Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 47: Meeting with the Goddesses (Part II)...

"Phew… That was tasty… Never thought I would be able to eat this cake again." I said with satisfaction while patting my belly.

It had been two hours since I arrived at Lia's Divine Realm and my small birthday party started.

In the last two hours, Lia, Catris, Reginleif, and I have done nothing but play some party games and eat to our heart's content.

Even though we've been doing that, more than half of the food and more than half of the huge strawberry cake still remain on the table.

"I often visit Earth to go shopping with Aphrodite. I definitely need to tell her about this cake! I can't believe something so amazingly delicious was hidden in such a small bakery!" Catris was also rubbing her belly and nodding with satisfaction.

"Right?" I nodded in agreement. "You said you went to Earth to get the cake and the party supplies, right? How are Mr. and Mrs. Fernández?" I asked Catris.

The cake that Catris brought belonged to a popular bakery I loved back when I used to be alive on Earth. My family and I were pretty chummy with the owners too since we went there to buy cake every now and then. 

Most of my birthday cakes came from that store actually, so it was a pretty thoughtful gift coming from Catris.

"Oh? Them? I would say that both of them are great since they wouldn't stop talking about how excited they were about seeing you and Claire getting married!" Catris said with a smile.

"I see…" I smiled back at her, however, it was definitely a bittersweet one.

I was happy that they were doing well, but it was sad that they were so excited about an event that would never occur… At least not on Earth if everything goes alright…

"Though I must admit that their reactions were pretty funny after they asked what kind of relationship I had with you." Catris had a mischievous look on her face.

As soon as those words left her lips, I started getting a bad feeling…

"Catris… What did you say to them…?" I expressed my concern.

"Hehehe? You wanna know~?" Catris' smile turned into a shit-eating grin. "I obviously introduced myself as your mistress! Ah! But you don't need to worry, I told them that Claire approved of me!" Catris' grin turned into a bright smile.

…

…

…

What the fuck!?

I couldn't help but stare at Catris with a mix of both shock and the sudden desire to strangle her before making her lay down on a bed made out of rusty nails…

"Jeez! I'm just messing with you! I'm not that screwed in the head to tell that kind of thing to such a kind and friendly old couple like them!" Catris quickly shook her head in denial. "No wonder Lia likes you so much… You two really think alike…" Catris shot a few awkward glances toward me and Lia after reading my thoughts.

Oh, thank goodness… If she had actually told them that, I don't know how I would have faced Mr. and Mrs. Fernández again… I probably wouldn't have to, but still!

"You know, you're lucky that I have known for long enough to know when you're lying. Otherwise, you would be hanging out with your old pals the anvils again." Just like me, Lia was not amused with Catris.

"Wow! Now I can't even make a joke!? I was just trying to liven up the mood! Jeez! This is so unfair!" Catris immediately crossed her arms and pouted like a child.

"Given your recent history, I think it is for the best if you don't joke around with that kind of thing… I just forgave you for what you did to me and Auntie, so please don't push it." I said to Catris with a serious tone.

"Meanie…" Catris looked a little dejected. She immediately moved from her seat and hugged Lia for comfort. "Lia, Julius is being mean to me… Tell him to be more affectionate and kinder…" Catris whined somewhat jokingly, but she still seemed a little dejected.

"That's what you get for making such a tasteless joke. You reap what you sow, my dear friend." With a genuinely kind smile, Lia hugged her back to comfort her.

"Hmm… I thought it was funny" Reginleif mumbled before stuffing her mouth with cake. While she was at it, she suddenly decided to lay her eyes on me… 

After a few seconds of awkward silence, while making eye contact, Reginleif started mumbling again.

"It is a little ironic that I was planning to do the exact same thing with Julius and his parents after getting permission to descend from Asgard, but since he died before that… Sigh… I've been planning to do that for the last fifteen years and now it feels like a waste… Oh well, at the very least we have finally reunited again." Reginleif was intentionally mumbling loud enough for me to hear her monologue…

She was also winking at me, clearly trying to give me hints about her identity. Still, it was nowhere near enough to guess who she was…

So… She has been waiting for the last fifteen years… If my assumptions are correct, she must be talking about Earth years, so considering that roughly only a week has passed since my death, that would be two years before my biological parents died… That means that it was around the time we started moving countries, so could it be that she is from our home country? It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, however, I don't remember anyone who looked like her…

But she did say that she became a Valkyrie for the sake of the two of us meeting again, so that could have made her appearance change? Hmm… I'm not entirely sure…

More importantly, why was she planning for the last fifteen years to introduce herself to my parents as my mistress!?

