Epilogue
The council chamber of the gods rang with shouts and accusations.
“How did they get to the Empire of Beasts if you didn’t manipulate the dungeon!” Peace demanded of Julius, though the God of Life simply looked bored. For once he was in his actual felid form, his silver ears flicking in his hair and his bushy tail swishing behind him.
“The Great Dungeon’s gates cannot be manipulated, remember? It was one of the clauses Law insisted we put in,” Julius pointed out, sounding just as bored as he appeared.
His orange eyes were half closed, yet that didn’t stop Peace from shivering when he locked his gaze onto hers.
“Are you implying that Law allowed his rules to be broken?”
“You had best not be,” Law said in a cold, impartial voice.
The old man’s elbows rested on the stone surface of their half-circle table, and his fingers were steepled before his lips.
His long beard hung down to emphasize his scholarly appearance.
“I have reviewed all that transpired within the recent interactions between the Avatar of Life, Avatar of Chaos, and Avatar of Death, as well as the unannounced Avatar of Peace. No divine intervention has taken place beyond the guidelines of our System.”
“What of the interference from the Overgod Silverhand?”
War asked, his deep voice filled with rage.
“How did he gain access to Ordinal and implant an artifact? That has to count for manipulation!”
The orc bristled, his fist resting on the table like he wished to smash it, yet he showed restraint for a change.
“It does not,” Law contradicted with a shake of his head.
“Lord Silverhand did, in fact, balance his actions by censuring his daughter. Chaos cannot consummate her… affections… with her Avatar until she has unlocked the spells placed on the artifact. More, the mask itself limits the divine influence that can touch the Avatar of Chaos. For better or worse,
Vester Gambit is now unable to be affected by any of us. Everything he achieves from this point on will stem entirely from our System alone.”
“And how do we know Silverhand didn’t corrupt that System when he was here?”
Death demanded, speaking up for the first time.
She’d shrouded her bones in ghostly flesh, changing out the bikini she usually wore for an ephemeral robe of crimson smoke that enhanced the wispy body she’d formed.
Now she was leaning over the table, staring at all of them.
“I do not see how that whelp could have defeated my Avatar otherwise.”
“Pah,” War snorted, “your undead berserker is a fool. He might be unkillable, and he might be able to corrupt anything he touches, but he’s a stupid, hotheaded idiot. You should have left him for me like I suggested.”
“Shut up!” Death snarled at him. “He was the best of my options! He’s supposed to gain wisdom and intelligence with every level, but he can’t do that while buried under a mountain of stone, can he!”
Julius let out a loud yawn, momentarily silencing the others, then he chuckled.
“Well, if the idiot had bothered to follow the Quest you offered him to build a stronghold of death he might not be stuck… but he chose to pursue vengeance instead. There’s a reason we don’t just claim random mortals to be Avatars.”
The undead goddess hissed at Julius… then sighed and hung her head. “You’re right, but the rest of you looked like you were having so much fun. I just wanted to try my hand at it.”
“I for one admire you for trying new things,” Non said. She had been silent until now, she rose from her chair and traced a hand over Death’s shoulders before giving the other woman a side hug. “In fact… I am willing to offer a Quest to your Avatar for him to evolve his class. Would that help?”
“You’d do that?” Death asked, flaming eyes flickering in surprise.
“Why? He wants to kill your Avatar.” One of Non’s most powerful leveraging tools was that she was the guiding force of Change on Ordinal.
She could tweak the parameters of Quests and skill adjustments like no other.
In contrast, Law’s primary duty was keeping her from going too far, which is why the pair feuded so heavily.
Death’s gaze went to Law and the old god let out a heavy sigh.
“Yes,” he agreed reluctantly. “With Chaos’ consent, we can negotiate the proper Quests to transform your errant fool into something useful. It won’t be easy: he’ll have to demonstrate true change to gain a worthwhile class. But if Non is willing to unlock the protocols, it can be done.”
Delar let out a squeal and jumped out of her chair to wrap Non in a tight hug. The ghostly woman’s bones rattled around, and Non almost sank into that vaporous flesh clinging to her, but eventually the draconic dark elf managed to separate herself from Death.
