  Arascus leaned back. Holy, he had always assumed it was freak ce but now that he heard it from her. His ughter filled the room as he cpped his hands.

  “That’s my Ana!”