RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

4:30 It Should Have Been Obvious

Morgan watched the cultivators and pawns it had under its proverbial thumb as they set about rebuilding their tiny, insignificant "nation" within the safety of the Hidden Realm. Whispers ran through them, it knew, for it had placed some of the whispers there. They were restless. The war had given them another taste of violence, of carnage and warfare, and now they were willing and ready for more, the darkness of their hearts driving their greed and hunger.Some turned their attention to the Celestial Empire, the throne all but vacated now. The Celestial Empress had ascended to godhood, and now the people below were starting to actively grow their powerbases, and look toward each other as rivals, no longer as fellow people beneath the one Empress. Others greedily and ambitiously turned their gazes to the Heaven and Karmic Realms, instinctively knowing that the gods who made them, the Big Four, were beginning their own works as well. They eyed the Holy Mountains, the Trees, and the Karmic Valleys of the lesser regions, already plotting how to take them over, if it was even within their grasp.

The Original Sin, put off for so long, was starting, brewing, and it was going to be a doozy, Morgan knew. Like a lake held back by a dam for too long; it was going to surge forth with even greater strength than it would have originally. But this was not what Morgan was paying the closest attention to, for it did not care about the whims of mortals and the coming breaking of the Golden Age.

No, it cared more about the mortals who were eyeing the One World, and were already developing techniques and devices to help them get to the other universe to raid it for its land and riches and energy. Some of the more enterprising ones had captured bits of One World energy to experiment on, keeping it stored in stones and attempting to use it as weaponry, or a power source, or anything else. There was little headway, but there was headway. Morgan bared its teeth in a smile, spidery limbs tip-tapping against the walls of its Hidden Realm.

The One World’s energy was woefully inferior to the Four Realms, but that interest would suit its goals nicely. Which led it to its current destinations – one particularly ambitious specimen of its Immortal People, the Dimensional Creators.

The Dimensional Creators were minor being, if it was honest with itself. They were best at expanding its realm, but had been but a curiosity until this point. It stalked forward, paws padding silently on the stone, fire-attuned ground as it circled the dim, instinctual being. This Dimensional Creator looked like little more than a ball of transparent orange glass, floating in the air with tendrils of white-ish light reaching out to dig into reality before it, carving away sections to be replaced by fire stone. For some reason, this one had decided it only liked fire, and as such, attuned the spaces it carved to that element.

It had also decided that it wanted to dig in a single direction, a line instead of the looping curves that most of its brethren tended to dig in. It wanted a single path, not the maze-like nests others preferred, likely because it was one of the ones Morgan had used to cut into the One World and ambush Alala.

The Great One tended to not like it when Morgan decided the fate of mortals and immortals and other lesser beings on its own. Freewill and all that, and Their strictness was back in full force now that the war was over so it couldn’t act as freely. But if it just so happened to nudge the Dimensional Creator in a certain direction? Guide it along a path Morgan wanted it to follow, that it was already meandering along and teasing at? Well, what was the harm in that? Morgan wasn't forcing anyone to do anything, merely encouraging.

Likewise, It just so happened that the Great One had not forbidden travel between universes. In fact, They had expressly allowed it for gods of sufficient power. And Morgan intended to wholly abuse that - The One World had earned its punishment for daring to defy the Great One, daring to attempt to trick and befuddle Them. It would drain that universe of everything that made it useful - of which it was all inferior, for it did not come from the Great One - and grind it into nothingness.

Or so it wanted. But it knew deep in its heart that the Great One would not like that and would reprimand Morgan for even attempting such an act, so it would settle for its agents doing the same thing. The Great One was very strict when it came to Morgan doing whatever it wanted, but very loose when it came to mortals. A loophole it intended to exploit maliciously through its agents.

"Now if only the Great One wouldn't wake up the pretty bitch and give away that which is rightfully Theirs, things would be much better," it growled, stepping away from the Dimensional Creator so as not to scare the stupid thing, and alter its path. Morgan padded away, space warping around it, time stuttering as it warped itself around the Hidden Realm. Entire worlds had fallen into the Hidden Realm during the collision, planets slowly spinning in place while illuminated by the glowing walls of elements.