Since I still couldn't figure out Reginleif's real identity, I decided to ignore her monologue and all of her excessive winking for the time being…

"I hate to be that guy, especially at a party that you all are hosting for me, but before we continue having, I'd like Catris to finally explain herself." I said while looking at Lia who was still hugging Catris.

"Yeah, I suppose it is time for us to explain everything. Go ahead, Catris, this is the moment you were waiting for." Lia nodded in agreement while nudging Catris.

"Fine… I can't leave him in the dark forever, can I?" Catris stopped hugging Lia and then sat properly on her chair. She tilted her head in such a graceful and beautiful manner, that I was left stunned for a moment. "This story begins right after the Schism when Melius had just been sealed…" Her pink eyes immediately focused on me for a moment before she started to tell her story.

That was five thousand years ago if I remember correctly…

"Just a few days after Melius was sealed, I was approached by both Ezra, the Goddess of Lust, and Merenis, the Goddess of War while Lia and the other gods of our faction were losing their minds about what had happened to Melius." Catris explained. "They were trying to take advantage of the chaos they themselves had created to recruit me into their faction." She looked at Lia with a saddened expression.

Lia just held her hand and smiled at her, as a way to reassure her.

"The Goddess of War herself huh… I assume that when you say recruit, you mean that they threatened you?" I asked Catris while frowning.

"Yes… And I wasn't the only one who was threatened…  Those two were following orders from Agmos." Catris looked back at me and nodded with a pained expression. "With Melius gone, Lia would be the only one capable of leading our faction as well as the most powerful deity in our ranks… Agmos wanted to isolate the only one who could pose a threat to him and his plans..." Catris seemed to be ashamed of herself.

"And he managed to succeed with his plan, although only gradually… It wasn't until I became the Dark Goddess that I lost the support of my former allies as well as most mortals." Lia spoke with a serious expression before shaking her head with disappointment.

"Lia, I…" Catris looked like she wanted to say something to Lia, but she was struggling to do so.

"We already talked about this, Catris. It is okay." Lia smiled at Catris again to reassure her. "Most of the gods in our faction, including Catris, had little to no fighting capabilities. Melius, Basalto, and I were the three powerhouses of our faction. The three of us together would have been more than enough to wipe the floor with Agmos and the gods that followed him. However, with Melius being sealed and Basalto splitting his own soul and then becoming a mortal, that left me on my own to deal with our opposition." Lia explained as she held Catris' hand, not giving signs of letting it go.

Catris still looked like she wanted to speak up, but she was too ashamed to even open her mouth…

"At the time, I was simply too shaken by Melius being imprisoned... A part of me desperately wanted to believe that we could still convince the other gods to see our side and that we could mend the rift between us just by talking to each other, just like Melius told me every day before he was sealed... I was too blind to see what was happening to my comrades and because of that, I failed to protect them…" Lia smiled bitterly as she lowered her head. "Thus the Neutral Faction was born. Those who were threatened but didn't share Agmos' views immediately joined the faction in search of some stability and for the fight between us gods to stop once and for all." Lia said as she traced her finger across the table.

"I was one of the last ones to join after Lia went into isolation after saving the Demons and the Dark Races from a certain extinction…" Catris suddenly spoke up, still clearly ashamed. "I have never been as powerful and intelligent as Lia nor skillful in combat like Basalto and I am certainly not as charismatic as Melius who managed to keep all of us gods together ever since the Dawn of the Gods despite our differences, but I liked to think of myself at the very least as a brave person … That changed the moment I joined the Neutral Faction…" Catris then looked me straight into my eyes. Anger, frustration, and shame all mixing in those pink eyes of hers.

"Catris, you…-" Lia was about to interrupt her but Catris didn't let her.

"Lia, please. Let me finish…" Catris almost looked at Lia almost as if she was begging her to let her continue… "I won't lie to you, the Neutral Faction is filled with cowards who are only worried about their self-preservation. We were all so scared about suffering the same fate as Melius and being imprisoned for eternity…" Catris lowered her head while gritting her teeth.

I noticed that Catris' entire body was shaking thanks to her intense emotions, even though Lia was giving her all to support her.

