by Eric Vall
“I believe so. Give me a minute,” Haruhi said in a distracted voice, and we listened as she grabbed books, opened them, then set them aside. It took a few minutes before we heard her speak again, and I could tell my minions were beginning to become anxious. “Here, yes. Ruituri. Daughter of the god of rot, Nergal, and Adrestia, goddess of insurgency. I can give you her sigil too if you want.”
“Adrestia?” Annalise asked as her chocolate brown eyes squinted down at the orb. “I thought Nergal said that his daughter’s mother was Cybele?”
“No, that can’t be,” Haruhi interjected as she thumbed through the pages, and we heard them swish in the air. “When two gods come together and create a child, that child is a marriage of its parent’s powers. Cybele was believed to be the mother of all gods and primal in nature. Wait, this is so weird…”
We listened as Haruhi set down a book loudly then another next to it as she went back and forth between the ancient texts. The cat hummed to herself in frustration as she flipped between pages, and we heard her finger move over the weathered parchment.
“This… this says that Cybele is Ruituri’s mother, but this second text says that Adrestia is Ruituri’s mother…What the hell?” The white-eared cat grumbled to herself, and we heard her shuffle away as she went to grab another book from the shelves and slammed it down next to the other two. Haruhi’s humming got louder as she read quickly through the tomes then she gasped softly.
“M-Master?” she stuttered. “Can I ask you something bizarre? Like something that shouldn’t be possible but could be possible?”
“We’re dealing with gods and deities, so nothing is impossible but go ahead.” I chuckled lightly.
“Is there any possible way that you know of in the heavenly realm that Ruituri could have two mothers?” Haruhi asked in a hushed voice.
“What? No way!” Rana scoffed, and Carmedy raised her eyebrows and shook her head doubtfully, but I knit my brows and thought hard.
“No… it has to be,” Haruhi murmured in disbelief. “Ruituri’s sigil is a combination of three of their sigils. Master, is there any possible way that this is real? Could all three of them have borne a child together?”
“I’ve never seen it happen,” I started, and all of my minions, Haruhi included held their breath, “but it’s not unheard of. It has happened in the heavens before. It’s a difficult process and whoever creates a child from three instead of two certainly has evil deeds on their minds.”
“You can’t be serious,” Annalise breathed as she stared at me with wide eyes.
“Very serious. Generally, it happens when a goddess cannot carry a child herself, and the couple finds a surrogate to carry it for them,” I told them, and Carmedy was the only one who nodded along to my words. “Though looked down upon, it’s better if they find a human surrogate to carry the child, but gods and goddesses are very biased against humans and often find another goddess to carry the baby, but that causes more problems than it solves.”
“What do you mean?” Haruhi questioned in an awestruck voice as she learned something new about gods she didn’t know already.
“The power we are given from birth is the strongest force known on earth and in the heavens,” I explained in the manner of a professor giving wisdom to his students. “Using a goddess surrogate instead of a human one creates complications that wouldn’t arise if they had used a human. When the seed is placed within the surrogate goddess, her power transfers over to the child and attempts to move into its body. When that child is born, it is no longer the child of two people but instead three. I assume that is what happened with Ruituri. She has two mothers and one father, three powers combined into one. Haruhi, can you tell us what type of powers that Ruituri possesses?”
“Oh no… Ruituri is…” the white-eared cat stammered then her voice took on a more serious tone as she read the text to us. “The earth clouded with thunder and from the darkness, a being with rotted flesh and a bow stolen from the dead was seen, and on her heels came sickness and death like rabid dogs. Ruituri is the goddess of pestilence and plague.”
Chapter Twelve
“So, the combination of Nergal’s, Cybele’s and Adrestia’s power created Ruituri,” Annalise muttered as she thought over this new information. “And Ruituri is the goddess of pestilence. I can understand that from seeing the state that Nergal was in, but what about the two goddesses she was born from?”
