To rule over the Sphere of Time was something Gwennarius fought long and hard for, under the command of her sibling All-Father Faal she was in charge of making sure everything in the timeline was flowing as smoothly as necessary.
Deviations in said stream of time, time travel, breaking through parallel and alternative realities with their own quirks, flash-forwards, and temporal stasis, all under her watchful eye, even if due to Faal's rather absurd power over his Sphere, half of those were frozen in prisons that were quite literally beyond her own understanding of the very fabric of reality she inhabited.
"Always a bigger stick" The Goddess said with a sigh, she had long gotten used to this, other gods hadn't and they were always an annoyance to deal with, thankfully she was spared most of the time.
And yet...
She needed power, and power flowed from mortals, lesser gods, natives from the planet she was currently on, aliens from afar, big as she was, other divines or would-be divines were coming for her power and she couldn't afford to stand on ceremony.
And just like that, she had a church, she had one of the best mages alive in centuries, followers, more churches, cathedrals, rites, and hymns, All from a certain someone, all tailor-made to sweeten the pot, to make Gwennarius lower her guard, and she did, for a time she did just that as her mortal herald delivered the good word, preached and acted as a steadfast believer of the great Goddess of time.
It felt good it felt amazing as power flowed through her Sphere, and She, and then she felt it, a fork in the stream, a dam and a crash, her mind at the time overtaken by the sheer bliss of this newfound power paid no heed to it, she felt for the greatest sin there was for someone of her station, letting work pile up.
But Faal had always spoken of being thorough, of double checking and making sure everything was in order, that was how he rose to power and broke free from his parents, and now enjoyed one of the most well-established cosmic rules there was, and so Gwennarius found herself sitting at her throne, deep within her realm of Time as the River of Time flew past her eyes.
All of its glory, all of its terror, myriad possibilities, and all there was and would be, a single point in time became clear as crystal, a lonely woman bleeding as a gnarly arrow stuck from her abdomen,
To her side, Gwennarius saw herself in a pool of golden and black ichor, divine blood.
A sadistic smile flashed upon the face of the dying woman as the vision of a would-be future snapped forward, Gwennarius watched as she somehow fended off another woman armed with the vilest weapon the Goddess had seen in the last century, and yet for all her might the second woman kept getting hits in and the goddess fell once again, this time for good as the gasp of air the image released sent shivers down Gwennarius spine.
A lesser Divine would start panicking here, seeing themselves being brought low by a mortal, Gwennarius was not a lesser goddess, she was a veteran of wars, an impeccable and loyal linchpin to All-Father's rule, and above all else, smart.
All-Father Faal together with All-Mother Thyr walked around an empty plane, the duo was taking in the sights, or lack thereof as they received a most peculiar message.
"To think the Terran Gods would accept the demands, anything to survive for another day huh?" All-Mother spoke with a tinge of respect in her voice "Tenacious to the bitter ends those people"
"I am far more worried about the recent discoveries their technology gods brought to us my dear, but then again I suppose it all makes sense now, doesn't it? If only that little lass had the potential for it, imagine the mortal coil with two of my blessed?" Faal rubbed his chin with a smile on his face, of a proud father and trickster both as he imagined the shenanigans a certain someone would get herself in had she had more power.
"The girl is powerful as it is you daft old man" Thyr waved him off "Wipe that nasty grim off your face it's always an ill omen when that comes up" The woman looked upwards as an image of a mighty dragon, golden and blue scales both manifested itself to her, the beast roared and flew off into the distance, beams of pure energy slamming into the ground as the beast gathered more and more momentum, before rising into the white void above and dropping a enormous energy beam into the ground.
"Beautiful, and every society in that little dustball of lunatics has dragons in it, a planet after my own heart" Thyr spoke out loud as Faal laughed, his beloved passion for all things draconic had been a major boon in the ongoing peace talks with the Terrans and their enemies, the many dragon gods and goddesses more than happy to entertain her as the meetings went on.
"Wynnur once again proved her smarts with this, a place to exchange ideas and knowledge, neutral for all and even capable of hosting those above us in power, it is a shame she refuses to start proper worship with the mortals, imagine how powerful she could become..." Faal spoke before his wife shushed him.