"I loathed myself every single day I chose not to fight… I loathe the day I chose to cut contact with my best friend to live hiding in fear… I loathe the day when I chose to have the bare minimum interactions with mortals because I was scared that Agmos would make me public enemy number one, just like they did with Lia… I loathe the day I decided to listen to their threats and forsake my friend…" Catris looked at me, her face filled with remorse and anger. Tears of frustration were even starting to pour down her cheeks… "I let my friend fight alone for thousands of years, but I will not allow that any longer! I refuse to keep being like those selfish gods who only live in fear of being sealed! I refuse to keep feeling like that!" Catris suddenly rose from her seat and shouted with determination.

I could only stare at the Goddess of Love, whose face was covered in tears while having a determined expression. 

"I am ashamed to even remember that I once thought that everything would be the same if I kept on living. That if I avoided being targeted by Agmos and his allies, everything would be fine…" Catris then took a deep breath before continuing. "But it wasn't fine… Nothing about that kind of life was remotely the same as before… Melius was gone, Basalto was gone, Lia was gone… Yraura, Ragnel, and Skell also isolated themselves and we stopped talking… I kept on living, but at what cost? I lost all those I held dear, while I tried to pretend that everything was alright… You have no idea how much I regret it all." Catris did not avert her gaze from mine even for a moment. 

I couldn't take my eyes off her either… I could feel her sparkling determination even from where I was seated.

"But no more... I don't want to go through something like that again… I'd rather have my soul be erased and cease to exist than to have to endure an eternity of torture like that!" Catris shook her head as more of her tears poured down on the table. "So, almost two thousand years ago, I hatched a plan… A plan that would help to rectify my mistakes caused by my weakness and that would help me to get my friend back…" Catris said before taking a moment to clear her tears and looking at Lia.

Lia didn't say anything. She just showed Catris a comforting smile and nodded at her.

"I found two souls from Earth that had both met a miserable end. Both of them were filled with regret about not living fulfilling lives so I decided to reincarnate them in exchange that they would help me with my plan when the time was right." Catris explained.

"I assume that those souls would be Sarana and Laura." I said with a serious expression.

Catris nodded silently in response.

"Why didn't you reincarnate them right away? Why didn't you try to reincarnate them in Gliosis just like Lia did with me?" I asked.

"Like the majority of the gods in the neutral faction, I wasn't aware of the existence of that place until recently. Even if I did try to reincarnate them there, Lia's barrier is simply too powerful for someone like me to try to intervene with life there." Catris shook her head. "As for why I didn't reincarnate them right away, I could have created the bodies that they had asked for the day we met, but I didn't want Agmos to find out about my plans, so, I decided to bid my time and keep Laura's and Saranas's souls on my Divine Realm." She explained with a tone still filled with regret.

I see… That makes way more sense than what Lia told me originally when I was with Sarana and Laura… So it wasn't that Catris was lazy about making bodies for them, she was just being cautious…

That also means that Lia lied to me again…

Before I could even cast a glance at Lia, Catris raised her voice to defend her…

"Please don't get angry at her again… That isn't her fault. I was the one who made Lia tell you that... I got on my knees and begged her to tell you that lie..." Catris spoke with a calm expression. "I didn't do it out of malice... I simply didn't want Sarana and Laura to know the truth before I could tell them everything myself since they are my responsibility. But, if you want to get angry at someone, please get angry at me and forgive Lia since she was only doing a favor to her idiot friend…" Catris spoke with an apologetic expression and bowed her head to me… She was clearly expecting me to get angry…

"I understand… Though I am certainly not amused about it, I'll just add it to the lists of things that you're going to be scolded for." I said with a serious expression before letting out a sigh.

Of course, I'm understandably a little pissed off that Lia lied again, but I'm willing to let it slide after seeing how determined Catris looked while defending her friend and taking all the blame. 

Of course, if it is as she says and she's taking responsibility for the other two otherworlders under her care, then I believe she deserves the benefit of the doubt at the very least.

Though… Maybe I don't have any right to get angry about this… My promise with Lia to be completely truthful towards each other was between her and me alone, not anyone else. That doesn't mean that she should have to tell me about the private affairs of others… At least, not without their consent obviously.

Hmm… I might need to reflect on my own about this later.

"I'm really sorry, Julius… I know I promised to be truthful about everything, and I won't try to excuse my actions… You know that all I want is for you to trust me completely again and I don't really want you to hate me, so please do whatever you want to punish me for…-" Lia also apologized to me even though she could read my mind to know what I was thinking. She certainly looked very remorseful.

"Lia, it is fine." I interrupted her. "Sure, I'm a little irritated, but I won't start hating you over this. I'm also not going to focus my anger on you, Catris, since I believe that you're right about both Sarana and Laura being your responsibility, so it was none of my business to pry about your motives and reveal them to someone else. For that, I apologize." I said to the two goddesses.