“Well, from what I’m reading, Cybele was the surrogate for Ruituri when Adrestia couldn’t bear to carry the child,” Haruhi told us as she skimmed over the pages. “Oh gods…”
“What is it, Haruhi?” I inquired softly as I held the white orb in my palm. For a second, I thought we’d lost the connection with the cat from the silence, but suddenly, she spoke.
“Ruituri almost killed Cybele during the pregnancy.” the white-eared cat breathed through the sphere, and I watched as my women huddled around me stiffened. The sage went on to quote more of the text laid out before her. “And carnal was born from primal, and with it, the life of the mother flickered and narrowly was blown out. It goes on to say that Ruituri was like a disease inside of Cybele. The more the child grew, the more the life was sucked out of the goddess, and she nearly died during childbirth.”
“What about the three gods that were with her?” the swordswoman asked, and I turned my head to look at her as she stroked her long, chestnut braid. “Does it say anything about them? There were two men and another woman who helped us out twice, tonight and before in battle against the Tintagal soldiers.”
“Well, these texts are ancient, all the gods born after this wouldn’t be recorded in these books, but I can look deeper into it, if you like?” Haruhi questioned back as she flipped a page then turned away to shuffle off for another book. “Can you describe them to me?”
“Sure, the second woman wields a giant claymore like the Eye of Alipsis,” Rana told Haruhi as she recalled the woman who aided us. “She has fiery red hair, and full armor like a soldier would wear.”
“Did she show any powers beyond having a sword and armor?” Haruhi asked, and I could tell she was chewing on her lip anxiously as she flipped feverishly through a fourth book.
“No,” Carmedy uttered as she tilted her head and thought hard, “but she rode a Valgarian tiger during the battle against Tintagal, if that helps.”
“Actually, it does. Most gods have an animal or creature associated with them just like they have a sigil,” Haruhi muttered as the sound of pages flipping loudened then we heard her slap a hand down on a page. “Here, I think I found it, but I can’t be certain unless I saw her sigil in person. I believe the goddess you are referring to is Bellum, the goddess of conflict and war. Did any of you happen to see a sigil on her armor anywhere?”
I looked to my minions. Each of them shook their heads doubtfully, but Morrigan stood stock still and stared at the orb with darkened eyes. She knew something and puzzled it out before she spoke.
“Yes, I saw the sigil,” she said carefully. “It was on her back, and I only saw it once when she turned, but it was a snake with three heads and a flame-bladed sword slashing downward at the snake.”
“Yeah, that’s Bellum, for sure,” Haruhi excitedly cried, and a small smile spread across my lips at her enthusiasm. “She was born from Hephaes, the god of weaponry, but there’s no reference of who her mother was. I’ve heard legends that Hephaes created her from molten metal and a few drops of his blood, but that’s just an old tall tale. Who’s the next one you want me to check out?”
“The first man,” I told her as I recalled him and the way he used the scythe against the blood-curdlers. “He wears tattered burlap robes, his face is sunken in, and he’s bald. The man rides a camel, and he carries a scythe in battle.”
“That one is a little easier than the last two since no other god carries a scythe.” Haruhi smiled through the orb, and the pages turned much slower this time as she searched for the right one. “Domor, the god of starvation and fami
ne. He’s a pretty old god, so his parents aren’t referenced here, but if you needed them, I could dig a little deeper into the old tomes?”
“No, that won’t be necessary, Haruhi,” I assured her as Carmedy nodded along with me.
“And the next one?” Haruhi pressed on.
“He wore black robes, the hood pulled up, but his face was young, and he had thick black hair,” I told her, and my feline companion scooted forward as her eyes squinted in deep concentration.
“He also had really piercing blue eyes, not like Rana’s baby-blue eyes but royal blue or ocean blue,” Carmedy added, and we heard the librarian flip through the pages once more. This time she was quiet for a long time, longer than before, and the only sound we heard was the shuffling steps of her feet as she moved back and forth between the bookshelves and a few times as she lifted new volumes down to examine them.