"Dear, your annoying cousin is asking for help in a very desperate fashion, while it makes me happy seeing that smug face distressed I think we should hear her" Thyr spoke and Faal nodded with a smirk on his lips "Let's go then, and she's more than a cousin my dear"
"Of course, there's a Queue" Gwennarius watched as Minor and Higher Divinites awaited the council of their leaders within the Golden Halls where both would hear their subjects, it was a relatively quiet line today, minus the ruckus some of the Goddess of Music and War were making right in front of Gwennarius.
"You don't understand Morugarius, this will revolutionize the fields of war, weaponization of music is the future! look at how the morale doesn't fall here" One of the women spoke with fervor to the Goddess of War who was being tailed by her wife, Uumaries who once walked around these halls with a haughty attitude today was meek as a lamb, silent and wearing a dusk veil over her face.
"I am far more worried about the response from the Combat and Magical gods to the absurd advances our little lady in the north is doing with her Equalizers" Morugarius spoke with a tired tone, all it was her duty to mediate these sorts of things as to keep a fair balance between all methods of warfare, a duty Gwennarius was aware she wasn't keen on it, missing the subtle touch her brother had over these affairs.
She loves him Gwennarius thought to herself, a sister longing for her older brother to return to this day, a tale as old as time.
Time went by as she waited her turn, and then she heard the bell and went in, her brother and annoying sister-in-law sitting down across a plain wooden desk.
"Gwen, welcome back, how can we help you today?" Faal spoke and she sighed inwards, time to set things right.
"Brother, Sister" Gwennarius spoke as she grabbed a shard of golden crystal from her person "About 3 hours ago I noticed a cataclysmic event that would split the river of time should it come to pass, please take a look" She handed the crystal to them and slumped back on her chair.
And so they watched as the Might Goddess of Time waited, feeling with every fiber of her divine constitution the clock ticking by, Faal's raised eyebrows telling her much as his wife sighed plenty of times mid-viewing the crystal's content.
"It is no small thing to Kill one of Us you know? the Old Man went through quite the effort to make sure none of our creations could hurt us the way you got hurt there" Faal spoke, tiredness seeping into his voice.
"Who did you piss off this time Gwennarius, Goodness was it Him? again?" Thyr asked "Look I know we don't see eye to eye BUT you are an important pillar to this whole operation, so I ask for you to be honest with us" The woman finished speaking, staring at her with a complicated expression.
It always comes back to that disgrace, doesn't it? Gwennarius thought to herself "It wasn't Him no, as a matter of fact, it's a certain someone brother has been spoiling of late, and her associates as you can see in the Crystal, muddled as it is by the recording of the event, and I don't need to tell you who's the one with enough power to manufacture such a Weapon of Power among us is.
"...Fascinating creatures, capable of so much, full of passion and vigor to stand against someone this powerful and win" Faal spoke "Well Sister, seems to me we will need to Flex our Spheres for once heh, unless you wish to depart to the higher realms? I shan't stop you of course"
Gwennarius shook her head, she had her duties to fulfill here, oaths to keep, and people to avenge "Nay Brother of mine, I am Staying" she sighed as her power flashed in that last word "I can count on you as well to mend the coming issues of this intervention Thyr?"
"You have my word, and my Power" the woman spoke with conviction in her voice, steely and powerful both.
"Let's get this over with" Faal spoke and the two nodded, with a clap of hands they found themselves within the place where Gwennarius would be killed "Right, standard procedure, Wards and Rituals first, On the double sister let's go" the Divines went to work as the laws of the world, mana and magic bent to their might, Gwennarius cringed as she felt the cracks on her Sphere that would need immediate attention.
"That bad? Huh, you pissed them off huh? I wonder..." Thyr spoke as she waved her hand "Ahh, So that's why" she pointed to a null space in between their Wards "Look at it dear, a mistake only Gwen would commit, even after all the party did for her" the Goddess didn't put any caustic bite to her words, it was all very stoical and neutral Gwennarius felt, she was watching the scene unfold with a Scholar's eye.