"Julius… Please don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong… This whole situation is entirely my fault, so…-" Catris shook her head vigorously and tried to put all of the blame on herself.

"Catris, let's just leave this topic be… I'm not angry at either of you, so as I once said to Lia, let's not turn this into a pity party, okay?" I said firmly after I interrupted her Catris since I was done dealing with that topic. 

Both goddesses shared a look with each other before looking at me and reluctantly nodding in agreement.

"In any case, did your plan consist of Sarana and Laura growing strong enough so they could defeat Agmos in your place?" I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to ask that question as I thought of Sarana and Laura.

Depending on her answer, I would decide whether to consider her an ally or not. 

I looked at Catris with expectation, waiting to hear her answer to my question.

In response, she just shook her head yet again.

"No, that was not my objective. Not even remotely. As Lia previously stated, my combat capabilities are basically non-existent. It would be a fool's errand for me to try to raise them with the intent of defeating Agmos and his allies... Lia would have been much more suitable for that." Catris explained herself while looking at Lia who just nodded again at her. "My plan was a little more elaborate than that. During the last two thousand years, I made sure to sneakily make individuals with good genes and high compatibility get together so I could prepare the most suitable bodies for both Sarana and Laura." Catris said with determination, the regret from before still lingering in her eyes.

I see…

"So you decided to breed people as a way to obtain the perfect bodies those two requested without attracting the attention of Agmos and his faction… Morality aside, I must admit that it was a clever plan." I said with approval.

Hmm… Even if it is a little questionable, as the Goddess of Love it shouldn't have been a difficult task for her to pull off this plan without alerting the other gods. After all, from the outside, it would just look like people simply falling in love with each other.

However, it also feels incredibly similar to that pocket monsters game where people would breed their pocket monsters until they had a perfect nature and perfect IVS/stats…

I know about that part of the game because Claire used to do it as well. In fact, she was quite thorough and a bit of a perfectionist when it came to raising her pocket monsters…

"Yes. However, that was just the initial stages of my plan. I was planning to start the real thing seven years from now." Catris explained. "As you can already imagine, Sarana is an expert spatial magician. She's not quite yet at the level of a master, but she has an abundance of talent so it is only a matter of time for her to fully master that magic. On the other hand, Laura doesn't stay behind either as she's very skillful at summoning magic, and while both of them can use Spirit Magic as well, Laura clearly has more talent handling spirits." Catris then started talking to me about the other reincarnators.

Spirit Magic huh… 

I have read a lot about it, but I have never met anyone capable of using it… From what I read, it is just as rare if not rarer than Spatial Magic, but it is still better documented than the former.

This magic, as its name already implies, consists of summoning spirits who are ethereal manifestations of the Six Primordial Elements in order to use more powerful spells than the ones commonly used by mages.

This type of magic was originally just another discipline of Summoning, but as it was developed by people who chose to specialize in it, Spirit Magic became its own school.

This type of magic is no doubt powerful, however as powerful as it may be, it has a lot of downsides too…

For starters, spirits are living sentient beings, and they are pretty much just as whimsical as fairies. Because of that, your spells would be entirely dependent on the mood of the spirits that day. How much the spirits like the user is also a huge factor.

So, you would have to be extra friendly with spirits and make sure to keep them in a good mood to cast any spells.

This leads us to its biggest flaw and the reason why it is such rare magic... You obviously need to be able to see spirits to use spirit magic.

All the books I've read on the matter all agree that it is a very slow and steady process to gain the ability to see them as well as get in their good graces. Some books say that the whole process may take a few years or even decades. 

"My original plan was to have Laura summon either Ifrit or Undine as a way to make contact with Lia as I knew that those two had gone with her when she disappeared with the demons in tow." Catris explained.

Ifrit and Undine… 

There's another thing I must mention, just like the Grades of Magic, there's also a hierarchy among spirits.

To make a long story short, the more powerful a spirit is, the more connected nature the spirit will be. While the majority of spirits are supposedly blurry figures of colored lights according to the books, most of them can obtain a physical form if they are powerful enough.

Both Ifrit and Undine are the most highly ranked spirits as well as the most powerful in the Fire Element and the Water Element. In other words, those two are the personification of their elements.

