Ultimately, there are none like him. That is all to be said on the matter. If one wishes to list qualities and characteristics, then so be it. It doesn’t matter.

None would have the gall to claim themselves as Divinity’s Patriarch, and yet here he is.

– Excerpt from the private Diary of Goddess Helenna, of Love.

Travelling to a foreign land always needed sampling of the local products. Arascus opened the cabinet in the penthouse hotel room he and Kavaa had been assigned. He inspected today’s batch that had been procured from the assistants in the office set up here. Arascus looked over the bottles as he thought of today’s meetings. The government here had been paralyzed by the Docking Rights Treaty, then yesterday Arascus had proposed a cultural exchange program. Either the UNN would send a party to the Empire or vice-versa, it did not matter, he just wanted to get everyone on the same page.

Today, he had invited the UNN to the Imperial Games. Tomorrow, Clerical formalization would come into effect and they would be done here. Kavaa’s Order being in the UNN was the true prize and there document was filled with so many addendums that it gave the Goddess of Health effectively unlimited power to modify her own laws and regulations as she saw fit. Arascus allowed himself the pleasure of satisfaction at how smoothly things were coming along here.

The door opened. Arascus did not even bother locking it. There was no way this room was not spied on. Etala had not managed to build enough trust for that and even if Etala’s as good was as Maisara’s, then the government here was largely independent. It was similar to the Imperial Bureau model save for one large difference: cooperation. The Bureaus were purposefully fashioned to be entirely specialized, Divine Affairs was the only Bureau with Divines and it had Divines only. Infrastructure had Transport below it and Transport was the only Bureau that managed the road networks. When a laboratory from Rilia wanted to send some experiment or prototype to a laboratory in Doschia, they would go through the Bureau of Transport and the BoT had offices set up ready to handle orders from the whole Empire. Here, it looked like every Department of Government existed to function independently. Arascus would not even be surprised if it turned out there were multiple, competing police forces in the UNN. Even if Etala was admirable, then someone in her state would not be.

And that did not even matter. Ciria was here. If no one was spying on them, then Ciria was spying on them. Arascus picked out a bottle of Caster’s Cast. The top of the bottle was covered in red wax, that looked fancy. “How was the day?” Arascus brought out two glasses.

Kavaa shut the door behind her, locked it as she always did, and stood on the floormat for a few moments. Grey eyes framed by grey hair stared at Arascus. If there was anything this trip had done for the two of them, for her especially, it was that Arascus got to see how the Goddess of Health actually lived. She snapped back at him. “How do you think?”

“Sounds great.” Arascus said. He showed off the bottle and looked down her black uniform. Blood was splashed over her hands and it discoloured the sleek fabric around her wrists. “Looks like you have a story.”

Kavaa made a small, sarcastic shake of her head and rolled her eyes as she started to unbutton her coat. “A builder fell over and impaled himself on rebar. They couldn’t get him out so they brought him with the metal in him.”

Arascus opened the bottle as Kavaa hung the coat up, she had a white shirt underneath. That too was stained with blood. “And?”

“I don’t know Arascus. And I just don’t know.” Kavaa said. “What do you think happened? Tell me, what do you think happened? What do you think that the Goddess of Health can do?” Arascus started pouring the drink. No doubt this was the behaviour that had destroyed her reputation in the White Pantheon. “Pray say, what can the measly little Goddess of Health do? I’ve healed Divines, they’ve seen me fucking regrow limbs. They’ve fucking seen me bring bodies back borderline-brain death. I’ve fucking cured paralysis here! Regrew spines! Do you know someone else who does that? No! Of course not! There’s me and then there’s who? There’s me and there’s Clerics with my power!”

“So what did you do?” Arascus asked in a musing tone. She was ranting so quickly he had only gotten around to pouring his own.