"Done" Faal spoke as he walked to his beloved "Ah, of course it all makes sense now" he tapped the side of his head, a tell for wisdom coming out of his mouth "Pride goeth before a fall" as that one individual told me"
"This compromise will severely affect the River of Time brother..." Gwennarius felt a headache coming but the wish of not dying and losing her powers and breaking her Oath was stronger "Fine, Damn it all Fine!" she tapped the ground and felt another crack "We are finished, I'd appreciate that help now if you two are willing and able"
"Of course sister, anything for you" Faal spoke with a smile and they were off, towards a future that would no doubt shake things again for the world and beyond.
Above the mortal plane of a dusty and blood-soaked world sat an infinite amount of divines, they watched with keen eyes as their collaborators did whatever they had to do, and one of the Leading Divines rose "It is done, are the others ready?"
A thin man rose "Ready, 1 in a thousand chance they make it past the new barriers but at least 1 will get through within the timetable set" Cheers came from the great crowd.
"Brothers, Sisters! It has been too long since we had the chance of Relax! of ENTERTAINMENT! and Today marks the day we will Finally get something good out of the invaders!"
"One of our creations has braved the great expanse, through trickery and deceit, fire and steel He has brought great change to the realm that now hosts his remains!"
"And yet a part of his very soul remains, tangled together with a Native from that realm! such is the tenacity, the grit, and the will to persevere! To survive!" the announcer felt the power in his own words as the crowd of Divines cheered him on, it was all a very common but powerful theme they all shared, very few in the grand cosmos would chew their legs and arms to survive another day.
With Divine Power, came Divine Hubris.
The many War Gods raised their weapons as the images of this wayward soul's experience played in front of the crowd, such was the respect they felt towards this Half-Brother of theirs.
"Lighting, the noblest of powers, I like this one!" spoke one God as the others nodded, the first large-scale engagement starting to be shown as the roar of artillery and sheer cacophony of noise coming from the locomotive that was supplying his troops in the frozen battlefield. As the battle raged so did the Divines watching it, and when the wayward soul fell, cries and curses were heard all over the room.
But He got up, armed with a metal apparatus, never giving up or giving in, more battles were played but those were on a smaller scale, not rousing the crowd as the big one did, but instilling the knowledge that this individual was thriving, adapting, and always pushing onwards.
Then the final stand came, nary a noise could be heard as every Divine in the crowd watched with grim determination as the armies marched, weapons of war and great warriors were deployed, for every win their Half-Brother got, a losing engagement drove him back and when the strongest enemy walked into the battlefield intending to take his life the Divines were caught unaware by how fierce the natives fought for him.
Honor, Grit, Love. The Divines of Terra felt those powerful energies and could only bow their heads in respect, for when the cards came crashing down, no one on their Half-Brother's side gave up, on the contrary, they pushed themselves to their very limit!
But death came, even after the direct involvement of their own as the Angels barreled down through the great expanse to serve as living artillery and raw power, the strongest of them outright halting the enemy in her tracks.
"You should've sent them all! the entire heavenly host!" A Goddess of War spoke in favor before apologizing for her passion "To do so would risk war against All-Father Faal sister, but I share your sentiment on the matter" spoke another God, whose bronze armor shone red "We should've sent everyone"
Silence fell once again as their Half-Brother was killed in the field of battle, A honorable death for some, but many simply regretted not being able to help the poor human, all alone from the day he was born to his death in that strange place.
As the images went on, explaining how both souls merged and a new gestalt being was born out of their shared sacrifice a vote went up, to aid or simply watch this new person who housed part of Terra within her, it was a landslide victory for the Aid faction as they worked out a way to empower the offspring of this new person, a surprise came afterward as their ancient enemy, the beings that declared war on Terra also wanted to help, had been shown the exploits of this wayward soul and finding them heroic.
As the leaders went to talk with the All-Father, The Warrior Goddess who had spoken earlier rose up, her mind set on a fallback plan in the case of the worst happening to this offspring, Her brother giving her a knowing look as both went away, ready to set their plans in motion.
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for reading!