“You’re welcome,” Non said dryly. “Now, I do have one small proviso that I feel I need to make clear before I help you out.”
“Here it is,” Peace muttered. “Time for her to twist the knife and get more power for her pet.”
“Shut up!” Death snapped, turning her attention back to Non and motioning for the other woman to go on. “I’m listening…”
“You issue a Divine Decree that your Avatar cannot attack Deneb Gambit or his Party from this point on,” Non said with a small shrug. The Goddess of Chaos made it seem like that was no big thing, and she even glanced at her nails to close the act.
“See, there it is, looking for immunity for her—wait, what?”
Peace exclaimed. The transition from outrage to confusion happened so fast that Peace’s expression screwed up into a confused muddle most wouldn’t have been able to translate.
The small, blonde goddess narrowed her gaze. “What is your game now?” she demanded.
A tiny smile played at the corner of Non’s lips, yet she ignored Peace completely. She kept her slit-pupiled eyes on Death. “Does that work for you?”
“It… does,” she said with a nod. Death was clearly wary of some trap in the conditions, but Death’s desire to see Jack become something more than a loose cannon clearly outweighed her fears. She turned to Law. “When can we start?”
“I suppose now, if there’s no other business?” Law said. He glanced at the others, but Peace still looked perplexed and War just seemed bored. The massive orc just heaved his shoulders with a grunt and stood up.
“You’ll need a neutral third, right?” War asked. When Law nodded, the bloodstained warrior just sighed. “Then let’s go to the negotiation hall and get this sorted out. Obviously none of those three can be considered neutral.”
War might have believed in settling all of his problems through strength and violence, but that didn’t mean he was stupid.
He had been a warlord and a ruler on Ordinal before he’d ascended; the brute had ruled dozens of tribes, and he’d just witnessed Chaos outmaneuver Peace.
He didn’t understand her motivation, but he recognized her skill; so he gave Non a nod of respect.
Then War, Law, and Death exited the chamber and left Peace alone with the siblings.
Julius stretched his arms over his head and let out another yawn; once he’d relaxed, he slowly pushed himself to his feet. “These meetings are always so exhausting,” he complained. “We could get so much accomplished if we just stopped arguing.”
Peace shot a glare at him, opened her mouth, then seemed to reconsider.
The petite goddess crossed her arms over her chest.
“What would it take for you to influence the Empire of Beasts to concede their territory to the Church of Light?”
she asked sullenly. “If they just did that, there’d be more stability on Ordinal.”
“And far less tolerance,” Julius countered.
He ignored Non when his sister stepped to his side, keeping his gaze on the human goddess.
“Life is more than being alive, Life is about living, and to live, to truly be alive… someone must be free. They have to free to make their own mistakes, free to find their joys and sorrows, and free to love. Your hierarchy is a cold and rigid thing, Peace.
You know as well as I do that the majority of Ordinal’s races couldn’t flourish under your church’s rule.”
“They’d be safe!” she snarled. “And that’s the best they deserve! Your tainted blo—” Her insult was cut short by a sudden blast of prismatic color that lifted her off her feet and slammed her into one of the chamber walls.
Divine stone shattered under the impact of a body tougher than it, then Peace slumped out of the hole and crashed to the floor with a dull thud. But Julius and Non had barely noticed the goddess’ collapse—they’d spun to face the source of the magic that had sent her flying.
That source was a woman, tall and statuesque in figure.
Long, pink-red hair flowed down her back in waves to brush at her ankles, and a slim, fitted black robe clung to her full form.
Her skin was creamy with a hint of pink, and her eyes were a bright red.
Most telling, however, were the long red tentacles that seemed to emerge at random from the fabric of reality all around her.
“Aunt Silvia!” Non squealed in excitement. Abandoning all decorum, she raced across the room and jumped into the air to wrap her arms and legs around the taller woman. Julius wasn’t far behind, though he landed in Silvia’s arms in the form of a fluffy gray cat.
The pink-haired woman had no issue catching her niece and nephew, and both tentacles and arms closed around them to hold them in a tight embrace.
She didn’t say a word, just let out a throaty laugh.
The family paid no attention to Peace dragging herself out of her crater and limping away from the council hall with a burning, resentful look on her face.
Even gods appreciated a family reunion.