I once heard from Lia that Ifrit lived in one of the many volcanoes near Bassand and served as a guardian for the entirety of Gliosis, but I wasn't aware that Undine was also living in Gliosis…

"Unbelievable… To be able to summon those two… I never imagined that Laura would be so skilled that she could do something like that…" I expressed my admiration for my new auntie and fellow reincarnator.

Handling a normal spirit is apparently hard enough for most users according to the books I read, so handling the embodiment of an entire element is nothing but something worthy of the utmost respect.

That means I was wrong about her and she would have definitely kicked my ass if she had summoned either Ifrit or Undine…

"She's not quite there yet either… Just like Sarana, Laura has the potential of pulling off such a feat." Catris shook her head in response to my thoughts. "In any case, after having Laura make contact with Lia, the next step was to have Sarana break Melius's seal with her magic while Lia and I supported her with our divinity. With both Melius and Lia together, it would be easy to restore our former faction and handle Agmos." Catris nodded to herself as she finished telling me her plan.

"I understand… It was a well-thought plan and it was definitely well executed until now." I said to Catris with approval.

Sure, I could think about a few flaws in her plan, but it was still a pretty solid plan. Yes, the plan was dependent on both Sarana and Laura becoming master magicians before the day of the lunar eclipse, where Melius's sealing place would be accessible, but if everything Catris told me about their potential was true and as long as Agmos remained ignorant about their existence, those two would be able to reach that level of proficiency before that.

"I wish it was as well thought as you say it is..." Catris shook her head. "Ever since I reincarnated the two of them, there isn't a single day where I didn't feel guilty about selfishly depending on them for my plan to succeed without even telling them anything. Every day I thought to myself that I should just maybe forget about the whole plan and let them live their new lives in peace. No matter how I tried to reassure myself, I've always wavered…" Catris once again looked ashamed of herself.

Before I could even think about something to say back to her, Catris raised her head and looked me directly into my eyes.

"But all that changed when Lia contacted me again and I learned about your existence..." Catris spoke with a hopeful tone.

"Me? I can understand making contact with Lia changing everything, but why me?" I tilted my head to show my confusion.

"You have the same desire as me… You want to get rid of Agmos for the sake of getting back what you have lost." Catris' eyes were fixated on me. "I hate how horrible the world has become thanks to Agmos and his minions… I want to get back the life I lost thanks to them, but I know it is too late for that… Instead, I want revenge just like you… Because of that, I would like to ask you for a favor Julius…" Catris' voice was filled with both anxiety and hopefulness.

"What would that be?" I asked as I prepared myself to hear her request.

"Please accept me as your ally and help me make Agmos pay…" She bowed to me with utmost respect… "I am not capable of fighting and I am not the smartest out there like Lia, and I have done nothing but cause you trouble, but for the sake of getting the people I love back together, I will still fight. I don't want to spend the rest of eternity living with fear and regret… I don't want to risk Laura's and Saranas's new lives for a war that was never theirs… So, please… Will you accept this useless troublesome goddess even if she has too little to offer?" She asked with a pleading tone, her head basically glued to the table as she continued to bow to me.

…

…

…

Hmm… It seems like I have been misjudging Catris all this time…

I had some conflicting feelings towards the Goddess of Love, mainly anger because of what she did with Auntie and me and the fact that she made Lia lie to me again, however, I currently can only feel pity as well as admiration towards her.

"Truly… All this time, I genuinely thought that you were a selfish happy-go-lucky goddess who never stopped to think about the consequences of her actions, especially when those actions directly affected others such as myself, for example… For weeks, I intended to give you a piece of my mind and punish you severely…" I spoke to Catris as I stood up from my seat and walked toward her.

Well, even if I wanted to punish her, I don't think I can do such a thing now. She has been struggling with regret on her own for thousands of years. After all, any punishment I tried to impose on her would just leave me with a sour taste in my mouth since I believe she has suffered enough.

Also, I've only known a handful of people that could open up themselves in front of others just like that... For me, that in itself is worthy of admiration. Catris has that in common with Claire, which was one of the things that made me fall for her. 

Both Lia and Reginleif, who had remained silent for most of the conversation, were looking at me with expectation.

"However, I've just realized that I definitely misjudged you, Catris." I said as I kept my eyes on the Goddess who was still bowing. 

Yeah, she might not have any combat capabilities as Lia said, but I believe that she's strong in her own right. She's a kind and gentle tormented soul who knows how to recognize her faults, someone who's not afraid of opening herself up to someone else, and someone who would not hesitate in the slightest to defend her friends. 

Because of that and other reasons, I think she's very strong. After all, I don't think I could've lived for thousands of years with the regret she had to carry if I were in her shoes, much less think of a plan to rectify her mistakes and reconcile with her dear friend.