“Oh I don’t know! What could I do? What do you think I did? What a challenge Arascus? What a fucking impossible challenge. Rearranging a spine is one thing but pulling rebar out of someone? No. Fucking impossible that. Wow. Stitching a flesh wound. You need a Goddess of Health for that. The useless fucking pricks forgot they had hands.” Kavaa shouted as she tried to kick her boots off. Arascus kept the dress code amongst high Divinity loose as long as it was professional. Kavaa had always been one that preferred the calf-high infantry boot over the heel. Arascus almost spilled the drink as he watched her try to kick it off and the angrily hiss. “FUCK!” She shouted and then turned as if she was about to kick and put a hole in the wall.

“You have laces.” Arascus said and Kavaa stopped. Her grey hair flared out like a glorious cape of morning fog as her eyes landed on Arascus.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” She said and Arascus did not even bother reacting. They went through this ritual everyday in different ways. But she stood there and did nothing.

Arascus tapped one glass and took the other. “I’m not going to undo your laces for you.” He said and leaned back on the counter.

“Fuck off.” Kavaa hissed back and knelt down to start angrily taking her boots off.

Arascus made a whimsical sigh. “What an attitude.” He mused to no one in particularly and Kavaa stood back up to still kick her boots off.

“Spare me.” She had stopped shouting. That was the anger coming out then. She looked down at her black trousers and rubbed a spot that had blood on and hissed another curse. Arascus waited with the drink in his hand as neatly set her boots by the side of the door and caught him watching her again. “What?”

“Nothing.” Arascus said. Frankly, he wanted to see how far he could push it. “Cute.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kavaa replied although there was none of that usual, genuine bile in her tone. She raised her head to the drink at the table. “What’s that?” Arascus pointed to the bottle of Caster’s Cast with its red wax he needed to break through to open it. “Gin or Whiskey?”

“Whiskey.”

Kavaa rolled her eyes in disappointment. “Then it can wait. I’m going for a shower first.” Arascus stood and waited for her to return as he listened to the water running and the Goddess crashing about in the room. This shared accommodation had not even been part of the plan. It was probably Ciria’s doing or maybe one of the mortals had been given too much excitement to ponder on.

The God looked into his glass and smelled the drink. They weren’t children though, both had seen their fair share of life. Maybe Arascus had seen more but Kavaa was certainly no giddy child. When she had heard the news, she had just gone blank and rolled her eyes. Soldiers and Clerics shared their dorms too. Divines didn’t need to sleep but who had not been in a cave-in before? Or on one of the ancient wooden ships that were little more than a raft? Who had not held a meeting in a barn? True Divinity simply radiated itself. That was the difference them and a mere spirit.

And, all things considered, Arascus had been around worse company than Kavaa. As crass and vicious as she was in character, she knew to stick to herself and Arascus returned the favour by not pushing her. Let her rage and cool down and then settle down with a drink. That was one of the few orders he had given to her. If she stayed in Anver Hospital with the constant attention, another blowup would be a matter of when rather than an if. Already videos were surfacing online of her initial speeches to Etala and Ciria.

But at the end of the day, the theory and strategy mattered little. The main reason Arascus had not pushed the UNN with demands for better accommodation was the simple fact that Kavaa was entertaining.

The water in the bathroom stopped as Arascus’ mind began to travel to tomorrow. He knew he was pushing the UNN government and if this pace kept up, they would throw in the towel and slow down eventually. Already they were working a month’s backlog of information. Arascus pulled out his phone and began to write orders down to the bureaucrats that had come to ‘assist’ the Clerics. Stall the writing for now and focus on management of the men they were here to help officially. The Goddess of Health, her grey hair now the colour of nighttime’s fog, returned with a fresh set of clothes: shorts and a dark jumper. “Are you actually on your phone?” Kavaa hissed. This though, Arascus did not like.

But if he hit back, then she would not like it even more. “You take a while and I’m busy.” Arascus said.

“Oh well apologies for needing to wash! Don’t you know hospitals are full of germs?”