“Did he ride anything? Did he have a sigil? What power did he use?” Haruhi asked in rapid fire, and it took some time for all of us to get caught up.
“He rode a horse, and it was nearly skin and bones. Looked to be about half-dead or undead if you ask me,” Rana stated with a shrug of her shoulders.
“No sigils that I saw,” Annalise interjected as she held her braid tightly between both hands, “but as Master said, he was wearing black robes.”
“He used his hands to kill,” Morrigan uttered in her cold and emotionless voice.
“Can you elaborate on that?” the white-eared cat queried softly as she read. “Did he use his hands to kill them like physically, or was it a manifested power like Master’s?”
“It was manifested. There was no color or light as it happened which differentiates the powers from one another,” the white-haired elf went on to explain, and Haruhi listened intently. “It was like soul exorcism but different. It was like he released their souls with a simple wave of his hand. There was no effort behind it, no summoning or anything, they were just alive one second and dead the next.”
“That sounds like a Reaper to me, but it can’t be. They have no magical or spiritual connection with the gods. I may have to work on this one a little longer, if you don’t mind. Is there any way that I can get in contact with you? Like how you guys are talking to me right now?” Haruhi questioned as she closed a book and waited for my answer.
“Yes, you can call upon me, and I will answer,” I told her, and all my minions stared at me quietly for a moment and took in my words.
“So, I can j-just say your name, and you’ll answer?” the white-eared cat asked doubtfully, and I smirked softly to myself.
“Say it three times, and I will hear you anywhere I am, understood?” I proclaimed firmly, and Haruhi paused as she thought. I listened to the dark-haired cat’s thoughts through the orbs connection and knew exactly what Haruhi was thinking.
“Does that mean he wants me to call him by his heavenly given name?” the white-eared cat thought to herself.
I glanced at my minions one by one. My minions moved away from me to take care of their Bantams as the conversation with Haruhi was nearly over and all the important information was out of the way. So, certain they weren’t listening intently, I brought the orb closer to my body and spoke directly into it.
“Yes, Haruhi,” I confirmed what she was speaking, and the cat on the other end went completely silent. “You will have to use that name to call for me.”
“A-are you sure? I know how you want to keep all that stuff secret so that the other girls won’t find out,” Haruhi whispered back to me. I wanted to chuckle but didn’t want to alert my other minions to the conversation Haruhi and I were currently having.
“I believe that the dungeon we are about to enter is inhabited by a god I once knew in the heavens,” I explained softly. “I cannot be sure just yet until we are face to face, but I may have to tell them soon. Not all of it, of course, but the amount that you already know, my dear.”
I recalled how Haruhi had called me out after I had escorted her out of the Purple Conch in Eifersucht. Haruhi knew much more than my minions had, and they had spent more time with me than Haruhi had. I knew it would disappoint them to learn that the white-eared cat had known who I was for much longer than they had, but they didn’t have the resources at their fingertips that the librarian did. Haruhi had recognized me immediately, known precisely who I was without second-guessing herself. As Carmedy had said, Haruhi was well versed in the gods and goddesses both in the heavens and those thrown down to earth enough to be a professor on the subject. It was especially helpful to have her on our side at this moment, and I was thankful for everything she had done for us on Machstein and the help she had just given us to figure out who these gods and goddesses following us were.
“Oh…” Haruhi sighed softly, and I heard the soft creak of a chair as she sat down into it gracefully. “I’m terribly sorry to hear that. Do you think they’ll be upset when they learn everything?”
“Were you upset when you realized it was me back in the Purple Conch?” I asked back with a grin, and she giggled into my ear.
“No, but that’s much different,” the white-eared cat said back in that sweet, lulling voice that I liked so much. “I’ve been studying these things since I was a little kid. It’s what fascinates me and drives me to further my knowledge of the subject. Meeting you in Eifersucht was like… meeting a celebrity, I guess. I’d never met a god before, and I’ve been reading and studying about them my whole life. See the difference?”