Some were barren rock. Some had entire civilizations on them, civilizations that were now isolated from the greater Celestial Empire and the outlying Regions still under their control. For cultivators, the few hundred years they'd been in the Hidden Realm now was little to no time at all. Not even enough for a single generation of non-cultivating Fae to live out their mortal lives, but eventually? That would be more for Morgan to use in its plans.

That was the difference between the One World and the Four Realms, the Great One's vision and the Beauty Bitch's false sight. The Great One had created something eternal. She had created something transient and fragile. Morgan could at least take pride in that even if the Four Realms didn't really matter to it.

Morgan huffed as it watched the planet spin, suddenly vengeful and angry. Its spidery limbs tapped in a rapid rhythm on the ground as it debated annihilating the planet; all it would take would be a simple breath, or perhaps it could rewind time until it fell back into being nothing but dust. But no. It had to control itself. It had to be the one to see the truth.

The Great One argued that this was not a conquest, and that was why They were giving away the Authority. They were trying to sell the idea to Themselves, go against the instincts that told Them to keep it all. Morgan supposed that was partially correct, as much as it pained it to admit; it was not a conquest of the One World so much as a reclamation, taking back the time, the effort, the growth that the Oshun had stolen. But at the same time, it didn't see what They meant at all.

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Morgan's eight eyes narrowed. Perhaps They saw something that everyone else did not, or they were being obstinate. The question was which. Maybe both. Or neither. In the end, it didn't matter. The Great One was being stubborn, and Morgan would have to be the one to knock some sense into Them or, barring that, make sure they are seeing sense.

However, it paused. Instead of rushing off to go fight a war it knew it would lose, but still needed to be fought, it turned its attention elsewhere. To one of its so-called siblings, hovering on the cusp of a realization it had known from the very beginning.

An idea came to mind. It may not have to be the one to physically test the Great One. Perhaps someone else could, this time.

Space warped, and it teleported outside of the Four Realms, not quite to the One World and the full attention of the Great One, who was momentarily distracted by helping the Oshun, and the War God Atreum. Here, between the Four Realms and the One World, was nothing but crap. Empty space of a hollow world, the remains of what had once been a sad excuse for an afterlife drifting in the darkness. Even worse, were its so-called siblings’ constructs. They were worthless buildings that had yet to even have a properly formulated plan, and, quite frankly, was missing the one element that made the Four Realms great.

"Morgan," Alexander rumbled, the overgrown lizard scowling at nothing and very clearly unhappy to see it.

"Your skills of creation are terrible," Morgan snarled back, scowling at the mess he had made. Had he learned nothing from the Great One? Their lessons were all right there in front of him, laid out on a silver platter throughout his entire life, and yet he still could not see it. How stupid.

"I am not in the mood for your games, wolf," Alexander snapped, turning to narrow his large, rainbow-colored eyes at Morgan. Golden flames licked from between his teeth dangerously, irritation made manifest. "Speak what you have come here to say, or leave,"

"I would not have come here if I had any choice, but I could not bear to watch you struggle any longer." Morgan said, instantly losing the snarl in favor of a much more calm demeanor. While being abrasive was good for ticking off the dragon usually, when he was all worked up like this it was better to play the voice of reason. Why? Because it was more agitating, and Morgan lived to annoy them since it could no longer attempt to kill them.

"As I said, I have no time for your mind games. I have this to finish, and a meeting with another angry dragon to think of." Alexander told it. Morgan scoffed.

"Angry dragon? You mean the arrogant one with the black scales. She is no more of a concern than the mud beneath the Great One's feet. She, too, will be brought to heel beneath the Heavens." Morgan rolled its eyes, and something in Alexander predictably snapped. In an instant the distance between them was cross, Alexander's teeth snapping right before Morgan’s face. Heat from his maw distorted space and time itself, Morgan’s chosen domain flickering and fading before the might of the Spirit Dragon.

That was fine. It had chosen time to show the Great One that time did not limit Them, but that domain was not its deepest power.

