One #2
"That, and also, once you've got it set up, start training an order of warrior priests in secret."
"Okay, now it makes sense!" Cameron said, grinning. "I'll be able to create a force of snipers and commandos that nobody can track!"
"Yup."
"I take it you did this?"
I nodded. "And when the time came that I needed them, it was priceless. Turned the tide for me."
Cameron nodded, still grinning. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, how about coming down to the church and having dinner with me, Dad?"
"I'd like that," I said and, taking his hand, I let him pull me to my feet from where I'd been sitting as he stood up as well. Demigods were apparently a fair bit stronger than champions, I'd discovered.
#
Two days later, I walked into Stepheen's Temple.
"Ah! War Leader!" Oliff said, bowing to me. "It is good to see you! Are you going to be launching another attack?"
"Not right now. I'm going to be heading home soon. Has Stepheen gotten the power to manifest her voice yet?"
"Yes, Will, I have," a soft voice said, coming from nowhere in particular.
I smiled. "Finally! I can talk directly to you! Oliff, I'm going to borrow your office for a while, okay?"
"Of course, War Leader!"
Walking quickly, I went into his office, closed the door, and sat down.
"It's nice to talk to you again, Steph," I said with a smile. "How have you been? How's it all going?"
"You know I'm a goddess now, right, Will?"
I laughed. "Yeah, I do! But let's be honest here, you may be a goddess, but when we're in private, you're still the woman I loved. Loved enough to give you that god stone. Also, there's the small matter of us having had a son together?"
"I guess I can let that slide when we're in private," Stepheen said with a touch of humor in her voice. "So you're leaving soon?"
"As soon as we're done here. I never meant to stay this long, but I did want to spend more time with Cam. I also wanted to help get a couple more churches set up so you'd gain some more power."
"I heard what you told him about the warrior-priests. You actually did that?"
"Yup. I don't know if you talk with Feliogustus or not. You could ask him about how that all went."
"I barely get to talk to Aryanna," Stepheen said with a bit of a sigh. "I'm still weak, and I'm not really up to that level of power."
"How long until you can get a champion?"
"Why? Going to apply for the job?" she teased.
I shook my head. "I'm tied too tightly to Fel. I owe him, and honestly? He's my god now. Even if I were to go work for someone else, I'd still be Fel's."
"Like Suzona and Isengruer?"
"You know about her?"
"Yes, we did a few things together before I recruited you. As a goddess now, I find her loyalty to him refreshing."
"Ah. Got it. She quit him; she works for Aryanna now."
"What? How'd that happen?"
I briefly told her about the war, and how she was pulling him down and offered to leave.
"I hope someday I can find a champion with the level of dedication she and you both have. Put any children in her yet?"
I blushed. "One so far. She had a daughter about four months before I left to come here."
"Going to give her some more?"
"Definitely. You know me, Steph, I love women, and I love having kids. So when can you get a champion?"
"I could have one now. I've had the ability for almost a year, but I haven't found anybody experienced who'd take the job, and I haven't seen any likely candidates among my people."
"And with Cam being here, there's not a lot of pressure to get one?"
"Cam and you."
"Still, if you had one, when I showed up, that'd be a pretty potent combination. A demigod, a mythic, and a champion."
"I'm more worried about the attention it may bring.
Aryanna advised me to play a slow game, and I'm doing just that.
Having a son who's a demigod, and you showing up?
I'm worried about drawing too much attention from the other gods.
Thankfully, they're all blaming Fuerston, because without him, I wouldn't have you or Cam. "
"You might have ended up with Cam. Sooner or later, he would have wanted to meet you."
"Yes, but he probably would have only ended up a mythic, and you wouldn't have gotten anything at all."
"Speaking of that, is there anything you can tell me about being a mythic?"
"Not all that much, yet. You only became one because Cameron's a demigod, and you gave birth to him, after having gotten pregnant by a goddess."
"It sounds so wrong when you put it that way," I teased.
"Every time you come here, you'll gain in power if you do things that are noticed. You have to build up your myth."
"What about other places?"
"I'm not sure what you mean?"
"I'm in the core worlds now; Fel's in the core worlds. He got an invite for me to do a job there, and, well, I built him a temple, and he's set up there now."
