RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

4:10 The God Empress

Inesa was now watching two little babies as she sat in a chair in her garden, just outside her and Xing Wu's home in the Heaven Realm. The first was her own child, Sequoia, though she was no longer quite so little. The green-haired girl ran about like a toddler possessed, constantly giggling, constantly grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, constantly asking questions. She grew very slowly; only looking like a three year old girl now, her hair braided with flowers and complete with a little yellow sundress that was already smudged with mud and grass stains from where she'd been rolling about in the grass. "Sequoia," she called, as he daughter grabbed a squirrel, out speeding the little critter, her chubby hands picking it up but not squeezing too tight. It did not so much as squirm, tail flicking and eyes blinking at her, completely calm now that it was in Sequoia's grasp. "Stop terrorizing the poor squirrel. Put it down," her daughter whined a little but did as she was asked, and Inesa turned her attention to the other little baby momentarily in her care, while Randus tended to the freshly-awakened Statera Luotian.

Amari Ren. Statera Luotian's newest child. A being that was only half Statera's child, unlike every other being in the Four Realms. It shouldn't have bothered Inesa, but it did. Not because the little one had done anything wrong, or because she held a grudge or any such nonsense (though she did hold a grudge against the One World, Amari Ren was not to blame, and she would personally fight whoever claimed such a silly thing) but because the little one felt different.

Half here. Half somewhere else.

"Mmm bah," the little one called, slapping Inesa's leg where they wiggled on the ground. She smiled fondly at them, bending down and rubbing their head, touching the little horns slowly growing out of their forehead. Amari Ren wriggled like a little worm, rolling over with monumental effort and looking up at her with those piercing heterochromatic eyes. They wiggled again, smiling a toothless smile and raising their little arms.

"Moooom!" Sequoia cried, coming barreling over, nearly kicking Amari in her thoughtless haste. Inesa scooped up the littlest one before she could - fixing Sequoia with a stern, but ever-indulgent, look as she tried to clamber into her lap.

"Yes, dear?" she asked, gently grabbing Sequoia's arm to pull her up, only to be pushed away by her daughter.

"No, I can do it," she insisted, grunting with effort as she bodily hauled herself into Inesa's lap. Despite being a divine being, she still had trouble with certain things, and when she plopped herself into Inesa's lap, she beamed up at her like she had done something amazing. It amused Inesa to no end that one of those things, for some reason, included climbing up her specifically. She'd seen her little girl climb a tree with hardly a thought, but this? Inesa would bet Sequoia did it on purpose, though Heaven knew why.

"Very good," Inesa praised with a fond, exasperated smile. She was getting to the age where doing everything by herself was what she wanted most, but was still too young to actually do it. "Now, what had you so excited?" she asked.

"Dad's coming," she said, turning her head skyward. Inesa stiffened a little, memories of the incarnation he had sent down not too long ago, all bandaged up and wounded but alive, filling her thoughts and mind. If Sequoia noticed her tension, she did not let it show - leaping off of Inesa's lap, little feet churning across the garden, as she leapt into the air the moment Xing Wu appeared in a flash of silver light.

Her head slammed into his stomach as she buried her face into his robes with a happy squeal. He stumbled backward, and Inesa sat back a little, cradling Amari Ren as the little one tugged on a strand of her brown hair. Her husband stumbled and groaned dramatically then swept Sequoia up in a hug, spinning her around while laughing, to the casual observer none the worse for wear.

But Inesa could see the tightness in his eyes. The stiffness in his shoulders. They had been together long enough...she stood, still cradling Amari Ren as Xing Wu stumbled over to her, laughing gaily, still spinning her around.

Inesa stopped him, and wrapped him and Sequoia both in a one-armed hug. Ren wiggled and squirmed, slapping both her and Xing Wu in the face with their pudgy little hands, while Sequoia squirmed gleefully. Then she pecked him on the cheek and let him go.

Inesa said nothing as Xing Wu played with their daughter. She helped him play with Amari Ren, and they tended the garden together while Sequoia made a mess of things, giggling like the little menace she was as she regrew whatever Inesa and Xing Wu weeded or pruned with her divine magic. Further proof she hadn't actually struggled to climb into Inesa's lap, the little rascal. She probably thought she was being cute. Which she was.

It wasn't until they put Sequoia and Amari Ren both down for a nap that she cornered him - and even then, she didn't say a word. Only wrapped him in a hug from behind, laying her cheek against his back.

"I'll be gone for some time," he whispered, doing the menial task of drying some herbs. With their power they could do it in an instant, but as she had always said; there was something grounding about the mundane.

"I know." she whispered. Then, "You're still injured."