"Jeez… What's up with all these goddesses bowing to a simple mortal like me? I thought that deities were supposed to be all proud and imposing! So for starters, raise your head, Catris." I quipped as I shoot a few glances at Lia. She immediately averted her gaze and seemed a little embarrassed.

I wanted to chuckle, but I held that back since this was a serious moment. I just smiled as I watched Catris reluctantly raise her head to look at me again.

"It has been hard for you, hasn't it? To be alone all that time..." My smile softened as I stood in front of Catris and started patting her head to comfort her.

For a moment, the Goddess in front of me looked stunned, as if she couldn't understand what was happening… But then, after a few seconds of me comforting her, the Goddess practically jumped from her seat, quickly wrapping her arms around my stomach and hugging me tightly. She looked like she was on the verge of crying once again.

"It was…" The two words she finally managed to utter were filled to the brim with emotion. By regret and sadness, mostly.

"There, there…" I kept patting the head of the teary goddess while smiling at her. "I promise that you will not be alone anymore, okay?" I said to Catris.

I mean, even after all her shenanigans, she's still Lia's friend and I can't just leave her alone.

Though logically, considering the situation we are currently in with Gliosis under siege by a swarm of very angry angels, more allies will always be more than welcome.

My words were initially met with silence… It took a few moments for Catris to reply.

"You mean it…?" Even though she could read my mind, she wanted to know if I was being serious.

"Unlike you, I usually don't lie, unless I need to do so. I also generally don't make others lie for my sake. So yeah, I truly mean it." I said playfully while pinching her cheek.

Of course, most of that statement was a lie since my whole family and I was hiding my true identity for the sake of my safety. But I wasn't lying about accepting Catris.

Anyway, because Catris started reminding me of Claire when we first met, I couldn't help myself but do the one thing that always cheered her up… Teasing her as much as humanly possible and some pampering. Lots of pampering.

"You're so mean… You said that you weren't mad about it…" Despite her words, Catris was smiling brightly as she pushed her head towards my hand and nuzzled against it.

"Well, if you're going to become my ally, you'll have to get used to it. As you said, I can be very petty at times and I'm feeling very petty right now." I simply kept patting her head with my free hand while smiling at the goddess in front of me.

"Girls won't like you if you're mean to them…" Catris said shyly with a big smile on her face while I pampered her.

"I don't know about that… There's quite a few of them that really don't mind that apparently." I couldn't help but jokingly bragged a little.

"You're lucky that you're cute! Otherwise, I'd curse you with ten years of bad luck in your love life for bragging in front of the goddess who rules over love!"  Catris laughed before a warm genuine smile appeared on her face. She was still nuzzling against my hand.

After that short little exchange, Catris was back to her genuine playful self. I was glad that my efforts had paid off and that she looked happy again.

"Welcome aboard, Catris! Despite all of your antics, I'm glad to have you on our side." I smiled back at her, thinking that everything was good now.

Of course, little did I know that everything wasn't all good as I thought…

Catris' smile suddenly disappeared from her face and she just stared at me… "No fair… You've been smiling at me like that so many times now… It's simply not good for me…" Catris mumbled.

"Umm… Are you alright? Did I say something weird?" I asked with concern, thinking that she was about to have a breakdown or something.

"Catris, No! We talked about this!" Suddenly, Lia rose from her seat and warned her friend who was acting weird all of a sudden. She was quick to notice that something was up.

"But it is not fair that you get to hoard him…" Catris decided to give me another tight hug. She was resting her head against my shoulder.

I was somehow ignored…

"He's my apostle and mine alone! I only agreed to have you as our ally and as our friend, but I won't share him with you!" Lia got surprisingly territorial about me…

"Can I also get involved in this conversation please?" I asked politely while the Goddess of Love started nuzzling against me.

"But it wouldn't do any harm… There are already two of you… And he already said in his mind that the more the merrier, right?" Catris was pouting as she tried to convince Lia.

"That's different! Those halves are actually me, so it is not a valid argument! And he was talking about allies, you big dummy!" Lia shouted at Catris.

I was somehow ignored yet again…

I don't know what is happening, but this might turn into a dangerous situation if they start fighting… Will I be alright? I'm in the middle of the crossfire after all…

"Well, I don't care. I want him now too." Catris said childishly as she pulled me closer to her. 