"How did that happen?" Stepheen's voice was a combination of shock and anger.
"He's from there originally, and, well, someone was desperate, and they needed a god-killer—" I sighed heavily "—and that meant me."
"You need to talk to Feliogustus on this, Will.
If you're a mythic in other places, especially the core worlds, I have no idea what that will mean here or anyplace else.
I know that as I get more powerful, we'll be able to interact, and there'll be some benefits because your myth here is tied to me. But I can't say what just yet."
"Steph, is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?"
"Will, for me, this is a very good thing, though I'll have to underplay it at first. For you? I don't know. I'm still a weak goddess with too many constraints and limitations placed on me. I need several more churches and a lot more followers before I can overcome them."
I nodded. "Well, I'm gonna be around for a long time to come, I guess. So I'll try to show up more often and help when I can."
"Thanks, Will. Just don't get in trouble with Feliogustus, okay? I know you're happy with him, and I don't want you to lose him for all the wrong reasons, like I once did with my first god."
I blinked. That was the least self-serving thing I'd ever expect to hear a god or goddess tell me. Especially when I was so experienced.
"Yes, well, maybe I still love you too, idiot," Stepheen's voice said. "Now, go, and yes, I hope you don't become a stranger."
"Bye, Steph."
"Until next time, Will!"
With that, I opened up a gateway and, stepping through it, I went home.
"Hi, Fel," I said, stepping into his temple. I was in one of the smaller back temples, with a small altar. "Where's Nara?"
"Busy. I'll let her know you're here soon enough, William."
"Umm, I'm not in trouble, am I?"
Fel laughed. "No, William, you're not in trouble; however, you had a lot of questions about mythics, and as you're becoming one, I felt I should answer a few of them."
"Does that mean I'm a mythic here at home now?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Yes, with Fordessa's help, as well as that of Roden, Selentia, and Tonoponah, the words of your deeds have been spreading far and wide around the world. Especially how you spent two years in the underworld, so you could kill the evil beings that tried to come here and kill everyone."
"Wait, Roden, Selentia, and Tonoponah are all helping?" I asked, surprised. "Why?"
"William, I've all but won the game here.
At this point, I cannot lose it. The worst that could happen is that I tie with the other gods.
Well, with everything going on in the core worlds, I realized that it would be magnanimous of me to enter into an agreement with the gods who helped when that evil Kaiju came and tried to conquer us. "
"So, you're partners?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around it.
"In a limited sense. We will not make war on one another, and if any of them shall be attacked by one of the other gods here on Saladin, I will loan you to them to help them."
I blinked, then I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Wait! I'm like, a threat now? A nuke or something?"
Fel chuckled. "Yes, William, you are. I've made it clear that while I intend to continue to spread my religion all over the planet, and that only certain religions will be allowed in the areas I control, I do not intend to wipe out any more gods.
Or should I say, I don't intend to allow you to wipe out any more gods.
Unless, of course, someone steps out of line. "
I chuckled and just shook my head. "So, you've really won the game here? Already?"
"With my moving into the core worlds and getting temples on Juntura, Syzkilmyr, Lassen, Rossiya, and now Amnar, I have decided to change my goals here.
I do intend to stay here for as long as this world shall exist, because I love this place, and I love my people here.
However, right now, my main focus is to build on the core worlds until I cannot be forced out.
You becoming a mythic on Stephanie's world, as well as our world here, along with so much of what you've done, has translated to the core worlds.
You're going to end up a mythic on Amnar.
You already are on Rossiya, and will soon be on Syzkilmyr and Juntura.
"In time, you'll get Nuris, Thayne, and definitely Lassen. At some point in that process, I hope you'll get Prime. Once you get Prime, you'll get everything else in the Seven Worlds."
"I will?"
"Eventually."
"How long is eventually?"
"Decades? A century? Two? There's so much involved, and there are other gods to contend with.
It's a slow process. But you were right to be concerned with keeping that status on Stephanie's new world.
It helps on Rossiya, because her world is based on that line.
Add to that what you did there to the Two Rivers' people and their gods, and that has driven it home, both there and everywhere else folks had issues with those two. "
"That's a lot to take in," I said, sitting down on the bench by the wall. "So what does being a mythic mean? To me at least?"