"Just a little. I'll heal up right in no time." he said lightly. "Another week or two and I'll be fine."

"Do you have to go?" she whispered, and Xing Wu slowly put down the herbs, twisting in her grip to wrap her in his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder, fighting back tears.

"Yes." He said simply.

"Why?" she asked, even though she knew the answer. She just hated that it had to be him. Hated that she loved him for that painfully noble heart of his, even if she hated him having to leave. He should never have had to. They were just starting a family. Sequoia was still so little...

"Because you and Sequoia deserve all the best." He said softly, and she choked on a sob. "And because this is who I am."

"I know," she sniffled. "But..."

"I know," he said, softly rocking her back and forth. "I know." They stayed like that for far too short a time, when a soft voice broke the silence.

"Mama, is dad going somewhere?" Sequoia asked, slipping out of her little bedroom, the trees she insisted decorating her room with visible through the doorway. Xing Wu immediately moved over to her while Inesa composed herself, wiping her eyes and taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"I am." Xing Wu said, kneeling before her. "I need to go fight all the bad guys who have been causing all those quakes." he told her.

"Again?"

"This time I'll be going to make sure they don't ever come back," Xing Wu promised, laying a hand on their daughter's shoulder. Inesa could barely turn to face her, heart squeezing painfully in her chest. "I'll be gone for a while. But I'll be back before you know it," he promised softly. Inesa squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't look. What face would Sequoia be making? Did she even understand what her father was going to do? That he might not....

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"Don't worry, mom," Sequoia said in that childish way of hers, making Inesa look up and face the fearless, confident look of their daughter's. She grinned a toothy little smile. "Dad's gonna be ok. He'll beat up all the bad guys and come home! And he'll bring me a puppy!" She nodded seriously, and Xing Wu laughed.

"Will I?" he asked, amused, sharing a look with Inesa. They'd had the puppy talk. The pet talk. She'd wanted a pet dragon, originally.

"Yeah! Because you're Dad," she nodded as if that made perfect sense, and Inesa stilled. She wasn't talking about the puppy. She wasn't talking about the puppy right now. She was talking about why Xing Wu would come home ok. Inesa smiled warmly, the tears and worry not gone, but warmth filling her at the simple logic of a child.

"You're right. He will," she said, kneeling before her. Sequoia nodded seriously.

"I will?" Xing Wu asked, a smirk dancing on his lips. "Your sure you don't want a dragon?" Inesa slapped his shoulder lightly - had he really not gotten it? But the glistening of his eyes told her he had, and she gently reached down to intertwine her fingers with his.

At this question though, Sequoia seemed genuinely torn, and, after considering for a bit, an idea came to her that changed the conversation.

"Are you going to be leading all the gods?" she asked. Xing Wu laughed again, standing and taking her with him.

"No," he said. "I won't be leading the army. Someone else has earned that right."

***

The Celestial Empress stood in the air above her forces, those chosen few who would accompany the forces of the Gods into the great beyond. Many of her friends had died in those two, brief battles. Even a few Dao Progenitors had perished, their souls rising up to rejoin their stars in the sky, living eternally in another form. Perhaps someday they would re enter the cycle of reincarnation. But not now. Not yet.

Though she said 'chosen few,' the army still numbered in the multiple millions of souls. A strike force, picked specifically to lead the charge, while the others maintained supply lines and the defense of the Four Realms. She had to admit it worried her, what they were attempting, but likewise she knew the necessity. They had to strike while the striking was good, lest this turn once more into a war of attrition.

The One World would win such a war.

This time, there was no fancy speech. No words she could use to prepare them, as they readied the ships the Mad Scientist had designed, prepping them for inter-universal travel. Members of the Heavenly Host worked alongside Treants, while the mysterious psychic forces of Keilan, the Asura, helped lift greater parts to retrofit the space ships. All were brave souls. And she was responsible for all of them. Such was her sacrifice.

Behind her, four people stood.

The first was the captain of the Heavenly Host, a grey-haired, marble-skinned man who had done battle in the War of the Sun. She had saved his life during the siege, and he had saved hers when they had broken the enemy lines. Theirs was a professional respect.

The second was an ancient oak tree, a Treant who was relatively young for his immortal kind. Yet he had fought as hard as any other, and rallied forces around himself, proving his mettle in battle rather than years lived.

The third was as Asura. Her kind were few and far between. She had rarely seen any, but her pale hair and blank eyes seemed to see through everything. She was the foremost amongst her kind, supposedly, and from what she had seen on the battlefield, the psychic woman would be an invaluable asset.