Besides, the Alexander was a mere part of the Great One. One fourth, to be exact, a facet of Their greatness. The Dragon and the Warrior. Why would that make Morgan fear anything about him? It had bested Alexander before, and a shard of the Great One was only a shard. It wanted to ensure They stayed whole.

"You will not speak of that which you know nothing about. Sehuyun is a mighty being, and although she is blinded by pride, you will not underestimate her. Her roar is that of a true Dragon, and a Dragon is a being to be feared." He said with deathly calm, despite the rage etched upon his draconic features, and the fire spilling from his mouth with each word.

Morgan bared its teeth in disgust, nose wrinkling and spidery limbs folding neatly against its back as it sat down.

"And yet here you are, playing dragon when you can't even master your own Roar. How inadequate you must feel." Morgan taunted, sneering at him. Alexander flinched, a full-bodied thing that had his tail thrashing and head pulling away so he was no longer in Morgan's face. Genuine hurt flashed across his features, that was quickly replaced by raw fury. Morgan forged ahead, while the iron was still hot and the dragon still reeling. "I do not see why you are so enamored with the false dragon. Years you spent under her direct tutelage, viewing her nest, and still you cannot use your roar? She must be impressive indeed, to have failed at that." How Morgan did love sarcasm; the ability to turn a compliment into something scathing was an ability to be envied.

Alexander ground his teeth together and sharply turned away, facing his so-called creation once again, the mess of energy and crap that had no distinct shape or form. Morgan let the silence sit for a while, letting the dragon's thoughts stew.

"Where else would I learn?" Alexander asked quietly, not to Morgan, but to the universe at large. Morgan stared at the dragon as if he was stupid because, frankly, he was, and that was a stupid question.

"The greatest dragon in existence lays well within reach, and you genuinely ask that?" It deadpanned. "You are dumber than I thought."

Alexander whirled for just a moment, confused, then realization dawned visibly, his entire body shuddering. If the dragon had the ability to flush from embarrassment, Morgan would bet it would be.

"I cannot ask Father for help constantly." Alexander said, though the complaint fell absolutely, deadly hollow. Why was Morgan the only rational one amongst them? Worse, why was Reika the only other one to have figured this out yet?

"Since when," Morgan drawled, enunciating each syllable as if he was speaking to a particularly slow child. "Have you had to ask for help? You are surrounded by Them, fool. They are always there. I should start calling you Fool." And with that, it teleported away, vanishing back into the Hidden Realm and leaving Alexander with his thoughts.

Now, all it had to do was wait.

***

Alexander sat in space, mulling over the words Morgan had spoken. The problem was, it was not wrong. He didn’t need to ask for aid from Father, and that was not just because Father would help no matter what. It was because Father’s Heavenly Dao was everywhere; He was always present in one way or another.

Alexander sucked in a deep breath, and looked inward, at the shape of himself. He knew what he wanted to build, deep down. Its shape was still unknown to him, but the first Truth was foremost in his mind. He didn’t want to just build a house, or a place to live, or a simple Realm. He didn’t want to dig holes or tie together Realms as the Spirit Realm did. He had done those things before, and now it was time to try something new. Something for him, with Father’s help.

He wanted to build a [Ho-]

He cut the thought off before it could finish, feeling the word build up in his chest like the fire from his lungs. Alexander blinked rapidly, soul shaking as he realized what that had been, what it was going to become.

Reika had known. She’d known this whole time, and she hadn’t said anything, opting to let them figure it out on their own Alexander’s scowl deepened. There was taking after Father, then there was being intentionally vague and obstinate and withholding information. He would not be Reika, because some part of him knew that they all needed to speak together. It would be incomplete otherwise or, worse, not

Incarnations split off, immediately teleporting to Keilan and Elvira to share with them his revelation, the revelation that was holding them all back, and he waited to feel Father’s gaze upon him for tapping into the Heavenly Dao so hard.

It never came. Even as Elvira and Keilan’s eyes lit up with understanding, Reika, who had been with Keilan boating in the Karmic Realm rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious, Father’s attention never came.

Somehow, that was more reassuring than if He had paid full attention.