ushernet 313. What’s the Hidden Motive?
313. What’s the Hidden Motive?
Secret Proscenium Stage, Somewhere In between space and time, outside the realms of realitySolious, watching the surreal display of domestic discord interrupting the fate of the cosmos, let out a deep, exasperated sigh.
“What are you sighing about, huh?” Umbra snapped, giving Solious a sharp, accusing glare as he paused his attempts to placate Isabella. “As if you never fell in love with a mortal before?” He returned immediately to convincing his wife that he was simply maintaining political necessities, not indulging in romantic intrigue.
Finally, Isabella relented with a resigned nod. “Fine, we will discuss the definition of ‘diplomacy’ later.” Isabella’s gaze immediately sharpened, pointing toward a specific area of the stage that remained utterly, unnaturally pitch dark. “The Saintess seems to be praying specifically to you, so I came to inform you.”
“Ha! So it’s finally time she seeks answers to her blessings, huh?” Umbra chuckled, a dark, satisfied sound. “This Saintess was quite late in figuring this logical path out.” He started walking toward the deepest part of the shadow. “Isabella will keep you entertained and restrained while I have this long-awaited conversation with the Saintess,” Umbra instructed Solious, before vanishing into the darkness without waiting for a reply from the Goddess of Light.
Once he was gone, Isabella moved to the center of the stage and settled onto the edge of the cool, black stone where Umbra had been. She looked directly at Solious, her eyes filled with cool assessment. “So, Goddess of Light and Justice? What exactly do you want with my husband?
Celestia Castle, Somewhere In between space and time, outside the realms of reality
“Ha ha ha! I knew I could always count on you, Herptian!”
Gilnto let out a hearty, booming laugh, pulling Herptian into a tight embrace amidst the silken sheets of their celestial bed. After a lingering kiss, he leaned back, his eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction. “Just look at the chaos, Sister! The wars are finally beginning in earnest. If I had sided with Solious instead of you, that self-righteous brat would have fed her Apostle Eugene every detail of the future just to stop the fun before it even started!”
The cosmic stars above shifted and pulsed, reflecting the ever-changing nature of the void. Herptian rolled over, climbing atop him with a predatory grace. “Of course. unlike that bitch who constantly plays tricks to protect her precious ‘justice,’ I actually keep my word.”
“I remember how she added the Law of the Golden Silkworm just to appease me: thinking a controlled war every generation would satisfy my hunger,” Gilnto mused, his hands wandering over Herptian’s radiant form.
Unlawfully taken from NovelFire, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“But that didn't turn out quite like she promised, did it?~” Herptian purred, her voice dripping with mockery. “Rather than grand wars, we got a century of pathetic assassinations and secretive backstabbing! So boring.” Glinto complained as he moved in sync with Herptian.
After their session concluded, the two deities lay entwined in the afterglow. Gilnto’s expression shifted, becoming uncharacteristically pensive. “I found something curious lately… that is actually why I sought you out today.”
“What is it?” Herptian asked, tilting her head with a look of idle curiosity.
“It’s about your Apostle, Ravenna Solarius,” Gilnto began, stroking Herptian’s arm. “Do you remember the specifics of how you managed to snatch a direct descendant of Solious and turn her into one of yours?”
Herptian nodded, a smug grin touching her lips. “Solious made a pathetic error while managing souls. Ravenna’s mana and her soul weren't adjusted properly during her birth; they de-synced, and the child simply stopped breathing. The Imperial family was so desperate to save their youngest that it created the perfect opening. It was my best chance to spit in Solious’s face, so I proposed a deal: I would fix the girl's soul, but only if she became my Apostle.”
“That’s right. As the one who rules over the Afterlife, fixing a de-synced soul is well within your expertise,” Gilnto noted, his eyebrow arching. “The first time... fine, we can call that a mistake on Solious’s part. But why didn't she fix the error when we turned back the time and Ravenna was born again?”
Herptian paused, her eyes narrowing as she began to process the implication. “You’re right… that wretch always plays legalistic tricks to maintain her ‘moral purity.’ If she left the soul broken a second time, it was clearly a deliberate choice.”
“Exactly.” Gilnto tapped his chin in deep thought, his gaze distant. “And remember how you discovered that Ravenna’s soul was eventually possessed and merging with that of an Otherworlder?”
“I... I didn’t actually find out about it until months after that Otherworlder possessed Ravenna. It’s not like I keep constant track of every single Apostle,” Herptian admitted, the realization beginning to gnaw at her. She sat up, the celestial silk sliding off her shoulders. “I only thought of looking into it because I caught Solious spying around Ravenna’s soul during her visit to the Ancorna Capital. If she hadn't been so obvious about her lingering presence...”
“You wouldn’t have even noticed,” Gilnto finished for her, his eyes narrowing. “It’s as if she was breadcrumbing you, guiding you along a path she wanted you to take.”
“But that makes no sense,” Herptian argued, looking up at the swirling, purple void above. “If Solious’s intention was to plant an Otherworlder from the very start, her behavior was completely contradictory. She wouldn't have come to me to make a deal regarding Prince Nolan in exchange for summoning her Apostle, Eugene, so she can feed him information on the future: a deal which I rejected.”
“Perhaps that was a diversion?” Gilnto suggested, his voice low and dangerous. “A way to make us think she was desperate and playing a losing hand even though that doesn’t make sense, that’s my theory.”
The silence that followed was heavy, even for a realm without air. The two deities sat in the quiet of their own creation, realizing that the 'justice-loving' goddess might have been outplaying them both at something here.
“I don’t know what the end game is,” Gilnto finished, his fingers drumming against his knee. “But Solious has definitely been playing a game we haven't even been able to see yet.”