The fourth needed no introduction. The Mad Scientist crossed her arms, grinning like she knew what was about to happen. She likely did.

Alanna sucked in a deep breath, and steeled herself. Her Dao had been firmed. Her will was ready. But most importantly, she knew what she had to do. During the time of Heaven's Suppression, she had chosen to stay in the lower realms with her people. To build her Dao in the earth and homes of those she ruled. She had elected to not reach for the stars, to stay her place, to remain, to suffer alongside them, all in the effort to be a better ruler.

Now, they needed someone else. They needed her to be the absolute pinnacle of what she could be. The one who could lead them into battle and back again, and still be the leader who had unified the first region, and brought upon them a golden age of prosperity despite the suppression of the Heavens.

She let out a breath.

Divinity ignited in her soul. Golden light flowed from every cell in her body, her cultivation igniting like the heart of a star, then pushing even higher. Her eyes bled golden light, her posture straightening as a crown of pure power rested itself upon her brow. Work behind her paused. She straightened further.

"The God Empress of the Fae," the Mad Scientist said, smug and proud all at once. Alanna fixed her with a glare. "The Divine Ruler."

"Hush, you," she said, flexing her hand, feeling the power surging within. She had no domain yet. She simply was divine. It had been a long time coming. "Come, let us attend the meeting," she said simply and, with a wave of her hand and the precious guidance of the Asura, who knew where the war room actually was, teleported herself and her companions.

Silently she thanked the heavens for the young cultivator who had managed to crack the code of teleportation, prior to her ascension. It would have been embarrassing indeed to still teleport somewhere else, despite her confidence.

The War Room itself was relatively empty, save for a precious few souls. Elvira, the Goddess of Heaven. Keilan, the God of Connections. Reika, Alexander, Xing Wu, and the others of the Eight Pillars, save the peaceful Inesa.

"Congratulations on your ascension," Xing Wu drawled. "It's about time."

She bristled a little but held her tongue, marching into the room with her lieutenants hanging back.

"Alanna," Elivra said, standing with a little wince. The goddess had her arm in a sling, one wing still hanging awkwardly from her fight with the foreign goddess. Alanna shuddered to recall that fight, even if it had not been long ago at all. The power they had displayed had been what finally convinced her to ascend. "You have exceptional control over your divinity for a newly ascended goddess. That is good."

"She spent long enough at the precipice," Keilan reasoned. "Unlike the other beings we have seen ascend, her power already knows where it wanted to go."

"I did rush, and my domain was far weirder than hers will be." Xing Wu admitted freely. "Either way, it bodes well,"

"How so? Why was I called here?" Alanna asked, even though she somewhat expected the answer. Elvira winced again, sitting down. Keilan and Alexander shared a look, the great white dragon nodding.

"We need a leader for our armies. For the operation." Alexander rumbled. "With Elvira both pregnant and injured, we believed it best to choose someone else. I cannot. I will be necessary to defend our forces from greater threats, so I cannot be giving commands. I am also not necessarily the general type," Alexander said.

"I am needed here," Reika said simply, the green-haired goddess completely honest.

"Let's face it, I am no longer the general type either. Never have been, even when I was Dei and pretended to be. I've always been the tip of the spear, the one leading the charge. You, on the other hand, rallied the forces of the Physical Realm, have consistently proven yourself to be a good leader, and your divinity is...well. Powerful." Xing Wu explained. "The others brought you up. I put in a good word. None of us doubt your abilities."

Alanna hesitated for only a moment.

"You want me to be the general." she said.

"Of the main force. The mortal forces, if you will, which you have already been doing. But we would also give you command over our armies. The dragons would remain under my command, as they will listen to no one else," Alexander rumbled.

"The gods that accompany us will largely be under their own supervision. We do not have a true god of war, Alanna. And with Elvira temporarily indisposed, we need someone else to take her place," Keilan said firmly. "Believe me when I say you will not be alone in your battles or decisions, but a clear hierarchy is important. We among the Big Four will have to vanish from the chain of command at a moment's notice if necessary, which is why we are choosing you to help keep the communication chain flowing. If you do not accept - "

"I accept," Alanna interrupted. "Choosing anyone else would disrupt the chain of command for the non-ascended beings. It could only have been me or Xing Wu, and we all know, as he himself said, that he is no longer the leader. I will not let you down," she said.

"You never have. Now, let us begin our preparations. Here is the plan..." Elvira stepped forward, using her one good hand to lay out a map upon the table. And Alanna listened. And planned. And felt her newfound divinity pulsing with want. She had nothing to prove anymore. But they had everything to lose, and she would lead her people through this calamity, into another age.

Even if she had to leave them behind to do so.