“One of them has waltzed back to me right now.” Arascus said under his breath, but still loudly enough for her to catch. He sent the order off and put his phone away. She was chewing her cheek and trying not to laugh. Not difficult at all, the style of humour was common enough amongst soldiers. “Here.” Arascus pointed to the glass waiting for her.

“Have you been holding that glass the entire time?” Sometimes though, she could push it. No surprise that she wasn’t popular in the White Pantheon.

“Kavaa you’ll be the first on the list when I’m looking for a nagging wife.” Arascus replied quickly and saw her blink in surprise. Colour came into her cheeks and she chewed her cheek again. Arascus raised a taunting eyebrow to see if she could come up with another of her little comments but she acquiesced, instead reaching for the glass.

“Alcoholic.” Kavaa said sarcastically and picked up her own drink.

“That makes two of us.” Arascus raised his. Whereas the furniture here had been upscaled for the size of Divines, the chairs, the bed Kavaa got and the couch Arascus rested on, somehow the UNN could procure them a Divine-sized fridge but they could not get Divine-sized drinking glasses. This was Ciria’s doing. Arascus did not even need to ask to know. They both emptied their entire glasses in one smooth motion. Arascus turned to the bottle: unoffensive. That’s what he would call it. Terribly unoffensive. The Allian whiskeys had a more refined taste and when it came to raw alcohol content, none beat the Lubskans.

“I want gin.” Of course she did. “Too sweet.”

“We have this bottle already.” Arascus said. The two full glasses had been a third of the bottle.

Kavaa set her glass down on the table. “Pour another then.” Arascus knew he should be more patient with her, but she had grown awfully comfortable with her own behaviour over the past few days.

“Your turn.”

“Very well.” She had enough manners to pour Arascus’ first and then her own.

“What did you just call me? Before we drank?” Arascus asked as he stared at the glasses. Somehow when she did it, she managed to fit half a bottle in them.

“Alcoholic.” Kavaa answered so flatly she could have been reporting an order.

“Mmh.” Arascus didn’t even bother.

“That’s a problem.” Kavaa said. One thing Arascus did like was that she hated spillages and mess just as much as he did. He pushed off the cabinet he had been leaning on and bent down to drink without disturbing the glass. A third went, and then he picked it up. Kavaa stared at him with cold eyes.

“What?”

“Do you expect me to do that?” Kavaa asked. This woman found problems in everything. Frankly, she would be excellent for Kassie. That one always needed problems solving and this one managed to find them out of mid-air.

“Why not?” This time, she did not respond. Her cheeks flushed again, with crimson this time. Arascus did not even know what the problem was but he said nothing. This certainly could not be it, who had not overfilled a glass before? The woman shook her head and grabbed the sides of her jumper to force it tight so that it would not fall. Arascus managed to hold the amusement until she took a drink. “Shut the fuck up.” Kavaa said. “Don’t even say what you’re going to say.”

“You know Kavaa.” Arascus purposefully made his tone stupid as he made a show of looking all around the room but at the Goddess of Health. “If you needed a shirt, you could have shouted.”

That set her off. Of course it would. Arascus didn’t even care. The entertainment went both ways. “I fucking told you to shut up!”

“I saw nothing.” Arascus followed up quickly.

“So you did look!”

“So I did.” Arascus said and Kavaa opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. She huffed and drank the rest of the glass.

“Hurry up.” Arascus drank his and felt the warmth settle in his stomach. Kavaa took the liberty of pouring the next two. No overfilling this time, there was enough left for the glasses to only be filled by half. And just like that, they both drank it.

Kavaa patted her stomach and pointed to the drinks cabinet. “Gin this time.” She said.

“Don’t have a hangover.” Arascus said it purely because it would be annoying.

“I cure hangovers.”

“What do you want?”

“Whatever. Gin. It’s shit here anyway. They can’t make it like the Allians.”

“Don’t tell Etala that.”