As soon as she did that, I got a bad feeling about the whole situation… I realized that shit was about to go down…

"Oh no you don't, you fucking traitor!" Lia immediately tried to do whatever she could to get Catris away from me, but it was apparently too late…

"Julius, my heart and soul are yours forever, in life and immortality, in victory and defeat, in sickness and in health, and in happiness and in misery…" Catris quickly started to whisper some extremely familiar words in my ear… "For listening to the regrets of this useless and pathetic goddess, for accepting me as I am, for granting me your forgiveness, and lastly, for helping me fulfill my wish, I vow to protect you with all my feeble might and to hold you dear until the end of time. Whatever desire your heart might have, I shall grant it. No matter what troubles you, I shall provide you comfort. And no matter what ails you, I shall heal your heart and mind… With my divine authority as the Goddess who rules over every form of love, I vow to love you above everyone else for eternity." Catris continued to whisper in my ear something that definitely sounded like the things a priest says before marrying a couple…

Immediately after she finished whispering, a pale pink light engulfed the two of us.… Then after that, I felt a strange pressure over my chest… It was almost as if my heart had skipped a beat… No… It was almost as if it had beaten so many times so rapidly that it seemed like it had skipped a beat…

But then something even stranger happened… An ethereal red thread made out of pure mana came out from my chest, exactly where my heart is supposed to be. A similar one had come out of Catris' chest too… The two red threads were immediately wrapped against our pinkies as I was staring with awe at what was happening.

The connection I had felt when Catris talked to me in the hallway was now hundreds of times stronger than before. My connection with Catris was now just as strong as it was with Lia.

The moment I realized that the threads disappeared…

I was at a loss for words thanks to that feeling. For a moment, I could feel a heart beating wildly, but… It wasn't mine.

"With this, our alliance and our friendship shall be forever sealed." Catris wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head against my shoulder again.

"Catris… Did you just marry us…?" I asked with befuddlement and concern while listening to the new second heartbeat.

"I mean, I would be happy if that was the case, but no, we are not married. At least, not for now~." Catris spoke with a little bit of embarrassment but a great deal of shamelessness. "Though I understand why it might feel that way to you… After all, just like you are connected with Lia, we are connected in the same manner… Both our hearts and souls are connected now! Speaking of which, your heartbeat is so relaxing and so reassuring… I never knew such a thing could exist~!" Catris seemed to finally feel at peace.

"Umm… So did you get us married or not…?" My mind was a little overwhelmed trying to process what had just happened…

Her words definitely seemed like the vows of a bride! No… Even the part of our heart and souls being connected doesn’t essentially mean marriage!?

"If that's what you want then I'm definitely on board about making it official! You'll have to grow up and become an adult before that can happen, my silly buttercup~! Until then, you will just be my beloved apostle that I will spoil rotten!" Catris looked me in the eyes and smiled from ear to ear.

Catris then started giggling to herself and looking pretty overjoyed as she placed her hand over her chest, to listen to my heartbeat as well as her own… It was obvious that she was over the moon about all of this… However, there was someone who wasn't as ecstatic as Catris was…

Just a few moments later, the temperature in the room suddenly dropped to absolute zero…

A hand suddenly grabbed Catris by the head… That same hand then raised her entire body into the air as if it was nothing and then dragged her away from me…

"You…" Lia spoke with a voice that would definitely cause me nightmares later. "I was being nice because we are close friends and I had the understanding that Julius would be my apostle while those two girls would be yours… Do you have anything to say in your defense, traitor? Give me one reason not to make you carry this whole world on your shoulders like Atlas is doing with Earth…" She increased the pressure on her grasp, threatening to crush Catris' skull…

"Everything is fair in love and war?" Catris didn't seem to care and just replied happily.

"Wrong answer." Lia said coldly as she decided to actually crush Catris' skull…

I couldn't do anything other than watch in horror as I started to hear the cracking sounds coming from Catris…

"It doesn't matter what you do to me! I'm so happy that I don't feel any kind of pain!" Catris replied cheekily, not caring about the disturbing sounds coming from her.

"Oh my, is that so?" Lia asked, her voice ever so terrifying. "How about you and I take this conversation elsewhere? This is hardly the place for us to have such an important conversation and I'd hate to ruin Julius' birthday with a gruesome sight… What do you say, my dearest friend?" Lia was becoming even scarier by the second.

"Sure thing! We do need to discuss the logistics of sharing the same apostle and our future course of action! Oh! I also need to tell everything about our plans to Sarana and Laura as well as break the news of Julius being their new fellow apostle! I don't really know what to say, so would you help me with that, Lia?" Catris agreed with a happy-go-lucky smile... It was like seeing a small innocent lamb being taken straight to the slaughterhouse…

"But of course, my friend! Let us discuss things far away from here. In a very quiet place also known as the vastness of deep space." Lia's warm smile didn't reach her eyes… "Julius, please hang out and have fun for a bit with Leif… Catris and I will be back shortly, okay?" Lia spoke to me with a friendly tone before she started walking out of the room with Catris in tow.

"We'll be back in a bit!" Catris spoke with excitement despite her current predicament. "Hey Lia, do you think I can move in here? We could hang out all the time and Julius wouldn't need to divide his time to see the two of us!" Catris was definitely abnormally excited about all of this…

"Of course you can move in, Catris! Only if you survive our conversation, that is!" Lia said happily. I didn't need to read her mind to know that she was planning something terrible…

After that exchange, I could no longer see nor hear Catris or Lia, but I could still feel Catris' heart which was still beating as wildly as before…

"There's a lot to unpack about this entire meeting, but I don't think I have the mental capacity to do so right now…" I muttered to myself while looking at the open door.

I couldn't understand how my birthday party had gone south so suddenly…

"I agree… Maybe Lord Zeus and Lord Odin were not actually exaggerating that much about Lady Lia… I never thought she would be the jealous type..." Reginleif spoke with a deadpan tone. "Anyway, let's not mind these two goddesses and their antics, and let's just have some fun by ourselves!" Her facial expression immediately brightened.

"Ummmm… You think Catris will be alright?" I asked with increasing concern.

"I'm sure she will be fine! Gods are really a tough bunch even if they are weak, you know? I mean, they are gods for a reason. If you don't believe me, you could even ask the Gods of Earth since most of them apparently survived Lia's rampages during their war." Reginleif giggled while reassuring me. "In fact, that reminds me of the time Thor made me decapitate him to somehow prove his strength and immortality when I was a valkyrie in training. I could tell you that story you want." She smiled warmly at me before moving her chair closer to mine.

Hold up… She decapitated Thor…? As in the God of Thunder…? One of the most powerful gods in Norse Mythology?

At that moment, as I stared at Reginleif with disbelief, a huge explosion of energy shook the world around us…

"Maybe some other time…" I shook my head slowly.

"Fair enough! For now, let's laugh at some memes while we eat some cake!" She handed me her phone before she started cutting what was left of the cake.

"That sounds like a plan." I nodded in agreement, still trying to understand what had happened just a few moments ago...

"Oh! I also brought a little something with me to have more fun!" Reginleif suddenly pulled a familiar and nostalgic object from her pocket… It was a handheld console. "Tada~! Doesn't this bring back some memories? Let's play some Smack Siblings on this Sintendo Nwitch later!" She made a show of her displaying an old console I had when I was a child in my previous life.

"Careful, Reginleif… You're courting death!" I warned her. "I thought that you should know that I was the king of Smack Siblings back in my hometown!" I said to her with a cocky attitude. 

I was still really proud of my skills at the game even though I hadn't played in more than a decade.

Wait… Sintendo Nwitch… Smack Siblings… Fifteen years ago… Ugh… I feel like I'm so close to finding out about Reginleif's true identity, but something's missing… I need just one more clue…

"Menacing~. I hope you're not all talk then, Julius, because I'm hoping for a real challenge!" Reginleif was pleased.

"Just you watch!" I smiled proudly.

Reginleif and I started playing a game on my favorite old console while ignoring the continuous energy explosions shaking everything around us.

Chapter 47: Meeting with the Goddesses (Part II)...

END

GodlyKamui

Heya! New chapter! How are y'all doing? I want to apologize in advance for the length of this chapter, but I got inspired by a muse so I couldn't waste the opportunity to write as much as I could after squeezing my creative juices!

Now as for the chapter, I originally wanted to take a more comical approach to Catris since her personality is so playful, but then I thought: "how does that fit in a serious situation like the schism? Why would she abandon Lia if they were so close to each other?"... After asking myself those questions, I reworked the entire chapter to expose the regret of someone who chose poorly. I'm not going to lie, I'm very pleased with the result because it makes Catris feel like an actual person instead of just some comical relief. It took a while to finish writing this chapter, but I'm satisfied.

I don't have much to say about the rest of the chapter other than I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Please don't forget to comment and leave some hearts since that motivates me to continue writing the story! Also, join the discord to talk about the story! Here's the link: https://discord.gg/uH6APbzrFR