“A celebrity?” I chuckled into the orb, and a soft purr lifted from the white sphere pleasantly. “I wouldn’t call myself that with all the things I’ve done.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Haruhi snapped, and I reared back in surprise. Not even my minions talked to me like that, but I had to admit, I did like it for a split second as the willful and strong Haruhi showed her true self to me. “This is going to sound strange, but I know you better than your own minions do. I know who you are and what you came from and all the things that happened before and after you were cast out.”
She let out a soft sigh. “However, I think what saddens me the most is your minions know you in a way that I do not. I know the carnage and the evil that’s happened from your hand, but they see a different side of you that I haven’t read about. I saw it briefly on Machstein, the tenderness and care that you show for them, and from what I read, there was never that type of side of you. Maybe your minions have changed you for the better, but I may never know.”
“Haruhi,” I murmured tenderly in my softest voice, and I heard the soft swish of her tail as it whispered through the air happily at the sound of my voice saying her name. “Would you like to know me better?”
The white-eared cat was silent for a moment, and I could almost imagine her in the library as she sat in one of the chairs at a long wooden table with her chin resting in her paw as she thought. Her face was burned into my memory as my other minions’ were, and I glanced over to them as they tended to their birds.
“I would,” Haruhi answered, and the heart within my avatar leaped then pounded furiously. “But Tintagal and Canarta are worlds away and with the danger of the Holy Band of Mages breathing down my back…”
“Do you think I couldn’t handle them?” I grinned at the orb.
“I guess I shouldn’t second guess you, you are a powerful Underdark god and have proven yourself time and time again,” Haruhi uttered thoughtfully then she sighed as a soft bell tinkled on her end. “I’m sorry, Master, I must go. I have a customer, but I’ll get back to you with the information on the second god whenever I find something.”
“Goodbye, Haruhi.” I smiled gently down at the orb.
“Goodbye, Master,” the white-eared cat replied and then the only sound that came from the orb on my palm was the soft crackle we had heard before when reaching out to her.
Without Haruhi’s knowledge, I pressed my energy through the orb, and it passed through the expanse of thousands of miles between us. I lay my powers on her, and
she may not have noticed it, but she took a deep inhale and probably sensed it in her own way. Haruhi had told us she was scared that the Holy Band of Mages would return and with my power within her, I would be able to sense any danger she was in. I could see her now in my mind’s eye and just as I had imagined, she sat at a small wooden table with her elbows pressed into the wood.
Haruhi’s eyes were trained up into the air, probably because she wasn’t sure where to look when speaking to me this way. She looked just as pretty if not more than she had when we had met her on Machstein. Her long, almost black hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and stray hairs whispered around her soft, freckled cheeks. Her round glasses glinted in the light as she turned her head and smiled at the person entering in through the main door. I moved my power over her in a wave, and she paused for a second. This time I knew that she sensed it as her fluffy white ears twitched slightly. She knew I was here with her, and the smile on her lips widened.
I moved my dark power over her and then inside of her as I claimed her as mine. Haruhi had been correct when she said that Tintagal and Canarta were worlds away, but I was an Underdark deity and could do whatever I pleased. My power consumed Haruhi and left a small mark on the nape of her neck, concealed so that no one, not even the Holy Band of Mages, could see or find it.
The mark I left on her was similar to the sigil I held in the heavens, but I had made a few changes to it to make it truly my own on earth. With the mark in place, I could sense her and watch over her even from thousands of miles away. Her heartbeat was loud in my ears, and I knew that once I retracted my essence from the orb, I would still be able to hear it. Haruhi wasn’t one of my minions yet, but I had left my mark on her, and when we were reunited in Canarta after all the things with Baudouin had been wrapped up, I would plant my seed deep into her and make her mine. Haruhi was spoken for in a way with my mark buried deep in her skin like a tattoo, and no other god could claim her while I had my hold on her.