“Send a request for a Botanist so she can see what it should taste like.” Arascus looked through the gins. He picked out a bottle of Anver Brewer’s and opened it. Two glasses were filled to a reasonable degree and Kavaa’s mood immediately changed. She smelled the herby alcohol and didn’t even drink, just set it back down on the table. Arascus watched her sit and Kavaa shifted under his gaze. “This is one thing I don’t like.” She said.

“What?”

“You’re watching me.”

“Well I’m not going to be looking at the wall.” Arascus said and Kavaa shook her head with a sigh. It was offputting, Arascus knew, but as he watched Kavaa, she shifted again. She looked at him. Her grey eyes avoided his. She sipped her gin and made a frown. “You have something to say.” Arascus declared and Kavaa didn’t even argue back. She simply nodded instead. Arascus turned to her and brought out his own chair from the other side of the island in the middle of the living room that became a kitchen. “Well?” He asked as he sat down.

Kavaa slumped back into her chair and sighed heavily. Her grey eyes finally met Arascus. “Why do you even bother with me?”

Arascus let the silence hold for a moment. This question, he had come across from the Goddesses he had taken on as children. Whereas he taught them, they had also taught him. “Whatever answer I give will not be satisfactory to you.” Arascus replied, Kavaa held his gaze. “For all your weaknesses, I can name twice as many strengths, for all your petty annoyances you have double the petty amusement but that doesn’t matter. I bother because you’re worth bothering over.” Arascus pointed at her chest. He had done the same to Kassandora back in the day. “Kavaa is worth bothering over. That’s why.”

The Goddess of Health drank her glass in one go, set it on the table and shook her head. Those grey eyes became tinted with the reflections of tears again. This moment had to come eventually. It always did with Divines. “And?” She sounding as if she was begging?

“And that’s all Kavaa. You’re worth bothering over so I bother. That is all.” Arascus kept his tone definite.

“Is this how you treat all of them?” Kavaa asked.

Arascus explained as succinctly as he could. It wasn’t worth the words frankly and he didn’t want to talk to about it either, nor would Kavaa particularly care. “Fer has your sense of humour but not your behaviour. She just lives in the moment so I live with her. Malam I have gained the respect of, so the feeling is mutual. Anassa I pamper in a way no one would have the bravery to. Baalka is much the same, save the pampering is for whims rather than wine. Neneria, I sit and listen to. Olephia I tell stories to so that she doesn’t have to write responses back. With Iri, I share her smokes as we sit above and look down over it all.”

Kavaa watched him with tearful eyes. “An…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“And Kass?” Kavaa nodded. Arascus had left her out on purpose to keep her in the conversation. “With Kass, I let her lean on me and say nothing.” Kavaa smiled and wiped her tears. She made a gesture for the bottle and then pulled back. Reached for her glass, realised it was empty, and pushed it away. And with that, she crashed onto the table to try and hide her crying.

If there were any words Arascus did not want to hear. It was Kavaa’s. “Why isn’t she more like you?”

“Because Kassie is Kassie and I am me.” Arascus said. “And that’s all there is to it.” Arascus gave her time to answer. His phone began to buzz. Arascus pressed the button on its side to silence it.

“But why?”

And this problem was supposed to be diagnosed how exactly? Arascus stared at the mess of a Goddess before him as he searched for words. Only one set of words came to him and they did not even have any logic. It was pure instinct and intuition. “I trust you with Kass.”

That sent a wail through the room. A suffering howl of a banshee searching for a thing that she didn’t even know what it is was. Kavaa slammed the table as Arascus stood up and walked around to the Goddess of Health. From this point, it was her battle. In this state, there was nothing to say and nothing to gain. It just had to be ended. He put his hands under her shoulders and realised she wouldn’t move. “Kavaa. Stand up.” There was only gurgle of sounds in return.

If she wanted to act like his damn child, then Arascus would treat her like one. With one movement, Arascus pulled her chair back with the Goddess still low and squatted low. “Nooo…” Kavaa cried as Arascus put his hand across her back and another under her legs. And in the next moment, the God of Pride held the Goddess of Health in the air. He carried the crying girl back to her room as she buried her face into his chest.

And Arascus set her down on the bed with its blue silken sheets. He moved as gently as he could and slid his hands out. “Go to sleep Kavaa. Trust me, it will do you well.”

“No.” Kavaa said. Arascus stepped away, turned and heard shuffling. Feet touched floorboards. No. He could not leave her here. Arascus turned around and saw her looking up at him, hands clutched at her chest, tears streaming down from those grey eyes. In the darkness of this room, with the only being what streamed through the door, her still-wet hair glistened with the same intensity that Irinika’s eternal night did. “Wh-Why?” She mumbled.

“Turn around.” Arascus said. Kavaa nodded and did as told as Arascus closed the distance. He swept the blue sheets back. Kavaa took a step back and pressed into his back. He felt her against him even through her jumper. Maybe it would work on a lesser man. Not on him though. Arascus placed one hand between them and gently forced a gap. “Hands up.”

Kavaa put her hands into the air. Arascus grabbed the hem of her jumper and dragged it off the Goddess in one smooth movement. She tried to lean back again. Arascus stopped her with one hand and pulled her shorts off with the other. Child. Damn child. One large hand landed on her shoulder and he gently pushed her down onto the bed. Arascus stared into those grey eyes as he pulled the covers over her. Across the chest, put the arm in, under the chin. Then he pressed down on her stomach through the duvet so that she could feel something. “Stay Kavaa. Stay and sleep. It will be better.”

“Am I not…”

“Because you’re better than that.” Kavaa stared up at him and Arascus saw life glint through eyes again. There was no way she was going to sleep. No with this many questions still in her. Children, the lot of them. That pair of eyes staring up at him was another set of coals onto the fire of making this world into something they could live in.

No thought, pure instinct and intuition. “Close your eyes.” Arascus said gently. Kavaa smiled and closed her eyes. Arascus leaned down. “Now sleep Kavaa. Sleep, tomorrow we’ll talk.” He finished it with a gentle kiss on her forehead.

And she did not move. She just pretended to keep her eyes closed as Arascus stood over her. There was nothing else to be said. The God of Pride turned, left and shut the door to her room behind him.

What a night. What a meltdown. Arascus replayed the scenario in his head as he tried to think of what he could do better. One glass of gin was drank. It was utterly terrible. Another was poured. He had kept it professional though. This was a long-time coming. Tomorrow, she would not be going into work. Another glass of the terrible gin went down. Another was poured. Arascus sighed as he stared into his reflection in the brown liquid.

That fire raged within him. This is what Arda reduced one of its most precious deities to. He picked up the glass and drank it. Not fucking Order or Peace or some other inane ideal. He had seen deities cry, of course he had. He had seen Malam and Kassandora break down. He had watched Neneria beg to be granted a chance to live in this world. He had taken them on as daughters because they would stand with him, or they would fall themselves. But they were of Hatred and of War and of Death. A solace could be found, any world would reduce those deities to the states Arascus had found them in.

But of Health?

The glass hit the wall and shattered into shards.

What a cursed world.

If Ciria was truly spying on them and if she brought this up, then Arascus would strike her down where she stood. Her and her supporters and anyone else who stood in his way. The whole damn lot. He stared at the bottle of gin and finished it straight from the hatch.

And as he thought of, the fact his phone had buzzed crossed his mind. One time only. It was a daughter or it would be Iliyal then. Probably the elf. Anyone else wouldn’t have the self-control not to. The missed from Tremali, Iliyal revealed as much. Arascus called and the elf answered immediately.

“Arascus speaking, Iliyal.” Arascus said. “What is the issue?”

“Tartarus has breached the Sassara. I’ve ordered emergency mobilization. We’re within a month of surface war.”

Maybe it would be apocalypse tomorrow. Right now, there was only one word Arascus would use to describe it.

Benediction.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep